Hey everyone! So sorry for taking so long to update, but I have been having a really rough go of it with life/work. Also, this is another slow, setup chapter, so if you don't like that sort of writing, just skip it! I like having my stories build-up/have a progression in plot/be a slow-burn, so my writing won't always be full of excitement. I just hope that it's still compelling and easy to read!

And, as always, many thanks to my wonderful friend and beta-reader treyabarton. She is a great writer, updates waaay more than I do, and if you are looking for stories with good plotlines and multi-faceted representations of some of our favourite characters, check her out on AO3 - treya_barton!

With the exams past them, and a number of successful new Chunnin in Konoha, life was slowly returning to normal. Well, as normal as it could be for Shizune when her boss was playing some odd cat-and-mouse game of affection with her.

After their peaceful moment at the gardens had ended, Shizune started overthinking things again as she was wont to do. Though she was easily swept away by the nature of her work and life, she found herself thinking about Kakashi in her idle moments moreso than she had before. And...to be quite honest...he'd popped up in her thoughts often enough before that day anyway.

She couldn't help but wonder if she was reading too much into the gesture. But then her rational side would remind her that he had made other advances toward her. Maybe…but was he really just being a flirt?! Could it actually be that he was genuinely interested in her? How would she even go about confirming that? And if he was? What then?

If he were another shinobi, any other shinobi, it would have been so much easier. They could go on dates, train together, maybe even curl up under a blanket and watch a movie. But how could she go about spending any more time with the Hokage? And even then, how would she make it clear that the subsequent time was personal and not professional? It was just too complicated already, and that could hardly be a good sign, right?

Shizune needed a breather already, and there wasn't even anything going on! The day had passed so quickly, and her fraught thoughts let her get little done. Not that she was really in the mood to get work done anyway. Really, all she wanted was to get her mind off the mess that her personal life had suddenly become. Luckily for her, Izumo and Kotetsu had become close friends with her during her time in Konoha, so when they invited her out for drinks that evening at a new bar in town, she happily accepted. Anything to stop the currently racing thoughts of grey hair and billowing jackets.

As she grabbed her wallet from her desk, she could feel the stress melting away, and chatting with the mischievous yet amicable twosome on their walk to the bar put her completely as ease. They were always bickering about something, but in a playful way that belied their close friendship. Izumo was always making some off-colour comment, and Kotetsu would generally admonish the spiky-haired shinobi about it. Shizune couldn't help but smile at their antics, and she was looking forward to an evening of laughter and light-hearted conversation as they stepped into the bar.

Now, what she hadn't expected was for Kakashi to be at the same bar as them. The unmistakable tuft of silvery hair was present in the back corner of the bar, and her eyes were just drawn to him. He wasn't wearing anything flashy or doing anything remarkable, but being the Hokage, he had a constant stream of admirers approaching his table, and he'd attracted a few girls who made sure to sit as close to him as possible. Yamato and a few of Kakashi's old ANBU buddies were also there, many of them enjoying the attention that being near the Hokage brought them. Shizune made a point of mentioning new restaurants and locales to him each morning, but she didn't think he was actually listening to her. Maybe this was just a coincidence and he'd happened upon it himself.

Deciding to leave work thoughts at work, she happily sat down at a table with the two Chunnins and a few more of her classmates from the Academy. Finally able to relax after her long week, Shizune reached over for some sake and some mystery crispy snack that the boys had already ordered.

As the drinks flowed and stories flew, Shizune found herself very glad that her friends in Konoha were so warm and wonderful. The need to always have her guard up while she was traveling with Tsunade was exhausting, and while being a shinobi meant always bring alert, there was a certain comfort that came with being home. She could let down her guard and be true to herself around her peers and just feel accepted.

But letting her guard down and having a few drinks meant that she kept missing Kakashi's quick glances towards her as the night progressed. He wasn't used to seeing her be so carefree, and the brightness of her smile, the joy in her countenance, it was too much to ignore. She seemed so happy...

The night flew by and before Shizune knew it, it was past midnight. As much as she wanted to stay, she knew she'd regret it the next morning if she did. She paid for her share of the meal, leaving a bit extra to cover for some of the younger ones at the table and waved goodbye. The boys were still engrossed in their drinking game, but shot overly-exuberant goodbyes back at her.

Sighing contentedly as she walked away, the cool night air served as the perfect companion of her walk home. It was a clear night, and she could see a few stars peeking back at her against the bright lights of the bars and restaurants around her, with some of her favourite constellations twinkling cheekily back at her.

Shizu was so busy stargazing that she barely registered someone walking up beside her. Lazily tilting her eyes over to the unexpected company, she saw an unmistakable mop of unruly gray hair. Apparently, she was going to have an escort home. The pair wordlessly walked toward Shizune's home, with the kunoichi not wanting to complicate her evening and the shinobi never being much of a talker.

He really was something else, she thought as her inebriated gaze really took him in. Kakashi had this effortless confidence about him. She couldn't help but graze her eyes over him, taking in the stretch of his sleeves across the widest part of his arms, the firm expanse of his chest, the long lines of his lean frame. He was the personification of Adonis meeting Achilles. He felt absolutely magnetic, and she was okay with getting pulled in.

She wasn't drunk enough to lose her sensibilities, but his presence next to her loomed in her thoughts, and she couldn't help but get carried away in the heady tension surrounding them. She could almost reach out and touch him, just run her fingertips down his arms to the slightest peek of skin that happened to show, maybe finally find out if his hair was as soft as she'd imagined it to be...

"Ah, Shizune," he finally murmured as they fast-approached her building, "maybe next time, you'd like to have a drink with me?"

Shizu slowly swayed to a stop, startled out of her quickly-becoming-salacious train of thought, and turned to fully face him. Was that trepidation she heard echoing through her hazy mind? But that was impossible. Kakashi couldn't possibly get nervous around her.

Even in his stupor, Kakashi could see the gears turning in her mind, contemplating his cautious request. He was not used to being so apprehensive as he could usually impress a girl with his strength or skill. Shizune, though, was difficult to impress in that way being a Sannin's apprentice and a brilliant ninja in her own right. And he'd found that his 'cool guy' attitude did more to piss her off than interest her, so here he was, going out on a limb, asking her out...like a normal guy.

"Actually, yes, I'd really like that."