Chapter 2-Mystery
Kakashi eyed Sakura from the corner of his eye.
Ever since that little exchange between them out in the middle of the woods, things had been different between them.
As he had predicted, it wasn't long before they had gone back to their separate ways except...something didn't feel right. Whereas before the distance between them was just something that happened naturally, now it somehow felt unnatural. It felt forced.
She just didn't meet his eye, she avoided it.
If he so much as reached out to her, she'd jump away like he was a leper.
If he tried to speak to her alone, she seemed nervous and eager to get away.
The ironic thing is that he had been afraid of the complete opposite. He had been afraid that Sakura would take the one moment of affection that had occurred between them as an invitation and become uncomfortably close, and yet here he was now, afraid of them growing further apart instead. At this rate he would have preferred if he and Sakura had never had that little talk or shared that hug in the first place.
"Kakashi! Are you listening to me?!" Tsunade shouted angrily, slamming her hand overly hard on her desk for emphasis.
Naruto, Yamato, and Sai all turned their heads to look at Kakashi curiously. Sakura was a bit more hesitant, turning her head only because it would've brought more attention to her if she didn't.
Kakashi really couldn't get what was going on with her! But he had bigger worries at the moment, one in the form of a pigtailed woman glaring kunais at him.
"Yes, of course, Tsunade-sama. I agree. It'll be wiser to infiltrate from the south side and I'll make sure that we all show restraint in capturing our target so that Ibiki can deal with him."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Kakashi.
He just smiled back at her with an innocent happy eye crease.
She really wanted to knock that smug smile...uh...happy eye crease from his face, she really did, but the brat apparently had been listening, so there was little she could do.
"That's all then! Dismissed!" Tsunade snapped.
And with that, Team Kakashi dispersed and left the room.
Kakashi gave a silent sigh of relief.
There were advantages to being a shinobi elite. Kakashi could let his mind wander and still see and hear every important detail around him. It was the same skill he had used during his first bell test on Team 7. It was what enabled him to read his Icha, Icha book and still fend off each of his genin team's attacks. It's also what had saved him countless of times during missions when a second of letting his guard down would have gotten him and his team killed otherwise, and it's what just saved him now from a very angry, very hot tempered, and very violent Hokage.
Kakashi didn't spend too much time patting himself on the back, however, especially when there were things he had to get to the bottom of.
He had to jog a little to catch up to Sakura who made sure that she was the first one out the door and was now walking at an unnaturally brisk pace, as if trying to gain as much distance between whatever or whoever she was running away from. Kakashi had a sinking feeling in his stomach that it was the latter and that person was him.
"Sakura, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kakashi asked when he was nearly caught up to her.
Even with her back turned to him, Kakashi could see her body stiffen, but when she turned around to face him, she smiled her familiar warm smile and brightly asked, "Sure, Kaka-sensei. What did you want to talk to me about?"
Naruto, Yamato, and Sai didn't even give them a second glance as they walked past the two and continued to talk about their new mission.
"Well, maybe I'm wrong, but are you upset with me about something?"
"No, of course not. What made you think that?"
"Well, it just seems like you've been avoiding me lately."
Sakura's cheeks blushed.
"Kaka-sensei, if I was angry at you, you'd know it! I've just been busy, that's all. You know, working both at the hospital and for Shishou and now we have this new mission, too. It's nothing personal against you, really. Anyway, I should really start packing. I'll see you in a bit, okay?" she smiled at him and with that, quickly left.
Kakashi knew just as well as anyone that most ninjas already had a pack set and ready to go considering how many missions they were sent to. It was the more irresponsible shinobis, like Naruto, who constantly had to rush back home to pack because of lack of preparation, but Sakura wasn't that way. Knowing her, Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if she had a couple of backpacks set and ready to go for any upcoming missions. She was just making an excuse to get away from him, but if it wasn't because she was angry at him, then why?
"Kaka-sensei, you okay?" Naruto asked, looking quizzically over his shoulder at him.
It was only then that Kakashi realized that he had been standing stock still in the middle of the Hokage Tower hallway staring at the spot where Sakura had been just a minute ago.
"Ahahaha! I thought I left my Icha, Icha in Tsunade's office, but it was in my back pouch like usual." Kakashi made excuse. He never was very good at making excuses. He'd have to remember to work on that...
"Oh, okay." Naruto said and continued walking with the rest of his teammates. Seeming to forget that his former sensei had extraordinary hearing, Kakashi then heard Naruto murmur to Yamato, "I don't know what's so great about those books anyway. They're so boring!"
Kakashi sighed. What would Jiraiya think of his former pupil, his godson for crying out loud, scoffing at his work?
Kakashi shook his head in dismay. Well, at least he'd always be Jiraiya's number one fan.
In the meantime, Kakashi had to focus his attention back to more pressing matters. Soon they'd be leaving for their next mission and he had to concentrate on that so that they'd all come back home alive, and yet Kakashi couldn't help keep his thoughts from wandering back to Sakura. Well, at least this new mission meant she had nowhere to run and he'd have plenty of time to have her all to himself...to talk!
Kakashi rubbed his hand down his face. Seriously, things were so much easier when Sakura was still a child and his student and the lines were definitive, meaning that they couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't, didn't get crossed, but now...Kakashi let out a defeated sigh. Truthfully, at the moment his own worst enemy was himself and having read waaay too much written porn. Apparently, they rot the brain and in his case, make him think about certain people in ways he really shouldn't!
To be continued...
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Author's Note: In order to keep myself from getting stuck with writer's block (like I usually do), I'm basically jumping back and forth between chapters, writing what actually interests me at the moment instead of writing chronologically, so please be patient if I don't update as soon as you'd like. I am working on this story and as it is, already have the ending written out. Now I just need to fill in everything that happens in-between. Besides, if I can work on a single story for a little over 2 years and finish it off at 60 chapters, then I can most likely finish this story, too! Anyway, thank you ahead of time for your patience! =)
~Tricia
