Wait For Me...

Chapter 13

" Rasengan!" Naruto yelled and charged at her. A big ball of chakra gathered on his hand. He attempted to hit her. But she slid under him and kicked the back of his neck. Causing him to fall over and the Rasengan disappeared.
"You failed the first test Naruto." Sakura said as she towered over him. "If you had listened to the directions. I'm suppose to hand you the mask."
"Fine then just hand me the mask." Naruto squirmed under her feet.
"You have to get my blood first." Sakura said and kicked Naruto. In which he flew to the door.
Struggling to get up, Sakura picked him up and held him by his throat.
"Proper Anbus do not tolerate cheating." Sakura said to him. Then she threw him aside and he ended up landing on his back.
At that moment Tsunade and Garra, the Kazekage, came in from the door.
"Sakura, your work here is done. Thank you. I'll see you at initiation." Tsunade said to her as she looked from her to Naruto's bruises.
Sakura bowed and left the training grounds.

"Sakura! How did Naruto do?" Hinata came running towards her as she exited the gate. All their friends were gathered near the gate.
"He made it." Sakura said and passed Hinata to head to Shikamaru.
Sakura hugged Shika as a greeting.
"Do want to shower first before heading to the ceremony?" He asked her.
"No, let's head to the ceremony." Sakura answered. Shikamaru smiled at her and let her go.
"Awww how cute!" Ino squeled from behind them.
"Oof." Tenten said as he gave them a smirk.
"Are you guys going to attend ceremony?"  Sakura asked.
"Of course!" Ino and Tenten squeled once more.
"Good," Sakura said and turned to Shika once more.
"Lets go?" Sakura smiled at him and they walked towards Anbu headquarters.
"Those two are so cute!" Ino said as she stared at them walking away.
"One of these days we'll have to thank Shika." Hinata said.
"Your right, he's done so much to make sure Sakura lived." Tenten said.
"What do you mean 'to make sure she lived' ?" Sasuke asked them.
The three girls turned to Sasuke.
"Look, Sasuke-
"Naruto's all healed up. Let's start the ceremony." Tsunade said as she exited the training grounds.
"We'll tell you at the Anbu dinner." Ino said and they walked silently to the Anbu Headquarters.

"I thank you all for the great that you have done for your villages. For putting your life on the line for your village citizens and Kage's." Tsunade ended her speech.
The Mizukage stood up.
"I would like to personally thank Konohagakure's 2 Dragon Anbu." He looked to Sakura and Shikamaru who was standing next to the Hokage.
"Blood Blossom and Shadow have done so much for our land and I thank you so much for that as well." The Raikage stood up as well.
Then the Tsuchikage, Kazekage and Hokage followed suit. They slowly and honorably bowed to Sakura and Shikamaru.
Everyone in the audience was surprised, for the Kage's do not bow to anyone but their superiors.
After the Kage's bowed Sakura and Shikamaru bowed to them as well.
"We fight to protect all lands and it's peace. We would gladly put our life on the line for you all." Sakura and Shika said in unison.
The Anbu's in the audience repeated their words and bowed as well. Except for the newbie Anbu's.
"Alright! Dig in!" The Hokage yelled and they all cheered.
Sakura and Shika took a seat at a table.
"Hey, lets go sit next to Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. Hinata pulled him back to the others.
"No Naruto." Hinata said and sat him next to her.
"Why not?" Sasuke asked as well.
"Because those two ALWAYS eat with each other. And they eat alone." Ino said.
"Yah, no one would ever join them." Tenten said in between chews.
"Why?" Naruto asked and looked towards Sakura and Shika.
"Because those two are top dogs Naruto. They are the leaders that assign missions to every single Anbu." Ino said.
"Not to mention everytime they have that dragon ranked uniform on, they act all composed and proffesional." Tenten said.
"Yes, but Sakura is still nice. Unlike how she is to her enemies, she sometimes shows the Sakura she was before. But thats only a privelage we get to see." Hinata said.
"Shika probably sees it all the time at home." Kiba came and sat down with them.
"About that, when did they move in?" Sasuke said curiosly.
"Oh they moved in 3 months after they joined Anbu." Kiba said.
"Yah, since their Anbu partners and their missions are always with each other they figured it was too much of a hassle to go to each other's houses and tell each other that they have a mission." Tenten explained.
"And what were you guys talking about when you said Shikamaru helped Sakura 'live'?" Sasuke asked.
"Oh that. Well, when YOU left. Sakura locked herself in for months. Sometimes she even forgot to eat. I tried so much to get her out of her apartment." Ino said sadly.
"Yah then the Hokage came in and tore her apartment down. But she found it was already torn inside." Tenten said.
"You leaving drove her crazy sad, Sasuke. A year after you left, Sakura came out of her room. She continued her shifts in the hospital." Kiba said.
"Mm. But even then. She still didnt eat a complete meal. And when Naruto and Kakashi left her, that drove her over the edge. Our Sakura-chan was officially dead." Ino said sadly.
Choji came in sat next to Kiba.
"Hey Choji, you were with Shika when everything happened with them right? Why dont you tell us." Tenten said.
"Oh you guys are talking about that?  Well, Shika and I were going to Tsunade but Shika wanted to stop at the roof first. There we found Sakura training with deep cuts and bruises."
Flashback
"Hey Shika, someone's here." Choji nugged Shikamaru's ribs.
"I know. I smell blood." Shika said and moved silently through the shadows to get closer. There at the edge of the tower he saw Sakura battling with a clone.
"Sakura?" Shika said and came close to her.
"Shika, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked weakly. Then she collapsed.
Shikamaru panicked and carried her to Tsunade. With Choji running behind them.
"Tsunade!" Shikamaru busted in the doot and showed her Sakura.
"What happened?" Tsunade  freaked.
"She was training in the roof and didnt heal herself." Shika told her what he saw as they rushed her to the hospital.
Flashback Ends
"Sakura was hospitalized for weeks. And when she was there Shika came in and made sure she was okay. He didnt go on any missions with us till Sakura got better. And when Sakura was released he followed her. He caught her training too hard every time. Till eventually it became a little routine for them. Sakura would train and forget to eat. Shikamaru would always be in the shadows and give her food whenever it was time to eat. They then started training with each other and going to missions together. From what I've seen, Sakura became icy cold when Naruto and Kakashi left. But whenever Shika was with her. A little smile would tug on her lips. It grew bigger whenever it was just him and her. Now thats love." Choji explained. 
"Kakashi-sensei and I only left so we could find Sasuke and make Sakura happy!" Naruto said.
"None the less Naruto-kun. You didnt help Sakura-chan. You only ruined her more by abandoning her as Sasuke had done." Hinata spoke up.
Temari and Kankuro cane to say hello.
"You guys know that your in a room filled with Anbus right?" Kankuro laughed at them. And they all nodded.
"If your gonna talk about 2 of our most powerful Anbu's past, try doing it where they can't possibly hear you. Because if Kankuro and I can hear you from the across the room then SHE can certainly hear you from over there as well." Temari said. Then the Sand siblings left.