"You want me to what?"
Sakura didn't need to ask the question really. She had to have heard her friend perfectly well, despite their current inebriated state. But Ino had a flair for the dramatic and was likely to repeat herself anyway just for effect.
"You heard me. You're drunk enough to get away with it… Unless you're chicken?"
Trust Ino to know the exact words it would take to goad the kunoichi.
Kakashi watched with mild curiosity at the scene unfolding from where he sat. Usually this would not be the kind of situation to hold his attention, but seeing as his regular drinking partner had long since fallen asleep on the table, there wasn't much else to do. The girls' game also held a morbid kind of intrigue, Kakashi in equal parts wanted to see what was about to happen, and leave the bar via the nearest exit. Guy would be capable of finding his own way home in an hour or two surely.
He was certain of one thing though. The alcohol had gone to his head.
At least, enough to enjoy the raucous frivolity around him to an alarming degree. It was an odd and rare event that everyone got together like this, with Sasuke even making an appearance tonight. So Kakashi in turn had made the decision to enjoy himself.
The back and forth banter with Genma had lost appeal to Kakashi as soon as Sakura had sauntered up to the bar with Ino in tow. Though the entire room was filled with the regular crowd of ninja, Guy and Kakashi had still retreated to the usual booth on arrival. It meant they weren't swarmed by the younger shinobi, which had suited Kakashi just fine until a few moments ago, when his hearing picked up on the conversation at the counter.
"Just go up, grab his shirt, and pull him in for a fast one. He'll be too shocked to pull away, trust me."
The conversation continued with Ino elaborating on the dare in place. Sakura playing with her hair in a now rare gesture of insecurity. Rare at least to Kakashi who had only seen her as utterly confident and capable since her promotion to jounin.
"I don't know Ino… I've been trying not to seem too clingy. Won't this ruin my chances?"
"Sakura. You're drunk. He's drunk. Get in."
It was said with all the confidence of someone who was young, beautiful and unable to handle her liquor. The giggle fit they both descended into caused a sudden wave of nostalgia for Kakashi. A smile tugged behind his mask, watching Sakura agree to the 'mission' with a nod and blush.
He downed his drink and stood. Deciding in a hurry that it was about time to be heading out. As much as their antics amused him, the idea of watching Sakura throwing herself at Sasuke caused a feeling of restlessness. He couldn't place exactly why. Probably just the idea of inevitable rejection and what it may do to the beautiful, confident young woman she'd become.
Beautiful.
Kakashi shook his head. This was exactly the reason why he shouldn't drink in excess, it made things fuzzy round the edges. Sure, she really was beautiful and he had noticed it more lately, even before tonight and that slinky black dress that clung to…
"Kakashi-sensei, you taking off already?"
"Huh?"
Exiting the booth mid-thought spiral, he came to be face to face with the person occupying his mind against his will. Sakura stood just in front of him, her hands fidgeting behind her back, immediately drawing his attention to her curves and revealing neckline. The blush on her face and slight sway told him all he needed to know about her current state. She was drunk. In that blissful state after tipsiness when there was no chance of recovering oneself.
"It's just early, that's all. Are you really leaving already?"
Kakashi glanced back over his shoulder to his unconscious colleague.
"Yeah, I think so. Don't want to get over-excited and pass out now."
He smiled at her wholeheartedly. She made a kind of giggling noise while taking a quick peek at the shinobi face down on the table. She stepped closer.
"That's a shame. I had a favour to ask."
Kakashi raised a quizzical brow to her before stealing a glance around the rest of the room. Ino had retreated to a congregation of the younger ninja, pretending not to pay attention to Sakura but casting an equally puzzled look back at them. Sakura's own eyes held that sparkle of fixed resolve: dangerous, powerful, beautiful.
Kakashi cleared his throat.
"Sure. How can I say no to such a pretty face?"
Internally, he was already cursing himself. Firstly, for sounding like a complete moron. Secondly, for not actually asking what the favour was, lord knows what he had just signed himself up for. Wasn't she meant to be pouncing on Sasuke right about now?
"I'm glad. Well you see, this new lipstick I'm wearing.." she stepped closer again, now just a few inches away, his eyes drawn to her full lips, "It claims not to wear off…"
"Huh. That so…"
Kakashi was utterly lost and unable to move, staring fixedly at the way those supple lips parted as she spoke so close to him.
"Yeah, supposedly even if I were to kiss someone, it wouldn't smudge."
"That is a bold claim…"
"Well, I wouldn't know really. I was hoping you'd do me a favour and test the theory."
It was unmissable, the way her eyes darted to his own masked mouth, the way her tongue licked her bottom lip in anticipation. Sakura was even leaning into him ever closer. A weaker man would have succumbed right there and then, and she was certainly irresistible enough that any man would be forgiven for doing just that in this situation.
He was almost, almost, drunk enough to just act on those urges. But Kakashi was no weakling. And he was also no idiot. He could see exactly what she was up to here.
He humoured her for a second, leaning in a fraction himself before whispering over her lips, her eyes slowing drifting shut.
"Come on Sakura, you can do better than that."
"What?"
Kakashi watched as her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't pull away. He found himself chuckling.
"You're gonna need a better pick up line than that garbage. You should follow your friend's advice and just go in for the kill."
He couldn't help but smirk at the look of shock and horror that passed over her features.
"You really think I should… Wait, you heard us? How much did you hear?"
"From the part where Ino said you were drunk enough to get away with it. She's right you know. You don't need any pick up lines dressed like that either…"
His eyes darted down her tight body and back to her face. It was in time to see her expression turn downright mischievous and he felt the sudden urge to gulp in panic.
"Oh so you noticed then?" Sakura's arms made a broad gesture to the rest of her body.
"Hard not to. Pretty sure he's noticed as well." Kakashi chanced a glance to Sasuke, who seemed to be too busy talking to Naruto for the moment.
"And you think I should take the physical approach, huh?"
Sakura stepped closer, there wasn't a lot of space between them now. Kakashi had to wonder if he was being used as a tool of jealousy, but the way she was almost pressing up against him combined with the effects of alcohol made his moral boundaries somewhat blurry. Maybe she was just practising on him. Either way it was amusing.
"Yeah, in my opinion, he doesn't seem like the type to be swayed by your witty charm. He's not so much interested in exactly what you have to say either. However if you were to take a bolder approach…"
Kakashi startled imperceptibly when he felt Sakura's fingers dancing along his masked cheek.
"Like this?"
"Uh…"
His mind went blank. She was too close, her body lining up against his, her gaze fixed on his mouth. Sakura continued to trace lines with her fingertips along his cheek to his chin, the pleasurable tingling sensation silencing him.
"Pity you don't show off this nice jawline, it looks strong enough to sit on."
Her eyes rose to meet his, one brow raised in silent challenge. For a second he internally panicked before remembering himself. His brain had almost shut down completely there, any semblance of cool abandoning him. Kakashi huffed in amusement.
"Nice, Sakura, very persuasive."
"Thanks. I was feeling a bit off today but you managed to turn me on."
She was now tracing lines down the front of his shirt with her index finger, likely feeling the chuckle as it began to burble in his chest.
"Subtle. Too subtle if you're going in for the kill."
"You look like you're feeling a little down, I could help feel you up…"
That was the final straw before he started laughing. The smile on her face shone through even as his eyes shut from laughter.
"You should definitely lead with that one." Kakashi managed to get out, but she continued and the laughter would not subside.
"It's getting really loud in here, want to use my thighs as earmuffs?"
Kakashi recognised he was doubling over slightly, one hand resting on Sakura's shoulder, the other wiping an errant tear from his eye. She was grinning ear to ear in a satisfied way but not laughing herself. When he finally managed to regain some composure, he still felt light-headed.
"Seriously Sakura, you're gonna kill me."
The last of the laughter finally petered out.
"You're not over-excited already, are you, sensei? Pity, I haven't even gone in for the kill yet."
Mirth drained from his face when he met her eye, outweighed by curiosity. As hilarious as this exchange had been there was something about her that was unrecognisable.
"Tell me, why haven't you? He's right over there and you've certainly had enough practice by now. Ino will start to think you've chickened out."
Kakashi thought those would be the best words to spur her on. And he was right, in a sense, just not in the way he'd imagined. It was perplexing to him why she chose to remain pressed up against his chest, her hands exploring over his body. If it weren't for the after effects of the laughter, and alcohol, he would be decidedly irked by it all.
"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret Kakashi-sensei…" she beckoned him with a crooked finger, he leant closer for her to whisper in his ear. "You never heard who the intended target was."
Sakura said it so suggestively, in a timbre he was entirely unfamiliar with from her, and so close to his ear that he shivered. To make matters worse, she took his lobe between her teeth in the tiniest of nips, causing a violent jolt of his whole body. Kakashi was now utterly flummoxed. He chanced a glance over to the younger shinobi. Ino flashed a knowing smile, but no one else seemed to even acknowledge their presence.
Kakashi straightened to meet her eyes. There was no doubt she was locked on to him without a trace of hesitance.
He regarded her closely, his mind sobering to the idea of what she was asking from him. And how much he wanted to give in to it.
There was one major issue he couldn't reconcile with.
"You're drunk."
Sakura's smile widened.
"So are you." She dropped a wandering hand to his backside and casually left it there.
Kakashi's eyebrows ascended. Before he had a chance to even muse on the situation, Sakura was leaning up again. It felt like he had fallen prey to a lioness.
"Do you still think Ino's right then? Should I just...go for the physical approach here, in front of everyone…" At this point she squeezed the muscle of his rear with considerable force. "Or should we continue this outside and test that claim of my new lipstick?"
The temperature of the bar shot up a couple degrees. Kakashi considered his options. He was enjoying her pressed into him like that, revelling in her touch and warmth, his own body reacting to it. It was something he'd been denying himself, and while he wanted nothing more than to give in, just one fretful flick of his eye over to the others gave his thinking away. For just one brief second, there was concern on her features.
"Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather..."
The words dripped out of him slowly, and that concern he'd seen vanished, replaced by another dark look of perversity. She even winked.
"You never heard the first part of the bet, Kakashi…"
It was one of those rare moments where she dropped the honorific, its significance magnified by the way she snatched his hand suddenly and led him slowly to the door. Sakura kept closely to him.
"Ino knows there's only one person that I want, that I have wanted for a while. So yes, I'm very sure." They had reached the door, she now met his eye closely, leaning in to him. "She was right about one thing, I guess…"
"And what would that be?"
Too close, they were leaning in too close to each other. Kakashi could see the pink of her eyelashes when he wasn't watching her lips.
"That I would need liquid courage to make my move on you. At least I'm winning the bet…"
It was a breathy whisper, that last part of her sentence which tapered off to nothing, Kakashi feeling the warmth of her breath through the mask. It promised so much that he felt the electric charge of excitement. All he had to do was move just a little and they would be kissing.
"Sakura… what was the bet?"
She smirked and pushed the door open.
"That I could get you to leave with me, without kissing you."
The grin on her face was practically malevolent as she pulled him through the door and onto the street.
"I wondered about that. You're not even wearing any lipstick."
"Kakashi…" she whispered pulling him into her with force, throwing her arms around his neck. "I'm not wearing...a few other things either. Care to test that theory?"
"You're gonna kill me." He grinned himself despite the statement. It would be an exquisite death at least.
"I don't know about that, you look like a strong and capable hard worker, and I have a position that needs filling…"
Kakashi felt the rumble in his chest.
"Sakura, you can stop with the pick up lines, you've already got me…"
The sentence was interrupted. Nimble fingers pulling his mask down just enough for her lips to meet his with ardent fervor. She pulled back with another lustful wink.
"I'm drunk, take me home."
The chances of him becoming overly excited dramatically increased.
