chuninpath-blog

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healheir‌:

“I might have to ask for you to help me with that sometime. I might be out of practice before Tsunade-sama clears me to do more missions.” Naruto wasn’t there to talk her ear off while she was in the hospital working with patients. She takes a stab out of her food, pocketing it in her mouth. “But also food is better than books, and I’ve probably read at least half the books you have,” the pinkette continues with the occasional grain of rice falling from her mouth.

       “You probably have read more than that.” Shikamaru knows exactly how much studying being with Tsunade requires. He could watch Sakura read and read books from the distance. He didn’t approach, however, because why would he interrupt her when she seemed so focused? “I’ll help you with that whenever you like, Sakura,” he says and he reaches over to wipe the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

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healheir‌:

“How do you even manage to read with all this noise anyway?” In all honesty, the entirety of the noise was just coming from Ino, Kiba, and Choji with the occasional input from Rock Lee. “I can manage to read even with Naruto’s loud-mouthing but when you spend every day with him it gets pretty easy to tune out.”

       It isn’t hard for Shikamaru. Even at school they taught them how to focus on one thing or on several things at the same time. “I spend every day with these two. It gets pretty easy to tune them out too.” Right now, he is focused on only Sakura’s words just as he was on his book before. “When I’m interested on something, I can focus very easily.”

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healheir‌:

@chuninpath / CONTINUED

Shikamaru’s sudden and obvious change of tone puts a little blush on the Haruno girl’s face. She flicks another kernel in his direction. “What’s the point of us all hanging out if you’re going to keep your nose in a book? We’re rarely all here.” Well, the greater majority was there. No one was on a mission. 

       “Right...” Shikamaru sighs and puts the book down on his lap to properly face Sakura, sitting across him. He reaches over to grab some food, glancing at her from time to time, but chooses not to say anything. She doesn’t usually care what he does or doesn’t. He cannot help but feel curious, although perhaps he’s looking too much into it, overthinking it as usual.

[chuninpath-blog]

🌺 put a flower in my muse’s hair (shikamaru)

@healheir

       Now this was embarrassing. She surely enjoyed making him look like a fool and there wasn’t much Shikamaru could do about it. She seemed to be having so much fun, and it had been quite a few months since he last saw her laugh. Caring about such things had become quite a drag. He didn’t even know why he’d decided to care about that specifically.

[chuninpath-blog]

🍿 flick a piece of popcorn at my muse (shikamaru)

@healheir

       Shikamaru was too focused on the book he was reading to be aware of what was happening around him. He could remember they were in a restaurant, waiting for the food to be taken to their table. The usual group of friends: Ino, Choji, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Tenten, Neji and Sakura. However, all Shikamaru was concious of was the screaming, the loud noises and the bickering coming from their table.

       When a piece of popcorn hit his head, he rolled his eyes and turned to glare at whoever was trying to bother him. “Will you stop? I’m trying to—” But then he realized who it was, he saw Sakura giggling under her palm, which forced him to stop the insult. “Oh… I’m sorry, Sakura…” My bad. He closed the book and grabbed the same popcorn to eat it.

[chuninpath-blog]

😴 - to Mirai

@wokasho || 😴 place a blanket over my muse

       “Ah, thank you…” Mirai wasn’t expecting to be spoiled today, especially not by Sakura. She’d always looked up to her, but the two had never had the chance to share much time together, even though Mirai always wanted to be trained by her. “That’s… very nice of you.” It was cold, and the chunin wasn’t really good at hiding it. She felt a little embarrassed for it.

[chuninpath-blog]

healheir‌:

Sakura shrinks within herself, hands clasped in front of the apron she wears at her waist. At first, she hides her face from Shikamaru’s mother. Green eyes look up with hesitance and immediately straightens her posture to greet her with a bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nara-san. I am sorry for coming unannounced so shortly before dinner.”

       No, please come in. It’s really not a problem at all. She walks into the dining room and Shikamaru makes Sakura follow them. “See, she can be nice.” At least she is to strangers. In this room, they find his father sitting at the table. His mother quickly explains her husband the situation, to which the man responds with a smile and a couple of welcoming words to Sakura. He sits at the table next to his dead and pats the spot on the floor next to him. “Come on.”

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healheir‌:

Frantic hands wave in front of her. “No, I’d love to. I just don’t want to surprise your mom. That’s it, really.” And she’s still entirely stuck in her big, broad forehead, overthinking things. She’s gotten better about it. There was less to feel so self-conscious about with Sasuke-kun gone, she wasn’t constantly trying to win someone’s impossible affection. “No, let’s go. I’m sure whatever your mom is cooking is delicious and I’ll feel like an idiot for missing out.”

       Okay, that leaves Shikamaru no doubts. She’s not hesitating anymore, which is good. He doesn’t need to feel guilty about asking her to come home, and he’s pretty sure that she will have fun once she’s there. His parents are funnier than he is, they are more sociable and talkative. Never let Shikamaru be a host. “Alright, then. But you wouldn’t be an idiot.” He opens the door to his house and lets Sakura come in first. “Mom! I’m here,” the boy announces. “I come with a friend!” Immediately, his mother comes to greet them and is evidently surprised to see a new face. Oh dear... Shikamaru, I don’t have the honor to have met your beautiful friend before? Would you introduce us? And she makes a reverence. “Sakura, mom. Mom, Sakura,” he sighs. Nice to meet you, Sakura!

[chuninpath-blog]

healheir‌:

The proposition still sets the pinkette uneasy. She wishes she could be as calm as Shikamaru some days. This kind of thing would’ve been greeted as a welcomed opportunity by her mother, just because it meant Sakura had friends and friends she was willing to have experience her parents at that. “If you say so.” There’s an audible grumbling of her stomach and there wasn’t much to say after that. “I guess that’s your answer then,” the kunoichi says with an embarrassed laugh.

       Shikamaru laughs with her. “If you say so.” He looks at Sakura again and thinks. He’s not sure that she’s okay with this yet... and it wouldn’t be nice to make her feel forced to say yes and come only to be polite. Shikamaru clears his throat after they’re almost in front of his door. “You know, if you say no, if you feel uncomfortable, I would understand completely. It was a random invitation... all of a sudden and we... we’re not that close, so I would understand.” Although what he said earlier about his mother welcoming any of his friends was the truth.

[chuninpath-blog]

* nonverbal starters

feel free to combine prompts.

🍁 play with my muse’s hair

😋 tickle my muse

😴 place a blanket over my muse

💌 pillow my muse’s head in your lap

🐷 give my muse a piggy back ride

💪 pick up / carry my muse 

🚽 rub my muse’s back when they get sick

🥄 give my muse their medicine

🥫 make soup for my muse  

👀 hold hands with my muse

🍿 flick a piece of popcorn at my muse

🐔 wake my muse with a forehead kiss 

 🍕 wake my muse with a shoulder shake

💛 hug my muse 

👅 make a silly face at my muse   

🌺 put a flower in my muse’s hair

[chuninpath-blog]

healheir‌:

Sakura’s toes skid into the sand, stopping the swing in its tracks. “Your house!?” The color flushes from the kunoichi’s face. She really wasn’t used to having close friends besides her teammates and Ino. Sakura wasn’t really invited over to Sasuke-kun and Naruto’s places for the obvious reasons, Naruto mostly because she always started cleaning out his fridge. “Are you sure? This is pretty last minute for your mom.”

       “It’s fine. My mom is used to cook more because Choji always comes and you know how much he eats. She will be relieved it’s you instead of him, really.” Shikamaru didn’t see it as a big deal. Choji and Ino usually visited, so why couldn’t he ask other friends to come as well? Sakura was nice and polite and quiet unlike many of his other friends. Naruto, Lee, Kiba... now, those would not be welcomed by the Nara’s, but Sakura... even his parents would love her.

[chuninpath-blog]

healheir‌:

Eyebrows raise up on a broad forehead, “Huh?” is the surprised sound that leaves her mouth. It was strange enough to spend this much time with Shikamaru, even more strange that it was just the two of them and that he had left his team to celebrate alone. It’s about as strange as the possibility of Sasuke-kun ever having asked to go out on a walk with her. But it was just lunch between friends, making up for not being close when they were in the academy right? They were part of the Konoha 11. But also, who was she to pass up a meal? That girl was gone and forgotten after the intense training Tsunade puts her through. “I haven’t, and before you say anything - ramen is off the table. I’ve had more than my share.” 

       “Don’t worry, I’m not that much of a fan of ramen. Not like Naruto, at least.” Shikamaru felt comfortable here. He was proud of his decision. Sakura was alone and really needed to get some things off her system. Sometimes lending an ear was all he could do, but that seemed to be enough for now. He was just happy to be able to help a teammate without much effort. Sakura was an important member of their team, too. Even though the two didn’t share much together, Shikamaru always looked up at her from afar, wishing he had the energies and courage to become friends with her. “You know, I don’t really like going out much, especially to public places like restaurants. I’m taking you home. My home, that is. Mom cooks the best food in the village anyway.”

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healheir‌:

“It will be a long time before that happens. Rock Lee is back because of her. She really beat the odds.” Her legs kick a little harder, lifting her a little higher in the swing. Being Tsunade’s disciple made her feel strong. She wasn’t a risk to her teammates. She was even learning how to be a fighter because she wasn’t going to be just any medic. Every day, little by little, that pool of chakra was filling up.

       “I guess so.” Shikamaru was glad he took the decision to leave the restaurant. This place was quiet except for Sakura’s voice, and that wasn’t a sound that bothered him. It was actually the opposite. “Well...” He stood up from the swing. “Have you had dinner? Because I didn’t get to eat anything back there.”

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healheir‌:

Her smile is wide in his direction. There is a desperate need for medics on shinobi teams and it’s not exactly why she went into the field, but it is an obvious enough fact that her training will prove vital. It’s not just about healing her teammates but it’s about keeping herself out of harm’s way too. She went from learning the most routine medic technique to trying to dodge every single one of Tsunade’s blows. “A lot of it is strategy, being able to observe all the parts of a scenario to figure out the best plan of action. Without that, you could just be wasting chakra and still lose a patient and I won’t let that happen.” She can’t. She won’t let her comrades die.

       Shikamaru paid attention to every word she said. Somehow her enthusiasm was contagious, a very rare feeling for the ninja who didn’t usually found amusement on simple things. This was no simple thing, he told himself in an attempt to justify his grin. “I see...” he said when she finished. “That is a very noble task, Sakura. I know you will be the best medic in Konoha one day. Even better than Tsunade.”

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healheir‌:

She nods her head with a proud smile. “Yeah, Tsunade-sama already has me working in the hospital.” The hokage was still hesitant with allowing Sakura to go on missions. There was a lot to learn and Sakura still wasn’t quite where Tsunade-sama wanted her when it came to dodging. “A lot goes into it, but it’s as important as any other role in a team.”

       “I know how important it is.” He’d found himself in need of a medic in more than one mission. Shikamaru  knew full well how necessary they were. “I think that’s impressive, honestly. I bet you’re really smart to be able to dedicate yourself to such a wide field.”

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healheir‌:

Brows furrow, it would seem like an odd thing to keep from the team. It was another bit of training that made Ino an asset for Team Asuma. It wasn’t like the secret Sakura kept which would leave people in a constant state of worry with her on the field. “Well, you have a medic on your team now. That seems like an important thing to tell, but maybe she’s embarrassed because I was there.” Her hands unlatch from the metal chains of the swing and she faces her palms up in combination with her shrug. “It’s Ino. Even I don’t know.”

       He shrugs. It is cool and always helpful to have a medic on the team, but Shikamaru doesn’t know why she would keep that from Chouji and himself. “Maybe she’s embarrassed of everything. Ino’s weird, I don’t understand her most of the time.”  But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s still one of his best friends. “So you’re becoming a medic too, right? How’s that going?”