The Wounded Deer

Chapter Five

Seven Days.

Seven long uneventful days since the incident.

When Kaede witnessed her best friend/crush with another girl, taking his first kiss.

Since then, she's done all she could to avoid him. And she did what she did best to keep herself busy.

Working.

"Thanks for all your help Kaede-san. We actually got a lot more done with your help." Shizune thanked with a soft smile.

"Oh, it's no problem sensei. I've got some free time on my hands and I figured I could take a few extra shifts to help out around here." Kaede faked a smile in return.

Lie.

It was the only thing she could do to keep her mind off Shikamaru. And the only excuse to use to avoid having to face him. She didn't want to talk to him after witnessing what had happened a week ago. Not now...not without wanting to break down in tears.

"Anyway, lately there have been more patients coming in and the supply of the medicine is starting to run a little low. So could you go and pick up some deer antler for me? We need it to make more medicine."

"Um, sure I can do that." Kaede said.

"Great, just stop by the Nara household and tell them Shizune sent you."

Kaede felt her breath get caught in her throat. That was the last thing she wanted to do. She's spent all this time trying to avoid him and now she suddenly has to go to his house and face him?

'What am I supposed to tell him when I see him? Sorry that I've been avoiding you for a week because I saw you practically shoving your tongue down some girl's throat?' Kaede thought bitterly.

Okay, well maybe the kiss didn't look as intense as she had said it was, but that was beside the point.

"A-Alright, be back soon." she forced a smile before throwing her medic-nin standard coat onto the rack and heading out the hospital and towards the Nara household.

'I can't believe I actually thought I could avoid him. No wonder I was getting an uneasy feeling when she mentioned deer, that is what his last name means. I guess I can't get out of this one.' she thought with a frown.

'Hold on a sec,' Kaede suddenly stopped walking, the wheels in her mind suddenly starting to turn.

'Maybe he's...maybe he isn't home. Yeah, I bet Tsunade-sama has given him a lot of work to do to keep him busy. So maybe I won't have to face him now.' she thought with a hopeful smile.

<hr>

"Kaede-chan! It's been a while hasn't it? What brings you here?"

"Hello Yoshino-san, Shizune-sensei sent me to come pick up some of your deer antler."

"Oh you don't need to be so formal, call me Yoshino and drop the honorifics, I'm not that old." Yoshino laugh.

"Oh, right sorry..." Kaede walked inside before sliding the front door shut.

"So, would you like me to make you some tea while you wait?" Yoshino offered.

"No, I'll be alright. Shizune-sensei will probably scold me if I'm late."

"Nonsense, I don't see why you can't have some tea and relax a little while you're here."

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt."

"Good, I'll go start on it."

The house stayed silent except for the sound of Yoshino brewing the tea in the kitchen and the ticking of the clock. "So, what have you been up to lately? You haven't stopped by in a while..." she asked from the kitchen

"Oh, I've just been you know...really busy with work lately. More patients are starting to come in and my hands are getting kind of tied up now."

"Well just be careful not to burn yourself out. You need to know when to relax once in a while alright?"

Kaede smiled with a nod of her head. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"Of course you know as well as I do my son knows how to do that with his eyes closed." Yoshino chuckled.

"Yeah..." her smile slowly faltered at the mention of Shikamaru.

Yoshino returned to the dining room and set a cup of hot tea in front of Kaede. She watched as the steam began to rise from the cup, hesitantly picking the cup and taking a small sip before quickly placing it back down on the plate, nearly scolding her tongue.

"Guess I should've warned you about how hot it was," Yoshino quickly bowed in apology. "Anyway, I probably shouldn't keep you waiting. I know that deer antler is important, I'll go bring you some." She hurried off to the back of the room to head out to the back yard.

Kaede smiled faintly before taking another sip from her tea cup. 'Maybe I won't have to face him today after all. Guess I just worried myself over nothing.' she thought to herself. She quickly turned her head when she heard the front door slide open.

"Hey I'm home."

Kaede's eyes doubled in size, hearing the familiar lazy voice echo through the room. She quickly stood up from her chair in response, her hand accidentally pushing the tea cup off the table, knocking it to the floor with a loud smash.

"Mom, everything alright in there?" he quickly rushed to the source of the crash, but quickly stopped when he saw it was only Kaede standing in front of him.

'Dammit, why did this have to happen now?' Kaede mentally cursed, staring at the broken tea cup.

Kaede couldn't even bring herself to even look up at Shikamaru. Just hearing his voice made her feel all those unwanted emotions she felt when she saw him lip-locked with another woman.

"K-Kaede? What're you doing here?" he asked.

She cautiously took a step back staring at the tea that was now soaking the wooden floor.

"I-I'm sorry...my hand slipped and-" she babbled.

"Don't worry about it. We've got plenty of cups around the house anyway." he reassured her.

"Right..." She bent down on her knees to pick up some of the broken pieces.

Shikamaru had sat down next to her to help her clean up. His hand reached out for another piece and their hands brushed up against each other causing her hand to jerk back. He raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Kaede picked up the remaining pieces and threw them away and cleaned the tea off the floor. She averted her gaze to the floor with a frown, not daring to even steal a glance at him.

"I-I really should get going." She turned her heal to leave until she felt a sudden jerk at her wrist.

"We need to talk..."