Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!

Chapter 1

Unexpected Predicament

The gates of Konoha slowly came into view and the tension in Sakura's body dissipated. It had been a long two and a half weeks, the mission running over due to some complications and Sakura was glad to finally be home. The team hadn't been as bad as she previously thought, but they certainly weren't anything like team seven. They remained mostly quiet and composed and Sakura found herself missing the rowdy fights between Naruto and Sasuke and Sai's offhanded comments.

"It was nice working with you." Sakura mumbled when they entered the gates of the village.

"Yes you as well." The captain replied politely while the remaining team members said nothing. Sakura waved, too tired to even be insulted by the lack of response from the other members.

She rubbed her shoulders, shifting the weight of her pack while ignoring the dull ache in her feet. Her stomach growled with hunger and she withheld a groan. There wasn't going to be anything in the fridge, but at the moment she couldn't bring herself to care. She didn't want to deal with the hassle of a grocery store and was sure there must be some dried noodles somewhere. Sakura stifled a yawn, blinking her heavy eyelids as her feet dragged on the ground. She was dead tired.

She continued to trudge down the street suddenly becoming aware of the silence engulfing her. Sakura's back straightened as her senses became alert of the empty streets and vacant shops. She was already halfway home and she hadn't passed a single person. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end while her mind prickled with a familiar sense. She swiftly dodged a hurtling projectile aimed for her head and turned to punch a body in mid air that was aiming to attack her. He crashed into a building and Sakura glared in anger glimpsing at the window covered in mud behind her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sakura demanded angrily and watched Naruto stand with a large grin on his face. His blond hair was matted with clumps of mud while splotches covered his entire body.

"It's a competition." He explained and Sakura narrowed her viridian eyes further with her fists vibrating by her sides. "Whoever has the least amount of mud-"

"I swear to god Sasuke if you try it you'll regret if for the rest of your life!" Sakura snapped, interrupting Naruto and turned to see Sasuke smirking with two large clumps of mud in his hands. He had a large streak across his neck, but his clothes remained pristine.

"Ohh you ruined the attack Sasuke." Naruto whined from behind her and Sakura readied her reflexes. She knew that smirk on his face.

"You were the one who was supposed to keep her distracted." Sasuke retorted and his devious smirk grew wider. "Well I suppose this way is better anyways. It's more satisfying to see your expression."

"Sasuke." Sakura warned. Her heart hammered in her chest while she anticipated his attack as they continued to stare at each other. A long moment passed with neither one moving and she hoped that maybe he would take her seriously. His smirk grew wider and he suddenly appeared in front of her. Apparently not.

Sakura fell against her apartment door panting heavily while clutching her knees. She was finally safe. "Those bastards." She muttered between heavy breaths and shook her head, a small smile creeping onto her face. She managed to escape unscathed while giving the boys a few surprises of her own.

Sakura shuffled some things in her pack, grasping her key and trying it in the door surprised to find it already unlocked. The sound of her shower caught her attention and her eyes narrowed at the splotches of mud leading to her bathroom. Her teeth gritted in anger as she shut the door behind her. INO!

Why Sakura had ever given Ino a key eluded her at the moment. Even more so was why she hadn't taken that key away from her. After coming home from a mission to find her bathroom a mess she should've taken it away right then. But she didn't and Ino conveniently continued to use it whenever she didn't want to make a mess of her own. Well that was going to end today, Sakura decided, stomping towards her bathroom and yanking open the door.

"Just because you don't like to clean." Sakura screeched and wrenched back the curtain the blood draining from her face. Kakashi looked at her in surprise his hands tangled in his silver hair mixed with the suds of shampoo. Her mouth gaped as she stood frozen in front of him, unable to remove her eyes from his body. They took in every inch of the lean, sculpted muscle, mesmerized by the way the water droplets glided down his skin. Her gaze dipped down his smooth chest and traced the curve of the muscles along his stomach before following a silver trail of hair.

"Did you want to join me or something?" Kakashi quipped and Sakura jumped. She jerked the curtain shut, tearing some of the eyelets and bolted from the bathroom.

Sakura paced in her living room, her mouth still gaping as her pulse raced. Oh my god. She continued to pace and her hands fisted in her pink hair. I thought….I just…he was…An image of Kakashi appeared in her mind and Sakura started to hit her head trying to knock the memory out. Stop remembering it! The door behind her opened and she whirled around to see Kakashi emerge with a towel around his waist and water droplets slipping down his pale skin. Her gaze dropped to the ground, her face flushing fiercely with embarrassment.

"Kakashi I'm so sorry." Sakura breathed desperately her voice shaking slightly. "I thought you were Ino. I'm really really sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Sakura it's ok." He told her nonchalantly. Sakura felt like she was going to hyperventilate. She could still see everything very clearly and the fact that he was only in a towel was not helping matters.

"I thought your place was going to be fixed by now." She stated, her gaze venturing to him only to snap to the wall. She felt heat radiating from her body, positive her face and neck were a fierce red. Her fair skin had never been any good at hiding her embarrassment.

"Apparently there have been some problems." He revealed.

"Oh… I see." Her ears were hot and her body was shaking slightly. "I…um…where are your clothes?" She suddenly blurted.

"Laundry. The only clean ones I had got covered in mud."

"Oh."

"As soon as they're done drying I'll leave. Thanks for letting me use your apartment."

"Oh don't be silly." Sakura countered, her hands waving animatedly in front of her while she tried to keep her tone casual. "You can still stay here. I'm ugh going to go grocery shopping. What would you like for dinner?" She asked already walking towards the door.

"Anything is fine."

"Ok great. See you in a bit." She squeaked with the door closing sharply behind her.

She rushed to the grocery store desperately trying not to think about what had just happened. It didn't work. All she saw was his body repeatedly invading her mind. You've seen naked men before. She told herself sternly and tried to concentrate on something for dinner. Yeah, but they weren't your captain or ex-sensei. Sakura groaned shaking her head again to dispel the image. And they weren't quite so well.

"Don't." Sakura barked to stop her thoughts from going any further while the people around her gave her an odd look. Do not start comparing him to the other men you've seen. She concentrated harder on the vegetables in front of her before throwing her hands up in the air as his fair skin came into view. Fuck it…we're having take out.

Sakura accepted the bags gratefully before leaving the small restaurant. So far she'd only managed half a block…ok quarter of a block without the image of him popping up into her mind. So she'd seen him naked, no big deal right? He seemed like he was going to act normal so she should be able to do the same. Otherwise it was going to be really awkward with him being there. Hell, it was definitely going to be awkward. Maybe he should've found a different place. Sakura shook her head. She couldn't do that to him.

Sakura faltered, her mouth gaping. His face, what did his face look like? She recalled the image in her mind excited that after all these years she'd finally seen it. She saw the mismatched eyes, a long scar running over the left one, then nothing.

"Oh come on!" Sakura bit out angrily trying to concentrate. The eyes were the only clear feature while the rest seemed like a forgotten memory. She repressed the urge to destroy something as she continued to focus on his face finding that the features only became fuzzier. Sakura felt something tingle in the back of her mind, but by the time she realized what was happening mud was slinging at her from all directions. She shielded her face with the take out bags trying to run from the main attack, but it was useless. Mud covered her body and clumped in her hair.

"Naruto." Sakura screamed, the bags dropping to the ground as her massive assault on the horde of clones began.

Sakura dropped the crushed take out bags covered in mud onto the kitchen table and was relieved to see Kakashi wearing some clothes with his mask in place. His eye crinkled as he studied most of her mud clad body.

"Naruto's special clone attack?" Kakashi asked.

"Oooh not just Naruto. Sasuke and Sai had to get in as well." She bit out irritably and Kakashi chuckled. She scraped the wet mud from her arm and into the garbage, the dry areas cracking and flaking from her skin. Her anger had distracted her from Kakashi, but as the silence grew between them, nervousness replaced her discontent. She ventured a glance in his direction surprised to see him staring intently at her. Sakura bit her lip, thankful the mud on her face concealed the emerging blush.

"Um, I think the food might be salvageable. It's probably just crushed." She acknowledged somewhat agitated while her fingers raked through her hair, clumps of mud falling mostly into the garbage. She was going to have to clean up such a mess after this.

"Are you sure you're all right with me staying here? I can find another place."

"Kakashi don't be ridiculous. I don't have a problem with it unless you wanted to find some place better?" I mean we're both adults here; I should be able to get over the little tiny thing of seeing you naked. Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and Sakura went back to pulling the mud from her clothes.

"At least now I won't have to worry about you trying to see my face." Kakashi commented lightly and Sakura laughed nervously.

"Er, right…umm yeah well I'm gonna go….and take a shower so yeah." Sakura stammered her gaze on the floor as she headed to the bathroom. She closed the door, her head resting against it as she inhaled deeply. This was going to be weird.

Oh and the fun begins! Somehow this idea popped into my head when I was thinking of the huge tomato fight that happens in Spain. Well hoped you enjoyed reading. Cheers,

Cance