a/n: Took longer than i thought to get this one out. Mostly because I just forgot what I was going to write LOL whoops. Plsplspls review? Esp if anyone is/becomes ooc. I haven't been very fanfiction-y in a while so.. ya. Thanks (:

insp: Classy Girls - The Lumineers. (very loosely ha)


"Hello, How Do You Do?"

"Shikamaru."

He looked over at Ino and wondered why she was saying his name so emphatically.

"I've said your name four times now!" She was leaning over the counter of the flower shop to give him a light punch on the arm. "What's got you so distracted? I thought things haven't been as busy for you lately."

Shikamaru didn't want to admit it to himself, much less to his nosy and overly-excited-by-juicy-news teammate, but his mind had wandered off to think about the girl who had kissed him. She had run off in the same direction that Shikamaru was intending to go, but not wanting to awkwardly walk alongside her, he waited for her to get further before heading off himself. Which resulted in him getting even more soaked -and cold - as he stood in the rain.

He grumbled out, "I was just remembering something that happened recently. It's nothing."

Still wet from the rain, Shikamaru resumed drying himself off as best he could with the towel that Ino had thrown at him when he had walked in. The Yamanaka flower shop was closer than his home, so he decided to stop in and wait out the storm. He expected to see Ino's mother, but was surprised to find Ino there; After the war, she had helped Sakura with establishing a clinic within Konoha Hospital to assess and treat children's mental health, and Ino was often busy working there these days.

"Anyway," Ino shrugged off her teammate's lapse of attention. "What I was trying to tell you is that we should go out with Chouji some time soon. It's been a while since the three of us have hung out, and I was thinking we could grab some dinner and have a few drinks!"

Shikamaru didn't particularly enjoy drinking, quite the opposite of Ino who would sometimes drag Sakura into competitions. "What a drag…" He sighed out. But dinner with his friends was something he rarely turned down.

Ino gave him a knowing look and smiled. "So you're down? Let's go to Shushuya this weekend."

"Yeah, alright."

- x -

Dinner ended up being pushed back a couple hours. Shikamaru was at fault; there was confusion about where the next Shinobi Union meeting would be next month, and he had to communicate with the Kage and other representatives to get everyone on the same page.

Shushuya was a restaurant-pub, with tables lining the floor and a bar against a side wall. There were a couple of guys seated at the bar, another group was at a table finishing up their meal. It looked like a slow night. Ino and Chouji were already seated next to each other at a table when Shikamaru arrived. He slid himself onto the wooden bench in front of his two friends.

"Finally!" Chouji greeted him with a large grin, his cheeks pushing up against his eyes to make them squint as he smiled. "Hey, Shikamaru since you were running late, we already placed orders for food. I'll call the waitress over so you can order a drink!"

Chouji raised an arm, but when Shikamaru glanced over the waitress was already coming out from behind the bar and making her way towards them.

Shikamaru felt a warmth creep up the back of his neck as he realized this was the girl from a few days ago. He struggled between staring or avoiding looking at her at all costs. He ended up compromising by avoiding her eyes and staring at her hands.

"Hi, your friends ordered yakitori and some sake, but would you like anything else?"

Did she recognize him? He could hardly forget the face of the strange girl who kissed him and it's not like his spiked-up ponytail was unrecognizable. Should he say hi to her? Or should he just order something? He must've hesitated too long because from the corner of his vision, he noticed Ino tilt her head at him with curiosity.

Damn this woman and her attentive eyes.

Not wanting to give Ino anything else to pick up on, Shikamaru forced himself to meet the girl's eyes. She was smiling at him and seemed like she was holding back a laugh; he noticed her bite the corner of her bottom lip- because of course his eyes glanced over her mouth as he looked up at her.

He cleared his throat and ordered a beer.

"Is Asahi okay?"

He tensely nodded and wondered to himself why he couldn't be as nonchalant as she was right now.

"Okay, I'll be right back with that!" She turned but Shikamaru still didn't feel freed of the tension that held him.

When she was out of earshot, Ino nudged Chouji with her elbow and began to prod at Shikamaru, "Okay, you totally think she's cute!"

From the look she was previously giving him, Shikamaru expected Ino to begin commenting. He tried to keep his composure as he shrugged off Ino's comment. But the warmth on his neck spread to his face and apparently his cheeks betrayed him because Chouji exclaimed, "Dude your face is turning pink you definitely have a thing for that girl!"

There was no way that the girl didn't hear Chouji so there was no point in shushing his teammates as he wished he'd done sooner. Shikamaru tilted his head back against the booth, an exasperated sigh scratching its way out of his throat.

Ino and Chouji were giggling to themselves as they eyed their frustrated companion. Ino propped her elbows on the table, leaning forward and resting her chin on her bridged fingers. "Wow Shikamaru, I've never seen you so flustered over a girl before!"

He dropped his chin down and forced himself to meet Ino's stare with what was hopefully a disinterested look in his eyes. She probably wasn't convinced, but he tried to brush it off anyway, responding in monotone, "It's nothing like that. I met her a few days ago and I was just surprised to see her here."

Upon hearing that they'd met previously, Ino's eyebrows raised with increased interest and Shikamaru realized he had dug himself into a deeper hole.

"So you two know each other?" Chouji asked, his curiosity just as peaked as Ino's was.

At that moment, the girl reappeared with a tray balanced on her arm carrying their drinks and platters of food. She was the one to answer Chouji as she served them.

"Not really. We just ran into each other the other day when we were both visiting the cemetery." As she was handing Shikamaru his drink, she turned so her face was only visible to him and then gave him a quick wink. "We briefly connected over some shared experiences."

She slightly emphasized connected, to which Shikamaru clenched his jaw as he understood her implication. Troublesome, woman… He thought to himself.

Despite how tense he was, he found himself nodding in agreement with her words with the hope that Ino would be satisfied with that. He also hoped the color in his cheeks was subsiding. In an attempt to appear more at ease, he asked the girl, "How are you?"

She suddenly laughed and Shikamaru was swamped with a fog of confusion. He was confused as to why she laughed and also confused as to why his breath caught in his throat and something in his chest stuttered at the sound.

The girl composed herself and said with lingering traces of laughter on her face, "Are you asking my name?"

He realized now that what he asked was who are you. He was simultaneously annoyed and slightly embarrassed that he misspoke again around this girl.

He clarified, "I meant to ask, how are you?"

"Oh, I see," she nodded. "Well I'll answer both of your questions- I'm doing alright, thanks. And I'm Higashi, Mina. Nice to see you again! And your name is?"

She smiled and extended a hand out to him.

"Nara, Shikamaru." He shook her hand, still working on having- or at least feigning - nonchalance.

Mina turned to his two companions expectantly, and smiled at them as well.

"Akimichi, Chouji!" He spoke around a biteful of skewered chicken that he had already begin eating. "Good to meet you, miss!"

Ino introduced herself as well. She had a grin on her face as she greeted Mina, and Shikamaru couldn't read what Ino was thinking now. He hoped that she'd leave him alone about this.

Mina gave a parting wave- similar to when she left Shikamaru the other day- and stepped away as she chimed, "Enjoy your dinner, everyone. And thanks for coming in! Let me know if you need anything else."

Ino smirked at him as Mina walked away. Shikamaru ignored her and took a drink of his beer.

"Well you heard her, let's enjoy!" Chouji bellowed out as he reached for multiple yakitori- one for himself and one each to pass to his friends.

Ino didn't prod more at Shikamaru about Mina for the rest of the night, only giving him specific looks when she'd return to the table to bring them more drinks throughout the night. Each time she came to their table, Shikamaru was relieved to note that the back of his neck didn't raise in temperature again, and the couple beers he had helped loosen his initial rigid posture. Eventually, he was pretty confident that his nonchalance was genuine; He ended up being thankful for this time with Ino and Chouji.

They reminisced about antics shared throughout their training at the academy, successful and not-so-successful missions. The conversation took a turn to bittersweet when they talked about Mirai, and how well she was growing. The daughter of their late-sensei was around two years old now. She was a constant source of joy, but Team 10 couldn't help but feel melancholic as they realized again that Asuma wasn't here to be with Mirai and Kurenai. The fact remained unspoken, and in the break in the conversation, Ino ordered another round of sake.

Shikamaru stopped her, gesturing to Chouji. He was slouching over and his movement had become lethargic as lifted his cup to his mouth to finish off what was there.

"I don't understand how he's such a lightweight." Ino shook her head. Considering his size, and metabolism, one would assume that the Akimichi shinobi could handle his alcohol. But Chouji had never been able to last very long even after only a few drinks. And when he had over his limit, he knocked out hard and was practically immovable at that point.

Ino sighed, "alright, I guess it's time to call it a night." She nudged Chouji onto his feet and slung his arm around her shoulder. Ino tossed some money on the table, Shikamaru followed suit as he slid out of his bench as well.

Chouji grumbled something about needing to use the bathroom. Ino passed him off to Shikamaru, and said that she'd wait for them outside.

Shikamaru leaned against the wall outside the bathroom door as he waited for his friend. He surveyed the restaurant again, and there were even less people now. Only one guy was left at the bar. Mina was cleaning up his empty glasses. She looked up just as his gaze had paused on her and he quickly looked away.

Shikamaru heard some clinking as Mina probably placed the glasses into the sink, and then in another moment she was at his side.

"Is your friend okay?" She glanced at the bathroom door.

Shikamaru gave her a small nod.

He wondered for a second if he had said something, would he have found a way to say the wrong thing again? He didn't feel as flustered now; it was likely that the warmth from earlier was because of surprise. Why couldn't he meet her eyes though? It's not like she was going to kiss him again. Was he worried about that? Did he want- No. With the direction of those thoughts, the unfamiliar and uncomfortable tension would probably return.

Noticing that he was avoiding her eyes, Mina asked, "Are you okay?" She leaned in closed to him, examining his face.

The warmth was slowly making a return, starting at the nape of his neck. Damn it.

He wondered if she could smell the alcohol on his breath. Her face was too close. His eyes moved from hers, to her lips, to the wall. She didn't move away, rather just chimed out another laugh.

Was she laughing at him?

"Sorry." His expression may have conveyed his annoyance. "I won't kiss you again, if that's what you're worried about." She must have caught when his eyes glanced over her lips. Damn this attentive woman as well.

Shikamaru swallowed. She stepped back. What was he supposed to say?

"Its-" He paused. It's fine? What was fine? That she kissed him or that she wouldn't again? "Yeah. Whatever." Is what he decided to grumble out.

An amused smile crossed her lips and she returned to the bar. The man had left, and Mina finished cleaning up the counter.

Chouji exited the bathroom then, and Shikamaru led him to the door, refusing to glance over his shoulder to look at the bar.

Ino pulled Chouji off of Shikamaru when they came outside. "I'll get Chouji home."

The Ino-Shika-Cho compounds (well, the Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi clans) were located in the same general direction, but after the war Shikamaru had moved out into a residential area nearer to the Hokage's office because of his duties. Shikamaru watched for a moment as Ino and Chouji walked off in the other direction, wanting to make sure that Chouji really wouldn't collapse on the kunoichi. He didn't seem too out of it. Content, Shikamaru turned to go his way and caught a glimpse of Mina rounding a corner in front of him.

Did they live in the same area?

If they ended up walking the same path home, he'd rather avoid small talk and any chance of the awkwardness of the restaurant making a comeback. Trying to not think about this too hard, Shikamaru slowly ambled on with the hope that he wouldn't catch up to her.