Abakuraku. Located roughly near the center of the five great Shinobi countries, it has the largest shopping arcade on the continent. This, along with its independence from any shinobi country and the luxurious onsen scattered about, has made it an extremely popular vacationing spot.
Shizune was there because she had two years worth of vacation days to waste, and no better time to use them then when she was one Tsunade-Hangover away from a total mental breakdown.
Unfortunately, being rather the serious type, she had no idea what to do with her time. She had already looked into every souvenir shop in the city, and, after years tailing the woman who would become Godaime, wouldn't step foot into a bar or gambling parlor for all the dango in the world.
At roughly three in the afternoon of her third day in Abakuraku, she was wandering through the restaurant district in search of a nice place to have lunch- all of the places she'd been to any classier than a ramen stand had the understandable rule No Pets Allowed, and Tonton had made it clear that not only was she as tired of the irresponsible hokage as Shizune, but moreover, that she didn't want to spend the whole damned vacation locked in a three-star motel room.
Disinterest was setting in when the Medic-Pig duo finally found an area heavily populated by Outdoor Cafés.
She was passing one La Bol de Lait, when she paused for a moment- someone had passively caught her eye, much in the same manner as one goes 'Wait, was that Tom Seleck?' or 'Hey, didn't I know that guy in high school?' When she looked back, however, she stopped dead in her tracks.
Oh shit.
His thoughts went roughly along the same line.
Kabuto had been minding his own business, taking a coffee break during a low-matinence mission (read: pointless errand), when, while looking around, he saw someone whom he had the vague sensation he should recognize.
Upon taking a closer look, he made eye contact with her and they both instantly froze.
Distance from eachother: approximately 12 yards.
Their first instinct: attack.
The first problem: the outcome of a ninja fight usually depends on the quick draw.
She was holding a pig.
He was holding a teacup. And, due to local law, his weapons were, stupidly enough, located in the bag on his back.
But she didn't know that. Meaning that if he were to try and retrieve a projectile, or even reach under the table, she would drop the pig and shoot poisonous needles from the damnable contraption on her arm.
Except that she, not knowing that the closest thing he had to a weapon on hand was a teaspoon, would not attack- dropping a pig and reaching under your sleeve might take more time than he would, and she would die.
For a long while, neither moved.
Then one remembered something, and their eyes slowly moved to a nearby sign. Seeing this action, the other's eyes followed.
NOTICE:
Shinobi Not Permitted.
Any persons seen carrying a weapon, for self defense or otherwise, will be immediately arrested.
Any persons engaged in combat, mortal or friendly will be immediately detained.
Any resistance permits local authorities to kill suspect on sight.
Thank You For Your Cooperation.
Ah, of course. Due to Abakuraku's conveniently centralized location, people from most all countries have been coming to the city to shop and vacation for ages. Unfortunately, these people include ninjas, and when one saw another from an enemy village, they had a tendency to attack. The frequency of a Leaf ninja seeing a Cloud Nin, or a Grass ninja seeing someone from Stone, or A Mist Nin seeing… Well, anyone; or any other combination of encounters between warring states was taking a toll on the city's popularity. No one wants to vacation somewhere where a ninja battle is more likely there than in a ninja village, after all.
So, seeing as Abakuraku's revenue depended almost entirely on tourism, they needed to stop the ninja fights. And thus, the law was passed without hesitation.
So basically, this meant that even if Kabuto or Shizune had wanted to fight, which neither really did at that point, they couldn't. Abakuraku's Police Force was on par with an ANBU squad, after all, and getting arrested wasn't really on the top of their lists of things to do.
There was more awkward silence, before Kabuto decided that there was really only one way to make the situation any less comfortable, so heck, might as well go for the record, right?
He gestured to the seat across from his own at the small table amiably, and made the genial offer. "Tea?"
She looked at him like he was crazy. He had already decided he probably was.
After a period, Shizune decided that she was going to sit down because she wanted to appease the saying 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer', and not because tea sounded really good right then.
During the entire ordeal, and the process of Shizune sitting down, the two never ceased eye contact for a moment, and refused to do so even afterward, so they were almost surprised when a waiter came to take orders.
"Welcome to La Bol De Lait, how may I help you?"
Shizune didn't show her surprise; instead, she stated her order in a crisp, businesslike tone "Small Chai. What do you have for cake?"
"Well, we have a special on cheesecake-"
"Great. One of those, then. Small. Thank you."
The waiter looked at the young pair at the table before him. No breach of eye contact. He shook his head, and walked away, muttering to himself on the way out. "Damned ninjas. Always paranoid."
After a while of discomfort and suspicion, the two finally decided that enemy or not, it would be nice to relax for at least a little while. Eventually they were even able to carry on a conversation, and they found it was actually fairly easy to open up be themselves around each other- most likely a consequence of not giving a damn what thew other thought of them.
"I don't know. Things were bad enough before, but as soon as Sakura came around it was like the old bat completely forgot she was supposed to still be teaching me. I went from her student to her assistant, and now I've been reduced to her damned servant!"
"I think I know how you feel. I started out as Orochimaru-sama's spy, and then when I left Konoha his doctor. But, being one of the few people he has any faith in whatsoever, I ended up doing practically everything for him. Except that from the minute that Sasuke kid showed up it seems like all I've been doing is petty errands."
Kabuto scoffed to himself and made a contemptuous face. "Do you know what I'm in town for right now?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"Shampoo. Orochimaru sent us to get shampoo. Apparently, Otogakure doesn't carry his brand, so we were sent here."
Shizune burst out laughing, and Kabuto couldn't help but smile. "You were sent on a shampoo run? That's absolutely pathetic!"
Kabuto nodded, still smiling, when they were interrupted.
"What the hell? Are you on a date or something?"
The two looked up at the dark-haired newcomer, and any trace of comfort in the atmosphere immediately returned to its original state of tense suspicion.
Kabuto took his time in answering, choosing his words carefully.
"…Yes."
Tonton, though a pig, could still feel the tension in the air. She noted that all three of the humans' eyes were darting quickly between themselves, and, deciding that this was just a bit too much for her, squealed and ducked under the table.
The sudden burst of sound drew the young newcomer's attention to Shizune. Dark eyes scanned her thoughtfully for a moment, before the question came. "Have we… met?"
Shizune took her time in answering, choosing her words carefully.
"…No."
He looked at her again. "Hn. Whatever." Then why did she look familiar? Must have been the pig. His attention returned to Kabuto. "I've got the item, now let's just get the hell out of here."
Kabuto nodded slowly and stood up. He turned to Shizune and gave her a genuine-looking smile, as though there was nothing awkward about their meeting. "Well then, see you around," and with as jaunty wave, the two left.
Once she was sure they were gone, Shizune heaved a heavy sigh. She looked at the table she was sitting at as though it were important, and Tonton reemerged from her hiding place.
Then Shizune's brows furrowed angrily, "Shit! That little prick stuck me with the bill!"
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Well, that's chapter one. I probably just should have just said that it was Sasuke at the table, though, huh? I just didn't know how to do it without it being awkward, so I pretended I wanted it to be vague. It ended up just being confusing. Shit. Oh, and I have no idea when chapter two will be out, sorry to say. I'm sort of still in the writing process. In fact, it didn't even occur to me until just this instant, but I'm gonna need an ending, aren't I?
