Teachers and their Pets

Chapter 11

"Fastest round the track he was! I tell you, Lee is undoubtedly the most strong willed student I, or anyone else, could ever have! He has youth by his side, and he never gives up!"

Asuma held in a sigh and rubbed at his face as he listened to Might Gai rampage on. He, Kakashi, and Gai had come to Misaki Sushi as usual, but Asuma, for the second time in a row, was simply not in the mood. Another outstanding factor was that Kurenai wasn't there either, and this had resulted in a pit of guilt opening up in the Sarutobi's stomach. He couldn't help but feel it must be his fault…though he was still quite unsure on the conversation they had had earlier. Even as Gai nattered on, Asuma rolled Kurenai's words around in his head. He'd 'found' someone? What did that even mean?

Asuma slumped down, placing his chin into his hand before sharing a look with Kakashi. The Copy Ninja was never a big talker, but he seemed even quieter than usual this late afternoon.

What is going on? Only the other day everything had been rosy in Asuma's world, and now he just felt confused. Usually he'd solve any glum feelings with a one night stand -they always served to take his mind off things- but even that prospect didn't seem too appealing currently. There was only really one person he wanted to see, despite the fact she was at the root of all his bewilderment.

"I've told you a million times Ino, you need to drink more water!"

Asuma's ears pricked up.

"But then I'll look all bloated, which will suck."

"Do you want to get ill like Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba?"

"No, but-"

Ino. Ino was here. She'd just entered Misaki Sushi. Immediately whatever Might Gai was saying became background noise. Asuma raised his head slightly, watching as his former student entered the establishment, her long hair swinging as she spoke back to Sakura. Next to him, Asuma noticed that Kakashi had also perked up a little bit, though not as much as the Sarutobi himself. Kakashi always was better at hiding any potential feelings of excitement (though why the silver haired man would be excited, Asuma wouldn't know), but Asuma was more like a puppy, hardly able to restrain himself when he genuinely felt glee. His students could testify to that, if their constantly ruffled hair when they were younger was anything to go by.

Still, the man had to rein himself in slightly when both Sakura and Ino looked over at their table. Feeling stupid, Asuma looked everywhere but them, trying to pretend he hadn't spotted them yet. Kakashi, in contrast, silkily got to his feet and padded over to Sakura, beginning to talk about something. Asuma stayed sitting down, trying, in vain, to listen to whatever Gai was saying.

"Hello Asuma Sensei."

She was there, right in front of him, standing at the end of the table.

"Ino!" Asuma got to his feet and nearly tipped the table over. "Uh, hi!" He scratched the back of his head, wondering why he'd got to his feet and secretly chastising himself for it.

Gai began resetting the bowls and cups which had fallen, gifting his fellow Jōnin with a condescending look.

"Asuma, you should really be more careful," he drawled in his usual inspirational tone. "As an elite ninja, you shouldn't be so clumsy."

Ino began giggling and Asuma felt a strong urge to throttle Gai.

"The day I listen to your advice is the day my dad comes back to life and dances the hula." He retorted.

Might Gai shook his head solemnly at this. "You should really listen to me Asuma, many people have benefited from my sterling advice!" He got to his feet, posing dramatically.

Asuma and Ino looked at him for a few short moments and then Asuma shook his head. "I'm gonna go out for a cigarette," he threw a few coins onto the table and then glanced over Ino's head to see that Kakashi and Sakura had departed from the restaurant. The Sarutobi frowned slightly before looking back to Gai. "You might wanna pay for Kakashi, the guy's done a runner again."

Gai glanced down at the table and then looked over in the direction Kakashi had disappeared off in. "Kakashi!" He roared, shaking his fist.

Asuma took this as his cue to leave and made for the exit, drawing a cigarette out of his pocket as he did so. Ino followed after him, throwing a look over her shoulder at Gai, who was now dejectedly placing money down onto the table.

"Gai Sensei sure is an odd one," Ino commented as the pair of them exited out into the darkening streets. "I can't imagine how weird it would have been to have him as my Sensei."

Asuma looked out across the street, remembering the last time he'd walked these roads with Ino by his side. He quickly lit his ciggie, casting a smile down at the girl as he did so.

"You'd have missed me too much." He quipped after taking a quick puff, relaxing into the feeling the nicotine gifted him with.

Ino rolled her eyes and then poked him in the side, making him flinch. "Get over yourself." She retorted, but she was smiling, her eyes shining.

It was ok. It was normal. Everything was the same between them…apart from the weird twinges in Asuma's chest.

There was a short silence, in which Ino watched her former Sensei inhale more smoke, and then the Sarutobi spoke.

"Shikamaru and Choji still sick huh?"

Ino placed her hands on her hips and shook her head hopelessly. "I told them," she muttered. "And now Naruto's probably going to fall ill too," there was a slight pause and then the girl peered up at him. "Why? Missing them? Am I not enough for you Sensei?"

Tingles ran up and down Asuma's spine, but he chuckled. "You're more than enough for me Ino, and you know it."

Ino's face suddenly went very pink. "Good." She muttered, her tone a little less lively than usual.

Asuma looked down at her, wondering vaguely what was up, but then he puffed deeply on his cigarette, throwing his eyes back up to the sky.

"So Sakura left pretty sharpish," he commented, trying to keep his tone casual. "You two didn't even get anything to eat."

Ino crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. "Yeah, but I'm a good friend so I wasn't going to stop her." Suddenly a devious smile spread over the girl's face.

Asuma half wanted to kiss it off her, but he resisted. "What do you mean by that?"

Ino shrugged, a knowing smirk now on her lips. "That's for me to know and for you, maybe one day, to find out Asuma Sensei."

Asuma shook his head and chuckled slightly at the girl's gall. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Well, anyway, what I was trying to say is…uh…have you eaten at all today? Apart from, um, earlier in the morning of course."

Ino's eyes widened slightly and then she glanced to the ground, sucking on her gums. "I haven't no," she confessed. "And what I had this morning was absolutely vile. The guy cooking it absolutely tortured the eggs."

Asuma looked down to see the girl was grinning mischievously up at him. "Well!" He exclaimed jokingly. "I was going to offer to buy you some food, but if you're gonna be like that-"

"You want to take me out for lunch?" Ino suddenly interrupted, placing her hands behind her back and interlocking her fingers. "Like a…date?"

Asuma's cigarette nearly dropped out of his mouth. He fumbled for the smoke stick, grabbing it free from his lips and gulping. "Uh, um, I…"

"Joking!" Ino giggled and then pointed in his face. "You blush too easily Sensei," despite saying this, the girl had actually gone quite a bright shade of pink herself. She looked down at the floor before looking up at him coyly. "I'd like lunch."

"Kakashi Sensei, I've just realised something,"

"Hm?" Kakashi cocked his head and looked down at the girl by his side.

He and Sakura were currently strolling through the Konoha streets, not really headed anywhere in particular. Honestly Kakashi wasn't one hundred per cent certain as to why he'd left the restaurant with Sakura. He'd just felt this strong urge to be with her on their own and also Gai had been droning on. The Copy Ninja half felt sorry for Asuma. Well…at least he had Ino to keep him company.

Now Sakura was looking up at her former Sensei, a stern expression on her face. "You didn't pay for any of the food in that restaurant!" She exclaimed. "You dined and dashed!"

"Hm," Kakashi looked at her for a few seconds before looking up at the sky. "I suppose I did."

Sakura stared at him for a few moments, her eyes wide. "Sensei!" She yelped. "That's an awful thing to do!"

Kakashi waved his hand in a carefree way. "Gai and Asuma will split the bill," he returned before suddenly moving closer to her, his hand ghosting over the small of her back. "And how could you expect me to stay in there when there was the prospect of leaving with you?"

The effect was instantaneous; Sakura went a bright shade of red and glanced backwards, squeaking slightly when she saw his gloved hand.

Kakashi grinned slightly behind his mask and was just about to speak again, when a voice cut him off.

"Kakashi! Oh Kakashi!"

Stiffly the man turned, only to see Kohaku rushing towards him, waving her arms enthusiastically. As he tensed, Sakura fixed him with a curious look. The pinkette looked from her Sensei to the woman currently jogging towards them, her eyes calculating.

Once Kohaku was in front of them, Kakashi cocked his head and smiled.

"Good afternoon Kohaku, how are you today?" He questioned, his tone polite.

"I'm…I'm good thank you Kakashi!" The dark haired woman before them exclaimed. "I haven't seen you for a while. Where have you been hiding?"

Kakashi shrugged. "The life of a ninja is never simple." He replied.

Kohaku suddenly looked very pink. "N…no," she agreed. "I'll bet," the woman then turned to look at Sakura, smiling. "Is this one of your students?"

"Former," Sakura quickly butted in before Kakashi could speak. "He's not been my Sensei properly for a few years."

Both Kakashi and Kohaku were quiet for a few moments before Kohaku smiled widely.

"Ah, well it's lovely to see you keep good relationship with your students Kakashi, even when they've flown the nest, as it were,"

Sakura suddenly felt her skin burning. Kakashi's hand was still near her lower back and the girl suddenly felt completely inappropriate. She shifted away slightly. It was a subtle movement, but Kakashi obviously noticed it.

"But don't you Jōnin-" the woman said the word 'Jōnin' as if it were some sort of erotic secret. "-usually have three students? Where are the others?"

"Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." Kakashi supplied instead of answering the question directly.

"Oh, ah, Naruto!? The fox boy?"

Sakura's eyebrows pulled down. "He's a lot more than that." She muttered, her tone tense.

Kohaku seemingly did not notice the girl's unease as she continued onwards, her voice loud. "And Sasuke Uchiha? The boy who left to join that evil Orochimaru? He's a defector isn't he-?"

"Maybe you shouldn't speak about things you don't understand," Sakura's voice was crisp and firm. There was hardly any emotion within the syllables, but that was only because the pinkette had obviously become accustomed to defending Sasuke. She was used to these words and she could say them with ease…it was only her eyes that gave away her emotions. "I think I'm going to leave now," Sakura bobbed her head slightly. "Goodbye."

Kakashi watched her go, his heart feeling raw. Kohaku also watched her leave and then she turned back to the Copy Ninja, her eyebrows raised.

"Well…" she murmured. "Now that we're alone."

Kakashi closed his eye for a few moments and when he reopened it, he shook his head. "No Kohaku," he returned. "And…not for a while I shouldn't think."

Kohaku's brow furrowed. "I…what? Why?"

Kakashi did not deign her with an answer. "I'll see you around." He body flickered, leaving the civilian with nothing but smoke and the cold autumn air.

Sakura stomped along the dusty orange path, trying to suppress the tears. She hated herself. She hated the whole situation. Why was she so stupid? Every time Sasuke's name was mentioned out loud, it felt like her heart was in a vice, slowly being squeezed.

Hands balled up into fists, Sakura cast an angry look over her shoulder. She'd walked so quickly that she'd left that woman far behind, but still…she wanted to get further. Sometimes she wanted to not be there at all.

"Sakura."

The girl nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Kakashi appear next to her, falling into step immediately. She glanced to the side, suddenly feeling even more stupid. Kakashi had seen her at her worst, sobbing and crying over Sasuke, but now they'd made love and he'd seen her more vulnerable than anybody else had. He'd seen her at her most vulnerable and something about that made her insides churn.

"I don't want to talk about it." She managed to mutter.

"I'm sorry about that. Kohaku can be rather brash-"

"I don't want to talk about it," she growled back.

They fell into silence and Sakura knew that Kakashi was watching her. What had they done? Before when she'd cried, Kakashi would offer her advice, tell her things would go back to normal. Now it felt different, now it felt like he couldn't do that anymore.

Suddenly she stopped and she turned to look at him. "I miss him. I miss him more than I could possibly articulate, but I don't want to talk about it," she breathed deeply through her nose and then mustered a smile. "Ok?"

Kakashi watched her, his heart clenching at the obviously false smile on her face. "Then let's not talk." He replied, his voice hoarse.

Sakura's face crumpled slightly as she peered up at him, but then she launched herself upon him, grabbing his mask down and kissing him fiercely. They fell against the fence, their breathing heavy as she grabbed at his trousers, pulling at them.

Usually Kakashi wasn't one for exhibitionism , but all that was on his mind at that moment was making Sakura happy. His Sakura, with all the bite marks to prove it. Even if she could never love him, he wanted to love her and make her ok…at least for a little while.

He turned them around, pinning her against the fence and bringing her legs around his waist before moving inside her. Sakura let out a moan of pleasure and buried her face into his neck as he began thrusting.

Kakashi drew back slightly and captured her lips with his own. Their tongues entwined and circled each other and Sakura moaned into the kiss, grabbing at his shoulders desperately as he moved in and out of her.

"Ahh!" She yelped, making no attempt to keep herself quiet as she shifted up slightly, pressing her forehead against his. Her hair fell into his face, encasing the pair of them in curtains of pink. "Ka…Kakashi," She choked out. "I…I…" she threw her head back, whatever she was about to say lost in a chorus of groans.

Kakashi leant forward and sucked at the nape of her neck, making her moan further. He moaned himself, so turned on by her mewls of pleasure. She looked up again and he crept his hand under her top, squeezing one of her breasts before they moved in for another passionate kiss.

The slamming of their bodies meeting each other and heavy breathing was all that could be heard. They drew apart and Sakura's eyes rolled back as Kakashi looked down, increasing his pace as best he could, desperate to make her climax. The girl's legs tightened around his waist and she began tensing, groaning loudly. Her hands skittered around the back of his neck, clutching at his hair as she moaned.

They came together, both of them yelping each other's names. They stayed that way for a while, kissing softly. Sakura's lips felt like the softest caress and Kakashi sighed slightly. His still.

An: So not much smut in this chapter I'm afraid! I apologise profusely for that, and I hope you still managed to enjoy it!

Uh, also I just wanna make a lil point to say that because this is from each character's perspective that kinda means their opinions are biased, if you get me? So just because one character thinks things, does not make it true O.O Idk, I just kinda felt like I should say this, just so you guys don't think I'm writing these things and stating them as facts just because Ino or somebody thought something.

Anyway! I am so so so shocked as to how well this story is doing! I'd have never in a million years have thought this would go so well :O Thank you sooooo much to all the people who have favourited and followed this story. It means the world!

Also, thank you to: GoneBonkers, deathrosekitty, FEARFLUFFLY, LinchEe, Laurie, CaitlinIntolerant (Yay, thank you! Your review made me happy), XXanimeartgirlXX, Stunning Sunset (Thank you! I'm glad you think so. Yeah, there's nothing I despise more than when a story warps a character just to make them unlikeable. I like Kurenai, she's a nice lady), Kashi, harvestangel99, anncarene (ahh, thank you so much! That's such a lovely compliment!), Trunksmybaby) for your reviews! They mean a lot.

Oh, and also, I know I've mentioned this before, but if you ever want to read non smut Naruto fics, I have another account called Gerkyhen, where I have a few fics! Thanks again bros!