Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!

Chapter 9

Hot, Sweaty Days

Sakura smiled giddily, her attention rapt on the TV as a shirt dangled limply from her hands. Only fifteen minutes remained on her soap, her all time favourite show and something she considered to be a secret obsession. She watched impatiently, holding a shaky breath when Satomi was ready to reveal who she was going to marry. She'd been waiting days for this episode to happen, ecstatic when she found out she had the day off from work and Kakashi had to be at the office for the day. It seemed luck was finally on her side.

"Oh for god's sakes." She muttered angrily when the show cut to an unimportant and less interesting segment. "Stupid ploys. Keeping the viewers tuned in right until the last moment." Sakura continued with disdain while throwing the hastily folded shirt onto the pile beside her. "The one day I can finally watch it instead of catching snippets from the girls at work and they make me-" The boisterous voice of her neighbour made her fall silent, a pair of half folded underwear suspended in her hands as she strained to hear the other persons reply, her heart beating loudly in her chest.

Sakura withheld a shriek at the sound of Kakashi's voice, frantically searching for the remote among the stacks of clothes as her hands started to tremble. She tipped the piles onto their sides when she didn't find the remote immediately and cursed when it still remained unaccounted for. Footsteps echoing outside of the door caused Sakura to stare at in disbelief before launching herself from the couch and springing over the coffee table, pressing the power button as Kakashi opened the door.

"I didn't expect you to be back yet." Sakura confessed with a casual smile. She stood from the TV, brushing a lock of stray hair from her face and controlled her heavy breathing. "Did you forget something?"

"No, I'm all finished for the day." Disappointment welled inside of Sakura and she made herself return to the couch up righting the piles of fallen clothes.

"Well that's a nice short day for you." Her voice was overly cheerful concealing the gloom she felt as she gathered a disordered stack of shirts. It's ok. I'll find out tomorrow who Satomi picked. I hope it was Ryou. Sakura dropped the pile onto her bed with a sigh, not caring when it toppled. I'll be so mad if she picks that bastard Kaito. She emerged from the bedroom with a smile on her face instantly turning to horror when she saw Kakashi heading towards the TV.

"Kakashi." Her shrill voice called out and he turned a puzzled expression on his face from her sudden outburst. Sakura laughed nervously, her cheeks reddening as she tried to think of something to explain her sudden cry. "I…I think we need to go grocery shopping." She finished lamely and Kakashi arched a silver eyebrow.

"Really? We did just go last night." He replied dismissively and continued towards the TV.

"I know, but I don't want pork tonight." She blurted, her voice higher pitched than usual and Kakashi turned to study her again. "I…I don't…I don't really like it." Sakura stuttered under his gaze, shifting uncomfortably in her spot. She couldn't look at him; appalled at her audacity to lie and demand he make something else for dinner, but she had to get him away from the TV. After years of ridiculing the throngs of women for watching these kinds of shows; highly unrealistic about love and essentially pure fluff designed to feed women these ridiculous ideas and false hopes in order to conceal the fact that she was a complete and utter hypocrite. She belonged in that group of women, a hopeless romantic who secretly wished for a man to sweep her off her feet and how she yearned to be part of that group, to chatter about that week's episode and unabashedly reveal her own fantasies. But she never would because she was Sakura Haruno; rational, logical and certainly not a hopeless romantic.

"Oh and what were you in the mood for?" Kakashi inquired seemingly amused at her sudden request.

"Umm something with beef maybe." She supplied weakly and allowed herself to glance at Kakashi. His eye crinkled from his usual grin causing something to tighten uneasily in her stomach before looking away.

"Ok." Sakura withheld a sigh of relief. "I'll go to the store after I'm done checking the news."

"No we should leave now." Sakura insisted with panic and continued when he gave her an incredulous look. "To beat the afternoon rush."

"Sakura, it's eleven thirty. There is no afternoon rush." Kakashi countered and turned back towards the TV. She watched in horror, her mouth gaping as she tried to think of some excuse, but she'd exhausted everything she could think of.

"Besides I'll only be a minute." He added to satisfy her.

Pleasebeacommercialpleasebeacommercialpleasebeacommercial. Sakura chanted in her mind watching helplessly as he drew closer to the TV. Her palms sweated as the black screen flickered to life, her body rigid when sound projected from the TV.

"I'm sorry Ryou. I just can't." A young woman's voice wavered and Sakura stopped breathing.

Kakashi stood to his full height watching the dramatic scene unfold on the ancient TV while Sakura's pulse roared in her ears. An uncomfortable heat rippled from every inch of her body and her face was florid from humiliation as she imagined the boys taunting her for eternity to come.

"Hmm I was sure she was going to choose Ryou. It's obvious she loves him and not Kaito." Kakashi revealed when the show finally went to commercial and he glanced over his shoulder at her. Sakura inhaled sharply, a glimmer of hope rising within her.

"Really?" She breathed and searched his expression earnestly in the seconds that ticked by.

"No." Kakashi smirked and she scowled at his teasing.

"How did you know then?" Sakura snapped irritated that she'd been caught. The secret she'd kept to herself all these years was no longer just hers.

"The women at work have been talking about it non stop." He answered while flicking through the channels and she crossed her arms hotly. "I had no idea you were part of that mob." Kakashi admitted with his attention on the scrolling news bar.

Sakura scoffed, her mind reeling with ways to keep him silent. She'd never known him to take pleasure in revealing other people's secrets unless he was given something of value like a certain female blonde she knew, but she couldn't be sure. He was a perverse individual after all with way too much time on his hands and this sort of thing might very well be an amusing diversion for him. An image of Kakashi flashed in Sakura's mind, his head drawn back with his mouth open and moaning in pleasure while she kneeled between his legs, her head bobbing in a steady rhythm. Sakura immediately shook her head and chastised herself for thinking of such unorthodox methods. Let's just try asking him first and go from there. She was startled when she opened her eyes to see Kakashi watching her.

"Umm please don't tell." She murmured with another blush on her cheeks.

"All right."

"Really?" Sakura pressed at the ease of his reply and Kakashi nodded his head. Relief washed over her as she continued to stare at him dumbfounded.

"So I suppose we don't need to go to the store anymore." He stated slyly and Sakura crossed her arms again.

"No." She returned slightly sullen and Kakashi smiled again.

"Did you want to finish watching your show?"

"Yes." She dropped heavily onto the couch, ignoring his chuckle as he changed the channel before sitting down in one of the chairs. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye several times something nagging her as she waited for the commercials to end.

"I didn't think you'd say yes so easily." Sakura finally admitted after a long silence and Kakashi turned his attention to her. "I for sure thought you would try to blackmail me."

"I never said I wouldn't." Kakashi spoke before she could continue and her eyes widened.

"You….what…how could you-"

"Don't worry Sakura." Kakashi interrupted with a cocky grin. "I'm sure we'll both have pleasurable experiences from the activity I choose for you." Sakura narrowed her eyes, ignoring the suggestiveness of his tone and the shiver slipping through her body.

"Doubtful, very doubtful." She muttered with contempt, her attention on the TV as her show began.

***

A bead of sweat slipped down Sakura's back tickling her skin as it leisurely followed the curve of her spine before disappearing into her waistband. The air was thick with heat, draining all energy and motivation to move from her body. She was vaguely aware of the dull murmur of the TV; her eyes following the hands on the clock as she watched time pass slowly.

Konoha had been hit with a freak heat wave with temperatures soaring above anything she'd ever experienced and it was killing her. She resented that her rotation was finished and she could no longer take solace in the air conditioned building. It had already been three days of intense heat and people's irritation were rising from the lack of sleep and energy.

A vacation might be nice Sakura thought offhandedly. Snow country would be a really nice place to be right now. The ring of a phone disrupted Sakura's images of frolicking through snow and actually enjoying the sensation of shivering from cold. Why she'd never bought a cordless phone escaped her as the shrill ring tore through the apartment. Her body didn't twitch for the third ring as she contemplated how much money she'd need to travel to snow country.

"You going to answer that?" Kakashi murmured beside her and Sakura's head lolled to the side to look at him. Both arms rested on the back of the couch with his head tilted towards the ceiling and eyes closed. He wasn't wearing his mask and Sakura saw the beads of sweat collecting at his hair line. He was just as drained of energy as she was.

"They'll hang up eventually." She emitted her eyes following the contours of his profile. It didn't matter how often she saw his face now she always had the urge to study his features and commit them to memory. She traced the curves for several rings before focusing on the bit of beard that had grown over the past couple of days.

"You look different." She breathed with her fingers stretching towards him. Her thumb ran gently along his jaw feeling the coarse, silver stubble. "With a bit of scruff. Somehow I never pictured you growing a beard." She let her thumb run over his chin before dropping back to her side.

"Too much effort." Kakashi confessed and Sakura snorted her gaze returning to the clock. After 14 rings it appeared the caller had finally given up.

"I still shave my legs. Somehow I think that requires more exertion than shaving a face." She pointed out lazily. "You men have it easy." Kakashi let out a passive laugh.

"I suppose we do."

"You'll never know the pain or tedious amounts of time spent on getting ready and looking your absolute best. Or the other unmentionable things women have to go through." Sakura continued thinking back to the time before a date and getting ready.

"Nope, guess not."

"But, even with all the waxing, plucking, and all that stuff we have to go through, I would not trade being a woman for anything."

"Why's that?" Kakashi asked his interest piqued.

"Because." She paused, the corners of her lips upturning in a small smile as she looked at him. "I can think extremely dirty thoughts in public and never have to worry about being revealed." Sakura concluded deviously and Kakashi opened his eyes, turning to gaze at her with an arched eyebrow. Her crooked grin widened and she returned her attention to the clock. That certainly got a reaction out of him.

"How dirty?" He pressed his tone both amused and extremely curious as he sat up to fully look at her. Sakura's eyes closed as she imagined her wrists bound tightly, her body in pure ecstasy with Kakashi roughly thrusting into her. She licked her lips, teeth dragging over her bottom lip as she felt a throb of pleasure between her thighs.

"They'd put Icha Icha to shame." She gave him a devilish smirk, her heart stuttering at the expression on his face. Kakashi was smiling; the intrigue clear on his face, but there was something else she'd never seen before. It caused her to shiver with excitement. She waited for his response, the anticipation heightening with each passing second and her smirk deepened. The shrill ring of the phone interrupted Kakashi as he was about to speak and Sakura let out a silent sigh. The tension dissipated as quickly as it'd formed.

"Do you want to get that?" Sakura asked, ignoring her disappointment.

"It's your apartment." Kakashi countered his head resting on the back of the couch already. She sighed again, heaving herself from her position with an exaggerated effort before answering the phone. Naruto's voice crackled over the receiver and she listened disinterested while her fingers twirled the excessively long cord. Why she had initiated that little moment between them baffled her, but even more so the discontent she felt for not being able to continue it. A side effect of the lack of sleep and heat she supposed.

"Sounds great. I'll see you in a bit." Sakura replied with her spirits lifted after hanging up the phone.

"Seems that Naruto convinced Yamato to make a swimming area in front of the waterfall. I'm going to head down if you want to join me."

"Nah."

"You just want to stay here and melt?" Sakura asked incredulously and Kakashi nodded. "Fine, but you're missing out." She insisted before heading to her bedroom. She opened several drawers before finding her meagre stash of bathing suits, her fingers already clasping her usual one, but she hesitated. Sakura eyed the black bikini sitting innocently beside it, one Ino had demanded that she buy and had yet to be worn. She gave her shoulders a shrug, dismissing the jolts in her stomach as she slipped on the scanty two piece and a pair of shorts.

"You're sure you don't want to head down with me." Sakura pestered as she stood in front of Kakashi; a towel tucked under one arm and an overly large hat clutched in her hand. He glanced up from his novel, his eyes lazily travelling up her body and she repressed the urge to blush.

"No, I have more important matters to attend to." He commented nonchalantly.

"Ok." She turned as she reached the door, a thrill crackling through her when his gaze was still on her. "Be sure to clean up when you're done." She remarked wryly with a wink before exiting out the door quickly. Her hand remained on the cool metal of the door handle, her stomach filled with butterflies. Oh. My. God. I just implied that my captain was going to go…masturbate. She giggled softly while releasing the door. This heat wave was certainly proving to be dangerous.

***

Sakura was startled by a sudden pounding on her door and she rolled over, glimpsing at the alarm clock to see that it was 2:32 am. Her brow crinkled in confusion as she sat up, her hair clinging to the back of her sweaty neck as she listened to the silent apartment. Another rap of knuckles thundered on the door and she jumped from her bed, rubbing her eyes as she left her bedroom. She saw Kakashi open the door, the light from the hallway flooding into her dark apartment.

"Who tha fuck are you?" A drunkenly voice called out and Sakura paled. "Ss…Sakura?" He called again.

"I'll handle this." She informed Kakashi as she slipped between him and the open door. Her eyes squinted in the sudden intensity of the hallway light.

"Sakura…who tha."

"Hataka, what the hell are you doing here?" Sakura hissed angrily.

"I came te see ya." He slurred while his eyes greedily swept over her body clothed in a tank top and panties. Sakura cringed and cursed silently at her lack of forethought as she crossed her arms over her chest. She usually wore something a little more decent to bed, but because it was so blistering hot she opted for the least amount of clothes possible.

"Go home Hataka." Sakura ordered firmly while trying to keep her voice at an acceptable volume. The young man screwed up his face in anger while swaying slightly.

"Go home? Go home?" He repeated with increasing loudness and Sakura sighed in exasperation. The idiot was drunk and had obviously forgotten what had happened the last time he'd tried to do this. "Baby, don't ya miss me?" He asked almost pleadingly and took a step towards her swaying again. "I know we both made mistakes, but I'm willing te come back." Sakura was ready to punch him when Kakashi stepped in placing his hand possessively on her hip.

"Is there a problem here?" His tone rumbled close to her ear and Sakura's spine stiffened at the touch. Hataka paused to look at the two of them before narrowing his brown eyes in anger.

"What you're already sleeping around?" He spat bitterly.

"Hataka go home. We broke up 4 months ago already." Sakura declared sternly and began to turn away from him.

"You stupid filthy who" Hataka slammed roughly into the wall, his breath knocked out of him as Kakashi crushed his elbow into the younger man's chest with his other hand clamping roughly over Hataka's mouth. Sakura watched in shock, frozen by Kakashi's sudden actions and surprised at the expression on his face. She'd never seen him so angry before. Kakashi's hand squeezed harder on Hataka's jaw causing his eyes to open further in fear.

"I think it would be wise if you never come back here again." His tone was even and controlled, but the murderous intent was clear. A door down the hallway creaked open with the occupant peeking their head out to investigate the commotion. "Or even speak to Sakura again." He finished in a dangerous mutter. Hataka nodded vigorously and Kakashi slowly released him; stepping back as Hataka slid down the wall. He stumbled to his feet and Sakura's neighbour watched the man trip through the hallway, glancing over his shoulder every few steps. Sakura quickly grabbed Kakashi's arm.

"Sorry." She called out and turned Kakashi forcing him into the apartment before closing her door.

"Umm, thanks?" Sakura mumbled while removing her hands from his bare skin. Kakashi had also discarded all of his clothes except for his boxers to sleep in during the blistering heat. Her gaze fell to the floor as she felt the need to explain the situation to him. To tell Kakashi that he was just an ex that didn't seem to understand she wanted nothing more to do with him. Well, she doubted she'd have that problem now.

"Sorry he's just someone I dated a while ago and things didn't work out so I broke it off, but he didn't seem to get it and would come around here, usually when he was drunk and yes I didn't turn him down the first couple of times so it's partly my fault, but after that I didn't want anything to do with him."

"Sakura." Kakashi called over her ramblings, but she continued; a hand fisting her pink hair in anxiety.

"And oh my god you probably think I'm a whore, but really I'm not"

"Sakura."

"Because it wasn't like I just slept with him when I first met him, we dated for quite awhile before."

"Sakura." Kakashi asserted while grasping her chin gently and forcing her to look at him. She became silent, her hand dropping to her side as she stared into his mismatched gaze her breath catching in her throat. The pale moonlight illuminated his features showing his kind expression and Sakura wanted to run her fingers over his smooth jaw. He'd shaved since this morning. She abruptly became aware of the closeness of his bare skin to hers and the heat radiating from it, causing her heart to pound in her chest. "You don't have to explain any of this to me." He told her comfortingly and she couldn't look into his reassuring eyes.

"I know…I just." Why was it so difficult to form coherent thoughts at the moment? She wanted to remove his hand from her chin yet at the same time press the full length of her body against his to feel every inch of him. "I just don't want you to think anything bad of me." She admitted finally and Kakashi placed his free hand on her hip while taking a step closer to her. Her gaze snapped back to his, a pleasant feeling growing low in her belly as she continued to stare up at him.

"I don't and never will." She couldn't move, his gaze trapping her in his unbearable grasp.

"I…" She didn't know what she wanted to say and her hands rested on his chest of their own accord. The skin was hot beneath her palms, the silence becoming heavy as the seconds dragged by.

Sakura stood on her tiptoes, gently kissing his cheek while she indulged her body to press against his. The heat was infectious, sending tingles through her body and her lips grazed his soft skin as she pulled back scarcely. She felt his warm breaths against her face daring her gaze to meet his again. Somehow, without her noticing until it was too late, something had changed between them and she saw it clearly in his eyes as he looked at her.

Her throat felt dry as she let her eyes slip down to his mouth studying his lips intently. She was so close to him, their lips barely a breath away from each other and she wanted nothing more than to fervently kiss them; wrap her thighs firmly around his waist and fist some of his silver hair while ravishing his mouth. Her gaze travelled back to his, unknowingly revealing the emotions and desires she kept securely hidden away from him and more importantly herself. In that instant Kakashi saw it in her eyes; she would give everything of herself to him, be his in every way if he wanted it.

Kakashi withdrew his grasp from her, taking a step back and turning away as Sakura blinked in surprise. Her hands remained in mid air for a moment before she dropped them to her sides mortified. For that fleeting moment she had wanted to kiss him and he'd rejected her. She quickly gathered her composure, locking away those ephemeral emotions and pushing everything from her mind, forgetting the moment. She was his subordinate, his student and that's how she would stay.

"Goodnight Sakura." His tone was casual and Sakura smiled politely, the way she would to a stranger when he glanced at her.

"Goodnight Kakashi."

To be in Kakashi's debt is a very worrisome thing! And ugh I'm an idiot. I didn't realize until after I had made Hataka's character that his name is basically Kakashi's last name. That was completely unintentional and since he's already been briefly mentioned before I'll just leave it.

I also want to mention the rating of the story. I've moved it up because after rereading the guidelines I think an M rating is more appropriate. Any explicit scenes will be posted at another site and I'll provide a link in my profile along with a note in that chapter. I know, what's the point because any underage readers will just read it anyways, but I just want to follow this sites guidelines. Well I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. Cheers,

Cance