Ayumi couldn't believe her luck. She'd run out of sugar on the last batch of cookies. Though it had been impressive to use up an entire bag of sugar in one night. That was what she got for trying to get her lost bet bake sale out of the way the day after getting home.

Of course, if the jerk had stayed awake then none of this would've been her problem anyway... Though, she could have other problems instead. Oh well, what was done was done.

So, in nothing other than a thin sport's bra (Aoba'd insisted on her not slacking on wearing them), tank top and cargo pants, she set out at the bright and early hour of quarter to seven. Ayumi strolled back into HQ fifteen minutes later, lugged her bag of sugar and other random ingredients over her shoulder - sprinkles made cookies better, right? - and jogged up the stairs. Third floor apartment? No problem! The exercise was actually quite refreshing. It was certainly better than two months of watching the back of some stuffy Intel guy.

No one was up at this time, so she didn't bother stepping closer to the wall as she rounded the corner with the men's showers and Aoba's apartment and nearly ran into a taller ANBU she didn't recognize. Though, as she stumbled back and caught her balance again, she was pretty sure she hadn't met any Hyuuga ANBU. And this guy was certainly a Hyuuga.

"Oh, sorry about that!" She kept the bag slung over her shoulder and grinned as she waited for the Hyuuga to regain his composure. ...though maybe he was a rookie if he still looked caught off guard.

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Haruichi sighed internally and shut off his inner-monologue as he finished braking on the balls of his feet, and if he looked a little off balance it was because he was adjusting to the fact that for once he was looking at somebody shorter than him. For once. Though it was a very chirpy looking young woman grinning at him, far too chirpy for this time in the morning (well, if you'd been up all night, that was).

"Not a problem," he said, catching his breath back and blinking at her. She wasn't wearing all that much, less than he was (even running around Haruichi's t-shirt and combats were a bit more comprehensive) and she'd been outside, shopping apparently. "It's the middle of winter outside, shouldn't you be wearing more if you go out? You'll get sick."

Wow. He really couldn't help himself, could he? Hoshi was right.

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If he'd known she had been up all night, Haruichi might have sent her to bed immediately. But Ayumi wasn't the type to go splurting out those kind of details. Not at the moment, at least.

She glanced down at herself and shrugged. "Well, it was just a quick trip. If I'd been out any longer than just to get more sugar I would've worn more..." Ayumi trailed off and narrowed her eyes at him, standing on her tiptoes to get closer to looking into his face.

"I don't think I've met you before. You new around here? I'm Oyate Ayumi, my place's right over there." She pointed at her room to her right and nodded.

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There was a moment's slight (though well concealed) confusion when Haruichi wondered why she was telling him that. Did he project the impression he cared? Never mind that he was walking around memorizing door numbers and medical profiles, she didn't know that, did she?

Right well, moving on from disturbing lines of thought such as the notion anybody here could read his mind. Haruichi pushed his hair out his eyes again and suddenly had to seriously stifle the urge to yawn. "I'm Hyuuga Haruichi, and we definitely haven't met before. I'm your medic, or one of them at least." He glanced down at her tip-toed feet and lifted an eyebrow. "I'm also quite sure I'm not that tall."

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Oh, one of the medics. She dropped down after he commented on his height and shrugged. "Well, you're taller than me and I wanted to see if I could find your pupils or not. S'hard with eyes like yours, Hyuuga-san."

She took a step back and bowed her head a notch. "But it's nice to meet you." If Haruichi was a medic than undoubtedly he'd see her in his office after a mission or a hard work out and...

Bribery! If he liked her...things might go smoother. Especially if he ever talked to the evil sadistic psychological doctors.

"Are you hungry?" Ayumi put on her brightest smile. Guys always liked food. Food had to work!

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Yuzuya's day off, his only day to sleep in. He'd stayed super-late at work the night before, and now this morning some complete and total idiot had to run around his floor in circles. Sure, it was a shinobi's run, but he was a shinobi trying to sleep, and he couldn't find his precious earplugs anywhere, god dammit. In the end Yuzu gave up on sleep for the time being and decided to plod over to the showers in his pj's. His eyes were bleary and his towel was dragging on the floor just a bit. In other words, someone needed coffee.

When he passed the twosome in the hallway not even the mention of food could turn his mood around. Instead, he spotted running shoes on the feet of Hyuuga Haruichi. Aha, he had his aforementioned complete and total idiot. Yuzuya glared daggers at the medic and plodded on slowly by.

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What the--? Haruichi was trying to work out what was the more alien about this; that she'd been trying to find his pupils, that she was asking him if he wanted food, or that she was giving him a worryingly manic smile whilst doing the two previous things (it should be noted that Haruichi classed any overt displays of glee occurring at this hour to be worryingly manic, but only because experience had educated him so well on the subject).

Luckily (if you could call it that) his attention was diverted from answering right out by the appearance of Shibata Yuzuya... or at least, a zombie doing a passable impression of him. Haruichi wouldn't have more than nodded as he passed, save that the brown-haired Intel agent was giving him quite the dirty look and Haruichi (while accustomed to those) probably hadn't done anything to earn it seeing as he hadn't seen Yuzuya in about two years.

"What?" he demanded of Yuzuya, shooting him a glare right back, raised eyebrow and all.

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Ayumi held onto her smile and hoped that she'd get an answer soon. If she turned the oven back on in just a few minutes it would take hardly any time to get back to temperature. Of course, Yuzuya wandering out of his room looking groggy (and disgruntled) distracted both of them. She darted her eyes over at him and gauged from his glare's direction that he wasn't mad at her. Though what Haruichi had been doing wrong was beyond her.

A sharp whistle caught her attention and Ayumi instantly shifted her weight and glanced back around the corner. A figure disappeared around the far corner and she closed her eyes. Of course it would be Shin. Who else would pester her in the middle of a perfectly normal conversation?

As not to make anyone suspicious - especially the medic - she let herself lean over a little farther and imitate a stretch. She was a taijutsu specialist, right? Stretching at random times was perfectly acceptable. Smiling a little gentler, she looked back at the two men and wondered if perhaps she ought to offer Yuzuya something to eat, too. Preferably with sugar - that made lots of people happier, right?

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"'S it too cold outside for purebred skin or something?" Yuzu grumbled, scowling at his new medic's incongruous (although rather snazzy) running shoes as he made his way to the shower room door.

He didn't know the girl standing there, but her smile was much too friendly for this time of the morning. He'd appreciate it at a more favorable hour.

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Haruichi's eyes twitched imperceptibly at that. Mentally biting his tongue, he told himself not to let Yuzuya's mutterings open the behold-genetics-as-supremacy basket of vipers can of worms at this time in the morning. 'Purebred' that he was, he would simply rise above.

Yes, because that had always worked for Hyuuga before.

He slipped his hands into his pockets as he eyed the retreating Intel agent. "It must be, hence I come here to find myself basking in the warmth of your early morning cheer," he snapped back, turning to the girl he'd been speaking to before... who actually was broadcasting early morning cheer - albeit in the somewhat edged, random way of the ANBU in HQ. Had she just offered to feed him?

An idea occurred to Haruichi. Kunoichi knew how to cook... He tried not to look too suspicious as he looked Ayumi in the eyes. "Are you baking this early?" he asked, inclining his head slightly at the sugar she'd procured.

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As the glares continued Ayumi felt her smile fade by degrees. Maybe she should be grumpy too, since everyone else was...

But by then Yuzuya was gone and Haruichi was asking her about food. Yes! Bribery was about to commence!

"I am," she shrugged. "I've got lots of stuff, actually, if you wanted any." Ayumi shuffled a little and pointed at her door. "Not sure a lot of it is proper breakfast food, but I could always make something. You like sugar, don't you Hyuuga-san?"

She began to step around him, keeping her body turned so it still faced him to a degree. Letting him go off on his own was respectable, but if she suddenly cut him out of the conversation and invitation by turning her body too much, well, she might screw up one of the relationships she really wouldn't want...well, screwed up.

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Haruichi was not overtly fond of sugar, but his fiancee was. What was more, neither he nor his fiancee had any idea how to prepare food so perhaps this was an opportunity in disguise (admittedly a very cunning disguise) and there might be unforetold benefits in finding out how one made something edible out of basic supplies. Especially since basic supplies was all they had to work with back at the flat.

Which was a very complicated and circuitous way of saying...

"I could always take a look, I suppose," he decided, watching her sort of shift about the hallway curiously. He could always justify this as getting to know one of the agents better, after all. "You look healthy and well-fed enough, you must know something about the matter."

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"Great!" she chirped and took the two steps to her door, pulled the key out of her pocket, unlocked the door, flipped on the light, and led the way inside. "C'mon in, Hyuuga-san," she said, waving him in with a careless hand.

She kicked off her sandals - her toes were a bit tingly - and headed directly to the right wall which held a small kitchenette. She set down the bag of ingredients and smiled back at him. "What can I interest you in?"

Ayumi gestured at the small island to her right - since she was facing him now - and grinned. The island was nearly filled to the brim with paper plates, all of them covered with food. Cookies of various kinds covered a few plates, dango of differing colors and flavors were on several others, mochi took up it's share - all bright and cheery, of course- and there was even a small bread-like thing on a plate all by it's lonesome.

"I might've gone overboard, but I figure with all the guys in ANBU it would be wise to make too much food than too little. Does any of it look good?" She turned back to the grocery bag and began unpacking it, glancing over at Haruichi to gauge whether she'd have to make something else entirely. "I can make breakfast-kinda stuff, too. If you'd like that better. This is all for the bake sale I'm doing today." No, she would not mention it was a lost bet if she could help it. ...even if past experience would tell her that it would pointless to try and keep it back.

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Stepping after her, Haruichi realized he'd somewhat forgotten what it looked like inside an HQ apartment. Not that they were all the same, but still - bit of a trip back to the past once again; so best to be paying attention to the...

...mountain of food. Haruichi blinked. Actually blinked. It seemed Ayumi was capable of not just turning sugar, flour and whatnot into food but of making it look like it could put you in glycemic shock from ten paces just through eye-contact alone. Haruichi simultaneously flagged it as a talent Hoshi would appreciate and a reason never to let the two of them meet.

"It looks like it could make the Director sugar-high just by looking at it," he told her, tearing his eyes away from the food and looking to the younger agent "Though I think I should ask, what possessed you to put on a bake sale?" Especially if it was for ANBU, given that they were all trained professional theives prone to showing that fact off there was no question in Haruichi's mind that there wasn't likely to be much profit in it for her.

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Dang. Of course he'd ask about the why behind the bake sale...

Ayumi's smile dampened a little more and she shrugged, glancing over at the bag of sugar she'd just unpacked. "Well, I guess I should say thanks. Since they are all sweets and they're supposed to be sweet and sugary and...stuff."

But he'd asked the question and if he really was an ANBU medic then he would certainly be tenacious enough to keep pestering her if she didn't answer the question.

"I...lost a bet." Ayumi shrugged. "I made plenty during my last mission, so I'm not worried about really making any money off of it. And I'm only planning on charging like...a spar or something. Y'know?" She glanced up at him and smiled weakly. "Couple cookies for a chance to work out with people. Or something like that. So uh," she cleared her throat and straightened her posture so that she didn't look like she was cowering from the idea of a lost bet.

"You came here for food, so what would you like?" Best to change the subject of the conversation.

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Lost a bet. Haruichi needed no further proof of his wisdom in never ever making bets. Especially not when the people around him had the kind of warped sensibilities of... well, of the ANBU.

Though, having to put on a bake sale was probably the lesser of evils to befall Ayumi if she'd been making bets with teammates.

"What has the most sugar?" he queried, looking at Ayumi and then to the table. He maybe had the byakugan but that didn't work on the nutritional content of a bake sale. And he needed to know what had the most sugar because that was not the one he was taking back to Hoshi.

Speaking of... all of this did look rather consumable. Edible, even. His earlier thought crept back up. "And how long does it take to learn how to make food like this?"

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He was certainly expressing plenty of interest in the food, so that was a definite bonus. Though why he would want the thing with the most sugar seemed a little odd. Mostly people only wanted those in small doses, though that could very well explain his question. And then to confuse her more, he'd asked about how long it took to learn to make them. She didn't know too many ANBU guys that wanted to cook. There were the rare ones, but...they were still the definite minority.

"Hm. The most sugary would probably be...these cookies." She pointed at the small balls that passed for cookies that were coated in powdered sugar and had at least a cup of sugar per dozen.

"As for learnin' how to make 'em...well, it all depends." She looked at Haruichi squarely and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a serious expression. "How well do you follow recipes?"

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Haruichi resisted the urge to reply to that expression and that question by producing his pharmeceutical liscence and whacking Ayumi over the head with it. Mostly because it was a perfectly legitimate question and mixing and prepping antidotes and medications wasn't quite the same as mixing cookie batter. Which he had found out to his cost the last time he'd made an attempt at dinner for Hoshi.

"That's a matter open for debate," he answered. He took a breath, and calmly folded his hands behind his back. "Could I watch you make something? If you were planning to do that now?"

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And an answer like that made her wonder if he'd blown anything up in the kitchen. Her brother was like that -- amazing at killing people and taijutsu, but he failed miserably in the kitchen.

"I don't mind if you watch," she shrugged. "I only have a few dozen more cookies to make. I guess I could make a few different kinds instead of doing a huge batch..." She raised an eyebrow and let her arms fall back at her sides. "Does that sound all right, Hyuuga-san?"

Even before she finished speaking, Ayumi had turned back to the counter and begun rearranging the necessary instruments and ingredients.

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That did sound alright. Haruichi was pretty sure nothing would die or explode if he was just watching her, and he had a knack for picking things up on sight. So he agreed, and kept an eye on all the oddly competant little details of Ayumi's kitchen-orientated movements, and wondered vaguely if he'd need to wear his lab coat for future kitchen experiments if that much flour was going to be involved.

Eventually, as he watched Ayumi and listened to her chatter, and even wound up helping just a little, Haruichi had to concede that this was probably not one of the skills anyone was reasonably expected to pick up in ANBU service. But then, the agents were always a source of constant surprise - and hadn't the Yondaime Hokage been ever so fond of telling anyone in earshot that that was the essence of the ninja skill ANBU were meant to personify?

Well, close enough to it anyway. Though Haruichi forgot to keep on justifying his baking exploits as some sort of encoded ninja eliteness training once Ayumi handed him the first edible thing he'd ever cooked; all he remembered to do after that was to not look too pleased with himself.

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All things considered, it had gone really quite well. She'd finished all the cookies, gotten on Haruichi's good side (as far as she could tell), and he had even helped her out some. So there, he could operate and cook. Sorta. Well, he could cook with supervision at least.

She took a bite of the latest batch and grinned, licking her lips and swallowing. "Mmm, tastes perfect." Yes, it was certainly good to be home.

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