The smell of alcohol was heavy in the crowded space of the bar, having soaked through the air. The thick cloud of smoke hovered above their table.

She glanced at the man in the same seat, who pulled out another cigarette, and placed it between his lips.

"You smoke a lot tonight. A lot, even for you," she commented nonchalantly, staring straight ahead at her friend dancing around with men.

There was a moment of silence between them, before she saw Shikamaru shrug. "Stressful time lately."

Sakura nodded, not understanding the method, but relating to the reason why he had been smoking more. "Does it help? To relax?"

"I guess."

She nodded again, sinking more into the cushion seat. The music wasn't as loud in the far corner of the bar, but mixed with the alcohol she had drunk, it was starting to make her head ache.

"You want to try?"

She jerked her head at the sound of Shikamaru's voice. He was holding out his cigarette in her direction with a questioning look in his dark eyes.

"I..." her gaze darted between him and the object in his palm, hesitant. She'd been having a lot of difficult nights at the hospital, and Shikamaru had said it helped with the stress. It wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.

He cocked an eybrow at her apprehension, a silent suggestion to make up her mind.

She tugged it out from his hold, and placed the end in her mouth.

She felt him watching her intently, while she took a first drag, and almost choked at the harsh sensation of the smoke in her throat. She tried to refrain from coughing, pretending it didn't cause a reaction in her.

The second and the third try weren't the nicest, but she could definitely tell she was getting better at it. The urge to cough started to diminish as she kept on smoking, and before she knew it, the cigarette had been burnt out.

She threw it in the ashtray, and took a sip from her drink.

"You know, coughing is a normal reaction for the first timers," she heard Shikamaru say from her left; his face in his palm, and a bored expression accompanying his features.

Sakura crossed her arms. So she did look very amateur, despite her attempts at hiding it.

"I didn't cough, because maybe it wasn't my first cigarette?"

"But you wanted to," he told her, amusement visible in his eyes.

"Did not."

"Did yes."

She snorted. "This is not how it goes."

He gave her a dry smile.

"So," she started, seemingly careless in her stance, but with a hint of curiousity in her voice. "What other things do you think I haven't done yet?"

Shikamaru scrunched his nose. "Are we playing some game that will get you mad at me?"

"Why would I get mad?" She tilted her head at him, narrowing her eyes. "You think I haven't done anything fun in my life?"

He smiled wryly, picking up a drink off the table. "I didn't say that."

"You implied."

Shikamaru sighed. "I just think that you're... safe."

"Safe how?"

"Safe," he answered, shrugging.

Sakura moved closer to him, wanting do learn more. What was that supposed to even mean? She knew how to have fun, and she'd done plenty fun things.

"Okay," she said, an idea forming in her head. "I'll tell you something, and you'll tell me if you think I've done it or not," she finished, the word safe floating in her mind.

Did by safe he meant she was boring? Was that a nicer way of putting it?

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered under his breath, but she ignored him.

"Skinny dipping."

She looked at him expectantly.

"No."

Short reply, without hesitancy, sure, and so wrong.

"I have!"

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow at her, showing a clear doubt about her confession.

Although, Sakura wasn't sure how he managed to seem bored and surprised at the same time.

"Yes. With Ino and Ten-Ten," she said. "Fine. What about..."

She paused, trying to come up with all those crazy things she'd done. Because she had.

Right.

"Gambling?"

Shikamaru looked over her, thinking. "You're a protégé of the Fifth, so I'll assume that may be a yes?"

"Good deduction," she admitted. "I've learned some tricks, too."

"From your mentor?" Shikamaru asked, sceptical. It was a common knowledge that Tsunade-sama was plain terrible at gambling and had lost many times.

Sakura was a witness to a good amount of her failures.

"God, no," she shook her head, the idea of taking a page from her shishou's book at gambling leaving her mortified. She would probably have to go back to live with her parents if she ever did, because the only possible outcome was a big loss of money. "I observed and learned. From the people she went up against."

"So," he started, taking a sip from a drink. "You're any good?"

She gave him a smile.

"Oh, no." Shikamaru spoke, ruffling his hair with a shake of a head. "I know this smile doesn't mean anything good."

"I think I'm decent," Sakura said, trying to sound indifferent. "But we can test that statement. How about a round of poker?"

She reached out for the glass, when he was about to take another sip, pulling it out of his grip. She put the drink to her lips, and sent him as an innocent expression as she could muster, before tilting her head to the side and tasting the liquor.

A bit stunned, Shikamaru fell back on the couch, placing his arm on it. With an intrigued brown eyes observing his pink-haired companion, he thought over her proposition.

"You seem pretty confident for someone who gauges her skill as just 'decent'," he told her. "Say I agree, what do I get if I win?"

Sakura shifted in her seat, getting closer to him. She withstood his stare that made his question drip with more than just one meaning, up for the interpretation.

"That's a big if," she answered, not shying away from his piercing eyes. "But if you do win, you can ask for whatever you want," she finished, looking at him from under her eyelashes.

The silence between them was heavy, the beat of the music seemed to go along with the beating of her heart. She nervously rubbed her palms together that layed in her lap, bringing his attention to the movement. His eyes fell upon her bare thighs, covered only in short skirt, and the brown color turned darker, almost black; the change so noticable it made her breath hitch because of its intensity.

She quickly gathered her confidence back when Shikamaru looked up, cocking an eyebrow at him with a boldness.

"Fine," he cleared his throat, getting up. "Same goes to you. Shall we?"

"Twenty-one," the words fell out of the host's mouth, announcing the end of the game.

Sakura grinned triumphly, reveling in the feel of the victory. Not the cleanest, but a victory nonetheless.

She glanced at Shikamaru, who was looking at her with an odd interest, not really bothered by the loss.

She stood up from the table, going to the side. Shikamaru was soon beside her, hands in his pockets, and curious eyes.

"Well, you won," he told her, speaking close to her ear to be heard over the music, but angling his head in a way to still see her.

"Yes," Sakura agreed, biting on her lip at the close proximity. "I wasn't sure if I was going to pull that off without anybody noticing. It was always civilians before."

The understanding visible on his face told her he already knew what she had done, but the appreciation also present there made her feel ecstatic.

"I used genjutsu. You knew all the time?"

He laughed, and there was a hint of disbielief in it.

"No," he shook his head. "You cheated. So that's the trick?" he mused, his hand silently creeping in to land on her waist.

She smiled up at him. Ino had told her to get some fun tonight, and Sakura had a feeling she was going to actually listen to her friend's advice this time. "All the tricks I know are dirty ones. The chance of winning is tiny if you play fair."

"I'm kinda impressed," Shikamaru admitted, squeezing her middle lightly.

"Well," she started, stepping closer to him. "I think there are many things I could surprise you with."

"There are?" he murmured, his fingers sliding down to play with the hem of her skirt.

"Mhmm," she hummed, her palms finding a place on his forearms. "I told you, I know tricks that are dirty. It doesn't only apply to card games."

She almost squealed when his palm grabbed her by the back of her thigh, his knuckles barely skimming the underside of her backside. He pulled her flush to him with one swipe, the heat of his body washing over her own.

He gripped her harder, looking down at her with a fire burning in his eyes. His lips hovered over hers, before he spoke next words, every single one interrupted by a kiss.

"Show me."