Title: Ladder
Rating: T
Prompt: Ladder
Word Count: 600
A/N: I forgot to post this earlier, but it's for the Word Challenge on the kakasaku community on LJ. I really should use my LJ more… The word count was 500, but I wasn't sure if it was the minimum or the maximum. ^_^"
Sakura wobbled slightly on the creaky ladder in the medical library.
She hated working on a Sunday, but she took some satisfaction in knowing that Ino was pulled out of bed to replace her in the hospital.
Even as she used chakra to keep herself steady on the rickety steps, a strong grip on the ladder had to keep her from eating the floor.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Her head turned to look behind her at the smiling Copy Ninja. "What do you want?"
"What? No, 'Thank you sensei for saving my life from a possibly face-altering accident that could impede any future attempts at finding a boyfriend causing me to wear a mask to cover my disfigurement and becoming ostracized by the entire village because everybody knows that a mask and copying is completely Hatake Kakashi's thing?' That's very unappreciative of you Sakura; I'm sure I taught you better."
"What are you doing here, sensei?" She sighed, a vein in her temple throbbed.
"Jounin staff meeting, saving the life of a young maiden… the usual." The Copy Nin's eyes creased.
"What would the world do without you?" Sakura rolled her eyes as the pile of scrolls accumulated on the floor. "But if you don't mind, I have work to do."
"Will you be here again tomorrow?"
"Ugh, I'll probably be here all week!"
"Ah, well perhaps I'll stop by in case some sort of life threatening accident happens again."
"Bye, sensei." She ground out.
The next day Sakura arrived at the medical library right after her shift at the hospital and, sure enough, Kakashi met her there. He stayed just long enough for her to carry the scrolls down from the top half of the shelves and mumbled something about giving Pakkun a bath and rushed off.
On Tuesday she waited for Kakashi, but after an hour she adjusted her medic's apron and tights in a huff and did the job herself.
Sakura had plans with Ino after work on Wednesday, so she dressed before coming into the medical library just minutes before Kakashi walked in, scribbling something on a piece of paper.
"What's that?" The medic's eyebrows rose.
"Oh, just some notes." He stuffed the paper into his pocket. "It's required for meetings, you know."
"But there couldn't have been more than a few words on that…"
"Well…" Kakashi flinched slightly. "There were mostly charts and maps today; I didn't have much to write…" He pointed to his covered eye. "…with my Sharingan and all."
Thursday was technically her day off, but she really wanted to finish the inventory by the end of the week, so she dressed in her casual outfit and arrived to find her sensei reading Icha Icha Violence with a box of anko dumplings for her and some miso soup for him.
She had a mission on Friday, so she dressed in her mission gear and did inventory for about an hour before heading in for the briefing; Kakashi wasn't seen until half an hour after the briefing started.
Sakura finished inventory on Saturday afternoon with Kakashi, his eyes in happy crescents, steadying the creaky ladder for her. He left the room, satisfied, reading his weekly notes.
Sunday: Nurse's Uniform – Yellow, lacy boyshorts
Monday: Nurse's Uniform – Hot pink G-string
Tuesday: Medic's apron with tights – N/A
Wednesday: Mini-skirt – Black bikini-cut panties
Thursday: Navy skirt – Lime green silk thong
Friday: Medic's apron with tights – N/A
The Copy Ninja scribbled another line on his scrap of paper.
Saturday: Crisp jean-skirt – Blue boyshorts with orange hearts
He blessed his intuition last week when he decided to break the medical library's ladder.