Sakura Haruno awoke at the crack of dawn to see the Sand Siblings off on their journey back to Suna. When she arrived at the grand gates of Konoha, it was still too early to attract a crowd. The only folks who turned up were Tsunade, Shizune, Yamato, and Sakura herself.
She was relieved to note that her silver-haired sensei was nowhere to be found. It was likely too early for him, not to mention she was certain he was still on Tsunade's shit list.
"Sakura!" Temari greeted, giving her a wave. The pink-haired kunoichi smiled easily as she approached, the warm expression quickly faltered when she spotted the hooded, shackled figure just behind the blonde girl. When Temari noticed her looking, she waved in dismissal. "Don't worry about him. He's under a pretty heavy genjutsu. Doesn't know where or who he is."
"We'll be back in Suna before he even remembers his name," Kankuro said, grinning slyly.
"Okay," Sakura said a little wearily.
"I must apologize again for this gap in security," Gaara said, bowing low to Sakura and Tsunade. "We will ensure that justice is served to all parties involved."
"All parties?" Tsunade asked, voice hard. "You think Ryuu wasn't acting alone?"
The other Suna-nin shifted uncomfortably behind the sand siblings. Sakura was certain they were wishing their superiors would not give away village secrets so openly.
"We received a transmission early this morning that yet another girl was found, drugged and assaulted in the streets. Her bloodwork came back with a chemical consistent with the kind found in the other girls," Temari informed them, teal eyes narrowing menacingly. "This isn't over. We believe it's just the beginning."
"A drug ring?" Tsunade pondered aloud, eyebrows furrowing in intense concentration.
Something inside of Sakura hardened at the news. There would be more girls who would fall victim in the same way she had. Except there would not be a silver-haired ninja to save them before things went too far.
"I want to help," she announced, clenching her fists. "I'll go with you."
"No, you won't," Tsunade said, crossing her arms over her ample chest. Sakura whirled to face her shishou in disbelief.
"What?"
"You have duties here, Sakura," Shizune explained gently, and Tonton oinked in confirmation from the place between her arms. "We need you."
At that, anger whipped through her, hot and fast, "You forced me to take this entire week off but now you're claiming that I'm too important to actually make myself useful?!"
"It will take much longer than a week to track down the other man responsible," Yamato chimed in diplomatically. "Not to mention it's a three day journey. You'd have to leave as soon as you'd arrive."
"Well, then you all can give me some more time off!" she snapped. Why was Yamato even there?! He hadn't been around for their first meeting, so why was he sticking his nose in business he knew nothing about?!
"Sakura… It wouldn't be ethical for you to investigate a crime you were a vic—" Temari began, but stopped abruptly before correcting herself, "—involved in."
There it was. That word again: ethical. Since when did shinobi care so much about ethics?! How many prisoners of war had they tortured under the guise of gathering information? How many infants had been sacrificed to be weapons of mass destruction, as Naruto and Gaara had? They turned a blind eye to all of that but the second Sakura wanted to help other girls it was suddenly a huge red flag?!
"But—"
"Sorry, Sakura-san," Gaara said. If he had eyebrows, they'd be tilted up in apology.
She hung her head. The Kazekage's words were the nail in the coffin: she wouldn't be going.
"Ah, come on Pinkie," Kankuro said, stretching his arms into the morning sky before tucking them behind his head. "Don't make our village's crime your burden. We can handle it."
Sakura clamped down on the anger that arose in the wake of being called such an infuriating little pet name, and she forced a nod of understanding.
"We'll keep you updated," Temari soothed, giving her a friendly wink.
"Safe travels," Yamato said. The group waved goodbye. Well—all except Sakura. She was too busy melting into a dejected puddle on the ground.
"When Naruto returns, tell him I'm sorry we missed him," Gaara said, adjusting the straps on his bag.
"Will do," Tsunade grunted in affirmation.
"See ya!" Kankuro cried.
And with that, they were on their way.
Sakura, Shizune and Yamato watched the group of sand ninjas retreat as the sun rose higher in the horizon, the salmon-colored sunrise giving way to a bright blue sky. It would be a beautiful day.
Too bad Sakura would be absolutely miserable for the rest of it.
"Sorry, kid," Tsunade said after a long stretch of silence. Her shishou's slender hand landed on her shoulder and Sakura jerked out from beneath it.
"I'm not a kid!" she snapped in response, whirling around and facing the Hokage in all of her indignant fury. She never would have spoken to her boss and mentor like this before, but now she felt it was deserved. Sakura had been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours—none of which was her fault—and everyone had been treating her as though she was twelve years old again.
Without another word, she stormed through the gates and back into the village. When were people going to start treating her like an adult with agency to make her own decisions?!
. . .
The last person Sakura Haruno wanted to see was Kakashi Hatake. Yet it seemed everywhere she went—there he was. As the rest of the day played out, the kunoichi came to the conclusion that the universe was playing a cruel, cruel trick on her.
It all began at the farmers market, Sakura staring boredly up at the yellow flaps of the merchant's tent as her mother mulled over a particularly large eggplant. She rarely went grocery shopping with her mother, as she was usually at the hospital by then, but since Tsunade had given her forced time off she didn't have much of a choice. She thought of that morning's conversation and the way she had made such a fool of herself in front of everyone. Throwing a fit like a child.
It was safe to say that she probably could have handled it better.
"It's the biggest one I've ever seen!" her mom crooned, rotating the purple vegetable in her hand. "Look, Sakura!"
"Wow, that's crazy," the pink-haired girl remarked dryly, shifting the large bag of groceries in her arms. Her mother huffed in annoyance.
"You're not even looking—oh! Your teacher! Hatake-kun!" she gasped suddenly, and Sakura snapped to attention, emerald eyes darting about in panic. She spotted him: he was bent over a display of apples, perusing the mass until he found a particularly red and shiny one. Mortified disbelief flooded through her. After his flagrant disruption of her kiss with Kiba, she had been fully prepared to not deal with him until she absolutely had to.
This was too soon.
She ducked down in an attempt to hide behind her mother's slim frame.
Much to Sakura's dismay, the Haruno matriarch was already trying to wave her sensei down. "We should say hi!"
"No!" Sakura snapped quickly, trying to tug her hand back to her side. "Mom! No!"
"Why are you being like this!?" she cried. "Stop acting so childish!"
To her chagrin, she realized that it was too late, Kakashi had already noticed them. He was making his way over to them now. She looked desperately for a way out, maybe she could crawl just around the display—
"Mebuki-san, such a pleasure to see you here," her sensei greeted her mother smoothly. The older woman practically swooned in response. Sakura froze in place, hoping to every god in existence that he hadn't noticed her crouched just behind her mother's legs. She still clutched the oversized bag of groceries in her arms.
Her attempts to remain hidden were fruitless, as a moment later Kakashi's voice came: "Sakura? What are you doing down there?"
She stood up in a feverish, embarrassed haste. "Nothing! I-I dropped an onion!"
He smiled at her, and it took everything inside of her not to drop everything and run in the opposite direction. Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest she wondered if it would smash its way out of her ribs.
"I've never seen you here this early before!" her mother commented, clearly not reading the tension in the air. "Have a day off?"
He chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "As a matter of fact, I do!"
Sakura wanted to crawl out of her skin as they went back and forth like that, and she tugged impatiently at her mothers shirt. "Can we go?"
"Sakura, be patient!" she snapped in response, which caused Sakura to sigh tiredly. She never should have agreed to come shopping with her. Being forced out of the hospital for a week was bad enough, but to be forced to spend time with her birth-giver as she flirted with her sensei—the one she had kissed just two nights ago, mind you—was a special kind of hell.
"I'm going!" she declared, turning on her heel and stalking away. She was an adult now. Her mother couldn't make her do things she didn't want to do. She could storm away and live in the forest for the rest of her life if she so wished.
"Where?!" her mom asked as she retreated. She sighed before turning around, still not meeting Kakashi's gaze.
"I have that thing, remember?!" She kept the statement purposefully vague. In reality that 'thing' was a trip to the movies with Kiba Inuzuka. She tried to swallow down the rising anxiety about even hinting about her date with him. Kakashi had been actually pretty weird about the boy since he had seen them dancing that first night—not to mention how he had so rudely interrupted their kiss just twenty-four hours ago.
"You can do better than Kiba Inzukua," his words echoed in her mind
"Oh, right," her mother nodded, waving her away. "The Inuzuka boy. Just make sure you put all of those groceries away before you go."
Sakura nodded before turning on her heel and fleeing, horrified by the knowledge that her sensei now knew that she had an official date with the dog-loving chunin he so clearly disapproved of.
"Oh really? A date?" she heard his voice ask as she ran away.
"Yeah, a cute little trip to the movies. I can't believe she's finally dating after that Uchicha…" her mother's painfully personal monologue faded away as Sakura left the open market. Her legs were carrying her in the direction of her house with the speed of a panicked run—to the point where others were staring at the strange girl going way too fast for such a calm and cool Monday morning—but she couldn't seem to stop herself. How dare her mother tell her sensei all about her romantic escapades?! Who did she think she was!?
She practically threw the groceries into the refrigerator when she got home. Indignant anger was thrumming through her veins as she launched the assortment of fruits and veggies unceremoniously into the shelves without any regard. She should have never told her mother anything about Kiba! Of course she would blab her big stupid mouth! God!
What was Kakashi-sensei even doing there at the same time as them!? Could the universe truly be so unkind, or had this been a premeditated move on his part to ruin her morning?!
She heaved a tired sigh, palm pressing to her forehead. Of course it hadn't been. She was being irrational. Why on earth would her sensei go out of his way to find her and interrogate her mother? It didn't make any sense. He had very thoroughly put an end to anything between them that fateful, drunken night.
Kakashi Hatake had made it clear as day: he wanted nothing to do with her.
Any other man in his position would have been ecstatic to have a drunk, young girl forcing kisses upon him. But Kakashi was not an ordinary man. He was the Leaf's strongest Jonin. The son of the White Fang. He was different. Despite her drunken protests, he had placed strong, steadfast boundaries.
It was simply a coincidence. Yes. A fairly unfortunate one, of course. But it was the only explanation.
So imagine her surprise when she had settled into her seat in the movie theater later that same day—a bucket of popcorn in her hands—when a voice came just from behind her and Kiba: "Fancy seeing you two here!"
She squealed in horror, almost jumping out of her skin and sending the snack catapulting from the bucket. She whirled around to come face to face with her sensei's masked visage. She gaped in disbelief as a flurry of popcorn rained down on the three of them. The kernels landed in their hair and clothes before covering their laps and the floor below.
"Mm," he gave a hum of pleasure before pulling a puffy kernel from his silver hair and examining it. "I love this stuff."
Sakura stared stupidly. This had to be a nightmare. It had to be!
"Of course you're here," Kiba rolled off, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned back to the large screen at the front of the room. "Why am I not surprised!?"
"Kakashi-sensei!? You like the Crystal Kingdom series?!" she asked in surprise, stunned at the unlikely coincidence.
"I do! I never miss a single installment!"
"D'you mind backing up, old man? You're cramping my style!" Kiba snapped, attempting to shoo him away with a wave of his hand.
"I think I'm quite comfortable right here," he quipped, settling back into his seat before brushing the rest of the popcorn from his lap.
The two teenagers turned around then, an uncomfortable silence settling over them. Kiba was crossing his arms in dismay as he slumped dejectedly, but Sakura sat stiff as a board, finding that she couldn't breathe. Neither of them moved to shake the popcorn from their hair and clothes. There was no way this was a coincidence, could it?
It was highly unlikely. There were only a few other patrons in the theater, as this wasn't the most well known film series. Not to mention, the only form of media her sensei ever seemed to take pleasure in was Icha Icha. Kakashi Hatake was there on purpose. It was clear.
As the speakers thrummed with the movie's orchestral opening theme and the overhead lights dimmed, Sakura mulled this over. Her sensei seemed to intervene whenever she was getting a little too close to Kiba. Was he feeling nervous for Sakura's safety after Ryuu had tried to take advantage of her? Did he really think the Inuzuka boy was capable of hurting Sakura?
She shook her head to clear that thought away. Sakura Haruno was far stronger than the dog-loving ninja, there was no universe where he could take advantage of her, and she was certain her sensei was fully aware of that.
So the question wasn't if he was interrupting their date intentionally. He certainly was. The question now was: why?
. . .
"Something's up with that guy," Kiba glared across the movie theater's small lobby at Kakashi as he made his way to the men's restroom. Sakura tried to pull him out the door and back out onto Konoha's main street before he could start anything with her sensei. "I'm just gonna go ask him what his problem is."
"It's nothing!" she cried, tugging at the sleeve of his leather jacket. She could have hoisted him up by the scruff of his neck with her chakra-infused strength, but she really didn't want to cause a scene, "just leave it alone!"
"Clearly it isn't nothing, Sakura!" Kiba barked. "He keeps showing up and getting in the way!"
"You don't know him like I do," she rationalized, "he's… protective."
"I'm sure he wouldn't care if it was Naruto on this date," he rolled off and crossed his arms over his chest. Sakura grinned, sensing a distraction.
"Are you trying to tell me you want to go on a date with Naruto?" She asked, feigning confused offense. Her hands dropped away from their place on his arm.
"Har har," Kiba rolled his eyes. "Very funny."
"I never would have agreed to go out with you if I would have known you were just using me to get to him," she sighed and turned on her heel before she pushed her way dramatically out of the double doors.
"Now wait just a minute!" he cried after her, and she heard his footsteps following close behind. His hand closed down around her wrist, forcing her to stop. "That's not what I meant."
"I dunno," she hummed, tapping her chin and gazing up at the sky. "You've always seemed to be a little obsessed with him—"
"Only because I want to fight him!" Kiba growled. "That guy sucks! He thinks he can just run around with his ugly little frogs and claim that he's gonna be the next Hokage?! No way! I'm just as capable! And my dogs are way cooler and more powerful!"
She laughed, thankful that they had moved on from the subject. She slipped her arm through his. "Come on, let's get out of here—go somewhere a little more… quiet." Her emerald eyes fluttered mischievously. Perhaps they could shake Kakashi while he was in the bathroom.
"Really?" he asked, eyes bright.
Konoha's library was about as destitute as usual. Only a few patrons populated the tables, and most of them seemed to be academy students cramming for their written exams. Kiba hung his head as Sakura perused the shelves of stale medical books.
"This wasn't what I had imagined," he grumbled dejectedly.
"Come on," she chided, pulling a book from the section labeled 'poisons.' She glanced at the cover: 'Xerophytes and their toxins,' recognizing the clinical term for 'cactus' right away. Even if she couldn't assist the team in Suna, perhaps she could do her own research here and help in her own way!
The pink-haired kunoichi looked over her shoulder and saw Kiba staring at the rows of books with a sour expression on his face.
"You're my boyfriend now, aren't you? " she snapped, fed up with his gloomy atmosphere. "This is what boyfriends do!"
"I'm your boyfriend?!" he exclaimed, straightening up with such speed she could swear she heard his spine pop as his shoulders righted themselves.
She tried not to wince—the title had just slipped out! That's what people who were dating called each other, right?
"Mmmhmm," she hummed casually, still tracing the long line of textbooks' spines with her slender finger. It wasn't that big of a deal, was it? Loads of girls had boyfriends! It was super normal.
"Nice," he rolled off, suddenly sounding much more at-ease in the publicly-funded space.
"Can you find us an empty, private table to study?" Sakura asked, desperate to send him away with a task. She held out the book on poisonous cacti.
"Anything for my girlfriend," he grinned, pushing off his place leaning against the wall. He plucked the book from her fingers and left.
She released a quiet breath as he walked away. This whole Kiba thing had seemed like such an easy, fun distraction… but she was beginning to realize that he resembled a toddler that needed constant attention and stimulation.
Sakura shook her head, she was still on a mission. She refocused on the task at hand, quickly skimming the titles printed on the textbooks' spines.
"Modern Poisons: the Contemporary Toxicology," she mumbled to herself, "you're coming home with me."
She placed her fingertip on the lip of its spine and pulled it forward, getting a better grip on the base before pulling—
"Sakura," a voice came from behind the shelf before her. She yelped, the book slipping from her fingers and fluttering clumsily to the ground. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she stooped down to peer through the hole she had just made in the wall of literature.
Lo and behold, Kakashi Hatake's single black eye stared intently at her from the little tunnel between the shelves.
"What!?" she snapped, fully at her wits end. Why wouldn't he leave her alone?!
"You can do better, and you know it."
She knew exactly what he meant—or exactly who he meant, more like. She stooped down to collect the fallen literature, blood rushing in her ears.
"I don't care!" she hissed, shoving the book back into its home, effectively sealing off their passage of contact.
Sakura stormed around the corner, heart in her throat. She was going to find Kiba and get the hell out of there now! How dare her sensei so flagrantly stick his nose into her business the day after he had so thoroughly rejected her?
She felt a hand clamp down on her wrist and drag her unceremoniously into the next aisle. Her skin tingled where his fingertips met the soft flesh of her forearm. The hold wasn't painful, but it was firm. Kakashi's single black eye bore down onto her face, searching her expression for… something. What was he looking for?
"What's your problem!?" she asked, yanking her wrist away. Though she had broken the contact between them, she couldn't help but notice their proximity. He was half a foot away then, and she could smell the detergent on his clothes—the same scent that had wrapped her up in its comforting cocoon the morning she had awoken in his sheets.
"Why are you going around with him?" Kakashi shot back, shoving his hands—clad, as always, with his fingerless gloves—into his pockets.
"How is that any of your business?" Sakura rolled her eyes, hoping that he didn't notice the blush that had spilled over her porcelain cheeks.
"Because I care about you," was all he said. She averted her eyes, his stare much too intense for her.
"Well, you don't need to worry," she mumbled, fidgeting with the end of her skirt. "Kiba is nice."
"Kiba is just an asshole kid."
At that, her gaze snapped back to her teacher's face. He shouldn't be calling anyone an asshole with this childish behavior!
"Who likes me! And—friendly reminder, I still need a date to Hinata's party, sensei!"
"Lots of men would go with you!"
"What!? Who!?" She motioned to the practically empty library before scraping her emerald eyes back to him. "Like you!?"
He was quiet at that, and anger flashed hotly through her. He was only getting in the way, and offering no solutions to help!
She took a moment to run her fingers through her pink tresses as she heaved a frustrated sigh.
"This looks weird, Kaka-sensei. I know you only care about me, but Kiba is starting to seem suspicious."
"Suspicious of what?" Kakashi asked with an air of innocence. Sakura gritted her teeth in anger.
Kakashi Hatake was a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them.
"Use your context clues, sensei! Now get out of here and leave me alone!" she hissed and started to edge her way out of the aisle. Kiba would be coming back any second.
"You didn't want to kiss him that night in the club," he changed the subject seamlessly, and he neared her spot against the wall of books. She stopped and flattened against the shelf, heat rushing to her face as he raised a gloved hand to place it right by her head, effectively blocking off her exit. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
She wanted to say, 'because I kissed you! And you kissed me back! And it's been so confusing because you rejected me right after and I thought you liked it and none of it is fair or makes any sense! And the worst part about it all is that I've had to pretend I don't remember when—as a matter of fact—I do. So, yeah! I kissed Kiba to try and forget about my kiss with you! I'm trying to distract myself from this ugly heartbreak that's all your fault, but you won't even let me forget you because you keep following me everywhere!"
But all that came out was: "why do you care?"
It was more than a question. It was a challenge. She was beginning to suspect that her sensei was jealous, but that was a far too delicious thought to give credence to. That is… unless he confirmed it himself.
"Because I do." His voice was hoarse. Low.
"Why?" she whispered back.
Kakashi Hatake was standing so close to her now that she had to crane her neck back in order to see him. This had been the same amount of distance between them that night she had pulled down his mask and pressed her lips to his. Though now he was the one cornering her.
Sakura's heart was beating so violently in the cavity of her chest she was certain he could hear it and it would give everything away. He had to know how she still felt. Why was he playing with her like this if they couldn't be together?
"Sakura?" Kiba's voice popped the odd bubble of tension that had formed around the student and teacher, "where'd you go?"
Sakura almost jumped out of her skin while Kakashi only threw the ninja an annoyed look. While he was distracted she quickly ducked out from beneath the make-shift barrier his arm made.
"Get lost," she hissed angrily over her shoulder before bolting in Kiba's direction. Her face was still burning from the tense, charged interaction.
Thankfully, Kiba Inuzuka wasn't looking toward the shelves they had been tucked away between. Instead he was staring stupidly at the largely empty space, scratching the back of his head. Sakura was thankful that there was a chance they could escape without Kiba spotting her sensei.
"Change of plans!" she cried and tackled his right arm. "It's way too beautiful outside to spend the day rotting in a stupid library."
He grunted in surprise. "Woah, hold on!"
She pulled him toward the exit, desperate to reach the outside world before things escalated even further. She had narrowly avoided a confrontation between the two shinobi before, but she didn't think Kiba's temper could be smothered further. Her only chance was to distract him and get to a secondary location before he caught on. "Come on!"
"Wait, I left my jacket at the desk you asked me to find!" He growled out in frustration, struggling to get his arm free from her iron grip, "Unhand me, woman!"
"You don't need a jacket today!" she cried, voice pitched up in panic, unwilling to let his arm go. "The weather is so nice!"
"What the hell?! Are you nuts?" he spluttered, digging his heels into the carpet below to try and slow their exit. "I can't leave that jacket behind! It's my favorite!"
"Here you go." Kakashi's voice. Sakura froze, squeezing her eyes shut in chagrin.
God. No!
She turned around and cracked open her eyes slowly, bracing herself for the explosion. The sight of Kakashi holding Kiba's leather jacket out on the crook of his finger, a pleasant, mocking smile on his masked face greeted her.
"You!?" Kiba's face said it all. He snatched his coat out of the jonin's grasp.
"Thank you, sensei! Let's go, Kiba." She tried to tug him back, but the dog-loving ninja held fast. He glared at the older man, chest puffed up in testosterone-filled indignance.
"What's your problem, old man?!" he snapped. "Why do you keep following us?"
"Just keeping an eye on my student," Kakashi said and shrugged, as if it were completely normal to stalk ones' student all across town as she spent time with her boyfriend.
"Why? What's your deal?!" Kiba's fists were rising, along with his volume, and everyone in the library was watching them now. Sakura's face burned with mortification. Out of all of the places this could have happened, why on earth did it have to be here?! She could never show her face in this establishment again.
"I was a teenage boy once. I know how they think," Kakashi said simply.
"I'm not a pervert like you, grandpa!" Kiba pointed a finger in his face. "In fact, I think it's a little suspicious that you're so obsessed with Sakura!"
"What is going on here? Keep your voices down!" An old woman approached them then, her white hair pulled back into a tight bun. Sakura recognized her right away: the librarian. She had always seemed so nice, smiling sweetly at her whenever she checked out her medical textbooks. Mortification seized her. Shit. This was getting out of hand fast.
"I'm so sorry!" Sakura hissed, bowing desperately in the direction of the older woman. She looked pointedly at the two men. "We'llbe going now."
"I don't expect you to understand our bond," Kakashi said evenly, moving Kiba's finger out of his face. His expression darkened significantly. "But I do expect you to stay in your lane."
"Let's go!" Sakura whispered, trying desperately to pull Kiba away without causing more of a scene. "Ignore him!"
"Lane?! What lane?! I'll kick your ass!" Kiba roared.
"Take this outside at once!" the librarian snapped. "No fighting in here! This is a library, not a dojo."
"I'd like to see you try, kid," Kakashi glowered down at the boy, voice low and menacing.
"Stop it!" Sakura stepped between them, putting her hands on their chests to shove them away with chakra infused palms. Kakashi only stumbled back one or two feet while Kiba was violently launched backwards and out of the glass doors. Sakura cringed, watching as he flew like a ragdoll into the street, doors swinging idly in his wake.
He rolled to a stop in front of the fruit vendor across the way.
"Oops," she sighed before stalking after him.
"Nice throw, Sakura!" Kakashi called from behind her.
"Shut up!" she snapped over her shoulder before pushing open the doors and leaving him behind. She wished he had been the one face down in the gravel street while civilians peered down at him. Not Kiba!
But her sensei was too strong, and much too accustomed to her chakra-powered man-handling to be caught off guard as Kiba had.
Guilt squeezed her heart as she neared the circle of konoha citizens and pushed her way through. When she saw her boyfriend she realized he had been pretty thoroughly knocked out cold, as evident by the skull-sized dent in the fruit vendor's metal stall. The man gazed down in horror at the unconscious shinobi.
Sakura sighed in frustration. Of course everything just had to escalate like this.
"Someone call a doctor!" an old woman cried.
"I'm a doctor," Sakura announced. The stunned crowd looked at her, and she resisted the urge to cringe away from their judgemental eyes. "I'll take care of this."
"What happened!?" the man spluttered.
"Just a game that went too far!" Sakura said a little too jovially before stooping down and lifting her boyfriend up easily. She tossed him over her shoulder unceremoniously. "Don't worry everyone, he'll be just fine!"
The crowd of people before her parted, gaping in shock at the sight of the five foot three girl hauling the large teenage boy away as though he was nothing more than a sack of potatoes.
. . .
Thankfully, Sakura's parents weren't home. They were both likely spending the beautiful day outside. The young kunoichi settled Kiba down on the couch in her living room. She kneeled by his side and gazed down at his sleeping face, guilt eating at her edges.
He didn't deserve all of this drama. He just wanted a girlfriend. Something easy and simple… instead he had been tangled up in whatever mess she and Kakashi had found themselves in; a casualty in a battle he didn't even realize was raging.
She raised a hand to his head, summoning her healing chakra in order to soothe the inflamed area. The glowing green aura cast a soft glow on his face, and she watched as his face scrunched up in pain as he awoke.
"Wh-what?" he asked, brown eyes cracking open. "Sakura? Where am I?"
"My house," Sakura informed him, heart heavy. "You fell unconscious."
"How?" he asked groggily, trying to sit up. She placed a gentle hand on his chest before pushing him back down.
"Let me finish healing you," she whispered, purposefully ignoring his question. She didn't want to tell him that she had inadvertently knocked him out.
"Wait," he grumbled, blinking as his memories came back. "Was it Kakashi? That old man really fucking—"
"No," she admitted quickly, "it was me. I'm sorry. I pushed you too hard when I was trying to keep you two from fighting."
"Where is he?" he asked. She shrugged.
"Don't know," she admitted, and then after a moment added, "Don't care."
He looked at her then, really looked at her. She squirmed uncomfortably beneath his sharp gaze. Her healing chakra faltered, and her hand dropped loosely to her side.
"What?" she asked, nervous.
"Something is going on between you two," he said, voice full of mistrust. "This isn't normal."
Her heart plummeted, feet going cold. She waved her hand frantically in the air and forced a laugh. "No way! Nothing is happening. He's just really protective of me."
"Asuma-sensei wasn't like this with Ino," he argued. "Guy-sensei isn't like this with Tenten. This is weird."
"Well, that's because—"
"And what was that whole thing about you leaving that headband thing on his bedroom floor, huh?!" At this, he seemed to grow more incensed and he sat up on her couch. He glared suspiciously down at her place, still kneeling beside him.
Sakura sighed, hanging her head. She had to tell him something.
"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone," she whispered, eyes glued to her knees. She still had a scab on her right kneecap from the night she had been drugged, "but something did happen."
"What the hell!?" he barked, jumping up from the couch and pointing down at her in accusation. "You're going to admit it?! That you're in some weirdo relationship with that guy?!"
She gaped up at him, shaking her head wildly as she stumbled onto her feet. "That's not what I meant!"
"Then what did you mean!?" he cried, a look of horror spreading across his sharp features. "Because this is looking pretty bad!"
She heaved a heavy sigh, dragging her fingers through her hair in frustration.
Sakura would tell him, but she wouldn't tell him everything.
"Do you remember Ryuu?" she asked, heart skipping nervously in her chest as she said his name. "That guy in the bar?"
"The loser from the sand village? Yeah," he asked, glaring down his nose at her in suspicion.
"Well, he gave me a drink that night that was—erm, well. It was poisoned," she whispered, heat flooding her face. She hadn't wanted to tell anyone of that night and she had been so thankful that the news of her near-assault hadn't spread through the village yet. Yet she knew she had no choice if she wanted to provide a decent excuse for the boy before her. "Drugged, I mean. He, well. He wanted to—you know..."
"What!?" He gaped at Sakura, suspicious expression on his face giving way to one of unadulterated shock. "He wanted to do what?!"
She bit her lip, hoping he was smart enough to fill in the blanks himself. He only stared at her stupidly, as though he had never considered such a heinous act.
Sakura cringed, cursing every god in existence that she was having this conversation with Konoha's most thick-skulled ninja. "He's a bad guy, Kiba. He'd been assaulting women in Suna for months, and he was going to… target me next."
He blinked at her wordlessly. When she realized he wasn't going to say anything she pressed further: "I couldn't fight back. I could barely even stand up… but Kakashi saved me. That's why I spent the night at his house. He wanted to make sure I was safe as the poison left my system."
His brown eyes flickered in understanding, and she could see his shoulders slump forward slightly. Relief uncoiled the terrible knot in her stomach.
"That's why he's being overly protective of me… I've just been through a lot these last few days and I think he's nervous."
"That makes a lot of sense, actually," he murmured, cheeks turning pink as he averted his gaze.
"Yeah…" She trailed off, also looking to the floor. "Sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
"No, I'm sorry for accusing you. That was super messed up of me," he mumbled in an uncharacteristically sheepish display. "It all just looked really weird."
"It's okay, it did look weird without context," she whispered, heart squeezing in guilt. He had actually been right on the nose with his accusations, but she would never tell him that in a million years. "I'm sorry that he's breathing down your neck, but it won't be forever… I think he just needs to get used to the idea of us—erm, being together."
Sakura didn't really know if this was true, but she said it anyway. Kiba's arms floated up to encase her, and she allowed herself to be embraced by him. It was the first time they had ever hugged, she realized. They had been close before, during their first dance that fateful night, and again when they had kissed on that bench beneath the yellowing tree.
This hug wasn't anything to write home about, but it was nice and warm and it just felt good to be held like this. With a pang in her heart she realized it felt like she was hugging Naruto. She hadn't realized how much she was beginning to miss him.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you from that guy," Kiba said, his voice rumbling beneath her ear, "I knew something was off about that creep."
"Kakashi-sensei said the exact same thing," Sakura returned, suddenly feeling very, very tired. Had she really been through all of that? Was it really over? She supposed for Temari it had really only just begun.
"Maybe that old man isn't that bad after all," Kiba finally relented and Sakura couldn't help but grin.
. . .
Wednesday morning came, and with it, her training session with Kakashi. Part of her wanted to hide underneath her covers and sleep the day away— leaving him high and dry on the training grounds— while the other part of her wanted to storm over there in her pajamas and make him eat dirt for all of the bullshit he had put her through the last few days with Kiba.
Thankfully, after the fight in the library she had only caught glimpses of him around town; it seemed as though he had resigned himself to watching them from afar instead of digging his big nose into her romantic life. Perhaps Kiba's words had affected him more than he had initially let on. After all, the boy had loudly accused him outright of being obsessed with his teenage student.
It wasn't a good look, and she was sure he was finally realizing it.
Though it was now in the past, everytime she thought of their charged interaction among the books— mere inches away as she questioned his intentions with a low voice— an indescribable warmth flooded her face while her stomach tingled with the oddest sensation. She was sure she hadn't imagined the tension, there was no way to interpret it as anything else: there was something going on. Something real. And he likely felt it too, despite his proclamations that anything happening between the two of them was wrong.
Sakura recalled the encounter for the hundredth time with a racing heart.
"Why do you care?"
"Because I do." His voice was hoarse. Low.
"Why?" she whispered back.
She pulled a pillow over her face in a last ditch attempt to smother herself.
If she died, she wouldn't have to keep stressing over this!
Her lungs burned for air as she agonized over the impossible situation she had found herself in. She didn't want to feel like this anymore. She didn't want to agonize over every little conversation they'll ever have! She just wished she could forget about Kakashi Hatake and have a casual relationship with a normal, age-appropriate boy.
This had to be nothing more than a short-lived obsession! Yes, that was it. It was only a crush! There wasn't more to it than that. He was a tall, handsome, mysterious, powerful, famous, single man… of course she would have eventually developed feelings for him! It was only logical.
Who was to say that Ino had never had a small infatuation with Asuma, or even Kiba with Kurenai? They were teenagers after all, and their hormones were running wild!
She finally gathered the strength to drag herself out of bed, groaning in chagrin.
Perhaps a day of training would be good for her. Physical exercise always helped her feel better when she would fall into a downward spiral about Sasuke.
She blinked in surprise, realizing suddenly that this had been the first time she had given the lone Uchiha heir a passing thought since that day on the training pitch a week ago. The revelation stunned her; Kakashi had really knocked all thoughts of him from her with one single compliment.
"You are beautiful, Sakura."
Was she really so boy crazy that her affections would flip so quickly? Had she ever actually loved Sasuke, or had that been nothing more than a fleeting crush as well? She supposed she hadn't seen him in a while. It was only a matter of time that her feelings for her former teammate would wane.
She thought of his cold, uncaring eyes as he glared down at her from the crumbled remains of Orochimaru's hideout. He looked so different, clad in those strange, unfamiliar clothes. She remembered the way he had stood far above them, bathed in white sunlight, pale and beautiful and deadly. A stranger. An enemy.
The Sasuke she had known and loved was gone.
…but that didn't mean that she was alone. Kakashi's masked face flashed through her minds' eye.
Once Sakura was dressed in her usual maroon and black kunoichi garments, she considered her reflection carefully. When Kakashi looked at her, what did he see? Despite her lack of curves, she supposed she had fleshed out over the years in a certain feminine way. She considered her face. Had it lost that youthful chub that she and all of her teammates had when they were twelve year old genin? She supposed she must have.
There would be no way in hell he would have kissed her back if he saw her as a child still. He was not a pervert like that.
She thought of their conversation outside of the club.
"I'm not a kid anymore."
"I've noticed."
Her face flushed in pleasure at the memory. Did he think she was beautiful? Did he consider her a fully-fledged woman?
With a whirling mind, she made her way out of her house. She was locking her front door when a feminine sniffle sounded from behind her. She turned to see Ino standing just before her parent's white fence. Her blue eyes were shimmering with tears, and her face was red and splotchy, as though she had been crying only moments before.
"Ino?" she asked. Why was she there? And why on earth was she so upset? "What's wrong?"
"Sakura!" the blonde girl cried, running forward and flinging her arms around her. Sakura had to pump chakra into the soles of her feet to keep from toppling over.
"What the—" she gasped under the weight of her friend.
"I'm so sorry about what happened to you!" she wailed. "I should have known better than to let a stranger take you away at the bar! I'm the worst friend in the history of the world! I'm so so so sorry!"
Disbelief splashed down her back like icy water, and she found it suddenly hard to breathe. Ino knew?! How did Ino know?! This was exactly what she had wanted to avoid.
"How?" she breathed.
"Kiba told me," she whimpered. "I can't believe that guy from Suna was a rapist the whole time, and I just let you go with him. If Kakashi-sensei hadn't been there… I-I don't even want to think about it!"
Sakura sighed heavily, control finally returning to her limbs. She brought her hand up to pat reassuringly at Ino's back. "I'm alright. Really, I'm okay."
"No, you're not! You were attacked!" She pulled away, holding Sakura at arm's length. She was searching her face, as if looking for any sign of outward injury. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Sakura shrugged, averting her gaze to the ground. "I didn't want it to be a whole thing. I didn't want to freak anyone out."
"Well now I'm even more freaked out! So, thanks a lot!" she snapped, wiping at her wet cheeks.
"I'm sorry," Sakura said, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Why on earth was Sakura comforting Ino in the wake of Sakura's assault? This was so stupid.
"Don't tell anyone else, please," she added quietly. "I don't want it to be a big deal."
Ino's mouth quirked into a sour pucker and she looked to the sky. An undeniable look of guilt. Sakura gritted her teeth in anger.
"Come on, really?" the pink-haired girl snapped, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "Why can't you just keep your big mouth closed for once in your life?!"
"I'm sorry," her friend whimpered. "I didn't think it was a huge secret. After all, it's not your fault!"
"My business is my business, pig!" she seethed, and Ino cringed in response.
"Are you actually mad at me?" she asked, voice small. "I'm really really sorry."
Sakura released a shaky breath, a bit of the anger dissipating inside of her. It was rare that Ino displayed such regret and genuine sadness.
She was actually sorry.
"No, I'm not," she sighed, letting her wrath towards the blonde girl go. She should have known Kiba would blab and Ino would run her mouth in turn. It was in their nature. It wasn't their fault that the entire village would soon be whispering about that shinobi from Suna and what he had almost done to the Hokage's apprentice.
"Then why do you have that scary look in your eye?" Ino asked, wringing her hands nervously. Sakura didn't respond, she was already stomping her way out of her yard and into the street.
The man responsible was waiting for her right now, and she couldn't wait to pummel him into the dirt. If he hadn't interfered, she wouldn't have had to tell Kiba the truth, and then Ino wouldn't have told half of the village already!
"You're a dead man, Kakashi Hatake," she growled to herself, itching to give him a piece of her mind.
A/N: HAPPY CHRISTMAS! HERE'S AN EARLY PRESENT! Kiba was just supposed to be a little bit part as a vessel for jealousy but I actually love him so much hahahaha he is so fun to write. i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much I enjoyed writing it! I can't WAIT to show u where this is going :) let me know what u guys think!
I'm shocked about how much more diligent and kind the readers in this fandom are than the HP fandom lol