Trying my hand at a multichapter fic. Planned this out so hopefully I'll update it as frequently as possible.

"And then she had the nerve to tell me that I hadn't done the job right." Shikamaru sat at the table, head propped up on his palm, trying hard to sound interested, out of courtesy, to whatever the girl in front of him was going on about. He had settled for just tuning it all out after about 30 minutes. It was a good thing that she had a mouth on her because he sure wasn't going to be contributing to the conversation.

He swiftly glanced at his watch. Where was their food? The service at this particular restaurant was bad. He sighed to himself. What a pain. This was supposed to be a high end restaurant after all.

He went back to stare at the brunette in front of him. Her mouth was still moving.

She was pretty, he had to admit. A little too talkative for his tastes but at least this one wasn't as bad compared to the others. Still, he couldn't help but feel irritated by each passing minute. He furrowed his brows. Why did his mother have to butt into every aspect of his life? Just when he thought that he had escaped her nagging, here she was at work again to make his life even more troublesome than it already was.

She had been at it again during his last visit, going on and on about his love life and when he was going to settle down and have kids. He was 21 and a shinobi for crying out loud. Most shinobi didn't even have the time to be in relationships. Most of his missions, at jounin-level, were at least a month long, and when he did come back, he usually spent most of his time at the hospital trying not to die. He didn't have time for women. And he certainly wasn't interested in having the time for them if they were all as bothersome as his mother.

He thought about heading to the bathroom and slipping out when the girl wasn't looking. But that would leave her with the bill and as much as he hated spending another minute on this one of many planned dates that his mother had set up for him, he still couldn't do that to a girl. He would just have to slip the waiter some money before he left, he decided.

His eyes darted to the men's bathroom, gauging how far it was from the entrance.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a flash of pink hair. He knew right away who it was. There was only one person he could think of having that trademark feature.

His attention was diverted as he watched a disgruntled and uncomfortable looking Sakura Haruno walk towards the ladies' room. He had seen her only a few days ago after his last mission. She was the one who treated him. He wondered what she was doing here.

When she walked back to her table, occupied with a man that seemed to be about the same age, he concluded that she was on a date as well. He hoped that her date was going better for her than it was for him.

"So what about you?" Was all he caught when his attention turned back to the brunette's. Natsuki was her name. Or was it Nanami? He couldn't even remember.

"...What about me?" Shikamaru felt slightly remorseful for being such a terrible date. He watched as the girl frowned at his lack of interest in the conservation.

After about ten of these blind dates he had had enough of this and he just didn't feel like putting forth the effort if he knew that nothing would ever amount to this meeting.

"Were you even listening?" She asked, irritation plain in her voice. Shikamaru grimaced. He hated dealing with women like this. He suddenly wished that he could have sneaked off to the men's room sooner.

"Shikamaru!?" The familiar voice called to him. The young man let out a sigh of relief. He had never been as happy to hear a female voice as he was then.

"Sakura." He turned to face the relieved looking kunoichi. She was dressed in a figure fitting black dress that fit her well. It reached about mid thigh, revealing long, toned legs. Her boots were replaced for a pair of heels. She looked really feminine. Or maybe it was because he was just used to seeing her pulverizing the ground and other nin to remember that she was a girl. He was more surprised to see her out of her regular attire, which was her medic uniform or training clothes.

"Sakura?" His date asked with a tone of irritation and incredulity. She shot Sakura a glare to which the kunoichi only smiled sheepishly, realizing how she had just barged in on their date.

"I just stopped by to say hi. Sorry, I didn't realize I was interrupting your date." The pink haired girl replied uncomfortably under the girl's gaze. Sakura stepped backward, turning around, back towards her own table, with her own disgruntled looking date.

Without even thinking, Shikamaru shot his arm out, gripping Sakura's wrist. She turned around, looking at him questioningly and Shikamaru gave her a look of exasperation that was basically pleading for help.

"No, stay. Please." He looked as if he was constipated.

Sakura couldn't help the snort of laughter that she tried to hold in at the expression on his face.

Shikamaru got up, dragging a chair from a nearby table and placed it next to his before practically yanking her down on to the seat. Sakura couldn't help but pity the girl across from them who looked like she was fuming. She glanced behind her shoulder to her own date, feeling immensely guilty but not so much as to return to the dreaded table.

"And then Gai sensei had us running back to Konoha, carrying Kakashi-sensei bridal style all the way back." Sakura rambled on, a smile on her face at the memory. She had been telling him about the previous mission she had been on with team 7.

Shikamaru tried to hold in the laughter at the mere image of what had happened, palming his face, snorts and snickers coming out of his mouth. The pink haired girl couldn't help but laugh at her own story, making Shikamaru chuckle in the process.

It made him wish that he could have joined her to see the sight instead of being stuck in Konoha all week going on these dates. His last mission had been a few weeks ago, way too long to be off the roster. This whole thing with his mom and finding an equally troublesome woman was causing him to slack off on work.

"That's it!" The brunette on the other side cried out indignantly, making them look at her in surprise."This has been the worst date I've ever been on!" She shouted, making a scene and causing everyone in the restaurant to look in their direction. As if that wasn't enough, her manicured hand had reached for the liquid filled glass on the table. Shikamaru already had an idea of what she was going to do.

In a second, he was drenched, his shirt sopping wet. Everyone watched as the girl stormed out of the entrance.

Well. That was one way to get out of a date.

Besides him, he heard muffled laughter. He turned his head to the pink haired girl still besides him, her face turning red from trying not to laugh. He raised a brow at her, asking her if this was actually an appropriate time to laugh.

It only caused her to turn even redder and when she couldn't hold it in any longer, she was laughing so hard that she was holding her sides.

"I-I'm s-sorry." She said in between giggles. The words seemed rather insincere when she was laughing her pretty little ass off.

He rolled his eyes at her. He was wet, 500 ryo short, and his mom was probably going to nag his ear off while simultaneously scouring the whole village looking for another unlucky girl to be his next date. When he heard a loud snort besides him, he stared at Sakura amusedly, making her go red, this time from embarrassment at the sound she had made. A smirk found its way on his face.

Shikamaru couldn't find it in himself to regret what had happened tonight though. It had been one of the more interesting nights he had had in a long time. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so much.

"Poor Natsumi." Sakura remarked after she was finally done laughing. She looked at Shikamaru, who still had a look if amusement on his face.

"Natsumi? I thought it was Natsuki." He replied. Another giggle sounded from his right.

"You're a horrible date." She stated , shaking her head, a smile quirking up on her face.

Shikamaru smirked at her."As bad as you are?" Suddenly, Sakura remembered her own date and how she had practically left him all alone at their table. She turned her head around, finding nothing but an empty seat and two plates of uneaten dinners. He had left.

She slapped a palm on her face in shame, feeling horrible.

"We're horrible." The words were muffled by her palm.

"Yeah," He agreed without hesitation."But at least you didn't get wet. " Shikamaru took the time to take a sniff of his standard issue black jounin shirt. "Good thing it's only water."

Besides him, Sakura sighed heavily, covering her face with her hands. "Ino's going to kill me." Shikamaru looked at her curiously. Ah, that made more sense.

"She set you up on a date?" He sounded more interested by the second.

"Yeah." She sighed exasperatedly."She has this idea that I spend too much time in the hospital and that I really need to loosen up and find a boyfriend."

Shikamaru didn't say anything. A wry smile formed on his face. It sounded awfully similar to his own situation.

"What about you?" She asked, taking a drink from her iced tea.

"My mother has the idea that I spend too much time on missions and that I need to find a girlfriend." He answered, mimicking her own words and shooting her a smirk.

"Your date wasn't even that bad." She said, clutching Shikamaru's green flack jacket around her body even tighter as the breeze blew past them. After fighting over who would pay the bill, Shikamaru winning, they had left the restaurant.

"She threw water at me." He stated dryly.

"Would you blame her?" Sakura replied."You were basically flirting with another girl."

At her statement, Shikamaru looked at her curiously. "Flirting?"

Sakura realized her mistake, nearly stopping in her tracks, and felt her cheeks heat up."I mean, if we weren't us, it would look like it." She explained, her tone sounding slightly annoyed and embarrassed at the teasing lilt in his voice.

Shikamaru took on a pensive expression."Hm." He hummed in response before changing the subject."What about your date?"

"What about him?" She questioned.

"There must be something wrong with him if you decided to ditch him for me." A smile flitted on her face. He made it sound as if spending dinner on him was the worst thing imaginable.

"He was alright." She answered simply."I would appreciate it if he didn't look at me like I was a piece of meat though." The guy had spent the whole first few minutes staring at her chest. She had serious doubts when it came to Ino's judgement. Where did she even find these types of guys anyways?

"Well your dress isn't any help." He said, eyeing her up and down. The black dress accentuated every curve, elongating her creamy legs and showing an eyeful of the skin on her chest. He wouldn't blame the man. She had a nice figure and a pretty face, they were things that most men would stare at.

Sakura blushed in embarrassment at his words."Ino made me wear it. It looks weird doesn't it?" She muttered uncomfortably.

"It looks nice." He replied quickly, surprising the both of them. He could feel the heat rise to his face, his hand rubbing at his nape, feeling flustered at what he had just said. He wasn't one to compliment girls but the words came out from his mouth absentmindedly. He was more surprised that she thought she looked anything less than attractive.

"Thanks." She replied quietly, awkwardly. There was a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks, he noted.

They stopped walking when they had reached her apartment door.

When had this begun feeling like a date?

"Thanks for walking me home." She said, smiling up at him. "This was fun."

"It was." He agreed.

She walked closer to her door, fumbling with her keys before opening it, one foot over the threshold. The lazy genius watched as she stopped moving, a thoughtful expression on her face, her hand resting on the doorknob.

"Shikamaru." She started, turning her head to face him, her brows furrowed in thought."Why don't we date?"

His eyes widened at the statement, struck by her sudden words. He wondered if she had just asked him that or if he was merely imagining it. Perhaps she had taken a swig of alcohol at the restaurant when he wasn't looking. Nevertheless, he was dumbstruck by the sudden proposition.

Sakura blushed as she saw the surprised look on his face, probably thinking she was brash and aggressive for suggesting such a thing.

"Not like that!" She quickly amended, her face flushed. "Just so that Ino would stop bothering me and setting me up on dates."

"Oh." He berated himself for being so quick to jump to conclusions. He mulled it over in his head. It would get his mom off his back. No more dates and he would finally get some missions coming his way. And Sakura was bearable. She was a friend and for the most part, she wasn't as difficult as other women his age. It would be a quick solution to their problems. He didn't see a reason as to why not.

"It seems like-"

"Forehead?!" An all too familiar voice called out from the apartment."You home?! How'd your date go?!"

A grimace appeared on both their faces as they heard the blonde haired girl make her way to the doorway. Sakura sighed. The fact that the light was on should have been a sign. Of course Ino would be waiting up on her in her own home. Most likely making sure that the date had gone well. She could only imagine the earful she would get when she was found, with the guy nowhere to be found, instead Shikamaru, of all people, by her side.

"Forehead?!" The blonde stopped on her tracks when she finally saw Sakura standing outside of her apartment. Shikamaru was standing besides her, his jacket wrapped around the pinkette's shoulders. "Where's Takumi? And why the heck is Shikamaru with you?!"

Sakura smiled sheepishly at her friend, rubbing the nape of her neck and waiting for the onslaught of curses to be thrown her way. "About that...you see, things didn't go exactly as planned..."She explained pathetically.

"What did you do now Forehead?!" Ino gritted menacingly, crossing her arms to shoot a disapproving look at her friend.

"Well-"

Before Sakura could answer, she felt a large, calloused hand wrap around her shoulders, gripping her arm, and pulling her into his side.

"We're dating."

I can't decide whether or not Sasuke should be included in this story or not. Please tell me your opinion in the reviews.