Plucking Daisies Chapter 1

She teetered on her too-high high heels in the dank air of the dark city. Her eyes like lazy cat-eyes lusciously lined in black, and her lips, painted a venomous red. Her hair messily curled – big was the ideal factor. Her dress was his favorite colour and shorter than she was comfortable with. It was all to get his attention. The latter failed miserably.

Her chin wobbled and she laughed to herself, "Cruel man he is, he had his eyes on every woman there except me."

Sakura was still young – she was still too naïve and too innocent at that. She hadn't fully comprehended the true meaning of a 'one night stand', but at that point, her mind finally sobered up to the truth.

She looked at her own reflection in a store window and she tisked at herself, she was everything but herself. Her eyes then flittered through the empty street, wondering if any store would be open at this hour. As she walked, she gave up on her heels and removed them. The bottom of her stockings bruising on the jagged pavement.

"I can't keep walking around like this." She muttered as she found herself passing by eerie alleyways.

No one in their right mind would prowl a city at this hour.

She finally found a thrift store open on the corner of the street. She quickly greeted the old woman at the counter who was slightly taken aback from the girl's attire but returned her greeting.

Upon entering the thrift store, an array of luggage bags littered her vision.

"I should just leave" She just said breathlessly, the more she let those words echo in her ears the more she liked the idea. She smiled to herself.

All her things were still at his place. Though she deemed them unnecessary as the majority of her belongings were sole to gain approval from him. She didn't need his approval anymore. In fact, she didn't need anyone's approval, only her own.

She smiled to herself; she was taking the reins in her life. Love could go take a back seat for all she cared.

She picked up a moderate suitcase, neither too big nor too small, and something easy to travel with. She then peered at her wristwatch, if she could get to the bus station in forty-five minutes she could get out of town that night.

She quickly got to work, rattling through the hangers. "I need pants" She looked at her dress distastefully.

She gave herself ten minutes to select some clothing, a sufficient to get her by for the time being. She also selected an outfit she could change into that moment. She found a pair of torn up grey Chucks' a size too big in the back and paired it up with a pair of baggy jeans, a white men's t-shirt and a dark purple leather jacket. She quickly made her way to the cashier to pay for her transaction.

"Can I trade in this dress to purchase these items?" Sakura asked cautiously as she counted the remaining bills in her purse – they would only be sufficient enough for a bus ticket and nothing else. She'd need to find work as soon as she moved.

The old lady eyed her dress kindly, "Your dress can cover the whole transaction. If you throw in those earrings I can give you some extra cash. Besides, I wouldn't be walking around with those earrings especially in this town. I'll be doing you a favor."

Sakura smiled, "Thank you." She quickly removed the said earrings; they were an antique gold, embezzled with her birthstone in the center. A gift from him, or more a less a stamp of his claim over her.

She quickly moved to the back with her new belongings and found the changing room. She peeled off the damned dress and wore her 'new' attire. Sakura then walked up to the front and gave the women the dress and her earrings.

The old lady licked the bills as she counted them, "There you are. Thank you for your business."

Sakura nodded and made her way out of the store. Feeling all her senses of security she had in the store diminish. She looked at her wristwatch she only had twenty minutes.

She made sure her luggage bag was secured and folded her bus money into her back pocket and the rest in her bra. Once she was done with a once over check, she bolted down the street. The luggage bag slightly weighing her down, but her legs adjusted to the new weight.

She was a seasoned track runner back in her varsity years. Despite having to quit due to harassment from her peers, she kept running. It was the only constant in her life.

She always would have a starting line and a finish line, wherever it may be. She quickly turned down a few streets, her legs screaming with joy from the rush of energy.

With two minutes to spare she arrived at the bus station, which held only one lone bus. She made her way to the bus and pulled out the bills in her back pocket, "a four zone ticket please." She spoke as she looked at the bus driver.

The bus driver took the bills and whistled, "Well aren't you going far little lady."

Sakura simply ignored his comment and took the ticket that deposited from the machine and made her way to the back of the empty bus.

She allowed herself to fall asleep as the bus rolled out of the station.

In a town that was equal to the distance of a four zone bus ticket, a white haired man opened up his bar for business.

"Sometimes Kakashi I wonder if you'll open at all on nights like these." A man grumbled as he was ushered in.

Kakashi feigned innocence and scratched the back of his head, "Well at least I opened"

A few other men with familiar faces walked in giving him a smile and rough slap on the back.

Kakashi walked back into the bar which was dimly lit and smelled like mahogany. The low amber lights gave an allusion to hell. Kakashi was simply preparing himself.

He walked behind the bar and got to work making the intoxicating drinks that allowed each and every one of these men a moment of relief from their own melancholy. Even so, he believed that alcohol could bring release, Kakashi himself did not drink. He never let a tinge of alcohol stain his lips – he felt that he didn't deserve that luxury.

It was the usual crowd, Kakashi noticed as he slid a tonic and gin to one of his oldest customers. Each man had a story of his own.

There were those three graduate students, Naruto, Sasuke and Sai, that always seemed to appear after their finals or on Thursdays...or every day of the week. Naruto was the ever the eccentric one of the group always laughing, Sasuke always doting like an old mother and Sai….well Sai seemed to bring an essence of oddness to the trio.

For their first few visits, Kakashi would give them virgin drinks just for the fun of it, then one night Naruto came up to him, "Tonight if it's alright could you spoil us with some good liquor – no water"

Kakashi gave them a sloppy smile, "Took you long enough to notice."

Oh to be young.

Then there was the only woman that continuously visited his bar. She'd usually saunter in after a long shift at the hospital. She was a loud and rowdy drunk, especially when she came along with her friend who was a local writer. In exchange for a sneak peek of his new works, Kakashi would give him free drinks.

Tsunade and Jiraiya.

But tonight it was just Tsunade.

Then there were his friends from the local police department. Obito, Genma, and Tenzo. The days he would sit with them for a drink were long gone.

The days he was a police man were just as long gone.

Whenever the crowd was dwindling, Kakashi would sit with them and reminisce the good old days. They'd carefully dodge the instance that had caused Kakashi to take leave from the police force.

Sometimes he'd help them with an investigation.

Sometimes he'd just stare at the old dusty piano in the center of the bar.

And he would just remember.

No one bothered to tell him to get rid of the old thing; it was a sensitive topic for Kakashi. Even so he never let anyone play it; it was an unspoken rule in the bar. The piano was the elephant in the room, a room whose door was too small for it to leave. It was stuck.

It needed someone to make a bigger door for it.

But who?

A little later into the night, the bell rang above the entrance of the bar. Everyone peered from the corner of their eyes to see who the person was. They were new.

Kakashi put down a tumbler he was drying and peered at the visitor. She was a young woman who was probably the same age as the three graduate students. He smiled gently at her as she shyly peered around the bar. She carried a luggage bag with her he noticed. As she sat down on a stool, he was able to have a closer look at her features.

She had emerald eyes that were encased in almond shaped sockets that were surrounded with petal pink lashes. They were lined with black, which made her eyes allude to a lazy cat. Her face was flushed, probably from the chill from outside. Her full lips were stained with a fading red. Her cheeks were plump and had a dimple each punctured within them. Her hair was like a whirlwind, her thick curls framing her heart-shaped face like a portrait. But what caught him off was upon closer inspection in the dim light her hair was a soft pink.

She looked haggard and jittery. Her pupils were dilated to a point where the emerald in her iris was only as thick as a thread.

"What would you like to drink" Kakashi spoke gently as not to startle the woman.

At that moment their eyes met and her tired stern face broke into a soft and kind smile, "I'm not much of a drinker, but I'll just have whatever is this place's special."

Kakashi nodded and busied himself with the concoction.

"Do you have a pen?" Sakura asked him.

"Ah, that I do." Kakashi chuckled and pulled out a pen from his back pocket.

"Thank you." She replied as she took the pen from his hand.

Sakura pulled on a napkin and began writing a short letter but was stopped, "I ah have paper too if you want."

Sakura blushed with embarrassment, "If it's not too much trouble."

He walked towards the till and pulled out two sheets of paper an envelope. Sakura accepted them sheepishly.

She began to write the letter, but then scribbled out the words and sighed repeating the process.

When Kakashi finished the drink he slid the tumbler her, "Having a little trouble there?" remarking at her evident distress.

Sakura didn't know what she saw in that man. But his eyes held something sincere in the abyss of black. It was comforting.

"I made a decision this evening. I think it was the right decision, but I guess I'm second guessing myself now. I'm just trying to create a sense of closure with this letter."

"If you can't write it, you can just call the person. There's a pay phone over there." Kakashi jutted his chin towards the phone that sat behind where Tsunade was drinking.

"I don't want the person to know where I am, they could trace the call here." Sakura blurted out suddenly.

Kakashi only quirked his eyebrow for a moment but then immediately had a stoic face, "Ah that is true. Writing it would seem to be the more logistical option. Anyway take your time, you have until tomorrow morning."

Sakura nodded and then went back to writing the letter. Kakashi kept his eye on the girl who looked flustered beyond her years.

"The drink should help some," Kakashi spoke off handily.

Sakura eyed the drink cautiously, "Will I do anything I'll regret if I drink this."

Kakashi snorted, "Isn't that the point?"

She laughed quietly, "You got me there."

She began to drink the concoction; it burned her throat but eased her tension. She slugged her head bag and finished it in one chug.

Kakashi whistled, "Easy on the liquor young lady. You'll drink my store dry if you keep drinking like that."

Sakura raised her index finger, "I'll only drink one."

"Whatever you say," Kakashi said quietly as he began wiping down the bar.

She was getting jittery at that moment, which could only mean one thing. She needed a smoke. She didn't see 'no smoking' sign in the store "Is it alright if I smoke here?" Sakura asked

"You sure do ask a lot of question," Kakashi smirked

"I'll take that as a yes" Sakura quirked her eyebrow as she pulled out a lighter and a new pack of Sevens.

Kakashi pulled out a crystal ashtray, "Don't burn my counter."

"Noted" Sakura mumbled through the cigarette in her mouth and she let out a long drag.

"If you need anything just give me a holler," Kakashi spoke as he turned to exit the bar and sit with his ex-partners.

Sakura simply lazily closed her eyes and let her head lull as she smoked through the night. Her mind calculating what she was going to do next. Where would she stay? How would she get by?

One thing she knew for sure if she wanted to leave town she wouldn't have enough money to do so. She needed a job and a place to stay for the time being and then she'd see where the wind would take her.

As she smoked through her pack of sevens the bar started to empty out, and Sakura's mind was doing somersaults around her sanity.

It wasn't until the last cigarette was smoked and drop out of her lips did Kakashi stand up and usher the last customer out.

He walked up and sat on the stool next to her.

He just looked at her.

Sakura looked at him through her groggy eyes. Despite his white hair the man didn't look that old, she guessed in his mid-thirties at the most. His jaw held handsome angles and his onyx eyes held something beyond that Sakura could not grasp. On the right side of his face he had a jagged scar starting from his eyebrow to just below his cheek bone. He had soft patches of stubble clinging on to his skin. Something about him just got to her. Maybe it was the look in his eyes or his aloof air, she did not know but she was drawn to him.

She couldn't love another.

She let her mind clear of any said profanities.

Kakashi then peered at her, "So I presume you don't have a place to stay."

"You caught me, " She said sarcastically.

Kakashi smiled, "So what's your story. A young lady like you strolling into a town like this – this late into the night. Hmm? Care to explain that?"

"I'm not really up for a bout of story telling tonight. How about you tell me yours." Sakura countered.

"I've got nothing to tell you, I'm just a humble bartender." Kakashi feigned innocence.

"Yeah, but your eyes say something else. They've seen a lot – nothing a 'humble bartender' could afford."

Kakashi was taken aback slightly, "This isn't about me. It's about you now."

Sakura smirked, "So I hit the nail on the head."

She moved to collect her things and stood up and counted some bills to cover her tab, "thanks for everything."

Kakashi then stood up and almost chuckled at how much his figure towered over her, "If I think I'm just going to let you go around town looking for a place to stay, I assure you the next place you'll sleep is six feet underground. This town young lady will eat you alive. So I suggest if you plan on living to accept my offer."

Sakura simply looked at the man, "I don't like being taken advantage of."

"I'm sorry if I came off that way, but I assure you I'm doing anything but that." Kakashi coaxed.

Sakura sighed with resignation.

"Follow me" Kakashi

"How can I trust you?" Sakura mumbled as Kakashi walked towards the front door.

"Do you have a choice?" Kakashi asked her.

"If you kill me could you make sure they don't find my body in the dumpster."

"I'll keep that in mind." Kakashi chuckled

Sakura's eyes narrowed at him as she followed him out the bar. As he locked the door to the bar she spoke again, "By the way, what's your name anyway?"

"Kakashi. Kakashi Hatake." Kakashi then looked at Sakura.

"Sakura."

Kakashi quirked his eyebrow, "No last name?"

"Didn't your mother tell you not to give your full name to strangers?" Sakura quipped

"Well apparently not giving your last name could get yourself shot." He countered

Sakura chuckled to herself, but what Kakashi spoke was the truth, not a joke.

Please leave your comments in the review section

This idea has been nagging me for a while so I wanted to write it down

LOVE YOU ALL

Until next time

OXZA