Summary: Sakura was always theirs to protect. They could protect her from bullies, people with bad intentions, and admirers. However, only she could protect her from herself. And this time…well, this time she was struggling to protect her heart. ShikaSaku. Real world AU.

A young pinkette groaned when she heard her alarm go off. It wasn't loud and annoying like her blond roommate's but it was definitely irritating. It was much softer, as she didn't want to awake her sleeping housemates, who happened to be her best friends in the whole entire world. She was for sure, one of the more considerate of the three of them, but that didn't mean that she had the calmest temperament of them. In fact, she was probably the most irritable of the trio. Her short temper made her a fierce firecracker and a hard worker who never backed down from a challenge.

She turned the ringing of her alarm clock off, as she didn't have tie to snooze it today. Today was Friday, the sole day of her week that she had a morning class. Normally, students didn't have friday classes and opted to choose an early weekend. She was not one of those students, no, she had to take every chance she could get to get ahead and graduate early. She was close on ending her teen years with graduating with her bachelors. She was the same year as her two roommates on graduating terms, but she was younger age-wise. It had always been that way though.

She was the youngest of her friend group and they had all been together since high school. Well, their junior year, at least. The young pinkette had skipped her sophomore year of high school, as well as her 7th grade year of junior high. She was smart and determined, that's what all of her friends would say. Hopefully, what they would say, of course.

The late teen got dressed, putting on dark jeans with a simple white t-shirt and a oversized forest green cardigan to keep herself warm. She brushed her short pink hair and pinned her side swept bangs back with two green bobby pins which crossed in a 'x' style. She was cute and dressed simply, as always. She left her bedroom and silently crossed the hallway to the bathroom to brush her teeth and fix any hairs that snuck out of place.

As she exited the bathroom she smelled the sweet scent of coffee and practically waltzed over to the kitchen in the condo where she lived. Her brilliant smile graced her face as she saw one of her best friends hunched over the breakfast nook table with a mug filled with the caffeinated drink touching his lips. She walked over to him as silently as she could and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

He grunted in response and passed a travel mug towards her and set it atop the counter. He had made her coffee just the way she liked it, and had it every morning. Black coffee with a small swig of coconut milk creamer to sweeten it lightly. The pink haired woman smiled to herself as she picked up her morning drink and sipped it. "Just the way I like it," she whispered to no one in particular.

The raven haired man rolled his eyes. She was so easy please, it was quite sad. But if someone had looked extremely closely they would have noticed a faint pink that dusted his cheeks. It had pretty much always been that way. Her father and his brother had been friends and in the same gang since they were legally adults. There was an age difference between the two younger ones by two years. He had always been an older brother figure to her when they were younger. She had followed him around and blushed every time he looked at her. 'She was annoying back then,' he thought to himself. And he sure as hell let her know that. He couldn't recall how many times her had told her she was annoying but after a while he had just gotten used to it.

She had grown up since then, he was always reminded of this small fact. She no longer craved his attention and blushed every time she was near him. He supposed she had gotten over her crush on him once she started truly focusing on school. She had skipped a grade when she was barely 12 and he could pretty much pinpoint it to when she was ten and realized that she was smarter than the rest of her classmates. She focused more on school and less on boys. When she entered high school she had taken the GED test and could've graduated after her freshman year but opted to stay in high school and just skip a single grade. She had wanted to stay with him and Naruto.

'Ugh, Naruto,' he mused to himself. He had been in love with the girl since he had met her when she was 11 and he was 13. He had never gotten over his crush on the younger girl but decided to never act on it and simply pouted and whined when ever she paid attention to other boys instead of him. Although, Sasuke would never admit that it bothered him as well. Truth be told, she wasn't interested in them romantically, she was enamored by their intellect and wanted to be just like them. So she turned to studying and avoided all sorts of romantic advances from numerous boys who she had gained the attentions of.

When she was finally in high school with them, Naruto and Sasuke had to practically scare some of the straight and occasionally remind them of her age. Some of her admirers for 18 for god's sake! And she was barely 16, towards the end. Of course, she had "bloomed" early as some would say. She had curves since she was 15 and it didn't help her best friends' cause at all.

"Sakura," Sasuke began, "You're going to be late if you keep day dreaming." He looked over at he and shook his head slightly. She had a habit of daydreaming and today was no different. No one had any clue what went on inside her head but herself, if even that.

Said girl snapped out of her daydream and and blinked two times, trying to will the images out of her head. She had been having visions of certain things- occurances, you could call them, ever since she was younger. They were nothing, really. It was just as if she could see spirits, or occasionally scenes from a previous life, maybe. Today she had been stuck in one where she was some sort of ninja and she was fighting for her life. Some odd thing about a forest of death and trying to protect her boys. She shook her head softly, disregarding her dream just like all of the others.

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun," she spoke softly, remembering that her second roommate was still sleeping. "Don't forget to wake up Naruto-kun so he doesn't miss his meeting later today."

The blond knucklehead had a meeting with the school counselor about changing his major last minute. He was in his senior year and wanted to change from psychology to criminal justice. It was typical of him, he couldn't just pick something and stick with it. At this rate he would have to graduate a year later in order to get all of the classes he needed out of the way.

"Hn," he responded. It was a sort of yes to her plea. He wasn't going to be the reason the boy would have to suck it up and stick with his major. It was odd enough that he chose psychology in the first place, although criminal justice seemed more normal for him than anything else. He was always saying stuff like he was going to save the world from injustice in anyway he could. He wanted to be mayor, he had said more than once. Some could say that this was his starting point… or at least something like that.

Sakura pulled on her warm and fuzzy tan boots to help shield her from the sharp chill that whipped around in the wind. She gave a small wave to her stoic roommate and opened the door to leave.

"Wait," the male called out to her, getting up out of his seat at the table. He handed her a navy blue, forest green, and white scarf that he had bought her for a thanksgiving present (as she cooked all of her father's friends as well as Sasuke and Naruto dinner for the holiday). He poked her forehead and turned to walk back towards his seat.

Sakura blushed slightly, knowing that the simple gesture was filled with love and the plea to be safe and come back home right when she was done. She smiled and waved again at his retreating figure, even though he was no longer looking, and shut the door and locked it before leaving. She knew he didn't really express him emotions, especially after his parents passed away when he was 16, but she would forever be touched by his affection towards her after everything that happened.

XOXOXO

Her walk to the school campus was short and brisk, knowing that she would surely freeze if she was outside for too long. This was her last class before the winter break. It was psychology 101A and although they didn't really have final exams, they had to show up for a group discussion that would count as her final grade for the class. She rather enjoyed this class, much to her resentment to a Friday morning class. Now that the rest of her classes were over before the winter break, she could enjoy her class discussion which could possibly ease her mind as to finishing the class with a high grade.

Her pale hand pulled on the door handle to open the classroom. She was indoors now, as this particular school building had an indoor section where students could warm up in the winter or cool down in the summer weather. She was definitely grateful for her class being in this part of the building. The classroom door opened up to reveal a sweet smell of hot cocoa and freshly baked cookies. She had finished her cup of coffee on the way to school to keep her body warm, but was excited for the sweet treats.

Sasuke didn't particularly enjoy sweets and Naruto liked everything overly sweetened. So this was a welcome change as her two boys usually fought over the foods they ate at home. The pinkette poured herself a steaming cup of cocoa and sat down at one of the open chairs that were all faced in a wasn't the first one there, but she was still early. Only another boy had arrived earlier than herself. It was a rather small class in general, but she had no recollection of him even attending any of the lectures. He seemed rather lazy, if she were to make a quick assessment. The young female shook her head softly, no, she shouldn't be judging anyone so quickly. If anything, all of her life had taught her that you could never judge a book by its cover.

The pinkette bit her bottom lip questioning if she should speak to him. He seemed to be sleeping, so she didn't want to bother him by waking him up or anything. He was slouching in his chair with his head tilted back, arms resting at his sides and dangling off the chair arm rests. The only thing that let her know that he was alive was his soft breathing. She wasn't sitting particularly close to him, as she was about five chairs down from his, but it was still close enough to hear it.

It wasn't long before more students began to pour into the class, some chatting with each other, some looking extremely tired and irritated to be here, and some walking in with a smile on their face as they knew it was the last class of the semester. A raven haired girl walked into the class and sat down next to Sakura, smiling at her. They hadn't known each other before being paired together in this class for projects and research papers. "Good morning, Sakura-chan," she spoke softly.

Sakura smiled back at the ravenette and greeted her back, "Good morning Hinata-chan. Are you excited to finally finish the semester?"

Hinata was only a year ahead of her, they had gone to different high schools but her cousin was friends with the loud blond, Naruto. The older girl's feelings for her roommate were a little obvious when she came over to work on some shared projects or study sessions to help prepare for exams. The exams were rare but extremely technical, regarding the material. It was discussions, like the one to be had today, that helped them apply the concepts they learned in class to real-world situations that you could come across in their lives. "A little," she confessed, "although, I'll miss having a class with you." She let out a small giggle.

She was truly someone that Sakura had felt a strong connection with since entering college. Hinata had introduced her to another sweet girl named Tenten who she was going to share a class with during spring semester. "I'll miss having this class with you too!" Sakura placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder to confirm the statement. They were truly good friends. One could even consider them best friends.

The class discussion had began and Sakura had hardly remembered to look back at the boy who she had seen sleeping before others had arrived, when she finally remembered she peered over and noticed that he was paying attention, although he still seemed extremely tired. Now that he was awake, she thought he looked somewhat familiar. Perhaps, she had seen him in class before. That was the only possible explanation, she reminded herself. The rest of class had gone smoothly. She had contributed quite a bit, as all students had to in order to get credit.

The topic had, at one point, head in the direction of what doctors should do regarding having a patient who might be suicidal and how to handle the situation correctly. She had more of a doctor's perspective as that was her chosen profession and wanted to speak as such. Another classmate had brought up a good point as to when and how to bring up the topic if the patient was dropping subtle hints as to their feelings regarding the sensitive subject. The subject had then shifted towards what could be done for triggers that may come up in the patient's daily life and how to combat their feelings and negative actions that may be a consequence of their emotions.

The class had ended on a rather happy note where the subject had gotten to how to keep the patient's inner circle positive and what that positivity could look like for different people. Each classmate took turns as to say how their inner circle was positively effecting them and pushing them towards success.

Even the boy who had lazily contributed with a few words here and there spoke about how important his family was to him, especially his twin sister. Sakura felt a strange warm feeling when he spoke, although she dismissed the feeling as the classroom's heater was cranking up to warmer temperatures. She was probably just overheating, she figured.

The class departed with a group calming activity and wishes for a happy holiday season. Sakura was buddhist herself, as well as her circle of friends and family, yet they all still celebrated Christmas just as most families did.

She found herself walking out of the classroom with her soft spoken best girl friend towards the exit of the school building. Hinata had offered her a ride home as her cousin was driving to pick her up. The pink haired friend kindly declined and opted to walk in the chilly air, refreshing her with a sense of peace and clarity. The two girls waved each other good-bye and promised to meet up during the holidays, although Hinata was going back to live in her house which was at least a two hour drive away from Sakura's condo.

The young female began her walk back towards her humble abode when she cursed softly at herself. She had forgotten Sasuke's present to her! She had stupidly left it sitting on the back of her chair as she had taken it off as the heater had began working in overdrive while the class was halfway over. She began her trek back towards the school building when it began sprinkling. "Shit."

XOXOXO

She reached the building much faster than she had anticipated as she began to speed walk the more the rain started falling. She lifted the scarf off of her chair and let out a soft sigh. She turned around when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I was about to look for you," confessed the lazy young adult that had captured her attention earlier. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously just as Naruto did.

Sakura tilted her head and looked at him in question, "You did?" Her stupid heart skipped a beat.

"Were," he corrected, chuckling at her.

'Shit.' she cursed herself. She had let her grammar slip in front of a stranger. If she wanted to become a physician then she would have to catch her mistakes before they even fell out of her mouth. "Yeah…" she spoke nervously. Why the hell did he make her feel nervous?

"Well, I'm glad you have it now," he voice was like silk. Deep, but not too deep, husky from his sleepiness, yet still dreamy.

Her cheeks dusted themselves with a pink tint that she had yet to notice. "Yeah, thanks again." She should kick herself later for sounded so stupid, she mused.

"Let me walk you out," he offered. Harmless; yet to her strange emotions it was anything but. Sakura nodded slowly and smiled at him softly. He was sweet, she could give him that.

They began to walk towards the door to exit the school building as they had walked in silence. Then it clicked to her. "You go to my dad's bar!" she surprised herself at her revelation.

He looked at her with curiosity. "Winded Sand?" he asked. He frequented that bar and would always go with his best friend and his sister. It was the only place he could get away from the stupid red hear that chased him around, crying for his attention. She had yet to reach 21, so she was always turned away at the door, which is why he loved being there.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I work there on most weekends and sometimes on weeknights. I've seen you around." It was quite a popular bar and always had a line to get in. Yet the younger girl had noticed him. He never came at peak times, so she saw him during their off-hours, where she was bartender. She wasn't legally able to serve drinks, but she did so anyways, since her father's employees worked later and until late into the early morning hours.

Hardly anyone came during those hours so she could get away with the work as no one questioned her age there. No one really dared to speak with her for most anything, as her father and his gang were known as dangerous criminals to outsiders. They had certainly made a name for themselves as dangerous, for doing things such as committing violent acts and taking care of their own by any means necessary. Sakura was the head of the gang's boss's only child and anyone who messed with her would have to pay with the entire gang, the Akatsuki.

Although, to her, they were all family members and considered her uncles. They always had her best interests at heart. Which is how she had come to live with Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto was cousins with one of the members and Sasuke was one of the member's younger brother. They trusted them to take care of their little flower and questioned anyone else close to her. She was the ruthless boss' only child for gods sake. Not only that, but she had been a sickly child when she was growing up. She needed care and to be looked after.

"Nara Shikamaru," he introduced himself formally. He offered his hand for her to shake.

She took it and shook his hand with a more than firm grip, "Haruno Sakura. Pleased to finally get your name." She gave him her signature brilliantly white smile which could melt any cold heart.

He winced slightly, not expecting her to be as strong as she was. She was a tiny thing, after all. Their hands released each other and he rubbed the back of his neck with the same hand, not wanted to see if it was red from the pressure of her grip or noticed that the rain that had begun earlier had started to fall hard.

"Do you want a ride home?" as asked. There was no way in hell he would let anyone walk through this storm.

"How did you know that I didn't drive here?..." she questioned. Perhaps he was a stalker? Ugh, that would be just her luck. Her stupid heart skipped beats for a damn stalker.

"Because I always see you walking into the building from the side facing the street when I sit in the common area. You don't enter from the side of the parking lot," he shrugged.

Sakura shook off the idea of a stalker. It was hard to miss her… wasn't it? She had naturally pink hair for goodness sakes! One of the school rules was to keep hair its natural color. And that was one hell of a rule. She couldn't count the times school officials had asked her to take a test that proved her hair was actually pink. Eventually, they came to realise that it was, in fact, truly pink. Although, that was another discussion for another day. "Right," she laughed nervously. She scratched her cheek, signaling that she was uncomfortable.

"So," he began slowly, "the ride?"

Oh yeah! That was why they were still talking! "Yeah," Sakura replied, nodding her head to confirm her response.

The two walked out of the building into the adjoining parking lot which was underground. He open the passenger side door to his car. It was a low navy blue Mercedes two-door. She smiled at his chivalry and slipped inside, setting her school bag on the carpeted floor next to her feet. He got in the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Which way?" he asked, wanting to make sure he got her to where she actually needed to go. He didn't want to assume anything about where she lived. Although, if he had to, he figured it would be a small apartment building since she dressed so simply and plainly. Not that he was complaining, he preferred simple girls. They were less troublesome to figure out.

"Uhm, do you know where the East 5th side building is?" she could give directions, of course. Sakura just wondered if he knew the general direction. It was the nicer side of Konoha, for sure, but it was nothing too fancy. She had argued with her father about it. She refused to live in a luxurious condo which he had initially suggested. It just wasn't her.

"Yeah," he sighed. He should have known that she was some little rich girl. There was simply too much to like about her. Wait. Wait. Did he like her? Like, like-like her? Ugh. This was more trouble than what it was worth.

"Okay," she sighed contently. He knew where he was going. It was near her father's bar, although his bar was considered to be more "seedy" than the district cared to admit. They weren't going to push it out however, they wanted to avoid all conflict with its owner as much as possible. It was, though, a rather nice bar. It seemed fancy enough to welcome head figures of the company's buildings which surrounded it.

They drove in silence, not an uncomfortable silence, though. It was rather peaceful. Hell, even Shikamaru forgot all about the resentment he had just formed towards the girl. The car pulled up to the front of the building. The doorman of the building peeked over his desk and eyed the car that had been sitting in front of his building for well over a minute now. It seemed as if neither of the two riders had noticed that they had reached their destination. He shook his head and sighed at the sight before him. Young love. Oh how he wished to be young and in love again.

The doorman, Kakashi, almost slipped into a daydream himself until he saw a familiar color coming from the passenger seat of the car. Pink. "Shit," he cursed inwardly. It was none other than Sakura Haruno who was sneaking glances at the driver of said vehicle. He was doing the same and it appeared that there was a small conversation going back and forth between the two.

Should he pull her out of the car, he thought to himself. He was hired into the position under the guise of a doorman when he was to truly look after the young lady. To make sure, that no one came in to try and settle a score between the head of the Akatsuki and any angry criminal. Kakashi began to rake a hand through his grey hair trying to figure out the best course of action and hardly noticed a young man come and rest his arm on his desk.

"Hn," a voice broke the silence.

Kakashi snapped out of his upcoming stress and turned toward his former student. He had taught this boy MMA fighting since he was a young 12 year old boy. "Sasuke," he sighed in relief. As long as the younger Uchiha boy was there, he had nothing to worry about. He wouldn't be the one in trouble if anything happened to the female.

"How long." He was straight and to the point. Hell, he would use his fists if he had to. Hatake Kakashi was probably the only one besides his brother who knew the extent of his fondness of the pink haired maiden. He let out a soft growl when he wasn't met with an answer right away.

Kakashi couldn't pry his eyes away from the "couple". Whatever they were talking about, it had Sakura giggling and turning her cheeks the same color of her hair. He could barely get a word out before Sasuke practically stormed out (as coolly as possible) and made his way towards the passenger side of the car. The grey haired man sighed and shook his head. If young Sasuke could see himself now, he would probably be disgusted with his future self for fawning over a former fan-girl.

Sasuke still had tons of admirers but they were much more subdued now that they were older and know that he only hung around other bad-boys and Naruto and/or Sakura. It was no secret that he had a soft spot for her, but it seemed that no one knew that he actually had romantic feelings for the girl. He was already 22 and she still had a few months until she turned 20.

The raven haired male knocked impatiently on the window which made (his) Sakura jump slightly as she had been so into her time with Shikamaru. The girl over over towards her roommate with questioning eyes and scrunched up her nose. It was a sure sign of irritation, which happened to go unnoticed by the recipient.

"I'm so sorry," Sakura apologized to Shikamaru. "My brother is probably irritated that I didn't come home right away." She scratched her cheek.

"Brother?" the spiky haired man questioned his former classmate. "You don't really look alike…"

"We're not related in that sense," she confessed. "He's just more of a brother than he is my best friend." She chuckled softly. Sakura gave him a quick bow in a sort of 'thanks for the ride' gesture.

As soon as she exited the car, she felt a hand on the small of her back guiding her out of the rain and into the building. She turned and waved back at her new friend as he took to drive off, with a smile still on both of their faces.

A quiet grunt came from the older male as he led her back to their condo on the third floor. The short journey back to their home was quiet, much to his irritation, although it seemed to go unnoticed by the sole female in his life.

Saying he was irritated would be just scratching the surface of his emotions. Wait until Naruto found out. Wait until her fa-... No, her father could never find out.

Holy crap! That was the longest chapter that I've ever written in my life! I really hope you guys enjoy this. I've always had this secret and hidden desire that somewhere down the line, ShikaSaku could have happened. There's gonna be a shit load of drama in this story, although not overwhelmingly so. I definitely like this couple and want to see if others do too.

A little note: Shikamaru and Sasuke are the same age, as well as Naruto and most of the gang. Hinata and Sakura are the only younger ones, who are 21 and 19 respectively. For Sasori's age and story of having Sakura will be explained later on and it'll also explain why Sakura is so protected by the Akatsuki and by her Team 7. Also, Sakura's visions and spirit seeing will be explained later as well. It won't be forgotten!

Please read and review! I love hearing from readers! Please no flames, as it hurts authors' feelings and makes us discouraged when writing. My other stories will be updated as well! I won't forget them. (:

As always,

Tiny.