Title
Everyone Has Their Secrets

Pairing
Shizune/Kabuto

Warning
Rated T for romance themes. Also, if you don't like the pairing, don't read.

Note
Hn, I know I said that there would be no stories until December, but this will only be a twoshot or a threeshot… well I'm not sure. It will not go over five chapters, that's certain. I just wanted to let you all know I was alive, plus I've been dying to write a KabuShiz for months!

Dedication
To every crazy person who enjoy this crazy pairing! If you want more, I have a KabuShiz Community you'd love to check out!

Chapter One: So Alike, yet so Different

The lights danced around the room crazily, matching the beat of the heavy music that turned the room into the most sought-after bar in the Hidden Leaf Village. People danced, people drank, people passed out, people had fun. That was the sole purpose of the building. In fact, one lady seemed to be enjoying it more than anyone else.

"A round for everyone! My treat!" the blonde lady yelled, earning her some shouts of glee from the many people surrounding her.

Meanwhile, in a corner, a dark-haired woman was observing the scenery around her with a sharp eye, keeping her mouth shut. Every time a man would ask her to dance or would offer her a drink, she'd politely but firmly decline the offer. She had to keep her mind completely clear if she wanted to stop her mentor from going overboard. Again.

An hour later, the dark haired female noticed that the popular blonde seemed to be fairly drunk now. She was, in fact, flirting shamelessly with an equally drunk shinobi, who gladly returned the attention. Not liking where this was going, the sober woman pushed herself from the wall and walked proudly towards the couple.

"Excuse me," she said, rubbing her tired eyes, "but I'd like to have a word with this lady in private."

The shinobi leered a few seconds at the beautiful blonde, then muttered something about getting them both another drink and drunkenly stumbled away.

Glad for the quiet time, the dark haired woman grasped the other's arm and hissed in a rather shrill voice, "Lady Tsunade, you've had more than enough! It's time for you to head back home, you have a meeting early tomorrow morning and as the Hokage you should—"

"Oh Shizune, relax a little bit!" the woman sighed impatiently, shooting a look of regret as the man she had been flirting with. "It's some harmless fun…"

"You've had enough to drink! More than enough! Now come on, I'll walk you home!" Tsunade's subordinate scolded lightly, grabbing her arm.

Strangely, the Hokage didn't bicker as her assistant dragged her out of the bar and into the street. By the time they reached the Hokage's tower, the older woman began to groan and complain of dizziness.

The two ladies barely had time to make it to Tsunade's apartment before the blonde fell asleep on her subordinate's shoulder. Groaning, Shizune unlocked the door with the key Tsunade had given her and went to carefully lie the woman on her bed.

'This is getting old. I'm twenty five now and she's over fifty, but I feel more like an adult guarding a rebellious teenager…' Shizune lamented silently to herself as she placed a few pills beside Tsunade's bed along with a glass of water for when the woman would wake up. Surely she'd be greeted by a horrible hangover, just like most mornings.

Yet Shizune had refused. She had taken a small, one bedroom apartment with a tiny bathroom and a small kitchen. Period. No fancy living room, no big tables, no expensive chandeliers. Just a simple place for a simple woman.

When Tsunade had asked her why she had turned down such an offer, Shizune had told her that such a house simply wasn't her and that she wanted her own place. The real reason, though, was that she simply wanted a break. Living so close to the Hokage would mean having to check up on her more often, since she worried a lot about her mentor.

But when her house was so far away from said woman… She had an excuse not to rush over every few minutes just to make sure the Hokage was behaving…

The weather was cold as Shizune walked, lost in her thoughts and getting angrier at herself every second. She had spent her entire teenage years following Tsunade, yet she barely got a thank you when she did so. She never had the chance to go out, to have fun on her own. Well technically, she did have the chance- it wasn't as if Tsunade never had fun. Simply Shizune had seen what could happen to a drunken woman when she wasn't supervised, so her mentor's drinking habits had kept the girl grounded and alert.

Now she was fed up with it. With herself.

'I should go have a few drinks myself. Do something spontaneous for once…' Shizune sighed, knowing full well that just like every night, she wouldn't detour her route. She'd go straight home and to bed without a second wasted.

Yet Shizune couldn't bring herself to go straight home. She turned around and took the longer route, bringing her arms closer around herself. Her breath came out as little white clouds as she shivered coldly. The November months were definitely cooling the weather down.

Finally, after a few minutes, she stopped over a bridge and halted her stride, lowering her forearms to the rough wooden railing. Peeking over the edge, she looked at her reflection in the serene water. The moon projected her shadow behind herself, stretching it across the bridge while its light paled everything surrounding her.

Brushing back a wisp of dark hair, the black-eyed woman allowed herself to sigh sadly and relax, focusing on nothing but the soft ripples in the water. She stayed that way for a while, never noticing the figure that crept up on her until he was lazily leaning on the same railing as she, though his back was to the water. He stared up at the moon as its reflection caught on his glasses, making his eyes not discernable.

At first, Shizune completely ignored him. But as the minutes trickled by and neither had said a word, the woman began to seriously wonder who he was since she didn't dare to look at him from the corner of her eyes. Finally, she turned her head to look at the other person. Once his identity had clearly been imprinted in her mind, she felt a sudden rush of adrenaline shooting through her body, sending warning signals to her brain.

Yakushi Kabuto.

Sound village shinobi.

Missing-nin.

Orochimaru's assistant.

Her supposedly mortal enemy.

Even if she should jump back and take a defensive pose, Shizune remained exactly in her original pose. She didn't feel threatened from the medic nin and he didn't look much intimidated by her either.

Another few minutes passed by, though Shizune had visibly tensed up. A small smirk was now playing around Kabuto's lips as he pushed his glasses up on his nose and finally broke the silence.

"Nice weather tonight, isn't it?"

Shizune turned her head to look at him and couldn't suppress the sneer that pressed her features. "Please. Am I really to believe that you came all the way here to talk about the temperature?"

Kabuto's face remained impassive as he said softly, "Why not?"

Shizune chose to ignore him and turned her head away from his face. More time passed before she straightened up and, without a word to the Sound shinobi, started to head back to her apartment.

It wasn't unexpected to hear his voice call out to her. "Where are you going?"

"Back home," was her unhurried reply as she kept on walking.

He didn't answer immediately. A few seconds after, he called back, "Why? It's not like you have anything, or rather anyone to go home to. Am I correct?"

Bitterly, Shizune halted and lowered her head. He was right, even though she wanted to deny it with all her might. Soon, the silver-haired man was beside her, his hands lazily in his pockets.

"If you're in such a hurry to get home, then, may I accompany you?"

'Kami, why is he suddenly so nice?' she asked herself with an audible sigh.

The medic quickly fell in steps beside her, ignoring her last comment. Actually, a few minutes later, he started another subject.

"It sucks doesn't it? To have to always be on the lookout in case your master needs something. To always be completely loyal to that one single person…"

At that point Shizune was starting to get impatient with the Snake Sannin's apprentice. Seriously impatient. "You know nothing about me!"

Kabuto kept his cool exterior as he said, "Don't get all worked up, now. I was talking about myself, but I guess that you feel the same way as I do, hm?"

"Yes," Shizune sighed, then bit her lip at how easily the information had come out. He was the enemy, she shouldn't be talking to him. Especially not about her darker feelings towards Lady Tsunade. Switching gears, she realized that maybe she could do a little bit of espionage herself. "How come you feel that way? I thought you were completely dedicated to Orochimaru?"

A small smirk appeared on Kabuto's lips as he angled his head so that the moon's reflection would catch on them and hide his eyes. "Everyone has their secrets. Most people aren't as loyal as they appear…" he stated, shooting a glance her way.

Shocked at what he was insinuating, Shizune shot him a glare before saying, "I'm loyal!"

"Then why are you talking with me right now?" he answered back quickly.

'This guy's brain works way too quickly. It's almost unnatural…' Shizune nervously thought before scoffing indignantly and boosting her pace. He easily kept up with her.

Maybe it was the atmosphere around them. Maybe it was the fact that he was the first male she had talked to one-on-one for ages. Maybe it was the scenery, with the moon shining brightly down at them and the stars watching them carefully. Whatever it was, she didn't know, but she suddenly didn't want this walk to end. She could see her apartment coming into view, so she naturally slowed down her pace and lowered her eyes to the ground.

"How come you aren't with Orochimaru at the moment?" she suddenly asked to break the silence. An alarming thought suddenly made her straighten her back with worry. "He isn't around, is he?"

"Rest assured, he isn't. I left a while because I wanted to and he won't know a thing about it. Everyone has their secrets, remember?"

"Aren't you worried? I mean, without his assistant nearby—" she stopped, realizing how stupid she probably would sound if she finished her sentence with 'he might do something stupid'.

Yet Kabuto read right into her mind and said, "I know the feeling. But he is a grown man. As much as our situations are the same, Shizune, they're completely different. I'm Lord Orochimaru's assistant, not his parent. You act more like a mother to Tsunade, don't you?"

Shizune nodded solemnly, remembering her thoughts earlier that evening. She couldn't quite imagine Orochimaru going to drink like crazy in bars while Kabuto stood by and watched. It was rather disconcerting to imagine, actually…

They finally stopped in front of her apartment, where Shizune unlocked the door slowly while Kabuto examined her. She hesitated obviously, her hands on the doorknob as she pushed the door open. She shouldn't do this. This was wrong… so wrong…

"Gladly," was his answer before they both locked themselves in her tiny apartment.

A/N: So chapter one is done. Not bad, it took me two days…

Review, tell me what you think! No reviewers can ask me if it's done because it isn't. Read the note above—This will be a threeshot probably.

Take care!