Chapter 2
Light knocking on the door.
"Sakura, it's me. May I come in?"
"Oh, Kaka-sensei! Of course, take a seat!"
"No, it's okay. It looks like you're busy," he said, looking pointedly at the stacks of medical files on her desk that she was currently working on. "I just wanted to check in with you so that you can see that I'm doing much better now, and also to say 'Thank you'."
"Of course! You're welcome! I'm just glad that you can actually talk to me now without coughing every other word!"
"I'm so sorry about that."
"Don't be! I'm more upset that you didn't come to me sooner."
"I just thought it would go away on its own."
"Riiight, and the fear of being de-masked had absolutely nothing to do with it."
"Ahaha!" Kakashi laughed, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "Um…Well, anyway I was thinking that maybe I could take you out to lunch or something to pay you back."
"You really don't have to do that. I deal with that sort of thing every day."
"I know, but I literally felt like I was dying. All I could think of was of all the things that I had lived through, it was all going to end with me coughing myself to death."
Sakura laughed. "It was nothing, really, sensei. Don't worry about it!"
"I'd still really like to take you out. It looks like you could use the break anyway."
"I know, it's just that I have so much work to catch up on, and besides, I really don't feel like being stiffed the bill," she said raising an eyebrow up at him.
"Ahaha!" Kakashi laughed nervously again. "I don't think you have to worry about that anymore. Teuchi keeps a tab for me now."
"Really? When did that happen?"
"The last time I went out with Yamato, he got so angry at me for leaving him with the bill again that he made Teuchi promise to set up a tab for me."
"So now you stiff Teuchi instead."
"Well, he sort of got tired of that, too, and refused to give me anymore food until I paid up, so I made an arrangement with my bank to automatically pay him whenever my tab goes over a certain amount."
"Sounds perfect. Why'd you never do it that way before?"
"Because I always got someone else to pay the bill."
"Okay then. Why don't you just pay the bill in the first place? You get paid enough."
"The same reason that I'm always late…Because I can get away with it."
"Until you can't."
"It's amazing how much motivation a growling stomach can give you."
As if on cue, Sakura's own stomach made a grumbling noise.
"So what you're saying is that you can't stiff me the bill even if you wanted to?" Sakura asked, trying to make absolutely sure.
"Yes."
"Well, all right then! Let's go have lunch!"
"Jeez, it's packed!" Sakura said, staring at the crowds of people huddled around the small ramen shop.
"We have Naruto to thank for that. Ever since he became Hokage, everyone from Konaha to visitors from other villages want to eat at the Hokage's favorite ramen place."
"Why doesn't Teuchi just build a bigger place if he's doing so well?"
"We have Naruto to thank for that, too. I believe his exact words were 'I grew up eating ramen right here! Don't you dare change a thing, dattebayo!'"
Sakura did a face palm. "That idiot! So now no one can get a decent bowl of ramen without waiting in line for hours!"
"Not if you go to a different village. Teuchi has a chain of ramen shops now. The only reason it's so crowded here is because everyone wants to go to the original shop and maybe get a glimpse of the Hokage himself."
"Ugh! Well, thanks for offering to buy me lunch, Kaka-sensei, but I think I'd rather just go back to the hospital and eat at my desk like I usually do anyway."
"Sakura, it's really not a problem. Trust me, you'll see."
Sakura gave him a skeptical look, but Kakashi smiled at her again. "Trust me," he repeated.
Without saying a word, Sakura simply followed reluctantly behind him towards the crowd of people.
"Excuse me," Kakashi said, gently tapping the shoulder of a person in front of him.
"Hey, buddy, why don't you wait your own t…" the impatient man, who had probably been waiting a long time already, was about to say, but he took one look at Kakashi and immediately backed down, stepping aside for him instead.
"Thank you," Kakashi said, smiling at the man and continuing to make his way through the crowd.
Sakura followed hesitantly behind him, all the while hearing murmurs of "It's Hatake Kakashi!" and "Who's that with him?" "Don't you see the Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead? It's the Fifth's apprentice!"
One by one the crowd parted, letting them through. Some people even said reverent "Thank yous" and "It's an honor to meet you!" Some people patted them on the back and the majority of those same people said excitedly, "I can't believe I just touched Hatake Kakashi!" or "I can't believe I just touched the Fifth's apprentice!"
Kakashi smiled politely at all of them and Sakura, still amazed by the whole scene, warily smiled back at everyone also.
When they finally got to the bar, all the stools were already taken, but two patrons immediately jumped off their seats and offered them to them.
Sakura started to shake her head "No," too embarrassed to take someone else's seat on top of everything else, but Teuchi himself was already saying "Go ahead! Please, Sakura-sama! It's the least we can do! Besides," Teuchi said still smiling amicably, "Anyone who doesn't give up his seat for the original Team 7 is automatically denied service. Company policy."
There was general agreement amongst the crowd. They were too in awe of not one, but two of the original Team 7 to disagree.
"Okay. If you say so," Sakura said, still feeling uncomfortable about the whole thing.
Meanwhile, Teuchi went back to the kitchen to prepare two bowls of ramen for them.
"I don't know if I like this," Sakura said, hunching towards Kakashi so that mostly only he could hear her. "I feel bad for cutting in line like that, and it feels weird having everyone stare at us like this."
"You can't beat Ichiraku Ramen, Sakura. Besides, we're here already. Might as well see it through."
"Okay…" Sakura said, leaning her body towards Kakashi in an attempt to keep some sort of distance from the ogling crowd.
"Sakura, you've survived more than this. Don't let a crowd of fans get to you. If anything, they're probably more afraid of you than them."
"I've been told the same thing about insects, sensei. That doesn't make me feel any less freaked out by them."
Kakashi smiled at that, then smiled up at Teuchi who had just brought them their bowls of ramen.
"Thank you," Kakashi and Sakura said together.
"My pleasure," Teuchi smiled at them both before returning to the kitchen once more.
Kakashi was just about to dig into his food when he caught Sakura still staring at him.
"What?" he asked wide eyed.
"I just want to see how you're going to eat your ramen in front of this entire crowd. You have to take your mask off, after all."
"But I just finished."
"Whaaaat?!" Sakura and everyone else around them said in unison, and sure enough, Kakashi's bowl, which had been full to brimming before, was almost completely empty now except for a few dregs of spices sitting at the bottom.
"B-b-but you were just about to…How did you…" Sakura stammered.
"I'm the Yellow Flash's student, Sakura. You seem to forget," he said winking at her.
Sakura couldn't get over the fact that she could actually tell now when he was winking at her or anybody, really. Now that he had both normal eyes back, there was no need for him to cover the left one.
"But still! Did you just use some weird genjutsu just so that we wouldn't see you take your mask off?"
"You should really focus on eating your own ramen, Sakura. It's going to get cold. Besides, the sooner you finish, the sooner those kind gentlemen who gave up their seats for us can get them back."
Sakura gritted her teeth. She'd get to the bottom of this mask business someday, but right now her conscience wanted her to do exactly what Kakashi had suggested. As it was, those same two gentlemen were watching them intently, not unkindly, just curiously.
Sensing her discomfort, Kakashi tried to change the subject. "Did you know that Teuchi is so well off now that he doesn't even need to work anymore?"
"Really?" Sakura asked around a mouthful of noodles. She was trying to down it as quickly as possible, albeit not as quickly as Kakashi had.
"Yeah, he told me once that the only reason he keeps cooking here is so that whenever Naruto walks in through those banners, he sees a familiar face and not some random cook."
"That's really sweet!" Sakura said, her mouth still full.
"It's funny because as often as I come here, I still seem to keep missing Naruto. Have you seen him lately?"
Sakura nodded, taking a big gulp of just chewed noodles and wiping her mouth with a napkin. "I just saw little Minato. I know he's just a few weeks old, but it really is amazing how big of a difference a few weeks can make. I swear, even though I work at a hospital I still can't get over how fast babies grow! When I first saw him he was this big," Sakura said, holding her hands apart a certain distance. "And now he's this big!" she gushed, hold her hands just a little bit further apart.
Kakashi smiled at her. "Naruto and Hinata are very lucky."
"Yes, they are," Sakura smiled, but for a fleeting moment a bit of sadness passed over her face, which Kakashi noticed.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't mean to…I mean, I know that you…"
"I'm happy for them, really."
Kakashi gave her a look.
"Really, sensei, I am. I was always chasing after Sasuke, and it was Hinata who was always chasing after Naruto. I could never get Sasuke to chase after me in return, but Hinata managed to get Naruto to chase after her, and let's face it, it wasn't much of a chase. All she really had to do was stand there and let him glomp her, and they just fused together like they were always meant to be together. I'm happy for them, really," she repeated.
Kakashi could see that she meant it, but he could also see that she couldn't help but feel a little sad about it.
"You'll meet someone," he told her reassuringly. "You're beautiful and smart and strong, and I just know that someone out there will see what I see and make you his wife before you know it."
"Thanks, sensei, but I've grown up enough to know not to base my happiness on some guy. I've learned to count my blessings every day, and I have a lot of blessings. I have a good life and I'm relatively happy. If I meet someone, great! If I don't meet anyone, then I guess it just isn't meant to be, but I'm not going to sit at home and mope about it!"
Kakashi smiled at her and to Sakura's surprise, gently squeezed her hand in a sign of approval before just as quickly letting her hand go.
Sakura smiled back at him. "Thank you for lunch, sensei."
"Anytime, Sakura. You did save me from dying, after all."
The next day…
Light knocking on the door.
"Hi, Sakura."
"Kaka-sensei, what are you doing here?"
"I was just headed out to get some lunch and thought you might want to join me."
"Thanks, but I really shouldn't. I have so much work to catch up on."
"No worries. Just thought I'd ask," Kakashi smiled at her, then started to turn away to leave.
"Kaka-sensei! Wait!"
"…"
"I actually am kind of hungry, and I deserve a break. If I don't eat and get some rest, I'll probably do more harm than good anyway."
Kakashi smiled at her again and waited for her to close things up before gesturing for her to walk in front of him.
"So, are you treating again?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi stopped mid-stride, his eyes wide.
"You know," Sakura continued happily on, "I think I'm actually hungrier than I thought. In fact, I could probably eat as many bowls of ramen as Naruto!"
Kakashi's head slunk down to his chest and he sluggishly walked behind Sakura who was all but skipping all the way to Ichiraku's.
To be continued…