A young girl hid in the office of her master's home with a rapid heartbeat. Fear pulsed through her. She poked her head out from behind the desk and quickly went back under at the sound of his footsteps in the hall. He stopped by the door but continued walking. She hoped, she prayed, he wouldn't find her.

The broken vase in the trash, worth no more than a couple dollars surely, but she knew this man's anger. She had seen the bruises on her mother when she had been subject to serve him; she knew the sad look in her eye when people caught sight of them.

She had simply been dusting the house as was her job every Tuesday morning, but she'd tripped. It was an accident. It was an accident. Her tiny body shook with tears spilling down her cheeks and she pushed herself farther under neither the desk.
CIick. The door opened.

She held her breath, wide eyes staring ahead of her in fear.

"Come out, child. I know you're in here…I'm not angry. I promise." His nasally voice cooed as he took slow, menacing steps into the office.

She grabbed her knees and held them to her chest tightly, the silence screaming.

"How dare you hide from me!" He looked under the desk suddenly and the child screamed. He took her by the hair and dragged her out kicking. Panicked, she tried to run but he caught her by the arm and yanked her back, nails digging into her skin. This was simply her debt.

"Come on, Shikamaru!" Naruto called out to his friend as he walked ahead of him and Kiba. "What's the hold up?!"

Shikamaru let out an exasperated sigh as he looked up at the clouds rolling in over the darkening sky. To beat spending another night at his new home alone he had, for whatever reason, decided to let Naruto talk him into buying him and Kiba ramen at Ichiraku's Ramen shop. 'What a drag…' He thought to himself.

Kiba shook his head. "That kid never runs out of energy, does he?"

"No, not as long as I've known him anyway." Shikamaru replied flatly.

Naruto was the first one in Ichiraku's, already ordering a bowl of his favorite ramen. Shikamaru took a seat beside him with Kiba on his right. Shikamaru propped an elbow on the counter as Ichiraku handed out their dinner. It wasn't long before Naruto had scarfed up five bowls and was doubled over with his forehead on the counter.

"Oh man….I don't feel so good…" Naruto groaned, gripping his stomach.

"Well I guess so eating as much as you did." Kiba said with a sweat drop. "Hey, thanks for the dinner Shikamaru, but I've gotta head out. Me and Akamaru have some high intensity training planned for tomorrow morning."

"Can't say I'm not bummed out you're leaving so soon, but good luck to you and Akamaru."

"Alright, see you." Kiba left with a small wave, Akamaru following in tow.

Shikamaru's lips formed a line as he stared at the ceiling for a bit. For as much fun as this outing was, he just assume stay home for free.

"How 'bout you Naruto, bailing on me early too?" Shikamaru asked, turning his attention to Naruto to find he'd passed out on the counter, grumbling something about Sakura.

Shikamaru planted the side of his face in his hand again and glared at Naruto. He stirred the left over noodles in his bowl and watched Ichikaru start to clean up for the night. He still had a good two hours or so left for the shop being open, but not many people came in around this hour.

He looked over to the girl a seat down from him who stirred her ramen with her head down. Ever so slightly she looked at him from the corner of her eye, a small smile just barely visible on her lips before she returned to eating. He couldn't deny that she was pretty. Auburn hair fell around her shoulders in wisps, complementing her small figure. Almost too skinny for his taste, he liked a girl to be healthy, but judging from how she sat in her chair he could tell she wasn't very tall. What did he have to lose?

"This seat taken?" He asked, jerking his head at the chair beside her.

She looked up at him with a smile, playful almost. "Does it look it?"

Shikamaru scooted over beside her with a smirk, liking her already. "No, I guess not."

She continued nibbling her ramen in silence. Shikamaru clasped his hands on front of his face, elbows resting on the counter top. He watched her with a slight tilt of his head.

"So what brings you here so late? Not the best idea for a woman as small as you."

The girl set her chopsticks down and tilted her head to look at Shikamaru, ignoring his last statement. "I heard they had good ramen here. Apparently your friend thinks so too." She nodded towards Naruto's sleeping figure.

Shikamara gave a small laugh. "That's Naruto for you. I'm Shikamaru, by the way." He offered his hand and she shook it.

"Jezebel, pleased to meet you."

"Same to you."

"You're a Leaf Ninja?" Jezebel asked, nodding at the head band on his arm.

"Yea."

"I have some medical ninja training, myself."

"Really? Haven't seen you around here before."

"I'm from the Root Village. I work in the hospital now."

Shikamaru nodded. "I assume you quit?"

Jezebel gave a small smile. "What makes you assume?"

"Am I right?"

"You are." Finishing up her ramen she turned her body towards him, brushing her knee against his. He made no effort to move his leg away from hers.

"Any reason? If it's not rude to ask."

"Circumstances beyond my control is all. I like the hospital though."

"What is it you do there?"

"Nursing work mostly, I run errands for the chief surgeon as well. That's what I'm here the night for."

"Sounds like a major downgrade from medical ninja training, if you ask me." Shikamaru said rather bluntly. Jezebel only shrugged, un-phased by his tone.

"It's rewarding in itself."She said, resting her head on her hand. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What brings you here so late?"

"Well, to be honest I just wanted to get out and have a good time. Kind of a drag when I found Naruto ate himself into coma." He said with an irritated expression. "Talked me into paying for it and everything."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said, brushing her leg back against his. Shikamaru tried to push it out of his mind; it wasn't like him to be all flirty-flirty with some stranger he just met, but he couldn't help being intrigued by her. He fell quiet for a few moments, thinking about the situation and how to respond to it. She pulled her leg away from his when he didn't continue speaking. She stared out into the back of the kitchen with a vague expression, watching Ichiraku's daughter clean. Judging from her reaction, Shikamaru assumed she took his silence wrong.

"Want something to drink?" He asked in a half-assed attempt to bring the conversation back.

"Sure." She said, her smile coming back.

"Sake okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine." She said, turning back to him a bit but not all together. He figured she was cautious to not bother him.

Shikamaru asked for a bottle of Sake and split it between the two. Their conversation continued casually but he enjoyed himself. He found out she was seventeen, the same age he was now and she worked full time at the hospital. She was a single child and didn't see much of her father, her mother was deceased.

She was confident at times in their conversation, but tended to grow quiet after some time. She seemed to withdraw and think often, but it was something he was fine with, he liked to do the same. Her favorite color was purple and she played Shoji often as he did, but she didn't think she was amazing. He challenged her to a game sometime and she accepted, though this was supposedly her last night in the village. She told him about the Root Village and he told her about his teammates; about how Choji ate too much but was a good guy and had a kind heart, and how Ino didn't eat enough but was still a pretty okay person once you got past her troublesome personality.

She asked a bit about his family but didn't pry when he didn't have much to say, he returned the favor to her. Sometimes she seemed like an open book, willing to tell you anything, then other times it was like she was someplace else, lost in her thoughts. She was witty, and a bit devious in her talk sometimes, but the more he read into her, he knew she had a kind heart. He liked that. He noted that her eyes were a dark brown, pretty, but not too pretty.

He eventually brushed his knee back against hers and she turned her eyes down and smiled when he did. She didn't pull away. The last two hours at the ramen shop passed without much notice to them, he probably would have stayed there all night had Ichiraku not woken Naruto up and told him the shop was closing for the night.

Naruto left with a big yawn, thanking Shikamaru over his shoulder and not taking much notice of Jezebel.

Shikamaru and Jezebel stood outside the closed Ichiraku's and looked up at the night sky in silence, neither of them really wanted to go home though it was about 10:00 PM now.

Jezebel turned her eyes from the stars to look at him expectantly, waiting for his lead if he would go home or walk her back to the Inn she stayed at. It wasn't something she expected but she felt like the sake had the potential of clouding her judgement.

Shikamaru studied her for a few moments, hands stationed in his pockets. "I'll walk you back to your place if you care for it, no bodies expecting me back anytime soon anyway."

Jezebel nodded with a smile. "I'd like that."

They walked in silence for a bit. She looked up at him and watched him study the sky. She had a good time tonight. She was glad she was able to spend her rare night of freedom with him. She had gone out so late in hope to savor her freedom away from Dr. Shiro and flirt with somebody, but the connection she found was better. It pained her to think of leaving in the morning but this was her life, you have to play the cards you're dealt.

Her fingers clutched onto her bag tightly and studied his features. He had a slim face with black hair that was tied back into a ponytail. His eyes were narrow and brown; he didn't show all that much expression but for an occasional smirk, over all he seemed to be pretty laid back. She liked that about him. He talked, but not too much. He asked questions, but he wasn't pushy. She thought he was attractive, and tried to pull her mind back from the conclusion without much success, though the personality he appeared to have was what really added to his attraction to her.

"You stare at people like that often?" Shikamaru smirked a bit, not looking at her. He'd been aware of her studying him for some time. He wondered what was going through her mind; she seemed pretty content to spend the walk just observing him. "Some people might find it kind of rude."

Jezebel's eyes widened a bit and she looked away with a reddened face. "Not often."

"Really? What makes you stare now?"

Jezebel's lips curled up at the corners. She kept her gaze fixed on the ground for a few moments before looking up at him, her smile growing. Her expression telling him everything he needed to know.

They came to a stop outside of the Inn and Shikamaru looked around with a flat expression. The tenants were rowdy people, two or three men were drinking just outside the door. The entire place looked like a dump, completely run down if you asked Shikamaru.

"You really want to stay here by yourself?" He asked, aware it made him sound like he was asking to stay the night, though not entirely opposed to the idea he wasn't the type of guy to push it. "Not trying to invite myself in though, this place is just a dump."

Jezebel gave a slight frown, looking at the men only a few yards from her. "Dr. Shiro's placed me at this inn, it wasn't my choice."

"Sounds like a jerk to me, if he can't even get his staff a decent place to stay."

One of the men slurred a cat call to Jezebel and she turned her face away from him giving a small sigh, rather it was from stress or annoyance he wasn't sure. Shikamaru sent a glare at the man, causing him to stumble back and sit against the building.

"Let me at least walk you to your room with these guys around."

Jezebel nodded and ducked her head down as she went through the doors of the inn. The man shrunk back from his attempt to tug at Jezebel's skirt when Shikamaru sent another glare down at him.

Shikamaru sighed. "Having guys like that here in the village is such a pain..."

Jezebel brought him down the hall to her room on the ground floor, one of the cheapest rooms they had. Shikamaru couldn't help but note that for Dr. Shiro being a pretty wealthy guy heading the hospital of the Root Village he was cheap, leaving a woman alone in a dump like this.

They stopped outside her door and she shifted her weight a bit, looking at a picture of a cheap landscape on the wall. Shikamaru followed her gaze and studied the picture with her, his hands still in his pockets. Inside the inn it was fairly quiet except for the elevator style music they had playing over head.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around another time then. It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, it was nice meeting you too."

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck with one hand stepping back to the side, a bit reluctant to leave. Jezebel lifted her eyes and opened her mouth a bit to speak but closed it on second thought. Shikamaru stepped back to face her. He observed her as she stepped forward cautiously. Tilting her chin up she kissed him softly, touching her hand to his chin and she met his gaze for moment then kissed him again. He moved his hands to her hips slowly and kissed her back. A grin spread across her face and she pushed him back against her door dragging a hand down his chest and hooking her fingers around the rim of his pants. She gave a tug with a playful grin and he smirked back.