It was a giant leap of faith they were both taking. After this, there could be no turning back.

Neither of them wanted to put any more awkwardness into their already uncertain relationship.

And it wouldn't be easy to avoid each other if it didn't go well. They worked together after all.

However, things couldn't continue on how they were. Both had made a decisive step towards the other. No longer children, they couldn't pretend that what they felt for each other was as simplistic as it had been all those years ago.

On one hand, it could end in disaster, broken hearts and grudges that could potentially affect their performances at work. But on the other, they had waited so long and if they were unsure of their ability to make this pan out wouldn't someone have given up by now?

At times, it felt like they were being pulled together by some string of fate, the will of something larger than the two of them. It seemed like every time she had anything to do with Konoha he was always there. Two people from different villages shouldn't have been connected by so many missions and meetings but they were.

Despite being opposites in personality, they shared the same values and got on well together, so maybe fate wasn't completely clueless.

Then it should only be natural that they would find themselves in their current state eventually.

But how did someone push a relationship from friends to something more? Did it occur as naturally as the shift from enemies to allies?

Regardless of their intelligence, neither knew the answer.

And so, it was with great awkwardness that the two walked together when she arrived at the gates.

Unlike all the other times they had met up with each other, there was no witty banter. The uncomfortable silence lingered as the two walked towards where they would eat lunch. Was there some sort of appropriate first date conversation manual they could use?

Sai probably had one.

They sat down at a table and the only words that had been spoken were to the waitress.

Even though she ran the risk of sounding rude and ignorant, Temari couldn't take a single second more of it.

"This is ridiculous," she quipped, "You have to speak at some point."

He looked relieved when she finally voiced her thoughts. Dating was foreign to them but arguing was common place.

"What do you want me to say?"

"You have a brain. Use it." Her glare didn't fool him, as he knew by now what looks to truly be afraid of. There would have been a glint in her eyes if it were the real deal. He smirked, amused with himself by how well he knew her. "This is funny to you? You really are weird."

"Tch, you agreed to this so you can only blame yourself."

That day they had both been extremely nervous. Not only did they both fess up to their feelings but they had had an audience while doing so. She hadn't known whether to scold or thank Gaara that day.

"I guess I did," she sighed.

So far, it seemed like resorting back to their usual topics of conversation was working. Maybe if she could just forget what this was they could actually get through lunch painlessly.

"I'm surprised the fifth let you be here today."

"Kakashi isn't that unreasonable –

"You shouldn't address your Hokage like that."

"Troublesome, like I was saying, when I told him –

"You told him?!"

Great, did everyone know about this? If the Hokage knew then the village's heroic blond idiot knew, and if that was the case, then all of his friends knew as well. They were probably being spied on as they spoke.

From across the table, Shikamaru gave her a pointed look.

"Am I going to be able to finish?"

He paused, giving her the chance to say something.

"As I was saying, when I told Kakashi that I couldn't take the mission he gave it to someone else instead."

Unabashedly, Temari stared him down until a faint blush rose on his face.

"You told him what you were doing though." It was an accusation, not a question. "There's no way he would have let you skip out if you hadn't."

"Would you rather I had taken the mission?"

The waitress had returned to put their drinks on the table.

To her, they seemed more like two people forced to spend lunch together than a couple.

Both had their hands on the table, brows furrowed, eyes squinted. Before she could back away, they had ordered through gritted teeth, their gaze never leaving the other.

"Don't be stupid. I said yes for a reason."

Shikamaru already felt exhausted. Of course, everything would be a fight with her. He shouldn't have expected anything less. Some part of him felt like he was drowning in the ocean looking for something, anything, to keep afloat; keep the conversation from turning sour.

Women were truly impossible to understand.

However, there was something about this one that had made him want to sit through this. And it wasn't just because she had saved his ass once again.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

There it was.

She was so unexpected and, although like other girls she had the tendency to say too much and gripe at him, she was different in that he couldn't quite predict her patterns.

Normal things like compliments had most women flustered but Temari would simply beat him.

He respected her for that along with her brains and high ranking position. She could pull her own weight on a team.

She was definitely a complex puzzle and he was sure he could spend his whole life trying to solve it. Of course, he knew that there was never one answer or explanation to a person.

"Don't be. I'm not very good at this either," he said.

"And here I was thinking you'd have everything planned out from the second I walked through the gates."

"I wouldn't even know where to begin. This isn't exactly like strategizing for war," he admitted. "What do people normally talk about with this sort of thing?" He asked, throwing the ball in her court.

"How should I know?"

"You're the girl."

"Stupid, that has nothing to do with it!" she bonked him over the head with her fist, not too hard though. What aggravated her was that maybe he did have a point. She wouldn't know. Temari had very few friends growing up and the majority of which were male.

Her knowledge about girly things and what girls like to talk about was very poor and limited. However, with some confidence she managed to supply, "But from what I've heard, people usually talk about their interests. Although that would be a waste of time, since I clearly know way more about you than you know about me."

And that's how it began, as it usually did, with a challenge.

As they bantered back and forth, all the tension began floated away. Despite talking a big game Temari actually did learn a few new things. Apparently his mother had fed him one too many hard boiled eggs as a child, resulting in the immense hate he had for them now.

Shikamaru had been quite surprised when she revealed, besides training, her next favourite hobby was botany.

"What even grows in Suna? Do you collect roots and cactus?"

"Cacti happen to be very interesting!" she protested as their food arrived.

At this point, their server didn't know what to believe. One minute they're at each other's throats and the next they're laughing? Nevertheless, she would definitely take this friendly atmosphere over the previous hostility.

Though it had seemed like minutes, in reality, a little over an hour had passed by the time they were finished. They had talked about everything from work to politics to personal stories.

Maybe this was how it would be with them. The dynamic of the relationship didn't have to change drastically. Now the two realized why everyone had been so quick to see what had taken them years to realize.

They had been acting like a couple for years.

Albeit realizing this fact, it was still bizarre for Temari to have someone else pay for her lunch. Even as she kept reminding herself, 'this is a date' 'this is what's supposed to happen', she couldn't help but to feel like she was being the victim of some sort of charity.

There had been very few meals and items in her life that she hadn't earned with her own hard work and money. Though this feeling wasn't bad per say, it just wasn't normal.

Shikamaru was just happy she let it happen without a fight.

Despite coming to Konoha, knowing she had a pre-planned lunch date, Temari's trip was far from being a vacation.

The rest of her day was to be chocked full of meetings.

Her situation irked her, to say the least.

One of these days she vowed to plan a stay with no business obligations. Although, from the amount of work she had at the moment that might be the day she retires.

Ever the gentleman, Shikamaru had offered to walk her to the Hokage's office.

They both agreed that he should leave before she went in to see Kakashi.

The fifth would be more likely to tease them if he was there.

The two were quite happy with how the afternoon had gone even though it had started off on a laughably bad note.

This whole dating thing was actually easier than they had expected.

Eat, talk then do some activity after. Though their time for today was coming to a close, Temari couldn't help but wonder about one more thing.

He was a genius, so surely Shikamaru was on the same page as her, most likely twenty pages ahead. As they reached the front doors to the building she turned to face him.

"Thanks for today."

"Mm," he replied, brain elsewhere.

Wasn't he supposed to do it now?

From the very few movies she had seen, Temari knew the basic structure of what the average date should look like.

You do something together and then the guy walks the girl home and –

Apparently, he just stands there with his hands in his pockets.

Tch, she should have known her life would be nothing like what the actors and actresses portrayed. Based off of their lunch, that much should have been crystal clear.

But come on!

Wasn't this the part of the date that men enjoyed the most?

She was definitely going to slap him.

Would it be worth it?

The irrational, emotional part of him shouted yes but his logical side was working overtime, weighing all the options. What if she got insulted?

Some girls weren't looking for this on a first date.

What would he do if she gave him the cold shoulder for the rest of her stay, for months, forever?

But how long had he been waiting for this moment? It was an almost embarrassingly long amount of time. Right now the unhappy look on her face wasn't making his dilemma any easier to solve.

Well, he was a glutton for punishment it seemed so he might as well try.

In a moment of pure frustration, she stomped forwards, pulled him down by the neck of his shirt and all but stole that kiss from him.

It wasn't very sweet and he certainly wasn't expecting this but it was very Temari.

And just because it wasn't shy and hesitant did not mean that the kiss wasn't every bit as amazing as what they had envisioned.

Despite initially being caught off guard, he caught on to her mood quickly.

People in the street looked on with shock and embarrassment. Several onlookers murmured amongst each other. A group of teenage girls giggled loudly as they walked past the two.

Pushed up, practically pinned to the wall of Hokage tower was something couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams, certainly it wasn't what she had expected from today.

Truly it was amazing what years of anticipation and pent up emotions could do.

Both were completely red and flushed when they broke apart. Her heart was racing and she inwardly cursed herself for doing this before a meeting.

The fifth wasn't dumb and even an idiot could tell what she had been up to.

Thankfully Shikamaru looked even more flustered than her. His usual composed mask had been stripped away to be replaced by a dumbstruck stare.

All she could do was laugh at his expression.

Giving him a smirk, she went up on her toes to quickly peck him on the cheek before turning on her heal through the front doors.

He was only faintly aware that the corners of his mouth had twitched up in a foolish content smile.