"I'm going to kill him," she said to no one in particular as she watched him walking towards her. His gaze never shifted off the little orange book that seemed to be permanently fused to his hand. "Where the hell have you been?!"
"Hmm?" Kakashi replied, finally looking up. He should have realised the danger he was in, after all, this was Sakura. She could easily beat him to a pulp. Slowly taking a step back, he tried to think of a good excuse.
Cat in a tree…No too obvious
Got lost…yeah right!
Locked out of the apartment…I'm a ninja for crying out loud!
"I'm not late…" his mouth began without permission "…you're just early." What the hell was he thinking! What kind of lame excuse was that? So much for being an elite ninja…
"Sakura!" The pink-haired kunoichi heard the call before she had the chance to crush whatever brain Kakashi has left in him. She turned towards the person calling her, sending a deadly glare Kakashi's way.
If looks could kill… he thought to himself, smirking ever so slightly under that mask.
"What?" Her voice was low and dangerous, so much that it forced Shikamaru to stop in his tracks. He looked from Sakura to Kakashi and noticed the silver-haired man take a step away from her.
Baka! Shikamaru sighed to himself, turning his attention back to Sakura.
"Tsunade wants to see you in her office, it's a good thing you haven't left ye-" Shikamaru cut off, noticing Kakashi waving frantically, begging him to stop. Sakura growled and stormed off towards the Hokage's building, cursing loudly.
"What was all that about?" Shikamaru asked, eying him.
"I was late…"
"Well you better hurry up and follow her, Tsunade wants to see you too." He sighed to himself at Kakashi's slouched posture and blank expression.
Baka… he thought again.
"You're late" Tsunade stated as he walked into the room.
Why me? Kakashi thought to himself as he received another deadly glare from Sakura.
"Your mission has been cancelled…" The Hokage said, drawing their attention to her. "It seems the hidden Village of the Mist have solved the problem themselves, and our services are no longer required."
"Damn it! I needed the money" Sakura sulked, slightly pissed off. Kakashi had to agree, he was running fairly low on cash at the moment himself.
"Well you're in luck…" Tsunade said, once again gaining their attention. "I've received a mission request that should be fairly easy for the two of you, and the client is willing to pay a rather large sum of money…"
"What's the catch?" Kakashi interrupted, moving away from the door and towards the empty seat next to Sakura, without actually sitting in it. You could never be too careful around her.
Gaining another sigh from Tsunade, she replied hesitantly "For some reason they've specifically asked for Haruno Sakura, but the reason as to why they have made that specific request remains unknown. We will look into it, but in the mean time Sakura, you will go and Kakashi will accompany you. It should take about three to four weeks to complete." Sakura's chair almost fell backwards, and it would of, had it not been for Kakashi's quick reflexes. She just sat there looking extremely stunned.
"That's a whole bloody month!" Sakura slouched down in her chair, sticking her legs out in front of her and crossing her arms over her chest. She eyed Kakashi as he sat down next to her. "I'm not going!" Her voice was challenging. Tsunade cringed at the very words that came out of Sakura's mouth, then looking at the two she sighed once more before putting her head in her hands. Sakura didn't move, now focusing her deadly glare at Tsunade as Kakashi sat rather amused, watching the situation that had unfolded in front of him.
It had been a long day and Tsunade was not in the mood for this. She just wanted to sit down, relax and drink a much-needed bottle of sake. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she stood up and gave Sakura a look that made her sit up straighter in her chair. Tsunade was well aware of Kakashi's irritating amusement and so she sent him the same look given to Sakura. Of course, it was much harder to tell if it had any effect, considering the majority of his face was covered with a mask, and his one eye remained cool, calm and collected. His composure was really starting to get on her nerves. Placing her hands down on the desk, and leaning forward slightly, she noticed them both push their chairs back a little.
Now comes the fun part…she thought, refraining form a smile.
"I don't give a damn what problems you have with this mission…" she began with her low, intimidating voice, she was going to enjoy this… "Either you sort them out, or I'll do it for you. Needless to say the hospital doesn't need another two patients on their hands." The look on their faces was priceless. "It is your duty as Konoha Shinobi to ensure that this mission is carried out successfully, and if I hear that either one of you screw this up, especially you Sakura, then I'll find you before you even realise what happened. You WILL accept this mission, is that understood?" It was taking a lot of self-control to keep the grin Tsunade's face.
"Yes Hokage-sama!" the replied in unison. They were stunned by her reaction, neither one of them had expected her to get this angry.
"I want you packed and ready to leave by 9:00 am tomorrow morning." She tossed the scroll at them and Sakura caught it before Kakashi had a chance. "NOW GET OUT!" Tsunade ended, raising her voice slightly as she watched them scramble out of the door as fast as they possibly could, without making it too obvious. Once they were completely gone, she burst into fits of laughter, unable to hold it back any longer. Usually Naruto was the only person she treated like this. A knock on the door made her look up, wiping tears away from her eyes.
"Is everything ok, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked in a soft voice, looking slightly concerned at the hysterical Hokage.
"Oh, everything is just fine….yes just fine." Tsunade laughed while an image of Naruto with pink hair and a mask suddenly filled her mind. She was definitely losing it. "I could really do for some Sake though, could you get me a bottle or two?" Shizune just rolled her eyes at the Hokage's not so subtle order.
Sakura read the scroll as they walked out. "Seems like we have to guard some guy called Tamaki" she mumbled, throwing the scroll at Kakashi. He caught it easily, briefly glancing over its contents.
"Tell you what…" Sakura said cheerfully "treat me to lunch Kakashi, and I'll forgive you." She turned to meet a bewildered looking Kakashi.
"What's there to forgive?"
Sakura had him backed against a wall in an instant, her index finger mere centimetres away from his face.
"You made me wait more than TWO hours while you did god knows what, and on top of that I'm going to be stuck with you for an entire month, so you can't get away from me-"
Point made, Kakashi put his hands up as a surrender, giving her his one eyed smile "Lunch it is then…"
Sakura released him immediately, smiling sweetly, "I was hoping you'd say that!"
They sat across from each other at the table, silently waiting for their food. Sakura didn't like silence too much, but strangely enough, the silence between Kakashi and herself was somehow always comforting to her, except for the fact that he was still reading that perverted book of his.
"So how have you been lately?" she tried, earning herself a simple "good" in return. "Ka-ka-shi!" she sulked, giving him puppy dog eyes. Kakashi chuckled and put his book away, giving Sakura his full attention. Sakura suddenly sat up straight. Kakashi noticing this gave her a questioning look.
"Is something wrong?"
"Hmm….no….everything is fine" she turned her face towards him, giving her best smile. He just shrugged at her unusual behaviour and turned to see the waitress bringing their long awaited food.
This is it! After all these years, I'm finally going to see what his face looks like!
Sakura was smiling evilly. Kakashi gave her another strange 'what are you up to' glance out of the corner of his eye.
Like I don't know! Honestly Sakura, they don't call me a prodigy for nothing! He thought to himself.
"Mmm, I'm starving!" Sakura commented as the waitress placed the plates in front of the pair. Reaching for the chopsticks, Sakura avoided looking at Kakashi and quickly took her first mouthful of noodles.
I have to pretend like I'm not interested… she thought …and when he least expects it, I'll get him! Hehehe
Sakura noticed that Kakashi hadn't touched his food.
"What's wrong?" she asked, putting on a genuinely concerned face.
Damn you! Take it off already! An inner Sakura screamed
"Oh nothing, I'm just not hungry-" the telltale rumbling in his stomach cut him short. Sakura gave a snort, "Yeah, like I'm not female!" Another loud rumble sounded from him again.
You're as female as they come…just look at that body! ...wait... what am I thinking? Oh…that's right… where did I put my book…?
"Oh for the love of god, eat something before you starve to death!" His fingers hovered above his mask, uncertain as to whether he should pull it down or not. "Kakashi, I'm not twelve! I got over wanting to see your face many years ago." Sakura retaliated convincingly as she picked up her chopsticks and returned her attention to her food, looking quite insulted.
As if, Sakura! However, perhaps I'll allow you to see it this time…I've wanted to see your reaction for a while now…
Kakashi shrugged and tugged at his mask so it lay pooled underneath his chin.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! An inner Sakura screamed, jumping around and pumping her fists in the air. Sakura refrained from looking up the moment the piece of cloth was pulled down, now all she needed was an excuse to look up… but what?!
Sakura became aware of the many eyes watching them, so she turned her head towards the waitresses and saw about six of them giving Kakashi sighing looks.
How dare they look at MY Kakashi's face before me!
Yeah! Wait…MY Kakashi? What the hell?!
Eh…um…take a look already! Baka!
"Kakashi, what are they all looking-" Sakura drifted off, dropping her chopsticks in the process. She found herself face to face with the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. She couldn't help herself but stare. He had the most beautifully defined jaw that looked as if it were sculpted from marble. His nose was perfectly straight and his lips were full and delicate, coloured a light shade of pink that made them seem ever so soft and sweet. She wanted to reach out and touch them to make sure they were real.
What I wouldn't give to nibble on those!
WHAT!
Hehehehe…
Sakura was so mesmerised by the man sitting in front of her, that she almost failed to see the hand waving.
"…Sakura?... Hello Sakura, you're drooling!" Kakashi laughed as he held a napkin to the side of her mouth. He was rather amused as the woman in front of him snapped back to reality, blushing in embarrassment. Sakura quickly grabbed hold of the napkin that Kakashi was holding, as he chuckled to himself.
There was no way Sakura had expected her former sensei to be so good looking. Just like she hadn't expected to embarrass herself in front of him. Now Sakura just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out, or at least form a new jutsu to make him forget how much she had just stared at him, not to mention drooled!
"It's ok Sakura, I get that reaction a lot…" Kakashi laughed, aware of the deep red colour Sakura was turning. If there was one think he knew about her, it was that she beat herself up over the smallest incidents.
"I better get going…" Sakura mumbled. She quickly finished her noodles and stood up. "Thanks for lunch"
"Sakura…" Kakashi began, but she was already halfway out the door. He sighed, laughing again.
She'll get over it by tomorrow he thought, signalling for the bill.
First chapter done! I'll put the next one up soon.