AN: Hello all! I am back! I've decided to try my hand at writing something for what has become my favorite pairing of late. While this is by no means my first rodeo it is my first time writing for Naruto…so let me know if I'm completely off base, k? Also I need to know if this writing style is okay…I figured I would go ahead and experiment with it too. Let me know if the (interjections) are too confusing. This story is not going to be told in any kind of linear fashion, and each chapter is supposed to be short, so don't worry if it confuses you at first.

This Tired Old Dance

Letter Opener Confessions

Somewhere near the end

…and he was leaning his hip into her desk as if the last three days hadn't happened; brushing aside the mail she'd been diligently opening, with a flick of his wrist, as if he owned the place (God, she hated when he did that). It could have been any other morning in the long string of mornings from their past; mornings that had always been marked by his smirk and the coffee he brought (tall, just one cream and none of those fancy syrups that hid the bitter taste, thank you) and then perching with his hip against the corner of her desk (that side was discolored and worn from the holster that hung off his belt).

He gave his traditional "Yo!" before plopping her coffee down (it sloshed onto the pristine white of the letters she'd been opening for Tsunade-sama, but for once she didn't notice) with a smile and she got a little dizzy, not from butterflies over the sight of him or anything girly like that, but from the combined smells of cigarette smoke and coffee and because of the sameness of it all. He was not supposed to come in here and act as if nothing had changed between them. For a moment she was stunned, speechless, maybe even not breathing (or she might have been hyperventilating) when he leaned in to take a whiff of her perfume (he really shouldn't have bothered, she thought, because she wasn't wearing any. Hadn't bothered with it since she'd woken up alone in a cold bed three mornings ago. In fact, she couldn't even remember if she'd brushed her hair this morning.) she was suddenly so angry. Angry that after all the ground they'd gained in the last few weeks (after months, no years, of waltzing around the white elephant in the room) he was ready to go back to the same tired old dance they'd been performing since the day they had met (consistently sending signals, but never crossing that invisible line between friends and more). Angry that she couldn't remember if she'd brushed her hair and this was what rejection from this man had turned her into. The letter opener in her hand (he probably regretted giving that to her now) moved before she could think about it. Such was her anger that the letter opener pierced through his tie and her desk calendar; all the way to the wood where it lodged firmly in the grain.

He went really still (she was trained to kill, after all) and all the sound in the room seemed to fade from her ears as she sat there trembling with her hands clenched tightly around the handle of the opener-turned-sword-of-justice.

"Sakura?" It was the question in his tone that finally pushed her past the breaking point (no, that hadn't been when she'd stabbed his tie). She opened her mouth to tell him to just forget about it, that she was tired, but what came out was an eruption of words that she didn't know she had locked inside.

"Sakura?! Don't you dare say my name as if you have no clue what my problem is! It's your job to be observant and I know for a fact that you're damn good at your job! You left me! (He might have tried to interrupt her here, but she didn't let him) You didn't even bother to call and you want to know what the worst part is? That I care that you didn't call!" She had to pause for breath here even though she didn't want too, because she knew Kakashi well enough to know that if she let him he'd be able to convince her to forgive him and put back on her dancing shoes (shehated dancing around this thing between them). But he didn't say anything, just looked at her and Sakura realized how close she'd leaned in while she'd been yelling at him (and then hated herself for noticing).

"Are you finished?" He asked, and his voice was deep and rough; sounded a little like it had the last time she'd seen him and the dizzy spell was back for a totally different reason (she was a girl after all and this was the man she loved).

"I've been on call for the last three days and I just got back this morning." And that's when she noticed the wrinkles (God, had he slept in that suit? No wonder he smelled like Asuma's cigarettes)and the dark smudges under his eyes and in the hollows of his cheeks. Sakura didn't ask why he hadn't called (because she knew that on the types of mission he went on cell phones weren't allowed) and tried to think of something, anything, to say to him. Her eyes slipped to the letter opener that was still imbedded in his tie and the desk, and she wondered absently if he was uncomfortable, pined as he was in that position.

"I guess I owe you another tie?" It was the only thing she could think to say, because he was still standing too close, and he still smelled like coffee and because there were so many other things she wanted to say but was afraid too (oh God did this meant that they would never have to dance around this thing between them anymore?). She was going to pull the letter opener out of the desk (free him so that he could leave her again if he wanted) but he kissed her before she had a chance. The kiss was warm (plus a hundred other things) and full of the same attitude he used when he perched on the corner of her desk each morning (she'd probably stillhate that attitude tomorrow, but right now she didn't care).

"So you care that I didn't call, huh." He was so smug, but all she could do was smile and lean into him because this man might just love her and oh god she loved him so much that it made her a little crazy. She pulled the letter opener out of the desk but he still didn't move away, just stood there smirking and wiggling his eyebrows like an idiot.

"Shut up and kiss me again before I stab more than just your tie."

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Just let me know, k?

Oh, and let me add this now:

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.