Log: Complete

[snake-servant.livejournal.com]

When; Eleven p.m. on the 25th
Rating; K
Characters; Kabuto and Shizune
Summary; Kabuto takes Shizune on a date.
Log;

Hands in his pockets, Kabuto waited outside the café for Shizune. She really thought this was all a dream, which amused him. If this was a dream, he hadn’t noticed any inconsistencies, save for the strange “curses” that seemed to plague the city, even if he had only been present for two. That also went for hallucinations; those usually had more inconsistencies, genjutsu as well. Yes, with each passing day he was becoming more and more convinced that this place was real, whether he liked it or not.

Shizune was, for the time being, firmly convinced that this entire thing was a rather obscure and bizarre dream. After all, she'd had outrageous dreams before. This was one was just... odder, she thought as she stepped over tiny people. Surely tomorrow she wouldn't even remember this entire experience. Still, she had never dreamed she was cynical of her dream, or that she was doubting her own mind. She followed the explicit instructions Kabuto had given her, ignoring the tiny people as best she could, and trying not to look as lost as she felt.

“Shizune san, over here.” He called out upon seeing the woman making her way through the crowd; waving at her, a small smile spread across his face. He wasn’t really sure why he had asked her on a date; he had always found her intriguing, since the first time he had fought her, but that didn’t really explain it. He didn’t deny that he just wanted some company for the time being, the last few days he had been pretty much by himself, only speaking to a few people here and there. Maybe he just wanted to see how far he could push her. Either way, this would be an entertaining evening.

Kabuto took Shizune’s hand as she approached, bowing over it, the perfect picture of a gentleman. “Thank you for coming, Shizune san.” He straightened, giving her his best smile. “Shall we go inside?” He moved towards the door, holding it open for her. He had manners when he had need for them, and liked to keep them well practiced. It wasn’t always easy considering who he worked for, but he tried.

Shizune dipped her head and smiled. "My pleasure." And, it was, in a way. She was rather hungry. She could excuse this. Surely she'd been hungry in dreams before. She let him open the door and entered, looking about at the cafe. "My, my..."

Once inside and seated, Kabuto glanced at the menu before setting it aside. Most of what was on there were dishes he hadn’t heard of before, so he was going to play it safe and ask for the house special. He watched Shizune for a minute or so as she went over the menu before speaking. “It’s been quite some time since we’ve spoken, how have you been?” He leaned one elbow on the table, resting his head against his hand in a casual manner.

"My achilles tendons healed quite fine, thank you." Shizune peered over her menu. She would normally be mad, but this was a dream. No use being mad. No use worrying over what would happen if they fought. After all, whatever happened to her wouldn't carry over to when she woke up. "How'd your stomach end up? Naruto's rasengan packs quite a punch."

Kabuto let out an exaggerated sigh. “It’s fine now, but it took longer to heal that I would have liked, all sorts of things out of place. It’s most defiantly not a jutsu I want to experience again.” His smile returned. “I’m sorry about your tendon, but it was a fight, so it couldn’t be helped. I’m glad to hear it healed well, though I shouldn’t expect anything less from someone trained in medical ninjutsu, not to mention it was a clean cut.”

The waitress chose that moment to show up, asking what they would like to drink and if they were ready to order. He gestured for Shizune to go first.

"I'm so happy it was so clean. So easy to repair, you know. Such a pity, the way Rasengan twists so." Shizune looked up at the waitress and smiled. "I'm not sure I'm saying this right..." She pointed at the third item on the menu. "... so I won't attempt it."

“I’ll take the special.” Kabuto offered his menu to the waitress, then turned his attention back to the conversation at hand. “I noticed. A very useful technique if you can get your opponent to stand still long enough to be hit.” That fight wasn’t one of his best memories; Orochimaru had been rather… disappointed, afterwards. Not to mention all the internal damage he had to heal within himself after taking care of the Sannin’s injuries. He decided to change the topic. “How is working for the Hokage? Lots of paperwork I would assume.”

"You guessed it." Shizune snorted in a rather unladylike manner. "It's all I can do sometimes to get Tsunade-sama to just stamp the papers I've prepared. I mean, sometimes she'll get serious about a certain thing, but hey, until then, I file the papers." Shizune took a sip of the chilled water provided. "I suppose with Orochimaru no one dabbles with such mundane and simple matters as paperwork. Too busy trying to take over the world?"

“Something like that. He really isn’t one to bother with paper work; when he gives orders he expects them to be carried out, no questions, no mistakes. Sometimes I would prefer the paperwork to some of the things I have to clean up instead, but being a high ranking minion to anyone in power is never easy work. Not to mention, the world is a big place, just knowing what it is you’re trying to take over is a task in and of its self. For instance, I had no idea this place existed until a few days ago.” Kabuto readjusted his glasses on the end of his nose, covering a smirk at knowing she was going to brush it off as a dream again. Women were silly creatures.

"I'm glad your dream self is happy, because I refuse..." Shizune furrowed her eyebrows. She'd pinched herself the whole way here... "Refuse to believe this is real. It destroys everything I've ever known, everything I've learned about the way things work. Might as well just take out gravity while we're at it, hmm?" She tried to calm down. Getting worked up over a dream was foolish. Maybe if she kept reassuring herself she would begin to truly believe it.

Kabuto couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Careful what you say; in this place it could very well happen.” For some reason, he doubted he was going to convince her of the truth of the matter, so he’d go along with it, it might even make things more interesting. “Well, even if this is a dream, at least I get to enjoy your company for the duration of it. I’ve run into a few others here, like Sasuke kun, but no one I would could really sit down and have a conversation with. Tsunade, well she is someone I’d love to talk to, but I don’t think she likes me very much so I haven’t sought her out.”

"Sasuke and Tsunade are here?" Shizune leaned forward eagerly. "You're not the only person here?" She neglected her dream disclaimer, latching on to the fact that she wasn't stuck here with only Kabuto.

“Yes and several others too. Sakura, Naruto, Jiraiya sama… just to name a few. Though I’ve only spoken with Sasuke really, and only briefly.” Kabuto frowned. “You excitement and demeanor indicate that you don’t enjoy spending time with me Shizune san. I hope that isn’t really the case; I know we’ve had our disagreements in the past, but I thought we could at least be friends.”

"Friends?" Shizune rolled the word over her tongue. "Kabuto... honestly..." Shizune actually stumbled for words. "You... hurt Tsunade-sama! You hurt Naruto! Me!" She shook her head slowly. "You serve Orochimaru, for goodness sake! I should hardly even be speaking with you right now, but you're the only person I've actually met yet, and I'll be damned if I wander this place alone. When... when I first got here I heard ticking... like... a countdown. But when I'm with you... I don't hear it. And... that's good... but... friends?" She looked down at her napkin, then back up at him. "We can't just, you're not serious, are you?"

“I’m quite aware of who I serve, and I did what I had to considering the circumstances.” Their food arrived, and he thought over what she said some more as he pushed… what ever it was around on his plate. “If you want to get technical about things, you would have killed me a week before that fight if you had had the chance. Only Tsunade stopped you from trying.” Another pause, was he serious? It was just something he had said without really thinking about it. Yes, he decided. “If you are willing to give me a chance, then yes, I’m serious.”

"... You're serious...?" Shizune poked what was on her plate before tentatively taking a bite. She chewed, unable to believe that she was actually considering the offer. It would be prudent, to have someone who'd been... no... she wasn't actually buying into the whole 'this is real thing' was she? But... despite that... Shizune looked him over. He seemed... sincere enough, even though she was hopefully only dreaming him such. "Fine." She swallowed. "I'll give you a chance."

“That’s all I ask.” This wasn’t turning out at all like he thought it would.

They had finished dinner, the conversation becoming more relaxed once they had decided to try and get along as more than a formality. Now their “date” was coming to it’s end. Kabuto didn’t know this place very well, so he didn’t know where to take Shizune, not to mention he didn’t know her interests outside of their profession anyway. Now they were walking, slowly making their way in the general direction of his apartment. It was late, so no matter what happened he would be ending up their soon anyway.

“Do you have any idea where you are going to stay for the evening?” Kabuto asked, a little suddenly, but the thought had just occurred to him.

"Ah..." Shizune frowned. "I figured I would have woken up by now, to tell you the truth." She laughed nervously. "I might as well just keep walking I suppose. I could bore myself out of my dream." She pinched herself disguised in the folding off her arms across her chest.

Kabuto suppressed a laugh; she still thought she was in a dream? He couldn’t just let the poor, helpless woman wander around on her own, not when she wasn’t aware that this was far more than she was willing to accept. She would figure it out soon though; dreams can only last so long. “Then how about you stay the night at my apartment? There’s a spare room so it shouldn’t be a problem. Maybe you’ll wake up back in your own home.”

"Yeah, or maybe I'll wake up dead." She shook her head. "Forget that, that didn't make any sense. The dead don't wake up." She considered the offer. If she was dreaming, there was nothing to lose. If she wasn't, he could easily have attacked her earlier, when her guard was more vulnerable than it was now. He couldn't actually mean that whole 'friend' thing, but maybe he was looking for the same thing she was: a way to make the clock in her head cease, and someone, a familiar face (though not overly welcome of a face), to be around. "Where do you live?"

Kabuto paused, taken aback. He hadn’t expected her to take him up on his offer. Good thing he hadn’t been lying when he said there was an extra room. He was, however, expecting her to be more concerned with him possibly attacking her than she seemed, but he saw no need to do anything of the sort, so he wasn’t going to bring it up. “I live there,” He pointed into the building he had recently moved into.

Shizune looked the building up and down. "Looks nice enough." She made a mental count that all the weapons she had on her person when she fell asleep were still where they'd been. Confirming they were, she turned to Kabuto. "How did you get an apartment?"

“The normal way. Seeing as you have one, I’m sure you’re familiar with the process.” He led the way to the building and inside, holding the door for her once again then showed her through the hall to his door. “Here we are.”

"Yeah, yeah, I meant in this weird place." Shizune mumbled, still stuck in between believing and denial. She cautiously followed Kabuto in, looking about. "I suppose it's satisfactory."

“There isn’t much to be done about it, I’m afraid. Not much of a chance to be picky, but so far there haven’t been any attacks or anything, so I’m not too worried.” Kabuto removed his shoes once inside. “The guest bedroom is that door over there.” He pointed it out to her. “It’s late, and you probably want to be… waking up soon.”

"... Yes..." Shizune slowly removed her shoes, all the while staring about the apartment. She watched him from the corner of her eye as she opened the guest bedroom door. "Well... goodnight, then?"

“Wait.” Kabuto said, before she could disappear into the room for the evening. Thinking it was best to get the best out of the situation since Shizune was still thinking this was a dream. “This was a date, so don’t I get a goodnight kiss? It’s not like were strangers, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.”

Shizune wheeled about. "That was not a..." The fact that it kind of was hit home. "Ah..." Shizune cleared her throat. "I have a policy about not kissing on the first date, so... no... you don't get a date kiss, but, I suppose a goodnight kiss is slightly different." She walked back and closed the distance between them. He was taller than her, but she managed to plant a gently kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, Kabuto." After all, she would most certainly wake up back to normal soon.

Kabuto’s eyes went wide, and then he started laughing. He should have expected something like this from her. Not what he was aiming for, but just as amusing. “Goodnight Shizune san.”