THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I SERIOUSLY LOVE ALL OF YOU GUYS!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
[RECAP FROM PREVIOUS CHAPTER]
"Fubuki, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say-" Fubuki raised a hand to silence her.
"No. Just don't. This was my answer."
As Kakashi watched the exchange with wide eyes, he realized that he had not been caught. Sakura had said his name instead of that guy's when he was kissing her.
He felt a strange feeling in his chest.
What the hell was happening?
Kakashi was so shocked that he almost didn't teleport away in time when an upset Sakura ran out of the alley, almost in tears.
...
CHAPTER NINE
Kakashi walked through his apartment in a slight daze. He unknowingly made his way to his living room, sitting down on his worn couch. From the bedroom, Pakkun raised his head at the sound of Kakashi's return. He waited to hear that familiar sound of Kakashi pouring his favorite food into his bowl, but it never came.
Pakkun jumped off the bed and trotted into the kitchen. He looked to his empty bowl and then over to the couch where he heard a long sigh coming from Kakashi.
"Hey boss?" Pakkun called but received no answer. He made his way into the living room to see a rather uncharacteristic look adorning Kakashi's face.
"Kakashi?" Kakashi jerked to alertness looking down at his little friend. Pakkun was slightly surprised that he had actually caught Kakashi off guard for once. Kakashi cleared his throat.
"Yeah, Pakkun? What is it?" Pakkun motioned his head towards the bag that still rested in Kakashi's lap.
"My kibble?" Kakashi looked down slowly noticing the dog food.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I'll give you some now." Kakashi said as he stood and walked over to Pakkun's bowl.
Kakashi opened the bag, pouring a heaping pile into the dish. Pakkun trotted over quickly and began to greedily eat his food, but stopped suddenly, looking up when he heard another sigh come from Kakashi. He was standing in the kitchen just staring out the window, lost in thought. It was so unlike him.
"Hey boss, is everything alright?" Kakashi turned and smiled.
"Yeah, I was just thinking about something." Pakkun raised a brow.
"Must be a pretty 'big' something. You've been out of it since your came back. Did something happen?" Kakashi looked down to his friend as he took a seat in one of the stools situated around his bar. 'What had happened?' He felt that same jolting feeling in his chest again. The feeling was so confusing, and being confused wasn't like him at all. He just needed to forget that weird exchange he had witnessed in the alley. It was affecting him far to much for his liking. Besides, it could have been a mistake. Maybe he had heard her wrong, or maybe she had just said his name by mistake. Kakashi shook his head at that thought. People didn't just accidentally say their sensei's name while being kissed. He had to have miss-heard her then.
"Nothing happened." Pakkun didn't buy it and kept staring. After a few moments, Kakashi huffed.
"I was just thinking about Sakura. I met her in the village before coming home. So as I said, It's nothing." Pakkun nodded but continued to stare.
"I would appreciate it if you would quit staring at me as if I was some criminal." Kakashi said as he stood from his seat. "Sure thing, kid." Pakkun said before he went back to eating.
...
Sakura sat on her bed lost in a wave of emotions. She should never have agreed to go out with Fubuki. She had hurt him by leading him on. She had kissed him back and he had thought that she liked kissing him but in actuality the only reason she responded to the kiss was because she let her fantasies of Kakashi wonder in that moment, and she hurt a friend because of it.
Her and Ino could never go to that café again. She couldn't face him after what she did. She needed to get these feelings she had for Kakashi under control. It would be best to burry them, but the mere thought of doing so made her heart clinch. Ino had told her that she should listen to her heart. Her heart, it seemed didn't want to forget her feelings for him. In fact, she was pretty sure that her heart was telling her to run as fast as she could to his apartment and confess her love on the spot.
Her love….
The feeling she got inside her chest at that thought alerted her to the reality of it all. This was never just a crush. Never just a fleeting feeling.
She was in love with Kakashi.
She felt her face heat up as the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She sighed. She couldn't think about this anymore right now. She had already had a pretty emotionally taxing day as it was without deciding whether or not she should tell him how she felt.
She stood from her bed and walked over to her desk. Maybe a good medical scroll could take her mind off of everything. As sakura sifted through all of the junk on her desk she noticed her calendar. There was a day circled in red ink. The fifteenth. Sakura gasped. How could she have forgotten? That was…..Kakashi-sensei's birthday. She looked at today's date. It was only four days away. They had that mission to Ame only a day after his birthday. She had to talk to Naruto and Sai. They needed to get him something. They also needed to plan a small party. She knew that Kakashi hated large gatherings, but if it was only a few people, maybe he wouldn't mind. She wanted him to experience the happiness with friends that he never got to when he was younger.
Sakura reached for her phone, dialing Naruto's number. On the third ring he picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Naruto."
"Oh, hey Sakura-chan!"
"Hey, I need you to get Sai and meet me at the old training grounds where we go to train with Sensei, okay?"
"Sure thing, Sakura-chan! Bye!"
"Bye."
Sakura hung up her phone and slipped on her shoes. She grabbed her wallet and headed out towards the training field. Once everyone had arrived they all sat in a circle on the ground. Sakura looked to the two of them smiling.
"Okay, guys. I asked to meet you here because Kakashi-sensei's birthday is in four days. We need to all chip in to get him something." Naruto smiled excitedly.
"I didn't know it was Kaka-sensei's birthday! That means a party right? Huh? Am I right, Sakura-chan?" Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Naruto, but calm down. We need to discuss what we should get for him first. Any suggestions?" Everyone thought for a moment before Naruto lit up.
"Sakura-chan, what about we get him a gift card for free ramen form Ichiraku's for a whole year!" Sakura rolled her eyes trying to hide the amusement on her face.
"That's more like something that you would enjoy. Not sensei. Who, besides you, could stand to eat so much ramen in a year? We need to think of something he will enjoy." Sai looked to Sakura in reply.
"I read in a book once that when buying a girt for another person, you should take in to consideration their personality traits and interests. Given what I concluded to be his interests, the only logical choice I see here is to purchase him some form of morally depraved reading material." Naruto looked confused while Sakura started laughing.
"Oh, Sai." she said while holding her ribs between laughs. "What would we do without your humor." Sai looked confused at her reaction.
"I do not understand. I was not trying to be funny." Sakura smiled.
"Never mind, Sai. Well, we have one suggestion. I wont even count that ramen idea of Naruto's. Any other ideas?"
Naruto held his chin in his hand thinking.
"Oh, I know!" Naruto cut in happily again. Sakura sighed. "Why don't we get him a television? His apartment is so dull. It's amazing that he doesn't die of boredom in between missions." Sakura thought for a moment before smiling over at Naruto.
"That's actually a great idea! Let's see. If we each put in about 8,000 yen, we should be able to get him a nice sized television."
After they finished talking, Sai and Naruto gave Sakura their share of the gift money.
"So, I will pick it up and wrap it. Oh, and we can coordinate our gift with Yamato-taicho and he can build sensei a t.v. stand." They said their goodbyes and agreed to talk after training the following day about the little get together for Kakashi's birthday.
A while later, Sakura was walking through town on her way to get Kakashi's present. As she was walking past the many vendors shops and stands, she caught a glimpse of Gai. He was looking over a variety of outrageously colored clothing as Sakura walked towards him. "Hello, Gai-sempai." Gai quickly turned, giving Sakura a blinding smile.
"Oh, Sakura-chan! What are you up to on such a glorious day?" Sakura smiled at the odd but familiar behavior.
"I'm actually on my way to pick up a birthday gift for Kakashi-sensei." Gai gasped as he planted both hands on Sakura's shoulders.
"Dear Sakura-chan! What a fine student you are! As expected! You were taught by my ever youthful rival!" Sakura chuckled. She always enjoyed Gai's antics. She had ever since she was a young genin.
"So, my youthful comrade, when will the festivities be held?" Sakura sighed.
"Well, I haven't planned that part yet." Gai immediately got a gleam in his eye.
"Leave everything to me! I will be sure to handle the party arrangements with every ounce of youthful determination I have! I will not let my eternal rival down!" Sakura laughed a little nervously.
"I don't know. I mean, I don't think that Kakashi-sensei would want anything over the top." Gai gave her a thumbs up.
"Do not worry Sakura-chan! I shall speak with Kakashi myself!" Sakura figured that any qualms would be ignored so she reluctantly agreed before parting ways with the over zealous jonin.
…...
Sakura had finished wrapping the television about an hour ago. She sat on her bed now, staring at the other smaller gift she had wrapped. While out, she had seen it and on impulse had purchased it for Kakashi. She didn't know why she had bought it. They had already bought a group gift for Kakashi. Sakura had no idea how she was going to give it to him either. Everyone would probably think that it was strange that she would give him a second, separate gift. She would have to give it to him when no one else was around.
Sakura sighed, putting the gift on her night stand. Tomorrow was Tuesday, so they would be meeting for training.
That night, Sakura got little sleep. Thoughts of her silver-haired sensei, of seeing him tomorrow, had her heart speeding up, and her brain way to active for sleep to claim her.
…...
Kakashi ran through the forest at an inconceivable speed. He heard another laugh towards his left. He immediately changed direction, but stopped short as he saw the wire traps. He smirked.
"Good eye, Sensei." Kakashi inwardly shivered. Why did the way she say 'sensei' sound so seductive right now? Kakashi shook himself out of those thoughts and recovered.
"Did you honestly think that you had me with such a poor attempt, Sakura?" A rustle was heard and Kakashi narrowed his eyes in it's directions.
"I think we both know that I could have you with much less effort." He felt his cheeks heat up at her insinuation and was glad for the hundredth time that day that he wore a mask. He could have sworn he felt her breath on his ear when she spoke too. Kakashi listened for movement. A single snap from a twig signaled him that she would be attacking him from behind. A chakra infused fist swung his way and created a small crater in the ground where Kakashi had just stood. He quickly materialized behind her as she was straightening up from her punch, and quickly grabbed her wrists keeping her stationary.
"Looks like I've won, Sakura." He said with a smirk. All too soon, he heard a laugh from behind him as the form in front of him vanished in a cloud of smoke.
'A clone.'
Before he could dodge, a hard blow suddenly made contact with the back of his legs, knocking backwards onto the hard ground. He look up, slightly dazed at the feeling of something weighing down on his thighs. Sakura sat straddling him, with a smirk on her face.
"Actually, it looks like I win, sensei." There goes that tone again, Kakashi thought. Sakura looked down at him with a smile. He tried to move but found that she had grabbed his wrists with her chakra infused grip. He was trapped.
"I wonder what my prize is for winning?" She leaned down giving him an eyeful of her cleavage from her partially un zipped top. Kakashi tore his eyes away from the sight. It was wrong.
"What will you give me, sensei?" Kakashi sucked in his breath as she squirmed around, readjusting herself onto his lower stomach. He could feel the heat from her- No. He couldn't think about that. Kakashi cleared his throat.
"How about you let me up and I'll treat you to ramen?" Sakura pouted as she leaned down low enough to press her self firmly against him.
"But I don't want that. I want something that only sensei can give me." Her face was only a couple of inches from his own. He could feel her hot breath beneath his mask hitting his lips. He shuddered involuntarily, his breath hitching. This was crazy. How was it even happening? Kakashi tried to will himself to speak. His voice had turned hoarse.
"W-What is it that you want?" He asked nervously. Sakura smiled.
" I want you to kiss me." Sakura inched her face even closer to his as she released her grip on one of his wrists. "Won't you give me what I want?" She said, biting her lip seductively. Kakashi lost all train of thought then as he ripped the mask from his face and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. Sakura whimpered as she felt his tongue enter her mouth. They parted moments later for some much needed oxygen. Sakura was looking at him, her face flushed.
"Sakura." He leaned back forward to trail kisses along her jaw.
"You're so beautiful…Sakura."
"Ka-Kakashi." He shuddered at the breathless way she said his name.
"Kakashi." he paused in his ministrations. That didn't sound right. Her voice wasn't that deep. He watched as she slowly started fading away, leaving him alone in the darkness.
"Kakashi!"
Kakashi bolted up from his bed. It took him a moment to catch his breath. What the hell? What kind of dream was that?
"Glad to see you're awake. I called you a more than a few times." Kakashi blinked a couple of times before looking to the foot of his bed where Pakkun was sitting.
"Why did you wake me?" Pakkun gave him an incredulous look.
"You're three hours late for team training and that's bad, even for you." Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, as he looked down at his self, noticing how sweaty he was.
"I'm going to take a shower. You go ahead to the training grounds. I'll be there soon." Pakkun jumped off the bed.
"Sure thing, boss." Pakkun walked to the door and stopped. "You talk in your sleep, by the way. Must have been some dream." Kakashi shot his head towards the small dog, mortified. He fixed his features quickly and waved his hand dismissively.
"Nothing that interesting. I dreamed about eating at that new sushi place down town with the cute waitress." Pakkun nodded his head and Kakashi turned to grab a towel.
"I know the place. Although I didn't know that the waitresses name was Sakura. Hmmm….small world, ain't it boss?" Kakashi nearly tripped and fell. "Well, I'll be going." Kakashi stared shocked as the small dog left.
…...
As Kakashi absent-mindedly washed himself, he thought on the strange nature of dream he had. How could he have dreamed something like that about her? He didn't have those types of feelings for her. He shouldn't have even been capable of having such a dream about her in the first place. Remembering the dream again, he felt sick, in both senses. In his dream he had felt excited at the thought of kissing her. He had wanted it more than anything, and when he got the chance, he had hungrily invaded her mouth with his own. He felt disgusted with himself. All of this was happening because of that damn kiss in the alley. He had to get a hold of himself. The feelings he felt in the dream were not real. There was no sense in over thinking a dream. He only needed to put that scene in the alley behind him. A thin line had been crossed when he had witnessed Sakura in such an intimate moment and it had messed with his head, even making him hear his name on her lips. He just needed to step back and repair the damage he had caused to that boundary of friendship.
…...
They had been at the training grounds a little over three hours now. They had decided to start training on their own two hours ago. Sakura had decided to take a break under the tall tree by the training grounds entrance. She pulled a bottle of water from her bag and began drinking down the cool liquid.
"Hey, kid." Sakura turned to see Pakkun entering the grounds. She smiled brightly.
"Pakkun! I haven't seen you in so long!" Pakkun walked over to sit beside of her.
"It has been a while. You've grown up nice." Sakura chuckled as she started stroking the fur on his head. Pakkun closed his eyes contentedly.
"Oh Pakkun. You know just what to say to a girl. How have you been?" Sakura asked as she continued to lovingly rub his head.
"I've been good. Kakashi tells me that you are going to be testing for jounin in the winter. Pretty impressive." Sakura smiled down at the little dog.
"I guess. I just hope I'm ready." Sakura glanced over to the entrance and then to the ground, a blush forming on her cheeks. "Um….is sensei coming today?" Pakkun opened one of his eyes taking in the oddly frazzled state Sakura appeared to be in now.
"He's on his way. He slept late. I don't think he got a lot of rest last night." Sakura looked to Pakkun full of concern.
"He's not sick is he?" Pakkun opened his eyes at the loss of her hand rubbing his head.
"Nah. I don't think he's sick, but he has been acting strange since he ran into you in town yesterday. Did you two have an argument or something?" Sakura looked at Pakkun confused.
"Yesterday? What are you talking about, Pakkun?" Pakkun studied her for a moment.
"Yeah, yesterday. Kakashi went out to get me some of that good kibble they sale near the academy. He said he ran into you around there. Anyway, he was acting all out of it after that." Sakura thought for a moment. Why would Kakashi lie about seeing her? She had been on a date yesterday and they had went to a restaurant on the other side of town. The only time she had been near the academy was when she had met Fubuki and when he had taken her into that alley and…Sakura suddenly panicked.
'Oh shit! Did he see me in the alley? Did he hear me say-'
"Hey kid, you alright?" Sakura looked to Pakkun trying to hide her panicked state.
"I'm fine. But um….did, well, did s-sensei say anything? A-About yesterday, I mean. Or about m-me?" Pakkun looked to the normally out spoken girl who was now reduced to a stuttering mess. He shook his head. He just didn't get humans sometimes.
"He didn't mention anything, but like I said he was acting off. You are too, now that you mention it. You sure you two didn't argue yesterday?" Sakura tried to contain her embarrassment of being called out on her emotional state by a dog. She had to get a hold of herself. It was best to tell Pakkun the truth…..or most of it anyway.
"No, we didn't fight. We didn't even meet yesterday. I was on a d-date. Maybe you got the day wrong." Pakkun knew he didn't get the day wrong, but nodded his head anyway.
"So, you guys trained without Kakashi today?" Sakura smiled thankful for the change in topic.
"Yeah. He was more late than normal so-"
"Sorry about that." Sakura jumped at the sudden rush that filled her at hearing that familiar voice and turned to look at the man in question. She could tell she was blushing, but just looking at him was so hard, especially right now, when he could have witnessed her scene in that alley.
"I-It's okay, s-sensei." Sakura looked down quickly to hi feet as she spoke.
Kakashi had to look away from her blushing face. It reminded him too much of how she had looked in his dream. Pakkun looked between the two of them. Something was definitely going on.
"So, have you finished training, Sakura?" Sakura risked a glance up into his face. She had to know. Had he seen her in that alley? Heard her embarrassing little mix-up? He didn't look any different. He didn't look uncomfortable near her. He wasn't looking at her in disgust, so many he didn't.
"I was just…taking a break, but if you need a training partner I could-"
"No… No, I think I'm just going to call it a day. Why don't you go get the others and we can go get lunch?" Sakura looked at him a little confused at his quickness to get out of training, but then agreed.
"Hai, sensei." She said as she got up and ran towards the others.
Kakashi couldn't help but feel a small pair of eyes on him but decided to ignore his little friend as long as he could.
"I talked to Sakura a bit." Kakashi twitched. "She said she was on a date yesterday. You didn't mention." Kakashi suddenly found something very fascinating about the tree they were standing by.
"Yeah, ah, It was with a guy I didn't know." Pakkun was getting a little irritated but he would have to find out what was going on later. Just then Sakura, Naruto and Sai came walking towards them.
"Kaka-sensei! Where were you today? We waited, but decided to train without you." Naruto said loudly as he walked up to Kakashi and Pakkun. Sakura and Sai followed behind him.
"Well Naruto, how about instead we go to Ichiraku's for lunch?" As they all started walking Pakkun stopped.
"I'm gonna take off, boss." Kakashi nodded a goodbye as his ninkin poofed away in a cloud of smoke.
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Naruto cheered as they all made their way to Ichiraku's. Once there Sakura quickly settled herself on the stool next to Kakashi's. She wanted to be near him as long as she could before lunch was over and they all went their separate ways. She was pretty sure that he had not seen her in that alley. If he had, she was sure he would have been upset that she had said his name during that kiss and so uncomfortable with her affection that he would not have invited them out to lunch. She was just over reacting because she felt guilty about it.
Ayame walked up towards the bar smiling.
"So what will it be guys?"
Naruto gave a big smile. "I'll have my usual after training meal! Oh, with extra egg!" Ayame smiled.
"Sure thing! What about you Sai-kun?" Sai gave her his much practiced 'friendly' smile.
"I will have the pork ramen." Ayame smiled.
"Sure, and you Sakura-chan?"
"I'll have the miso ramen, please." Ayame looked to Kakashi with a blush.
"And you Kakashi-san?" Kakashi smiled pleasantly at her.
"I'll have the same as Sakura." Ayame walked back into the small kitchen and started preparing their orders. Sakura was trying to keep her blushing in check. She didn't know why she was blushing. Kakashi had only ordered the same thing as her. She was getting way to girly lately. She decided to start a conversation with him since Naruto was busy speaking to Sai. It would help her mind from wondering to kami only knows where.
"So, um, I'm sure you're glad that the whole marriage thing is over." Kakashi looked over to Sakura and smiled. He could do this. Forgetting that dream would only happen if he acted like it was nothing. However, her constant blushing wasn't helping. 'Why was she always blushing around him now?' Kakashi cleared his throat.
"I am. Though, I do wish that I wouldn't have had to make that whole 'I'm gay with Iruka' comeback." Sakura laughed a little.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I actually thought for a moment that maybe I didn't know you as well as I first thought." Kakashi raised an eye brow.
"Seriously? You thought that I was gay?" Sakura couldn't help but laugh again at his expression.
"Well, to my defense, you admitted it, and you are a pervert, so-" Kakashi gave her a fake wounded look.
"So, because you think I'm a pervert, you think it's only natural that I would be into guys as well?" Sakura gave him a big smile.
"I don't think anything. I know you're a pervert. And I only thought you were truly gay for a moment. Not that there's anything wrong with it. I actually have recently become a fan of yaoi. Ten-ten loaned me a few manga's six months ago and I've been a supporter since." She said with a laugh. Kakashi chuckled.
"Well, who would have thought. But I could never be gay. The disappointment of so many women on my shoulders would be too much to bear." Sakura smirked.
"Well, I'm sure that gay men would appreciate a hot guy playing for their team too." Sakura froze. 'Wait….did I just say that!' Why did she have to ramble? She never checked herself when she started rambling.
Kakashi's eyes widened momentarily. 'Did she just say I was hot?' He looked over at her face. She was blushing so furiously. She must have caught what she said as well.
"W-Well, you know what I mean. S-Since every woman in Konoha finds your whole mask look mysterious and sexy, I just assumed that gay men w-would as well." Sakura clamped her mouth shut. 'Damn't Sakura! Stop rambling! You're making things worse!' Kakashi stared at Sakura as she spoke. He ran her words over in his head. 'Mysterious…sexy….every woman in Konoha' He looked at her blushing face again. 'Did that mean that she thought so too?'
"Here's your ramen guys. Enjoy!" Sakura stared at the bowl of ramen in front of her. She honestly had no appetite now. Not when she had just rambled out that she thought that he was hot, not to mention the stuff about his mask being sexy. She could just crawl under a rock and die. He probably thought she was a freak.
"Look's like Naruto's enjoying his ramen." Kakashi said, trying anything to change the subject. Sakura looked to Kakashi's face. He didn't appear to have taken anything she said seriously. Maybe she could salvage the situation. She composed herself and smiled.
"Yeah, ramen is his first love. So, do you know the details for our mission in Ame yet?" Kakashi scratched the back of his head.
"Ah, not yet. Tsunade should be giving me an information scroll tomorrow. I'll know more then." Sakura smiled. Maybe she had a chance to spend more time with him.
"Oh. Well…maybe I could meet you tomorrow to discuss it. Maybe at the park." Kakashi gave her an eye crease.
"That would be fine. I should have the information by the afternoon time, so we can all meet then." Sakura tried not to frown. 'all?'
"S-Sounds great."
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SO, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER. REVIEW!
