The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn – Chapter 26: Slip and Slide
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."
A/N: You remember that time when you were a little kid, about seven or eight, and it was the night before Christmas or your birthday or something, and you knew your parents had got you this awesome present and you just couldn't wait until morning to wake up and unwrap it? Well, now you know exactly how I feel about this chapter :D I started writing the story over a month ago, but I had created the plot and had had the concept down for weeks before that. However, the plot is a little bit flexible and I had a few parts that lacked detail, sometimes because I wanted it to be a little more spontaneous, sometimes because I basically had no idea exactly what I wanted to write there. This chapter was one of the second kinds of undetailed parts, and it took me two weeks to think of a suitable date idea. Something not lame. Something not (too) cliché. Something not too girly. Until it hit me. And when it did hit me, I actually did a little happy dance. Fortunately this was at about one in the morning, so no one saw me do this – it would be more than a little detrimental to my incredibly respectable untouchable hard core nerd bitch façade if I stood up and started hopping around at school. The third-in-command sixth form committee leader does not do those kinds of things! (Nah, that's reserved for the second…until I usurp his position xD). Anyway, I'm super super super super super excited about the date. My research consisted of asking my annoying not-friend what her first date was like, on the basis that I'm going to die alone and have never had one, and she basically sat there and drooled over her boyfriend for half an hour, so I googled it instead. Anyway, song of the chapter is 'Just Can't Get Enough' by The Saturdays…I don't care if I've already used it! Which I think I might have…who bloody cares! I just watch the video to drool over Frankie xD God I'm depraved :P
This is thinking/dreaming.
"Anything in italics and quotes is written stuff…kukuku…"
This is regular story.
This is author's note.
This is title
Warnings: Does Iruka strike you as the type to give out on the first date? Although he and Kakashi have done…stuff… already, that is not actually the purpose of dates, honeys. Nor is it an excuse. Once again I'll point out that other authors might give you a lemon or something here, but not me. If you're looking for mindless smut, go elsewhere. If you're not, stick around!
Disclaimer: Naruto does not, did not, and will never belong to me. I can claim about as much ownership of it as I can claim of the Eifel Tower. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and as much as I can complain about his shit I can't actually do anything about it because I'm just a poor, innocent (hehe) fangirl. Oh, and the Eifel Tower belongs to the City of Paris. I don't own it either.
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When I'm with you, baby, I go out of my head
I just can't get enough, I just can't get enough
All the things you do to me and everything you said
I just can't get enough, I just can't get enough
We slip and slide as we fall in love
And I just can't seem to get enough, oh
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So I had a date. A date. The thing people did to get to know each other romantically. I had taken my girlfriends on dates before. I had taken them to the park or to the cinema or to a restaurant, and then taken them home again. We had talked about teenage things, usually school. We talked about our friends, teachers, and complained about homework. Then we had parted ways. She usually kissed me before she left. Would it be the same thing with another man?
That was kind of the crux of the matter, after all. If I had been told a month ago that in the future, a tall, mysterious stranger would arrive and throw my life so off-kilter that I would voluntarily drink myself silly I would have told them to shut up and get back to work, because only teenagers and Tsunade would think something so irrational.
Was it really so irrational, though? The entire purpose of this date was to establish if I had somehow managed to develop feelings towards Kakashi. It wasn't to learn more about him, and it wasn't to get a kiss at the end. It was purely experimental.
Or at least that's what I told myself as I flicked another imaginary speck of dust off my trousers as I sat on my sofa at five minutes to three, specifically not anxiously awaiting the knock at my door to signal my date's arrival. It wasn't like I had made an effort or anything with my appearance, either. It was just a coincidence that I had made sure my nicest jeans were clean and my favourite shirt was ironed and that my shoes were polished. And I certainly wasn't anxious about looking appealing or anything, even if I had debated the whole morning about tying my hair up or leaving it down. It had ended up being tied back.
No, I definitely wasn't making that much of an effort, and I certainly wasn't excited, anxious, nervous or happy about the date. It was just an experiment.
Ten minutes later, I was pacing. Had I been stood up? Was it all some kind of ridiculous joke? Was it an excuse to humiliate me and prove a point? Kakashi was five minutes late, and I hated it when people were late. I hated it when students were late, I hated it when members of staff were late, but mostly I hated it when Kakashi was late. At least other people had reasonable excuses, usually something halfway believable, instead of some crap about small animals or old ladies needing rescuing. Fluffy bunnies and pensioners would not cut it this time, and I would forcibly remove his limbs one by one from his body if-
There was a knock at the door.
I shot out of my seat and stormed towards the door, wrenching it open. I drew in a lungful of air, preparing to unleash verbal hell upon the man in my doorway when I stopped.
"Yo," A bunch of flowers was pushed into my face, distracting me from the forthcoming tirade.
"I'm not a woman," I snapped, seizing the flowers in one hand and tossing them onto a small table near the door. "I do not appreciate this. Do I want to hear your excuse as to why you're late?"
"There was this kitten stuck in a flower pot, and I had to help it-"
"-get back to its little brothers and sisters and mummy to play with a ball of string or something? You must deserve an award for helping the poor, innocent creatures of the world by now," I said. I rolled my eyes, but I still smiled. As annoying and stupid as they were, I had to admit they were funny.
"Probably," He said, a smile in his voice. I stepped out of my flat, locking the door behind me. I vaguely wondered if he was going to try and hold my hand as we walked outside to his car, but I remembered that we weren't doing couple-y things, and that probably constituted as couple-y. I wasn't entirely sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
"So where are you taking me?" I asked as he held the car door open for me. I had to give him credit for being a gentleman, even if I wasn't a lady.
"You'll see,"
"Can I have a clue?"
"No,"
"Why? Is it something I'm going to hate?" I said suspiciously. If Kakashi had some kind of romantic boat trip or sissy romantic film or romantic dinner planned, I was going to refuse to speak to him for a week. If he planned to take me to some kind of swing club or sex bar, I was going to kill him.
I was actually sort of worried about the location. What if people we knew saw us together? If any student witnessed it, there would be no way I could deny it, and then I'd have to sit through Tsunade crowing about her matchmaking genius and the stares of the teenage girls would be that much more awkward because they'd know whatever perversions they were picturing was likely.
"I hope not; that would be detrimental to the point of taking you out," He said like he was stating the obvious.
"What is the point?" I frowned. It wasn't obvious, at least, not to me.
"Because I like you and I want to know if I have a chance or not,"
"Oh," I said quietly. That was a confession, wasn't it? An actual outright confession. I wasn't sure what to say in response, especially since he seemed to know what I was feeling, too. Someone, Kakashi, liked me. Like liked me. That kind of like. The non-platonic kind of like. That explained why he wanted to take me on a date, put up with my bitching and had done things to – with – me before. I wasn't sure how to carry on a conversation after his admission, and I didn't try very hard. The silence was awkward, to say the least. Although I wasn't going to reject him, we both knew I wasn't going to leap into his arms and declare my own eternal, undying love, either.
Fortunately, wherever he was taking me wasn't too far away.
"Ice-skating," I said bluntly. "You're taking me ice-skating,"
"Yep," He replied, unlocking the car doors and stepping out. I followed, looking tentatively up at the open space that housed the seasonal outdoor skating rink. It was cold enough for snow, so it was cold enough to open up to the public again, and even from the car park I could see something unusual about the people on the ice.
They were all couples. Kakashi had brought me to a couples-only skating session.
"But I can't skate," I protested. "I've never even-"
"You'll love it, I promise," He began walking towards the skate hire booth, and I followed quickly, markedly walking next to him. This was a date, and I was going to act properly. Just because I wasn't sure about ice-skating didn't mean I would let myself freak out and hurt his feelings or something.
I winced as I realised my attitude on occasion must have been painful to be around. I hadn't exactly been sensitive the morning after our drunk thing, or tactful about my opinions about certain types of relationships. I really hoped I hadn't done too much damage.
We hired ice-skates and strapped them on in silence, nervous on my part and mildly amused on Kakashi's part. I kept shooting the ice terrified looks, like it might open up and swallow me whole, or if it might melt beneath the blades of my skates and I'd be left standing stationary like an idiot in ankle-deep water. The couples on the ice all looked very cutesy and happy, most skating rather well in circles around the edges of the rink. Most of them looked to be about my age or older. I suddenly saw the logic in coming to a couples-only skating session; there wouldn't be any groups of students present, unless they were there on dates themselves in which case they'd be far too busy with each other to notice members of staff.
"Ready?" Kakashi said casually, offering me a hand. I took it, and he helped pull me up. I had a little trouble balancing on the steady, non-slip floor surrounding the ice rink; my face fell at the mental images that conjured at what would happen on the ice.
I stumbled my way over, blushing as I realised my hand was still in his, as I followed him onto the smooth surface of the ice.
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A/N: Although I would like to give you either an extra long update or a double update, I thought I'd be a bitch and leave you hanging! And no, ice-skating is not girly. I have a couple of male friends who are ice skaters, and it's actually a really difficult sport to do. They aren't ice hockey players or anything, they're figure skaters... Anyway, ice-skating aside, the date happens! And will continue to happen next chapter! So review!