"You'll get used to it." Naruto glanced at his watch for the fifth time in ten minutes. Shortly after getting back to the ANBU headquarters, his squad leader had given him and his team the instructions to 'Be ready at seven or die.' Amazingly enough, the woman herself had yet to show up. Fed up, he turned to the two men leaning against the wall next to him, both of them clad in casual jeans and long-sleeved dress shirts just like he was. "Is she always like " "Yes." He blinked lightly at the automatic and simultaneous answer.

They were starting to creep him out with the whole speaking at the same time thing. "This isn't fair, though! She told us to be here at exactly seven, yet she's not here herself! Don't you guys think this is sort of wrong?!" As he spoke, he completely missed the subtle motions of the two men in front of him if you could call obvious shushing and pointing subtle, anyway. Naruto stiffened as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck, and little Naruto stiffened as he felt a pair of barely contained breasts press against his back. Something wet rolled over his cheek, and despite his best efforts to hold it in, a brief shudder went throughout his body.

"Mmmm, I love the taste of fear," the woman moaned, purposefully tightening her arms around his neck. The blond gulped in surprise. He hadn't even sensed her coming up behind him! Despite her playful nature, he really had to remember that she was still an armed and deadly shinobi who knew one hundred ways to kill a man with only her pinky finger.

"Ah...hahaha! I was just saying how great it was to have you as a squad leader, and how thankful I was that you were taking me out tonight!" He winced slightly as she bit down on his earlobe, using her teeth to pull at the squishy flesh. She gently ground her hips against him and put her mouth directly next to his ear.

"Nice try, newbie. I'm gonna have to punish you for lying later." To his obvious relief, she let him go and began to walk towards the double doors leading out of the compound, motioning for the others in her squad to follow.

"Come on, boys, time to party!" Naruto started to follow, but the woman turned around and held out a hand, causing him to stop in his tracks. "Not you, blondie. Your wifey's here to pick you up." He followed her line of sight to see Shizune looking at him from the front desk. When she saw that he'd noticed her, she lifted her hand to wave at him, her smile hesitant and unsure.

"Shizune?! When did you get here?!" he asked, surprise evident in his voice. Rather than wait for the girl's answer, his troupe leader stepped in to answer for her. "She's been here for a while; apparently, she was waiting for you so that you two could celebrate together. I was talking to her for a little while just now hence the reason I was late." She sighed dramatically and pouted.

"It's a shame, really. Oh, the things I would have done to you...anyway! We're off!

Later, Naruto- kun! Remember to wrap it before you slap it! Or something like that." The irony of her warning wasn't lost on neither him nor Shizune. Shaking his head, he walked over to the ravenhead with a smirk.

He hadn't noticed it at first, but Shizune looked absolutely stunning. She was wearing a simple, strapless, black two teir dress, perfectly hiding her slightly bulging stomach. Her hair hung in a bun more mature appearance, and a small bit of makeup adorned her face.

He dropped his gaze to her legs, staring at the exposed skin greedily. The dress stopped at just above her knees, subtly enticing him without throwing her sexuality in his face.

"You look...incredible," he breathed, eyes raising to meet hers. She blushed prettily and turned away, self- consciously pulling at the hem of her dress. To be honest, she wasn't used to wearing things like this. She was much more comfortable in a kimono, and her shoulders felt naked without something covering them. Plus, she wasn't a big fan of the leering stares and whistles she got from males as she passed by.

That was probably the biggest reason. Somehow, though, those three little words he'd uttered had made everything worth it. She cleared her throat noisily, still avoiding eye contact.

"T- thanks." "I'm serious! If I'd known you were out here waiting for me in that, I'd have been out here hours ago! Well, I guess that's not really possible since we just got back at six, but...wow." By now, her face was red enough to rival even the ripest of tomatoes. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose, but his words were flattering her to no end.

She clenched her fist to get a grip on herself before turning her head back around to face him. "W -we should get going soon. I made reservations for seven thirty at a restaurant not too far from here," she murmured, using all of her willpower not to fuss with her dress any more than she already had. He nodded and motioned for her to walk in front of him. "Lead the way, gorgeous." She pouted lightly and glared up at him, crossing her arms as they walked towards the front doors of the building.

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Flattering me when you don't really mean it!"

Naruto raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. He hadn't expected her to say that of all things. "But I do mean it! I besides I wouldn't say it if I didn't." She stared up at him, closely watching him for any sign of deceit. When she couldn't find any, she softened her eyes and averted her gaze. She hated and loved how easy it was for him to come off as innocent, but at the same time, she liked that innocence.

It made her feel like she could be herself around him than anyone else even her master who she's been tagging along with for years. Smiling minutely, she turned her eyes forward and continued walking. They managed to reach the restaurant with nearly ten minutes to spare and were seated almost as soon as they'd arrived. To Naruto, the restaurant looked extremely high class.

The tables looked like they were made from the finest wood, and there were dozens of plants adorning the large dining room. It was split off into twelve sections, and there were two fourseat tables in each one, giving them an adequate amount of privacy from everyone else. The dimmed lights set an almost romantic mood, and three plain scented candles were placed in the middle of the table for extra light. All in all, it was easily the best place he'd ever been to.

"Are you sure we can afford this?" he asked, staring around at all of the new and different things inside the building. Shizune stared at him as if he'd grown another head. "What are you talking about? Of course we can! This is well within our price range." She idly wondered when they began saying things like 'we' and 'our.' "By the way, you're only allowed one bowl of ramen tonight" Okay far enough" "Good because I want you to taste some real food for a change."

The blond smirked grudgingly opening the menu to take a look inside. The ravenette couldn't help but smile and did the same, only half looking since she'd been here many times before. A waiter approached their table with a notepad, and small towel hanging over his tuxedo clad arm, a regal and professional smile stretched across his face. "Are you ready to order?" he asked, setting down the glasses of water. Shizune immediately nodded and began to spout off the things she wanted. "I'll start off with a small caesar salad, miso soup, a plate of salmon sashimi, and a plate of soba. Also, some sake would be nice." The man nodded and wrote her order down before turning to the young man intensely reading the menu. "And you, sir?" "Mhhh...I'll have everything she's having? Plus a bowl of shrimp ramen!" The waiter gave him a funny look but wrote his order down regardless.

He then bowed and walked away from the table, presumably to relay their requests to the chef. "This must be your first time eating at one of these places," she remarked, smirking slightly in mirth. His face immediately became a little sad as he shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah...when I tried to go to these kinds of places before, I wasn't very welcome." Her eyes widening slightly, she placed her and over his and gripped it lightly, drawing his eyes to her own. She'd always had the bad habit of saying the wrong things at the wrong times, and this situation was no exception. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." "What are you apologizing for? It's not like it was your fault or anything.

In fact, I'm really happy that you brought me here! Now I can smile smugly at any guy that happens to walk by, knowing that he wishes he could eat dinner with a beautiful girl like you." In Naruto's mind, his comment was perfectly normal but he since staying with shizune he started to actually love her now he thought it was the best time to do what he believed. "Shizune? You're blushing?" "A-Am not, you just caught me a little off guard. I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were trying to pick me up." She looked at the shit eating grin expression on his face and sighed. "Maybe." A flash of pink caught her attention, and she moved her eyes to look over at the spot above Naruto's shoulder. She felt her jaw drop when she saw that none other than Haruno Sakura, the boy in front of her's love interest, was just entering the restaurant with her boyfriend.

"What are you looking at?" Naruto asked, turning his head to look. Panicking, she gripped his hand harder, instantly bringing his attention back to her. Maybe if she was lucky, she could distract him long enough for their friends to be seated in another area. The place wasn't that busy, so there was a reasonably good chance that they wouldn't be seated in the same "Shizune-chan? Is that you?" Goddammit.

God fucking dammit. Why the hell did she even bother? She knew her luck. She knew that both karma and the Demon Lord of Fate had it out for her. People like her weren't allowed to hope. Pasting on a fake smile, she lifted her head to look up at fellow medic nin. "Hey, Sakur-a chan. What are the chances of meeting you here?" If she sensed her sarcasm, she certainly didn't show it. Instead, she leaned down and wrapped the girl in a quick hug. "I know, right? Who's you're..." Shizune sighed as she realized what was about to come next. "...Naruto?!" the girl shrieked, for the first time noticing the cold ANBU officer. "You're on a date with Naruto?!" The ravenette looked over at the blond for a hint as to what to say, unsure which answer he would like best.