Chapter 4: A Twist Of Thoughts

Kakashi Hatake was sleeping when he heard the frustrated cussing of his teammate and the angry shuffling of papers.

"What's wrong?" he mumbled sleepily into his pillow, content with staying there for a few more minutes. He'd only been asleep for a few scarce hours and his head was pounding.

"I think we got the wrong guy."

At that, his eyes did open —rather reluctantly— and he sat up with a sigh. "Wrong medicine?"

She nodded, her lips pursing unhappily. "Can you believe he wasn't actually lying? It's not drugs. It's medicine. A liquified form of concentrated sleeping pills for PTSD patients."

Great, Kakashi thought numbly and ran a hand through his silver hair. "We'll go back and investigate again."

Sakura grumbled something under her breath and trudged back to her bed. "I've been up all night; I'm gonna rest a bit."

Kakashi nodded as he watched the kunoichi crawl into her bed, hair disheveled from frustrated pulling and tugging and eyes slightly smudged from the little eye make-up she wore.

She buried the side of her face in the pillow and shut her eyes. Unaware that he was watching her, his teammate pulled the blanket up to her waist and relaxed. Kakashi followed the little bit of skin the motion extracted as her shirt rode up, all smooth and taut, and he swallowed thickly as he forced himself to look away.

To his frustration, the pink-haired woman made the most inviting picture just lying there in what was supposed to be an absolutely innocent activity. That introspection greatly unsettled him. Sakura's soft snoring filled the room and he looked over once again to find she'd already fallen asleep, her chest gently rising and falling in her thin shirt, her plump lips slightly parted as she exhaled, looking—

Kakashi mechanically got up and grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. Enough was enough and his thoughts weren't helping, so he decided to shower to collect his messy head. Lazily, he discarded his shirt and took a few moments to study his wounds in the mirror. The stitches in his side were healing nicely and the few bruises he sustained had faded to a light red colour that he knew would vanish soon. His eyes paused at the scars on his hips and he took a quiet shaky breath as he recalled how Sakura had trailed her fingertips across them. He hadn't expected something as clinical as being checked up to turn quite so intimate. The worst part was, he wasn't sure he minded.

Groaning internally at the direction of his musings, he rid himself of the remnants of his clothes and hopped in the shower.

The water, even when warm and soothing to his aching muscles, made his whole torso sting as wet droplets found their way to his cuts. The momentary discomfort distracted him long enough to wash his hair in relative peace. Unfortunately, that peace dissolved soon afterwards. He should've known; showers are where people contemplated life, not suppressed ruminations.

He was worried about a few things that refused to leave his brain and let him enjoy the tranquility of washing. They had assumed they found the right guy, but it turned out he wasn't who they were seeking. Just a man with a shady character but surprisingly good intentions. Although Kakashi could've sworn he was a jerk from the way he had been eyeing his teammate.

Oh, who was he kidding? What person who wasn't blind and claimed to be in the 'straight male' circle wouldn't look at Sakura? She'd always been one of the more exotic looking females with her unique pastel hair and bright emerald eyes. Besides, not even he could deny the fact she had the nicest, subtly lean legs. Speaking from a male perspective, it was hard not to notice her. Speaking from his perspective… well, he did find her attractive (a slightly alarming conception) but he was also drawn to her personality, which he found strange.

Sakura could be loud and, on rare occasion, brash. Those weren't traits he was particularly fond of but he found it kind of cute when her cheeks reddened and she snapped at the unfortunate soul that managed to offend her. Instead of finding it annoying, like he might with anyone else, he discovered it was hard to look away. Something in the way her green eyes narrowed dangerously and her muscles coiled tightly, ready to spring and give anyone a piece of her mind was rather enchanting and well, attractive.

Kakashi frowned, scrubbing across the bottom of his foot rather harshly until it was red and definitely clean.

Sakura was still the same Sakura from two years ago; it didn't make sense for him to only discover an attraction now. Maybe the weird visions he'd been having had something to do with it…

Sakura Haruno wiped at the corner of her mouth where she sensed drool collecting, and visibly winced when she opened her eyes and found Kakashi looking at her, likely having sensed the change in her breathing pattern. She sat upright, feeling her cheeks colour in embarrassment. "Uh… G'morning."

"Afternoon, actually," he corrected with an eye crease as his head tilted towards the alarm clock between their beds. True to his words, it read two p.m.

"Good afternoon," she amended shyly and got up to stretch her limbs, then yawned tiredly.

"I'll wait for you to shower and then we can head out and look for those men again," Kakashi told her, closing the little orange book he was previously reading.

"Actually," Sakura intercepted, "I was thinking, and do you remember how we came across that guy— girl? whatever they were?"

"I think it was a man," Kakashi said carefully, "and what do you mean?"

"Well…" The rosette murmured thoughtfully as she leant back against her bed, still rubbing the sleep out of her eye. "We were on an S-ranked mission, but we barely encountered anything potentially dangerous during the mission… for us, at least."

"This isn't the first time a mission had the wrong ranking," Kakashi gently reminded her, thinking back to their first mission together in the Land of Waves where their C-ranked mission became an A-ranked mission.

"Yes, but this mission should have been a lower rank. Why pay more, especially now when every village is financially unstable? So think about it this way, by requesting you take that mission, they would need it to be higher ranked, otherwise, any shinobi would suffice…" Sakura trailed off, running an unsure hand through her pink strands and Kakashi's eyes widened as realisation began to sink in.

"You think they lied about the mission ranking so they could request me without sounding suspicious?" He deduced in one breath.

"Yes." Sakura breathed, glad he seemed to catch on.

"But we were attacked after the mission, not during. Besides, why do they want me? I no longer have my sharingan so it wouldn't make sense that someone would be after me." Kakashi frowned contemplatively. He really didn't like where this was going.

"But what if they aren't after you? What if they're after me?" Sakura pointed out, attentively. "As a medic, we're typically partnered together. It's very likely they were depending on you to bring me along."

Kakashi's breath caught unexpectedly in his throat as he recalled a tidbit of a memory that had been forgotten until this moment. "He… he asked about you, where you were. I thought I imagined it, I mean, I was about delirious at that point and I was worried you were in the same state as me…"

It all suddenly made sense. Sakura and Tsunade were the only two shinobi known for their inhuman strength and precise chakra control, the only two shinobi with the Strength of a Hundred Seal. And those people exhibited alarming brutality. If their purpose was to have inhuman strength similar to that which Sakura and Tsunade possessed, did it mean that by capturing Sakura they would acquire the information needed to further develop the drug they made? Since Tsunade was Hokage and virtually untouchable, it was just reasonable to go after Sakura.

His fists clenched.

Sakura sat back with a preoccupied expression. She didn't seem particularly concerned by that discovery. "I mean, they attacked right after our mission, right after we crossed the border between Stars and the Sound, and he chose the moment we briefly separated to attack so maybe he was sure he'd be able to defeat you to cut my back-up and then come for me?"

"But he didn't come for you." Kakashi pointed out with a hopeful tone that threatened to make a smile twitch her lips. His protectiveness inspired a feeling of warmth in her chest.

Sadly, her next words killed that hope. "I was concealing my chakra, and our earlier fall into the river washed off any scent they might've needed to track me. I did make it seem like I ran away."

Her face was carefully monitored and free of expression, but the anguished look in her emerald eyes threatened to choke him. "Sakura," he began, wishing to comfort her, to let her know he would never doubt her loyalty to him, that he knew she'd never abandon him, but she firmly shook her head.

"Don't," she cautioned, frowning, but he wasn't sure if the displeasure on her face was aimed at him or herself. "It happened, and there's no changing it."

"We're both alive," he insisted in what bordered on a pleading tone. "Isn't that all that matters?"

Sakura was silent for a few long moments before she sighed and hugged her knees to her chest. For just the few next minutes, she looked incredibly vulnerable, which was not a word he'd ever use to describe her.

"Listen," she uttered quietly, not really meeting his eyes. "It was bad planning on my part, I screwed up and I'll own up to it. You ended up in that state because of me."

"Goddammit Sakura, seriously!"

The rosette looked up at her teammate, somewhat startled at the exasperation and forcefulness of his words. He was on his feet approaching her and when he was a foot away, he crouched between their beds by her legs and forced her knees down from her chest, grasping tightly at them with one hand while the other found her chin and gently forced her to look him in the eyes. "We were attacked. We had no way of anticipating that someone was after you or me. You did the right thing by staying back and not engaging with an unknown hostile force. If you had, we might've been at a bigger disadvantage because if both of us were wounded, chances are I would've died and you would've been captured."

Sakura swallowed thickly against her constricting throat and finally stopped struggling against locking gazes with him. She saw so many things in his dark orbs, many emotions, as loud as they were silent; forgiveness, understanding, affection, and most heart-wrenchingly relief.

Relief that she was safe.

Her heart twisted painfully in her chest and it took quite the struggle not to allow herself to tear up. It'd been eating her up at night, in her sleep, in her free time. Killing her slowly every time she recalled that he nearly died because she stood back instead of fighting with him.

"I will always, always, put my teammates first." He said with utmost sincerity.

Sakura couldn't help it, she cried.


After going back and hitting another dead end, their reconnaissance turned out to be a failure, and they decided to head back. The travel back to Konoha took them a day, and during their lengthy walk, Sakura yet again pondered the sudden change in their dynamic. Kakashi was not an affectionate person by any stretch of the imagination. It was true he cared for his teammates and friends, and that he valued teamwork above all else, but it was also apparent how much he struggled with letting people in.

Generally, he wasn't a man of many words. He was decidedly an actions-speak kind of guy. Not that his actions ever truly made sense to most people. No one really understood why he walked around reading smut in public and was chronically late to everything. No one knew why he wore that mask or the reason he lived on the outskirts of Konoha.

Sakura knew he had his own reasons, probably related to his past —probably something very personal and very sensitive that no one dared ask. She wasn't about to be the first one. But with her it was different. Other people didn't have dreams of Kakashi's supposed past. Other people didn't watch him watch his best friend die or his father's dead corpse at his feet. Other people weren't privy to his emotions the way she was.

Did the dreams make any sense to her? Not at all. But they weren't stopping and their frequent re-occurrence assured her they wouldn't be any time soon. It worried her endlessly, as did most things she failed to understand.

Dreaming of someone's past seemed a little silly vocalised, not to mention, completely absurd. Stuff like that didn't happen outside of books and even if in their world impossible things consistently ended up being proved possible, there was a degree —a line— thatwas never crossed.

This bordered on insanity. Sakura lost count of how many times she questioned her sanity since the start of her dreams. What if she had actually lost her mind and now her brain was constructing a background story for her former sensei? It wasn't unheard of for a shinobi to just snap one day. Maybe she should talk to someone about this, someone that wasn't Kakashi and someone who wouldn't outright laugh at her. There really were only two options: Tsunade and Ino.

Tsunade was a medic like herself and would be able to accurately diagnose her if she honestly was losing her mind and Ino had her clan's jutsu and could probably see into her mind and find out what was wrong with it.

Sakura knew Ino had a better shot at finding out what was the matter with her, but Sakura was hesitant for a reason: what if those dreams, however unlikely, were really Kakashi's past? Did she want to expose that to Ino? Just because the blonde was her best friend it did not make her and Kakashi close in any way. She hated how the entire population of Konoha danced around him like he was some kind of mystery that must be solved and laid bare. She could agree that he was mysterious and that as a kid, she tried to peek under his mask, but everyone else seemed to take it a step further than that, going as far as to try to spy on the man in his free time and following him around in hopes of finding out more about his habits.

He must find that suffocating, Sakura bitterly concluded. No wonder he hated socialising and being in public and crowded gatherings. Everyone inevitably made it centred around him and the latest rumours concerning him ranged from what colour underwear he wore to if he was gay.

But all that aside, it made sense for her to feel closer to him because of her dreams. What did not make sense was the reciprocated… affection he seemed to hold towards her. The extra care, the bounteously open approach, the more trustful gestures. It was as if he was letting her in, and that really didn't make any sense on his part. She wanted to ask but she didn't for two reasons. One, she didn't want to sound stupid; two, she didn't want to lose this bond they recently developed.

They arrived at Konoha with these thoughts still swirling around in her head and immediately reported to the Hokage, who insisted they rest for a few days before they investigate the Star's real intentions. Such claims were dangerous and could threaten the peace they so desperately clung to and tried to keep. The last thing anyone needed was another war.

It'd been less than two years since the Fourth Shinobi World War and every major village, including Konoha, received quite the hit. If another war broke out, it could completely collapse Konoha. Not only were they low on Shinobi, but also on resources and weapons. The only comfort they had was knowing that every other village fared the same losses.

Sighing, Sakura turned to face her teammate and broke the lengthy silence that had stretched between them for hours and hours on their way back home. "I'm going to meet up with Ino, but if you want, we can go out for dinner later."

Kakashi's eyebrows rose, and he widened his eyes. "Sakura-chan… are you asking me out on a date?"

Sakura nearly tripped over her own feet and she whirled around to fully face her former sensei, jaw slack. "W-what? No! I was just…"

The woman trailed off as he began to laugh and realised he was just teasing her, something he'd been doing often lately. She stomped her foot, much like a petulant child, and crossed her arms. "Not funny, baka."

"Shh, don't let anyone hear you disrespecting your captain." He winked at her as his laughter died and he reached to pat her head. The only reason she didn't slap his hand away was that his features suddenly grew serious.

Sakura stared dumbly at him and waited for him to speak.

"Stop worrying so much. You're much more fun when you loosen up," Kakashi said, his fingers scratching lightly at her scalp.

A shiver ran down her spine that she successfully suppressed and then he retreated his hand, spun on his heel and walked away, his hand waving lazily in the air. "See you at dinner, Sakura-chan."

Sakura Haruno had never been so confused.


"Forehead!" Ino chirped when she saw Sakura waiting for her in front of her new office. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Her friend fidgeted awkwardly under her scrutiny and tilted her head towards her office as she muttered, "Not here."

Ino immediately found the situation highly suspicious. She hadn't seen Sakura fidget since the day she pleaded with Tsunade to take her on as her apprentice.

"Come on in." Ino invited the pink-haired kunoichi into her office, and they both sat on the comfortable red couch by the wall.

"Are you okay?" The blonde asked worriedly, as she watched her friend squirm uncomfortably in her seat, hands clutched together in her lap. "…You're not pregnant, are you?"

"Ino!" The rosette turned a shade of pink that matched her hair. "You know I'm a…"

At the eye roll the medic received from her best friend she shut her mouth. "I will never understand you Forehead. You're nearly twenty, what's stopping you?"

Ugh, why now… Sakura cried out in her head. "I'm not… I just don't… I haven't found the right person, okay?"

"I just feel so bad for you," Ino drawled, resting her cheek on her upturned palm. "You're missing out on so much."

While Inner Sakura fought to escape and rip Ino a new one, Sakura plastered on a smile, even when her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Seriously Pig, I can satisfy myself, thank you very much.

"Anyway, what is it?" Ino leant back casually against the couch and crossed her legs. This caused the slits of her long purple skirt to part all the way up to her bandaged thighs.

Sakura took a shaky breath and clamped down on her nerves. Here goes… "I want you to check my brain for any sign of… damage."

Ino's well-maintained eyebrows shot up in both surprise and worry. "Did you hit your head? Shouldn't Tsunade che—"

"I didn't hit my head Ino," Sakura assured, hurriedly, "I meant I want you to check if there's something… wrong… with me."

Now, Ino looked considerably alarmed. "Forehead, what's going on? You're worrying me."

Sakura groaned and buried her face in her hands; there was really no way around this, was there? "I've just been having… weird dreams… about someone I know… I mean like, about their past and all and I just want to make sure I haven't gone crazy or anything."

Ino raised an incredulous eyebrow at Sakura. "About who?"

"…I don't want to talk about it."

Unfortunately, Ino had that look in her eyes that promised she'd find out no matter what. "I'm your best friend, why not?"

"Maybe later," Sakura acquiesced, hoping to satisfy the Yamanaka long enough to get through this check-up without incident.

Ino rolled her eyes and scooted closer to her friend, fingers reaching to press her skull. "Just relax."

Sakura took a deep breath and forced the tension to leave her shoulders, instead choosing to let her eyes study Ino's office.

It wasn't anything fancy, but it had an air of superiority to it that Sakura couldn't quite place. The desk was a sturdy mahogany brown and the chair behind it was finished with a dark wine-coloured leather. There weren't any plants around, which Sakura found unusual considering the office belonged to a Yamanaka. The only softening touch in the place was the fluffy scarlet carpet laid across the floor. But besides that everything else was metal lockers filled with god-knows-what and Ino's uniform hanging behind the large door.

What caught Sakura's attention, and briefly distracted her off the sensation of Ino's chakra invading her brain, was a little silver square packet poking out from between the red couch's cushions between her and Ino.

Sakura frowned. She didn't need to use those to know what they were; God knows she handed out enough of these in the hospital and to teenage boys and girls hoping they'd be smart enough to make use of them.

"Ino…" Sakura said slowly, not taking her eyes off the plastic packet. "Why is there a condom packet on the couch?"

The steady stream of chakra to her brain stopped abruptly and Sakura looked up to meet a pair of wide blue eyes.

"Uh… damn, sorry," Ino said, marginally embarrassed as she quickly grabbed the offending object and discarded it in the small trash bin under her desk.

Sakura blinked at her friend, slightly speechless. "You can't seriously be doing that here!"

The blonde huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why not?"

"Because!" Sakura threw her arms up in exasperation. "It's a work office… what if someone heard? What if someone saw?"

Ino rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "Forehead we're ninja, we don't get caught."

Unconvinced emerald met determined cerulean in a heated staring fight until Sakura huffed and looked away. "Who is it anyway?"

"I ain't telling you until I know who you're dreaming of." Ino winked and blew her a kiss, ignoring the way Sakura's eyebrow twitched violently.

"Fine!" Sakura cried. "Don't tell me."

"Fine!" Ino retorted, smugly.

"Am I going insane, then?" Sakura asked poking her head.

"Nah." Ino waved a dismissive hand in font of her face. "Not at all. You're okay. It seems to me you're having these dreams for a different reason."

"I don't get it." Sakura fell back against the couch. "Why am I having them?"

"I can't really help you unless I have more information, Forehead," Ino told her, looking sympathetic. "But maybe do some research? I've heard of old legends that described similar occurrences."

"I guess." The rosette shrugged helplessly and got up. "Well, that's all. I'll go now."

"You just got here." Ino pouted. "Pretty please stay a while longer."

Looking at the hopeful expression on her best friend's face, Sakura sighed, and without any real displeasure, she drawled, "Fine."


What Sakura planned to be a short hangout with Ino stretched out for over three hours and by then, Sakura was running late to her planned dinner with Kakashi.

Keeping an eye on her bedroom clock that read seven in the evening, she hurriedly changed into a loose red dress that ended just above her knee and had a lovely v-neck and loose half sleeves. She hadn't worn that particular dress in a while but she realised belatedly that she skipped out on laundry day and was lacking non-offensive smelling clothes. So, red dress she got from Ino for her seventeenth birthday it was.

It made Sakura realise she hadn't worn a dress in a while and she was pleased to rediscover how comfortable and freeing it felt to move around in the loose material. Perhaps she and Ino should go dress shopping soon. Especially since the summer festival was coming up in two weeks.

Her doorbell rang, interrupting her train of thought, and Sakura hurried to answer it. Just as expected, she found a tall silver-haired man standing there, jounin vest and forehead protector missing. "Wow, you're early."

Whenever they agreed to have dinner, they'd meet at her house at eight, but Kakashi —who refused to let go of his old habits— consistently managed to arrive just after eight-thirty. Today, he came at eight-fifteen.

"What can I say?" The man's eyes creased in a smile. "I got hungry."

Sakura giggled as she made a quick work of strapping her weapon pouch to her thigh and sealing her door shut.

"So… where do you want to eat?" she asked him. "I doubt you want Ichiraku, and we just had ramen earlier this week."

Kakashi looked pensive for the whole of one minute. "I know a western restaurant that serves delicious steak."

"Really? Where's that?" Sakura inquired curiously. She didn't know of any western restaurants in the area. She was aware of the existence of a few, but not in their location, so it was no surprise to her that Kakashi lead her into a whole new district, explaining it was closer to the outskirts of the city.

"Wouldn't it be more auspicious if it were in the heart of the city?" Sakura wondered as they arrived at their destination —a well-lit but rather quiet place with the name 'Aperu Besu'.

Kakashi chuckled. "It would but then again… I think what makes it appealing is the lack of noise around it. I believe it aims to target specific types of customers."

"What? You mean the aloof, I-read-smut-in-public-so-don't-disturb-me type?" she teased as they walked through the polished wooden doors.

Kakashi snorted and nodded at the waitress who greeted them, a shy looking brunette wearing a small white dress and a black apron.

Looking around, Sakura immediately fell in love with the place. It had a very calming atmosphere, the cream coloured walls and cherry floored carpet created a rather cosy feel, coupled with the spot lights hanging over every table made it look lively, but also relaxing.

They were lead to a table at the corner, per Kakashi's request, who invariably felt more comfortable resting against two walls. It reminded her in a subtle way that Kakashi was always cautious, and slightly paranoid. She wondered how he got to this stage where he felt the need to be constantly watching his back.

Sakura took her time going through the menu, reading about different kinds of foods and seasoned steaks they served before placing an order.

"How did you find this place?" Sakura asked once the waitress left to prepare their order.

The man sitting opposite of her shrugged. "I know all of Konoha, really. You're required to if you want to join ANBU."

"I gathered you quit ANBU." Sakura frowned. She didn't like the idea of Kakashi in ANBU, but only because she'd had a few dreams about it which proved that that place truly killed a part of him —or rather, he let a part of him die by that profession.

"Nobody really quits ANBU, Sakura-chan," Kakashi informed with a deliberately light chuckle that didn't sit well with the medic. "You could always be called back when there's a shortage of shinobi, or if they believe only you're capable of a particular mission."

"I didn't know it was an in for life kind of thing," the rosette grumbled, rather unhappily.

Kakashi's ungloved fingers began to thrum rhythmically on the wooden table. "I wouldn't say it is… but ask anyone who's been in ANBU, it becomes ingrained in you in a way that it becomes… difficult to revert back to regular routine."

Sakura pursed her lips to stop herself from retorting. ANBU damaged shinobi more than anyone ever knew. As a medic, she was privy to the mental repercussions it caused and the fact that it slowly killed even the best of ninja if they didn't take regular breaks.

And she knew for a fact that Kakashi Hatake was a part of that organisation for twelve long years. It made her feel a little sick and so she redirected the conversation before she could lose her appetite for food. "Right, uh… what did you do this afternoon?"

Kakashi chuckled at her obvious attempt in changing the conversation but indulged her. "Nothing too fancy, showered, napped, read."

"You sound like an old man," the rosette snorted and accepted her fizzy drink when the waitress laid it in front of her.

"I do not," he gasped, faking indignation.

Giggling, Sakura sipped on her drink, enjoying the feeling of the chilled fizzy liquid sliding down her throat. "You do."

"Everyone showers and sleeps, Sakura-chan."

She wondered at the tone of his voice if he was pouting beneath that mask, and didn't realise her eyes had trailed to fix on his clothed mouth until he bought his straw to it and drank through the black material.

Her eyes shot up to meet his, which were dancing with mischief and laughter at her. She felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment and she snapped, "You're gonna get it all sticky."

"Get what sticky, Sakura-chan?" The way he said it made her pause. Were her ears tricking her or… She could've sworn his voice was dripping with innuendo!

Coupled with the amusement in his charcoal eyes, she must've guessed right. Sakura struggled against her instinct to blush and took another sip of her drink. "Your mask, Oji-chan."

His foot kicked her knee under the table, nearly causing her to spill her drink. Sakura glared at him. She was willing to bet an A-ranked mission's savings that he was smirking beneath that stupid mask.

The waitress came back with their food before Sakura could go ahead and return his kick with one of her own, but one aimed at a decidedly more sensitive place.

She pointedly ignored him as she took a bite of her steaming steak and chewed slowly, savouring the juicy texture and the overflowing taste of pepper sauce. She swallowed, eyes wide in wonder and hummed in pleasure, surprised it tasted this good. So good, in fact, she had to suck the excess sauce off her lips for the next three bites.

Feeling her forehead tingling from his stare, she looked up. She nearly jumped in her seat from the intensity of his gaze. He was watching her intently with his dark, dark eyes fixed resolutely on her moistened lips. Sakura stopped breathing altogether, feeling an unfamiliar tension surrounding them, one much similar to what she perceived in the hotel room when doing his check-up.

The medic felt a knot twist her gut as his hand rose slowly, oh-so-cautiously to her face, his eyes never leaving her mouth as his thumb carefully wiped off the corner of her lips, brushing lightly across her bottom one.

A white-hot thrill shot through her body, and it was all she could do not to shudder at the impression of his thumb on her skin.

At the warm shaky breath that escaped her and fanned his fingers, Kakashi quickly retreated his hand, his eyes looking away from her. "There was some uh… sauce, on your —on your mouth,"

Sakura let out a nervous chuckle, at a loss with the sudden thick atmosphere and the loud pounding of her heart. "Ah… t-thank you."

He waved her off and started cutting his steak rather viciously.

Sakura looked down at her meal, it was still steaming and she was sure her face was flaming red and the tight sensation in her gut didn't loosen, if anything, it grew tighter the more she recalled how magnetising his eyes were. Her damned lips were tingling like a live-wire.

She cursed softly, what was happening and what the hell was this feeling?


Aloha awesome readers! There you have it, chapter 4! It's the longest chapter thus far, of 5,460 words (yes, I'm proud ok) and as you can see this story is progressing kind of differently from the original version but it will hold many similarities you'll notice in future chapters. I honestly like this one much better.

I'm trying to slowly build up the tension between Kakashi and Sakura, I hope it's working! Please review and let me know what you think.

Oh, and, to the guest accounts that ask questions, I'm sorry I can't respond unless you use your account but I shall be answering your questions here:

Guest: "please tell me that this Kakashi is gonna be like the other Kakashi, I mean, not like a playboy because the past scenes were so pure! (the first version)"

Answer: Don't worry, Kakashi will not be a playboy or any of that! He'll be similar to the original version but with a few differences here and there. Some scenes will change, and some will remain the same.

Guest: "The visions of the past sounds like another kakasaku fic I've read. I'm assuming this story will be different though? Nevermind I just realized that you deleted all of your other chapters. Was the previous version completed?"

Answer: Yeah it's the same fic, just rewritten! No, the previous version was not completed.

Anyways, thanks for the lovely birthday wishes and awesome reviews, I try to reply to every single one of you. Sadly, doesn't let me reply to guests so I'll thank you for your support here. I read it, I love it and it makes me very happy. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to leave a review, no matter how small. It motivates me beyond anything.

If you have any questions you want immediate answers to, head to my tumblr (bouncyirwin) and ask me there, I'm always active.

Beta'd by the lovely Denilmo

Well, until next time! -Rams