During the mission, Shikamaru had learned a few things.

He had been dreading it for weeks, mostly because he'd have to actually do stuff, but during the trip he'd decided things might not entirely suck.

He was wrong.

He was so, so wrong it was almost funny.

"Well, well, well," Asuma-sensei said. Only people who'd known him well would be been able to hear the slight waver in his voice. "Itachi Uchiha. What a pleasure. Who's your friend?"

Because yes, that was the face of the killer of an entire clan. Itachi Uchiha, pale skinned with ebony hair, tear furrows deep in his face. Next to him, with their back turned and standing besides him, was another person in green silk, black hair braided back.

Shikamaru shifted, and glared at Ino when she seemed about to say something. It would be best for everyone if they let their teacher handle-

The other person turned. Shikamaru looked into blind, staring eyes and froze.

Toph.

Toph.

All of his inhibitions fled. He stepped forwards, ignoring the frightened hiss Ino gave him, and ducking under Asuma's outstretched hand. "Toph? What're you doing with this man?"

Why did you leave Sakura, the village?

Why did you leave me?

"Shikamaru?!" She slid off the seat and grinned. "It is you. Hi!"

There was a dull ache in his chest when he saw her bright smile again. How long had it been since he'd seen it last?

No. Be serious, Shikamaru.

He shoved his thrilled feelings into a box and slammed the lid on shut.

"Hi?" He took another step, ignoring the warning "Shikamaru!" his sensei let out. "That's it? No apology or explanation?"

Her whole face hardened with sudden anger, the lines in her face throwing the scar under her left eye into sharp relief. One hand dropped to the white hilt at her waist (prop? Didn't seem like it). "Oh, I'm sorry for getting attacked and driven out. I should totally have seen that in my future and told you."

He opened his mouth, then stopped, flabbergasted. "Attacked?"

"Yeah, Lazybones," Toph folded her arms, the lengthy sleeves sliding, causing the fabric to ripple. "By Konohan shinobi. Did you think I just up and left? And decided to break Orochimaru out despite knowing what he had done?"

Itachi set a hand on her shoulder. She was so small compared to his bulk. Looking at the both of them together was almost like comparing a tiny, fluffy Pomeranian with a Doberman. "Don't say too much."

She shrugged. "I won't. But it's Shikamaru. I trust him. Somewhat."

Shikamaru gave Asuma-sensei a sideways look. His teacher seemed utterly confused as well.

"I thought Orochimaru promised you something," Shikamaru admitted. "Like, maybe a way to get back to your home."

Toph snorted. "Not on your life. Our deal was only to get each other out of there alive. We're enemies, now."

"So you're not an enemy to Konoha?" He asked, hesitantly.

It was almost too good to be true.

"That's enough," the pale Uchiha activated his Sharingan. "We have buisness to attend to elsewhere. Come, Toph-san."

She nodded, but approached Shikamaru. "The village turned on me after the Hokage died. My loyalties are to people, like Sakura. Like Kakshi. Like you."

He remembered that day he had walked her home, had joked and laughed with her. The scent of strawberries washed over him, reminding him of every encounter he'd ever had with her.

Laying on the couch, bangs framing her sleeping face.

Attacking three clan heads with nothing but confidence on her face.

Laughing as he cornered her in the area above the arena, nose doing a little scrunchy thing that had his face flushing even though she couldn't see him.

Her gleeful smile as she attempted to brutally strangle his dad through a game of Shogi.

Laughing as she skipped down the street with Kakashi, laughing wildly at something he'd said.

As the silence stretched on, one image in particular rose to the front of his mind; closing his eyes, he could see it as clear as day.

That one time when he walked her home in the golden sunlight of almost sunset. She had been so beautiful, the summer sunlight streaming around her, powerful and wily and brilliant.

"If you're going to walk someone home, make sure you know where they live first!" Toph laughed, grabbing him by the wrist and towing him back the way they had come. Her face had been turned away from him, leaving him just watching her.

"I'll remember that for next time." The words had slipped out almost before he had time to think.

She'd made a quip or two, but all Shikamaru could really remember from then on was the bright red tips of her ears.

There might not ever be a next time.

Toph was exiled from the village. Shikamaru was heir to the Nara clan. It had been somewhat plausible to pursue her when they were both so close, but now...

If I don't do something, I'm going to regret it.

His eyes snapped open.

Toph was still standing in front of them, her fingers twisting around each other as she waited for his reply. She seemed just as perfect now as back then, though a lot more nervous.

It was adorable.

He stepped forward, crossing the distance between them, tilting his face enough to plant his lips directly on hers.

She stiffened, eyes wide and face slowly turning red as he kissed her for a full ten seconds, time seeming to stretch on forever.

Behind him, Ino let out an unholy screeching noise, her pitch high and not ceasing even to breathe.

Toph's lips were soft like velvet, warm, and tasted like strawberries. She melted, then moved with him, kissing him back-

He broke away from her. "I like you, Toph. I hope you don't kill anyone important."

Now entirely red, Toph covered her face in her hands. She was obviously trying to get a grip on her emotions, and failing.

"Likewise," she squeaked.

Shikamaru watched as Itachi blinked, face impassive, then grabbed her and shunshinned away in a blur of green and black.

Asuma turned to eye him incredulously. Shikamaru felt his cheeks heating up as he turned slowly back to his shell-shocked teammates.

"Shikamaru," he said slowly and clearly, as though his student had gone insane. "We do not kiss missing nin."

▪▪▪

They had gotten back to the hotel and Ino was dying of laughter.

And envy.

And also confusion because what? In what universe did Shikamaru, boring, lazy Shikamaru, kiss someone before her? She was the attractive one of the group.

Although Toph was stunning in her own way too. She had sharp eyes, beautiful despite their blindness, and good hair and porcelain skin, and she was incredibly powerful.

But Shikamaru?! In what world?! She just couldn't figure it out.

They had reached their hotel for the night, and the Nara just collapsed onto the bed, hiding his face. Choji had tried to talk to him, but Shikamaru had just ignored him.

Kami, that was the first time she had ever seen him blush.

Ino glanced over at him from her spot on the other bed, then cackled. This was great! She had so much blackmail material now!

What to make her new slave do...

Ino straightened suddenly.

Sakura.

Sakura would want to know about this.

Ino pulled her diary out of her bag, fished for a pen, and began to write.

▪▪▪

Even though he was silent and stoic, Toph could feel Itachi's eyes boring into her back.

She moved her head away from him, running her fingers through the waist tall grass. They stood on a ridge above the camp, the vibrations of people moving around below moving up Toph's toes.

Itachi made no move to approach the camp, so neither did she, fiddling with both the hilt of her sword and various nearby plants.

After a few, skin crawling minutes she set down the flower she held and turned to face him. "What?"

"I had no idea you were so close with that Nara boy," he remarked coolly.

Toph felt her whole head heat up at the memory. She squeaked again, burying her face in her hands. Her skin was hot to the touch, and she spread her fingers to hide as much as she could.

"I gather you did not either," Itachi remarked.

She managed to shake her head no.

"I see," he took a few boundless steps towards her. "However, I would advise that you not dwell on your feelings towards him. You are, after all, estranged from the village, while he is a loyal shinobi. A relationship with him would not end up well."

He left her there with as much noise as a mute pygmy puma, which is to say, none at all.

Toph knelt down, pulling her arms around herself.

As much as she hated to admit it, Itachi was right.

That stilted, sick, overly formal Uchiha was right.

She and Konoha were enemies. They had tried to capture or kill her.

She couldn't even be friends with Shikamaru, let alone-

She felt her ears heat up and buried her face in her sleeves. She grabbed the tail of her braid and fiddled with it, absolutely mortified.

What in the world was she supposed to do? Toph had never felt like this, this niggling, leaping in her stomach. She remembered his soft lips, the way he had smelled like oak and sandalwood.

She let herself fall to the ground and started hitting the dirt. It gave under her fist, quickly denting into a crater.

Digging her fingers in, Toph let out a loud scream.

It was hard, having absolutely zero experience with romance.

▪▪▪

Tsunade looked at the elder across from her.

Despite his age, Danzo seemed quite healthy. Yes, he was swathed in bandages, probably to hide unsightly scarring, but Tsunade did the same with her genjutsu, hiding her age and any potential weaknesses.

"Lady Tsunade," his voice was scratchy and all around hackle raising. "I heard you wanted to speak with me?"

"I did," she straightened a stack of missing child reports and set Toph's manilla folder on top.

"I hope this is quick," Danzo said. "I have a lot of work to do."

She felt her face hardening, whether from dislike or fury she couldn't tell. "I wanted to talk to you about some rather strange reports I found."

He shifted, resettling his cane. "I do not see what misfiled reports have to do with me."

"Ah, but you see, they were signed off by you," Tsunade rested her chin on her hand. "Even though they had no business being."

"I see," Danzo bowed his head slightly. "Am I forbidden from overworking?"

"But as you said just a few moments ago, you already have a lot to do," Tsunade remarked. "Why burden yourself further with things you do not have to do?"

He shifted. "It was no trouble."

"Riiiiight," Tsunade deadpanned. "Look, send a shinobi over with everything you've signed off on in the last, oh, decade or so. I want to make sure people aren't misfiling important cases in the wrong places because of the signature at the bottom."

"Lady Tsunade!" He began, but she cut him off with a raised hand.

"It's no trouble," she gave him a wide smile. "I want to be sure everything is as it should be. I'm no Hiruzen. I don't leave important things to others unless I'm absolutely certain they can be trusted."

His visible brow furrowed in rage. "I take very good care of whatever falls within my jurisdiction, Lady. I do not hold secret meetings in, for example, flower shops."

Flower-?

Shizune had mentioned something about that. A Mature Life Gossip Group...

Oh.

Widening her smug smirk, Tsunade didn't even blink. "Of course you don't. You may go."

He nodded and left, obviously angry.

"Oh, and Danzo?" Tsunade called after him.

He paused. "Yes?"

"No more children. Hiruzen may have let you get away with kidnapping, but I am not nearly as lenient as he was. They're off-limits."

He bowed jerkily. "I see."

"And Tsume wants her pack's pups back, if it's no bother to you."

He snarled and didn't reply, leaving her office in a huff.

Tsunade leaned back, interlacing her fingers and arching her arms over her head. "Hey, Shizune!"

The young woman entered so fast she had probably been eavesdropping. "My lady?"

"When's the next meeting of Anko's Mature Life Gossip Group?"

▪▪▪

Iruka and Anko stood together, looking over a small counter of jewelry.

"What do you think of those ones?" Anko asked, pointing at a pair of tiny black studs. "Plain, unassuming, and they look pretty difficult to grab at."

Iruka shook his head. "They're not pretty enough for you."

Anko paused, the implications of his words sinking in. She turned incredulous eyes on him, only to find he himself seemed shocked at what he had said.

He flushed, his ears going bright red. Anko felt her own face burning, and she looked away.

The back of his hand brushed hers. Without even thinking about it, Anko twined her fingers through his.

To her surprise, he tightened his grip around her, not looking up but not letting go either.

"Why don't you choose a pair?" Anko suggested.

She watched his onyx eyes as he examined the little earrings, his eyes skipping right over the dull little studs made of polished metals and stopped on sparklier gems.

"I like that pair," he used his free hand to point at two tiny little red triangles.

"I do too," Anko said instantly, almost before her eyes had found the earrings he was talking about.

"You've decided?" The guy behind the counter asked. He was covered in tattoos and had multiple piercings on his ears as well as a long chain that went from his right earlobe to under his lip.

They both nodded in unison.

The man opened the glass, withdrawing the selected studs and holding them up just to make sure.

"We only have this one pair in stock," he told them. "You good with that?"

Anko glanced at Iruka, then nodded. "We'll split."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

Iruka stepped forward. "I get one, she gets the other. Anko, have you decided where you want it?"

At the mention of her name without an honorific for the first time, Anko beamed. "Wherever you want."

He paused, looking at her.

"I need an actual location before I can begin, you know," the tattooed man told them, somewhat exasperatedly.

Iruka turned to her, releasing her hand to cup her face. He brushed her hair off her left ear and considered.

Although Anko had been in a lot of embarrassing situations, this one had to be the worst. She felt her face heat up even more as he lightly traced the curve of her ear, considering.

After what seemed like ages, he tapped a spot on her ear, on the upper flat part.

"Here."

Anko felt it was the sexiest thing she'd ever heard.

Ten minutes later, they walked out of the small building, each of them with very red faces and a tiny triangular ruby twinkling on their reddened left ear lobes.

Iruka turned to her. "Hey, Anko."

"Yes?"

"I know I refused you the first time, and this is a bit late in coming but-"

He stopped, spinning her to face him.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

All thoughts of tails or spies flew out of Anko's head. She felt tears, stupid, wet tears, welling up in her eyes.

"Of course, dummy."

He leaned forward.

She moved in.

That kiss was, hands down, the best she'd ever shared.