The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn – Chapter 38: See What I See
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."
A/N: I'm back, baby! And I come bearing yet more of the delicious romance blossoming between our two favourite teachers. As research (a term I am using incredibly loosely here…) for dancing, despite having written half of the dancing last night, I went to see 'Strictly Gershwin' which is dance set to the music of Gershwin. The company that do it is a ballet company, so the majority of the dance was ballet with some tap and a tango thrown in, but I'm claiming it as research! I totally wasn't slacking! There was a live orchestra and singers and everything, and the dancers were amazing. Yes, it's not precisely relevant to school dances of any kind, but I'm still claiming it! Ever heard the quote thing "dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire"? Yes? No? Well, think about it very closely…because it's totally true in most cases. Possibly with the exception of morris dancing because it's the lamest kind of dance ever. Hell, tap dancing is sexier than morris dancing. Just for your general knowledge, morris dancing is a type of English folk dance and its lame as hell. Guys with bells tied to their ankles waving hankies kind of lame. I try to avoid them wherever I go, but they're lime mimes, I swear. They're always somewhere…watching you…*shivers*. However, the next part of TGTYEL, as I'm sure you've deduced that there will be shivers of a completely different kind ;) I kind of have an entire playlist of slow dance songs on my iPod which I could totally slip in here, but I'm going for something thematic to the entire story as well as slow dance-worthy. Or at least, it was played at the last dance I attended. Song of the chapter is 'Just The Way You Are' by Bruno Mars, which, when played to a certain friend of mine, makes her cry every time. It's hilarious, actually xD
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: Internal debates, internal debates…normally I just write them, but I have actually been subjecting myself to one for a number of days now. And I have sort of maybe come to a conclusion. The subject of said internal debate: sex. Specifically, when to put it in. Because it will happen. I'd like to hear your opinion on this :D Other than that, no real warnings, other than slow dancing xD Oh, and what we in England call a 'car bonnet', Americans may know as the 'hood'. I think. I mean the thing on the front that covers the engine and stuff.
Disclaimer: *sobs* I don't own Naruto, because Masashi Kishimoto thought it up first. This is in part due to the fact that I was two when the pilot volume was published, but also based on the fact that I am actually horribly uncreative in all things except writing. Seriously, I can't draw, sing, play music, et cetera. It's not mine; don't sue.
oO..Oo..oO..Oo
When I see your face
There's not a thing I'd change
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile
The whole world stops and stares for a while
'Cause girl, you're amazing
Just the way you are
oO..Oo..oO..Oo
So there I was, being led by the hand to the centre of the dance floor. I could feel every pair of eyes in the room on us, and I could practically hear the unanimous verdict; they're going out. They're a couple. They're together. If anyone had told me, or pretty much anyone else in the entire hall that I would be dancing with my date at the winter dance, and that said date would be another guy, I would probably have told them to stop daydreaming. Unless they were Tsunade, in which case running very fast in the opposite direction.
Part of me still wanted to run. Even if it was too late to deny everything, considering the photograph of our kiss in my classroom, the first date, the drunken accidental thing, the dreams and the fantasies, part of me still wanted to run. If I ran, then I wouldn't be hurt if everything collapsed around me, and I wouldn't feel humiliated or mortified if something happened, and I wouldn't have to think about what I expected of myself if I let this continue.
The much more sensible part of me promptly shut down this argument. I recognised, for the most part, most of those arguments were completely invalid. The entire risk of getting into a relationship was the risk of heartbreak. If it doesn't hurt when you split up, or even think of splitting up, then what was the point of going there in the first place? If something happened and I didn't feel at least a little bit embarrassed I was probably going insane, since I seemed to feel that way about nearly everything. And realistically, I knew what I expected of myself already.
But the biggest point was that turning and walking away wouldn't hurt just me. If I let go of Kakashi's hand and ran away I'd be hurting him, too. It hadn't been all about me since I started referring to us as 'us'.
So I let myself be led onto the dance floor, right into the middle. Lights glowed dimly overhead, the soft lighting casting shadows over Kakashi's face, obscuring further the few parts I could see. Although I had only seen his uncovered face twice and though both times I was rather distracted, I could remember every detail. I could imagine the small, victorious smile, tugging slightly on the small scar to the left of his lips. He wouldn't blush; I could manage that for both of us.
His warm hands took my wrists, gently pulling my hands into place on his shoulders before retreating down my body to rest on my hips. I raised an eyebrow, but didn't audibly complain. Why the hell was I always the girl?
We started swaying gently in time with the music. All kinds of ridiculous fluffy metaphors sprung to mind, usually involving the dark, midnight blue oceans and the surging tides, or stalks of golden wheat in a lush field or something equally superfluous. No, that kind of thing belonged in the 'reject' pile at publishing houses, and failing that in the sex scenes of bad erotica. I suddenly felt like I was starring in one when hands began to drift from my hips and stray downwards. I squeaked indignantly and closed the gap between us, trying to evade the hands. Naturally, it didn't work, so I settled for glaring at Kakashi instead.
"If we're going to do this, at least set a good example," I said, suddenly cursing our slight height difference. It was hard to be menacing to someone if you had to look up to see into their eyes.
"Live a little," I breathed a sigh of relief as the hands relocated to my back, pulling us even closer. Even if it wasn't completely appropriate, it was better than being groped. Our faces were just inches apart. "My little dolphin," He leaned in to whisper in my ear. I blushed scarlet.
"You basta-" My centre of balance suddenly changed as I was dipped, fingers digging into the back of his black suit jacket. My head spun as I was suddenly parallel to the floor, supported by nothing but Kakashi's arms. "I swear to God, I'm going to kill you," I mumbled through gritted teeth.
"If you say so," He replied, hidden smirk written dangerously in his eyes.
"I'm deadly serious," I said, trying to affect my teacher voice. Instead, I just sounded rather petulant. "When we get home, I'm going to bake you a cake full of cyanide, or plant explosives under the bonnet of your car, or booby trap Icha Icha or something,"
"You wouldn't dare!" He gasped in mock horror, holding me tighter as I tried to wiggle free. Blood was rushing to my head, and it wasn't exactly the most comfortable angle. Worst still, every wiggle seemed to drive our hips together in an almost obscene manner, and considering our location and job that was very, very bad. If the chaperones were allowed to dry hump each other in the middle of the dance floor, the kids would get a distinctly wrong impression of both us and the purpose of dancing. It was not to try and get as far as possible without taking your clothes off. Even if it did feel that way a little bit.
"Revenge is sweet," I said with a grin.
"And so are you,"
"I am not sweet. And think of less girly terms of endearment,"
"What's wrong with 'my little dolphin'?" He asked playfully, dropping me a little lower. My eyes widened; any lower and my hair would be brushing the ground. It said a lot about his physical strength that he was able to hold me like this; I wasn't really heavy, but I certainly wasn't light, either.
"Everything," I said flatly. It was too dolphin-y, for one. Secondly, I wasn't little.
"What do you have against dolphins? They're really fascinating aquatic mammals," He said, pulling us back up to a standing position, but keeping me close. I could feel every line, every contour of his body through both of our clothes. We kept swaying with the music, the pace of the song keeping the rhythm even and easy. "I'm sure you know how smart they are," His voice dropped an octave, barely above a whisper. "How dangerous they can be," He leaned in closer, hot breath drifting past my ear teasingly. "And during the mating season, the males can-"
"I really don't want to know!" I squeaked, jerking my head back. Whatever titbit that was about dolphin sex, I could probably continue to live my life completely happy without ever hearing it. I wasn't allowed to escape, though. We were still incredibly close, physically pressed against each other, locked in place by my arms.
"Are you sure?" I could hear the smirk of amusement return, teasing me shamelessly. I resisted the temptation to step on his foot.
"Positive," I shot back.
The song finished, and I began to pull away. One dance was surely enough; we'd made our statement, we'd had our fun, and now it was time to retreat to opposite corners and stop being so temptingly and infuriatingly close. Suddenly, I could very much appreciate where the kids were coming from; being pressed up against a certain person can make one desire to do certain crazy and highly inappropriate things, even in public.
"One more dance, and then I'll let you get back to glaring holes in people's heads," Kakashi said, tightening his arms around my lower back. "There's just half an hour left, anyway,"
"Really?" The evening had passed so quickly, especially since the incident in the bathroom. We couldn't have been dancing for too long, but regardless, we were supposed to be chaperoning, not dancing ourselves. This was probably in violation of our job descriptions, but it was worth it. I felt inexplicably safe inside the circle of his arms, even on the bizarre dip. Being so close was truly electric.
"Time flies when you're having fun," His voice took on the same tone and implications from the dolphin metaphor thing from before. It wasn't exactly a school-friendly tone, but it sent all-too-detectable shivers down my spine. In response, fingers started to rub soothing circles across my lower back, dipping tantalisingly lower with each stroke. My eyes widened, and I repressed all odd noises that wanted to emerge either in protest or encouragement. I couldn't stop the blush that spread across my face at the touch; it was amazing most of my body was able to function at all, considering how it felt like the majority of my blood was occupying my face. Still, I was grateful it wasn't occupying…other areas. That would be awkward and difficult to explain.
When the second song ended, we did retreat to our separate corners, although I spent much less time glaring at students and much more time catching myself staring across the hall at a figure propped lazily against the wall. I couldn't help it.
No, it definitely wasn't a bad evening.
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A/N: So…slow dancing. I confess I had to go away and google it, on the basis that I'm a frigid bitch. Lol, the number of websites that say to 'adhere to your school's regulations on partner dancing' is staggering xD Yeah, because most schools totally condone dry sex in the middle of the dance floor XD I can see that happening! Anyway, reviews make me a happy, happy bunny!