You Again
There were no squad cars in sight when Sakura and Ino stepped out of the club in a tizzy. Instead, they found a very disgruntled Sasuke and Naruto standing dejectedly on the sidewalk, getting a thorough berating from one bear of a bouncer. Ino's eyebrows were high on her forehead at the bouncer's stance—relaxed and leaning heavily toward the couple.
"My bet's on Sasuke," Ino said.
"You're on," Sakura said with a smirk.
Truthfully, she wasn't sure which one of them was right. It was a toss-up. Sasuke was the prettiest thing in miles, but Naruto had a certain undeniable charm. Unrefined, immature, and obnoxious, but charming nevertheless. There was no telling which of her boys had caught the bouncer's attention, but she would bet her life that whichever one of them had done so was also responsible for the diffused situation she and Ino had walked out to.
She and Ino wandered close enough to eavesdrop, but far enough away that they still just looked like two random drunk girls on the sidewalk, struggling to find their ride home. That wasn't far off from the truth, anyway. She was reminded of that when a cyclist flew by, startling Ino into jumping against her, and sending her crumbling—for the second time that night—to the ground.
Ass planted firmly on the pavement, Sakura glared up at her.
"Oops," Ino said sheepishly, staring down blankly at her.
"Oops? Help me up, Pig!" Sakura cried indignantly, thrusting her palms out for Ino's.
"Jeez, how rude," Ino grumbled, dramatically groaning as she helped pull Sakura up to her feet.
"How about I knock you on your ass, and then you can tell me how rude you think I am?" Sakura complained, fists planted on her hips and glaring fiercely at Ino.
"Everything alright here, ladies?" Sakura and Ino turned away from their grudge match with wide eyes toward the bouncer who had left his flirting post to approach them, heated and arguing on the sidewalk. They hadn't gotten to see which boy he had been flirting with, Sakura thought with a small pout.
"Yes, my girlfriend is just really clumsy," Ino said, with a sheepish smile, wrapping her arm around Sakura's waist. Sakura frowned at her. "And a grumpy drunk," Ino whispered dramatically.
"I am not!" Sakura cried, doing absolutely nothing to prove Ino wrong. The bouncer side-eyed her distrustfully.
"Alright, just be careful. And get her something to eat, that usually helps," he said before walking away.
"Unreal," Sakura grumbled.
"But not wrong," Ino offered with a bright grin. She was pretty hungry, not that she was in any mood to admit that now. "Though, I'm not sure food is what you're craving right now," Ino added with a salacious wink.
"Ugh, Pig," Sakura complained, even though Ino was probably right. She had been dancing with Kakashi, and it had been incredible, until the wonder boys got themselves into some shit, and now, she was standing on a sidewalk with gravel stuck to her butt under her dress.
Speaking of the boys…
"How did you go from VIP to banned?" Ino asked, sounding suspiciously impressed. Naruto was giggling sheepishly and Sasuke was scowling, though his cheeks were bright pink.
"We were just…celebrating our engagement," Naruto said with a deep pout while Sasuke moved to hail a cab, clearly in a hurry to escape the scene of their crimes.
"You hooked up in the bathroom, didn't you?" Sakura asked deadpanned. She heard Sasuke balk from behind her, but she kept her gaze fixated on Naruto, daring him to lie to her.
"Not the bathroom, no," he said, scratching the back of his neck. She couldn't get anything more out of them, though, because Sasuke had managed to hail a cab and was apparently very eager to get them in the car, and shut Naruto the hell up. He made Naruto sit alone up front where he would have to behave, and then sat himself against a door, turned slightly away from her, probably so that she wouldn't see how pink his face was.
"Why am I always in the middle," she complained as Ino squished against her.
"I'll trade with you, Sakura!" Naruto offered excitedly.
"No," the three of them chanted together from the backseat. She laughed to herself as he grumbled under his breath in complaint. Sakura found that sitting in the warm silence of the cab, squished between Sasuke and Ino was reminding her how much she'd had to drink. She watched the neon signs and bright lights of the city whizz by unfocusedly, her lolling from side to side in tandem with whatever music the cabbie had playing softly in the background.
She let her head fall heavily onto Ino's shoulder, smiling to herself when she felt Ino's head lean against hers. Soon, all the hustle and bustle of the city faded into quietness as they headed out of the city limits.
"Where are we going?" Ino whispered to her, wondering for the first time just what was going on. Sakura laughed quietly. It was just like Ino to get in the car and go along without any idea of a plan. She didn't care about the destination, so long as she was dressed for the occasion. Sakura had heard Sasuke give the cabbie his brother's address, and she wasn't sure how well Ino's super low-cut, sparkly outfit would go over with the reserved Itachi.
"After party," Sasuke answered before Sakura could. Ino let out a delighted gasp and cooed as they headed further into shrubbery and away from glitz and glam.
Sakura had been friends with Naruto and Sasuke since she was a little girl, and had come to be quite familiar with Itachi, as well. She had been to his home before, shortly after he had bought the place with his boyfriend, and then on a few other occasions during the wedding planning process. Naruto and Sasuke could not be trusted with the intricate details of a wedding.
Itachi took a singular pleasure in teasing her about her childhood crush on him. It wasn't her fault he was beautiful and brilliant, and she long since come to terms with her attraction to Uchiha boys. She couldn't be blamed for that, she thought. They were unfair.
"Swanky," Ino said appreciatively as the winding driveway came into view. Sakura was pretty sure she even heard the driver let out a long whoosh of air in surprise. She bit back her giggle as she lifted her head from Ino's shoulder. "Sasuke, I had no idea you had a rich brother," Ino said, not at all hiding her intentions.
"Mm, he's hot, too," Sakura added, taking great pleasure in the reflection of Sasuke's pinched expression in the tinted window.
"Say less," Ino said with a seductive lilt in her voice and a happy giggle.
"He's also gay," Sasuke snapped.
"The only person I've ever met that's gayer than Sasuke," Naruto offered from the front seat. Sakura laughed at the disappointed pout on Ino's face.
"I said to say less," she snapped.
Sakura and Naruto laughed at Sasuke and Ino's expense as they rolled up to the front of the house. Sakura tittered quietly as she climbed out behind Ino, watching as her friend gawped at the home before her in awe.
"You're going to swallow a fly, Pig," Sakura warned, breezing past her haughtily, even though she'd had much of the same reaction the first time she'd arrived at Itachi's home. It was all clean lines and elegance, walls of glass facing dense forestry, glowing with warm lights from its interior. The warm glow of the house was almost as pleasant and the warmth of Itachi's welcome.
"Little brother," he said with his standard soft smile as he opened the door for Sasuke, "and little brother-in-law," he joked lightly. Naruto wrapped him in a bear hug, the perfect contradiction to the cool reservation of both Uchiha men before them. Itachi laughed airily as Naruto swung him from side to side excitedly.
"Big brother-in-law," he greeted in between his boisterous laugher. Sakura swatted at his shoulder until he relented and finally put Itachi back on his feet. Itachi winked at her lightly.
"Jealous, Pinky?" he teased, wrapping his arms softly around her shoulders in a greeting.
"Always, Tachi," she joked. "This is Ino," she said, gesturing to Ino who was looking bizarrely timid, given her attire. Itachi raised a suggestive brow to Sakura in question. She just laughed.
"Pleasure to meet you," Ino drawled, holding a hand out to Itachi, who clasped it gently between both of his as he fixed her with an easy smile.
"I'm always pleased to meet Sasuke's friends," Itachi said.
"I've never known anyone to call Sakura Pinky and leave unscathed."
"It has to be earned," Sakura said adamantly.
"Mm, yes, I worked very hard for the honour," he said with a slow nod. Sakura shot him a warning look, but he let nothing else slip. "Anyway, I'm glad you made it. Sasuke wasn't sure that you would."
"Dumb and dumber got kicked out of the club," Ino supplied with a flippant wave of her dainty hand and Itachi laughed.
"I thought you were VIP guests of the owner…?" he said, tilting his head toward Sakura, looking for answers as the guests of honour had already disappeared into the party, likely wreaking more havoc wherever they could. "Never mind, I probably don't want to know."
"Sexy, successful, and smart?" Ino gushed. "You don't happen to have a sister wandering around here, do you?" Sakura was horrified at Ino's candour but Itachi didn't seem so bothered.
Before Sakura could beg Ino to keep it in her pants for five goddamn minutes, she found herself being swept off her feet. Literally. She gasped as large hands gripped her around her waist and whirled her around in the air until she was dizzy from all the spinning and giggling.
"Genma is drooling on me," Obito complained loudly from the backseat. "Why is he in the middle, anyway?"
"Because I didn't want him to drool on me," Rin said happily from the other side of Genma.
"Just be thankful he isn't throwing up," Kakashi offered from the safety of the front seat.
"Hey, assholes, you know I can hear everything you're saying, right?" Genma grumbled into Obito's shoulder. "Except for you, Rinnie, you're not an asshole," he amended, reaching out with a hand to squeeze Rin's knee.
"Get your paws off my wife!" Obito bellowed so loud, Kakashi was certain the cab driver would pull over and kick them all out in the middle of this country back road. Genma did no such thing, leaving his hand on Rin's knee, and Rin didn't seem to care one way or another, except that Obito was being really loud in a very confined space. She sent a desperate look to Kakashi, somehow begging him to help her.
"Do you think they're there yet?" Rin asked, hoping to diffuse the situation.
"I hope they aren't there at all," Obito grumbled back.
"Let's take a poll. Is Kakashi following Pinky to the middle of bumfuck nowhere charming, or is it giving off major serial killer vibes?" Genma asked before burping loudly into Obito's ear. "Oops."
"I will fucking end you," Obito threatened.
"Aw, I don't think Kakashi is being creepy," Rin said with a pout. "I think it's cute. He has a little crush," she added with a giggle. Obito snickered alongside her, though Kakashi felt far more offended by his laughter than he did by Rin's.
"I do not have a crush," he said from the front seat, keeping his eyes locked on the road in front of them, knowing that his ears were burning and not willing to let them get a look at that.
"You better have a crush, Hatake; otherwise, I don't know why I'm risking seeing Ass-uke again," Obito objected.
"You're a good friend, Bito," Rin said with a sweet smile, and suddenly all of Obito's hostility was gone.
The rest of the ride up to Itachi's was filled with far less animosity, though it was no less chaotic. Where Kakashi had once been grateful to be sitting up front, Obito made sure he regretted it quickly enough. Kakashi never realized how pointy his friend's knee was until he had it poking at the small of his back through the seat. He knew it was on purpose, because when he shifted to the right, so did Obito's knee.
Genma was snorting loudly in Obito's ear, still drooling on him, his hand still on Rin's knee. Rin, bless her, was the only one Kakashi could rely on to behave like an actual, fully-developed human. Even when she was constantly giggling at his expense, and teasing him about how pink his ears were, "just as pink as Sakura's hair", as if he needed the reminder.
His stomach was in knots the whole way from the club to the countryside home of a man he'd met once, briefly, at Obito and Rin's wedding. What if she wasn't even there? How quickly would he be able to leave after getting to the party he'd practically begged Obito to take them to? He would no doubt receive endless flack from his friends for it. What did it say about him, that he was all-consumed with the prospect of seeing her again, with her pink hair and green eyes, and those curvy little hips that fit so nicely in his hands?
His ears were burning again, and Rin was giggling, and he wanted to sink into his uncomfortable seat with Obito's knee jutting into his back, down through the undercarriage of the car, until he was lying flat on the pavement of the road, ready to face whatever came for him there. That would surely be less tortuous than this.
God, what if she was there and she thought he was a creep? Maybe Genma had been onto something.
"I don't feel so hot," Genma muttered lowly, speaking Kakashi's mind.
"We're almost there, choke it back," Obito demanded. Kakashi knew he was talking to Genma, trying to avoid being splattered with any more of his vomit tonight, but Kakashi had to force himself to swallow through his dried throat. He could see the lights of the house now, as the taxi turned into what was probably the longest, most winding driveway in existence. Kakashi thought it was overkill, but as they approached the house, he thought that perhaps it made sense. If he lived in a glass palace, he would probably also like the privacy of a long, personal road.
"Jesus, Obito, what the fuck does your cousin do?" Genma slurred, and Kakashi heard Obito grunt. Kakashi imagined Genma had thrust himself good and well into Obito's personal space to get a good look out the window. "I mean, I know you Uchiha are loaded, but Christ."
"Itachi sort of paved his own way," Rin offered. "He's a tech genius."
"So is Kakashi, and he lives in a shithole."
"Fuck you, Shiranui," Kakashi sighed as he leafed through his wallet to pay the cabbie. He offered him a large tip and a quick apology as he and his drunken friends climbed out of the car. Kakashi fell in behind Rin and Obito as they led the way to the front door.
"I think your apartment is quaint," Rin said over her shoulder with a sweet smile and, once again, Kakashi internally thanked god that he was graced to have at least one decent, sane friend. At least, until he caught a glimpse of her pinching Obito's backside. He tried to pretend he hadn't seen it, but the sight of Obito nearly jumping out of his skin was almost too good to ignore.
"I bet Pinky would like it," Genma said with a self-satisfied chortle. Kakashi glared at him but it seemed he was incapable of recognizing hostility in his drunken stupor.
"Her name is Sakura," Rin corrected with a fierce glare of her own. Genma recognized the hostility when it came from her, at least. He shrunk away, raising his palms in surrender.
"Twenty bucks says she's not even here," Genma said with a long sigh. Kakashi rolled his eyes and was ready to tell Genma to shut the hell up, but Rin beat him to the punch.
"I'll take that bet," she said, and Kakashi balked. She wasn't the least bit sorry when she winked at him over her shoulder. He wondered how long they would wait before they called the bet. He wasn't sure what was more nerve-wracking; finding out she wasn't there after all, or actually bumping into her and having to speak to her. What would he even say? What if she didn't want to speak to him? God, he really should have thought this through a little better.
Hey, Sakura, it's me again. Just followed you all the way to this random estate because I thought you were cute. Right. That sounded like the behaviour of a normal, totally not-unhinged person.
As it turned out, they didn't have to wait very long at all for the results of that bet.
"Shit," Genma cursed under his breath. Kakashi would have repeated the sentiment if he could remember how to circulate air into his lungs.
The door was open, and Obito and Rin were walking in, all smiles and pleasant greetings to the man who opened it. Kakashi recognized Itachi, with his fair skin, and dark eyes, and long, silky black hair, but it wasn't recognizing Itachi that had him stopping cold.
A short, champagne-coloured dress, and creamy skin, and petal-pink hair had him stopping short and losing his breath. She was being swung around in the hands of some ridiculously large man, and she was giggling like this was something that happened to her often. He felt his stomach lurch and wondered if it was more a cause of the liquor or if it was the doing of that floating, giggling creature.
Then, her feet were back on the ground, and Genma was shoving Kakashi in through the open door so roughly he tripped on his way in. By the time he caught his footing and looked back up, her wide green eyes were fixed on him, her lips parted in surprise, and Kakashi was going to kill Genma for this.
One of his asshole friends whispered "smooth" behind his back, but he was staring at Sakura, and she was staring at him, and how long could a person survive without a heartbeat, because he was pretty sure his had just fucked right off. Her surprise morphed into a coy smile and—fuck, there was his heartbeat, and it was back with a vengeance.
"You again, huh?" she teased.
"Hi," he managed to say. He heard Obito and Genma chucking behind him.
"Hi," Sakura returned with a giggle. "Are you following me, Kakashi?" she asked, her hip cocked out, her smile crooked, and her lips speaking his name slowly, experimentally.
"No," he said too quickly, and at the very same time, his friends all chorused a loud and exhausted "yes". Traitors. Sakura didn't seem to think it was all that creepy, though, because she was still smiling up at him, and was even stepping a little closer as she did.
"Oh, good, you all know each other," Itachi said with a calm smile.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great and all, but we've got more important things to attend to," the angry-looking, large man that had been twirling Sakura said. Kakashi noted with some trepidation that his teeth were abnormally sharp. He dropped a thick arm across Sakura's shoulders, making her stagger under his weight. "What do you say, Pink?" he asked with a cocky grin.
"You really wanna go there again, Kisame?" she responded, a cocky smile of her own, and one arched brow.
"You cheated last time. I don't know how, but I'll figure it out this time, for sure," he said, turning her and leading her further into the house. Kakashi wanted to protest, or to follow, or to do something but he was left standing with the strange mismatch of people at the front door.
"What are they doing?" Rin asked with genuine intrigue, and thank god she did, because Kakashi was dying to know the same thing but was worried that the question wouldn't have sounded quite so innocently interested as it did coming from Rin.
"Arm-wrestle," Itachi answered with a small sigh. "I don't know why they even bother."
"She's going to arm-wrestle that guy?" Obito asked in shock.
"Sakura is very strong," Ino supplied happily.
"You'd be surprised. She's beat him nearly every other time they've done this," Itachi said, holding an arm out to Ino to escort her through the house. Ino accepted with a coy smile.
"Her?" Obito asked incredulously. "She can beat him in an arm-wrestle?" he asked, staring after Itachi like he'd just sprouted a third eye on his forehead. "Cool!" Obito cried before tearing off after them. Kakashi glanced back at Genma and Rin, and after the three of them shared a shrug, they too went to witness the prolific battle.
Kakashi tried to pretend he wasn't deeply fascinated by the way Sakura's hand—itty bitty in comparison to her opponent's—gripped Kisame's, and the way her full lips curved into a confident smirk as she leaned slightly over the table, her face determined. But he figured it was better to fixate on her indomitable expression than the way her dress was pulled tight around her hips and backside as she kneeled down across from Kisame.
"Eyes up, Hatake," Obito muttered quietly in his ear, and Kakashi quickly lifted his eyes from where they had wandered—exactly where he had been trying to stop them from wandering. He felt his cheeks warming and hoped it looked like a warm glow from the drinks he'd had that night.
Kisame and Sakura were going over the rules—he wasn't sure how many rules were involved in arm wrestling, but it seemed these two were dead serious about it—and Itachi took the opportunity to pour a few drinks and hand them out. Kakashi took a glass gratefully and without hesitation.
"Ready?" Sakura asked with an excited wiggle of her bottom, and Kakashi nearly choked on his sip. Kisame shot her a toothy grin. "Three, two, one—go!"
Kakashi watched, enthralled as Sakura and Kisame remained deadlocked, arms upright. Her bare arm was flexed, the evidence of her strength rippling in the lean muscles of her bicep and forearm. Kisame put more pressure on her and her fist lowered just slightly before a little line appeared between her brows and she was pushing back, leaning his arm toward the tabletop. His mouth was pulled taut in a grimace, and while Kakashi could see the evidence of Sakura's efforts in her tensed body, her smile remained cocky and easy.
With a grunt, Kisame's hand hit the table with a loud bang.
"Whoop! Go, Sakura!" her loud, blond friend cheered as he and Sasuke staggered into the room together. Sakura's laughter chimed like bells as she stood from her kneeled position.
"When will you learn?" Itachi asked, looking down at Kisame in exasperation.
"She cheats!" Kisame whined, staring up at Itachi imploringly.
"I do not cheat. I'm just smarter than you," Sakura said, her hands on her hips and her nose upturned.
"One day, Pink. One day, I'll get you," he grumbled as Itachi pulled him to his feet. She laughed again before turning away from him to look at the group of spectators. Her eyes first went to Ino, who had been looking on with pride, before they slid over her and onto Kakashi. He ducked his head and took another big gulp of his whiskey, hoping to cover up his pink cheeks with alcohol consumption.
Every time he bumped into this girl, he learned something that had him itching for more. She was easily half Kisame's size, and she looked so delicate and soft, which had been enticing in its own right, but Kakashi found himself wanting to test out just how strong that arm really was.
"Christ, that's hot," Genma said appreciatively and loudly. Kakashi frowned. "I think I'd actually thank you for punching my lights out, Pinky," he continued, knocking Kakashi out of his way to lean down and fix Sakura with his flirtiest smile. She smirked right back and her eyes narrowed before she reached up and hit him with a flick straight to the centre of his forehead, hard enough that he yelped in shock.
"Call me Pinky one more time, and I might just oblige you," she threatened with a sweet smile that had Kakashi's stomach fluttering nauseatingly. Genma snickered despite the red mark that had appeared on his forehead. He looked like he was going to say something else, probably something lewd, if Kakashi knew Genma as well as he thought he did. The cocky smirk on his face was very telling.
"Genma, behave!" Rin scolded, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and dragging him away, leaving Kakashi standing before Sakura again, this time, with no distractions. Even Ino had moved on, slinking away after Rin. Something at the back of his mind said that there was probably an interesting story there, but the rest of his brain was too preoccupied with the pink-haired champion standing before him.
"Sorry about him," Kakashi said after a beat of silence, during which the two of them just continued staring at each other, both of their faces getting progressively pinker. Her small, shy smile widened into something sweet and teasing.
"You should be," she said, her eyes gleaming with mischief, "it's your fault he's here."
"Is it?" he asked, a small laugh on his lips as he unconsciously leaned into her, unable to stop his own smile from stretching across his face.
"Well, you did follow me here," she teased, taking a small step toward him. "Didn't you?" He felt his ears get hot, and his tongue turn to lead and he was cursing himself for accepting that drink from Itachi because he had absolutely no control over himself anymore.
"I did," his mouth admitted before his brain could stop it. Her eyes widened slightly at the admission, and a blush dusted across her cheeks, but her smile lost its teasing edge as she leaned closer still.
"I'm glad you did," she said quietly. He felt his chest fill with satisfaction at her confession. What the hell, he thought flippantly as he let his free hand reach out to curl around her hip.
A loud crash followed by frantic shouting had the two of them jumping. Kakashi moved to pull his hand away, embarrassed by how familiar he'd gotten, but Sakura caught his wrist before he could pull away completely.
"Do you think it was yours or mine?" she asked, rolling her eyes even as her lips quirked up in amusement. He shrugged helplessly, feeling a little overwhelmed by the tingles shooting up and down his arm from her touch on his wrist. She didn't wait for his response, though. Instead, she strung him along behind her, pulling his arm forward until his hand was resting against her waist.
By the time they'd found what all the commotion was, he'd forgotten what they were looking for. His hand was on her, and her hips were swaying with every step, and, really, how was he expected to focus on anything else?
Then her face was turned and she was smiling at him over her shoulder, and he was certain he'd been caught ogling her, but she said nothing about it.
"Looks like we're both responsible," she joked, turning her attention away from him. He finally looked away from her to survey the room she'd let them to, in which Obito and Sasuke were coming to literal blows. Sasuke was being held back by his fiancé and Itachi, while Obito was restrained by Genma and Kisame.
"Take it back!" Obito shouted.
"Are you twelve?" Sasuke asked, struggling against the arms wrapped around him. "Do you want to call your mother to tell on me?"
"Fuck you!"
"Oh, god," Sakura mumbled, looking back and forth as they continued to yell at each other. Kakashi's hand was still on her, slipping from her waist to rest heavily against her hip, and he found the way she leaned into that touch far more interesting than the Uchiha grudge match that was going down in Itachi's office.
"I could take you any time, any place," Obito said, leaning so far forward he would have face-planted if it weren't for Genma and Kisame's hold on him.
"What are they even arguing about?" Kakashi wondered aloud. Rin walked over to him, a drink in each hand and exasperation written all over her face. Her eyebrows rose at the sight of his hand on Sakura's hip but she had the good graces to not mention it.
"Obito called Sasuke a spoiled brat, Sasuke called Obito a talentless hack, and now…" Rin looked over her shoulder at them and sighed before offering one of her drinks to Sakura. "Kakashi, I hate to ask," she started, glancing down to his hand on Sakura's hip and looking genuinely sorry, "but he might actually listen to you."
Kakashi looked at his one reasonable friend for a long moment, waiting for her to reconsider, but a retraction never came. With a small sigh and a heavy reluctance, he shifted his gaze to Sakura, who was smiling softly up at him before she bumped her hip against his and nodded toward the still-shouting Uchihas.
"Go. Diffuse," she said, giving his wrist one little squeeze before pushing his hand from her hip and sending him on his way.
He was going to give Obito hell for this.
"You and Kakashi seem cozy," Rin teased, clinking her glass against Sakura's with a suggestive wink. Sakura gave her an awkward laugh before sipping the drink she'd been handed.
"Maybe I should help with Sasuke," Sakura said, trying to escape, only for Rin to grasp her wrist with a mischievous smirk.
"I'm pretty sure they've got a handle on it. Besides," her smile turned mischievous, "don't you want the opportunity to get some intel on Kakashi," she teased and Sakura felt her cheeks go red. Damn, but she was right. Sakura's eyes slid from Rin's smiling face to Kakashi, one hand rested on Obito's shoulder as he tiredly tried to get him to calm down. Sakura felt herself smiling at the sight, and by Rin's giggle, she knew she'd been caught.
With a knowing look and a friendly arm around Sakura's shoulder, Rin turned her away from the ear-shatteringly loud argument and led her away to a quieter room. She cast one last glance over her shoulder at Kakashi, who had moved his sleepy gaze from Obito to her, watching her walk out of the room with Rin with surprise and—was that fear?—in his eyes. She hid her grin behind a healthy sip from her glass.
Ino, an absolute bloodhound for gossip and scandal, and also infallibly infatuated with Rin, was on them in seconds, trailing behind to wherever Rin was directing them. The house was filled with people milling around, listening and swaying to music, drinking and laughing. Still, amidst the merriment, Rin was able to find a secluded corner that they could make theirs for a little while.
Rin was forthcoming about her friendship with Kakashi, hardly needing any prompting from Sakura to provide some back-story. She, Obito and Kakashi had been friends since they were kids. Kakashi and Obito had argued endlessly, always butting heads, but they were like brothers. Kakashi had practically been adopted into the Uchiha family, he had spent so much time at Obito's house. When Sakura asked why, Rin had skirted the subject with a vague "his dad was away a lot". Sakura decided it was best to not pry any further into that.
Rin didn't take the subtle approach in asking Sakura about what she thought about Kakashi. Sakura was a little embarrassed to be talking to one of his friends about him, but she found she couldn't really help it with the way Rin's warm eyes danced in excitement as she pried Sakura with gentle but pointed questions.
How was their dance? It had been nice; Sakura was surprised to find out what a good dancer Kakashi was behind all that slouching. Was she surprised to see him at Itachi's? She had been surprised to see him, but not totally shocked. It had been an interesting day full of random encounters, and she certainly wasn't about to complain about it. She was happy to see him again. Did she think he was cute?
"Yes, very," Sakura answered honestly, blushing furiously as she downed the rest of her drink. Rin seemed endlessly pleased with her answers and gave her a break. Ino was rolling her eyes, though.
"How can you think someone is cute when you haven't even seen what they look like," she said as she placed three beer bottles on the coffee table before them. Sakura was pretty sure that even if what hid beneath that bandana was grotesque, she would still be thoroughly charmed by him, with his silvery hair, and his heavy-lidded gaze, and silky-smooth voice that always rumbled through her as he hit her with one teasing comment or another.
Still, she had a hard time believing he was anything but unattractive under there. A shiver ran through her as she recalled the feeling of his lips brushing against the shell of her ear, and how it had felt to lean her back against his hard body.
"Easy, Forehead," Ino teased, "you look like you're about to combust."
"Yes, I think he's cute," she reiterated plainly before taking a deep swig of her beer.
"Who's cute?" Sakura looked over her shoulder to see Itachi float into the room, a small easy smile playing at his lips, and she figured that meant the situation in the other room had finally been laid to rest. For now, at least.
"Kakashi," Rin supplied happily, much to Sakura's mortification. Itachi's airy laugh washed away her embarrassment.
"Of course," he said in understanding.
"So, what's with Sasuke and Obito?" Sakura asked in a very clever and totally obvious manoeuvre to change the subject. None of them thought she was slick, but they let her get away with it anyway.
"Oh, they've been like that since we were kids. I think they secretly love each other, deep down," Itachi said with a little wave of his hand.
"Don't let them catch you saying that," Rin said in an amused warning.
"You know, Naruto actually reminds me a lot of Obito," Itachi said and Sakura burst out laughing, because, though she had never met Obito before that night, she could absolutely see it. Itachi and Rin regaled her and Ino with the finer points of Sasuke and Obito's ongoing clashing, and the more they got into it, the more Sakura could see the similarities.
Slowly, their friends trickled in and settled around them. Ino pouted when Obito plopped down to sit on the floor beside Rin, draping his arm around his wife and pressing a sloppy kiss to her cheek. Rin giggled and wiped at her face with a dramatic "yuck". Obito responded to that by pressing even more sloppy kisses on her face until she was giggling too hard to fight him off. Sakura couldn't help but smile at them.
Naruto seated a surly Sasuke in the corner of the luxurious leather couch before sitting down beside him. Sakura thought it rather looked like Sasuke had been placed under a timeout. She could only assume that was exactly the case, if the way he was scowling at Naruto was any indicator. Kisame took up a good chunk of that couch himself, his arm running along the back of it, and Itachi leaning heavily into him, his cheeks glowing red from his drinks.
That left Genma and Kakashi, and there were only two spaces available in their little circle, one beside Ino and one beside Sakura where they sat on the floor. Sakura felt her heart leap up into her throat as she tilted her head back to look up at Kakashi, looming over them, his shoulders hunched and hands deep in his pockets. His eyes creased happily down at her, and before she could think too much about it, she patted the space beside her in invitation.
She tried not to be affected by the feeling of his thigh brushing along hers as he sat with his legs crossed. She also tried to pretend it had been absolutely unintentional when she shifted so the length of her thigh was pressed along his as she sat primly with her knees tucked together and legs unfurled beside her, crossed at the ankles. His eyes flickered down to her thigh pressed to his before coming back up to settle on her face.
"How was peacekeeping?" she asked, nudging his shoulder with hers. The corners of his eyes were soft and slightly creased as he planted an arm behind her back and leaned himself on it, effectively tucking her into his side. She felt her breath hitch in her throat.
"Not my first choice," he answered pointedly, and she felt her cheeks ignite. Had Sasuke and Naruto said something about her, the way Rin had about him? She leaned into him, ducking her head to take a slow sip from her bottle as she felt herself sink further into the warmth of him. When she lifted her eyes again, Rin was winking at her and hiding a knowing smirk behind her own bottle.
Their circle was filled with chatter and banter, but Sakura could hardly focus on anything beside the heat that was emanating from Kakashi, and that fresh, warm scent of his that was washing over her. She had to stop herself from turning her face and burying her nose in his chest to take full, deep breaths of that scent.
"Drinking game!" Naruto cried, breaking Sakura out of her reverie and making her jolt against Kakashi's side. He leaned a little further into her and chuckled lowly. Her eyes slid shut as that laughter rumbled through her and she relaxed fully into him while shivers worked through her spine.
"Cold?" he asked softly into her ear, and her eyes snapped open. God, what was wrong with her? She felt like she was turning to putty. Before she could say anything, another tremor was going through her, and that arm behind her was pressed tight across her back, enveloping her further in his warmth.
"Oi, why is the old man cuddling with Sakura?" Naruto complained loudly, effectively tearing Sakura out of the happy cocoon of warmth she'd been wrapped up in.
"Shut up, Naruto!" she snapped, her eyebrow twitching while Genma and Obito erupted into loud laughter. She fixed Kakashi with an apologetic smile. "He's an idiot," she said sheepishly in explanation. His quiet laugh rumbled through her again.
"He's not the only one," Kakashi said, rolling his eyes at his friends who were hooting and hollering at his expense.
"Do or drink," Naruto demanded, placing a large bottle of vodka on the table with a self-satisfied grin. "Ino!" he bellowed, even though Ino was sitting right at his feet, glaring up at him. "Pick someone here to kiss for thirty seconds or take three shots." Sakura nearly burst into laughter when Ino's eyes zeroed in on Rin.
"I'm game if she is," Ino said with a sly smirk and Rin laughed lightly before looking to Obito for his thoughts on the matter. He simply shrugged and dropped his arm from her shoulders so she could lean forward and meet Ino's lips, the two of them kissing over Genma's lap. Genma whistled lowly as the thirty seconds came to a close and the two women parted with small smiles.
"Ugh," Ino said as she sat back on her heels. "Your wife is so fucking hot," she whined, pouting as Rin tucked herself back under Obito's arm.
"I know!" he cried, grinning from ear to ear and hugging Rin tighter to him. Her cheeks were pink as she laughed.
"Itachi," Ino said, her voice dripping with false sweetness as her eyes settled mischievously on Sakura. "Share something embarrassing about Sakura or take a shot each of vodka and tequila." Itachi's face twisted in disgust.
"I had the great misfortune of being on the receiving end of one of her schoolgirl infatuations," he said, a wicked twinkle in his eye as he met Sakura's horrified stare.
"Itachi! I thought I could trust you!"
"Sorry, Pinky," he said, sounding so sincere she could only pout and forgive him. "It was either divulge your sordid past or throw up on Kisame in the middle of the night."
"Been there, done that, refuse to do it again," Kisame said in agreement.
"How come pretty boy can call you Pinky, but I get threatened?" Genma asked with a dramatic pout.
"Did you not just hear about the childhood crush?" Sakura grumbled unhappily.
"Does that mean Kakashi can call you Pinky?" Genma asked with a smirk. Kakashi spluttered, and his drink sloshed out of his glass and onto Obito's lap as he coughed and tried desperately to breathe again. Obito was glaring at him, but Kakashi wasn't looking at Obito; he was looking at her. She felt her cheeks ignite.
"There it is," someone mumbled and the circle of people tittered quietly as Sakura descended further into her blush. She looked up at Kakashi as his eyes creased ever-so-slightly with a smile and that was enough to break her stare. She dropped her gaze to the table before reaching forward and grabbing the first cup she could reach, and downing it.
"That was mine, Forehead!" Ino cried indignantly, but Sakura didn't care much. She coughed lightly around Ino's drink—straight liquor—as a tremor worked through her body from it.
"Little brother," Itachi began, "hug Obito or down your drink," he said with a sweet smile. Sakura had never seen anyone drink anything so quickly before in her life.
"I'm hurt," Obito said dryly. Sakura laughed lightly into her own drink while Sasuke burped lightly and scowled at Itachi. She couldn't hide from Sasuke, though. Once he caught wind of her laughter, he set his wrath on her.
"Sit in someone's lap for the rest of the game, or finish every open drink on the table," he said, smirking wickedly. Sakura took stock of the half-filled cups and bottles that sat atop the table. It wasn't that bad, honestly, but the thought of mixing all those liquors and beers was making her stomach turn. She could easily just hop into Naruto's or Ino's lap; hell, even Sasuke was a viable option, but she was tucked so snugly into Kakashi's side and her face was burning as she considered sliding herself into the cradle of his crossed legs.
She glanced up at him to find that he was already watching her, waiting for her decision. She wasn't sure she could muster the strength to actually open her mouth and say "can I sit in your lap for the next half hour". But then, he was uncrossing his legs enough to create a space for her between them, and he was leaning all that body heat away from her, sitting up straight before patting lightly on the space he'd made for her. She smiled at the invitation and scooted herself into it before she could change her mind.
She sat sideways across him; her butt nestled between his legs, and her legs draped over his. She didn't think twice before letting herself relax against his chest, soaking that warmth in once again.
"I didn't think she'd actually do it," Sasuke admitted with a disappointed sigh. Sakura stuck her tongue out at him in a display of her maturity, and Kakashi's low laughter was rattling her again. She needed to distract herself from that, and the feeling of his hand on her hip, or the one that was resting on her bare thigh, and his strong thighs that were cradling her ass.
"Kisame!" she blurted, earning a toothy grin and a raised eyebrow. "Admit I'm stronger than you or down whatever drink Ino pours for you."
"Ooh, that's rough, Forehead," Ino said with an impressed nod as she stood and started perusing the display of liquor setup behind her to plan her concoction. Itachi was looking at Kisame imploringly but Kisame was obstinately shaking his head.
"No way. You cheat, I know you cheat," Kisame insisted as he bravely reached a hand out to accept Ino's mix.
"Sorry, Itachi," Ino said with a small shrug as Kisame poured the drink down his throat, and then proceeded to cough and splutter and gag. Once he recovered, Kisame fixed her with narrowed eyes and a wicked smirk. Uh oh, she thought.
"You, Toothpick," he said, pointing to Genma before jerking his thumb towards Sakura. "Kiss Petal over here or the two of you have to kill this bottle together," he said, thumping a quarter-filled decanter of whiskey onto the table.
Sakura balked in his lap, and Kakashi felt he rather understood the feeling.
"What?! No! I already took my turn!" she protested, tensing against his chest and he felt his stomach flip as his fingers tightened against her.
"What are you, the drinking game police?" Kisame said with a wave of his hand. "That's the dare. Do it or drink." He sat back and smiled smugly at her, waiting for her to pick her poison. She moved her scowl from his face to Genma's, grinning wolfishly and wiggling his eyebrows.
"Ugh," she groaned, her mouth twisted in distaste.
"C'mon, Petal. I'm not that bad," he said with a wink. Kakashi would have to disagree; this was awful.
"I'd rather kiss roadkill," she stated simply, meeting his offended expression with stoicism. Kakashi couldn't help the surprised laugh that burst out of him, and he wasn't alone. Genma pouted miserably at her while their friends laughed at his expense.
"Oh, please," Ino said with a roll of her eyes, "suck it up. I've seen you put your lips on far worse."
"Ino," Sakura said in warning.
"Oh?" Genma asked, his interest renewed after the slight. "Like what?"
"Like Sasuke—"
"Ino!" Sakura cried, her face bright red. Obito yelped in alarm.
"You kissed Ass-uke!" he said, pointing in accusation.
"What the fuck?!" Sasuke cried. "Ass-uke?!" His fiancé was laughing with abandon, which did nothing to help his anger, and Sakura was spiralling into a mortified flush that seemed to spread down her neck and over her shoulders; it had Kakashi wondering where else it went, briefly, before he stopped himself from wandering any further into that thought.
"Oh, dear," Itachi said softly, swirling his whiskey glass and smiling softly into it.
As Obito and Sasuke descended into another argument, Sakura uncapped the decanter and poured half its contents into her emptied glass before shoving the bottle towards Genma across the table. She raised her glass in a cheer before tilting her head back and swallowing the brown liquor down with a pinched expression.
She huffed and shivered once she placed her empty glass back on the table.
"I need some fresh air," she said weakly, angling herself in his lap so she could rest her palms on his shoulders and use him to push herself up to her feet. He let his hands fall away from her body as she rose. She swayed gently on her feet for a moment before excusing herself and heading for the balcony.
"I'm gonna die," Genma mumbled as he poured the remaining contents of the bottle into his glass. Rin was reaching around Obito to pinch at Kakashi's arm, gesturing for him to go outside with Sakura.
"Go check on her," she whispered furiously.
"I barely know her," Kakashi whispered back. Rin rolled her eyes.
"That didn't stop you from pulling her into your lap," she pointed out wryly. He squirmed under her scrutinizing glare. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to do that, other than the thought that he could welcome her into his space or watch her plant herself in someone else's, and he hadn't been quite ready to relinquish the feeling of her soft body pressing against his.
At that, he took Rin's advice and followed Sakura out to the balcony. She was leaning over the railing as she peered out into the surrounding woods. He cleared his throat lightly to alert her to his presence, but also to jar himself out of staring at her, slightly bent over as she enjoyed the fresh air.
She didn't look pleased to be interrupted, if the look on her face was anything to go by. He mentally cursed himself for listening to Rin, but then Sakura's eyes took him in and her expression softened into an easy smile.
"Following me again?" she teased, keeping those bright eyes on him as he moved to stand beside her, leaning his back against the balcony rail. He found himself getting lost in those eyes and having to grip the railing behind him hard as his drunkenness caught up to him.
"Just avoiding my turn," he said and she tittered lightly.
"Wise," she said, nodding slowly. "I should have stepped away sooner." She was laughing again, shaking her head, and he could see, even in the dim lights out here, that her cheeks were pink. "Sorry if I insulted your friend. Honestly, he seems fun but…I really did notwant to kiss him," she said, her mouth twisted in distaste once again.
"Oh, don't worry. Genma needs that once in a while," he assured her. He felt his throat tighten, and his brain was screaming at him to stop talking, but it was too late, as soon as the thought hit his head it was going straight through his lips without delay. "Besides, I also really did not want you to kiss him," he admitted softly, keeping his eyes locked above her head, avoiding her face.
Eventually, the silence became unbearable and he figured he would have to look at her. At least he would know for sure, whether or not she was interested. His stomach was twisting anxiously, and he thought that that in combination with all the drinking he'd been doing was likely a recipe for disaster.
Then he felt her slim fingers wrapping around his wrist, calling his attention down to her, and he couldn't very well deny her request. She was chewing on her bottom lip, her cheeks still dusted the loveliest shade of pink. She was turned toward him, leaning into his body instead of over the balcony rail, and he thought that this was probably the opportunity he'd been angling for since he nearly knocked her over outside that club.
He had been close while they were dancing, even going so far as to pull his bandana down, but they'd been interrupted. Now, they were alone together on this balcony, and she was well aware that he had essentially chased her out into the backcountry, to this random party. And now, she was staring up at him with sparkling eyes, and she was chewing on that plump bottom lip, and all he wanted to do was replace her teeth with his lips.
"Hey, lovebirds!" Sakura jumped and turned back to look out over the balcony and Kakashi fixed Genma with a glare. Of all the times to burst in, his friends picked now. Genma wasn't alone as he stepped out onto the balcony; he was followed by the rest of their drinking game crew, much to Kakashi's disappointment.
Sakura sighed softly beside him, glancing up at him with a small, resigned smile before she turned to face their friends as they all filed clumsily onto the balcony, loud and rambunctious as ever. Kakashi sighed to himself. At least they were consistent.
Sakura couldn't focus on the buzz of conversation circling around her. For one, that had been a lot of whiskey she'd had, but more than that, was how dizzy she'd been left feeling after all the gazing up into Kakashi's eyes she'd been doing. How cheesy was she? But his eyes really were so pretty; dark and sleepy and kind. Her heart did a little cartwheel in her chest and she told herself she had to get a grip.
If their friends hadn't come out to join them, would he have kissed her? That's what she'd been angling for. It was the main reason she had nearly drowned herself in whiskey; she figured the odds of getting him to kiss her would be a lot better if she didn't first kiss his friend. He'd said he hadn't wanted her to kiss Genma. That probably meant he wanted her for himself, right?
She surged forward to pluck the cup Ino was carrying out of her hand and bring it to her own lips. Ino did not look impressed with the thieving, but her friend was always an encourager of poor decisions revolving around intoxication, so she didn't protest when Sakura finished her drink for her. Her brain was feeling a little fuzzier and her body tingly and she thought that had done the trick.
She was too drunk now to be concerned about things like rejection and awkwardness. Instead, her concerns were how wobbly on her feet she suddenly was, and how the breeze that blew through the balcony was suddenly too cold, but that was fine because Kakashi was standing beside her and he was anything but cold. She slipped a little closer to him so that the hand he had resting on the railing was behind her, his knuckles brushing over her back.
He had a cigarette in the hand furthest from her, occasionally twisting his head so he could push his bandana aside and take a drag without anyone's prying eyes sneaking a peek beneath the cloth that hid his face.
"Can I try?" she heard herself asking him. He looked a little surprised, and she was vaguely aware of Sasuke shouting in protest, but still, she waited patiently for Kakashi to offer the cigarette to her. Truth be told, she surprised herself with the request. Sasuke was still rambling about how unlike her this was—which was true—but that didn't stop her from wrapping her lips around the cigarette when Kakashi offered it to her.
She barely inhaled anything at all, more focused on how her lips were brushing against his fingertips than anything else. Once she felt the smoke enter her mouth she quickly pulled away to exhale. Her expression must have been interesting, because Naruto was laughing with a zeal that was entirely his own, and Obito was right there with him.
Sasuke was still going on about how irresponsible she was being, but Kakashi was still watching her as intently as he had when her lips were pressed to his fingers. Then, he looked away, as if nothing had happened, and he was turning his head to have a puff and maintain his privacy.
A joint made its way around the group, quickly followed by a second, and each time it was offered to Sakura she politely refused and watched as Kakashi accepted it in her stead. She was enjoying watching his sleepy eyes somehow grow even sleepier as the high hit him. She wondered if he would be willing to demonstrate that second-hand smoke thing that Rin and Obito had done.
That's one way to get him to kiss me, she thought. She realized belatedly that she had been staring at him for god only knew how long, and quickly averted her eyes to Rin and Ino who were watching her and Kakashi excitedly. Sakura sighed to herself and felt Kakashi's arm wrap around her more fully.
She looked up at him, surprised, and she found that he was looking down at her, his eyes softly creased, and a million questions raced through her foggy brain, but none of them were tangible enough to speak.
"I'm gonna yak," Genma warned before tearing off back into the house, quickly followed by Rin to ensure he was okay. Ino and Obito were quick on her tail, both of them so enthralled by her that they were compelled to follow her any and everywhere. Sakura thought it was cute if not a little awkward on Ino's part.
Itachi and Kisame followed soon after, probably concerned for the state of their home. Sasuke and Naruto did not look keen on leaving Sakura out there with Kakashi again. Naruto was pouting in thought, his eyes narrowed as Kakashi continued to smoke silently.
After what felt like way too long, Kakashi broke the silence by offering the joint to Sasuke. Sakura knew in her heart of hearts that he had had enough. She could see in his face that he knew it too, but he was adamant about sticking outside with her. Sweet as it was that he wanted to be protective, she really wished he'd picked one of the many other horrible failed attempts at romance she'd had in her life.
Instead, he took a long drag of the joint, and Sakura watched with morbid interest as exactly what she knew would happen did. He held on pretty well, she had to admit, but she could see the cough that needed to be released, and she saw the green tinge to his face. All at once, he was coughing and gagging, and running inside, handing the joint roughly off to Naruto who just stared after him in shock.
"You might want to go help him," Kakashi urged gently, and Naruto shoved the half-burnt joint to Kakashi before running after Sasuke, following the sounds of his dry heaving through the house. "Your friends are very protective."
"Mm, you mispronounced annoying," she mumbled, pouting and missing the sparks that had been flying between them before all the puking commotion.
"You don't have to wait out here with me," he said softly, turning his head away to take a slow inhale of the joint. She watched as a steady stream of smoke blew before he was turning back to her.
"I don't mind," she said with what she hoped was a coy smile. She wasn't built for this flirting thing. He offered her the joint, but didn't look surprised when she refused. "I can never handle it," she admitted with an embarrassed giggle. She felt her cheeks warm when she thought about him passing the smoke from his mouth to hers.
She wondered if she should just ask him. What was the harm in asking? He'd been willing to share his cigarette, why not this?
"I can hear the wheels in your head spinning," he teased.
"Have you ever—" she blurted, too fast and loud, and she felt her face redden even further. She took a deep breath and glanced up at him from under her eyelashes. His stare was as sleepily intense as ever. "Have you ever done that…second-hand thing?" she asked. He lifted an eyebrow as he considered her but he was nodding slowly.
Was that a yes, he'd done it, but would not do it with her? Did it mean he would do it with her? This was too complicated. She just wanted him to kiss her, why was she making it so difficult?
"No peeking," he said and she looked up at him in confusion until she saw him reaching to tug his bandana down off his face. He raised an eyebrow pointedly and she covered her eyes with her fingers. When she heard nothing else for a moment, she parted her fingers to peer through them, only to find him hovering close to her, eyeing her in suspicion.
"Oops," she squeaked before closing her parted fingers and giving into her giggles. He hummed disapprovingly but she heard a small laugh escape him as well. Still, that didn't stop him from sliding a large hand over her eyes to remove any room for temptation.
"When I tap twice, exhale completely," he explained quietly. He was standing in front of her, and though she couldn't see him, she could feel him so acutely. His hand was rough and calloused where it lay across her hands, and she could feel his body heat rolling off of him, the warmest, most enticing blanket. She wanted to wrap herself around him and fall asleep under that blanket.
She could hear the sound of the paper burning as he inhaled around it. The soft crackling of the ember travelling down the joint, and even the sound of his lips softly pulling off the filter, and then the sound of him inhaling through his teeth. How close was he, that she could hear it all?
And then she felt his fingers tap against hers twice, and she felt all the air in her lungs whoosh out at once. Her lips were parted when she felt his softly slot over them. She nearly forgot she was meant to be taking his smoke at the feeling of his mouth against hers, immediately bringing her hands up to his neck and enjoying the feeling of his soft lips. When she felt him exhale slowly, she remembered herself.
She inhaled, finding it came easier than she thought it would. Her only regret was that once he had nothing left to blow into her mouth, he was pulling away. She hoped that all this intoxication would make her forget the embarrassing whimper she let out when his lips left hers.
She still coughed once she'd exhaled everything he'd passed along to her, but it was definitely much more manageable than her previous experiences had been. His low laughter and the comforting hand he ran along her back made it worth it, she thought.
"Verdict?" he asked once her coughing subsided. She hummed in thought and tilted her head toward him blindly, her eyes still covered.
"I'm not feeling anything," she said, finding it was easier to be bold when she couldn't see him. "I might need another hit." He seemed to have no trouble obliging her again, and this time she managed to go through the process without coughing. If she could, she would have asked him to do this all night long, but the high had hit her, and she was feeling a little faded around the edges.
He must have sensed the same, because he didn't ask before he removed his hand from her face. She opened her eyes carefully, adjusting to the light and the high, and she smiled sheepishly up at him only to find that she was smiling up at a lot more of him than she had expected.
"Oh," she said softly, not even sorry that she was blatantly staring at him, taking in the crooked tilt of his smile, the smooth expanse of his cheeks, and a sweet, little beauty spot on his chin. "Oh," she said again, sighing, her hands running up his neck to cradle his jaw as she examined him.
"Do I pass inspection?" he asked, his crooked smile widening to reveal his pearly white teeth, and the faintest hint of a dimple, and god did he have to be so beautiful?
"No, you are wholly unacceptable," she said, sounding horrifyingly breathless, even to her ears. His smile was a little cocky, she realized, with his out-turned canines and tiny dimple, and she found herself enraptured with how lazily charming he looked, with his downturned eyes and teasing smirk.
"Sorry to be a disappointment," he said, his lips twitching as he tried to hold back that arrogant smirk. He must have known he was beautiful, she thought. There was no way he could go through life not knowing that.
"You should be," she retorted, her hands still cupping his face, tilting it gently as she took him in. "I know how you can make it up to me, though," she muttered softly. His eyebrows rose in surprise.
"How's that?"
"Take your turn for do or drink," she said, fixing him with her own smug smirk. His hands were on her waist, heating her through her dress.
"I don't have a drink," he pointed out.
"Then you'd better hope you can follow through," she said, feeling giddiness swell in her chest as he smiled softly down at her. He nodded for her to continue and she tried to quell the butterflies fluttering furiously in her stomach before she spoke again.
"Kiss me."
He didn't need to be asked again. He'd practically already kissed her twice, but it felt different to press his lips against hers for no other reason than to just feel her against him. Her lips moved soft and slow with his, exploring unfamiliar territory, and he was sure that both of them being inebriated probably added to how unhurried it all was.
He wasn't sure how long they stood out there, trading kisses on that balcony, laughing into each other, feeling each other smile into their kisses, tasting smoke and liquor on each other's tongues. Her skin was smooth and her body soft under his fingertips; supple curves and strong muscle, wrapped up in one short, sparkly dress.
Every time he pulled his lips away from hers, she let out the cutest disappointed harrumph, and then he was right back at it again. He wondered just how long they could continue like this until they got sick of it. He was pretty sure someone would come along and interrupt them eventually, because that had been the general theme of the night, but the more time that passed, the less concerned he became with being discovered.
Aside from the thorough jeering he would receive from his friends after the fact, he wasn't really sure what reason he had to hide. And kissing Sakura was more than worth the teasing he would no doubt endure, he thought. Especially when she was running her hands all over his chest and shoulders, and around his neck, pulling him down to her, pulling herself up against him.
He couldn't help but laugh lightly against her, splaying his hands out across her back when he felt her shiver against him.
"Are you laughing at me, Kakashi?" she asked, pulling away just far enough that he could see her pout, and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Yes," he answered honestly, ducking his head to press a kiss to her cheek, only pulling away when he heard her satisfied sigh. "We should probably head back in," he said reluctantly, his hands curling around her waist and holding her probably too tightly given that he'd met her less than twenty-four hours ago. She was pouting again and he couldn't help but dip down to kiss that plump lip.
"Or…we could stay out here and continue kissing," she proposed, her fingers lacing together behind his head. Looking down at her sparkling eyes, and pink lips, parted and already puffy from being kissed, he wasn't sure how he found the strength to walk away. He kicked himself all the way from where he had her leaned up against the balcony railing to the couch inside where all their friends had once been sat.
It probably helped that Sakura had slipped her hand down into his. If she had been adamant about staying out on that balcony, he had no doubt that he would still be standing out there with his arms around her waist. The more he considered that, the less he understood his insistence that they leave.
But the room was empty, and Sakura was smiling up at him with a most mischievous gleam in her eye as she tugged him over to that couch. She really was strong, he noted as she flung him onto the leather. His foggy mind had no qualms admitting that he kind of liked that. He liked it a lot, actually. Especially when she followed a feat of strength up with tucking her long legs under her and curling into his side.
He laughed when she tugged his bandana down and pressed her lips against his again. "Eager," he mumbled against her and she hummed into his mouth, a low, throaty sound that made heat spread through him. He wasn't sure when or how his hands had gotten on her, but he had one arm wrapped tight around her back, and the other boldly rested high on her thigh. He was lost in the feeling of her soft skin, and her soft lips, and the soft sighs that passed between them; so lost, that he hardly noticed when she swung her legs out to drape over his, or when she started reclining back, and pulling him with her.
They were halfway to horizontal when he felt something strange beneath his hand. He pulled away to glance down in confusion, and she was frowning up at him equally confused, until he peered down at his hand on her thigh, his thumb brushing against a bright, rainbow-printed band-aid. Her cheeks were bright red when she shuffled her dress down to cover it.
"Rainbow?" he asked lightly.
"Shut up," she huffed, pouting and blushing furiously, and damn it all if she wasn't the cutest thing he'd ever seen. But her eyes were unfocused and as nice as the kissing was, he knew it couldn't go any further than that. He pressed another chaste kiss to her lips before he pulled away and yanked her into a seated position.
She seemed to have come to the same conclusion, not at all disappointed that they had backpedaled out of heavy petting to sitting on Itachi's big, brown couch, just talking, and laughing, and kissing. At some point, they ended up lying down anyway, but he remembered it having to do more with the news that Sakura was ticklish than anything else.
"Kakashi," she squealed, wriggling and laughing as he poked and prodded, and it was all fun and games until the knee of her flailing leg connected with his gut and had him doubling over her and grunting from the impact. "Oops, oh my god, are you okay?" she asked frantically through the remnants of her giggles and heavy breaths.
"Yup," he said with a strangled voice and a thin smile, "just dandy." And while she looked genuinely sorry, there was no biting back the amused grin that overtook her face. He wasn't all that mad at it, but he did stop tickling her after that.
"I think our friends forgot about us," she said softly, once she caught her breath and once he recuperated from a knee to the stomach. They were lying side by side now, and while he hadn't asked her, he could only imagine she was feeling as sleepy and dizzy as he was.
"Good riddance," he grumbled, giving her a wry smile when she berated him with an amused "Kakashi!" and he decided that he really liked the way she said his name. She had one hand in his hair, gently tugging at the roots, making his eyes feel even heavier than they had already been. Her other hand was cupping his cheek, her thumb slowly stroking over it.
"I can't believe you hide this face under a bandana," she said, her voice slurring with sleep and inebriation.
"It's not always a bandana," he offered. He imagined she was rolling those big, green eyes, but his eyes had already slipped closed and there was no chance of him getting them open again.
"Oh, well, in that case, I understand completely," she teased. He hummed, his brain feeling too sluggish to continue bantering with her, as enjoyable as it was. Instead, he curled an arm around her waist and pulled her tight to his chest, ducking his nose into her hair and revelling in how soft and warm she was.
"Goodnight, Sakura," he mumbled. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of her pressing a small, sweet kiss to his lips before he was out.
"Her ass is out again."
Sakura frowned into her pillow, and hugged it tighter to her body, hoping that sweet lull of sleep would pull her back under.
"I'm not as concerned with her ass being out, as I am with his hand being on it."
"Should I kill him?"
Sakura's eyes shot open and she squinted into the blinding daylight to glare up at her friends, peering down at her while she slept, talking too loudly, waking her up for no good reason. Instead of shrinking away as they usually did when she fixed them with her Morning Rage (as they dubbed it), they continued staring down at her.
Ino looked amused, if not a little smug. Naruto and Sasuke looked deeply unhappy, but she thought that if anyone should be unhappy, it ought to be her. And then her pillow rose with a sharp intake of breath, and her blanket gripped her, and she realized that her pillow was a chest, and her blanket was an arm, and suddenly her face was unbearably hot.
She turned her face up to look at Kakashi, his bandana strewn haphazardly across his face, on the brink of sliding right off it, but holding on by the grace of god. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of it before she reached up to straighten it for him, lest her nosy friends try to cop a look. Her wakefulness and her friends' comments had seemed to catch up to him as well, though, because he was blearily blinking down at her.
The side of his face that was only visible to her displayed his sleepy, warm smile that left her heart thumping feebly in her chest. She couldn't believe he was even prettier without her drunk goggles. He had some nerve, being so charming after sleeping on a couch, his hair a mess from her fingers, and his eyes half-lidded with sleep.
"Hey, do you wanna—oh, I don't know—take your hand off Sakura's bare ass?" Sasuke asked wryly. Kakashi's face went bright red as he realized just where his hand had been resting—and gripping, if she was being honest—and he immediately unravelled his arms from around her. Ino did the honours of leaning forward to pull her hem down and save whatever bit of dignity she may have had left.
It was little to none, but she appreciated the thought.
"Um, do you guys wanna, like…get lost?" she said pointedly, jerking her head toward the door. They didn't leave quietly, but they did leave. She would take the wins as they came, however small they may have been. "Sorry," she muttered to Kakashi with a sheepish smile. His visible cheek was still pink.
"I think that's my line," he said, awkwardly clearing his throat and displaying his offending hand to her. She smirked up at him, planting her chin on his chest.
"In that case, I'm not really sorry at all."
Morning flirtations were cut short by the unspoken threat that her friends would be back shortly and probably with his friends in tow. It didn't stop them from sharing sweet smiles and whispered good mornings. What she really wanted was to kiss him again, without the distractions or excuse of alcohol, but it was made abundantly clear that that would not happen.
Ino bounded in with an entire tray of coffee, placing it down on the coffee table with a flourish before everyone trickled into the room. They all spared glances to Sakura and Kakashi, sitting side by side on the couch where they'd woken up tangled together; some were more amused than others, and Sakura had the sneaking suspicion that bets had been placed, but she was feeling generally unconcerned about it.
She figured that probably had something to do with Kakashi's hand surreptitiously brushing along her back, and the way he was leaning into her while she pressed her thigh flush against his. She was overwhelmed with how attracted to him she still was. Usually these things faded with sobriety, but Kakashi was just as charming to her sober as he had been while she was drunk. She may have been even more charmed by him, honestly.
She sipped her coffee in silence while the room filled with mindless chatter. Everyone would be going their separate ways shortly, and Sakura found herself prematurely mourning the loss of the warmth that had been keeping her company for so many hours now. She drank her coffee and agonized over how she was going to give him her number.
Would he ask for it? Would he wait for her to offer? Maybe she had lost some of her charm with sobriety. She really hoped that wasn't the case, because the fluttering in her stomach was reaching unforeseen heights, and she was afraid the only way to make it stop was with ongoing exposure to the man that inspired it.
Itachi offered to drive Sasuke and company back to the city, to which Kisame protested ardently, until Itachi mentioned breakfast. Kisame was placated by that, and Naruto was absolutely delighted. Sakura felt a pit occupy her stomach because it just meant they were one step closer to the inevitable parting of groups.
Kakashi's taxi came all too quickly. She felt awkward, standing at the front door with everyone, watching Sasuke and Obito glare at each other, watching Ino hug Rin for just a little too long, watching Kisame thump Genma roughly on the back. Kakashi was watching her. She managed a weak goodbye as they filed out the front door to climb into their cab.
"Forehead, if you don't go give that man your number, I will literally never forgive you," Ino said dryly, and it was all the prompting Sakura needed to fling herself out the door and after him.
"Kakashi!" she said, a little too frantically. She felt her face burn when he and his friends turned to look at her in surprise. She really had sounded hysterical. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she approached him. "I…"
His head was tilted slightly, his brow furrowed in confusion as he took a small step toward her. Her throat was closed up, her heart pounding, and god, this really had been easier when she was hammered.
"Give her your phone, idiot," Obito whispered harshly from where he was, halfway into the cab, as if she couldn't hear him. Kakashi turned to glare at him briefly before turning his attention back to her, his eyes soft and questioning. She laughed nervously.
"Yeah, that," she said with an awkward titter. He let his fingers linger on hers when he slid his phone into her palm. She had to triple check that she typed it in correctly, because her fingers were shaking and her face was burning, knowing that everyone was watching her. Satisfied, she handed it back to him with a sheepish smile.
"I hope you bump into me again, Sakura," he teased lightly, his finger brushing along the inside of her wrist before he turned to leave. He didn't make it very far, because she clasped her hand around his wrist and yanked him back. She giggled when he nearly lost his balance, but she steadied him before that happened.
"Clumsy," she teased, and he looked like he was going to rebut, but she was quicker. She ducked under his bandana and pressed her lips to his once more. "Goodbye, Kakashi," she whispered softly before pulling away and heading back to the house. She could hear the hoots and hollers from both groups of friends, even as the doors of the car closed and the cab took off down the driveway.
Ino and Kisame were openly proud of her, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about the stupid grin on her face. Naruto was a little confused, as usual, but if she was smiling, so was he. Sasuke was surly, but when wasn't he. Even as they all piled into Itachi's car, he remained sour.
"You just didn't like him because he's Obito's friend," Itachi said with a long sigh as he pulled away from his home.
"That's reason enough," Sasuke said bitterly. "He clearly has terrible taste."
"Gee, thanks," Sakura said, glaring at him. He at least had the decency to look sorry.
"I dunno, I kind of like Obito," Naruto said, laughing awkwardly when Sasuke fixed him with his most betrayed scowl.
"Me too! His wife's really hot," Ino agreed happily.
Sakura shook her head and smiled to herself as her friends fell into another half-argument, thankfully much quieter than the arguing they'd done the night prior. She couldn't complain, she supposed. They provided interesting background noise as she watched the trees and fields fly past them as they headed back toward the city.
Her purse buzzed in her lap, pulling her attention away from the hypnotizing greens flying by her window. She ducked her head so that her friends wouldn't see the unstoppable smile that broke out across her face as she looked at the notification that popped up on the screen.
Unknown Number [10:37]: hey, it's me again
a/n: i think i have a thing for ending my stories with ~beginnings~
Itachi is a soccer mom, he has all the money in the world and drives a minivan, thats how he carted all the dumbasses ft. Big Blue Boyfriend from country to city
i hope u enjoyed this i am filled with longing
tumblr: bl1ndbraavosi