Chapter 4
'Lucky...' She put the invitation on her nightstand, but kept staring at it blankly.
That would be one of many boring, hot summer days, if there wasn't that delivered white (with pink edges) card bringing the news of Chouji marrying Karui. No one even knew those two were that close. As unexpected as it was, but still was to happen in a week.
"So... what are you going to wear Sakura?" Sakura asked herself observing a few dresses she had. "Not this", she moved clothes hangers from side to side, "not this... and definitely not this one". She folded her arms around her chest and sighed. Nothing to wear. She slammed the closet door irritated, as if it was its fault that she couldn't find anything to wear.
Getting tired of walking in circles, Sakura sat down on her bed. Once she thought that maybe she didn't have to look that much pretty, and could've worn an old red dress she had, and make it look nice with a headband.
An hour later... "I can't believe this is all I have! Damn it!" Another slam of the closet door echoed in the apartment. She gave it the stink eye once again before heading to the bathroom. How do you usually cool down? Right. Nothing can clear your mind better than housework. Within seconds Sakura managed a bucket full of mixture of water and a detergent, and turned back to her leaving room, not forgetting to take her sponge mop on her way out. Clear mind, plus cold and clean floor to enjoy while being barefoot.
'Maybe it's not a bad idea?' Sakura straightened up to think about her red dress again before going back to mopping.
'Maybe I should buy something new?' And by the time she moved to mop the kitchen floor, she'd been thinking of new options. She always could go shopping, especially when there still was a week ahead. Of course, if Ino was around, she'd say with the most serious voice 'No time to chill, we don't have time for surgery to get you look like a woman, at least we should try to get a nice dress' or something like that. Ino would come up with better lines though. Giggling at her own thoughts, Sakura took the bucket and the mop back to the bathroom, thinking of other ways Ino wouldn't let her sleep on it.
Next day
Ino was surprised when Sakura asked her to come over, and she was extremely excited when her pinkie friend told her that she had decided what to wear on the wedding. Ino had always been fan of fashion shows her few friends would put on for her.
Sitting comfortably on the couch in Sakura's living room, the young kunoichi started to play with her long blonde hair. That was her pride, but only she knew what a drag it was to wash and dry them off.
She looked around. Everything was the same, every piece of furniture was exactly at the same place she remembered. And she remembered that well. There was a time when they used to gather all together more often, and not only her and Sakura, but the other girls too. Each of them used to have their roles. Hinata wasn't drinking, so she was the one who would help them get home if they got too drunk to do that themselves. Tenten was funny when drunk, she used to be the soul of the company. Sakura used to be the depressed girl, who always had problems with the opposite sex and self confidence. And her, she was little bit of everything. She'd missed those days.
"So", Ino spoke not to be carried away by memories, "How come you found something to wear this fast forehead?" she called to Sakura who was changing in her bedroom.
"It's just a dress... it's not fancy or something..." The moment Ino saw her head poking through the door frame flipped her hair back and straightened, fully ready for whatever her eyes were about to see. "Drum roll... a-a-and" Her smile disappeared as soon as Sakura showed herself wearing a round neck, short sleeved red dress, with a skirt a bit above her knees, that reminded more of a sack than a dress, and a red headband. Sakura's lack of taste caused her headache.
"I told you it's not something special..." Sakura hoped she read her friend's facial expressions wrong, but one had to be blind or dumb to get them wrong.
"I don't even know how to insult you", Ino murmured under her breath. "It's a failure, unless you want me to introduce you as my grandma." Sakura rolled her eyes. She knew Ino would say something like that, but before buying a new dress decided to give it a try.
Ino examined the dress while watching Sakura moving around. "Where did you even get it? You know, you should wear it. You'll be the clown instead of Lee and Guy sensei." She started laughing.
"Shut up pig".
"Oh, I know! You could work with those two, and create your own trio! Just imagine what a show that would be." Ino tugged one leg under herself, leaned on the back of the couch comfortably, and hugged one of the cushions.
"Alright, alright, I got it" With one swift motion Sakura pulled the dress off of herself, and threw on the couch. "I hate both you and this dress". Ino giggled like a kid.
"That's why you don't have a boyfriend, because you are wearing this kind of things". Ino grabbed the dress and started to shake it in front of Sakura's face, to make sure she knew what kind of things she meant, then just tossed it backwards.
"Shopping?" Sakura just changed the topic.
"Still asking? You have five minutes to get dressed". As Ino saw Sakura off with her eyes, it became clear that she'd missed the only change, which was on Sakura herself, literally.
"Hey where did you get it?"
"If you're still talking about the dress, just forget about it".
"No, no", Ino walked to the bedroom not to yell, "your ass, where did you get it?"
"Ah, you noticed?" Sakura put her hand on her butt cheek and turned her head to look at her reflection in the mirror.
"How can one not notice that? It's almost like mine". Ino believed that was a compliment. "So, how?"
"I don't even know" Sakura started wearing her white pants, "I put on some weight lately, that's it".
Now when she'd mentioned it, Ino looked closely. Sakura really had gained weight, maybe three or four pounds. Her arms and legs weren't so skinny anymore, and, hey, she got an ass. Ino narrowed her eyes when she looked at her chest, but breathed in relief. Nothing had changed there.
Only the idea of shopping was exciting, but the real act was a huge, public argument between two young women, Sakura and Ino in this case. History hadn't known even one occasion, when both girls would agree on something. Usually they would go their separate ways after visiting the first store.
Scandal started the moment Sakura said she'd never wear the purple dress they saw. Anyway, both of them had to leave that store for being too loud, and bothering other customers.
"I'm never going shopping with you anymore" was said in unison, and the girls went different directions.
That day Sakura didn't buy anything, neither she went to another store. She'd been trying to ignore that, but usually one needs only a little push to get old wounds open, and the fight with Ino seemed to be that little push.
Sakura walked into a park to spend some time with her thoughts. She was alone. Of course that wasn't something new, but she'd decided to go with that long ago. She'd decided to enjoy her life, to love herself, to be grateful for things she had, but all the wedding preparation made her feel sad. Chouji and Karui were getting married, and she was happy for them. She'd known Chouji for almost eighteen years, they had been through many things together, they were friends, how could she not be happy for him? But she couldn't get rid of the jealousy she'd been feeling. It seemed a fairy tale, and only she was missing from it.
Sakura hugged her legs to her chest putting her cheek on her knee. She had been on dates with some guys during last months, and now being that picky didn't seem as good as it seemed then. 'Why didn't you go on with one of them while you had the chance, idiot?' She felt the breeze gently playing with her hair. 'Screw you...'
Flashback
"Take something", the woman in red looked at the plate of fruits first, then at Sakura with her mysterious smile on her face.
Sakura, for the ninth time that night, wanted to punch her. 'Calm down, she's your money.' She said to herself clenching her fist. There were only pears, grapes and melon in the plate, and Sakura was sure she'd already mentioned how much she disliked those.
"Come on, I picked them for you", the woman insisted never erasing her smile.
"Yes, I can see that. Just the fruits that I told you I didn't like. You're so kind". The woman laughed covering her mouth with her palm, then put the plate away. She passed Sakura asking to follow her. She walked slowly, with grace, smiling to everyone and talking with a voice of an angel. Sakura called that hypocrisy.
"Why didn't you eat any of those fruits?" She turned to Sakura again. "Answer my question".
Sakura had no choice but to answer, only she was free to give an eye roll before she'd do so. "Because I don't like any of those". She said that in one breath, automatically, just because she had to answer.
"I know". The woman found a corner, where no one could see her, and sat down taking one of her shoes off. She'd been wearing them since the morning, and it was getting hard to smile naturally through sore feet. "I want you to realize one thing girl". She started to massage her foot while talking to Sakura. "It's easy not to eat food you don't like, isn't it? Especially when you have a choice. Want a secret? The same refers to other spheres of life, if you understand what I mean".
End of flashback
'Fuck you, it's easy for you to say. You know nothing. You don't feel things that I feel... You have never felt this way...'
It was getting dark with each passing minute. The heat retreated ceding to nice breeze, that would so pleasantly play with one's skin, taking the tiredness away and granting freshness. It was getting louder, and too cheerful for her mood, so Sakura decided to leave for somewhere more quieter.
She kept walking ignoring everyone she'd pass by, not paying attention to any voices, dove deep into her thoughts.
"Did you buy anything?" Ino's voice made her fell out of her thoughts. She didn't even notice her friend approaching her, until she spoke.
"Nothing". She answered to let her know she wasn't angry with her, and it was ok to talk, hoping to disguise her thoughts and mood.
"What about you?"
"Nothing".
They walked together in silence, passing familiar alleys, shops, people, that only Ino would greet, and stopped only in the middle of the bridge. Many years ago, they'd claimed that bridge as 'their place', where they would talk about things that nowhere else could be spoken, and the river would take away their secrets and thoughts, not telling even a soul.
But as it seemed Sakura wasn't going to talk anytime sooner, so Ino started to look around to find something interesting. Everything and everyone was in a perfect harmony right at the moment. She'd seen many of those evenings during last years, and could never get enough of those. That was the world they had fought for all together. Children knowing no war, civilians walking careless, singing drunk across the road. She laughed nudging Sakura.
"Look at them. Doesn't this remind you anything?" Sakura stared at the drunk group a minute longer, but, as if reading Ino's mind, covered her eyes with her palm.
"Ah! Don't'...".
They started their long conversation with numerous 'do you remember?'s. That drunk company reminded them about one of their own drunk karaoke nights, when they'd woken up next morning in a totally strange apartment, with totally naked and totally strange boys. After sneaking out of there, they had spent entire day trying to remember anything else but the song 'Happy birthday to you' they surely had been singing. That night was a secret to die with.
"God! When did we last have fun together?" Sakura asked wiping off the teardrop that rolled down her right eye from laughing hard.
"When we were twenty".
"Five years ago? That was five years ago... That was the year of my first..." Sakura paused to think, "...many things. I got drunk and experienced my first hangover, I lost my virginity, I got dumped right after sex... I learned how to seduce a bartender to get a drink for free... I'm so tired..." the last phrase made Ino stop giggling. "So sick of it, right now". Sakura's voice got new dark colors that Ino recognized immediately. She placed her hand on top of Sakura's to give it a sincere and understanding stroke. "I'm never good enough, have never been, starting with Sasuke", Sakura stared at water running its unknown and far destination. "Some guy told me, that the first thing men pay attention to is woman's hair, so I grew them. Another one told me that a woman should be fragile and weak, so that the man would want to protect her; so I acted weak. Do you know what happened? A guy asked who did I sleep with to get my rank".
"You should've killed him" Ino couldn't keep to herself.
"Another one told me that I wasn't an interesting company, he didn't have anything to talk to me about; so I turned into a nerve wad with sweaty palms and underarms, who couldn't think of anything else but what to say next". Ino's heart was filling with sadness with every shared word.
"Then I met a woman, who told me to be myself, and accept myself, that I am the key to my happiness, that it's all about how you feel about yourself, not the others".
"She was right" Ino broke in.
"It's not working either".
"You must be kidding!" Ino's voice got louder. "Didn't you notice?" Sakura arched her brow waiting for explanation. "When did you last come across a scum?"
"Mmm..." Sakura wasn't sure if she needed to answer or no.
"Remember last guys that asked you out? They were nice, at least you told me so".
"Yeah, but..."
"No buts! Your magnet of men started to pull right ones, don't you think it means that you're on a right way?"
"I never went out with them for the second time".
"Then they were not good enough".
Now both girls bent over the railing. "You deserve the best". Ino went on. "Just find out what's the best for you and go for it. That may sound awkward, but that taught me my dad". Both fell into a short silence. "Never agree to take less than you deserve, no matter how long you need to wait for it. When it comes, it will knock you out with all its fierce, and you willingly will allow that to happen".
"Sounds like you've already experienced it". Maybe that was stupid to say, as Ino was going out with Sai, but Sakura said anyway.
"Even if Sasuke fucking Uchiha knelt down right here, right now, with a ring in his hands, asking me to marry him, I'd turn him down without a second thought". A warm smile shone on Sakura's face. "You'll find him too", Ino wrapped her arms around Sakura's shoulders engaging her into a hug. "You'll recognize him immediately, he'll be the one who accepts you, and who you accept, who admires you, and gets the same in return, who supports you, doesn't afraid of the beastly strength of yours..."
Sakura mumbled something about being thankful and returned the hug.
"Enough of sad, come!" Ino pulled away and started walking, beckoning Sakura to do so as well.
"W-where are we going?" Not long after it was clear where they were going. Before Sakura would resist, they entered through open doors into a small hall, then into the main hall. Smoke, music and alcohol, a lot of it. It brought more nostalgia.
"Why don't we stay for a while?" Ino grabbed Sakura's hand not to lose her in the crowd as she moved in.
"Wait, what are we doing here?"
"Let's see what's going on".
"Ino..." Sakura pulled her hand back in order to stop Ino from going further.
"Oh, please forehead, you said yourself, it's been five years now, we can have a little fun, can't we? Besides, it seems to be someone's birthday! We always can invite ourselves". Two girls exchanged glances and chuckled before disappearing in the crowd, mingling with them, becoming a part of it.
It was past midnight when two girls got out of the bar laughing loudly. Ino had her long hair done into a bun, and the edge of her long purple skirt was rolled up and tied around her hips. Sakura's shirt had turned into a top, and her hair were wet and messy. They made a beeline down the street singing and laughing together, until it was time to go different directions.
"Love ya pig!" Ino waved goodbye and went on singing.
"You are the pig" Sakura called to her, and kept waving back for another minute. Now she was alone in the street. 'Night' she thought to herself and decided that she wanted nothing more than to sleep, so going home seemed the best idea. She looked around to make sure she wouldn't go wrong way, then nodded to herself and walked. Mostly it was silent outside. Once in awhile laughter or spoken few words could be heard here and there.
Feeling of fullness in her stomach kept Sakura slow, as she trudged through the narrow alleys, sometimes humming under her breath, sometimes giggling at swimming images of buildings, acknowledging that she was more drunk than she meant to be. Now it was even harder to stay awake. Still she had to keep her eyes on the buildings, not to miss hers.
The images were replacing each other in front of her eyes, when one of them seemed more familiar than the others. She stopped and narrowed her eyes to stabilize the image. "Good job". She threw her fist up in the air lacking the enthusiasm and hurried inside. Usually it would take around thirty minutes to walk home from the street she'd separated from Ino, but she wasn't in a condition to count.
Not long after Sakura was in front of her door, trying to find the stubborn key, which was in one of four pockets she had. She hopped and twirled fumbling in her pockets to get it, but it simply refused to be found. About three minutes later a loud "Ha!" sounded in the quiet night, as her fingers finally mingled with the metal implement. Her activity made her head spin even more, and she had to stretch her hands forward to find her balance again. 'Strange', Sakura thought to herself looking at her neighbors' door. Something seemed different but what exactly she couldn't tell. Why bother? She had the key now, it was time to get inside. Only that turned out to be more difficult than she would imagine. Once she tried to turn the key inside the lock, twice, but it was stuck. Could the situation be worse? She tightened her fist and got ready to smash the door into pieces, when imaginary light-bulb appeared above her head making her stop her current action. The window. She could get in through the window easily, no matter how drunk she was. "Haruno you're genius". Regaining last drops of her energy, she ran downstairs to the part of the building, where her windows looked at. 'There's a new grocery store!' Sakura noticed the new construction, that turned to be a huge help. She concentrated chakra under her feet as much as she could in her condition and jumped up, first onto the roof of the store, then onto the window frame. "Pieceacake" she mumbled under her breath, and stepping on the floor kicked her boots off. Finally she got to her bed, nothing could stand between her and her happiness now.
Not bothering to take her clothes off, Sakura just threw herself on her bed, and closed her eyes. There was a song in her head playing repeatedly, the same 'Happy birthday to you' song, and it wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried. There were many voices singing the song, then it got interrupted because someone coughed. Then they sang again, and she started to sing along, but someone coughed again. 'Get outa here' she said to the coughing person in her head, so that they could sing on, but the voice not only didn't get out, but started to call her name. "Sakura", she heard the voice saying. "Hm" she answered irritated, not sure in her head or in real too. Then it went silent and everyone started singing again. 'Happy birthday to you!' She was singing along, but suddenly everything and everyone went quiet again, and she felt an earthquake. 'Where did everyone go?' Someone was calling her name. She knew that voice. She definitely knew that voice, that was sounding louder and louder in her head. "Kakashi!" Sakura smiled saying his name, as if it was the sweetest word in the world.
Something touched her skin tickling it. Then it was pressed firmly to her cheek caressing her slowly, building a carving to touch someone in return.
"Sakura wake up".
'What's going on?' Sakura tried to open her eyes blinking several times trying to adjust to the dark.
"Hey" Came Kakashi's voice again, and it didn't seem like in dream anymore. It was clear, and close, unexpected and real.
"Kakashi?" Sakura asked still not trusting her mind. The burning sensation on her face moved slowly and disappeared.
Kakashi didn't have any plans for that evening. He just went to buy some food, and spend the rest of the evening on reading, sitting on his window still, enjoying the breeze. Close to midnight he went to take a quick shower, and went to sleep. It was supposed to be an ordinary end of an ordinary day. One thing he wasn't expecting was a drunk girl murmuring 'happy birthday to you' in his bed. What are the chances to open your eyes in the middle of the night, still half asleep, and see how your former student is throwing herself onto your bed. It took some time to fully wake up, and a sniff to understand what was going on.
"Ahem, ahem" Kakashi coughed trying to bring her to conscious, but the girl didn't seem to listen. He couldn't help but smile when she started to sing 'happy birthday to you'. He pushed himself up on his elbow, and continued enjoying her performance. That could've been a perfect birthday present for him, only his birthday was to be in a two and a half months.
He had to rouse her though, despite liking the way things were. He shook her, and called her name too, repeatedly, but nothing could wake the girl up. He watched her murmuring something under her breath again smiling. She looked so young, so beautiful, so drunk, and so capable to awake a desire in him. Before he knew it, he reached to touch her cheek.
"Sakura wake up", he said a little louder than before, still it was more like a whisper, but as much as he could see in the dim light of his bedroom, she started to open her eyes. "Hey". Kakashi took his hand from her cheek and spoke carefully, not knowing how would she react. He was half prepared for dodging a fierce punch.
"Kakashi?"
"Are you alright?"
Sakura made a moan-like sound bringing her sight into focus . She looked at the man in front of her, clearly not understanding what was going on. But then, unexpectedly for him, threw her arms around his neck pulling towards herself.
"You came to visit me!? It's been long since we've hanged out together". She buried her face in his neck while talking, sending shivers down his body.
"S-Sakura... wait, wait, it's..." That was an attack he wasn't prepared for. One of his hands was trapped between their bodies, touching something curvy and soft. Kakashi tried pushing Sakura away, but instead collapsed on top of her not being able to keep his balance. She slipped one arm under his arm to hug his back, her second arm went to rest on his head keeping some long strands from falling down on his face.
"God! You smell so good", another whisper, but this time it was accompanied with light kiss on his throat. It took him whole lot of willpower to push away, but he managed to. Pinning Sakura on the mattress with one hand, and keeping himself away from her with another, Kakashi tried to digest the situation. So, he had a drunk, crazy, hot, and, as it seemed, turned on Sakura in his bed, or rather all over himself, and he had to deal with it the right way. Before he could think what would be the right solution, Sakura reached for him again pulling downwards.
"You know, I've been feeling all those things around you", this time her words were followed by wet kisses first to his cheek, then to his mouth.
"Sakura!" Kakashi turned his face to avoid kisses, but it definitely was getting harder to resist.
"Wait!" Sakura stopped kissing and started touching his bare face, as if just realizing that he wasn't wearing a mask. Actually it took a bit longer for her to realize that he wasn't wearing a shirt, an undershirt, or pants, but first to the face. She touched his cheeks, nose, then slid her fingers to his chin, and up to touch his lips. Kakashi took Sakura's hand into his in order to prevent from exploration, but you don't need your hands free to kiss someone, do you?
"You don't have fish lips" Sakura's words were barely audible in the silence of the night. It seemed like she was about to sleep, Kakashi took the chance to roll off of her.
"You don't want me... Why don't you want me?" This time there were no aggressive attacks or kisses. Sakura turned to his side and placed her hand on his muscular bicep. Sad tones of her voice made Kakashi feel guilty. Even though he knew that her mood would change in a minute, but he couldn't bare even a minute having her sad. He turned to face her, but anything had was about to say were lost between soft lips. Her cold fingertips slid their way down his chest and to his waist, pulling his warm body close.
The kiss lasted long enough for Kakashi to occupy his place back on top of her. His hand caressed his way down from her bare waist to her thigh, as her sharp teeth sank into his flash.
"Don't" he breathed out when She bit his neck then, earning a low moan. It was getting harder to control himself with every passing second, every stroke and every kiss.
"You came to visit me naked!" Sakura broke her lips from his to speak, as if just noticing that. Kakashi sighed remembering how drunk she was, and how dangerously close he was to crossing lines. He had gotten in the mood himself, which was no good at all. A long moment of pause fell between them, which Kakashi used to compose his thoughts. He searched for the outline of her parted lips. The sweet lips he didn't get enough of. He could only imagine her eyes. Her beautiful eyes he could look at forever. And her body, that seemed so fragile and petite against his, the one that he would like to keep close.
"Look..." Kakashi lowered his head until their foreheads met each other. "Look, you have no idea how much I want you", he touched her lips with his own, but didn't kiss. He shifted her leg a little bit to make more room for himself between her legs, then pushed his hips forward to show how much exactly he wanted her. Sakura melted in his arms. No one had ever made her feel that way, sober or drunk.
"But we can't do it, I can't do it, not now. Not when you're drunk". He kissed her cheek, and dipped his hips into hers one more time, "When we finally do it, we'll do it slow and long in this bed, then fast and hard against a wall, and I'll make you remember every second of it". Sakura felt speechless. She needed longer time to understand his whispered words, and while she'd do that, he was gone. Sakura felt cold despite the worm night. She missed his weight on her body, and his breath, and his touch, but the urge to sleep won eventually, so she closed her eyes obeying her body.
Sakura felt thirst first. It felt like she'd lived in a desert without water for weeks. Next she felt headache, like hundreds of bombs were exploding in her head nonstop. She moved, but her body felt like a rock. It felt like she was carrying something heavy on her shoulder. It was time to face her hangover. She opened one eye, then second and looked. Those were her fingers? She'd never noticed before how manly her fingers looked with short cut nails and bold skinned fingertips. She closed her eyes again. It was hot. Her back felt like on fire.
The sore shoulder, burning hot back, thirst and headache were still there when Sakura opened her eyes for the second time, and of course her fingers. If they belonged to a man, they'd be attractive. But she wasn't a man, they were supposed to be different. She tried to move her hand out of her sight, but the feeling of heaviness was still there on her shoulder, making it hard to move. So she had to look at her hand. There was a scar that she got... she didn't know where did she get it. She looked closely. To think of it, her hand and wrist seemed larger. Her veins were not so visible, that she remembered for sure. Then it was simple - it wasn't her hand at all.
Sakura closed her eyes trying to remember whether she was working that day or no. She wouldn't want to be late. But right in the middle of that thought realization pricked her as a needle, causing to jump up unloading the heaviness from her shoulder. 'A man's hand!?' She automatically pulled the sheet to cover herself and froze, when someone shifted next to her. That someone's legs were long, and she could clearly see them, so there was no way it could've been a kitten or a puppy she found last night and brought home with her. She slowly traced up to the part, where his body was covered with the same sheet, then his bare back, which carried small scars here and there. So that meant he was a shinobi just like her. She swallowed hard, but her throat and mouth were dry. She closed her eyes and opened again, hoping he would be gone, but he was still there. She continued her observation. He had a pale skin, and no hair on his back. That part she liked. And he had broad shoulders, which she liked too. He had an ANBU tattoo too. Then her eyes moved upper to his neck, silver hair, back to the arm, that was stretched so that his bicep was hiding his face. 'He's hot', Sakura had to shake away that thought. How inappropriate her thoughts could be. She had someone in her bed, she needed to kick him out, not admire his body.
His tattoo, and silver hair... 'Silver?' She freaked out. That was painfully familiar. Panic started to get over her. 'What do I do? What do I do?!' She hugged the sheet closer, but to her big surprise found her clothes still on. Both shirt and pants. 'Run!' Her brain ordered the first thing that seemed rational at the moment, but someone would've said 'not so fast'.
"Morning". His voice poured down like a cold shower making Sakura shiver. A pair of confused green eyes moved to meet a lazy, dark gray one, that was fixed on her, taking her breath away so not in a romantic way. He had a scar across his eye, so if a moment ago she could've hoped for that man Not to be Kakashi, now the chances were none.
"W-what are you doing here?" 'Oh my God! Holy... we slept together... what's worse? That I slept with him, or that I don't remember it?' Inside her head inner Sakura was pulling out her hair, and punching herself for being so stupid. She'd screwed up. If only life was justify, it would open up the ground and swallow her, making everyone forget she'd ever existed.
'It's going to be fun' Kakashi put on his lazy expression, not to sound excited. "Live..."
'What? Nonsense'. Sakura needed to take her time. "Since when?"
"Since I've bought it".
Yes, that sounded meaningless to Sakura. She looked around. Here, the bookshelves, she had bookshelves, only in the living room, not in the bedroom, and the door, that was different, and the closet, the curtains, in one word - everything was different. That was too much for her mined brain. She fell on her back on the bed covering her eyes with her arm. She needed time to understand everything. So, how worse did the situation become? 'Not much', her bedroom, his bedroom... she was sure she didn't mind it while sleeping with Kakashi. She shivered. 'How did it feel?' She imagined them being in one another's arms making love... 'With your clothes on?' She asked herself. Now it was disappointing somehow. She'd forgotten that her clothes were still on, so probably nothing had happened. 'He's not wearing anything' her inner self prompted her. Sakura moved her forearm, that was still covering her eyes, just enough to look at him. She'd love to have that body for herself. But first things first.
"What happened last night?"
Kakashi, obviously, didn't have much time to think of possible answers he could've given her. He didn't feel like saying 'You came in through the window, then we made out, and, yeah, I wanted to fuck you. But nothing happened'. That didn't sound good in his head, and he was sure it would sound worse, if he said that out loud. But he wasn't going to hide the truth either, was he?
"Take a shower first", he pushed himself up and sat on the edge of his bed facing his back to Sakura. It lasted a brief moment, but was enough for Sakura to notice three things. First, Kakashi had a mole on his chin, which she found sexy, second, he was buying time, and third, he had fresh red marks on his neck and shoulder. Could that have been her?
Daylight stung Sakura's eyes the moment she stepped out of bathroom. She closed them not to see millions of stars around the place, and covered with a hand leaving only a small gap between her fingers to find the way to bedroom. Without asking Kakashi's permission, she took one of his shirts to put on, silently counting how many times she'd done that. It smelt fresh.
She didn't dry her hair to feel fresh for a longer time, but still had headache, and a feeling that she'd vomit any second.
Kakashi sat on his couch comfortably pretending to read his book, while Sakura would take a shower. Once he thought that maybe he shouldn't tell Sakura anything about last night,but hiding didn't seem a good choice too, simply because he wanted her to know.
"I saw your face". Came a voice that distinctly reminded Sakura's. She threw herself on the couch, and comfortably adjusted her head in Kakashi's lap.
"You didn't". He didn't even take his eyes away from the book.
"You have a mole right here", saying that she put her finger on his chin indicating the spot where she remembered it. 'The sexy mole' she thought excited with the fact that she had actually seen his face.
"You might've seen only the left half, that doesn't count". Kakashi looked at now pouting Sakura, and irresistible desire to kiss her rose in him. He swallowed hard as images from last night blurred his vision. Her taste mixed with alcohol, her skin, her lips on his, on his neck and shoulders, her cold hands on his back. How he wanted her to remember everything just like him. It was hard to control himself not to pull her closer and take right then and there. He bit and licked his lower lip under his mask, hoping to feel her, but her taste was long gone.
"So, tell". Sakura spoke again. She was nervous and maybe a little bit afraid to hear details of the night. She just prayed she hadn't done something worse, than breaking in to his apartment in the middle of the night.
"To tell what?"
"What happened last night?" she tried to find Kakashi's eyes, but he persistently refused to break them from the book. Only his thoughts were all about the pink haired girl in his shirt, who apparently had just snatched the book out from his hands as he started to stare at a plain wall.
"Well..." he looked up at the ceiling as if thinking, "I don't even know where to start". Then he looked down at her face, that was giving away her curiosity and impatience. "You promised to cook for me every day..." Sakura's eyes widened, "and clean my place..." she started giggling, "and take care of my dear pups..."
"You're such a liar!" Sakura sat up. She leaned forward to put his book on the coffee table, and sat back tugging one leg under herself. She didn't suspect what view she was offering Kakashi in that position.
Kakashi found it hard to distract himself from Sakura's inviting thighs, making a mental note not to let her wear any of his shirts anymore, unless it's after sex. 'Yeah, after sex is ok'. So, as it was settled, he could go back to answering her.
"Why? Do you remember anything?" Kakashi never considered that possibility knowing Sakura well, and Sakura knew she couldn't bluff, he just wouldn't buy it. She stuck her tongue out making a face, and that was more than enough of an answer.
"You promised half of your salary from each mission..." Kakashi went on with the list of things Sakura had 'promised' him. "Foot massages for me..."
"I didn't!" Sakura broke in.
"You did. You asked me out, but I don't remember that was before or after you proposed me".
"No way!" Sakura was intending to pinch his hand, but his next words made her stop.
"You kissed me". There was a long and tense moment of dead silence. Sakura looked at his calm eyes. She didn't know how to react.
"And... w-what did you do?" she wanted to stay calm herself, but her heart wouldn't agree. She wondered if Kakashi could see through her, see how was it pounding fiercely within her chest, like she was going to lose it any second. 'So the red marks...'
"Nothing much..." he murmured each word separate, and leaned forward.
'Nothing much?' Now she just waited for his next words, without daring to let any more thoughts to be born in her head. She didn't even notice how his hand reached to take hers, or how his no longer masked lips gently touched the spot under her ear. And only the whispered words echoed in her head, "Nothing much to stop you". Then there was nothing. It was dark. She couldn't breathe. Why? She couldn't feel her own body. It felt like she wasn't real, and consisted only from confused thoughts. 'What's going on? Right... Kakashi'. She felt her heartbeat. At first it drummed loudly in her ears, slowly calming down, going back to its normal pace. Something warm, wet, and soft... what was that? She tried to trace the source of the sensation, that took her to her lips. 'Sweet', she wanted to touch it, she needed to touch it. Only when her hand made contact with something firm, she felt the second body pressed to hers. Someone's breath and lips... 'He's kissing me! That's him!" She moved her lips slowly, but the feeling didn't disappear, it was still there. He was still there, kissing her. Sakura gave in. Their lips started their passionate and harmonic dance, building more and more desire in both of them. She ran her fingers through his hair biting slightly on his lip. He felt and kissed even better than she'd imagine. When they broke apart, Kakashi just pulled her body close, and into his lap, holding her gently, playing with her dump hair, caressing her arms, back, her bare legs that were still so seductively calling for him, pouring light kisses all over her neck, lips and cheeks.
Now they had crossed the line of friendship, officially, stepping onto the lane of... of what? Lovers? Friends/lovers? Best friends? He couldn't say that he loved her. That was complicated, but he'd figure out. They would figure out. Together.
Hey guys! just wanted to tell that next chapter's gonna be the last one, and I need a hittle help. I can't decide between making my story M rated, and leaving T rated, so if you feel like giving some advice, feel free to do so!
