Title: A Reason To Love You
Summary: Sakura's in denial over her feelings for her ex-sensei, and when he leaves on a mission, she's left to ponder quietly on her problems. But when Kakashi comes back with a surprise, Sakura may just have a chance….
Kaka/Saku
(PS: I messed up on the ages for the first chapter. Please Ignore The Ages at the First Chapter)
Ages:
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura: 18
Kakashi: 20
Chapter 4: Fan Club?
Sakura groggily opened her eyes; the pain in her head was threatening to eat up her nerves.
" You're FINALLY awake, now I can go," A familiar voice said. Sakura blinked, something heavy was sitting on her stomach, she got up and saw it was Kakashi's dog, Pakkun.
Then that means I'm at Kakashi's apartment….
Pakkun disappeared in a poof, as Sakura climbed out of the bed.
Cinnamon? Sakura thought as she took a whiff from Kakashi's pillow. She found out she was still wearing the clothes from last night, with out the bangles. Glancing at a corner, she saw a bookcase filled with orange covered novels.
Kakashi and his smut.
Sakura stumbled out of Kakashi's bedroom, and the smell of pancakes drifted into her nose, as if on cue, her stomach growled. She walked to the kitchen, and the sight nearly made her (still sleeping) nerve dance a tango in her mind.
Kakashi was wearing a white apron with " Kiss the Cook" sewn in big red letters at the front.
" Morning,"
Sakura blinked, " Urrm….morning." She sat down at the dinner table, staring at her ex-sensei's back. Something was amiss, but she couldn't place a finger on it…
Kakashi placed a plate of pancakes in front of her, and sat down to enjoy his. Sakura stared at the pancakes; she picked up her fork and stabbed into it. She glanced at Kakashi, and for a moment, Sakura thought he looked YOUNGER.
It can't be….
Shrugging the idea off, she continued to eat, but the thought kept coming back to haunt her. So, to satisfy her curiosity, she asked the question Kakashi had been dreading for.
" Kakashi…you look different." The said jounin raised a silver eyebrow, " Hm?"
Sakura struggled, trying to find the right words, " You look………younger."
" I am."
EH?
Noticing the confused and baffled look on Sakura's face, Kakashi sighed, " I am younger, something happened on the mission."
" Oh. Like what?"
Kakashi mentally twitched, he had already explained it to the jounins last night, and he had a feeling he was going to go over it a lot today.
" Age reversal jutsu" At this point, Sakura's eyebrows had risen to her hairline.
" Woah, so, how old are you now?"
" ……………………"
Sakura grinned in amusement, " Come on, you can't have become more younger than me!"
" …………..Twenty."
" ………………………….."
Both of them sat in silence.
" So, you're twelve years younger…."
" Hm, Tsunade-sama said I still have my memories when I was older still intact,"
" ………………..A thirty-two year old mind stuck in a twenty year old body?" Sakura concluded. A disgruntled expression came and went on her face.
" Hm."
Chew. Glup.
" Congratulations," Kakashi suddenly said. Sakura looked confused. " Your jounin test."
" Ah, errr, thanks."
They continued to eat in silence. Sakura then noticed the impossible; Kakashi was chewing with his mask on.
How does he do it? Sakura thought as she poured more syrup.
Kakashi gulped down a piece of pancake, and a few seconds later he started to chew again.
What in the world!
" Hey, forgot about mission one?" Inner Sakura asked.
Ehh….
" Take off Kakashi's mask!"
Oh yeah.
" Look, he's younger now, he must be more hot, hands-"
I get the point, shut up…
Inner Sakura cackled evilly.
" Kakashi, do you have any plans for today?" Sakura asked meekly, while prodding her last piece of pancake on her plate.
He looked thoughtful for a second, " Yes."
Sakura glared at him, " Reading your smut doesn't count." Kakashi chuckled in amusement, " Then no."
" Do you want to go training?"
Kakashi chewed on his last piece of pancake, and raised an eyebrow, " Hm? Training?"
" Yeah."
" You just passed your exams"
Sakura shrugged, " Just wanna keep in shape I guess."
" Alright"
Kakashi stood up and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, Sakura shoved the last of her pancake into her mouth and followed Kakashi.
" I'll wash them," Sakura said. Kakashi shook his head, " I'm fine."
" No, I insist!"
" I'm fine."
" Kakashi…"
" Sakura…"
Sakura snorted and elbowed the silver haired jounin away. Kakashi grunted and walked out. He came back a few seconds later, dressed in a short sleeved black tee with a white cross, and dark blue sweatpants. Sakura finished off washing the dishes, and she noticed that Kakashi was shorter.
Much shorter, but he was still taller than her.
Damn.
" I'll go home to change," Sakura said as she dried her hands. Kakashi nodded, " I'll meet you in front of your apartment."
Sakura gave a nod and poofed in a swirl of sakura blossoms.
Kakashi smiled slightly from behind his mask.
Sakura leaned against a pole in front of the steps of her apartment. Kakashi was LATE.
" So, you have a plan?" Inner Sakura asked, a evil gleam in her eyes.
Pfft, of course!
" What is it then?"
Not telling.
"…………."
Kakashi suddenly appeared beside her. Sakura glared at him, " You're late."
" I was helping out an old lady who got stuck on a tree…."
Sakura grinned and playfully punched her ex-sensei on his shoulder, " Just cork it, and let's go!"
Both of them walked together to their old training grounds. Kakashi mentally prayed they wouldn't meet up with anyone along the way.
His prayers were unheard.
" Kaka-sensei!" Naruto bounced over to them, Kakashi mentally groaned. Sasuke was trailing behind Naruto, an amused grin on his face.
Naruto took one look at Kakashi and blurted out a rather rude, " Woah, did you shrink?"
Kakashi's visible eye death glared at the blond, causing him to squeak out. Sasuke was staring at both Kakashi and Sakura, a look on his face that clearly said, " Care to enlighten us?"
Sakura grinned, " We're just going to train,"
Naruto immediately brightened up, all thoughts of his life in danger vanished, " I'll come too!"
The grin on Sakura's face evaporated, " No, it's just Kakashi and I"
This earned three pairs of strange looks, yes, that included Kakashi's.
" Since when both of you have become so close?" Sasuke inquired, (Nah, more like demanded) folding his arms over his chest.
Sakura fidgeted, " We're…just, just training buddies," Kakashi nodded, but he couldn't help but mentally curse Sasuke's great observation skills.
" Hm," Sasuke didn't look convinced, but he decided to leave it there, much to Kakashi's relief.
Naruto pouted at this and turned to Sasuke, " Hey, race you to the monument!" The monument was the duo's other training ground.
Sasuke smirked, " You're going down, dobe."
" Bastard!"
Both of them took off, cursing each other.
Along the way, a mob of evil fan girls had found out a new target; Hatake Kakashi. Both Kakashi and Sakura had to run for their lives as the bloodhounds chased them across town.
Much to their relief, the Scarecrow and the blossom finally reached the training grounds, after they managed to throw Evil Mob Of Fan Girls off their tail.
After an hour of sparing, Sakura decided to take a break, and lounged under the shades of a tree. She took out one of her favorite kunais and started to sharpen it.
A soft thump, Sakura glanced at the patch of grass beside her, and saw Kakashi's shirt. She looked up and saw Kakashi.
Shirtless. Bashing away at one of the training poles.
Now, we all know that Sakura's our innocent, naïve blossom. But right now, the thoughts in her head are FAR from innocent.
A blush swiftly appeared on her face and Sakura suddenly decided the kunai in her hands was interesting; she started to sharpen it even faster.
Why am I acting like this? It's not like this is the first time I've seen Kakashi shirtless.
Sakura grumbled, and sharpened her kunai even faster.
Take a big breath; you still have a mission to complete! TAKE OFF HIS MASK!
" You know, if you keep sharpening it, your kunai would break."
Sakura blinked, and looked up, to find her face to face with the silver haired jounin. She looked at the kunai in her hands, the point was extremely pointy. Sakura stared at it, and looked up. And finally found out how close they were.
A crimson blush crept up to her cheeks.
" Like what you see?" Kakashi asked, with a hint of amusement in it.
Sakura blinked and the words came out without going through her mind, " Yeah, you look hot."
Both of them stared each other in silence; Sakura was mentally cursing herself violently, her blush getting bigger. Kakashi was left speechless; he didn't see that coming. His feelings were tangled up, and he felt….
Happy.
Happy because Sakura thought he was hot.
Hm…..
Bad Kakashi, bad thoughts!
Both them sat in silence, enjoying the windy breeze, Sakura found the sky interesting, while Kakashi had gotten out Icha Icha Paradise, all the while, cursing himself for having such bad thoughts.
" Kakashi?"
" Hm?"
" Can you take off your mask?"
Kakashi stared at Sakura, " No."
She pouted, " Why?"
" No reason." Sakura rolled her eyes and decided to leave it there.
They continued their silence…
" Kakashi, I should go now, it's almost my shift…" Sakura said softly. Kakashi nodded, and Sakura got up, heading towards the hospital.
Kakashi peered at her over his novel, while battling his inner conscience.
/You should go for it./
No, I can't, she's my former student.
/ Ha, NOTE the FORMER/
…
/ You're twenty, she's eighteen, that's a two-year age gap. And admit it, you have a soft spot for her ever since she was a genin./
…
/ You have feelings for her! And she could too, she did say that you looked hot…/
…………
/ Ha! Just go for it, invite her out for lunch/
………It's taboo…. it'll never work…
/ PFFT! A fourteen year old gap relationship is considered taboo, a teacher and student relationship is considered taboo! YOU, don't meet with any of the requirements up there/
I have a thirty-two year old mind, and Sakura is my student!
/ Do people care that you have an old mind? She WAS your student! Conclusion: You have a twenty year old body, she's your ex-student/
Just shut up……..
/ Ha, think about it! You know I'm always right/
Kakashi grumbled and decided to ignore the voice, and get some reading done.
For the next few days, Kakashi and Sakura continued their regular morning training, which ended with both of them taking catnaps under the trees, Sakura nagging at Kakashi to take off his mask, and Sakura going to the hospital for her shift. And around dinnertime, Kakashi would suddenly appear beside Sakura, asking her out for dumplings and such. (And Sakura would agree)
On Wednesday night however…. Ino had decided to drag Sakura to the Hidden Spirits, and just happened to meet up with Kakashi and his comrades.
" Inooooooo, it's late! I'm tired! Don't do this to me!" Sakura wailed as she was dragged into the pub.
Ino snorted, " A few cups of sake wont hurt!'
" BAH! A FEW MY ASS!"
" Woah, what crawled up your ass and died?" They had reached the usual Jounin table; Genma was the one who shot the witty remark. Shizune wasn't there; she was still on her night shift.
Sakura sat down and glared daggers at the senbon sucking jounin.
" You."
Genma chuckled, " Heh, I would LOVE to crawl up your ass.."
Ino wrinkled her nose at his remark; Kakashi peered over his novel to glare at his friend.
And Sakura?
If glares could kill, Genma would be dead ten times over.
" Just. Shut. Up."
Good thing Genma noticed the murderous gleam in Sakura's eyes.
A waitress had come over to take their orders, while everyone was saying what they wanted, Sakura noticed the dark violet haired waitress playing with Kakashi's mask.
That. Fucking. Slut!
They wouldn't understand how much Sakura had gone through just trying to get Kakashi to take off his mask; he wouldn't even let her touch it!
And now, Kakashi is letting that WHORE play with his mask!
Sakura seethed, glared, grumbled and growled. Ino noticed this and chuckled inwardly.
" Hey, you! I want wine." Sakura growled at the waitress, who glared at her and wrote down her order, while walking off. Kakashi had a neutral look on his face, and the few other jounins chuckled at Sakura's obvious possessiveness. Gai was muttering something along the lines of, " Ahh…the springtime of youth…"
The pink haired kunoichi decided to glare at the table, and everyone else found a topic to discuss.
" Hey, Kakashi, have you heard? A new fan club of yours has formed, it's bigger than Uchiha's." Ibiki chuckled. Kakashi had gotten out his smut and raised an eyebrow.
" So?"
" Ah, it's nothing."
Sakura started to inwardly seethe again.
The drinks came, and everybody started to gulp down their share of sake. The only ones who didn't touch their cups were Kakashi and Sakura, Kakashi was still reading, while Sakura had found a new object to glare at.
Genma suddenly had a devious grin on his face, much to everyone's horror.
" Sakura, wanna go out with me?" Genma asked. Said girl looked up from her cup and emerald eyes ablaze.
" No."
Genma raised an amused eyebrow, " Who pissed you off?" He was half expecting the answer to be him……or someone else.
Sakura twitched; she glanced at the still reading silver haired jounin, and to the senbon sucking jounin. Only Genma noticed this, while everyone else already knew the answer; Genma.
" Who else? You."
Genma chuckled to himself, with that, he dragged Kakashi off. " A little chat between me and you, scarecrow."
" Call me that again, and die."
" Awww, are you really going to kill me?"
" Yes."
" ….." Their voices were drowned out as both of them headed to the restroom for their chit chat.
Sakura scowled and continued to glare at her cup. Nobody really knew what had pissed off Sakura, all they knew she wouldn't get this pissed off just because some waitress was hitting on Kakashi.
Genma pushed Kakashi against the wall and growled at him, " What are you thinking!"
Kakashi lazily raised a silver eyebrow, " What?"
The senbon sucking jounin growled, " You know what I'm talking about! A certain pink haired ex-student of yours!"
Kakashi stared at Genma, who was still glaring at him. " So?"
Heaving a exasperated sigh, Genma continued, " You're deliberating making Sakura jealous!"
" What makes you think that?" Kakashi retorted in a lazy tone. Genma stared at his friend, " You never let anyone touch your mask."
Both of them glared at each other in silence, it was true. Kakashi never let anyone touch his mask, unless he had an intention or something.
" Sakura's seething, you can see that, and it's all directed at you. All of us know that you have affections for her; only Sakura can't see that. She's innocent, and if you won't make a move, I will." Genma growled. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at this. Genma only wanted to push Kakashi, in other words, a head start.
" Just shut up, Genma." Kakashi growled softly, and he walked off back to the table. Genma's serious expression evaporated and grinned.
" Hey, Kakashi, I'm taller than you now!" He called, and nearly laughed out when he saw Kakashi stiffen before turning around glaring at him. Then, he headed back.
Don't worry, Kakashi, give it all you've got. We're one hundred percent behind you Genma thought. He glanced at his left side and saw a beautiful dark green haired woman.
" Heh, that one looks nice…" Genma murmured as he locked on target, heading towards said woman.
Kakashi came back, sitting at his seat. He glanced around the table and saw almost everyone had passed out. Almost.
All except for a still-glaring-at-a-cup Sakura.
He kind of pitied the cup, being glared at by Sakura wasn't a walk in the park, and Kakashi knew that, first hand.
Said girl suddenly stood up, and announced that she was going, no one was talking, only a few grunts and stuff. Kakashi stood up also, and spoke, " I'll walk you,"
Sakura death glared at him, " I'll be fine,"
" I insist,"
" Bugger off," With that, Sakura turned on her heels and stalked out of the pub. Kakashi's visible right eye crinkled into an anime smile, and followed her with a lazy stride. Genma was grinning an all-knowing smile from his spot, before the drunken woman beside him groped him.
Outside, Sakura stomped all the way, grumbling and cursing violently about a certain silver haired man, who happened to be following her.
" I. Told. You. I. Don't. Need. To. Be. Walked!" Sakura snarled and turned around to glare at said man.
Kakashi still had that anime eye, a small smile was hidden behind his mask, " I don't have anything else to do, mind you. I don't do drinking."
" What about that waitress, huh?" Sakura folded her arms and glowered at Kakashi. His eye was twinkling, " What about her? And with that tone of voice, I'd say you're jealous."
Sakura seethed, turned around and stalked off. Kakashi was inwardly whooping, first time he didn't get punched after pissing Sakura off.
She suddenly stopped and stalked towards him, and punched him in the shoulder. " That's for pissing me off tonight," Then she headed into the night, still grumbling. Kakashi rubbed the spot where Sakura had punched him.
Behind him, a very drunken Maito Gai tried to sneak up on Kakashi, failing to do so.
" AAHHHHh………..my eternal rival! You've entered the springtime of YOUUUUTHH!" Gai spurred on, slurring here and there, all the while leaning onto Kakashi.
Needless to say, Kakashi was annoyed, when he was older, Gai didn't seem so heavy when he tried to tackle him, but now?
Eh, Kakashi just wanted to go home and sleep, and a strange urge to shatter a sake bottle on the bowl-cut jounin's head was overwhelming.
" Go away, Gai"
" My eternal riiivalll-" Gai suddenly crumbled to the ground, passing out. Kakashi stood there, staring at the green clad jounin, pondering over if he should take him back home.
Just then, Rock Lee came bouncing over to the duo. He took one look at his Gai-sensei and cried out, " Gai-sensei! Hold on, I shall take you back home!" Swiftly, Lee grabbed his sensei by the arm and flew-errr I mean bolted off.
Kakashi blinked and smirked, " That solves my problem," He leapt to the rooftops and headed back to his apartment.
Sakura sat on her kunai printed bed covers, drying her hair with a white fluffy towel. She just got out of the shower, and was dead tired.
The pink haired woman pondered silently on the events that happened today, and smiled slightly to herself. She glanced out the window, and atop a high roof, stood a shadowed figure. The person basked in the moonlight as the moon crept slowly out from behind the clouds, and Sakura saw a shock of silver hair waving slightly to the wind.
She blinked, and the figure was gone. Sakura had a warm fuzzy feeling in the pits of her stomach, and she smiled.
A/N: …..Omg….12 pages… Sorry for the delay, I re-typed this for four times, I didn't want to fast forward the time, I did write a different version of this chapter, with out the fast forward, but it just wasn't right. So I stuck to this one. Hope you're all satisfied, lack of humor and stuff. This chapter was really hard to write, and I felt a little proud of myself when I finished it, it's a bit rushed at the end though.
I have plans, BIG plans for this ficcie. Three Arcs. :D
Review Replies: (There are some reviews that are for the original version of chapter 3, and I will reply to them.)
Riiiceballe: Eh, I know, hope this version is much better :D
Angel of Depression: Who would have known there's a fan club for Kakashi? XD
Furuido: Eh, I just have too much time on my hands. Don't worry, I don't do evil cliffies, unless it's necessary. LOL, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke are still solving the mystery of how Kakashi eats with his mask on. XDD
The Assassin of the Night: Is this chapter long enough? XD I keep typing and forget about everything else (sighs)
Infinite'sgirl: Not much about the mission will be reveled in Arc 1 and 2, but it's vital for Arc 3.
Anime-boy07: Be prepared for the neighbors knocking on your door xD
SetoKaibaWheeler: Glad you think so!
Shiro Fenikkusu: I must say, all the pen names are so hard to write. X-x; I was laughing and trying to stop my giggles by stuffing my fist into my mouth when I was writing that part. - -;
Demee: I scare myself sometimes when I write these hideously long chapters…(Shudder)
Koneko26: O.o; A girl? Kakashi a girl? Umm… (gets a very bad mental image) Yes, it would be bad….very bad……
Atlantia45: (feels proud of my self) I have overcome my weakness! (stabs battle scenes with a rubber spoon)
1kenshinlover: Lol, I had wanted to make Kakashi show up when Sakura's heading back home, drunk. But I guess this suits us readers better xD
Ginacat: Done :P
Moodiful819: Who knew Shikamaru could drink and remain sober? XD
Diamondprinces: Being blonde has nothing to do with your IQ. - -; Except for those stereotypes, (shrugs)
PinkSakurablossom: Me too, I just love it when they have no memory what they had done the next morning, apart from the big headaches and hangovers.
Sergeanstan: That's good to know.
Thanks again for the reviews! Reviews make my world go ROUND!
Criticism is HIGHLY appreciated and flames will be used to heat my pot of tea.