Work Text:
“You can’t be serious!”
“Three WEEKS?!”
They are both on their feet immediately, speaking over each other in protest.
“Wh-that’s half the exam period! She can’t… they can’t just…” Shikamaru tries to start.
“She’s going to laugh in your face when you tell her that.” Tayuya cuts in, jabbing her finger at the woman across the desk. “And when she realizes you mean it she’s going to try to kill you with her mind. She might even pull it off.”
“She can be as angry about it as she likes, but that doesn’t change the post-surgical requirements,” Shizune says sternly, crossing her arms and leaning back to stare them down calmly, nonplussed by either Tayuya’s upset or Shikamaru’s practically pleading look.
“Her injuries were extremely serious. If she doesn’t keep the leg raised over the course of recovery she risks losing the foot.”
Tayuya curses, running a hand roughly back through her hair, trying to form a protest that isn’t just a frustrated scream. Shikamaru has her back, as usual.
“We know it’s serious, Shizune-san, but her mental health is important too, isn’t it? She can’t have just an hour a day or something?”
“Bedrest,” Shizune repeats, though with a little more gentleness this time. “I don’t put active shinobi on these kinds of restrictions lightly, I know this will be hard on her, but the activities she has to get up for like bathing and the bathroom will be enough stress as is. Her blood and chakra flows are in an extremely delicate state right now. I know I don’t need to tell you how important it is that she has a complete and uninterrupted recovery from her injuries.”
Shizune gives a pointed look to the arm-crutch that Tayuya is bearing half her weight into and the red-head rolls her eyes at the ceiling.
“I fucking KNOW, Shi, but… but you…”
“You don’t have to find a way to entertain her for 504 hours,” Shikamaru grumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off his instant headache.
Tayuya draws herself up straighter, adjusting the collar of her interrogator’s uniform with her free hand.
“Three whole weeks? You’re SURE?“
“You can count today since she was on the table so early.” Shizune concedes and Shikamaru and Tayuya heave a united sigh.
“Alright, just… better to let us tell her.”
-
“I could just put her in a genjutsu.” Tayuya says idly as they ride the elevator down to the inpatient floors.
“She won’t fall for that.” Shikamaru scoffs immediately, arms crossed as he leans on the opposite wall. “She’s done way too much training with you.”
“Where are all those Uchiha motherfuckers when you need them…?”
“Tayuya…”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding, fucking hell…” she sighs, feeling drained before the real conversation has even begun. Her shoulders sag and a moment later, Shikamaru has pushed off the far wall and come to put an arm around her, rubbing her back in small soothing circles.
“She’s gonna hate this,” Tayuya says miserably, pressing her forehead to his shoulder, guilt swamping her the more and more she thinks about it. "I shouldn’t have pushed her so much in training…”
“Don’t do that to yourself.“ He says firmly, kissing her temple. "You couldn’t know what was going to happen once she got in the field. It was supposed to be a B rank mission for godsakes.”
Tayuya sighs, knowing he’s right but hardly feeling less guilty for it. Still, she tips her head up to kiss his cheek in return, leans on him until the elevator doors open and they emerge onto the recovery floor.
“So, do you wanna break it to Tema or you gonna make me do it?” Tayuya asks as they turn down the hall.
“Break what to me?” Temari’s voice cuts in from behind them. They both swing around to find their wife peering at them with concern, hands full of coffee for herself and a bottle of soda for their shared patient.
Shikamaru and Tayuya trade a look and Temari groans, knowing already what it means.
“Shit. For how long?”
Tayuya takes a deep breath.
“Three weeks.”
“WEEKS?!” Temari’s voice pitches up into a squeak of shock, blue-green eyes welling up as she takes in the gravity of it.
“It was really that bad? But, her exams…”
Shikamaru winces, nodding as he reaches out to rub Temari’s shoulder. Tayuya takes the coffee from her so she can put an arm around him in return.
“Asuna’s gonna be so upset.” The blonde sniffs as Shikamaru kisses her head, and Tayuya sighs, feeling helpless all over again.
“I know, sunshine…”
“We’ll get her a really good present, see if we can’t make it suck a bit less,” Shikamaru suggests, squeezing Temari reassuringly.
Tayuya makes a thoughtful little sound that makes both her partners look at her.
“What?” Temari asks, one elegant brow raising.
“You're making that scheming face of yours…” Shikamaru says, pinning her with his most suspicious of looks.
The redhead shrugs. “I’m just thinking. Now might be the perfect time to cave and get her that saxophone she’s been begging for. Let her get the first few weeks of screeching out while she’s, you know, hospitalized? Instead of in our house?”
Temari can’t help the laugh that bursts out of her at the sly suggestion.
“Well, she’s still gonna be mad but that will take the edge off for sure. The nurses might all hate us by the time she leaves though.”
“…..It’s so hot when you’re sneaky like that,” Shikamaru adds with a dreamy sigh and Tayuya just grins, sipping a bit off the top of Temari’s coffee.
“That’s why you keep me around, no?”