A/N: 06/29/2021 So here's the other chapter. Now we're officially caught up on both here and Wattpad XD
Thanks a ton to carlsbozu and Cheyanne for reviewing!
And Cheyenne, I totally agree. I honestly don't read ANYTHING on Wattpad because I don't like the layout of the site or the fact that I have to watch an ad every 5 pages. I read here and on AO3 mostly. But I like that I can just pick a chapter on Wattpad and edit it quick and be done, so that's why I've been updating more often on there. But hey, we're all caught up now, so no worries!
Anywho, enjoy the chapter. Below are some lyrics to the song I am currently hooked on and - un-coincidentally - helped me write this chapter. It's pretty dang catchy, too, so I highly recommend ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
It was a bad idea,
Meeting you so late
Was such a bad idea
'Cause I can't think straight
It was a bad idea,
Calling you up
Was such a bad idea,
I'm totally f*cked
It was a bad idea,
To think I could stop
Was such a bad idea,
I can't get enough
Bad Idea! - Girl in Red~
Chapter twenty-five: Tease~
Some time later - much, much later - Sakura and Kakashi are sitting side by side at a bar.
Sakura's twenty-first birthday had passed some days ago, but she had been away on a mission, so now was the time to celebrate. Kakashi feels embarrassed that he's known her for half her life and only just now knows when her birthday is, but she doesn't question and he doesn't admit to the blunder, so it's fine on both parts.
Kakashi doesn't bother to order a drink of his own; after all, this is Sakura's special day, not his, and he doesn't want to take the attention away from the birthday girl.
And besides, he thinks. This is her first drink. He wants to see how well she can hold her liquor.
Sakura swivels in her chair with uncertainty, hands tucked beneath her legs as she twirls from side to side and looks over the menu. Kakashi is immensely amused by this; it's downright adorable and just so...Sakura. This is the first time they've hung out in months, literal months, so he hardly feels the need to rush. The night is still fairly young, after all. He wants to savor this time with her while it lasts.
"So?" He pipes up after some time. "What are you going to order?"
Pink hair sways as she bites her lip. "Mmm...well...I...don't really know."
The way she deadpans causes him to bark a laugh, and Kakashi swivels his own chair to face her. "What do you mean you don't know? You've had your whole life to think about this moment. You mean to tell me that Sakura Haruno doesn't have a plan?"
She grabs the menu and swats him with it. "Oh, cut it out! It's not like I've ever had the stuff! What if I order something I don't like? It'll be good, hard-earned money wasted!"
Kakashi's eyebrows quirk up. "Is money really your only dilemma? Then here," - he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet. "Now, before you say anything; You're good for three shots of whatever you want. No, I'm not going to take no for an answer. And it's your birthday, so it's my treat."
The way her mouth opens and closes like a fish is so satisfying that he smiles beneath his mask, and after moments of deliberation, she finally accepts that there's no way around his offer, and graciously accepts the gift from him.
"Fine. Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."
She says it to annoy him, but in all honesty, it doesn't work. "Please. Is that the best you've got?"
He waves the bartender over and sets down the money on the counter. "Three drinks for the lady, Sarutoya. On me, please." He leans in as though to whisper a secret, and adds, "it's her birthday."
Sarutoya smirks and claps him on the shoulder as if to say 'nice job', and the pinkette crosses her arms next to him, face flushed with irritation.
After some help from Kakashi over options, Sakura is finally able to decide on her three drinks; a common Sake, a Rose Citrus Mix, and a Cherry Blossom Bouquet.
The three drinks are set in order from right to left in front of her, and Kakashi insists she try the sake first to see if she likes it, as it is the cheapest and most common.
As he suspects, she does not, in any way, shape, or form, care for the sweet, nutty taste of the alcohol.
For a second he thinks she's actually going to spit it out, but she swishes, swallows, and finishes, then scrapes her tongue with her teeth as though the action will actually get some of the flavor out of her mouth.
"Ugh, YUCK! People actually drink that stuff?!"
"Believe it or not, they do."
He watches in bemusement as she stares at the two remaining drinks, not exactly encouraged to continue.
"Chickening out so soon?" Kakashi asks, leaning against his elbow on the counter.
"Oh, shut up, just gimme a minute."
It had been four months and eighteen days since Sakura and Hisashi had started dating. He knew because he had been waiting just as long for the next volume of Icha-Icha to hit the shelves.
From what he'd gathered, the relationship seemed to be going well, and yet it was he that was here with her tonight on her birthday, and not Hisashi. Oh, he has a mission right now, Sakura had told him. Kakashi could not have been more uncaring. Oh, a mission, you say? Shame. I was so hoping he could join us.
He didn't bother keeping tabs; the whole village seemed to be privy to the fact that the Fifth's protégée was now taken, as well as by whom, and everywhere Kakashi went, his ears were bombarded with some kind of talk or hot gossip about the two. However, it wasn't the topic of Sakura that caught his attention so much as her new beau. Apparently, no one in the village knew nor had ever even heard of Hisashi, a few passersby even going so far as to suggest that he seemed to have appeared overnight.
Suspicious as that was on its own, it didn't help the fact that Kakashi already disliked the kid to begin with, and he now was pondering on whether or not to launch a private investigation of his own accord. If not for Sakura's safety, then at least for his own peace of mind.
Kakashi's thoughts are interrupted when Sakura takes hold of the next glass and downs her second shot. This one is taken with much more ease, he notices, and she doesn't choke or gag or complain about the taste. Slowly, she pulls the tiny cup from her lips, darts her tongue out to gather up any remaining flavor, and sets it down on the counter.
"Wow...that was actually pretty good." She remarks. "Which one did you say this was?"
"Rose Citrus," he replies, though he's still caught on the image of her tongue.
"Mmm..."
Without so much as a second's hesitation, Sakura takes the third and final glass and tosses it back, shocking her former sensei a little. "H-hey, now. Easy..."
She scrunches her face up, swishing the liquid around in her mouth a bit before finally setting down her glass and swallowing. Her face is like a dying star; the brightest anyone's ever seen...right before it goes out, that is.
"Wow! What was that?!"
Kakashi stutters a little, quite honestly taken aback by her exuberance. "Er...C- Cherry Blossom Bouquet..."
"That was amazing! Bartender, sir! I'll have three more of those, please!"
She happily waves him over and Kakashi leaps up to drag her arm back down, not wanting to cause a scene. "Now, now, Sakura. No need to be greedy about it. Three is plenty enough."
She plops down on her stool and crosses her arms at him, practically pouting. "Kakashi, please, I can pay for these ones!"
"I never doubted you could," he counters. "But this is your first time drinking. I think you should call it quits for right now."
"But Kakashi!"
"Three is plenty."
"But...but it's my..."
Oh. Oh no.
She was doing it.
She was going to pull out the 'B' word.
"...birthday..."
He sighs.
Goddammit mother-
"Ugh...okay, fine. But no more than that. I mean it."
She jumps back up from her chair and orders her new set of drinks, all Cherry Blossom Bouquets, and Kakashi runs his fingers through his hair in frustration.
This girl was going to be the death of him.
As it turns out, Sakura is not very good at holding her liquor.
At all.
Kakashi had assumed she had done her fair share of research prior to their engagement, learned a trick or two in a medical book somewhere about keeping alcohol levels low within the body, or hell, even gotten some tips from ol' Lady Tsunade herself.
But it would appear than none, if any, of these were true.
Six drinks and just over an hour later, and Sakura had become very decidedly...tipsy.
Now, he could handle the giggles, the hyper-talkativeness, the overly welcoming smiles she gave to strangers, even the way she seemed unable to sit still for more than two seconds...
...it was when she tried ordering five more drinks that he decided to draw the line.
"Hey, bartender! Five more for me and my friend, here!"
Thankfully, Kakashi is good friends with the bartender working tonight, and so he pays Sakura almost no mind because he had already made it crystal clear to not give her any more drinks past her limit. Though in all honesty, he could probably serve her three shots of water and she wouldn't know the difference at this point. But that's besides the fact.
Kakashi gently takes hold of her waving wrist and drags her back down to her seat, forcing her to look at him.
"Now, Sakura. What did we say about you ordering more than your extra three, hmm?"
She pouts up at him like an adorable little kitten. An adorably drunk kitten, but still.
"I'm sorry, sensei. Am I being a bad girl?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, you're being a very bad girl. I think I'm going to have to take you home."
She squirms in his grip. "But I don't wanna go hooome yet..."
He sighs dramatically, shaking his head as he taps a finger against his masked cheek. "Shame. And here I was planning on giving you your second birthday present."
This gets her to stop. "Second birthday present?" she echoes.
He nods, patting her head like a child as he continues with his lie. "Yeees, a second birthday present. I was going to wait until you got home, but if you promise to behave, I'll let you have it now."
Her eyes, though glassy with alcohol, brighten a considerable degree, and even he is not prepared for the endearing look she gives him.
"What is it?" She whispers, conspiratorial.
"For your twenty-first birthday, Sakura, I'm going to give you the opportunity that none of your other teammates have ever had the privilege of."
Even drunk, she's all ears, and so Kakashi takes full advantage of the (rather humorous, in his eyes) situation; he grips the edges of her barstool and drags her seat closer to his (much closer. Too close, probably), the insides of his wrists pressing into the pleasant softness of her hips. Their faces are close, but not so much that their vision blurs (well, save for Sakura's, perhaps. He honestly couldn't gauge anything there), and he looks at her in all seriousness as he says,
"I, Kakashi Hatake of the Hidden Leaf, give you, Sakura Haruno, permission..." he really can't help pausing for dramatic effect, and he's glad that he's still wearing his mask because otherwise she would see the mischievous smile he's hiding. "To see my face."
Sakura gasps - literally gasps! - but even in her current state, she has enough sense to question the credibility of his claim.
"Kakashi! You don't actually mean...n- no way, you're drunk..."
No, Sakura, he thinks. You're drunk.
He lets go of her seat to instead take hold of her hands, and lifts them up to the corners of his mask.
"Try me."
Her previous request for more drinks seem to be all forgotten, and though he hadn't exactly planned this, his methods of distraction are clearly working. Sakura looks into his eyes for what seem like the longest minute in the world before her gaze finally drifts down to his mask, and it's then that he can see just how badly she wants it. And though he hadn't planned on revealing his face to her so soon - certainly not while she was dating Hisashi - he finds that he is completely and totally willing to give that to her right here and now.
Her fingers begin to fumble, gently curl around the edges of the midnight blue cloth, and tug down...
And then she cracks into a fit of low, soft giggles, and slumps as she falls into him in her stupor. Her cherry blossom tinged breath fans against the side of his neck in a very tempting manner, though he knows she doesn't mean anything by it. He's so surprised by the sudden shift in tone that it's all he can really do to just kind of awkwardly cradle her, and when her giggles eventually die down she attempts to use him as a sort of human ladder to sit upright on her own. Her hands grip at his vest, and as her face brushes against his, he really wishes she would have just taken the mask down.
However, he hardly expects her to pause by his ear and whisper, "Are you taking me home for being bad, sensei?"
Kakashi freezes.
Like, completely, absolutely, all muscles cease to function freezes.
That throws him for a loop.
A serious loop.
What the hell?
He blinks, his eyelids being the only muscles that decide they want to work at the moment. There's absolutely no mistaking her tone of voice, drunk as she may be, and with no other options, the only thing he has left to rely on is his fight-or-flight instinct reserved for combat and awkward social situations; this being one of them.
"Okaaay, looks like you've had enough. Time to get you home. Thank you, Sarutoya. Don't worry about the tip."
He abruptly rises from his seat and places a good amount of money on the counter for all his good friend's troubles, and loops one of Sakura's arms around his shoulders before leaping off into the night.
This had been just about enough fun for the both of them.
He actually has to backtrack a little - but just a little - to find her house because he's so flustered, but he never needs to ask for directions.
They reach her front door and Sakura is still miraculously sober enough to take out her key and unlock it, yet still drunk enough that he has to help her inside. He momentarily flicks the lights on but quickly turns them back off when he gets a hissing disapproval from Sakura, but the brief illumination is all he really needs to get a feel for his surroundings, anyway. It's actually the first time he's ever really been in Sakura's home, and he's not surprised to find it clean and spotless. He had lost all interest in tidiness after his umpteenth mission years ago, and all he really cared about was whether or not the bed was clear so he could rest after said missions.
He helps her remove her boots and sets them aside by the doormat. He knows her room is upstairs, so he makes their way over to the cramped staircase, pausing to figure out how he'll get the both of them up there without getting either of them hurt. Tightening his hold on Sakura, he takes the first step upward.
"Thanks for taking me home, Kakashi..." Sakura says softly. "I reeeeaally appreciate it..."
"No problem. It's what friends do."
There's a sudden burning in his chest as he utters the last sentence, his gut knowing it's a lie. He hates it, but it's true; he's not doing this just because she's a friend. He just can't quite admit that aloud yet.
They reach the top of the stairs and break into a skinny hallway with three doors, one of which leads to Sakura's room. Sakura hums and smiles and rolls her head back as though the best song in the world is playing somewhere, and Kakashi finally decides; she's a happy-go-lucky drunk. Not a bad type to be around. Especially since he's the drown-your-sorrows-until-you-blackout type of drunk. Those are never fun.
They make it about three steps down the hall before Sakura suddenly pulls away from his grip and leans against the wall for support. She begins to stumble a little too far back towards the stairs, so he darts to stop her from going too far, instinctively grabbing her hips to help steady her. Sakura emits a low, soft giggle, and her fingers find their way up to his mask.
"Did you mean it, Kakashi?" She whispers, staring at the hem of the cloth covering his face.
He detects the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips, but it's not until her green irises meet his onyx that he realizes she's actually expecting an answer.
"Yes..." he whispers, and he means it with every fiber of his being.
His hands tighten at her hips as she curls one finger, then two, then three, beneath his mask, and then suddenly she's rolling, rolling the fabric down past his nose, his Cupid's bow, his chin until it is completely unfurled around his neck.
She looks over his face in bewilderment and awe, and he inhales sharply when the cool pads of her fingers connect with his bare cheeks. They stand there in her tiny hallway staring at one another as though for the first time ever, and it's such a lovely symphony of harmony and mutual understanding that Kakashi thinks he might actually be able to hear that music she was humming to earlier. He closes his eyes as she runs her fingertips over the slope of his nose, his mouth, his chin. Down below his jaw and over his Adam's apple. Like she's mapping him out, not quite believing what she's seeing.
And then, before he even fully realizes it, she circles his neck, tugs him close, and kisses him.
Kakashi is so shocked that he stumbles back, causing Sakura to fall into him on the opposite wall. Her mouth is sweet with Cherry Blossom Bouquet - lots of it - but her kiss is so careful and calculated that he would have never guessed she was drunk to begin with. The kiss lasts for a mere handful of seconds, but the feeling of her hands on his bare face and her mouth on his is forever seared into his memory. He is utterly powerless in this moment to do anything except wait for her to pull away, and when she does, she looks up at him, and her clouded eyes seem to clear a little.
They're both breathing heavily, one seeming just as shocked - and thrilled - as the other, and Sakura's eyes never leave his as her left hand slowly slides from his jaw to his jugular.
"Your heart..." she whispers, a tinge of concern as she checks in on his raging pulse. "It's beating so fa-"
He doesn't know what possesses him to do it. But he's kissing her before she can get in another syllable, and before he knows it, he has her backed against the opposite wall again, fingers running through her hair, down her neck, her shoulders, arms. It's not even a fraction of the ways he's wanted to touch her but it's all so much all at once, and it's quite frankly a sensory overload.
He kisses her absolutely senseless before his mouth starts to unabashedly wander down her jaw, her pretty porcelain neck. He accidentally finds a spot right beneath her ear that she seems to like, and so he stays there, gently kissing and nipping and sucking. Sakura's hands quickly find their way into his hair, and between her soft gasps and sighs and the way her nails scrape against his scalp just right, he has half a mind to forget the bedroom and just take her as she is right now on her hallway floor. She runs her nails slowly down his nape and he shivers with pleasure, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he quietly hisses into her collarbone. His hands slowly slide down her sides, molding her shape into his memory as he passes over her tiny hourglass waist down to the perfect swell of her hips, and he wants so badly to feel her skin there but doesn't want to push too far or presume too much.
Sakura uncoils her hands from his hair and he thinks she's going to push him away or that he's done something wrong, but she takes his hand and places it at the zipper of her shirt, giving him silent permission. Slowly, and with slightly shaky hands, he tugs the zipper down, revealing a pretty pink lace bra and creamy skin. The last link of the zipper unhooks with a soft 'chik!' and Kakashi wastes no time in tearing off his gloves and tossing them to the floor.
God, he's wanted this for so long.
Wanted her for so long.
He can't even believe this is happening, let alone in this universe. He doesn't want to waste a single moment, or squander a single second.
He plants long, slow kisses down her neck, over her collarbone, breasts, and stomach, his now bare hands feeling her for all that she is. The pads of his fingers skate down over the bump of her shorts, stopping at the hem. He slides up underneath them, just a little, only an inch or so, and continues to plant kisses along her hips. Sakura sighs, her hands fisted in his hair, and the sound is so heavenly it about drives him mad.
"Kakashi..."
God, she's so beautiful.
And soft.
She fits so perfectly against him.
He kisses the tops of her trembling thighs as he curls his hands around the backs of her legs and runs them all the way down to her calves, reveling in their silk-like feel. She moans, light but he can still hear it, and he never wants to stop touching her. Abruptly, he stands and hoists her up, wrapping her legs around him as he pins her to the wall. He kisses her neck, her cheeks, forehead, nose, chin. Saves her mouth for last. He can't help it; he's the happiest he's ever been in his life.
It's only when his headband mysteriously comes loose and clatters to the floor and he once again tastes the alcohol on her breath that he is torn from his perfect bubble, and he is harshly reminded of the cruel reality of the situation; Sakura is drunk. And he had just taken advantage of that.
Guilt washes over him in such a strong wave that it makes him sick, and he suddenly can't bring himself to look her in the eye as he abruptly sets her back down on her feet and begins the immediate retrieval of his gloves and headband.
"Kakashi? What's wrong?" Sakura asks from behind him.
He puts on his gloves and stares down at his headband for a few moments, unable to answer. God, what was wrong with him? Was he really that desperate that he would knowingly and willingly take advantage of a drunk woman to get what he wanted? She was dating someone else, for God's sakes. She was taken! He had just cheated, and in turn, made Sakura a cheater. He was no better then the men he'd told her to avoid.
Finally, Kakashi speaks, gaze still fixed on his headband. "Let's get you into bed."
Even in her drunken state, Sakura seems to detect the somber feeling in his tone, and she says nothing in reply as he ties his headband back in place and gestures her down the hall.
Her room is the third door on the right, and he helps her zip up her shirt and tuck her into bed.
She lays her head against the pillow, pink hair fanning out in a halo above her head, and he knows she knows something is wrong but hopes she won't address it regardless. He pats her knee above the sheets and turns to leave, aiming for a silent exit.
"Kakashi?"
He stops, but turns only his head back at her. "Yeah?"
"Why won't you look at me?"
His chest aches and his heart sinks so terribly, he fears it may never return above the surface of the bile in his stomach. He swallows, slowly pondering his answer.
"You won't have to worry about it come morning. Now get some rest. You've had a long night."
He goes to close her bedroom door, but not before she can mutter, "Goodnight, Kakashi."
Shame. Shame and guilt and dishonor. He felt all three so strongly that they battled in the pit of his stomach until he felt like vomiting. How? How could he? How could he have done such a thing, allowed himself to act like that? And to someone he claimed to love so much?
As he goes to bed that night - alone, and in his own house - he still can't quite come down from the rush of events the evening had thrown at him. And as any guilty man would, he desperately searches for ways he can justify it. In all fairness, he knew it was a sticky situation getting involved with Sakura and alcohol at the same time. Yet he did it anyway. So there was his first shortcoming. And he knew even more strongly that it was a bad idea to go inside her house when he took her home. And yet again, he'd done so anyway. The only tiny sliver of hope he had to even possibly cling to, was the fact that she had kissed him first. That was it. That was literally all he had. And yet still, he hadn't stopped it when he should have.
And it wasn't even the fact that he had kissed her back to begin with that made him so upset. It was the fact that she was drunk. That she wasn't in her right state of mind and would therefore have never kissed him otherwise. To have let himself finally have what he wanted, even if only for a night, a minute, a second, and then have it all ripped away, permanently, the next morning, when she woke up next to him sober...he couldn't stand it. The thought was just as mortifying as the reality.
But even so, he thought. Didn't people tend to get a bit more honest when they're drunk? Wasn't that usually about the time you found out if somebody really cared for you or not? The tell-all moment where enemies could turn to friends, friends to enemies, and sometimes lovers?
He shakes his head, runs his hand over his eyes.
Wishful thinking. Stop making excuses for yourself. Stop trying to find loopholes and shortcuts. Stop trying to find signs that you want to see. Just...stop.
He knows that if he pursues the thought any further, he will literally spend all night thinking himself into a black hole.
And yet still, he can't help it. Even with all the 'what if's and 'how come's and 'why's spinning in the whirlwind inside his head, he can't help but wonder;
Who was really teasing whom?