Sakura smiled hesitantly, and realizing her hair was falling down, flipped her head forward and pulled it into a high ponytail, somewhat similar to Shikamaru's preferred style, but with her longer bangs falling forward. Despite her slight unease, she steeled herself and shot him a flirty smirk.

"Right behind you, General."

Shikamaru canted his head, unsure what to make of the hair antics and smirking. He gestured this time to the hallway across from the kitchen area and pulled on what appeared to be a long tassel hanging from the ceiling, revealing a narrow pull-down ladder. He scrambled up easily, balancing the tray in his hand, and reached back toward his lovely companion in an effort to demonstrate, once again, his capacity for chivalry. Sakura, however, was unmoved. She smirked again from her spot at the base of the ladder and pointed to herself.

"Um, Shikamaru? Ninja. I think I can manage," she said saucily.

"Right, right. My mistake Doctor Haruno." He turned away, opening a small door to his right and passing through to the roof of the building.

Sakura followed easily, and was surprised when she looked around. Up here was a large wooden table, two long low wooden benches, several potted plum trees, and a series of archways with trellises of what smelled like jasmine growing over them. It was quite picturesque, really. Intertwined in the jasmine-covered arches were electric lightbulbs on strings, covered with tiny paper globes so as to mimic the traditional style lighting from the streets below. They cast a soft glow over the table, and Sakura couldn't help but think to herself that this setting was far preferable to the narrow soba shop and its five crowded stools. This environment definitely had a much more romantic feel to it. It made her wonder whether Shikamaru had feigned his sake craving altogether in favor of this more private venue.

"No... don't start thinking like that now, Sakura. He hasn't sent out signals that strong... just sit down and eat already, you're going to make a fool of yourself again..." she found herself thinking. Nervousness fluttered in her stomach, making her feel flushed and awkward. She sighed.

"Whoa, this is really beautiful! Did you and Chouji set this up, or was it like this when you moved in?" she found herself saying. Thankfully that carefully constructed mask was doing its job, pleasant small talk covering her internal insecurities.

Shikamaru deftly set down the tray on the table, took the bag of takeout from her hands, and began to serve out portions of food and sake for the both of them as he replied.

"The arches and benches are from Chouji's parents' compound. Ino planted the creeping jasmine, and the plum trees were my idea. I was thinking about trying my hand at fermenting some of the green plums, making some umeshu. Probably won't rival my father's though. The stuff he makes is excellent."

Sakura smiled, taking the cup of sake he proffered from his hand, brushing her fingers with his in the process. "I didn't realize you were such an enthusiast. Or that your dad brews his own umeshu. It's one of my favorites, but then, I like smooth and sweet." She immediately colored, realizing the potential double entendre. "Liquor- I mean... I like sweet liquors. Oh, um..." she trailed off then.

Shikamaru smiled at the blushing kunoichi and simply clinked his glass to hers. "Kampai to that, Sakura-chan."

She warmed at the use of the nickname and smiled back, her nervousness momentarily forgotten. "Kampai, Shika-kun."

The both knocked back their cups easily, and as the liquor slid down her throat and hit her empty stomach, Sakura was reminded once again of how incredibly hungry she was. She couldn't believe how distracted she was in the shadow-user's presence. They fell into a comfortable silence, beginning their meal. Sakura was doing her best to refrain from shoveling the yakisoba into her mouth greedily, but the task was proving rather difficult indeed. Shikamaru looked up to find her completely engrossed in her meal, a look of utter contentment on her face.

"Mmmmm," she hummed to herself, then sighed. "This is perfect. I've been thinking about this for weeks! So satisfying," she hummed happily to herself again.

Shikamaru couldn't help but think how those sounds, those sighs, those words, might be taken out of context. His chest clinched again, but he simply refilled their sake cups and brushed away the less-than-pure thoughts. She really had no idea.

Their meal continued in companionable silence. Although Sakura felt somewhat compelled to move the conversation along and discover what exactly had prompted this chain of events to begin with, she found herself a bit disconcerted as to how to go about it. No desire to make herself appear foolish, she decided allowing him to take the conversational lead was best. However, Nara, ever unreadable, was proving less than motivated to speak first himself. Perhaps it was the third cup of sake that broke the spell, but Sakura felt emboldened enough to be quite blunt.

"So, Shikamaru..."

"Hn?"

"I heard you were in Suna again a couple of weeks ago. Did you see Temari while you were there?"

"Eh? Hm," the corners of his mouth quirked up ever so slightly, "No, no, no Sakura-chan. You're going to have to get a bit better reacquainted with me before we start all of that."

"What?" she replied indignantly, "That's a perfectly normal question to ask a friend whom you've spent the entire afternoon, and now evening with!" She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Baka."

Shikamaru noted the beginnings of a drunken flush in her cheeks and held her angry gaze. "She looks adorable when she's worked up," he thought to himself with a smirk. "Better cool her off though, cute as it might be that temper can be dangerous. Redirect ought to do just fine." He crossed his arms slowly, mimicking her posture and smiled calmly at her.

"Ino mentioned you'd been spending some time with Kiba. She seemed to things were going rather well between the two of you. You hadn't mentioned anything about dating him, though. Is she mistaken?"

"We went out twice," she huffed, "I hardly call that cause for discussion. Of course, Ino can't resist any piece of gossip she can get her hands on... Kiba's... nice. I mean, I enjoy his company well enough... but I don't really see him as anything more than a friend. Besides, he's rather hands-y." She sighed. "It's an awful lot like trying to date a sexed-up brunette Naruto as well, we never seem to have much to talk about."

Shikamaru laughed at this. "A sexed-up Naruto? Oi. How troublesome for you."

"Yeah, well. So why ask me out if you thought I was dating Kiba?"

"Hm?" he poured himself another cup of sake, then gestured at her cup, indicating she should push it forward for a refill as well.

"I said, why did you ask me to coffee, and then dinner, if you thought I was dating Kiba? I mean, I know you two aren't the best of friends, but I mean..."

"Sakura?"

"Huh?"

"I told you that this wasn't a proper date, remember? Perhaps I was doing reconnaissance in order to determine my plans to actually ask you out," he replied smugly.

"Ah. I suppose that's possible. Then again, you and I have been spending a fair amount of time together walking to and from work, and those times would have been just as good as any to fish for a bit of information if that's what you wanted. I'm thinking this was more of a diversionary tactic because I asked about you and Temari. That's what I happen to think."

"Or perhaps I just desired your company, and the idea to thrust out a spontaneous invitation despite not yet knowing your true relationship status overtook my good senses," he deadpanned.

"Hm. I doubt it. But seeing as you're clearly not intending to answer my original question I guess I can assume that you did see her. So what's up with you two anyway? I mean, I'm pretty certain you weren't ever really dating, but everyone else seems to speculate that you were, at least at some point."

"Ah-ah-ah, Sakura." He chuckled. "Not going to answer that."

"Fine." She scowled at him, then changed tactics completely. "What do you think of the yakisoba?"

"It's good. I could do with less mushrooms, but I like the noodles a lot," he replied. "I can tell you've been enjoying it immensely. How about the sake?"

"The sake is good, actually. Not as fancy as some of the stuff Tsunade-sama drinks, but then, she's an expert. There are definitely some benefits to being the more forgiving apprentice regarding her drinking habits," she giggled, "I get bribed with tastes quite often for neglecting to tell Shizune what she's up to."

"I can imagine. You must have developed an impressive tolerance level then," he grinned, pouring yet another cup for them both.

"Well, sure, but then of course, that's due largely in part to my chakra control as well. If need be, I can usually neutralize the alcohol in my system pretty quickly, if I overdo things. It's a lot like poison extraction, actually. There are many benefits to my medical knowledge. I can do almost anything with chakra."

"Anything, eh?" Shikamaru smiled suggestively, "Sounds interesting."

"Ugh, baka. That's not what I meant! Although, I suppose... well, I mean, not that I'd ever try... at any rate, I haven't... ugh. Pervert!" she cried, blushing furiously.