Title:
The Way You Smile Shines the Heavens
Fandom/Community:
Naruto / 50scenes
Prompt:
Table 2: #44 — Christmas
Pairing:
Hatake Kakashi x Haruno Sakura
Rating:
R
Warning:
Language, sexuality, alcohol and brief drug use
Disclaimer:
Kishimoto-sensei owns. Small quote dedication to the movies Cruel
Intentions
and Hercules.
Summary:
He'd
planned on spending his holiday as his normally did—with a nice
bottle of Jack to wash down the bitterness. She'd planned on
dealing with her dysfunctional parents as she always had—excusing
herself to her room and turning her CD player up to max volume.
Funnily enough, they weren't too upset to find some reason to
abandon their traditions. AU.
"It's almost Christmas, man," Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms against his chest. He sat on the other side of Jiraiya, next to the prodigy, Hyuuga Neji. The blond wasn't surprised to see that the famed genius was started to doze in his seat—though he was rather amused. "Can't we just, ya'know, go home? Have actual lives?"
"If you didn't keep interrupting me, Uzumaki-san," the Spokeswoman chuckled quietly, as though secretly amused by his antics, "we hope to have this done before the clock strikes midnight. Perhaps you'll allow us to proceed? Then you'll be able to get home to your fiancée?"
The blond muttered darkly but drew his eyes back to the front. "I'm listening."
Tsunade rolled her eyes, not listening as one of the businesswomen she was supposedly working for got to her feet, speaking smugly down to them.
Instead, the blonde woman was focused more on how the woman was speaking.
She wasn't too pretty, Takanawa-dono; but she wasn't absolutely frightful. She had her dark brown hair (Tsunade knew she must use dye—the woman was almost as old as she) pulled fiercely back into a tight bun—probably in an attempt to pull off the 'fresh face-lifted' look women were going for nowadays—her glasses perched precariously on the tip of her nose. Her business suit was prim and neat; tailored to fit and without even the faintest hint of a wrinkle.
And good lord, the woman was boring.
Tsunade lifted her hand and peered at her fingernails. She hadn't had them done in a while. Perhaps after this little holiday fiasco, she'd attempt to take Ino and Sakura out to a spa for the day. That would be nice. Take a day or so off work, get a facial, a massage, pedicure, manicure. . .
An elbow in her side brought her back to the present, and she glanced furiously at Jiraiya, who leaned heavily to her side. She waited until Takanawa-dono turned to point at her slide, before hissing; "What's the big idea?"
Jiraiya shrugged, slipping a small piece of folded paper into her lap discreetly.
The woman stared at him. What were they in, the sixth grade? She leaned back in her seat, sliding her hands into her lap and unfolding the note as inconspicuously as she possibly could. Thankfully, even in the darkened room, the white-haired man's elegant script was still legible.
Why is Sakura-chan here?
Glancing up again, to make sure no one had noticed her—Tsunade was sure she was safe, as she had been daydreaming for the past forty minutes and no one had said a word. Picking up her folder, she pretended to busy herself by looking inside it.
The woman slid the paper in front of her. Picking up her pen, she scrawled back quietly. The note was slid back across the table.
Jiraiya seized it and opened it behind his briefcase, dark eyes scanning it swiftly.
Yuuka and Nobu are getting a divorce. You know Sakura, she bottles all her emotions up inside of her, and when she can't hold them anymore, they explode out. I really don't want to see her do anything stupid like Yuuka used to do when she couldn't get our parent's attention. I figured coming here was far better than her spending Christmas at home.
Not that me stuck in meetings all day and night helps.
He scrawled a hastily reply.
You paying Kakashi that bonus to have him make sure Genma doesn't try to get into her pants?
Tsunade rolled her eyes.
No. He's just the one I like the most.
Jiraiya nodded, and as the board director turned to comment on something to Takanawa-dono, he leaned over, head dipping to whisper into her ear. "I thought you didn't like men who read smutty novels?"
She could hear the smirk in his voice. Lifting her hand swiftly, Tsunade fastened her hand in his long hair. "I said I didn't trust men who read your smutty novels, not that I didn't like them."
The blonde let go of him as Takanawa-dono turned around again, speaking loud and clear. The woman glanced towards Tsunade, who raised her eyebrows as though intrigued with whatever the woman had said. Takanawa-dono smiled, though it seemed rather forced—her lips worked awkwardly on her face; as though her teeth were false and she were using her lips to force them back into place. Jiraiya shook his head when Tsunade batted her eyelashes at him; the woman had turned away as soon as Takanawa-dono's attention had been distracted.
Her hands clutched at the cup of soda she'd been nursing for the past hour and a half.
Those same eyes that had been watching her the entire night still bore into her back. She could feel them. They were burning. She was sure that her entire face must still be flushing red from how hot she felt. It was like being set on fire with a laser. What was that commercial? she asked herself, almost shaking her head. "It's a death-ray, a death-ray," I think. . . she quoted quietly to herself.
Sakura sipped lightly at her drink and flipped her hair lightly, risking—what she hoped—was a casual and discreet glance over her shoulder.
Her green eyes slid across the floor first.
Locating his feet—she'd spent the past forty minutes staring at them—she pretended to mess with her hair as she observed them. They were regular men's dress shoes; black, shiny, leather. However, they were attached to a pair of rather nice black slacks; her eyes drifted slightly upward, and her lip curled at the corner. Those black slacks led up to a rather form-fitting, crisp, white button-up shirt—she stared at his bicep through the fringe of her bangs. Anywhere else one his body it didn't look like he worked out, he was tall, thin and lanky; but his arms just stood out. Especially when he had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
Without thinking, her eyes slipped further up his form, across his chest, along his neck. They fixed on his lips for a minute, then the bottom of the scar on his cheek. She couldn't help it. She wanted to see his mismatched eyes again. She regretted it as soon as she allowed her gaze to slide those extra centimeters skyward.
A smirk unraveled itself across the lower-half of his face and she found herself blushing when the man winked at her with his single crimson eye.
Sakura spun back around, almost spilling her Coke.
"So, Sakura, Ino says you guys are going to be here until after New Years?"
The pink-haired young woman glanced across their little circle of folk, watching the young woman with her hair in buns smiling at her. "Uh, yea," Sakura managed, her face still flushed beet-red. "Ino doesn't go back to University until January 10th, and I may be staying here after that. . . I don't come back for graduate school until September. My aunt wants me to take an internship here."
"Lucky," breathed Ino, glancing over Sakura's shoulder. "I'd give anything to stay just a weekend more." She winked then blew a kiss. Sakura glanced over her shoulder quickly, forgetting momentarily who Ino was making kissy-faces with. She watched Genma lick his lips at Ino and Kakashi roll his eyes beside his friend. Sakura blushed and turned back around.
The girl who'd been introduced as Hinata smiled embarrassedly. "You seem familiar with Hatake-san, though; have you met before?"
"No." Sakura shook her head and took another drink her soda in an attempt to calm her racing heartbeat. Her throat was parched. She was surprised she hadn't gone through her drink faster than this. "Apparently my aunt made him my guard dog or something. He's supposed to make sure that I have a 'fun time' at this party." She tossed a glower over her shoulder. This time, when her eyes met his she didn't blush—Kakashi's smirk widened.
Bun-girl smiled knowingly. "Oh. . . so that's why he's been staring at you all night?"
"Ugh," groaned Sakura, "that's just gross. He's like what? Twenty years older than me?"
"Really?" Sakura was really beginning to get annoyed by that stupid, perceptive look on the brunette's pretty face. "If Kakashi's twenty years older than you, you must be some sort of genius, then; entering graduate college at the age of sixteen." She let out a giggle. "I could have sworn you were at least twenty."
The young woman scowled. "Twenty-two."
"That's not too bad, Sakura-chan," the Bun-girl praised, clapping the tips of her fingers on the back of her hand mockingly. "Kakashi's only thirty-six. Fourteen years isn't that much of an age difference."
"Besides," added Ino, coming back into the conversation after a good bout of eye-flirting with the older man across the room; "weren't you the one who was absolutely in love with that Memoirs of a Geisha movie? And didn't you cry all over the place when the Chairman became Sayuri's danna, if I remember correctly? And then, didn't we go look that pairing up and figure out he was something like thirty years older than her? And you told me love doesn't have age limits?"
Sakura turned her head on its side and shook it slightly at the blonde. "You can't remember what you ate this morning, but you can remember something I said after watching a random movie from like seven years ago? That's bad."
Ino rolled her eyes. "Tenten, she's in denial. She has to be. Kakashi-san is fine."
Hell yes, that's her name! Sakura thought to herself, finally happy that someone had said the brunette's name finally. Now I don't have to keep calling her 'Bun-girl.' "Seriously, don't you pay enough attention to Shiranui-san?"
"They're right next to each other! It's hard to not notice!" the young woman protested in spite herself; she laughed however and grabbed a class of some form of punch off a tray as Shikamaru passed them, carrying it. Tenten missed him, and then ran over. She grabbed two more glasses, thanked him, and then ran back.
"Here," said Tenten, "try this." She shoved a glass into Sakura's free hand. She took a big sip—Ino was sucking on the rim of her cup, eyeing the area behind Sakura yet again.
Sakura, however, had to pause.
Something about the atmosphere in the room changed considerably the moment her hand had instinctively taken the glass. She had no real idea where it was coming from, but she could fathom a guess. He was so annoying! Wasn't this the type of thing that got classified under "enjoying the party? Once again, she risked a glance over her shoulder. The man's mismatched eyes had narrowed suspiciously. He glowered at her openly, barely attempting to conceal his displeasure. She almost missed the way his lip moved when he smirked, or the way his eyes seemed to simmer. He had lost all of the playfulness he'd possessed earlier, instead looking far too serious.
She tried to ignore it. Sakura was really bad at ignoring things. Especially when they were glaring her in the face.
Fuck him.
Sakura raised the glass to her lips. The tiniest drops had passed her lips when she noticed that silver flash of the man's hair. She tugged the glass down sharply as he stopped in front of her.
"Hey, Kakashi-san," Tenten said with a flirty smile. She gave a small wave. "Enjoying the party? Have you been to your office yet?" Her dark brown eyes betrayed the excitement. Then she glanced at Sakura and smirked. "You've met Sakura-chan, right? She's a sixteen-year old genius!" Ino snickered behind both of her hands.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Sixteen?"
"Don't ask." Sakura spun and went to bring the cup to her lips again.
"Can I speak to you outside, Sakura-chan?" he asked, whispering in an attempt to conceal his thinly veiled animosity. He didn't bother waiting for her to answer her. He grabbed her elbow—not painfully, just securely—and led her forcibly out of the room. The hallway lights had been dimmed slightly. Somewhere around the corner, there was a shuffling that sounded very much like a couple's bad attempt at not being caught pulling a quickie.
Once away from the view of the window—he careened his head at an awkward angle to make sure that neither of their parties could see them. He then glared at her again. "What was that?"
"What was what?" She wasn't going to let him beat her to the punch again—pun intended, fully intended; she was ready to piss him off. He'd been staring at her all night and making her blush and she didn't like the fact that it was making her all hot and bothered. The man was thirty-six, she was twenty-two, he was a lawyer, and he annoyed her anyway. She swiftly brought the cup to her lips and managed to take a large gulp before the man tore the cup away from her. He had amazing luck, at least—the trashcan was only an arm's reach out of the way.
Kakashi tossed the cup into the bin and glared more. Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "You don't want to drink that," he said matter-of-factly.
Sakura raised an eyebrow. She already understood that—there was a terrible rubber taste inside her mouth, and the back of her throat was burning. "Why's that? What if I liked it?"
"Genma made the punch." He smirked at her—she felt even more upset than when he'd glared at her. "You never know what he put in it. I saw him crunching up something in a bowl in his office earlier."
"Yea, like he's going to drop happy pills into our punch or something." The young woman rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. She hoped to god that hadn't happened. She had a nasty experience with happy pills that included her dancing on a pool table in nothing but her tidy-whities (it had been laundry day!) and attempting to get some one to go out and buy her chocolate. Mixing alcohol with drugs only worsened the effects. She was a medical student—she knew this stuff.
Kakashi shook his head. "I wouldn't put it past him."
Green eyes furrowed anxiously. "Do I need to go force myself to throw up?"
The man shook his head. "No, he's not stupid enough to put it in there undiluted," he sighed, tossing a slight glare towards the quad. "It'll be just enough to make you sick, not get you high. He thinks it's funny." Taking her by the arm again, he led her down the hallway—she didn't try to protest; she was happy that she recognized this hallway. And that he wasn't carrying her. "You need some sort of decent food in your system though. That coffee shop you saw earlier have a nice selection of donuts or something?"
Sakura raised a sculpted eyebrow—it looked natural, but really she was trying to mock his actions from earlier. If he took notice, he didn't say anything. "It's not even ten yet. . ."
"We'll go early."
She sighed. "I don't have my coat, and it's in Oba-han's office—which is currently locked."
"What happened to that key she gave you earlier?"
"How do you know that Oba-han gave me a key?" cried Sakura, stopping and turning to look at him indignantly. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to listen in on private conversations?"
Kakashi merely glanced at her. "Actually, no; I was raised by my father. Partially. My mother left my father after I was born and died shortly after that. I don't even remember what she looks like." He said it all so casually—far too coolly for Sakura's liking. It was crisp, short; like when somebody announced that they were going to walk back to their office. It was like he was trying too hard to not making a big deal about it.
"Oh," she said anyway, depressed that that was all she could manage in the face of his words. "I'm sorry?"
"Don't apologize. I never knew the woman." He shrugged and started leading her back down the hallway. "You can't miss what you never had." They came to the elevators and he pressed the button, causing it to light up red. They waited in silence.
When he pushed her into the elevator and hit the button labeled Ground Floor, she twisted again out of his grasp on her elbow. "I said I don't have my coat."
Kakashi nodded and pushed her out the door. "You can use mine."
That caused her to pause. "Y-your coat?" she stuttered, glancing at him. He nodded slowly. "Oh. Okay."
"Did you see that?" Tenten smirked and leaned against Ino's back, peering over the woman's hair out the door. "He's taking her somewhere. Do you know anything about this?"
Ino shook her head. "Sakura doesn't tell me anything about her relationships. But I can't believe she's leaving with him."
Hinata stood beside them—facing the opposite direction. She refused to spy. "Does it matter?"
Ino and Tenten exchanged a glance. "I just want my best friend to get laid, that's all!" Ino laughed, dragging the two of them back to the party.
"I was kidding when I said we could walk."
She pretended to shiver.
Kakashi merely turned his head to the side slightly and smirked. "You said it though."
Sakura wasn't cold though. She didn't know how he wasn't though. She observed him through the corner of her eye.
He had on only his white button-up, sleeves still rolled up, first two top buttons undone and his tie unwrapped and hanging on either side of his neck. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, his eyes focused fully on the sidewalk in front of him. He didn't seem the least bit cold. He seemed warmer than Sakura. And she was wrapped in his two-large dark green corduroy-insulated coat. And she was inheaven.
It smelled exactly like him. She hadn't paid much attention to his cologne earlier. She'd been in his arms too short a time to take notice of it other than the fact that he wore some. She had only caught a small hint of it when he'd stood behind her in his office. Now that she was absolutely surrounded in his coat, it wafted around her. She couldn't help but slip her nose behind the buttoned-up collar and inhale deeply. It was a rich, herby-type of cologne. It tickled the inside of her nose every time she breathed, but it wasn't enough to cause her to sneeze. She couldn't put a name to it. Didn't mean she didn't like it though.
The silence wasn't exactly awkward, but she still felt compelled to speak. "Not gonna rape me, right? No sleeping with the dead and toxically poisoned fishies in the river, right?"
"You're an idiot." He glanced at her sidelong. She glowered at him—but the smirk was on his face.
Butterflies flittered in her stomach.
Oh lord, there is no way he's going to make me go all girly-girl. I refuse. Absolutely not.
Then he walked passed her slowly and paused at the street corner, leaning up against the lamp post. He glanced away and watched the cars speed by them. His mismatched eyes waited for the little sign across the street to change to the Person-Walking picture so that they could cross. In the mean time, he smirked more openly at her. She liked it from the front a lot better than from the side. She also liked it a lot more when he was only standing two feet from her and not four yards across the quad.
Shit. Abort, Sakura, abort!
"You're a jackass."
Kakashi shook his head. "No, I'm an asshole. There's a difference."
Sakura blinked at him. "That was uncalled for. Didn't your moth—" She stopped and corrected herself, feeling bad yet again. "Haven't you ever heard you don't swear in front of a lady? Besides, do you like trying to provoke me? Does it feel good?"
"Lord, be quiet." He smirked again as the light switched and the cars came to a stop beside them. He reached his hand out and tugged on the end of the sleeve—her hand didn't fit all the way down. "I don't really like coffee that much. I'm taking you out to dinner instead. For some reason, espresso plus you equates to a rather annoying situation in my mind. I'd rather you not keep me up all night while waiting for your aunt to get back."
She blinked up at him, finding herself being led by his light touch like a child. "Eat?"
He pointed towards the restaurant a little way up the street. It was some little Italian bistro, with a name she couldn't pronounce because she couldn't roll her r's. "You don't drink alcohol much, do you?"
Hesitantly, she shook her head. The walk was short. With him leading her, she seemed to walk faster—attempting to equalize her steps with his long, loping ones. He led her up the walkway of the restaurant.
"Exactly. We don't need Tsunade-san coming back and seeing you passed out on my couch. She'll think I tried to get you drunk and seduce you or something." He smirked and she felt her stomach leap queasily. "That bother you?"
"Am I underdressed?" She glanced down the opening of the coat. She was wearing her nice jeans; the ones that made her butt look small and firm. She was wearing a powder blue sweater that she'd borrowed from Ino. It didn't look as good on her because she didn't have Ino's eyes to accentuate it with. Her pink hair sort of clashed with the pastel coloration.
Kakashi shook his head and held the door open, allowing her to walk past him. "Of course not," he said quietly. "I'm not even wearing a coat. Nobody cares. It's also almost ten o'clock at night." He glanced down at her apprehensive face and sighed, shaking his head again. "Want me to request the dark, shadowy back corner so that no one can see you?"
Sakura chuckled. "Please?"
They stopped in front of the hostess' desk. The woman was tall, blonde, and busty; the way she glanced at Kakashi reminded her of how Ino was throwing kisses to Genma earlier. "Can I be of any help to you, sir?" Kakashi didn't seem to notice when she smiled predatorily. For some reason, it ruffled Sakura's feathers.
"Table for two," he said, ignoring how the young woman next to him bristled. "Preferably some place more private." He offered her his smile this time.
The woman faltered and nodded, glancing down at Sakura suspiciously before she nodded. "Right the way."
Sakura felt slightly better after that. She felt incredibly better when Kakashi pressed his hand flat against the small of her back and pushed her along beside him. Their table was one of the large booths in the back of the non-smoking section. The only other people in the room were a couple of teenagers in the front of the building by the window and three men who seemed slightly inebriated.
"Can I get you anything to drink?"
Kakashi glanced at her as she removed his coat and sat down, sliding to the very back corner of the booth. "Hot tea, please."
The silver-haired man glanced back at the woman. "Water."
The waitress nodded and walked away.
The situation suddenly grew golden for Sakura when Kakashi sat down and slid back to sit next to her. He raised an eyebrow and smirked—her stomach jumped. "See? Private."
TBC . . .
Took a while. But I liked it.
People are going to think them going to the restaurant is like Twilight. -sigh- Oh well. It does slightly resemble it, but after sitting there, I really didn't feel like writing a coffee shot scene. Plus, I'm hungry. I want to describe food. xD
The hot tea for Nami. She always gets it whenever we go out.
Thanks, Hiko
