"Kanpai," Ino says, taking a healthy gulp of whatever she had ordered from the bar. Sakura had seen the bartender mix together water and honey with an amber liquor. A lot of liquor.
The women had started meeting after work on Thursdays to all catch up. Bars are often empty during the weekdays, and they all had their own hangover cures that they'd tiredly use the next morning as they stumbled into their respective jobs.
"That looks terrible," Temari says, tucking herself into their booth. "Let me try." She takes a large swallow, draining half the glass, and even Ino winces. Temari coughs and pounds a fist on the table. She hadn't been chummy with the other women for long, but her forward, gruff nature did something to endear the others to her.
"What is that, anyway?" Tenten asks. She and Sakura had both opted for sake, and Hinata sipped water quietly.
"It's a type of grog," she says. "We had a mission in the Land of Waves two weeks ago. Some of the sailors over there are pretty cute. Got a lot of these for free at one of a bars down there." She winks, and Sakura rolls her eyes.
"I don't let strangers buy me drinks," Temari says. "They always expect a conversation, and the conversation is always one-sided."
Sakura giggles, recalling the last time she watched Ino accept a drink from some chunin and get roped into hearing a boring story about the guy's most recent C-rank assignment.
"I don't know, sometimes it's nice to not have to pay for a drink," Tenten chimes in.
"Oh God," Sakura says, gesturing towards the door. Ino and Temari turn to see Shikamaru and Naruto enter.
"I thought you said the boys didn't know about this place," Temari says suspiciously. "I thought that's why we were coming here."
"Ladies!" Naruto waves, seeing them.
"I'm sure they don't want to be bothered, Naruto," says Shikamaru. Naruto seems unaffected by Shikamaru's comment and he strolls up to their booth with the Nara clan head not far behind him.
"Kakashi said this place was really romantic," Naruto says, craning his head to look around. Sakura chokes on her drink and Hinata stifles a girlish laugh.
"So, naturally, you decided to bring Shikamaru," Tenten says.
"Naruto!" Lee's voice sounds from the door. He strolls in, followed by Sai. "This place is indeed a romantic bar!"
"Does 'romantic' mean something different in this village?" Temari asks, Ino laughing into her drink.
"Choji invited a girl here tomorrow and asked Shikamaru to do reconnaissance," Naruto says. "And I decided that it sounded like fun!"
"This really got away from me," Shikamaru says, rubbing his temple.
"We'd love to sit with you ladies, but I don't think there's enough room. We're expecting a few more," Naruto says, not seeming to realize that he is intruding. As he does, Kiba and Kankuro walk in, both cheering at the sight of Naruto, who cheers back.
"I need a drink," Temari says, standing up and making her way to the bar.
"So do I," says Shikamaru, turning to follow a step behind her. "Or a lobotomy."
"Sure you do," Ino calls skeptically at his back, and he swings around to give her a pointed glare before continuing on his way. Ino had been teasing him for weeks about his obvious attraction to Temari.
There is no line at the bar. In fact, before Naruto and company arrived, the women were the only ones there.
"Whatever that revolting thing my friend ordered was, I want a double," she says.
"Rough night?" Shikamaru asks from behind her as the bartender sets a tall glass of her.
"Here's hoping," she says mischievously, lifting the glass to her lips and taking a long pull. She doesn't make a face, and keeps her eyes trained on him. In truth, she's lucky this is only her second drink, because she knows if she were a little drunker, she'd have said she liked it rough. She sees color in his cheeks and isn't sure if the boys had already been drinking that night or if she is genuinely getting a rise out of him. She moves out of his way so he can order, and her brother notices her and barrels towards her.
"Do you have any money?" Kankuro asks.
"I do," she says, beginning her journey back to her table.
"Can I borrow some?"
"You cannot," she says, smiling. Shikamaru smirks at the exchange.
"I just opened a tab, Kankuro," Shikamaru calls lazily. "Just put your drinks on it."
Temari tucks herself back in at the table with the other women and realizes that the men had sat themselves as far away as possible.
"Did Shikamaru buy that for you?" Ino asks. "He seemed quick to follow you."
"No, he didn't offer," she says matter-of-factly, ignoring the insinuation. "He got my brother a drink, though."
Ino guffaws and then looks at the table with a glint in her eye. "If you had to sleep with one of them, who would you choose?"
"Hang on," Tenten says, sticking her chin out. Shikamaru and Kankuro pass by and the women are silent.
"Sai," Sakura and Tenten say after they're at the table. They both burst out laughing.
"Are you kidding? He looks like he needs a blood transfusion," Temari says, gesturing at the boys, and realizes, too late, that Shikamaru was watching. Of course. He would have noticed that they were completely silent as he and her brother had walked by.
"Naruto," Hinata says quietly.
"Shocker," Ino responds.
"You and Gaara both," Temari says. "The dumb ones are usually the best in bed, though."
Hinata's face goes bright red, and Ino howls with laughter.
"I do not want to think about that," Sakura says.
"Oof," Tenten says in agreement. "Lee would also be good in bed, by your logic."
"If you could get past him shouting, 'YOUTH!' when he comes," Temari says, her smirk almost evil.
"Would the opposite be true? Would Shikamaru be terrible?" Tenten asks.
"He'd totally have an agenda," Ino chirps. "He'd be like, 'Okay, I've figured out the most efficient way to make you come, here's my five-point plan,'"
They are all laughing, and when they quiet, Ino wipes away a tear.
"I'm getting another," she says, almost sobbing. "Did you want me to get you something, Sakura? Tenten?"
The two women nod, and Ino looks stands.
"Hold on, Ino, I'm going to get another, too," Temari says, and they make their way up together.
"I'll have a bottle of your most expensive sake and another of these for me," Ino says, and the bartender begins making the drink. "Can you put this on the Nara tab?"
"I'll have another, too, on his tab," Temari says, catching on to Ino's scheme and finding it hilarious.
When they bring back the drinks, Sakura and Tenten thank Ino for her generosity.
"I know, I was about to pay for mine and Ino insisted on getting it as well. That flower shop must be doing well," Temari says, taking a drink. She has a particularly high tolerance for alcohol, but these drinks were strong and she could feel her cheeks getting rosy.
"So," Ino says, "You never answered who you would sleep with, Temari."
"Your Hokage is easy on the eyes," she says without missing a beat.
"He's always reading porn," Ino says.
"So he'd know what he's doing," she answers.
"Kakashi-sensei isn't here," Sakura says. "The question was iof the men here./i"
This is tough. Temari has her pick, but her pick had almost certainly been listening in on them for a while now and she'd realized it as soon as she had gestured to the table and saw him looking back at her. She chose to deflect.
"Hmm, who's the most inappropriate for me? Lee would be a disaster at any of the political events we'd have to attend together. Plus we know he's got really high endurance."
Tenten laughs before stopping herself. "That's mean."
"I don't think so. Not everyone is cut out to be a dignitary," Tamari responds.
"He came by the compound for Neji once and we invited him in for dinner," Hinata says, her eyes bright, "and it'd be improper to gossip about it but…" she blushes, "he exposed himself to my father by accident by the end of the night."
"My king!" Temari says jokingly. "Yes! I pick Lee. Someone who's going to give the rest of the Suna council a heart attack."
The men leave first, Shikamaru settling his tab as Sai and Lee pour a sloshed Naruto out the door.
"He can never handle his alcohol," Hinata says as she shakes her head.
"Well, since our free drink ticket has left, I think we should call it an evening," Ino says.
Sakura gasps, looking at the expensive bottle on the table. "Ino, you didn't."
Temari stands and sways a little before excusing herself and ducking into the cool night, leaving the two to argue over whether or not to apologize to Shikamaru and pay him back.
"Any idea why my tab cost more than my rent?" Shikamaru asks, appearing by her side out of seemingly nowhere.
"Ah, nothing gets past you," she says wryly. "Thanks for the drinks, though."
"Sure. Next time you can ask Lee to buy it for you," he says, looking at her slyly.
"So you were listening after all," she says placidly.
"I always suspected that I never stood a chance against that bowl cut," he remarks.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous."
They continue in silence for a few minutes, and she's about to point out that he missed the turn he would have to take to the Nara compound when he opens his mouth.
"It's six points," he says.
"I'm sorry?"
"My plan."
She glances at him. Surely she misheard. But his cheeks are red and she takes it as an invitation. Her lips are on his and she's pushing him into the nearest alley. She feels his hardness against her thigh and a moan escapes her throat. He hand cups her breast as his tongue explores her mouth.
He reaches under her dress and pulls her panties aside. He traces his fingers over her sex and she bites his lower lip, her hands unzipping his trousers.
"Fuck me," she breathes onto his mouth as she pumps her hand over the length that sprang free.
He doesn't argue and pins her to the wall, impaling her on his cock. He thrusts into her with urgency and she matches his enthusiasm. It's short lived, because they both hear a noise at the other end of the alley and separate. He buckles his belt back up and they continue walking side by side. A cat darts past them and she lets out a relieved laugh and turns to look at him. His face is deeply flushed and he looks serious under the streetlights. They're quickly approaching her apartment.
"Would you like to come inside?" Temari asks.
"Absolutely," he says. He's not much taller than she is but she finds herself looking up at him as he walks her backwards into her house and all but tears off her clothes. There's something almost desperate in his actions and she realizes with a start that he's probably wanted to do this for a while. That this was not a chance encounter.
He parts her legs with his knees and slides his head down between her legs, lightly biting the inside of her thigh before focusing his mouth on her vulva.
Something occurs to her. "Does Choji really have a date tomorrow?"
He makes a choking noise and looks up at her. "Naruto may have made some assumptions that I let him believe."
"Did...did you plan all of this?" She doesn't sound mad. In fact, she sounds amused. She quirks an eyebrow at him.
"No, this went a lot better than I expected," he said, running his hand along her leg and returning his mouth to work.