Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If someone asked him what he remembered from that night, it would be the memory of the deer he was helping his dad with startling and a young buck charging his way. Things went a little topsy after that, but he attributed it to the beers he and Shikaku had been slinging back. He remembered a glimpse of his mother’s exasperated worry; the rumbling of his truck after his father loaded him into the passenger side; the glaring lights brightening the front of the nearest clinic despite the late hour. He could recall the smell of antiseptic and the dryness of the air, the muted chatter between triage nurses and patients. His father sat with him but declined going with him for whatever reason - it’s not like the nurse that called his name needed help with the wheelchair his loving dad had tossed him into. He remembered answering questions, slightly slurred - he told the nurse his level of pain (7, but getting worse), the fact that he’d been drinking (he knew it was important so they didn’t accidentally send him into a coma or something when they gave him medication), what caused the injury (the nurse stopped writing when he explained and Shikamaru was willing to believe that it was disbelief the man was staring at him with - working with deer in the local forests was his family’s trade and they’d been at it for generations, but that didn’t make it normal to other people) and the subsequent click of a surprisingly high-tech and portable x-ray machine centered over his leg and foot. He even remembered the faint prick of an IV for saline solution and an intravenous painkiller before the doctor finally made their appearance. Left alone to contemplate the stupidity of the evening and how it would make an entertaining story at the next guys’ night out, he didn’t immediately look over at the door when it opened.

He heard a throat clear - noted that it sounded feminine, and of course it would be a lady doctor seeing him for such a ridiculous injury. His gaze swung towards the door and he blinked. She was young. She was young , or she took excellent care of her skin, because she didn’t look any older than him, and he wasn’t even 22 yet, and she was a doctor? His alcohol-painkiller-sluggish mind raced, but he felt like he was on a feedback loop. Distantly, he thought, ‘ She’s pretty, ’ and then he was trying to calculate when she must have started attending medical school for her being his age to be logical, but he got sidetracked when she slid a pen behind her ear, hair tucked neatly back with bobby pins in a style he’d seen on Ino before, but never so short. She smiled at him and he felt his mouth fall open a little bit. After a moment, he clamped it back shut and desperately hoped he didn’t look like some slack-jawed idiot, even though she had probably already drawn conclusions from her nurse’s preliminary notes.

She spoke and he listened probably a bit too intently.

“So, Nara-san, it looks like you had a run in with some of the local wildlife in a very literal sense of the word…” Her lips quirked wryly and he zeroed in on the dimple it caused and silently despaired. “My notes tell me that your pain is mostly localized to the left lower leg and left foot, with some abrasions and bruising from a fall on your hands and such. The x-rays should be coming in shortly, but curiosity drove me to come in before they were finished developing. I have to ask - what were you doing drinking in the forest? It must have been quite deep to put you in the same place as the deer.” Her eyes lightened and he could tell she was laughing at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care as long as she kept looking at him. His heart stuttered violently and he was relieved they hadn’t hooked him up to a monitor. He cleared his throat carefully and thought out what he planned to say before saying it.

“Well, my family is in charge of local deer populations. We’ve been taking care of the herds for generations - me and my dad were just doing a routine census since the fawns recently dropped.” He finished his explanation with a shrug of a shoulder, and then there was a knock on the door and a head poking in with a file of what he assumed were the awaited x-rays. They were passed off with a genial nod and smile, and the doctor took some time to look through them, holding them up to the light for better definition in some places. While she examined them, he examined her. Her eyes were like jade, her lashes a touch clumped with mascara to thicken and darken. He theorized that they were probably naturally more brown - she was too fair-skinned and light-haired for them to be black naturally. His eyes drifted lazily to her hair, cataloging the color (he placed it somewhere between carnation pink and cherry blossoms and cursed Ino for the fact that he knew the difference) and the fact that she didn’t seem to have differently colored roots the way Ino and sometimes his mom did. Perhaps it was a natural color? That was intriguing. His eyes slid down to her hands, noting that they were immaculately clean, but not manicured the way he knew lots of girls tended towards. She looked up and caught his gaze as it swung back up to her face, watching as she tilted her head in a way that made her seem younger still.

“Well, Nara-san, it looks like you’ve suffered a hairline fracture along the tibia and several fractured bones in the foot - you’ll be stuck in a cast for a month to two months, most likely, and crutches for at least three weeks. We’ll set the follow up appointment for three to four weeks out, and see how you’re doing at that point, readjust medication as needed…”

She seemed to almost be speaking to herself at this point, noting down observations on his chart that would no doubt end up on the release paperwork. He listened carefully regardless, letting her voice sink into his ears and relaxing back on the gurney he was seated on. His eyes closed slightly as he sighed deeply, the painkiller pumping through his veins making his mind feel a bit fuzzy. He opened his eyes when he felt a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly in concern.

“You had someone give you a ride here, right? I need to know before I sign off on the release paperwork that you have a way to get home after we have you all plastered up.”

He waved a hand tiredly, nodding. “Yeah… my dad drove me. Has my truck. In the waiting room.”

The concern melted from her eyes as she smiled at him. “Oh? He managed to get a whole truck in there? You Nara men must be quite clever. I’ll have my nurse come in to get the cast on and have you fitted for some crutches before we wheel you out to the waiting room and your father, but it was nice to meet you, Nara-san. I hope you heal up soon, and have a pleasant weekend! We’ll see you back in three weeks.”

She smiled brightly, her eyes squeezed shut, and waved goodbye before leaving the room. He stared blankly at the door before dropping his head to the pillow below him. He drifted in and out of a haze as her nurse bustled in and out, the process of securing his left leg and foot into a sturdy cast mostly lost on him until it was time to stand and get fitted for crutches and then maneuvered into the wheelchair they’d used to get him into the exam room. At some point he lost the IV in his arm and it was replaced with a bandage. His father met them in the middle of the waiting room and took over pushing the wheelchair after taking the discharge paperwork off the nurse’s hands. He was carefully maneuvered back into the passenger seat of the truck and the crutches were passed up to him to hold onto for the drive. The drive home was uneventful and passed by in a strange lull, the background noise of the radio and his dad humming the bits and pieces of songs he recognized the only noise he registered.

After his mother fussed over him and bustled him into his room with a pillow under his leg and a glass of water on his bedside table, he realized that there was one thing he didn’t remember.

Her name.

He slapped his hand over his face and dragged it down tiredly, resolving to scrounge up the discharge papers to see if it was listed there. In the morning. After a good night’s rest. He shifted until he was more or less comfortable and promptly passed out.

Chapter Text

Shikamaru stifled the urge to groan. And then the urge to yawn immediately afterwards. The painkillers he was prescribed were moderately strong, and his mother had been adamant about keeping them out of his hands in case he somehow managed to screw up the instructions for taking them. Which was frustrating. Did she think he was a kid? It’s not like he hadn’t been living on his own during his stint at college, for all the good the dumb degree did him. But that wasn’t his current focus. His current focus was on the paperwork from his discharge a few days before.

He had meant to snag it from Shikaku the morning following the run in, but his father told him in no uncertain terms that his mother had snatched it from him and refused to be parted with it until he had finally convinced her today that she’d read through it more than enough times to have it memorized.

Smoothing the slightly worn edges, he methodically scanned it again, focusing extra hard on the few handwritten bits here and there. They were written in green ink, and one of them had a sloppy smiley face at the end where it reminded him that his follow up appointment was three weeks out. However, her name, the one he was trying to track down through the paperwork, was not included. And it listed the attending physician as one Dr. Senju Tsunade.

The problem with that was that he recognized the name. Senju-sensei had been the director of the local clinic for the last several years, and while the woman looked good for her age (which he was willing to put down to witchcraft, because he was positive she was at least fifty, but she didn’t look any older than thirty at the most), she was definitely not the doctor that had seen to him the other night.

Puzzling over the discrepancy was giving him a mild headache, and he groaned again, dropping his forehead to the table and stretching out his arms across the polished surface. If Yoshino were here, she would have slapped him upside the head for his atrocious posture, headache and broken foot notwithstanding.

He rolled his head so it was his cheek pressed to the wooden table, sighing deeply through his nose as he slowly pressed a hand to the base of his skull, rubbing gingerly. He could feel the slow, dull throbbing throughout, blood pulsing in his ears. One would think that the dosage of painkillers he was on for his leg would take care of a little headache, but as light filtered through his closed eyelids, he knew that wouldn’t be the case. Of all days, now was not the ideal time for a migraine to crop up.

Shikamaru let another low groan drag out of him, missing the sound of footsteps entering the room. A smack resounded and he let out a pained yelp.

“Kachan, c’mon! Gimme a break, my leg’s broken and now I’ve got a migraine!”

His voice was absolutely not a pitiful whine as his stern mother regarded him with raised eyebrow.

“I didn’t raise you with no manners, Shikamaru. Sit up straight when you’re at the table.” She paused, belatedly registering his complaint. “A migraine? Let me check the timer and see when you can have another of your painkillers…”

Yoshino puttered off to find the prescription bottle and check the timer she had insisted on using on his behalf. She hummed thoughtfully to herself before pinning him with a look.

“The instructions say you can’t have another for three hours–“

He dropped his head again, ignoring her glare as he scrunched his eyes shut. He was positive that his head had just given a particularly vicious twinge in response to her proclamation. Yoshino continued speaking, her annoyance coloring her tone.

“– but if your head hurts that badly, it could be a reaction to the medicine. We’ll head over to the clinic and see what they have to say and if they want to switch you to a different painkiller. Go get your shoe on, Shikamaru – we’re taking the van, not the truck.” She trailed off, reexamining the pill bottle to see what the possible side effects were. She wandered off to gather up her things, slipping the pills into her purse before switching out her house slippers for sandals.

There was another groan from the dining room and the sound of reluctant shuffling and thumping before Shikamaru appeared in the entry way, slipping his right foot into a loosely tied sneaker and trailing after her, leaning heavily on his crutches until they reached the van his parents usually shared. Dropping himself into the seat, he arranged his legs and crutches so he’d be comfortable for the short drive to the clinic. Sunlight streamed into the car and he sighed as he shut his eyes, eyelids valiantly fending off the exacerbating sunshine. Some part of his mind idly wondered if he’d be seeing the same physician. He figured he wouldn’t be that lucky, but he promised himself that if he was, he’d at least get her name, regardless of his mother’s overbearing presence.

The drive, short as it was, was filled with his mother’s voice, nattering away about this, that, and everything in between. His thoughts still chugged through his mind at a sluggish rate, wondering if his mother planned to breathe between home and the clinic, since she never seemed to need to draw in air between sentences. When the drive was over, he huffed, dragging himself out of his seat and stumbling his way to the entrance of the neatly kept clinic. Once inside, he blinked and then squinted, glaring half-heartedly at the bright lights overhead. He let his mother take over checking him in because he knew it would make her happy and shuffled his way over to an empty seat. It was surprisingly quiet, but he supposed it made a sort of sense since it was a weekday and only early afternoon.

The wait was short and soon enough, he was led back (with his mother) and settled into an exam room (with his mother) to get processed by the nurse who asked questions (which his mother answered, mostly), and then left to wait for the doctor (with his mother). Yoshino crossed her ankles neatly and started reading through the magazine she had snagged in the waiting room, and time passed with only the sound of breathing and flimsy pages being turned. He managed to relax minutely, laying back on the crinkly paper that covered the exam table. His eyes drifted shut and he focused on ignoring the bright lights of the room that seemed intent on worsening his already pounding head.

The door opened with a quiet creak and in walked a young woman with dark cropped hair and a pleasant smile. She greeted his mother, exchanging pleasantries (he absently noted that they seemed to recognize each other) before she turned a sympathetic gaze on him. He watched her with slitted eyes from his reclined position, mouth screwed up in pain and displeasure.

“Sounds like you’re having a rough time, eh, Shikamaru-kun? Migraine popped up this morning after you were in just the other night for a broken leg… it could be the painkillers we have you on, it’s a potential side effect.” She clicked a pen slowly as she ran her eyes over the vitals taken by the nurse before she came in. “You have a history of migraines? When did the pain start?”

He opened his mouth, but before he could even make a sound, his mother jumped in. He sighed quietly to himself.

“Oh, he’s had migraines in the past from straining his eyes on his computer screen and staying up too late writing essays for college courses, but his father gets them quite frequently, usually around the sinus area, I think? Anyways, the pain seems to have only started today, ne, Shikamaru?”

He waited for a beat to see if she’d continue talking before he answered in a lazy drawl belying the pulse pounding behind his eyes.

“Eh, it started last night. Gave me some trouble falling asleep, but I managed a few hours. Got worse this morning and now I’m here.”

He shrugged a shoulder and paused before opening his mouth to ask about the pink-haired doctor who saw him last and prescribed the medicine. However, before he could get the words out his mother jumped in again. He deflated, defeated, and resigned himself to considering his other options. The young man knew that he’d never get another word in edgewise while his dear mother was around – she was too much of a steamroller to let him handle his own health appointments.

Yoshino and Shizune devolved into discussing potential causes and treatments for his migraine while keeping the broken foot in mind, and then further devolved into making small talk and exchanging recipes. Shikamaru lost himself in his own head, weighing ideas and outcomes.

He could ask as they left – but then figured that since Shizune seemed as inclined to filling the silence as Yoshino was, he’d probably only be able to manage a swift goodbye before being hustled back to the car.

‘ Troublesome… ’

He figured the only other option he had was to come by after he ran out of painkillers and was allowed to drive short distances again. He distantly thanked whatever powers that be that might be that the foot he had injured was his left and not his right, since he was accustomed to using the uninjured one while driving already. He theorized that he could camp out in the waiting room and see if the nameless doctor passed through, grimacing at how creepy it would probably be read as. He could only hope that she accepted his excuse for such a roundabout way to meet her.

He drifted until the discussion between the two women finally started to peter out, and when his mother called his name to get his attention and tell him they were leaving, he obediently sat up and swung his legs off the edge of the table, gingerly stepping down and taking the crutches that she passed to him and following her out. Shizune and Yoshino continued talking as they made their way back to the waiting room, Shikamaru lagging behind. He was almost relieved when Shizune bid them both goodbye and headed back towards the exam rooms again, stopping to speak with a nurse on her way. His mother tugged his arm to start dragging him outside, but dropped it when he dutifully followed her out.

As she started up the van and began to chatter mindlessly once again, he leaned back in the passenger seat and started planning. It would be another four days before he was officially off pain medication and allowed to drive again – he could use the excuse of running errands and stop by the clinic. He relaxed again, brow unfurrowing as he pieced together a plan of attack with his mother’s voice fading to the background.

Chapter Text

The next few days were spent resting his eyes and letting his dad drag him into a few easygoing games of shogi. He didn’t win, but he didn’t expect to, his mind still slightly fogged over by medication and distracted by running through his plan to find the pink-haired doctor for the umpteenth time. They were both scolded by his mother for not getting anything else done around the house, though she was much less forgiving of Shikaku who didn’t have the excuse of injury to fall back on.

He yawned and leaned back against the wall conveniently located at his back, eyes drifting shut yet again. He was so tired. He could practically feel the lethargy flooding his limbs, the sunlight filtering in through the windows welcome and warm. Tomorrow was the day he would put his plan into action. His foot hurt, but it wasn’t enough pain to warrant heavy handed painkillers, which meant that by tomorrow he would be fine to drive. As the sunlight slowly shifted lower and lower in the sky, red light painting the simple wooden floor a vibrant shade, he let himself lay down, his arms behind his head as a makeshift pillow for his neck. He was positive that any minute, Yoshino would pop her head in and scold him for lazing about while simultaneously expressing her worry about what laying on the hard floor was going to do to his spine. She already complained any chance she got about his terrible posture. He wasn’t short by any means, but he had a tendency to slouch that made him seem shorter still.

It felt like only a few minutes later, though logically he knew it was closer to a few hours, that his mother waltzed in, berating him soundly for laying down on the floor to nap (though he certainly hadn’t fallen asleep – dozing was a more accurate description) and telling him that he needed to come set the table for dinner.

With a groan, he rolled to his side and pushed himself up, leaning back on a hand as he scratched the back of his neck idly and pushed the fabric of his shirt aside to get at an itch by his ribs. With a jaw-cracking yawn, he grabbed the crutches leaned against the wall and finagled his way to his feet, making his way slowly to the dining room while his mother put the finishing touches on the evening meal. Usually he would just take his food into his room to eat, but his mother had been on a kick recently about spending more time together as a family and had made a big deal about mealtime, at the very least dinner, being for getting together. He set out plates and silverware on the table before claiming his chair (it was the same chair he’d been sitting in since he was ten and his feet didn’t quite reach the ground) and set the crutches up against the edge of the table so they wouldn’t be in the way, but they’d still be easily accessible. He fingered the edge of the table runner as Yoshino made the trip back and forth from kitchen to dining table with various serving platters and a bowl of salad, shouting herself hoarse for her husband who was dragging his feet even more than Shikamaru had. She finally brought out a pitcher of water, pouring glasses for the three of them and setting it down carefully as Shikaku finally made his appearance in the doorway. Shikamaru watched his father dutifully go to the sink to wash his hands, surmising that he must have been out with the herd not too long ago, before joining them at the table.

Dinner went as well as could be expected – with Yoshino carrying most of the conversation and Shikaku gruffly telling him about what he’d missed about taking care of the deer that day, and his parents sniping at each other (mostly Yoshino) and capitulating (mostly Shikaku). He contributed where it was necessary, but mostly it was just food in mouth, chew-chew-chew, swallow, repeat, until he was satisfied and asked to be excused. His mother pursed her lips, but Shikaku waved him off, telling him to get some rest and keep off his foot, not unlike other nights in the last week. He grabbed his crutches and his dishes and dropped off what needed to be cleaned in the sink before beelining for his room. He may have spent the day more or less relaxing, but he still felt the exhaustion creeping up his spine as he headed for the bed, collapsing forward on the mattress and groaning dramatically. He shifted until he could breathe, glad that he had spent the day in his pajamas so he didn’t have to bother with changing for bed, and slowly snagged a pillow to curl his arms around.

In the morning, he would put his plan into action. For tonight, he would sleep, and hope he didn’t set off any alarms when he woke in the morning without prompting from his mother.

The next morning was unusual only in that he was awake in time for breakfast with his mother, who was naturally an early riser and eyed him with keen-eyed suspicion as he dug into the omelet she had hastily made him upon seeing him vertical before noon. He fully expected an inquisition. He fully expected her to question if he was feeling well and to offer to take him to the hospital. He was absolutely correct.

“Shikamaru, are you feeling alright this morning? Only I don’t usually see you up at this hour unless there’s some kind of emergency or the stars have managed to align for some cosmic event.”

She managed to keep the questioning light as he chewed thoughtfully, considering how to answer her. There was no way he could tell her the truth, for multiple reasons, the foremost being that the last time he had expressed any interest in someone romantically, Yoshino had about passed out in her euphoria, and it was really difficult to explain to the girl he had brought over why his mother kept walking past the open door of his room while they worked on a school project, his cheeks steadily growing more red until they called it quits and said goodbye, mutually deciding that any further work should be done at her house or the library. His mother had pounced the minute his classmate had left and he had barricaded his door for days afterward, only speaking the bare minimum until Yoshino had managed to calm down somewhat.

That had been sophomore year of high school, and he had been careful to keep any crushes or interest he had from being discovered by his far-too-interested mother’s prying eyes.

He finished chewing and swallowing the bite of omelet, the whole thought process only taking a scant few seconds, and offered up a simple explanation.

“I went to bed early last night, and I’ve been getting a lot of rest, so I guess my body has more energy. I figured since I was up so early I’d swing by to visit Chouji before he has to go to work at the restaurant and maybe take care of a few errands now that I’m allowed to drive.”

He left it at that, though his mother was far from satisfied. She didn’t say as much, but it was there in the narrowing of her eyes and the quirking of her lips as she considered him in silence for a moment.

“... I suppose that would be alright, as long as you don’t plan to stay out very long. I’m sure Chouji-kun has been worried – will you be stopping to visit Ino-chan as well? I know you’ve both been busy lately, but since you aren’t busy with work for another week or so, it might be good to stop by. You can pick up the order of seeds I placed a few weeks ago while you’re there.” She paused again, raising an eyebrow slightly. “... what errands were you planning to run, by the way? I wasn’t aware you had anything to do.”

Carefully, carefully… he shrugged a shoulder, chewing his way through another response.

“I mean, it’s probably a good idea to get some fresh air, for one thing – being cooped up in the house for days isn’t healthy for anyone. But I figured I could stop by the library and see if they had anything new, and maybe pick up a few things from the store if you have a list. There were a few things I wanted that we don’t have here, and it’d be nice to have some easy heat-up meals around, much as I love your cooking, Kachan.” He rolled his neck, sighing. “But yeah, mostly I just wanted to head over to the park and spend some time relaxing outside. Get a little sun, watch the clouds…”

He trailed off and from the corner of his eye he saw his mother shake her head in exasperation.

“You… Why is my son such a lazy child… but I suppose your plan has some merit. Just make sure you don’t fall asleep outside, it’s supposed to get chilly later in the day.”

And just like that, suspicions were allayed and the scolding was back in full force. He relaxed internally, patting himself on the back for reading the situation correctly. He finished his omelet off and stretched his arms above his head, back popping in protest, before picking up his dishes and carrying them to the sink to give them a quick rinse.

He pulled together some of his things and headed for the door, slipping his free foot into a shoe and grabbing his keys from the hook before calling a goodbye over his shoulder and stepping outside.

He settled into the driver side of his truck, patting the wheel in a semblance of affection for the clunky thing, and promptly made the drive to the clinic. He found a parking spot and pulled in, taking a few minutes to breathe and run through the strategy he had worked out. Grabbing the crutches he’d stashed on the passenger side, he slid out of the truck and carefully made his way to the entrance of the clinic, pushing the door open and sidling inside. After a brief moment of hesitation, he approached the receptionist and cleared his throat politely.

The pretty young lady looked up and smiled at him in equal politeness.

“Hello, there. How can I help you today? Perhaps you have an appointment?”

He flushed very lightly, clearing his throat again and trying his best to sound adult and professional.

“Ah, no, actually, I was hoping you could give me some information…? I saw a doctor here the other day and didn’t catch her name. Just wondered if you could help me.”

He gave her his best smile, or close to it, and she smiled a bit more warmly at him.

“I see… were you planning to set up another appointment with her, ah…”

Taking the opening she gave him, he quickly supplied his name.

“Nara Shikamaru.”

She hummed lightly in response.

“Planning to make another appointment, Nara-san?”

He bit his bottom lip as he considered it for a brief second before shaking his head.

“No, I wasn’t planning on making another appointment – I just wanted her na–“ He cut himself off as he spotted something pink through the partition behind the receptionist, moving swiftly and gone in the blink of an eye. His stomach dropped to his feet as he raised his voice, his mouth moving before his brain could catch up for once.

“Hey, who is that back there? Miss?”

The receptionist, no longer looking friendly or warm, stood up and in his line of vision, discreetly making a hand signal to the side as she raised a hand defensively to Shikamaru.

“Nara-san, please, this is a clinic – there’s no need to raise your voice.” She paused, allowing two lanky looking men in uniform to glide closer while watching the distracted Shikamaru closely. One of them chewed passively on a toothpick, his eyes heavily lidded and looking deceptively laidback, and the other stood straight and tall with messy brown hair the only thing that looked unprofessional about his appearance.

Shikamaru lowered his voice by just a bit, pointing at the partition insistently.

“That’s who I was looking for, though – she has pink hair, she saw me the other night for my foot, I just wanted to catch her name!”

The young woman behind the desk smiled tightly at him.

“I’m so sorry, Nara-san, but our clinic has a strict no loitering policy – if you’re not interested in making a follow-up appointment with Kato-sensei, then I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

His mouth dropped open as his brow furrowed in disbelief.

“Loiter… look, I’m not causing any trouble, I just wanted to know her name, because I know sure as shit that it wasn’t Senju Tsunade who treated me, despite what my discharge papers said!”

The receptionist pursed her lips, making eye contact with the toothpick-chewer who sidled up beside Shikamaru, patting him on the shoulder.

“Now, now, no need to get snippy with the lady. If you don’t feel like stepping outside by yourself, my partner and I would be happy to see you to the door.”

Shikamaru’s disbelieving gaze shifted first to the man at his side and then to the stern faced security guard still a few steps away, shoulders tense and ready to respond if he put up a fight. As if he could put up a fight with his foot in a cast. As if he looked dangerous . It was laughable, really, and he lifted his hands in acquiescence before shifting on his crutches.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause any alarm. I guess I’ll head out, then… sorry, again.”

He made sure to direct the apology very specifically to the receptionist as she slowly sat back down, pointedly shrugging off the hand on his shoulder and then ignoring the amused look it earned him before heading for the door.

Once in his car, he let his head drop to the steering wheel before letting out a grunt of frustration and then sighing as he lifted his head again.

Might as well go visit Chouji and Ino and let them know what was up before he spent the rest of the afternoon watching clouds pass overhead and contemplating what other ways he could figure out how to get what he wanted.

Chapter Text

Things came to a head when he went with Chouji for the biweekly boys’ night. He had dragged his feet and been generally whinier than normal about making an appearance until Chouji pointed out that he didn’t even have to show up at a job the following day, so he could drink himself dumb, and relay his woes to the rest of the guys, who at best might have ideas, and at worst, will be sympathetic and offer to drink themselves dumb(er) with him to commiserate.

He watched dispassionately as Naruto wrangled Kiba into a headlock after their argument about whether playing Wii Sports counted as an actual sport or not devolved. Unimpressed, he took another swig of the beer Chouji had passed to him a few minutes ago. Before too long, the argument had ended and Kiba and Naruto were shoving each other playfully around while Sasuke watched his boyfriend with a look that was somehow both long-suffering and adoring at the same time. Shikamaru smirked, which thankfully went unnoticed since there weren’t many people more prickly than the Uchiha.

When the group had finally settled down on the sectionals in Neji’s apartment (they rotated apartments for their meet ups, but his was definitely the roomiest, barring the apartment Naruto and Sasuke shared), Shikamaru mentally prepared himself for the obligatory ribbing. He knew it had to be coming – the way he’d broken his foot basically demanded it, so when Naruto turned to him with eyes that glittered with barely concealed glee, he slumped back, sighing deeply through his nose.

“Ne, ne, Shikamaru! Don’t sit and sigh, you gotta tell us how you ended up in that cast!”

His head tilted back and his eyes stayed on the ceiling as he debated with himself whether or not he could get out of telling the story, or what he remembered of it, at least. Another sigh drifted out as he gave in with minimal complaint, keeping his voice bland.

“I was out with my dad doing a census on the deer. One of ‘em spooked and charged me. I ended up getting sort of trampled after I tripped trying to get out of the way. Broke a few bones in my foot and there’s a hairline fracture in my… tibia, I believe. I was kind of out of it for the diagnosis – don’t even remember if the doctor who saw me introduced herself.” He paused before continuing on, the alcohol loosening his tongue a bit. “... Which is really annoying because I wanted to ask her out for coffee or something.” He deflated a little more with that, the hooting of the more exuberant guys in the group drowning out Chouji’s quiet reassurance.

Shikamaru blinked in startlement when Naruto, who had been laughing over the story with Kiba, swung his attention back over to Shikamaru.

“So, wait, you wanted to ask the doctor on a date? Couldn’t you just go back and ask?” The grin on his face was mildly disconcerting, but Shikamaru answered anyways.

“I did. Twice. Went in with a migraine while I was still on painkillers, but my mom was the one who came with me and wouldn’t stop yammering away with the doctor who saw me that day. Tried again after I got off the painkillers but I got escorted out by the security they had there – I wasn’t doing anything – Naruto, stop laughing! Let me finish! I wasn’t doing anything, I just asked if I could get her name, she wasn’t listed on my discharge papers that first night.” After raising his voice to be heard over the cackling blond, he trailed off in a grumble, crossing his arms moodily over his chest.

“The only other thing I could think of would be to have to go in for something else, but even then, I might not get to see her. Troublesome…”

Kiba’s grin was a little too wide as he leaned in, swirling his bottle of beer as he weighed in.

“Y’know, we could help with that. I’m sure we could get you roughed up enough to warrant a doctor visit!” He rammed his shoulder into a still-laughing Naruto’s rib, who immediately responded by practically shoving him off the couch. Neji hissed out a warning about spilling on the rug. The implied threat was all but ignored as Naruto picked up the suggestion Kiba made with the same enthusiasm he approached everything in life with.

“Yeah! We could totally do that! Kiba and me and maybe Bushy Brows, too – we can just whale on you for a while and send you off to try and find your mystery doctor lady!” Obviously, Naruto had imbibed a great deal of alcohol since the night started, with Kiba and Lee not far behind. Chouji started to get that worried look on his face, the kind he made when his friends started making questionable decisions, but Shikamaru was caught somewhere between drunk and desperate.

He gave a disinterested shrug and was promptly tackled straight off the couch by Naruto, who was not being held back at all by his boyfriend. Sasuke usually acted as Naruto’s impulse control, and Naruto did the same for Sasuke, since they both had fairly extreme tendencies. A few drinks into him seemed to have mellowed the Uchiha out, or he was just beyond caring at this time of the night.

Kiba gave a shout and joined Naruto who was cheerfully punching every inch he could reach of Shikamaru. The rug beneath them rubbed his skin raw as he hissed and grunted in pain. Lee saw the beating going on and fell in with the other two, yelling incoherently, and at this point, Shikamaru had resigned himself. He found himself staring at the ceiling again between wincing and trying to figure out how his life had led to this.

A few minutes later, Chouji had had enough, grabbing Kiba and Naruto by their collars and hauling them bodily off his best friend before hooking an arm around Lee’s waist and dragging him away as he made proclamations about the vigor of youth.

Neji grabbed Lee and pulled him down onto the couch again, shoving a glass of water into his hand and glaring him into sipping at it. Sasuke, on the other hand, stood up and nudged the downed Naruto with his toe.

“Come on, dobe, we’re gonna be late. You know how much she hates tardiness, and I don’t plan on ending the night looking like Nara.”

Immediately, Naruto rolled to his feet, snagging Sasuke’s hand and practically dragging him towards the door.

“Crap! Sakura-chaaan! We’re coming, don’t beat us up!”

“She can’t hear you, idiot.”

Somehow, Sasuke made the insult sound like a term of endearment as he was pulled out of the apartment.

Shikamaru laid on the ground groaning, his eyes closed tightly. He heard Chouji sigh before lifting him up and securing an arm around his shoulders.

“Let’s get going, Shikamaru… I’d rather get to the clinic sooner than later.”

“You’re okay to drive…?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I only had that one beer when we got here a few hours ago.”

It was only a short time later that he was helped, limping, into the waiting room of the clinic. He thanked whatever god was listening that the nurse behind the front desk was a different one from the other day, but he definitely did not miss the smug grin on the toothpick-chewer’s face as he elbowed his grumpy coworker into passing him a 20 ryo note.

The concern on the face of the nurse checking him in was comical considering the circumstances.

“Nara-san, what led to the injuries that bring you in tonight?”

He rolled a shoulder, wincing. “Just being dumb with a few friends.”

The furrow under her brow increased.

“... friends? Did your friends happen to beat you up? Your injuries are consistent with being in a fight, except you don’t… seem to have any defensive wounds.”

She trailed off uncertainly, cutting her eyes to Chouji sitting next to him, whose only answer was a grimace.

“No, it’s nothing I wasn’t asking for.” Literally , he finished in his mind with an eye roll. “Like I said, getting up to dumb stuff with friends. We were just having a few beers and got carried away.”

She pursed her lips and nodded, making a few final notes for the doctor before leaving them to wait in the exam room.

It was only a few minutes before the door was being opened, and Shikamaru was absolutely not holding his breath until he registered that it was the same doctor he’d seen for the migraine with his mother. Kato-sensei, he thought belatedly to himself.

She was reading the preliminary notes with a bemused look on her face, her eyes lifting to meet his with the beginnings of a smirk.

“Hello, again, Shikamaru-kun. This is becoming a habit. Do you usually end up at the clinic after a night with the boys?”

He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck sheepishly, making a face that caused amusement to bloom across Kato-sensei’s face.

“Ah… no, not usually. Sorry about this, I’m sure you have other patients you need to see to more than me…” He went to stand, grabbing for his crutches as he did, until the doctor put her hand on his shoulder with a gentle pressure.

“Hold your horses, there – if I didn’t at least give you a quick look, your mother would withhold her best recipes the next time we see each other, and my boyfriend was practically in raptures from the last one she gave me. Stop squirming for a moment.”

Her exam was quick and methodical, diagnosing soreness from bruising and a few notable abrasions from rugburn that she recommended ointment for. She scribbled a quick signature to discharge him while giving him verbal instructions.

“So just try to keep an eye on those abrasions to make sure they don’t get infected, but the bruising should fade in a few days, a week at the most… an over the counter painkiller should help if they give you any discomfort, but I’m sure you’re already taking some of those for your leg. Make sure you take the ones that don’t thin the blood, or the bruising will get worse. And make sure you don’t double up, try to avoid any dumb fun in the future, hmm?”

Her smile was warm as she gently scolded him while shepherding them to the front room.

“Make sure you get him home safely, Chouji-kun, and then get yourself home as well. Make sure you stay hydrated, too, since you’ve been drinking! Best way to avoid a hangover, in my experience.” She turned them out with a wry grin and Shikamaru tried his best to avoid meeting Chouji’s simultaneously reproachful and pitying stare. Maybe getting Naruto and Kiba involved had been a mistake...

Chapter Text

“So, let me get this straight,” she said, playing with her phone as they sat in the greenhouse. “You met this doctor but didn’t get her name, so you think the best way to find her again is to… get yourself injured and, what, pray you run into her again? What the hell are you thinking, Shikamaru? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and one of my customers today wanted to know what the flower language for forget-me-nots was.”

Shikamaru let the weight of his head introduce his forehead to the surface of the table with a groan.

“Ino, you’re not helping. What else am I supposed to do? If I go in and ask again, they’ll just escort me out. And I’m not gonna sit in the parking lot like a creep.”

The blonde shoved his chair back with her foot, forcing him to sit up or risk falling right out of his seat.

“No, that’s right – you’re just injuring yourself in different ways and hoping she ends up treating you again. Definitely not weird or creepy. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.”

Her smirk was devious and he made a face at her. Quick as a flash, her phone was up and there was a distinct “snap!” as a picture was taken.

“Perfect – I was just thinking about how you needed a new contact photo…” She futzed around a little more before her eyes finally left the screen to meet his. “I don’t know what to tell you, Shikamaru – I don’t think you’ve been this set on getting a date since… well, there was that time with Temari, before she decided I was the better option,” she flipped her hair imperiously, preening. “But other than that, you haven’t really made yourself available for the dating pool, though gods know I’ve done my best to help.”

He lifted a hand to rub over his face tiredly.

“Yeah, after I told you, multiple times, that blind dates aren’t my thing. You remember how disastrous the first one was? He spent the entire time talking about explosives as if they were the last word in the art community. You really know how to pick ‘em, Ino.”

Maturely, she stuck her tongue out in response.

“That was one time! And you never agreed to any of the ones I suggested after that – there’s this one girl I met when we were kids who is totally your type, she’s –“

He waved a hand, cutting her off.

“Yeah, no, I’ve had my fill of your matchmaking, and you haven’t offered your help with the current situation. I thought you were the queen of romance? Aren’t you stringing two girls along?”

Ino huffed impatiently at him. “I’ll thank you not to mock me, and no, I am not stringing either of them along. Tenten and Temari are both lovely individuals who aren’t opposed to being in an open relationship as long as there’s plenty of honesty and communication.” She waggled the phone in her hand for emphasis. “Get with the program, Shikamaru – polyamory is a thing. Anyways, getting back to your little problem,” the blonde eyed him speculatively, “I don’t have any plans to counter the one you came up with, stupid as it is. But the only thing you’d be in danger of here are thorns and rashes from those poisonous plants we keep on the top shelf. The sap will give you a terrible itchy rash.” She shuddered for effect, standing when she heard the bell of her family’s florist shop ringing.

Pointing a finger at him threateningly, she headed towards the door to help her customer. “Don’t move.”

The minute she was gone, Shikamaru’s eyes made the journey to the line of plants along the top shelf. He could reach those. He grabbed his crutches with a glance at the door to make sure Ino was still occupied before standing and doing exactly what she told him not to.

Fifteen minutes later, he was sitting in the waiting room with Ino while she scolded him in not-so-quiet tones. The young man at the front desk kept glancing over with a disapproving frown, but hadn’t yet said anything about the volume level.

When his name was finally called, he stopped trying to scratch at the emerging rash on his hands and forearms which stopped Ino from trying to stop him from scratching at the irritated skin. He stood with a quietly muttered “Thank gods,” and swiftly made his way to follow the nurse with his crutches.

Ino made to follow him, but sat back down when he turned to pin her with a glare. She rolled her eyes at his dramatic behavior and plopped back down, pulling her phone out of her pocket on the way.

The intake with the nurse was pretty standard. His excuse was pretty lame, but at least it was believable.

“I was helping my friend out with her family’s shop and accidentally handled some of the less friendly plants.” His shrug was practiced, calculated, as he watched the nurse type his symptoms and vitals into the system with hooded eyes.

“Alright, that takes care of that… the doctor should be in to see you shortly, Nara-san.” Her smile was bright and held a touch of flirtatiousness, but he didn’t respond beyond a nod and a small smile of his own.

Another fifteen minutes passed before the exam room door opened again, revealing a face he recognized, despite never having met her.

Senju Tsunade had taken over the clinic her grandfather had left her in his will, and had decided that the passive role of hospital administrator was not something that interested her, choosing instead to delve into the practice with her own considerable medical knowledge and experience. She was a force to be reckoned with, from what he’d heard from his father, who was one of her regular patients. Her bedside manner was nearly nonexistent and she could be harsh at times, but the word was that there was no one more skilled or accomplished available.

He was vaguely surprised to see her taking walk-ins.

Once she had introduced herself and sat in the seat, she grabbed one of his arms and twisted it this way and that, hemming and hawing over the way the irritated skin looked.

“Run-in with a poisonous plant? Your luck may be worse than mine, this is, what, your third visit? Fourth? In the last two weeks or so?” She smirked as she met his gaze, and he clenched his jaw. He could ask her.

He could ask her and it would all be over.

Except… Except that Tsunade was famously protective of all her employees and subordinates. She wouldn’t go around handing out phone numbers, or even names, all willy-nilly.

He cleared his throat, since she was still waiting for an answer.

“Been a bad couple weeks, I suppose.”

Her eyes narrowed, watching him for another few moments before dropping them back to his arm with a sigh.

“Well, this one is an easy fix, at least, if not a bit annoying. Topical ointment till it clears up, kiddo – I’ll get your prescription ready and then you can go pick up your blonde friend from the waiting room before she drives my front desk insane.”

As she turned away to pull out the pad of prescription paper, Shikamaru had to wonder if he hadn’t made a mistake – or if he had given himself away.

Chapter Text

The worst part of the night is that he hadn’t actually planned to end up in the clinic.

Sure, he had brainstormed a few things that could land him in an exam room, but all he had done tonight was go out to that new pasta place on the corner of main street with Chouji.

They had spent a few hours there just talking while they ate, catching up with each other and talking about what their friends had been up to. Naruto’s shenanigans were always entertaining to hear about, even if watching them happen felt like watching a trainwreck in progress.

The food had tasted good going down – good enough for Chouji to get a second serving – but wasn’t so good coming back up. He groaned, leaning against the cool tiles of the Akimichi’s bathroom. Chouji had somehow managed to recover more quickly from the nausea, which he figured was due to the entire family being foodies and knowing all the tips and tricks to deal with this kind of illness.

His best friend alternated between rubbing his back as he puked his guts out and trying to ply him with flat ginger ale to help settle his stomach.

He stopped thinking as his stomach gave another heave, leaning over the bowl of the toilet while Chouji made sympathetic noises to his left.

“Eh, Shikamaru… maybe a visit to the clinic wouldn’t hurt… they might have something to help with the throwing up.”

Lifting his head, he cut his eyes over to Chouji’s, noting the worry in his eyes and letting his shoulders drop tiredly.

“Yeah… yeah, just… get me a bucket for the car ride.”

As Chouji scrambled to his feet to find a good sized bucket, Shikamaru resigned himself to a night of sore muscles and sour smell.

The drive felt longer than normal, despite the Akimichi house being much closer to the clinic than his own. The rocking of the car brought up more bile along the way, and he ignored the way Chouji pressed the accelerator a bit harder to the floor.

He carried his bucket in with him and let Chouji take care of telling the front desk what was up, too tired and sore to stay standing for long. He stayed hunched over the foul-smelling bucket until he was called back, and did his best to pay attention to the intake nurse before they hooked him up to an I/V for fluids and an antiemetic to help with the nausea symptoms.

After the drug had started to kick in, Kato-sensei appeared through the doorway, giving him a sympathetic look as she walked in.

“Oh, Shikamaru-kun… it’s nice to see you again, but I wish the circumstances were better. How are you feeling? Is the I/V helping at all?”

He rolled his head to look at her as he shrugged a bit lethargically.

“Been better, but I was way worse when I got here, so count it as a win.”

She shook her head at his attitude, setting the paperwork down.

“Well, do you wanna tell me what happened?”

His answer took a minute to put together, but he relayed the story to her with as little detail as he could get away with.

“That new pasta place had some pretty good food, but some of the ingredients must have disagreed with me – Chouji, too, but he got over it faster than I did.”

As she hummed her sympathy, Shikamaru glanced away with a grimace and a mutter.

“Didn’t even plan on showing up this time… what a drag.”

The pen against the paper paused briefly before starting up again, noting down the explanation for him ending up on a gurney again and then finding a pad of paper for prescriptions.

“Well, we’ll keep you for another hour or so, to make sure you’re properly rehydrated, but after that stop by the pharmacy for an antiemetic. Just take a pill if you feel the nausea symptoms resurfacing and give us a call if that’s not helping, alright? I’ll go drop this off at the front and they’ll take care of you on the way out. Do you want me to send Chouji-kun back to keep you company? I think I saw him fretting in the waiting room when I grabbed your chart.”

Nodding absently, he laid his head back with a deep sigh, completely missing the penetrating look the physician sent him before she left the room.

A few minutes later, Chouji was sitting next to where he was laid out, crunching on a bag of chips he must have had in his car and talking to distract him. He could always count on his best friend.

“You know, it might be a good thing you didn’t find her tonight – you look really awful and you don’t smell so great right now, either.”

He cracked one eye open to glare halfheartedly at his best friend’s sly comment, though he silently agreed. Next time, he’d be prepared. He wouldn’t be caught off-guard again.

Chapter Text

The next visit was painful, in more than one way.

He had tripped over his own crutches and, throwing a hand out to break the fall, had ended up with a wrist that hurt. A lot.

Cue frantic mother-worrying and a demand from Yoshino that his father drive him to the clinic to see if it was broken (though he doubted it – he could bend it, it just hurt like a sunuvagun).

Shikaku sighed in chorus with his son, folding like a deck of cards under his wife’s imperious stare.

“Come on, son… less painful this way.”

“Speak for yourself, Oyaji…”

The trip to the waiting room was uneventful, but Shikamaru definitely noticed the one security guard grinning at the mere sight of him before booking it to the back, presumably to a break room of some kind.

Great. He was earning a reputation for himself. He fought the urge to drag a hand over his face in exasperation, since Shikaku would undoubtedly take note. His father was more respectful of the boundaries his son had, but he liked a good puzzle just like Shikamaru did. He wouldn’t be able to resist a subtle questioning at such an obvious sign of distress.

They settled in to wait and Shikaku waved him off when the nurse called for Nara. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

“Didn’t Kachan give you an earful for not sitting in the last time you brought me in?”

His dad grunted, staring at him balefully.

“Yeah, and she’d never have known if you hadn’t blabbed.”

The young man lifted the uninjured arm defensively, though he had to bite back a smirk as well.

“You can’t blame me for that! Those painkillers were strong – and she practically ambushed us on the way into the house.”

His father rolled his eyes before getting to his feet and shooing Shikamaru forward. He turned back to the nurse with a full blown smirk. His dad hated exam rooms. They always reminded him of his physician, who he claimed was the second scariest woman he knew, after Shikamaru’s mother.

Despite being dragged unwillingly to the room, Shikaku managed to find something to occupy himself with on his phone – if Shikamaru leaned back he could make out an app that created randomized Sudoku boards to solve. He had the same one on his phone.

Resisting the urge to rub at the sore area on his forearm, where he was sure endorphins were trying to kick in for the pain, he sat back with a sigh. He almost regretted dragging his dad back with him – what if today was the day? His breath caught for a moment as he considered the thought.

If today was the day he saw her again… he’d have to figure out a subtle way to get her name and maybe an invitation to meet up later. He hated to be the kind of guy who accosted someone who was just trying to do their job, but he didn’t think there was any other option. He’d have to be very careful not to be disrespectful, or put her in a difficult position where she felt she couldn’t refuse.

He was still thinking it out when the door opened, but he felt it when his father looked up and flinched. He followed Shikaku’s gaze and saw the blonde head of the hospital.

She smirked at them both, crossing her arms under her chest and tilting her head consideringly. Shikamaru suddenly understood why his father feared her – she had the air of a predator after its prey. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes at his father, noting how he had apparently stopped moving. And blinking. And breathing. Rolling his eyes, he shoved his elbow into Shikaku’s side, getting a grunt and a glare in response.

“Well, well, well. Nara’s. Two Nara’s. Must be my lucky day. Long time, no see, Shikaku – not since your last physical, hmmm? When was that, again?” Shikamaru fought the urge to grin as Tsunade’s smile widened to frightening proportions and his father’s eyes did the same. “Last year? The year before that? Wait, no, I know. Five years ago. You do know they’re supposed to be done every one to three years for people your age, right?” A narrow eyebrow lifted as she watched him, obviously enjoying how he was suddenly squirming in his seat.

There was a pause before she finally let her attention leave him.

“But we’ll take care of that after I deal with your son. Troublesome , the both of you – what number does this make, Shikamaru?”

He slunk down in his seat a bit, not meeting her sharp gaze as he answered in a mumble.

“... five…”

She nodded to herself as though he’d only confirmed what she thought – she had probably checked his file before coming back to the room.

“So, what’s the problem this time?”

Lifting his injured arm while supporting the wrist with his free hand was the only explanation he offered. Sitting down in front of the computer, Tsunade-sensei carefully took the arm he’d proffered in her hands, gently testing the range of movement and clicking her tongue at him when he tried to jerk it away.

“Sprained. We’ll get an x-ray to make sure, but you shouldn’t need more than a brace for a week or two. Painkillers over the counter, which you’re already taking anyways. Are you always this much of a mess?”

Her voice was amused to say the least as she raised an eyebrow at him, and he blushed faintly, avoiding her eyes.

“... not always.”

He was too aware of his father’s gaze to his right and Tsunade-sensei’s to his left. The scrutiny was intense, but eventually Tsunade-sensei nodded to herself, getting up and moving to the door to get a nurse for the x-ray. Turning back around to address them, she narrowed her eyes.

“Now, the kid is set – it’s your turn, Shikaku. You’re getting a physical before you leave today, even if I have to drag you into the exam room by your stupid ponytail. Are you going to come willingly?”

Next to him, Shikaku gave a pitiful groan, slumping in his seat for a few minutes before getting to his feet and reluctantly slouching after the blonde. She smiled brightly at Shikamaru before she closed the door.

“It was good to see you again, Shikamaru. Try to stay out of trouble this weekend, hmm?”

And he was left in silence, until an elderly nurse puttered in with the portable machine he vaguely remembered from that fateful first visit. The results only confirmed what Tsunade-sensei had already diagnosed: sprained wrist. The nurse recommended a few brands for the wrist brace before letting him out to the waiting room.

Another half an hour passed before Shikaku shuffled in from the back hall, looking ruffled. He pointedly glared at his son’s amused stare.

“Not a word. I refuse to come back for whatever ridiculous scheme you’re working on.”

His smile was a touch too sly as he responded, standing up while grabbing the crutches.

“Course not, Oyaji. At least… not for another one to three years.”

Chapter Text

Shikamaru needed to reevaluate his friendships.

He was slumped over in his seat at the little dive bar Naruto and Kiba had teamed up to drag him out to. They had shown up with an unholy light in their eyes, smiles too wide to be innocent, at his house and his father had taken one look at them before he let them ambush Shikamaru. He figured it was payback for the whole physical thing with Tsunade-sensei the other day.

Kiba was egging Naruto on in a drinking contest that Shikamaru had pled out of, not wanting to completely destroy his liver in one go the way they seemed determined to. Chouji was steadily drinking alongside him, having been dragged along with little protest after hearing Shikamaru would also be there.

With a deep sigh, he rested his chin on his forearms against the table, ignoring the twinge from the pressure on his braced wrist, doing his best to ignore the yelling going on next to him.

A nudge from an inebriated Naruto had his arms slipping off the bar top, and he grunted in pain when the elbow connected with his ribs under his arms. The blond didn’t do so well keeping his strength under control, and he was plenty strong. He was in training for national level sports competitions and spent a lot of his spare time at the gym, and it showed.

Shikamaru stared at him balefully, even in the face of the grin on his friend’s face. He was glad the old days of crushing on Naruto were over – he was cute, and his laughter was contagious, but he was much better suited to Sasuke. They helped balance each other out, and despite his occasional burst of insight, he could be pretty oblivious.

Case in point, Naruto slurred his way through a question.

“So, Shikamaru, you, uh… you went to the clinic again? Right? Your wrist got hurt? Did you find her? You were looking for a doctor at Baa-chan’s clinic, right?”

Shikamaru blinked slowly, processing the words a bit slower than normally.

“... Baa-chan. That’s right, Senju-sensei is old friends with your godfather… I forgot that.” He squinted at the blond for a moment longer before sighing and laying his head back down. “Nah, I haven’t run into her yet. I don’t know if she just hasn’t worked on the days I’ve gone in, or…” He shrugged helplessly, still sprawled across the bar, despite the pointed looks from the bartender that he’d been getting for the last five minutes.

Naruto scoffed loudly, ignoring the drink Kiba was trying to shove in his face.

“Shikamaru, don’t be so formal! Baa-chan is Baa-chan! Here, have a drink and cheer up, you’ll find her, you just gotta keep trying!”

The drink Kiba had been trying to foist off on Naruto was suddenly in Shikamaru’s hand, and Naruto forced it up to his lips, encouraging him to toss the whole thing back like it was a shot. He decided against that, taking smaller sips, instead, mainly because he didn’t fancy choking on the ice at the bottom of the glass.

Later on, he figured that that’s where the evening really started to head south.

Kiba saw that Shikamaru had the drink and screeched that it meant Shikamaru had joined the drinking game. He hadn’t, but as soon as the words left Kiba’s lips, Naruto joined in, and it was just too much work to disagree.

With Chouji as reluctant referee, they slowly drank themselves into a stupor that was only stopped when the bartender had had enough of their shenanigans and declared them cut off. Naruto and Kiba stumbled off to Kiba’s apartment around the corner to sleep it off, but Shikamaru had a very difficult time just staying awake.

He remembered vaguely responding to Chouji’s questions, but his friend’s voice grew increasingly concerned with every question, and by the time he was coherent again he was sitting in an exam room at a very familiar clinic.

He blinked dazedly, looking around before noticing the I/V in his arm.

“Huh.”

His quiet exclamation caught the attention of both Chouji and the intake nurse, who eyed him worriedly before leaning in to lift his eyelids for a closer look at his eyes.

“Nara-san, how are you feeling? Any dizziness, nausea, confusion, fatigue?”

“‘M tired…” His eyes started to slide shut again, but was stopped by a hand shaking his shoulder lightly.

“Nara-san, you need to stay awake. We’re working to rehydrate you, but it seems you may have contracted a mild case of alcohol poisoning – have you had any history with binge drinking?”

He shook his head slowly from side to side while Chouji verbally corroborated.

“We were just at a dive bar with a few other friends and they bullied him into a drinking contest… do you know Uzumaki Naruto?”

Immediate understanding lit the nurse’s eyes.

“Ah, yes. The infamous Naruto-kun. Let me go grab the doctor and we’ll make sure Nara-san is feeling better before he gets released. Will you be staying to give him a ride home, or should we get in touch with an emergency contact?”

Immediately, Chouji shook his head.

“No, I’ll stay, I’ve just got to go outside for a minute to call my mom and let her know I’ll probably be late getting home.”

The nurse nodded, looking at Shikamaru seriously.

“The doctor will be in in just a few minutes, but remember what I said – no sleeping. No dozing off.”

He wasn’t alone long enough to fall asleep. The door slammed open and Tsunade-sensei strode in, glaring him back to wakefulness with her lips pursed in disapproval.

“I distinctly remember telling you to stay out of trouble over the weekend. Distinctly . And yet, here you are.” She glanced over the nurse’s notes briefly. “My nurse told me that Naruto was involved in this little escapade. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised – the runt has always had a knack for throwing a wrench in my plans…” Clicking her tongue impatiently, she reached over to check the bag of saline hanging above where he sat.

“... You’re lucky, you know. If your friend had just dropped you off at home and you’d gone to sleep, things could have been very dodgy. I know you didn’t plan to end up here tonight.”

The mumbled response caught her attention.

“Not this time…”

Immediately, Tsunade zeroed in on the young man. Her voice dropped, coaxing.

“... but you have other times?”

The way Shikamaru’s head bobbed could be taken for a nod. Neither of them spoke as Tsunade considered this silently.

“Your father mentioned something about a harebrained scheme when I dragged him in for a physical the other day, but I thought he was exaggerating. What do you have planned?”

“Mmm. Try’na find her.”

The blonde’s eyes narrowed.

“... Her?”

“Yeah. Saw her few weeks ago. For…” Vaguely, he gestured at the cast on his leg.

If Shikamaru were thinking straight, he’d be panicking. He felt a bit too loose to try and fight the drowsy feeling spreading through his body and easing his inhibitions.

“She’s… she’s got the hair. You know… the… the hair? But… I don’t know her name.” His voice was plaintive and quiet, his distress leaking through.

Tsunade was quiet for another few minutes.

“... I see. That clears up a few questions I had…”

More mumbling was the only answer she got, and she settled in to sit for a while until Chouji got back. Every so often, her eyes would leave the screen of her tablet to watch him closely.

When Chouji finally returned from his phone call, Shikamaru was feeling more awake, and Tsunade’s smile was cryptic as she left the room while letting them know a nurse would be back to check on them in half an hour.

Shikamaru felt his sins crawling up his back in that smile, and Chouji watched with concern as Shikamaru slid down in his seat with a prolonged groan.

Chapter Text

“Come on, Chouji – you can do it. It’s just a little… one little punch!”

Chouji looked at him tearfully, shaking his head in the negative.

“I can’t, Shikamaru… I could never hurt you! You’re my best friend…”

Having spent the last ten minutes trying to convince his friend to help him out ended more or less the way Shikamaru had predicted. With a deep sigh, he nodded.

“... Yeah, I guessed that would be your answer – don’t worry about it, Chouji, you’re just not that kinda guy.” Laying back where they were sprawled on the grass in the park with his favorite cloud-watching hill, he sighed again.

“I feel like I’m running out of ideas for winding up at the clinic… but I don’t wanna just give up at this point. Ahhh… this is such a drag…”

He closed his eyes briefly as he ran through a few different ideas quickly. A broken nose seemed like an expedient way to need medical attention, and the park wasn’t very far from the clinic. They could just walk over. But Chouji was a gentle spirit. He couldn’t even bring himself to hurt a bug if it wasn’t doing anything to hurt anyone. He hadn’t expected Chouji to agree to participate in getting him injured. He was there for support and to make sure Shikamaru didn’t get carried away.

Coming to a swift conclusion, Shikamaru opened his eyes and indulged in the clouds a little longer, sharing a companionable silence with his friend.

Rolling onto his side, he grabbed the crutches he’d set down and pushed himself up to his feet. Chouji immediately got up and helped, hovering until he was sure Shikamaru had his feet under him.

“Well, I guess there only one thing to do… Come on, Chouji, I’m gonna need your help after this.”

And with that cryptic comment, he headed for the little park shelter. It was a quiet day, a little too early for kids to be running around, and too late for people grabbing breakfast together. The lunch crowd wouldn’t be out for another hour or so, by Shikamaru’s calculations.

They made it to the shelter and Shikamaru eyed the solidity of the support posts speculatively. Chouji started to get that look on his face again.

“Uh, Shikamaru…? What’s going through your head? I… I don’t think I like that look in your eyes…”

He glanced at Chouji, raising an eyebrow briefly.

“I’m not gonna make you punch me, Chouji, but there’s another way to get a broken nose here, and it’s right in front of us.”

After that, it was a short, disorienting walk to the clinic, Chouji supporting half of his body on the way there so he didn’t run into any more walls. He tried to use a hand to staunch the blood flow from his nose, feeling light-headed as they walked, but it didn’t do much.

He felt decidedly out of it and belatedly wondered if a broken nose was the best injury he could have chosen for this. Chouji went through the familiar process of getting him checked in with the front desk when they got to the clinic, making small talk with the receptionist who wasn’t doing a very good job hiding the grin on his face as he glanced over a Shikamaru.

“Don’t worry, Chouji-kun. We’ll get Shikamaru-kun back to an exam room very shortly. Here, have a few tissues – it’ll be helpful if you can try and get the blood to slow down a little beforehand.”

Chouji nodded gratefully, toting a box of tissues back over to where Shikamaru was sprawled in a chair, head tilted back.

As promised, they were sent back to the examination room only a few minutes later, and after finishing intake with the nurse, Tsunade-sensei walked into the room.

She looked distinctly unimpressed by the whole scenario, staring at Shikamaru with a raised eyebrow before shaking her head slowly.

She lifted the notes taken by the nurse to read them aloud.

“Ran into… a wall. I’m beginning to think we should just wrap you up in bubble wrap and call it a day, Shikamaru.”

He held back a sigh, if only because he had tried to sigh earlier and it was incredibly painful with his nose in its current state.

Tsunade-sensei held her tongue for a moment longer before she let out a sigh of her own, sitting down in front of him, taking a closer look through the blood covering his lower face with gloves and tools and a deft hand.

“We’ll have to set your nose after we get you cleaned up, and then we’ll get a plaster over it while it heals the rest of the way. I’ll have the nurse come back in with some ice to help with the swelling and I’ll come back to set it personally once he lets me know you’re ready for it. I’ll also prescribe some anti-inflammatory medication that you can pick up on your way out.”

With another glance at him, she rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath that he wasn’t quite able to make out. She left the room and the nurse was in shortly after that with the promised ice, fussing over him in a way that made him feel mildly embarrassed. He had a feeling that Tsunade-sensei had encouraged that kind of treatment so he’d think twice about the next time he got himself injured.

Settling in for the next however long it took before the nurse deemed his injury ready for resetting, he took a breath in through his mouth and let it out the same way, already running through the next idea he had. He just hoped the next time he was in wouldn’t have him seeing Tsunade-sensei.

Chapter Text

“No, you’re lying. You’re full of shit.”

“I’m not, though! Check with the front desk if you don’t believe me — he’s been in almost a dozen times in the last month!”

“Yeah, I’m still calling bullshit. You really think Tsunade-sensei would let that kind of behavior fly with her protegé?”

“Swear on my life. But his plan, while absolutely ridiculous, is sort of just entertaining? He’s not staking the clinic out or anything, and practically every time he’s here at a different time of day.”

“Kurenai, you don’t actually believe what this ass is trying to sell you, do you?”

“Tenzou can back me up! Don’t just take my word for it if it bothers you that much.”

“Well, Tenzou-kun?”

“... as much as I hate to admit it, Shiranui-san may be right about this.”

“See?! Now, are you in or are you out?”

“I dunno, isn’t it a little inappropriate to make bets about a coworkers personal life?”

“Come on, Kurenai, live a little! What’s the worst that could happen?”

“... Sakura-san finds out?”

“Oh, fuck, that’s a good point…”

A pause.

“Worth it.”

Chapter Text

Shikamaru grunted as he gingerly rolled his shoulder. It had been sore for the last few days and didn’t seem to be getting any better. Contemplatively, he stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, debating the pros and cons of heading over to the clinic.

Con: He could run into Tsunade-sensei again.

Pro: He could get his shoulder looked at to see if there was something wrong.

Con: Someone could find out what he was up to and put a stop to it.

Pro: He could finally find her .

He hardly bothered to think past that before he sat up and pushed himself off of the bed, hobbling towards the front entryway and grabbing his shoe to shove on his foot. He snagged his keys and called over his shoulder to let his mother know he was heading out.

The drive was quiet, aside from the faint sound of sirens over in the direction that Kiba’s apartment was – he briefly winged a prayer that the sirens had nothing to do with his friends, but it wouldn’t surprise him if they did. He pulled neatly into his preferred parking spot in the clinic, sighing in quiet relief before dragging his crutches out of the cab of the truck with him, wincing at the strain it caused on his already aching shoulder.

He hobbled inside and lifted a hand in greeting to the security guards on duty – he recognized the one that was always gnawing on toothpicks, but there was another one today who wore a medical mask and was… he was reading, but the cover of that book was one Shikamaru recognized from Naruto’s bookcase.

Sasuke had insisted that Naruto get his own bookcase because the blond’s godfather often sent him his most recent novels to critique and enjoy, except they weren’t… well, they weren’t appropriate for polite company. The Uchiha was adamant that his own novels and texts be kept separate from what he called “garbage literature,” though Naruto had confided in him during a drunken hangout that Sasuke had read almost all of them as well, and even stole his favorite to hang onto. Regardless, he didn’t know how the security guard got away with reading that in a clinic waiting room, but he watched the one he did recognize elbow the one he didn’t and start whispering.

He felt two pairs of eyes on him and his cheeks reddened immediately, especially when one of those gazes sharpened in an almost calculating manner.

Shikamaru shuffled his way towards the front desk, and the girl behind it greeted him by name with a smile.

“Good morning, Nara-kun – what’s the problem today?”

“Aa… my shoulder has been bugging me for a few days. Figured I should at least get it looked at, yeah?”

Her eyes scrunched up in a smile that clearly showcased amusement at his expense, and her reply was borderline patronizing.

“Of course you should, Nara-kun. Why don’t you take a seat? It’s a quiet morning so far, so you should get called back quickly.”

He nodded and turned to find a seat, carefully moving towards one that was close to the hallway they called names from. Before he made it three steps, he heard his name.

“Shikamaru-kun, I’m ready for you. Why don’t you come on back?”

Turning, he smiled in recognition.

“Kato-sensei. It’s good to see you – no nurse today?”

She grinned as they walked back to an open exam room together.

“No, not this early in the day – I’m running first shift, so we’re really only a skeleton crew this early in the morning. We’ll have more on hand right before the lunch rush, and I have a few folks who are on-call, but mornings are hardly ever busy.”

He nodded amiably, listening as she spoke while they settled into the room.

“So, what brings you in today? I almost expected to see you earlier in the week – your face is almost as familiar as the rest of our staff by this point.”

He flushed again at her teasing, reaching up to rub behind his neck sheepishly.

“Ah, I… my shoulder has been giving me some trouble. Can’t tell if it’s just strained, or a pulled muscle or something, but it’s really been bugging me, so I thought I’d come in.”

Humming in acknowledgement, Shizune leaned forward and took his arm, holding it away from his body and pressing her fingers around the area where it connected to his torso. He flinched, gritting his teeth to keep quiet while she tested the tenderness of the area, and then the range of movement.

She hummed again, turning to make a note on his chart before addressing him directly.

“It looks like it’s just a strain – when did it start up, would you say?”

Taking a moment to think, he furrowed his brow.

“Aa… about a day after I was in for the wrist sprain? It didn’t start out so bad, but it got worse as time went on.”

Shizune nodded, making another note.

“I remember reading Tsunade-sensei’s notes on that visit – tripped over your crutches, right? You probably threw your shoulder a bit out of whack at the same time, but using your crutches to get around probably only aggravated it – that sort of thing can happen. The best you can do for now is take some anti-inflammatory pain medication and ice the area. No more than ten minutes at a time, and try to stay off the crutches as much as you can for a few days. Rest will be the best medicine for this.”

He let out a tired sigh, nodding slowly.

“Yeah… okay. I’ll try to stay out of your collective hair for a while, then. Thanks, Kato-sensei.”

Her smile was sly as her eyes met his.

“Oh, it’s no trouble, Shikamaru-kun. Seeing you slouch in through the front doors is the highlight of the day for some of our staff.”

Immediately, he was bright red, and he lifted a hand to cover his face and the embarrassed groan.

“Yeah… that’s what I’m afraid of.”

The rest of the visit was smalltalk before she set him loose in the waiting room, reminding him about the time limit for icing his poor shoulder. He stopped by the kitchen for an ice pack and some medicine when he got home and headed to his room again, collapsing across the bed with a drawn out sigh.