Shikamaru lazily twirled his index finger around the edge of his glass, his half hooded eyes gazing lustfully at the pretty brunette sitting beside him at the dimly lit bar. The music playing was soft and melodious, creating an utterly seductive atmosphere. A charming smile was spread across his delicate features, his eyebrows furrowed in rapt concentration as the object of his attentions regaled him with a seemingly delightful narrative.
The Nara ignored the urge to down his whisky as fast as humanly possible; this girl was an utter bore. Oh she was beautiful to look at, smart too. After all, one had to have some modicum of intelligence in order to assist in the development of a child trafficking ring. But she was boring, droning on and on about her summer trip to Tea Country, and all about how beautiful the hot springs could be in specific temperatures. If this were a regular girl he had met in a bar, Shikamaru would not have hesitated to make up some excuse quite a while back, running far away from the dull woman and her monotonous stories. But this wasn't a regular girl, and he wasn't a regular man. He had a job to do, so he continued to let the woman believe that he found her fascinating.
His job often brought him to bars such as these; they were the easiest way to meet women without being suspected. And as a member of the infamous Seduction Squad, Shikamaru knew he couldn't afford ever being suspected.
"So Hikaru," She spoke with a purr, obviously interested in the persona Shikamaru was currently playing, "When are you going to actually ask me out?"
Shikamaru, or Hikaru as he was now referred to, smiled flirtatiously, "Well I didn't want to be presumptuous. After all, a woman as beautiful as you deserves to be completely and utterly charmed before one could even dare to suggest such a thing."
"You think I'm beautiful?" She asked shyly, a small blush coloring her skin.
"I find you," he leaned in close, whispering in her ear, "Absolutely irresistible."
Irresistible in the fact that he couldn't not flirt with her. He needed information, and this was the quickest way to get it. But she needn't know that.
She grinned, linking her dainty unblemished fingers with his calloused masculine ones, "Well then prove it."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And how would you have me do this?"
"By continuing our riveting conversation elsewhere. My hotel isn't too far from here."
"Well by all means," He gestured, "Lead the way."
Naruto hated bars. They were loud and annoying; filled to the brim with obnoxious drunks and pathetic gamblers. She grimaced as she side stepped an obviously inebriated man barreling towards her; she was going to kill Ero-sennin for making her come all the way down here.
Glancing around, she looked for the signature white hair that distinguished her god father from the rest of the perverted old men. She found him slouched on a bar stool, his face plastered on the sticky, beer soaked counter.
With a sigh, Naruto approached the man, sliding her arm under his so that she could hoist him up, "Come on Ero-sennin, time to go."
Before she could fully pick the ninja up, a younger man in the seat across stopped her, "Well well well, what's a pretty young thing doing with an old coot like this?"
Naruto shot the man a deadly glare, her hold on Jiraiya tightening in anger, "Fuck. Off."
The man winced sarcastically, a hand placed above his heart in mock-hurt, "You wound me my dear. Perhaps a kiss to make it better?"
Naruto rolled her eyes, "Tell me, does that line ever work? Like seriously, is there a girl on this planet dumb enough to fall for such an obvious pick-up line?"
"You seem to know a lot about pick-up lines, for a girl who insists on playing hard to get." The man remarked.
"I'm not playing anything," Naruto answered, "What I want, is for you to fuck off, and leave me alone."
"I really do love it when they play hard to get." The man said, a perverted grin spreading across his face. That was when he made a terrible mistake: he touched the aspiring ninjas shoulder.
With a kick so fierce, Naruto had the man flying across the bar, crashing into the glass shelves lined with bottles of alcohol. The Uzumaki watched all this as she rubbed the back of her head nervously, "Hehe… oops?"
She threw Jiraiya across her back, sprinting out of the bar before the owner could grab his bearings and make the young girl pay for the damages. She really was going to kill Ero-sennin for dragging her into this mess.
Despite being with the powerful ninja for seven years now, he still somehow managed to blindside her. Their relationship was an odd one, after all, not many people could say that they helped their god father edit his smut books. But Naruto wouldn't change him for the world.
Well, on second thought, perhaps she would change this small aspect of Jiraiya. For a man so seemingly intelligent, he was quite the perverted idiot. In every town they stopped in, Ero-sennin would find it absolutely prudent to stop by the locals bars and talk to the patrons. He called it "research". Naruto called it, "pathetic attempts at flirting with girls half your age."
In any case, during his so-called "research", he would proceed to get so drunk, that Naruto was forced to go in and physically drag the older man out. It was tiresome, it was annoying, but frankly the girl was used to it.
Usually Naruto wouldn't complain much. She would huff in annoyance for a few minutes, get a little petty revenge the next morning by "accidentally" misplacing the hangover cure, but she'd get over it pretty fast. Today, however, was different.
Ever since she had been told the truth about her parents, just under four years ago, she had been waiting for the chance to go back to the village of her birth: Konoha. Ero-sennin told her fabulous stories of the great village, tales of the previous Hokage's and all of the fallen hero's. Naruto was fascinated by it all.
As a child, Naruto would dream of the day she would become a Ninja. The elders in Uzushiogakure used to scoff at the girls deceleration to becoming a strong ninja; there were no more ninjas left in the village. It was a pipe dream, she knew, but still she never doubted herself. And then Ero-sennin appeared. Like a hero in the stories, he whisked her away from the life of a bored seals-mistress, introducing her to a world beyond the whirlpools. For the first time since her birth, she could actually see a future of her serving as a ninja.
So for years she trained, doing all that she could in order to prove herself to the one man who took a chance on her, the one man who could make all her dreams come true. And last month, he made it official. They were going to Konoha.
But Jiraya still was taking his sweet fucking time getting her there. He claimed that the delay in their travels was due to him having to make many more stops for his spy network, since he wasn't sure how long he would stay in the village. Naruto, on the other hand, knew that the old man was just dragging his feet since he wasn't ready to talk to his old teammate just yet.
Ever since Naruto managed to convince the old blond drunk to take the mantle as Hokage a few years back, Jiraya has been terrified to go see her. "She's going to kill me," he claimed, "I'm the one who made her take the hat, and now that she realizes what an awful job it really is, she's going to murder me!"
Frankly, Naruto believed that Ero-sennin should be more concerned about his student murdering him, especially if he kept dragging his feet on their trip back to Konoha. Let it be known that Naruto was never accused of being patient.
Shikamaru lit up a cigarette as he lazily walked towards the Hokage's tower. He had just arrived back in the village, and after discarding his ANBU mask in his apartment, he made his way to report the success of his latest mission.
It was pathetically easy, Shikamaru thought, getting the girl open up to him. He was in her bed within an hour of their first meeting. A few days, some loving gestures, and few charming, coaxing words were all that was needed for the woman to confide in him. He was glad that he was able to complete his mission fast, those poor children had suffered long enough, but simultaneously he was just itching for a challenge.
Shikamaru was a lazy man by nature. But he loved being stimulated intellectually. Ever since his first few missions in the Seduction Squad, where he was still getting the hang of everything, he hasn't been challenged. He was quick to learn all of the tricks of seduction, his past as a member of a capture and interrogation squad during his Genin days proving themselves useful as he was able to make a woman spill their secrets with only a few honey-like words.
He was bored. And a bored Nara, was a dangerous Nara.
It didn't take long for him to be called into the Hokage's office. He waltzed in apathetically, narrowly dodging the glass bottle aimed at his head.
"How many times have I told you to not smoke in my office!" Tsunade spat out through gritted teeth.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, before putting out his cigarette and tossing it into the bin. Damn troublesome blond.
"ANBU member Deer, reporting mission success." He drawled nonchalantly, his eyes taking in the office décor.
Tsunade sighed, leaning her head on the palm of her hand, "You are perhaps one of the laziest ANBU members I have ever seen."
"Why thank you Hokage-sama."
"That was not a compliment," Tsunade sighed, "Regardless, you're good at your job. Frankly, that's all I care about."
Shikamaru shrugged, "I get the mission done."
"You're bored." She stated this. It was obvious to her by the way the young jonin carried himself, he just wasn't being challenged.
"I am." Nara felt no need to lie to her.
Tsunade hummed, her eyes scanning Shikamaru inquisitively, almost as if she was mulling something over, "I actually have your next mission."
Shikamaru raised a brow as he grabbed the file that Tsunade gestured towards, "Already?"
"This mission will be different from all the rest," She admitted, "Almost impossible really. Perhaps one of the most difficult missions ever assigned to the Seduction Squad. You up for it?"
Shikamaru grinned, "Well of course."
He flipped through the file, Naruto Uzumaki, eh?