Chapter 10

Sakura was in her office at the hospital, reviewing a patient file for an upcoming appointment, when she once again found herself trapped by Kakashi's larger frame. He'd planted his left hand on the counter to her side and pressed his chest to her back before peering over her shoulder and setting a steaming cup of coffee from her favorite cafe next to the file. His hand slid from the cup onto the counter.

Body stiff in his loose embrace, she didn't know whether she wanted to run away or lean back against him, so she settled for crossly asking him just what it was he was doing and being inordinately proud that her voice didn't waver at all when she did so.

"Ah, I thought you might like some real coffee," he said. He straightened up so that his warm breath tickled the back of her head, but he didn't move away. She was hyper-aware of the chiseled pectoral muscles and strong biceps keeping her penned in, and she tried not to think about the lower body that was only an inch or so from her rear, the heat of it doing wicked things to parts of her she presently wanted to forget existed.

"Do you really have to stand so close?" she scowled, voice a bit breathier than she would have liked. She felt a blush spreading from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.

"No," he replied matter-of-factly. "But it's much more enjoyable when I do." This last was spoken into her ear, his tone teasingly dark. She felt his lips curl into a smirk before he stepped back with a low chuckle.

It took her a minute to get her bearings. She knew he was watching her, could feel his gaze on her, as she tried to convince herself that he was just being an ass to get a rise out of her. He wasn't actually hitting on her ... right? Kakashi wasn't like that … he'd probably just gotten bored of all of his other methods of driving her crazy and was trying something new. Steadying her breathing, she resolved not to let him get to her (conveniently ignoring the fact that he clearly already had).

Without turning around, she picked up her pen and pretended to continue reviewing her file, though in reality she was seeing none of the words on the page. The coffee he'd brought taunted her from the corner of her eye, reminding her of the way he'd felt and how much that troublesome part of her that just refused to go away had really wanted him to pull her back into his hips and hold her flush against his hard body. She felt her cheeks burning again at the thought and shook her head surreptitiously (she hoped) to try and banish it from her mind.

"How did you get in here anyway?" she queried, her annoyance at herself for feeling the way she did and at him for making her feel that way more than apparent in her delivery. At the same moment, though, she heard the rustle of the papers on her desk and glanced over to see the window open. "... Nevermind," she mumbled grumpily.

She looked up from the window, still frowning, to catch him scratching the back of his head, looking at once sheepish and all too pleased with himself. She flushed again and flipped her head quickly back to her patient file.

"Thank you for the coffee," she managed.

"Mm, you're welcome," he said. "You like it with two sugars, right?"

"Yeah …"

"That's good. I wasn't certain." She imagined the crinkly-eyed smile she was sure he was wearing.

The office was quiet for several minutes.

"You're ignoring me, Sakura-chan," he pouted eventually.

"I'm working, Kakashi," she stated. "I have an appointment in twenty minutes."

"Ah …" his voice trailed off. "You know, Sarada-chan is as quick as you and Sasuke are."

Sakura set her pen down, picked up the coffee, and turned to face him, leaning her back against the counter and taking a sip. "Oh?"

Kakashi nodded. "My mid-morning nap was interrupted by a well-timed Magen: Jubaku Satsu and small fingers curling under my mask."

Sakura giggled. "That's my girl."

"Indeed. Needless to say, I escaped with my purity still intact, but it was a close call," he said, brow furrowing seriously but eyes gleaming with mirth.

She snorted. "Kakashi, I'm pretty sure I know a heavily polluted lake in Mizu that's purer than you are." Unbidden, the image of toned abs against her back flashed through her mind as she couldn't stop herself from wondering just how impure the silver-haired man was. Her cheeks grew pink, and she turned her eyes away from him to her desk.

He laughed lightly. "That may be so …"

"I know it's so," Sakura retorted unthinkingly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, do you now, Sakura-chan?" His voice had suddenly taken on that dark tone that made her insides flutter.

She looked up, mouth open to speak, but no words came out.

He grinned devilishly at her before tucking his hands into his pockets. "Well, I just wanted to drop that off and tell you know how Sarada-chan was doing, since I'm sure she was asleep when you got home last night. I'll let you get back to work now."

She hated that even his thoughtfulness made her flush lightly. "Thank you, Kakashi. For the coffee and for teaching Sarada. I wouldn't have had time …"

"I know," he said. "And I know it's important to you that she not feel left behind by her team." He smiled softly.

She returned it with a small smile of her own. "Yeah. And I think she was really happy to be taught by the last Hokage as well."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Ah … well, anytime," he offered, stepping closer. "Don't forget about our planning session tomorrow." He crinkled his eyes and ruffled her hair, letting his hand linger a bit longer than necessary before pulling back, a lock of her hair slipping through his fingers. "See you later, Sakura-chan."

Her own hand drifted unconsciously to her head. "See you tomorrow, Kakashi," she said with a half-smile.

He nodded, then disappeared through the window.