Authors Note: Sorry for the cliff hanger in chapter 2! I had some problems writing this chapter, not because I didn't know how it was gonna go, but because I had several different starts that I had to choose from. I hope you guys like the way I started it cause it stressed me out! This chapter is mostly a conversation between 2 people and if it's boring then I apologize, but this chapter is necessary for the story, at least I update quickly! Please review please! Anyone who has ever written a story and posted it online knows how awesome it feels to get reviews and they make me really happy! Again there's no narusaku lemon in this chapter! It will be coming soon; I just like to build up to it! hehe
Kakashi lay on his large bed reading one of his favorite Icha Icha books, it was just getting to a really good part, and he turned the page in anticipation, when he heard a sharp knock on his apartment door. Damn who the hell can it be? He glanced at his clock and saw that it was 1:00 in the morning.
Reluctantly Kakashi opened to the door to find a very drenched Naruto on his doorstep. He had been so busy reading Icha Icha that he hadn't even noticed it was raining.
"Naruto, uh it's kinda late what brings you here?"
"Oh sorry Kakashi, I know it's late but I really need to talk to you… its important."
Kakashi looked at Naruto carefully for a moment, what he saw shocked him slightly. Naruto looked the saddest Kakashi had ever seen him, he also looked very determined so he knew that he wouldn't take no for an answer. With a sigh Kakashi stepped aside and let Naruto enter his home.
"Ok Naruto what's up?"
"Oh well I have something important I want to discuss, and you're the only person I have left who I can talk about things like this with…. though it might still be a little awkward."
Interesting thought Kakashi I wonder if this has anything to do with Sakura and what we talked about earlier.
" I don't know what this is about, just tell me what's going on and I'll try to help you as best I can."
"Um well first of all you have to promise that you won't tell anyone about this! And secondly uh well this is kinda weird for me so just let me speak without interrupting ok?"
"Sure. I promise I won't tell anyone and if I do then you have my permission to burn all my Icha Icha books. So go ahead I won't interrupt."
Naruto smiled slightly at his ex sensei's attempt to lighten the serious mood, but he was still feeling very nervous. I can't believe I'm actually about to talk about this with him, but he is the closest thing to a parent I have in my life right now Maybe this won't be so bad.
"Um ok well maybe you've noticed that for several years now I've sorta had some feelings for Sakura-chan."
Yeah no shit. Thought Kakashi, though he simply nodded his head slightly and stayed quiet.
"Well more recently I've been trying anything to stop myself from having those feelings. I know that a woman like Sakura would never want someone like me, and I guess it just took me a long time to admit it to myself. So that's why I started dating Hinata um… you know… to help me forget."
After the last statement Kakashi couldn't help but notice how Naruto avoided eye contact and even turned a nice shade of pink. But still he didn't say anything; he didn't tell Naruto how wrong he was in his assumptions about Sakura's feelings. It was hard, but he managed to keep quiet.
" Well tonight Hinata kinda came over to my apartment and she had something to tell me, or I should say something to ask me. Naruto hesitated at this point; he wasn't exactly sure how to proceed. Finally after a rather long pause and a series of impatient looks from Kakashi, Naruto decided to just be straightforward with him, the sooner he got the embarrassing part over with the better. Naruto took a deep breath before finally speaking again. Well uh… she asked me to make love to her."
Kakashi's eyes widened slightly. Hinata asked him to what? That really doesn't seem like her, she's usually so shy and timid. Wow she must really love Naruto a lot then. But then what about…oh no.
Even though Naruto had asked Kakashi not to talk and to just listen to him, Naruto found that he didn't really know how to proceed so he was hoping that Kakashi would just break the silence and say something. Finally he did.
"Ok so let me guess she asked you if you would sleep with her and you probably rationalized in your mind, that having sex with Hinata would help you move on, from being in love with Sakura. Is that pretty much it?"
Damn he really is a genius; it probably would've taken me days to come up with the same conclusion. "Yeah that's exactly right." And when Naruto didn't elaborate and just continued to stare at his hands, Kakashi decided to push a little further.
"So…..did you?"
Naruto looked up and he had a painstaking expression on his face, while Kakashi had a curious yet worried look on his face. If he had sex with Hinata, it's going to break Sakura's heart even more. And I'm not sure that she'll ever be able to confess her feelings to him then. She seemed so close to breaking down the other night, just a little more persuasion and she might've done it. But now this baka Naruto comes along and from the sounds of it he screwed up again. Jeez this kid has horrible timing.
"No."
"What?"
"I said no, we didn't do anything." Naruto was looking at his hands again, he didn't want to discuss with Kakashi why he didn't sleep with Hinata, but he knew it was inevitable. So he tried to prepare himself to answer the questions he knew were going to be thrown at him.
"Why didn't you? I mean it would've been another step to getting over your feelings for Sakura. And I'm sure that Hinata didn't take too kindly to being rejected like that."
" You're right it would've been, but I just couldn't do it. And my relationship with Hinata is over, it seems that I hurt her by rejecting her proposal."
"Proposal? The way you talk it makes it seem almost like a business arrangement. I thought you liked Hinata."
"Yes I do like Hinata, but she deserves someone who loves her. I don't love her. It's that simple. I-I think that maybe I sorta um… took advantage of the strength of her feelings for me, to make myself try to forget about Sakura-chan. I knew from the beginning that I would never love Hinata, and it was wrong of me to have asked her out when I knew she was in love with me. I feel really bad about that."
Kakashi could tell that Naruto was remorseful and was probably mentally kicking his own ass. But he himself was in a bit of shock. He never thought that a caring friendly guy like Naruto would take advantage of someone's feelings like that. Wow I guess his love for Sakura really screwed him up bad.
"Naruto I understand that you feel bad about this, but don't be too hard on yourself. I mean a lot of guys in your position would have slept with Hinata even though they didn't love her. You at least took the honorable road when it counted most. Now tell me why couldn't you have sex with Hinata?" Kakashi was sure he knew the answer already but he wanted to hear it from Naruto himself.
"I'm in love with Sakura-chan. And even though I highly doubt she feels anything for me, I know now that I will always love her, and I'm not ready to give up on that yet."
" I see. Naruto I can tell from the way you're acting that you hate yourself for loving her, that you feel as though those feelings are holding you back. In my opinion you're a total idiot for being this dedicated to Sakura, you could be very happy with a woman like Hinata who actually loves you. Are you seriously going to forfeit any happiness you might have with any woman for the chance at happiness with the one woman you know you can't have?" Kakashi knew he was being harsh with Naruto and he could tell by the expression on his face that he hit a nerve, but if he was going to help him he needed to be sure he was doing the right thing.
"Yes." Naruto said simply and without hesitation.
"Good." Naruto looked up at Kakashi eyes wide in surprise.
"Listen Naruto I'm sorry if what I said was a little blunt, but the truth is I admire the dedication you've shown Sakura so far. Yes you're an idiot for doing it but, if you really love her than it can't be helped."
"Uh….yeah…I um guess." Naruto didn't know what to say, he was extremely confused and he had no idea why Kakashi was smiling at him. What the hell is he thinking, he should be beating the shit out of me for being so stupid!
Time for the last question, if he answers it correctly then I can break my promise to Sakura and tell him.
"You said that your relationship with Hinata was now over? How did that happen? Just because you didn't agree to sleep with her tonight doesn't mean that the relationship in necessarily terminated."
" Oh right I still haven't mentioned that have I? Well after she asked me to.. you know, I thought about it and I knew that if I went through with it that I'd regret it. I knew that the only person I ever wanted to be with was Sakura-chan. And I could tell from the look on Hinata face that this would mean a lot to her, I mean she did say "will you make love to me", and not "will you use me for sex to help you forget the woman you really love". At first I thought about just making up an excuse for not wanting to do it tonight, but that's not fair to Hinata. I either had sex with Hinata and continued trying to forget Sakura-chan with her, or not have sex with her and tell her the truth about my feelings. I'm a horrible person, I lead Hinata on completely! During these past 4 months that we were together I know that she fell even more in love with me, then she already was. Anyways I explained to Hinata that I couldn't sleep with her or be with her because I didn't love her. Then she asked me if I was in love with Sakura-chan… you should have seen the look on her face when I answered yes! That's when she started to cry, and before I could stop her she left. I walked around the village for several hours before finally deciding to come here and talk to you."
"Ah, I know it must've been difficult to hurt Hinata like that but trust me Naruto, you did the right thing. Now what I'm going to tell you something, and now you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone I told you, especially not Sakura. Although I'm sure she'll figure out that I told you eventually but I'll take the consequences."
"Ok sure I promise. Does this have anything to do with what's been going on with her lately? Cause I still intend to get to the bottom of that."
"Yes it does Naruto. Kakashi took a deep breath before continuing "sorry Sakura" he thought "but it's for your own good" After realizing Naruto's love and dedication for Sakura went this far, Kakashi could no longer stand back and watch. He would break his promise to Sakura for her sake and then he would, hide from her until she forgave him, if not he would surely be sent flying across the village. Naruto Sakura… she's well she's in love with you." Kakashi sat back for a moment amused by the onslaught of emotions that appeared on Naruto's face ranging from happiness to confusion, to slight anger, to confusion, to pensive confusion and finally settling on surprise, confusion.
"I don't think I heard correctly, sensei could you repeat what you said?"
Now Kakashi knew that Naruto was in shock, he never called him sensei anymore. Kakashi had made sure to break him and Sakura out of that habit and now, they were both comfortable with calling him Kakashi minus the honorific.
"I'll say it again for you; Sakura is in love with you!"
"I don't understand. If Sakura-chan loves me then why hasn't she told me?"
"Ah well you see that's actually how this all started. She was going to tell you the same day you started going out with Hinata, and well after you told her about that she lost her nerve. She's been depressed ever since, she believes that she isn't good enough for you so she hasn't told you. And instead she's settled for avoiding you and Hinata while trying to be happy that you moved on."
An uneasy silence followed. Kakashi stayed quiet, trying to give Naruto some time to process the information. Naruto was still somewhat confused. So Sakura's strange behavior and distance from me was all because she's in love with me? Shit. If what Kakashi said is true then I really am an idiot.
" Does Sakura-chan still you know feel that way? Or has she moved on already?" It hurt Naruto to ask but he needed to know the answer.
"Well seeing how 2 days ago she was getting drunk and begging me to take her to bed, all because she was in need of some serious comfort, I'd say she definitely still loves you. I know she does."
" Ok, in that case I have to go! Thanks for everything by the way."
"Wait where are you going? To see Sakura?"
"Yup."
"But it's almost 2 Am!"
"I know, but now that I know the truth about my feelings as well as Sakura-chans, I can't wait anymore. I just hope she won't kick my ass for waking her up."
"Well now that I think about it, she hasn't been getting much sleep these past months so she might still be awake." Kakashi saw the look of guilt that crossed Naruto's features when he said this, but he pretended like he didn't see it.
"Ok… thanks a lot Kakashi, I owe you one." And with that Naruto left Kakashi's apartment and went directly towards Sakura's.
Sakura was at home drinking a cup of tea and trying to fall asleep; she had to wake up early to help Tsunade-sama. Sakura was once again being consumed with feelings of sadness and longing, she slowly started drifting of to sleep. Knock ,Knock What the hell! Who would be stupid enough to come to my apartment this late at night, she thought irritably as she got up and swung the door wide open.
"N-Naruto?"
"Hi Sakura-chan."
Authors Note: REVIEW PLEASE! So that's the end of chapter 3! I'm sorry I feel that I totally bored you guys with this one, but it was necessary for the story! I'm happy with the story so far though! And thanks to everyone who took the time to review. I'm getting really excited now because next chapter I get to write some NaruSaku goodness! I'm not sure if I'm gonna put the lemon in next chapter though. I'm thinking that chapter 4 will be somewhat shorter than the others and will be a sort of prelude to the lemon! Yes Chapter 4 is now officially called: Prelude to Lemon! That way everyone knows what to expect! My authors notes are always so long ,if anyone actually reads them let me know, cause that way I'll feel like less of an idiot! Review review review! It's very disheartening whenever somebody alerts of favs the story but doesn't review! Seriously my heart plummets whenever that happens! Thanks to everyone who continues to read my story! I know I've been updating everyday so far, but I won't be able to update tomorrow, so I hope to have chapter 5 up on Sunday or maybe Monday cause Sunday I officially turn 20 and I have to get really wasted! lol hehe