Sakura was dead.
She knew she would be in this situation the moment she had decided to have a housewarming party and show off her newly-acquired cooking skills. She had just moved out of her parents' apartment (nineteen was a little old to still be mooching off your mum and dad) and had wanted to mark the occasion somehow. What better way to christen your new home than by cooking a three-course meal for nineteen shinobi and one dog? She was beginning to hate past-Sakura for putting her present self through the stress of it all.
Inviting the people had been the easy part. Naruto was in straight-away, Sai thought it would be an interesting opportunity to observe his new friends, and even Kakashi took little persuasion once she mentioned the free food. Captain Yamato was away on a mission, so she hadn't been able to invite him. Once Team Kakashi was out of the way, Sakura sought out her best friend at the Yamanaka flower shop. Ino had said yes but warned Sakura to not let her cooking poison half the Shinobi in the village. Sakura had mercifully let the comment slide.
The next people she found were Hinata, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru. They all accepted, Hinata offering to help with the preparations. After speaking with Ino, Sakura's ego had been a little bruised, so she turned down the gracious offer without thinking. She had regretted that later.
Then she found Shikamaru and Chouji, who told her they had already spoken Ino and knew about dinner. Sakura was grateful she didn't need to explain much (especially since Chouji looked like he was about to bear-hug her), and asked Shikamaru if he could invite Kurenai the next time he saw her. He looked grateful to her for considering the pregnant genjutsu master, and said she would definitely come. It would be good for her to get out of the house a bit more.
She found Tenten at the training ground, and asked her if she could tell the rest of team Gai for her. That way she wouldn't have to deal with Lee's fire-of-youth intensity or Neji's coldness. Or Gai's… Gai-ness. She saw Shizune and the Hokage later that day and asked if they were free. Tsunade said they would make time as long as she could bring her own sake. Sakura grudgingly accepted and told her to bring enough for all the Jounin. She also asked her to pass the message on to Anko and Iruka. She didn't know them too well, but they didn't have any missions and it would be good for Gai to have other people to distract him from his eternal rival.
All that had taken about half a day. She hadn't had to think about it again until the night rolled around. But when it did, the realisation that she was going to have to cook so much food had hit her like a wayward kunai. Shinobi ate so much. Nin-dogs like Akamaru ate even more. Chouji and Naruto ate the most, and even Lee and Gai would no doubt turn it into some sort of eating competition. She had bought enough groceries (hopefully), but it was the turning the raw materials into edible meals before her guests arrived that was starting to kill her.
A light tap on her door told her that she was out of time. Putting down the bowl of salad she was tossing, she dusted off her hands and ran to let them in, trying to wipe the flour and panic from her face as she did so. Why did they have to be early? Why did she have to be late?
"Yo." Kakashi stood in her doorway, and nobody else. She even checked, craning her neck to see past her ex-sensei's lanky frame into the darkness. She breathed a small sigh of relief.
"'Yo' yourself. You're early." She stepped back to let him into her new apartment.
Sakura's place was at the in-between stage of newly-cleaned and still dirty, impersonal and lived-in. Kakashi let his eyes take in the small, well lit space, as he was clearly supposed to. He expected Sakura to wait for his verdict on the unremarkable apartment. He was the king of bachelor-pads, after all. But she had already retreated back to the kitchen. He could hear her swearing under her breath, and made his way over curiously; there might have been something to eat early.
Sakura spun around, flustered, when Kakashi coughed politely to make his presence known. He stood in the doorway, clearly disappointed by the lack of edible food in the kitchen. Placing her dirty hands on her hips, she told him, "Listen, I wasn't expecting people this early, and as you can see I'm pretty busy. Please make yourself at home out in the other room if you like." Being gracious and hospitable was hard when you were trying to decipher oven temperatures and measure two-thirds of water when you didn't have a two-thirds measuring cup.
Kakashi just stood there, staring at his old student like he had never seen her before. She looked like she did after a particularly trying mission, but covered in miso soup and bits of lettuce instead of blood and dirt. Somewhere under the apron and harassed attitude she was wearing a light green jumper which would have looked quite nice were it not covered in grease stains. He stepped further into the kitchen, checking to see how much of the food wasn't actually on Sakura.
"I'm not that early, you know," he said, picking up the recipe book she was obviously working out of. "The others will be here pretty soon."
"I know." She did know. She had been watching the little clock on the wall more than she had her actual work, hence the several small knife cuts on her fingers.
"Need a hand?" Kakashi offered. He didn't usually offer help for such troublesome tasks, but Sakura looked like she was about to cry or kill somebody, and neither were good for the Jounin.
"Can you cook?" Sakura asked dubiously. Her distracted green eyes kept flicking back to the stove top, where something was boiling over out of its pot.
Can you cook? Kakashi wanted to ask, but Sakura still looked capable of murder, so he settled for, "Of course I can cook. I live alone too, remember?"
Sakura decided her flaky friend was as good as anything, so she nodded. "Okay then. I still need to peel and chop the rest of the vegetables, mix the dough, season the meat, then cook what isn't already burning."
"Right, well I'll get started on the vegetables while you finish whatever's in that blue bowl." Kakashi picked up a knife and got to work, assuming position of commander as he did so. Were it anyone but Kakashi she might have told them to let her do it herself after all, but Sakura was used to taking orders from the man. She set the blue bowl down next to him on the bench, adding flour the dough within to get it to the right consistency.
"Sakura, why are you wearing your forehead protector?"
Sakura touched the metal plate self-consciously. "Why are you wearing your forehead protector?" she replied childishly.
"Last time I checked, you didn't have a Sharingan to hide."
"Touché. I'm wearing it because it helps me focus, and this feels hard enough that it could be shinobi work." At least she wasn't wearing all her mission gear like Kakashi. She swore she'd never seen the man in anything but his Jounin uniform, which he wore even now, right down to the flak jacket.
"It's actually pretty similar. Think of it as a mission and apply the same skills."
"So I should be peeling the vegetables with a kunai?"
Kakashi laughed quietly. "If you think it would help, but as you can see a knife works just as well."
Eventually most of the food was either cooked or cooking. The first course was ready to go when Naruto, then Sai arrived. Sakura called to them from the kitchen to make themselves at home and have a look around. She sounded much less panicked after Kakashi's help, much to his relief.
After that everyone arrived in small groups and chatted amongst themselves in Sakura's open-plan living/dining room. Naruto and the others were letting the guests in as they came, Sakura still looking like she'd had a food fight with an angry clown. She felt a little guilty than she hadn't been able to play hostess; she hadn't left the kitchen once since after letting the rest of team Kakashi in. But she knew she would feel even guiltier if there were no actual dinner at her dinner party.
Once the last two guests arrived (Tsunade and Shizune, straight from Hokage Tower) Sakura decided they could probably eat now. Kakashi was stirring something that actually smelled pretty good when Sakura got his attention. "Okay, so what have I forgotten?" She asked him, looking around the kitchen with a critical eye.
Kakashi's critical eye watched the kunoichi in front of him rather than the messy kitchen. "Uh… you're still wearing your forehead protector?"
"Oh, right." The girl yanked the band out of her light pink hair and placed it carefully on the bench.
"And half the contents of the fridge, too."
Sakura looked down at her food-splattered outfit. "You think I should change?"
"It's a definite possibility."
Kakashi and the others were seated at a large round table that looked like a gift from Sakura's parents. Her apartment had probably eaten enough of her pay check without having to buy extravagant furniture. Naruto's stomach was growling, Akamaru was really growling, and Chouji looked like he was about to eat Shikamaru, who sat on his left and just looked bored. But Kakashi had considered going to look for Sakura for barely a second before she appeared, carrying a large bowl of salad and a plate of sushi.
"Sorry about the wait, everyone." She apologised, setting the huge platters down in the centre of the table. "I'll just be back with the rest."
She disappeared once more, but nobody seemed to notice as they fell upon the food with enthusiasm. Naruto had been one of the first and most aggressive to attack the sushi, but had also been considerate enough to get some for shy Hinata on his right side. The poor girl nearly passed out when he handed it over, probably from shock at seeing Naruto share food.
Kakashi grabbed a roll of sushi before getting up to help Sakura once more. Really, it was more an excuse not to eat in front of everyone, but he also felt a certain amount of duty to see the mission through to the end. Great, he was calling it a mission now. Opening the door, a wave of aroma and steam hit him in the face. As it cleared he could see Sakura arranging onigiri on a new platter. She had her back to him but when she turned he could see her outfit clearly for the first time. She wore a simple black dress under a blood-red jacket. She also wore jewellery, something he didn't think he'd ever seen her wear. Only suicidal ninjas would wear sparkly little nooses into battle. He realised he was staring, but thankfully she hadn't. Smiling with relief at his return, she handed him the plate of rice balls and said, "I'm gonna owe you so much after tonight. Promise I'll pay you back tenfold, however you want."
"It's okay Sakura. Just make sure you actually sit down for the next course, okay?" Kakashi was only too happy to leave the suddenly too-steamy kitchen. Did she realise how dirty she sounded half the time? Inhaling a rice ball or two before he got back to the table, he set them down mutely and returned to his seat. Soon the rest had been eaten by the other shinobi, and so far everyone seemed happy. Tsunade and Anko were getting pinker and pinker in the face. So was Shizune, but more out of embarrassment than sake. Iruka was clearly trying hard not to act like an academy teacher as he tried to get the food shared diplomatically. Most people were forming their own miniature conversations with the people beside them. Kakashi actually felt sufficiently unnoticed to quickly wolf down another piece of sushi before Chouji finished it off.
Sakura reappeared with the main course: A beef hotpot and rice, big enough to feed every hungry shinobi. She also had a milder dish for people like herself, Akamaru, Kiba and Kurenai, who either didn't like hot food or were pregnant and on a strict diet. She'd clearly done her research on nin-dogs before inviting the big white mutt and his master. Doing as Kakashi had instructed, she did sit down between Shizune and Chouji and serve herself a small portion after everyone else had gotten theirs.
"Oi Sakura, when did you learn to cook like this?" Naruto practically shouted to her across the table. Sakura was halfway through chewing a piece of meat, but as most people had stopped talking to hear their hostess, she was forced to swallow quickly.
"Well I took a class when I decided to move away from home," she felt a little self-conscious, but was eager to talk to her friends at last. "But what with missions and everything, I kind of missed most of them- which especially sucked considering I had to pay in advance." Most of the people sitting around the table either laughed or groaned sympathetically at this. They knew how hard it was to live like a civilian when being a ninja always came first.
"Sakura has outdone herself despite this. She must be a natural!" Lee was only too happy to compliment the pink-haired kunoichi. She blushed and wished Tenten had been sat closer to him. She scolded Lee the way Sakura scolded Naruto.
"Well, the night didn't exactly go off without a hitch or anything." Sakura didn't feel like she deserved very much praise at that moment. When she had first thought up the dinner party, she had indulged fantasies of everybody complimenting her cooking and simply begging for her recipes. Then they had all toasted her and promised to call again in the near future. But in her fantasy she had done everything by herself, and now that Kakashi had helped out in reality, she felt he needed the praise more than she.
But did he want it? A quick glance at the silver-haired ninja suggested not. He was looking away from her, his fingers lightly tracing the pattern on the side of his empty bowl. If he had wanted attention, he would have given her some sort of signal or pointed look. She figured he was probably too modest to want anyone's compliments, or too lazy to want a reputation as a helpful person (off-duty, of course). Instead of explaining exactly what hitches went off throughout the night, she stood up and collected the bowls. Conversation now centred on Kurenai and her proverbial bun in the oven. Anko wanted to know exactly when she was due, because it would be some time around her birthday. Sakura stacked everyone's bowl and chopsticks on top of each other without any fuss or people offering to help. She found she actually preferred this. Apart from Kakashi, she felt she hadn't put any of her guests out too much by needing their assistance. They could simply relax and enjoy a night with friends and without enemy shinobi breathing down their necks.
Chouji, Shikamaru, Kurenai, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Naruto, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Ino, Sai, Gai. Only her elite ninja skills meant she could balance thirteen bowls in one hand and add to the pile with the other. She leant forward to take Kakashi's next, and he jumped slightly as she entered his peripheral vision. "It's alright," she said exasperatedly as she grabbed his abandoned bowl and placed it carefully atop the others. Fourteen- hell yeah!
Kakashi looked like he had when she had first met him and Naruto had dropped a blackboard duster on his head. Surprise looked so sweet with his droopy eyes. She put her hand on his shoulder as she passed, smiling. He tensed under her touch. What was with the copy-nin tonight? Sakura knew he hated the whole social, crowded-places scene. She suddenly felt bad for inviting so many people. Not only had it made one of her favourite people tense and unhappy, it also meant she had bitten off more than she could chew and said person had needed to rescue her. Not for the first time, either.
She dropped the bowls in her sink with an unceremonious crash, and set about pulling all the pre-prepared dessert out of the refrigerator and oven. She had a selection of nice foods, like dango (which she would put close to Anko) and sweet melon, chocolate cake, ice-cream and the like. It took her three trips before it was all out, and about five seconds before it was all gone. She hadn't gotten any, but she didn't mind. There were left-over odds and ends still in the fridge, and she wasn't all that hungry for sweets anyway. Some people didn't eat dessert either- Kakashi didn't like sweet things and would have had trouble trying to eat dango inconspicuously. Everybody took the empty plates as their cue to leave. Sakura made up for her neglecting them as they arrived, and stood at the door as they left. Everybody had a compliment for her, even Sai, Shino and Neji, who weren't natural flatterers. Pushing the door shut after Tsunade and Shizune (Tsunade would need help getting home, and even more getting up next morning), she leant her forehead against the cool wood frame. It was over.
"So how do you think your first dinner party went?" Kakashi stood in the doorway behind Sakura, trying not to smirk at her obvious exhaustion. Sakura looked up at him, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"You invited me, remember?" Kakashi's visible eye crinkled.
"You know what I mean."
"Well, I couldn't let my favourite student do all the cleaning up by herself, could I?" Kakashi looked mock serious as he gestured at the messy table and even messier kitchen.
Sakura snorted. "One: I was never your favourite student, Sasuke was. Two: you shouldn't have favourite students anyway. Three: I was just gonna leave it and go to bed."
"You're right; I can't have had favourite students. How about you be my favourite kunoichi then?" Kakashi was already in the kitchen pulling out dishcloths, so he couldn't see Sakura's blush. That seemed a bit unlikely to her- Kakashi knew a lot of kunoichi.
"So do you want to wash the dishes while I get the rest from the table and wipe it down?" Kakashi asked her.
She shrugged. "Really, you shouldn't even be doing that much. I'm already completely in your debt, and have no idea how to pay you back."
Kakashi was halfway out of the kitchen. "You'll think of something," he said before he was out of sight. He nearly slapped himself- god that comment sounded pervy. He cleared away the plates and dishes still sitting on the table, stacking them on top of each other despite their irregular shape. It reminded him of Sakura doing it before, and he felt like slapping himself again. What the hell had been wrong with him? First his eyes had nearly fallen out of his head when he'd seen her all dressed up, and then he nearly got caught staring at her far too intensely when she was talking. He was pretty sure he had covered it up when she glanced over, looking away quickly and feigning disinterest. After that he hadn't dared look up in case her eyes caught him again. But that plan had backfired when she appeared right beside him. Sakura had leant over for his bowl, and he had caught a breath of her scent, so similar to Pakkun and the other dogs'. It was such a comforting smell, and she had surrounded him with it. He'd jumped back and nearly dislocated his arm trying to keep from touching her as she collected the dishes. Then she'd placed her hand on his shoulder and made the whole exercise pointless. Luckily she went into the kitchen for a time after that so she hadn't seen her effect on him.
But now they were alone, and Kakashi was beginning to wonder of it was wise of him to offer to stick around. She was just too pretty tonight- though she always looked pretty, even when she was covered in blood, sweat and tears. Or even lettuce. He placed the dishes beside her carefully, not one of them making a noise. She turned her head away from the dish she was scrubbing and met his eye with her bright green ones, and any witty comment he was about to make about the soap suds in her hair died in this throat. She smiled at him, and he felt himself wanting to smile too, just to be part of the joke. "Thank you so much, Kakashi," she said with sincerity. He loved it when Sakura left off the 'sensei' honorific that made him feel old.
"That's okay. It was pretty clear there wouldn't be any food unless I helped to make it." His tongue finally unstuck and tried to help him.
"Yeah; I'm sorry about that. I know I promised you a free feed, but you ended up having to work for it anyway. I don't think I'm cut out for entertaining." Sakura sounded truly miserable at the thought of being unable to provide for several of her friends at a time. Such a medic.
"Listen, you just need practice is all," Kakashi said, wanting to make her smile again. In a not-uncommon burst of inspiration, he added, "tell you what, the way you can make it up to me is by inviting me around more often and cooking for me. With just one person to entertain for, you'll get practice and I'll get fed. Win-win."
"Hey, that's a great idea!" Sakura seemed sold. A chance to do something good for Kakashi after all he'd done for her? A chance to see more of him, possibly learn more about him? She liked the idea very much indeed.
Once the apartment looked halfway respectable again, Sakura practically fell onto her little sofa chair and closed her eyes. With a moment of hesitation and a little more dignity, Kakashi sat beside her.
"Now it's officially over," she said, keeping her eyes closed and smiling at the ceiling. "I don't even have to clean up tomorrow."
"Does that mean I no longer have a reason to stay here?" Kakashi tried to say it jokingly, but failed.
Sakura's eyes snapped open and looked at him with surprise and warmth. "You're always welcome here, Kakashi. Truthfully, I'm glad to have someone with me. It's not as much fun as I thought it would be, living on my own."
"Ah," Kakashi nodded knowledgably. Sakura supposed there wasn't really much waiting for him at home, either.
"So what do you want for your next meal?" Sakura decided to be the first to break the short silence.
"Hmm… You should probably start with something simple, and then get more complex as you improve. I'll eat anything but tempura."
"You don't like tempura?" Sakura realised she had known Kakashi for years but knew hardly anything about him. "Okay, what do you like?"
"Umm…" Kakashi looked up at the ceiling, apparently thinking hard. "I like miso soup, saury fish, Icha-icha…"
"Icha-icha isn't a food- and if it were it would be junk food, which you hate." Sakura rolled her eyes at the mention of the horrible books. She was actually a little surprised they hadn't made an appearance that night. Granted, the dinner table was no place for adult novels, but since when did Kakashi care about what was appropriate and what wasn't?
"That's harsh, but true. I suppose you'd be something wholesome, like an apple?" Kakashi asked teasingly.
"No way- I'd be cherry pie," Sakura said, flicking her blossom-pink hair as she did so.
"Because you're so sweet?" Kakashi really hoped that had ended up sounding sarcastic.
"Naturally. Too bad you don't like sweet things, huh?" Sakura had spoken before realising how that sounded. She blushed a little and hoped his train of thought hadn't gone the same way as hers. However, this was Kakashi after all.
"It's not all sweet things I don't like," Kakashi said, only making Sakura's blush deepen, "I'm actually quite partial to cherries."
He had to be winding her up. Kakashi had never talked to her like this before. Not that she wasn't enjoying the banter between them, but it would have to stop before she did something she would regret. "Well then it's settled- next night we both have mission-free, I'll cook something simple for dinner, and you'll get cherry pie for dessert." Oh crap, what did I just say?
Years of training to hide emotions was only thing that stopped the Jounin from blushing too. He had to get out before his pervy mind made him do something he'd regret. "That sounds fine. I should probably go home now though, so you can go to bed. You look tired." He stood up suddenly and was half-way to the door before she was even on her feet. He knew his abrupt departure would look pretty rude, but the girl just didn't realise what her bright red cheeks and wide green eyes and talk of cherry pie was doing to his mental stability. He opened the door and gave a quick, eye-crinkling 'bye', before escaping to the freedom of the cold night air.
Sakura watched him go, and felt as if her face could not get any redder. She'd had absolutely no control of her mouth! He probably thought she was some kind of perverted delinquent, the way she kept talking about what had seemed like such an innocent topic. Placing her hands on her cheeks to cool them down, she let the door swing shut on the darkness outside.
It still wouldn't stop her from cooking for him again.