He's going to tell her something. She can tell by the way he hesitates, the slight hitch in his breath before he answers her questions, replies to her comments. If he was any other person, she wouldn't call this out, but he's who he is and she's going to tell him something, too. It was only a matter of who would go first, and then whether or not the other one's argument would be anything worth saying.
He walks two steps ahead of her and breathes in deep.
"I'm going to tell you something." He finally says. His back is towards her, and she can only assume his face is contorted in his nervousness. He was always the kind of person who would maintain a calm tone even in the face of adversity.
"Me too." She replies, blurts out more likely, instead of saying, "Go on."
"Oh." He hesitates again, and cranes his head over his shoulder to glance at her.
"But please," She smiles. "Go on."
"But it might be important."
"Not any more important than what you're about to say. Please."
"No, no, you first."
Are they children? Unable to decide on their own who would go first?
"I insist."
He pauses.
"Very well." He clears his throat and turns on his heel to face her completely. "I would like to get to know you."
Oh. She thinks. Was that it? How…formal.
"You already know me." She replies.
Of course I do! He screams at himself. But I want to know you better. On a more personal level.
"On a more personal level." He adds.
"Ah." She is slack-jawed at his statement.
She doesn't say that they've both been to each other's residences, nor the number of missions they've taken together, nor the impromptu dinners shared after a grueling mission, nor the spontaneous room-sharing at inns.
"How about you?" He asks quickly, fearing the awkwardness settling between them, "What were you going to say?"
"I forgot." She lies. "But, dinner? I know a place around here."
"Sure." He replies.
She smiles and walks past him, and he follows her through the lit streets with colorful paper lanterns still hanging above them.
He remembers that Hagakure is her home town, although she grew up in the dark labyrinth of the Snake Sage, this village in between two high mountains is much as her home as his is Konoha. It is late in the summer and the annual festival had just ended the day before, the shops and the stores are placing their festive menu and souvenir items at half the price, an expensive meal at one of the village's restaurants would not cost them much.
Was he thinking about having a pricey meal with her?
"It's one of the finer restaurants around here." She calls out, "But the festival just ended and they're placing everything at half the price. It's my treat anyway. I hope you're in the mood for seafood."
Sure, they had a mission to retrieve classified Hagakure documents from a rival country, but she doesn't have to treat him. In all proper decorum between teammates, they should split the bill.
Oh. Oh.
The Hydrangea's Poison. She has mentioned the restaurant in passing once. Decorated with paintings of various flowering plants and rare herbs, she thinks it is only fitting that she bring someone who is familiar with these to this restaurant.
"It's an interesting name." He comments.
"It's an awful name." She laughs. "If anyone else, I'd think this was just a pub owned by someone with bad taste."
And it is also a pub, with the far end of the establishment to host a long counter with several patrons all sipping from colorful cocktails decorated with various flowers. He'd like a taste, just out of curiosity.
"Have you been here before?" He asks as they are served a platter of sashimi.
"No." She picks up her chopsticks and picks out several pieces of fish.
He looks at the way she picks out the fish almost too selectively, "Then why all of a sudden?"
She dips a pink salmon into the soy sauce. "I needed someone to try out the festive course with me."
"Well," He picks a slice of tuna and places it on his plate. "Thank you."
He tries not to be flattered at her statement, tries not to think of this as a date.
"Oh." She voices out when they're half-way done with the first platter. "Did I ever mention that the first platter is a roulette? There's a single piece of fish here that's poisonous. Makes your taste buds light on fire."
He stops chewing and calls the waiter to serve the next platter of sushi rolls that, unbeknownst to him, has a piece that is infused with hot chili. She laughs.
"I like spicy food." She says upon serving on the third platter. "My mother used to make candy from wasabi root and sugar cane."
She thinks this is a promising first step to his getting to know her better, if only she told him in the first place that she'd like to do the same then maybe they would already consider this a first date.
And if she told him that she took all the spicy pieces on purpose.
"Would you like to go on another? I know a safer restaurant." She says on their way back to Konoha.
Hagakure is far from Konoha and she knows of the implication of her question and hopes that he notice it.
"And I know one that's right here, a restaurant that will cater to both our tastes." He replies and tells himself to ask her out the next time.
"I look forward to it."
When he gets home, he tries not to feel as if he's achieved something.