My vacation's over... BUT I'm back with a new chapter! :D
Enjoy.
Sakura looked at her closed door for a while before she turned and went to bed. She stared at the ceiling, trying to empty her head but too many thoughts kept popping up in her mind. Every time Kakashi had been here she could at least read some emotions in his face, but today it was utterly blank. She could take that he didn't talk to her, but that he showed no emotion at all was creepy. She tossed and turned for about four hours before she sighed defeated and stood up.
"What a mess," she muttered as she went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.
She had known that he wouldn't take it well, but that he blocked her out like that was something she never expected. He was even nasty to his pack according to Pakkun, and that really bothered her. Sighing she went out on her balcony, her steaming mug in both hands. Sakura sat down and looked up into the night sky. What triggered his reaction? Sighing she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.
As the sun rose and the first rays reached her on the balcony her head shot up and unbelievingly she looked at her clock.
"And on to another exhausting day," she said and went in to get ready.
On her way to the academy she mentally went through her to-do-list for the day. She needed to check up on Iruka again and she wanted to make a blood status from Kakashi.
"Best thing to do would be to drag that pigheaded fellow into the hospital first; the lab should be finished with the status once I'm done with Iruka," she muttered to herself and stopped abrupt as one of the teachers called out her name and hurried up the corridor to meet her. She had been too lost in thought and was surprised that she already had reached her destination; luckily her subconscious had been leading her on auto pilot.
"Sakura-san!" he called out a little irritated. "How come you reserved training ground six for the whole week?"
He waved a form in front of her nose and with an irritated frown she snatched it out of his hand and started to read. The frown got deeper as she found her name on the bottom of said form.
"I didn't…" she started.
"Then explain! I was planning on using this training ground!"
"What the…" she bit out but both of them got distracted as the door to Iruka's classroom slid open.
"Glad to see that Tsunade authorized my request," Kakashi drawled and picked the form out of Sakura's slackening fingers.
"By the way, if you want to use a training ground I suggest you write it onto the planning board, no one can smell ideas."
With that he retreated back into the classroom and Sakura shortly looked at the flabbergasted man in front of her. As he continued to glare at her she simply shrugged and followed her former sensei. After closing the door behind herself she glared at the silver haired man.
"What was that?" she nearly growled.
"What was what?" he tried to sound nonchalant.
"Why did you do that? Using my name for this!" she pointed annoyed at the form he still held in his hand.
"You're the appointed fill-in, are you not? It was rational to use your name," Kakashi stated with a shrug.
"As are you, if I have to remind you," Sakura snapped angrily. "And how about you let me in on your ideas?"
"I haven't seen you arguing as I brought the leaves to class last week."
"Kakashi, don't start that with me now! You complained like a little kid and Ibiki had to haul you in. You showed more than just obviously how it pisses you off that you are stuck in the same room with me and that you don't want to teach!"
"Ibiki didn't haul me in," he bit out and she threw her arms in the air.
"Whatever! Then corralled you, might even be the better word in your case!"
"What's the problem with me not wanting to be here?!" Kakashi nearly shouted in her face.
"The only problem I have is that you're acting like a prick!"
Both glared at each other, no one wanted to back down, but a shy cough from the door forced both of them to move. Some of the students stood there, stunned and shocked at the thick atmosphere. Sakura instantly relaxed and shook her head, breaking the tension and waving them to enter.
"The last word isn't spoken yet," she bit out low enough so only Kakashi could hear it.
His muttered 'bite me' luckily went unheard. Slowly the rest of the students arrived and as the last one sat down Sakura leant against the desk.
"Apparently we have a slight change of plans for this week," she gestured towards Kakashi and slapped on a sickly sweet smile as she looked at him. "Care to explain?"
"Of course," he replied just as sweet towards her, before he looked towards the students.
"Theoretical knowledge alone is of no use and with the upcoming tests its best if you have some hands-on experience."
The students looked at him agog and he couldn't help but be reminded how they resembled Naruto in his younger years.
"So instead of learning indoors we will be practicing outdoors on training ground six for the rest of the week. Starting today, so move it," he said and the whole class erupted in cheers.
Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed herself away from the desk before she turned to glare at Kakashi.
"Just so you know, this is your call. I'll only be watching. And I expect you at the hospital after school for your blood status, no excuses or whining."
"Yes, ma'am," he drawled and then limped out of the room, not waiting for Sakura to follow.
'God, he can test the patience of a saint,' Sakura thought and shook her head. It was hard for her to reign herself in, but beating the shit out of him right now wasn't an option. After heaving a sigh she headed for the training grounds.
To say that the students were beside themselves was an understatement; they were bouncing around and chatting excitedly. Telling them to sit still would be beyond cruel, and Sakura couldn't help but smile softly at their behavior, since it reminded her strongly of her academy time and how they had acted before classes they loved. She waited until they all were silent and Kakashi explained what he wanted them to do.
Within a blink of an eye she felt like the twelve year old again, who had listened to exactly the same explanation. The irony tasted bitter that today like back then he had to walk on crutches. A faint smile graced her lips as she saw the stunned awe of Irukas' students, knowing exactly how they felt. It was indeed impressing if you witnessed the calm and composed demeanor of an injured Kakashi while he walked towards and up a tree as if it was nothing. Some of the kids even shrieked when he stopped walking, fearing he would fall down for sure, but instead he continued with his explanation upside down on a rather thin branch utterly unfazed.
'Show-off,' Sakura thought without malice, but that's how he was, leading through example.
As he was finished with his explanation and was back on solid ground he handed out the kunai, since the academy had a strict no-weapons policy; they were allowed only for training and the students had to use academy's property, bringing their own was prohibited. For good reason.
Sakura sat down and kept her eyes on the kids. Like in every class you had a handful that picked it up immediately and were able to implement what they just learnt, others tried and some fooled around. Though the latter stopped as soon as they noticed that no one paid attention since they were too focused on trying to do what Kakashi had just shown.
Usually you had to admonish them to pay attention, but today Sakura had to order them to take a break. Seeing them all so focused on their task was refreshing, surely something that would cheer Iruka up when she told him this afternoon, but they needed to be held back from overdoing it. It was just Tuesday, and Sakura could only guess how the week would go on and end.
Only twice she had to correct a few of them, otherwise they were doing fine. Sadly that left her with too much time to think. A side glance towards Kakashi left her frowning; he was just as indifferent as he had been yesterday evening. He never had been much of a talker, but he had never been this distant either. Even Naruto affirmed it, which kept her worrying, since he was usually the one who could bring everyone to open up.
"We'll meet right here tomorrow morning, you don't need to go to the academy or wait for us there," Kakashi said and the kids all nodded before they cheeringly went home.
"Hospital. Now," Sakura said and stared at him, daring him to refuse the demand, but he didn't.
He didn't even nod his head before he turned and started to walk. Again his reaction surprised her, but Sakura remained silent. Bitching wouldn't aid the situation, she knew that too well. Heaving a silent sigh she followed him, keeping her gaze fixed on the back of his head though she didn't really see him.
When was it that he became a stranger?
Sakura frowned at that thought, but for the moment it appeared to her that she'd best treat him just like that: a stranger. This way she could stay objective and wouldn't allow herself to treat him badly, which surely would gnaw on her conscience sooner rather than later. As they reached the hospital he allowed her to take the lead and followed her up to her treatment room.
Kakashi watched how she prepared her instruments with cold efficiency. Her fingers felt cold as she rolled up the sleeve of his sweater, and he didn't dare to look at her face as she placed the tourniquet on his upper arm. Even though he would never admit it under torture he feared what he would see there. He knew he was being an utter dickhead, but he couldn't bring himself to stop either. A small voice inside told him exactly what he would see should he actually look: blankness. That wasn't Sakura, no. Sakura was caring, Sakura was afraid sometimes, but first and foremost Sakura was alive. On her face - or at least in her eyes - he always saw emotions. Sometimes they lingered, and sometimes they only shortly surfaced, yet they were always there, one way or another. There had only been one time when she showed blankness, only once during the war, and he - like everyone who knew her - feared that she would break, break beyond healing.
Inwardly he cursed himself for going too far, for pushing her away like he did. Damn, it hurt him to do so, but keeping her close after he saw... no, that hurt even more. He knew how it felt to hold someone dear and then have to let go. Been there and back again, and once certainly was enough. He felt the swab wipe over the crook of his arm and how her finger tapped on the skin to get the vein to come forth and didn't blink as the needle pierced his skin. Kakashi kept his gaze focused on his arm, waiting for her to finish. As she placed another swab on his arm before pulling the needle back out, he finally allowed himself a small movement. She didn't have to say anything; he knew that he had to press it down.
"I'll give you the results as soon as I have them," Sakura said dismissively and he stood up.
"You know where to find me," he muttered as he walked towards the door.
"Usually," she replied just as silent. And as he was already out the door she added: "But that doesn't mean much nowadays, does it?"
"How are you doing?" Sakura asked and Iruka smiled in response.
"Actually I'm doing fine, thank you. Unlike you, it seems."
"That obvious?" she asked back and he hummed in response.
"With you? Not anymore, no. But if you're spacing out it is something to go by, it's a smart guess. What happened?"
Iruka had propped himself up on the couch and looked at her.
"Please, Sakura, be honest."
Sakura chewed on her lower lip for a while before she sighed and shook her head.
"To be perfectly honest Kakashi is driving me crazy. This morning he had been acting the prick again, and then he switched to being indifferent like yesterday when I changed his bandages. Somehow I knew how I had to handle him, but now… it's like he's slipping away."
Iruka looked at her for a long moment and watched how she wrung her fingers together, an old habit she still had and a good indicator for her inner turmoil. A soft smile graced his lips and he leant back into the cushions again.
"He'll come around," he said silently.
"I try to convince myself of that, but somehow I don't believe it. There is 'blocking out' and 'distanced'. The latter was how he always had been and the first is what he's doing now. I had the feeling that Naruto and I had managed to get past all his barriers, but right now I'm not so sure about it anymore," Sakura explained and Iruka chuckled.
"The two of you are closer to him than anybody else, trust me. Maybe that's the reason why he's acting like that. I'm sure he knows that you only have the best intentions in mind, but right now he doesn't want to see it. Kakashi is one of those people who always think the lowest of themselves; he doesn't see the value he has. To him – I guess – it's incomprehensible why anyone wants to make a fuss about him."
"You think that's why?" she asked and he shrugged.
"It would be something I could imagine," he said. "I may know him longer than you do, but you know him better."
"But you are good at reading people, better than we are," Sakura pointed out.
"Ever heard about something called 'female intuition'?" Iruka joked and she smiled slightly.
"Yeah, rings a bell."
"Don't wreck your head about his behavior, you won't find an answer yourself. You'll only understand him should he decide to explain, and knowing that he can be rather stubborn I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. Just keep doing what you're doing now, that'll help him the most."
"I do my best. I decided to treat him like any other patient, it's hard but it allows me to stay objective. Let's just hope this doesn't go on forever," Sakura sighed and Iruka laughed out.
"Na-ah, I don't think so. He likes you too much. Don't project his antics on yourself, that's solely him."
"Alright, I'll trust you on that. Now, aren't you curious about your students?" she teased and then lapsed into a centralization of what and how they were doing.
As she was finished he sat there with a smirk and she cocked a brow at him.
"What?"
"You do realize that you are raising the bar for me, don't you?" he asked amused.
"Oh, I haven't thought about that," she ducked her head and he laughed again.
"Never mind, Sakura," he smiled softly. "I'm proud of my students. It's good to hear that they not only understand what you explain to them, but that they are also able to implement it. Tsunade-sama chose wisely."
"Ah…" Sakura muttered and blushed. "We only try to not disappoint you."
"You're doing well," Iruka reassured her. "But if I may give you some advice? Don't start to doubt yourself and your course of action. Stay firm and he'll come around, he only needs time."
"I will try, but it's hard," she said silently.
"You're stronger than that, Sakura. If anyone is able to stand strong and wait, it's you."
