Kakashi slid his hands into his pockets as the rain poured on his head and dripped down his face. Lightning struck trees next to him and threatened to strike him too, but the jounin moved swiftly left and right, effectively dodging all danger.
In the distance were his three young students. Their assignment was to find two bells, hidden somewhere within Konoha boundaries. So far they hadn't any luck. The pink-haired student had come closest though, near the very beginning of the task, when she seemingly spotted one of the bells on Kakashi's person. She had stood and looked at him for a minute, clearly wavering between two courses of action. She had taken a step towards him, and then, apparently thinking better of it, turned and followed Naruto and Sasuke into the forest. Kakashi remembered how intently she had looked at him, and how her cheeks had gained that slight pink tinge.
She'll be a good ninja, thought Kakashi, raindrops cascading down his face. Graduation was coming soon and all three of them would no longer be his students. They would be his co-workers. Kakashi sighed to himself and closed his eyes. The bitter cold winds wrapped around him, chilling his body all the way to the bone. No more daily training days with Sakura.
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The pink-haired kunoichi traversed the ground slowly, deadly quiet as she snuck up on her sensei. The rain was slowing down now, and the sun was peeking from behind the clouds. The jounin had closed his eyes. Vigilance was not always his thing…
A leaf crunched under her foot. Shoot.
Sakura expected to see Kakashi's eyes fly open and have him rallying attacks at her but he did not. His eyes remained closed with his hands dug deep into his pockets. Steadying herself once more, Sakura continued her trajectory. She would have to knock him out cold before reaching for the bell. She steeled herself. Why would he hide it in such an awkward spot?
Mere feet from the jounin, Sakura did her sleep jutsu and watched as it made contact with Kakashi. The man didn't move. Sakura smiled. Now time to capture the prey…
Sakura moved swiftly and quickly to the older man. He was completely out. Sakura lightly lifted an arm and placed it to his side, and then lifted his other arm and placed it above his head. Now came the sticky part. Was the bell really hidden there? Was Kakashi just tricking her and trying to embarrass her or something? Sakura shook her head. There was no choice really. She had to do it.
Touching the least amount of him she could, Sakura lifted the corner of his shirt away from his front, revealing a button and zipper. Sakura was suddenly breathing harder and feeling lightheaded. Forcing herself to continue, the young kunoichi skimmed her finger over his waistband and put a finger on the button. Trying not to faint, Sakura reached up with the other hand and held his hip as she undid the button. As it came free, Sakura reached for the zipper and it slid down easily. She carefully looked up for a reaction from her sensei but received none.
Sakura sighed in relief, as though she had suspected him to start yelling and cursing. Her relief was short-lived, however, as she had to return to the task at hand. Sakura could see a bell hung on the back of the button, a long string with silver metal on the end. The string traveled out of sight. Sakura cursed knowing that pulling on the string probably would not extricate the bell from its quarters. Determined to try anyway, Sakura pulled up on the string, her hand accidentally brushing against Kakashi.
Immediately, a loud buzzer went off and Sakura jerked her hand away quickly. Knowing she had gone too far, the pink-haired kunoichi took a step backwards and suddenly a pair of strong hands grabbed her and pulled her into their person.
Sakura screamed. A loud laugh sounded from her captor and Sakura started thrashing, attempting to release her body. In front of her, Kakashi's body turned into a log. Sakura now knew who had hold of her. Face turning a deep shade of red, Sakura ceased her struggles and went limp in his arms, believing she would never recover from this humiliation.
More laughter sounded from her subjugator, laughter that distinctly belonged to Kakashi. He let her slip from his hold and she quickly regained composure, dusting off her dress. She could not believe he did this….
"That was the most immature thing anyone has ever done!" yelled Sakura, her face the deepest shade of tomatoes possible.
Kakashi merely smiled at her reaction. "That sounds like something the kid Sakura would say."
Sakura was inwardly more embarrassed now but did her best not to show it. "Why…why," she huffed, "would you do that?"
Kakashi laughed. "Why? Because you always wanted to know what Icha-Icha Paradise was about. I thought I'd tell as a graduation gift."
"As…as a graduation gift," said Sakura, breathing heavily. His humor was lost on her. She could barely think at the moment, besides for 'stupid, stupid, stupid.'
Somewhere close in the distance Naruto shouted, and a couple seconds later Sasuke and Naruto appeared from the trees.
"Found it," said the blonde gleefully, dropping a bell into Kakashi's palm.
"Knew you would," said Kakashi. "I hid it about fifty feet down in the earth, not nearly enough. Well, congratulations. Unfortunately, however, your counterpart did not have as much luck. That means she's not nearly qualified enough to graduate. Pity."
The jounin smirked. Sakura grimaced slightly and prayed to God that the dark red was lessening, but even she knew her embarrassment was growing stronger.
"What happened, Sakura?" said Sasuke snidely, his arms folded.
"Nothing," Sakura answered, appearing very abashed.
Kakashi stared at her in obvious amusement before stating, "Test over. You guys can have the rest of the day off."
Naruto and Sasuke walked off, the one very excited, the other stalking away as usual. Sakura regained her composure and walked away, very aware of Kakashi's eyes still on her. Pretending to disregard this, she made her way out of the forest and back into the main part of the village, all the way to her house. She thought her face would be forever colored the shade of robust red that it was today. If looks could kill, Kakashi would have been absolutely slayed.
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Please review, everyone. I'll update if you tell me to.
