I'd like to dedicate this to all those who enjoyed this little story I had thrown together. As per some of the ideas and critic of those who read this and reached out to me I began writing an epilogue of sorts. Thank you all for your support and help :) Hopefully it doesn't disappoint! (I apologize for any grammar or punctuation I may have missed, I searched as best I could but I could've easily missed things)

Sakura sighed happily from her spot on the roof of the hospital. After Shikamaru insisted on meeting up here for lunch she couldn't help but appreciate the view and the company. It's been a little over a week since they admitted their attraction and things were going smoothly. Even her run ins with Naruto and Kiba have stopped. The thought made Sakura pause mid chew. It's odd, I don't think I've even seen either of them since that day, and they both were being very persistent...Sakura mused to herself frowning. Something wasn't right.

"Ne Shikamaru, don't you find it odd that it's been over a week and I haven't seen a sign from Naruto or Kiba? Even before all this started I usually ran into them in passing some way or another." Sakura commented watching Shikamaru closely for a reaction. He flinched slightly startled by the question but quickly gained his composure.

"Perhaps they went on a mission and that's why you haven't seen them." Shikamaru offered, his focus more on his lunch than on her. Normally Sakura wouldn't find his reaction anything to worry about, Shikamaru's interest in most things was hardly exuberant. But Sakura noted that he was trying a bit too hard to be nonchalant with his actions, and because she had been spending more and more time with him, she could recognize the unnaturalness of it.

"With Kiba I could believe it, but Naruto and I almost always go on missions together. On the odd chance we don't, I always know when the knucklehead is leaving. He's not one to hide his excitement and makes a point to say goodbye." Sakura pointed out and Shikamaru tried to think of a way to get her off the subject. Sakura caught him though and threw a glare his way.

"What do you know Shikamaru." Sakura demanded and Shikamaru sighed.

"Shouldn't you just be happy that they stopped?" Shikamaru tried in a last ditch effort to get her to drop it. It would not end well, that much he knew. Sakura however stood up her temper sizzling under the surface of her determination to figure out just what happened.

"Not when I have the strange feeling those two deserve some sense knocked into them." Sakura told him preparing to search for the two in question. Pausing before she leapt to the next roof she turned to Shikamaru who gazed back warily.

"Don't think you're out of the woods either, I know you know what went down." Sakura warned and Shikamaru sighed again scratching the back of his head, his mind reluctantly made up. He wasn't about to go down for those idiots actions, even if he had tried to warn them away to keep them safe from Sakura's wrath. Trapping Sakura in his shadow before she could leap away he turned Sakura to face him.

"You're right, I know." He told her releasing her from his shadow and she looked to him expectantly, crossing her arms.

"They made a bet to see which one could get you to accept their advances before the other." Shikamaru said trying to say it as politely as possible. But as the rage blazed to the surface he knew it didn't matter how eloquently he said it, they were doomed for their actions.

"It was a bet?" Sakura seethed enunciating each word slowly. Before he could stop her she bounded away, small cracks forming where she once stood. Shikamaru wondered if he should start preparing the two's graves.

x

Anyone who caught a glimpse of Sakura as she raced through Konoha would later say that a red demon swept through the village, leaving the feeling of rage behind for everyone in the vicinity to feel. It left the civilians afraid for their lives and they holed up in attempt to avoid its wrath. Unfortunately for Naruto and Kiba, they never had a chance to run. Sakura managed to scoop them up and dumped them onto one of the many training grounds before they knew what happened.

The two rubbed their sore bottoms and tried to regain their bearings. At the sound of cracking knuckles the two looked up to see Sakura leering down on them.

"Ehehe, Sakura how's it going?" Naruto asked scratching the back of his head sheepishly. He could only hope she just wanted to do extra training. Looking to Kiba, he had a really bad feeling that wouldn't be the case at all.

"Oh I think you already know Naruto." Sakura replied in an eerily calm voice. Naruto couldn't help but gulp knowing he was looking into the eye of the storm.

"So you two idiots like to make bets don't ya?" Sakura questioned looming down on them, the aura around her making her appear three times bigger than she actually was. Had they not known better they might have believed they were staring death in the face, then again maybe they still were.

"If you think about it from certain perspectives, its sort of a compliment to you Sakura." Kiba whimpered trying to regain his composure over the situation this she-thing had thrown him in. His attempt was futile however, Sakura's attention and burning rage only snapped to focus solely on him and his comment.

"Excuse me?" Sakura roared and within seconds Kiba was effectively and painfully pummeled into the ground, forced through the earth like a nail through wood after being struck with a hammer. Sakura didn't stop there, using her powerful fists she broke up the ground forcing Kiba's body to go flying with the earth, knocking him unconscious as his body flew into a tree, bruised and bloody. Naruto gulped and prayed to Kami that his fate would not be the same. As he watched Sakura's trembling form Naruto attempted to brace himself for the inevitable. Instead what he got was something he would have never expected, or have been able to prepare for.

Sakura turned to face him, but her trembles were no longer of rage, they were holding back her tears that had begun to swell in her eyes. Walking towards Naruto Sakura held her head up high, ready to make her move. Once in front of him Sakura raised her fist up swiftly and Naruto closed his eyes expecting a dreadful impact. The only blow that came was a soft bonk on his head, as if she only meant to ruffle his hair.

"I know you're prone to some pretty knuckleheaded things but I never knew you were capable of something like this. I thought you thought more highly of me then this, instead you used our bond to win a bet." Sakura spoke to him softly, and as Naruto slowly opened his eyes he saw all the hurt and disappointment Sakura was feeling. Regret crept up his spine and crippled him more than any physical blow he'd received from the woman before him. Before he could even open his mouth to try and rectify the situation Sakura vanished in a poof of smoke.

x

When Shikamaru finally found her she was less than pleased to see him. Although he himself wasn't sure he could even correctly identify the emotion imprinted on the pinkette's face.

"You've left quite the mark through town today." Shikamaru commented and Sakura snorted softly not bothered by his remark in the slightest. He began to approach the clearly perturbed woman in hopes of comforting her, his advances, however, only made her bristle.

"Don't. One more step and I'll just disappear somewhere else." Sakura warned getting Shikmaru to stop in his tracks.

"I can just find you there as well. I may not be blessed with better senses to help me track people like some of our fellow shinobi but by no means am I an amateur at it." Shikamaru replied but still respected her wishes and took to leaning against the tree he was next to to observe her.

"Why bother?" Sakura sighed and Shikamaru was beginning to realize just how fragile Sakura's self-esteem still was despite the strength and confidence she now strode around the village with.

"Because I don't abandon that with which I have something invested in." Shikamaru replied and Sakura's head whirled to face him, a challenging fire of rage sparking within her eyes. It was something he couldn't help but admit drew him to her in the first place, that flame which burned so brightly within the pinkette always shone through her eyes no matter the emotion she was feeling.

"You already accomplished the bet, what more could you be invested in?" Sakura shot at him. Shikamaru didn't back down, merely narrowed his eyes at her preparing himself for the challenge ahead of him.

"I didn't pursue you over a bet, it was never something I participated in nor condoned from the beginning." Shikamaru shot back, Sakura merely rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Yet the timing seems a little too coincidental don't ya think Nara?"

"Of course the timing is coincidental, those two idiots made me into an idiot when they up and ruined everything I had planned to make this work. They were impulsive and drunk, and brought all the scenarios I worked through in my head crashing down. Do you really think how I pursued you was how I really wanted it to happen? Do you really think I'd come up with such an out of character route for myself to take if I hadn't felt the pressure of losing all the opportunities I had to garner your attention?" Shikamaru growled out the frustration he was feeling seeping out. It caused whatever words Sakura was going to say back die on her tongue as she stared at him soaking in his words. She was someone who was run by her emotions first then by logic and right now she was ready to break down again thanks to the man before her.

Sakura wasn't sure how long she stayed silent just staring at him, his own eyes peering back at her ever vigilant in their analysis of her. Her swirling thoughts slowly beginning to calm as she digested the events of her recent past and began to work out just where she would go from here for her future. For once her heart and her mind agreeing rather quickly on the path she should take. Shifting from her perch on the ground at the base of a tree, Sakura stood ever aware of the man watching her carefully, waiting to make chase if she were to try and run.

"You're right." Sakura spoke finally breaking the silence that had fallen over them, turning to face him no more doubt, or rage radiating off her. Shikamaru didn't say anything, only moving from his casual leaning position to stand straight and take a step towards her. "The Shikamaru I know would have planned things out much smoother, then again he might not have ever made a move, always trying to garner the best outcome for himself as his mind perceived hundreds more better scenarios. Yet, somehow, that Shikamaru vanished in this situation, instead an impulsive, determined Shikamaru took his place."

"What are you getting at?" He questioned unsure of the pinkettes motives as she began to approach him. It seemed all too easy to get her to see reason over the tidal wave of her emotions. Then again he never was able to fully figure out the woman before him, he shouldn't have been surprised that now was no exception to that fact.

"That I've been through a lot in this short time span but somehow my normally raging emotions have calmed with you here and my mind is seeing the logic of things again. That those two were drunken morons who were delved out proper punishment so I have no reason to dwell on it further. And that there's more to you than I know and that bothers me a lot more than it should. " Sakura explained to him standing mere inches away from him.

"I can work with that." Shikamaru spoke softly to her reaching to hold her hand. She squeezed his hand in return and smiled up at him a new spark in her eyes.

"Care to bet on it?"