Sakura knocked on his door, but when he didn't answer, she simply let herself in. They'd become good friends since the war and her chakra signature had been added to the locks a long time ago. Mainly, because Shikamaru was too lazy to ever answer the door.She knew he didn't mind her coming in on her own, though, she had already done it so many times before. If he did, he wouldn't have put her on the locks.

She kicked off her shoes and walked into the apartment, meeting Shikamaru in the small hallway. His hair was down and he was yawning, obviously having just got out of bed despite it nearing noon. Sakura's heart skipped a beat when she saw him. Not that he wasn't already attractive, but it just seemed to increase when his hair was down. His voice was thick with sleep as he asked her, "Sakura? What're you doing here?"

She stepped towards him and told him seriously, "I need an alibi."

That woke him up a little bit and he looked at her confused. "What? Why?"

"I had been jokingwith Naruto about a funny prank for Tsunade-shishou, but he took it a little too seriously." She huffed, remembering the idiot's giddy excitement as he ignored her protest.

Shikamaru shook his head with a sigh. "He's going to get himself killed."

"Exactly." She held out her hands. "And I don't want to have the same fate. So, you're going to be my alibi."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at that and turned on his heel back towards his bedroom. "I don't know how good of one I will be since I'm going to sleep most of the day."

Sakura followed after him and whined, "Shika, no, come on!"

He stepped into his room, nudging his flak jacket out of the way before practically falling back into his bed. He yawned as he laid down again and looked back at her surrounded by wrinkled sheets. "I just got back from my mission this morning, Sakura-chan. Let a man sleep."

Sakura deflated, now noticing he was still in his jounin uniform and not the usual black t-shirt and sweats he wore around his apartment. She looked around the room curiously as she stepped towards him. She hadn't been in his room before. It was covered in more stuff than she would think. There were scrolls and books lying around along with random trinkets. "Oh, sorry, don't worry about it then, Shika."

"It's alright," he replied quietly from the bed and she could feel his eyes on her. It sent a rush of warmth down her spine and she decided she should probably leave before she did something stupid.

She was about to when she spotted a small camera on his bedside dresser. She picked it up curiously and turned it over in her hands. She glanced at him to where he was leaning on his elbow on the bed in front of her. "It's so small. Where did you get it?"

He reached towards her and took it from her hands. "A client gave it to me in thanks for a mission. It's a polaroid. You don't have to wait for the film to develop." He showed her the bottom of it. "The picture comes out here after you take it."

He handed it back to her and she looked at it in awe. "That's so cool." She was about to put it back down when an idea occurred to her and she climbed into the bed beside him. She held up the camera to face them as she laid against him. "The picture can serve as my alibi and I'll be in the clear."

She smiled up at the camera, thinking it would be nice if Shikamaru smiled too but she didn't expect him to. After the flash, she brought the camera back down and waited for the picture to come out eagerly. When it did, she looked at it confused and then to Shikamaru just now noticing how close they were. Her stomach twisted into a knot, but she ignored it and held the black picture up to him. "It's broken."

He chuckled and took it from her, then waved it back and forth. "You have to shake it."

She watched as colors slowly overtook the black. She felt her heart skip a beat seeing that Shikamaru had smiled. It really was a good picture, but it looked really intimate with how close they were and the rumpled sheets around them. She couldn't show that to Tsunade.

Shikamaru probably thought along the same lines, but said instead, "You know, you can't really prove this was taken today."

"That's true," Sakura feigned disappointment and Shikamaru set the camera and picture down on the dresser.

When he turned back to her, they were quiet for a moment and Sakura realized she should really go before she did something she regretted. But when their eyes met and he smiled at her, she felt like she melted into the bed and any thought of leaving flew out the window. Then, he brought his hand up to hold her face and Sakura felt her heart stop. He leaned over her and it was almost like he was pressing her into the bed.

"Since you need this alibi so badly," – He leaned closer to her and she could feel his breath on her skin – "I guess I can stay awake for a while longer."

"Shikamaru –" Whatever she was about to protest in her nervousness was interrupted by his lips against hers. She sighed beneath him and her fingers came up to tangle in his hair, pulling him closer. She could feel the longing in his kiss and tried to think about how long they'd been dancing around each other for. But then, he moved his lips to her neck and all thoughts went out the window.

Tsunade cocked an angry eyebrow at her. "So, you didn't give Naruto the idea to fill all my sake with vinegar?"

Sakura's head turned to glare at Naruto beside her, who casually avoided her eyes. "No, Tsunade-shishou. The moron's just trying to push the blame on to someone else. I spent all of yesterday with Shikamaru…" She trailed off when she looked back to her to see Tsunade looking at her in surprise with a growing smile.

Sakura looked at her confused and Tsunade cleared her throat. "You spent all day with Shikamaru?"

She nodded and forced her eyes to not wander over to the man in question, knowing she would blush if she did.

Tsunade pointed a manicured finger at Sakura and asked her in an amused voice, "Sakura, are those hickeys?"

Sakura's hand shot up to her neck at the same time Naruto's head whipped towards her. She glared over at Shikamaru, feeling her skin redden. He just smiled at her, looking like he was fighting back a laugh. Tsunade didn't hold back hers and she chuckled with a shrug. "Your alibi checks out, Sakura."

Before she could reply – not that she knew what she'd say in her embarrassment – Naruto spluttered, "H-Hickeys?" He pointed an angry finger at Shikamaru. "Shikamaru! I'm going to kick your ass! If you –"

Sakura jerked him back easily with one hand at the same time Tsunade cut him off with a twitch of her eyebrow. She hated yelling in her office unless it she was the one doing it. "You will not, Naruto. I have a list of things you're going to be spending your day doing to make up for putting vinegar in my sake and ruining perfectly good alcohol!"

Naruto's shoulders slumped in defeat as he paled. Sakura couldn't help but snicker and met Shikamaru's eyes with a smile