A/N: I still do not own Naruto.

Chapter 2

Hesitantly, Nara pulled his eyes away from her profile. "She really is striking. It had escaped me, before now, I suppose," he thought to himself. "Ah... troublesome. I needn't be focusing my attention on something so silly. We're colleagues. I doubt she'd be comfortable with my spoiling what ease there is between us by voicing such a thought. I'll keep it to myself," he decided. There was a slight pang in his chest when he did so, but choosing to ignore that (heartburn, certainly, nothing more) he spoke instead.

"It seems we have arrived," he said, removing one of his pocketed hands and gesturing lazily towards the medical building. "I suppose I will see you later, then." He tilted his head low, in an almost bow, and turned away from her, disquieted by the tug he felt to stay a bit longer. It didn't matter. She was always in a hurry to get to work on time. She was probably already slowed by keeping pace with him on the way in.

Sakura bowed her head in return, but Shikamaru had already spun on his heel and was walking away from her. She wondered for a moment if she had somehow offended him. It wasn't like him to seem rushed, or to be in any particular hurry to get into the medical labs. She sighed. Wasting thought on it wouldn't do. She had several complicated poisons to break down this morning, and already she would barely make it to the lab on time. She briskly resumed her path, and made her way to the poison lab with her thoughts refocused on her work.

Several hours later, Sakura peered through her microscope and sighed. Perhaps she hadn't offended him at all. Perhaps he'd found her response annoying. Sasuke had always determined her to be annoying, after all. Her unwanted attentions and attempts to gain his affections weren't even deemed worthy of response, most of the time. Of course, that was before he'd left the village, a long time ago. She sighed again. Perhaps it was no different with Shikamaru. It wasn't as if she had anything to compare it to. After falling in love with Sasuke as a child, he'd left the village, leaving his teammates equal parts brokenhearted and determined to bring him back safely. Sadly, Sasuke had only drifted further and further away, and Sakura couldn't help but wonder how she'd ever been blind enough to think she had a chance to win his affections. He was so completely consumed with his desire for power and revenge, he couldn't see anything else. Sakura threw herself into her training, into her studies, into her work. She rebuffed the attempts of both her teammate, Naruto, and fellow ninja Rock Lee, to win her heart. Although she felt affection for both men, she hadn't seen either as more than a friend. Her romantic inclinations had seemed to disappear along with Sasuke.

"But why am I reflecting on all of this now?" she wondered. "It's been ages since I put aside these thoughts. Sasuke was my teammate. Perhaps even my friend, in his own way. I was infatuated with him, a childhood crush, nothing more. His rejection should no longer be such a painful wound. I am not that little girl any longer." Sakura sat back from the microscope she had been gazing through, her thoughts clearly not on the slide at hand. Why had she abandoned all thoughts of emotional attachment when Sasuke had finally made one treacherous move too many to be thought redeemable? And why, of all things, was it only suddenly occurring to her that she had left one aspect of her life so conspicuously empty?

"Kami..." she whispered to herself, "What am I doing? The past is the past. I don't have time for this foolishness." She steeled herself, attempting to compartmentalize, as she always had, and returned to her work. She couldn't help that a quick image flashed through her mind just as she leaned back into her work. It was Shikamaru, the easy tilt of his head in her direction when he spoke to her this morning, the lidded eyes, the low rumble of his tone. She inhaled sharply, annoyed with herself, and shook her head, clearing the thought. "Back to work, Haruno," she admonished herself. "We have things to do."

It was hardly half an hour later that she sensed his familiar chakra signature, there, behind her. She tilted her head slightly, confused. Why was he in the doorway of her lab? She kept her back to him, and smiled softly to herself, hardly realizing she'd done so.

"Can I help you with something, Nara?" she asked, still not facing him.

"Perhaps you could, Haruno," he drawled, "I seem to be working alone for the rest of the day, as Shizune has some paperwork that requires her to be in the office with Lady Tsunade."

"I see. What did you need my assistance with, exactly?" she said, turning around to face him, carefully arranging her face in a neutral expression. Why was her pulse quickening?

He stood in the doorway, leaning casually on the frame, slouching to the left, as though he might be considering going to sleep right then and there. His thick eyelashes and heavy lids made it appear as though he may actually already have his eyes closed, his chin pointed downward towards his feet, avoiding her gaze. After a moment's pause, he looked up, his deep brown eyes meeting her green ones directly for the first time that day. He found himself momentarily stunned. He'd forgotten how incredible her eyes were- that that unnerving shade of, was it mint? Seafoam? Jade?- how wide and honest, rimmed with thick dark lashes, and how clear, sincere...

He shrugged, quickly regaining his composure. Sakura hardly noticed the shift in him, he simply lifted his shoulder off of the doorframe and smirked. "I am exhausted, almost ready to fall asleep, actually. Shizune normally brews another pot of coffee and brings it to the lab before now, but she left in a hurry, and..."

"Wait," Sakura interrupted, a bit agitated, "Are you saying you came here and disrupted my work because you need someone to brew you coffee?"

He seemed a bit sheepish, standing up straighter, scratching the back of his neck and tilting his head back down towards the floor.

"I, uh, well... No. Not exactly," he mumbled. "Never mind. I didn't mean to disturb you. My apologies." He began to back away from the doorway, and was about to turn back down the hallway when she stood up from her stool and gestured for him to wait.

"It's alright, Shikamaru. I'm sorry for being short with you, I suppose I'm tired as well. It's been a long day. What was it you needed my help with? I'm almost done here anyway."

Shikamaru smirked to himself again, then looked her over calmly. She was playing right into his hands.

"I was wondering if you would be willing to join me for a cup of coffee, actually," he said, voice clear and controlled, belying his hidden nervousness.

Despite generally being able to predict anyone's actions and reactions for several steps ahead, asking Haruno Sakura for a casual date had really only two potential outcomes, both of which made his chest twinge. She could say yes, and assume that he was simply interested in her company as a friend, which would mean he would need to exert more effort to imply his interest. Troublesome. Or, she could say yes and understand immediately that by making the effort to ask, he was clearly interested in her company in a more important sense. Also troublesome, as he had only just admitted this to himself under an hour ago. He had assumed that she was too polite to say no, as it wasn't in her nature really, to deny any friend's request unless it was absolutely unavoidable.

Sakura remained unmoving, her eyes clouded with surprise, for a few beats. She looked him over in much the same way he had done her just before making his request.

"Alright, Nara," she said, turning her back to him and gathering her things. "Just give me a few moments to shut things down around here."

She could feel the heat of a blush beginning to spread across her nose and cheeks and smiled to herself.