"Sakura. My name is Sakura."
Kakashi simpered only slightly. Huh, he thought, how fitting.
"Sakura," Kiba grinned. "Himari sent in Sakura with your stitches. Er, where is Himari, by the way? She was just in here not fifteen minutes ago?"
Sakura moved over to the sink, turning on the faucet and pumping soap into her hands, "Himari got pretty piled up with client paperwork, I was done on my end, so I came over to finish off the patients here so she could take care of some other things. That's not a problem, is it?" Kakashi noticed the aggressive way she scrubbed her hands, meticulously getting under her fingernails and in between her fingers. He perceived the way her shoulders appeared to be pinched at the middle curve of the blades, tense and tight.
"Didn't you just wash your hands?" Kiba inquired, squinting at Sakura.
Tugging hard at the paper towels, Sakura whipped around, "I am about to suture your friend here."
"But you literally just washed them, it seems redundant to go and do it again" Kiba persisted, oblivious to the annoyed expression on her face.
Sakura tossed the paper towel in the trash and placed a fist on her hip, "Kiba, you're irritating me."
Kiba balked, glancing over at Kakashi for back up.
Kakashi held his free hand up, "Let the lady wash her hands however many times she needs."
Kiba glowered, muttering something under his breath that Kakashi didn't bother paying attention to.
"Alright," Sakura motioned to the examination table positioned in the corner of the room. "if you could sit over here please, so I can take a look at the wound."
With a slow half-nod, Kakashi kicked himself off of the door and trundled his way to the examination table, the paper protector covering the table crinkling slightly when he sat down on it. He propped his left foot up on the small step attached to the table, letting his right foot rest lightly on the floor. Sakura strode to where Kakashi was sitting, standing about two feet away from him. With her standing directly in front of him, Kakashi had now a full front view of her face and body.
Stark, lustrous, witching emerald green eyes stared back at his inquisitively. Long, thick lashes framed her eyes, fanning out cat-like at the corners. Being in such a short distance from her, he could see the delicate draw of her honeyed, full-bodied lips. She had high cheekbones with smooth, ivory-cream skin stretching taunt over the tops of them and wrapping around her heart shaped face. Her hair was tied up into a high ponytail, curled locks cascading down in a rosy waterfall; her arched, rounded eyebrows mimicking the same rose color. Her beauty was astonishing, even with the one feature that most people would consider an eye sore.
Sat right in the middle of her forehead was a diamond shaped birthmark, its color a muted pink that stood out flush against her fair skin. It was maybe just over an inch in height, however it stood perfectly centered on her forehead. It's place there wasn't unsightly, rather it added to her overall exotic appeal in his eyes.
Raking his eyes from her head down her figure, Kakashi followed the ivory column that was her long neck, down to even shoulders and toned arms. Her slender frame housed a sinuosity of flesh, the ebb and flow of her curves a sonsy road Kakashi would be more than happy to drive. The graceful flare of her hips supported firm thighs and muscular calves. She looked hard and soft at the same time, fierce and darling. Her body was an immaculate temple that deserved to revered and worshiped; honored by only the most dedicated disciple. A goddess worth the ravish of offerings.
"Where is your wound?" Sakura queried, breaking Kakashi's train of thought. She must of seen his eyes wander, because her cheeks were hued slightly more pink than before.
"Ah, it's on my chest," Kakashi motioned with his hand.
"Okay," Sakura remarked with a bob of her head. "I'll need you to take off your shirt, please."
Without a reply, Kakashi grabbed the edge of his black long-sleeved shirt and began to pull it up slowly, revealing a black undershirt that appeared to have a rip across from it; the frayed ends of the fabric splaying out in random strands. He placed the long-sleeved shirt on the table behind him, looking up expectantly at Sakura. "I need you to take all of your shirts off," she asserted.
"I have standards, you know." Kakashi outset, fisting the end of his undershirt.
"I'm sorry?" Sakura asked, bewildered.
Gradually, Kakashi began to bring up his undershirt, careful to not jerk the fabric off of his chest too hard, as some of the undershirt had stuck to the gash due to blood. Once the undershirt was peeled off and set behind him, Kakashi turned his attention back to Sakura whose astonished eyes widened for a brief second before she regained her professional composure. "Call me a romantic, but unlike most men I like to be wined and dined before I take my clothes off," he finished with a smirk.
"Good one," Kiba snorted sarcastically from the other end of the room.
Sakura stepped closer to Kakashi, head dipped down where the wound on his chest was. He knew what it looked back. Starting just under the left side of his collar bone and dashing all the way across to a couple inches under his right nipple. Blood surrounded the gash and speckled in quarter sized globs all over his torso. Sakura lifted her hands to his chest, applying a soft pressure as she felt around it, from the top left side all the way down to the lowest right side. "Tell me where it hurts the worst," she ordered, expertly feeling her way around it. Kakashi thought that the feeling could have been nice, small fleeting touches grazing over his skin, had it not hurt altogether. The closer she got to the widest part, Kakashi let out a short hiss through his teeth, alerting Sakura. She plucked her head up, "Here?" She gave another soft press on either side. Fighting back a wince, Kakashi only nodded in response.
"Okay," Sakura whispered, gently pulling the ends of the gash open for a moment before pulling back, removing her hands from his chest. "It's deep, but the good news is that it's barely deep to pass for just stitches and nothing else. I'll let you know now, because of the width here," she squared her forefinger and thumb over the gash, "it will take a long time for it to heal, and you need to be careful for the next month or so with it. Otherwise, it can open back up. You'll have to keep up with cleaning it, too. That means every day replacing the gauze, cleaning it with antibiotic soap, letting it dry, and then covering it again. It will scar, by the way. Give me a second while I gather everything I'll need."
"Yes, ma'am," Kakashi acknowledged with a two finger salute.
Kakashi watched Sakura pull an about face, side-stepping Akamaru and grabbing a small metal cart to wheel with her. She moved to the counter, pressing her hips flush against the wood, standing high on her tip toes, and leaning her torso forward some to reach the cabinets above. In doing this, it gave Kakashi a clear, full view of her thick, toned, bubbly heart-shaped ass. He felt his jaw twitch on sight, and he had to shake away the flood of inappropriate thoughts. Kakashi loved the female body, every inch of it; but, if there was a part of the body that he'd consider his favorite, it would be ass for sure.
Kakashi was an ass man, that's just how it went.
Sakura pulled items out of the cabinet, placing them on the metal cart and moving over to next set of cabinets in search of something. "How did that happen, by the way?" She sought casually, though not looking in his direction.
"Mmmhh," Kakashi hummed. "Kiba and I are bouncers, some rouge asshole got in and got froggy with us. We went to take him down, he pulled out a knife and nicked me right before Kiba here could tackle him down."
Sakura, hands full of medical items, paced towards the cart to set them down; organizing them on the cart as she did. "That's more than just a nick if you ask me."
Kakashi rolled his neck around, leaning back on his hands, shoulders pushed back and chest out. "It comes with the territory."
"Does the club you bounce for pay for your medical costs?" When she diverted her attention from the cart to Kakashi, her body tensed up again as if he had been giving her the bird. A few beats passed between them before she grabbed the cart and started wheeling it towards him.
"Oh, yyeeaahh," he lied happily, watching the way she immediately shut down whatever emotion she was experiencing. "It happens so often, that a hospital visit is warranted once a week, at least."
"At least," Kiba mimicked in agreement.
"Mmh," She grunted, threading her fingers into nylon gloves with a snap. "Sounds like being a bouncer is dangerous."
"What's life without a little danger?" Kakashi challenged with a lopsided smile.
Sakura paused again, speculating him carefully. Kakashi couldn't tell if she was eyeing him or the wound, regardless of which he met her gaze evenly with a cool stare of his own. He watched her pupils dilate slightly, dazzling green eyes swimming and nearly drowning him. The pregnant stretch in time was broken with Kiba's obnoxiously loud, deliberate cough. Sakura shook her head, blinking rapidly and going to work immediately. She soaked a cotton ball with alcohol, closing the distance between them and pressing the icy cold material on his skin.
Goosebumps broke out over his skin wherever she dabbed, the contrast from the frigid liquid and his hot flesh giving him a little shock. She started small, dabbing around the wound to clean up the blood first. Every glob of blood she swept up, each new alcohol soaked cotton ball moving lower down his torso, leaving chills in its wake. Even if it wasn't the ideal way Kakashi wanted to be touched by a woman, the deliberate way she took care to make sure the blood was cleaned made his nerve endings jump with each swipe. He was lying if he didn't say the intimacy of the whole situation was a turn on, especially how Sakura did it. HImari had always been so rough and abrasive, Sakura's soft ministrations were welcomed happily. He thought it ironic that the same woman he had been ogling over like man who'd just witnessed the beauty of a woman for the first time, is now the same woman tending to his wound. Bonus, he was at this hospital all the time, so it gave him a reason to come and see her knowing now this is where she works.
The last spot of dried blood sat right above the waistband of his jeans, over where the lower V of his muscles met. Grabbing a new cotton ball, Sakura started to slide down to the lower half of his stomach when Kakashi caught her wrist in a flash. Sakura gasped softly, eyes shooting up with question.
"You don't have to do that," Kakashi explained in an even tone, looking down into her bright eyes.
"I have to clean the site," she clarified with a sharp exhale of breath. "It's my job."Her tone had become edged with steel, as if she took offense to what he had said.
She flexed, and Kakashi let go; Sakura pulling her wrist out of his grasp and back down to the last spot of blood. She leisurely drug the wool across, the pressure of the gesture causing some of the alcohol to leak out in small drops, absorbing into his pants. The coolness so low on such a sensitive part of his body made him want to shiver, but he bit it back instead, flicking his eyes over to Kiba who was deftly shaking his head. Kakashi knew how this must look like from where Kiba stood, however it only served to fuel Kakashi's imagination. He was thankful that he was the master of control, otherwise his body would have already done the thinking for him.
Once all the blood was cleaned from his torso, she began to clean the edges of the wound, whispering a small "I'm sorry" when he flinched.
"Don't be sorry," he chuckled. "You're just doing your job. You're much more gentle than Himari ever was. She just pours the whole bottle of alcohol on it and tells me to get over it."
To Kakashi's satisfaction, Sakura relaxed some, giggling and flashing a brilliant smile that in turn made his smile grow even wider. "She is sassy, isn't she?" she mused, cleaning the lower half of the gash.
"Huh, sassy is an understatement," Kiba scoffed. "There was one time I was here because my head got knocked pretty hard, and when I told her what happened, she slapped me upside the same side of my head that was bleeding! She said that I was lucky she was nice enough to help me, otherwise she'd let me bleed out just enough to where I was," he held up his fingers as air quotes, "'stupid forever, and not just in a moment.'"
Kakashi lolled his head in Kiba's direction, trying to ignore the burning stinging sensation below his chin, "To be fair, you did make a comment to her about how she needed a real man to make her smile and you were the guy for the job."
Sakura tossed her head back and laughed, looking over her shoulder at a gawking, red in the face Kiba. Kakashi decided he really liked the way her laugh sounds, it reminded him of wind chimes his dad used to hang outside of their house. The soft hum of the chimes was familiar, soothing, and comforting; as was her laughter. Watching her eyes light up, the way her cheeks lifted when she smiled all the way in that moment: it sent tingles down his spine.
Fuck. He barely knew this woman, yet he had it bad.
"I-I didn't say that!" Kiba stuttered, incredulous. "I had lost a lot of blood! I got a concussion! There's no way I would of said that to her."
"On the contrary," Sakura rebutted playfully, eyes focused on threading the needle. "When you lose a lot of blood, especially in your head, you tend to do and say things you won't remember later. Especially if you had a concussion, then you definitely did say that. The effect is kind of like when someone's drunk, you're only saying what's been on your mind."
Kakashi chuckled, "Kiba, you bad, bad boy. I didn't know you had it in for Himari. No wonder you always wanted to see her and no one else."
"Wait—" Kiba huffed.
"I didn't see a ring on her finger," Sakura teased.
"No, I don't—"
"She's a whole lotta woman, Keebs. I hope you can keep up," Kakashi egged on.
"I hope you're fast enough, from what I've learned she does everything pretty quick," Sakura added with a sly grin.
"Oh, Kiba's pretty fast," Kakashi interjected, meeting Sakura's eyes and giving her a saucy wink and he could of sworn he saw her blush again.
"It's not like that," Kiba growled, glaring at Kakashi and Sakura. "I don't think I like the two of you together. You're ganging up on me."
"Kiba," Sakura sing-songed. "Don't be so upset. Just call Himari next time, I'm sure she can protect you."
Kakashi let out a loud laugh of his own, his chest shaking when he did, causing him to flinch in response to the sharp jab of pain. Noticing this, Sakura straightened, becoming serious again. "Enough games, let's get this taken care of. I'm already running behind because of you two."
"Kakashi, I'm going to take Akamaru outside. I'm afraid if I stay in here any longer, you two will keep giving me more shit. I'll be waiting at the front of the hospital," he walked to the door, resting his hand on the door knob and turning to look at Sakura with a tight smile on his face, "It was nice meeting you, Sakura. Even if you are somewhat of an ass."
Without missing a beat, Sakura replied, "Bite me."
Kiba scoffed, but otherwise left the room, the sound of the door clicking shut ringing in the silence of the room.
Sakura pulled up a small rolling chair, pulling it up and sitting down on it. She brought the needle up eye level, "Now, I need you to stay as still as possible. This will hurt some, so I recommend taking slow, steady breaths in and out. Not too heavy since it is your chest we are working on."
"Understood," Kakashi replied calmly, moving from his laid back position to sit upright.
Placing one hand over the top of the wound, Kakashi felt her squeeze the ends of the gash close, and the thin pierce of the needle. He bit the inside of his cheek as she worked, choosing instead of focus on the expression etched onto her face. Pink brows were knit together in the middle, eyes centered on the task at hand, and jaw set. There was no hesitation or fear in her form, her movements were fluid as if she was working using muscle memory. At one point, she had to tug the needle and thread through the skin a little hard, causing Kakashi to grunt. "I'm sorry, it snagged." She explained, briefly looking up and biting down on her lip as she did.
God-fucking-dammit.
How could someone look outrageously sexy simply biting their lip.
Kakashi was in big trouble if he didn't divert his attention soon.
He swallowed, rolling his wrists around as if it was doing to disperse the irritating pain elsewhere. "So, how long did it take you to clean everything up?"
"Hmm?" She hummed in question, her brow furrowing deeper.
"Well, if I remember correctly, you were sitting on your knees, surrounded in a very impressive collection of panties."
Sakura froze in the middle of pulling the thread, elbow lifted in the air. She let go of her lower lip she had been biting on, which left it looking darker pink and a little swollen. The pure, primal man in him wanted to grab her face and suck on that lower lip. He wanted to be the reason it looked softly swollen. The rational man in him said he'd be guaranteed a black eye.
"What did you say?" Sakura muttered in a low voice, pulling the thread through. She was over halfway done now, and though the pain was wildly irritating, he didn't want this closeness to end. She was so close to him now that he could feel the puffs of her hot breath on his torso, furthering to increase the heat of his skin. He could smell her, too. The smell of roses and honey came off of her in sultry waves, along with a mint smell that he assumed must be chapstick. The smell was so subtly sweet and soft, it made him want to bury his nose in a fistful of her hair and breath in deeply. He only imagined she probably smelled this good everywhere else.
"You're apartment 888, right?" He continued indolently.
"…yes, I am…" she answered hesitantly.
"I'm your neighbor, I'm two doors down." Kakashi articulated, eyeing her face for any change in expression.
"But, you said…were you the man offering to help me?" She squeaked the last part, blood rushing to her cheeks.
He'd have to embarrass her more often if she always looked this cute.
Kakashi nodded, "Mmhmm, I am. Did you know, that you are surprisingly strong? My hand was stinging for the rest of the day."
Sakura threw hear head back and sighed, "Ugh. Yeah, I'm sorry. I was just so…"
"Embarrassed? I noticed. What happened anyways? Were you just like fuck these panties and tossed them all over the place?"
Sakura tittered, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "No, not particularly. My parents shipped a bunch of my stuff since I couldn't take it with me on the plane. Well, imagine my surprise when I came back from the grocery store to fifteen boxes of shit. I was taking it all in my apartment and my dog was following me, except he kept getting in the way and essentially caused me to trip and fall backwards; sending the panties flying everywhere. My head slammed onto the concrete and my dumb ass dog just ran back into the apartment."
"Woof, sounds rough," he emphasized with a grin.
Sakura shrugged, sinking the needle into his skin again.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're not from here?" Kakashi pressed, trying to milk her for any information she would give. He wanted to see how open she was. Did she just blab? Did she need some finessing?
"That's some mighty fine deducing skills you've got there, Inspector Gadget," Sakura teased, flashing him another splendid smile.
Kakashi tipped an imaginary hat, "I am the best at what I do."
"I'm sure you are. And yes, I'm not from here, if that wasn't already screamingly obvious. I'm from America."
"Where from America?"
"Long Island," she quipped, tying a knot at the end of the wound and grabbing a small set of scissors to cut the thread.
Kakashi's eyes lifted, "Hmm, New York? The Big Apple... So you essentially moved from one big city to another?"
Sakura cleaned up the wound once more, twisting to grab the gauze. "If that's how you want to see it, sure." She placed an end of the gauze over the very top of the gash, tearing off a strip of medical tape she had precut earlier to secure the scrap of fabric. There was space between them now, the silence in the room almost deafening if it hadn't been for the soft sound of their breaths huffing in and out.
She was from America. Not just America, but New York of all places. Most people love New York so much that the thought of leaving was almost painful. He knew, because when he met people from New York, all they talked about was New York. He knew Tokyo had just as many opportunities as New York did, but he wondered why a pretty woman such as herself would move where she would have just as much success.
"Why did you move to Tokyo?" he pressed, watching her roll back on the chair some.
Her eyebrow quirked, "That's a little personal, don't you think?"
Kakashi gave a languid shrug, "It's a simple question."
"Mmhh, I'd rather not answer," he saw her eyes harden, a defiant glint in them. Whatever her internal dialogue was, he knew she wasn't going to budge no matter how hard he pressed. Sakura stood up, tossing the needle into the biohazard bin and peeling off the gloves into the trash. Kakashi reached behind him, grabbing his long sleeved shirt to pull it back on, careful to avoid the freshly sutured wound on his chest. Watching her move around and put everything away, Kakashi only felt more pulled in by her. She had an appeal that he couldn't shake, she was walking kryptonite that weakened his resolve he worked so hard to build when it came to getting involved with a woman. He hated how drawn to her he felt, it was a primal magnetism that he couldn't deny. Logic would say that he can't judge the character of a woman he hardly knew, but somewhere deep in the recesses of his chest he felt like he's known her for years.
Christ, it was too tacky for him to handle.
Kakashi wasn't much of a sentimental man, everything was pretty caviler to him. Especially women. He respected them, naturally, but the time he spent with them was always purely brief. Not only did he find it kind of boring that they were wooed pretty easily(he was a man who appreciated a good challenge), but he never wanted an attachment because with that came risk. He would be responsible for someone else's life if something happened, and not that he couldn't handle the responsibility, but rather he didn't want to be the reason something horrible happens to someone. Yes, he'd been around the block—he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy sex—but it also helped with the temporary loneliness he sometimes felt. The brief moments of intimacy, even if it was fake, was just enough to hold him over. As much as he told himself it wasn't the case, Kakashi craved intimacy from a partner just as much as the next person. The majority of his life he kept women at a safe distance. He made sure it was understood that it was purely physical, and nothing else. He had a reputation with being a "ladies man" so to speak, and none of the guys at the club took any woman he brought around seriously because of that. They were there one night, gone the next. He always made sure it was consentual, that the woman agreed to the same terms so emotions weren't involved or hurt. He remembers Naruto telling him he just hasn't found the right woman yet, and maybe that was the case.
Because, looking at Sakura now, the thought of the risk seemed worth it.
Sakura hummed lightly as she put everything away, stopping at the counter to grab a clipboard and a pen. "Alright, just one more thing and then you're good to go. Your name?"
"Hatake Kakashi."
Sakura scribbled down on the clipboard, "How old are you?"
"I'm thirty."
"Dirty thirty, nice," she smirked, scribbling down some more. "You are obviously male…Sutured wound…cleaned…after care…Alright, Kakashi. Remember what I said about being careful with it, cleaning it, letting it dry, and putting new gauze on it. Here," she strode over to place a box of gauze in his hand, "this should last you just a little bit. If you need more, go to the super market. If you have any issues, if it opens up, feels like it's hurting more or looks infected—come back here and we will take a look at it. Understood?"
"Mmmhh," Kakashi grinned, standing up, his height towering compared to Sakura's. The two stared at each other for several beats, Kakashi the first to break the silence. "Go out with me."
Sakura's eyebrows shot up, "I'm sorry?"
Kakashi stuffed a hand in his pocket, squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin, "Go on a date with me."
Sakura stepped back, her expression almost stressed, "I don't know anything about you…"
Kakashi tilted his head, "I think that's the point of a date, is to get to know each other."
She took two more steps back, furthering the space between them. Sakura bit down on her lip, a play of emotions flinting in her eyes. "I…I can't, Kakashi. I'm just…" she opened her mouth to speak, and Kakashi had hoped she'd give him something, anything about herself, reasoning, anything. Instead, she shut her mouth, shook her head, and moved all the way back to the counter. What was once surprise written across her face quickly switched to indignation, eyes glaring daggers at him if they could. "No, I just can't." Her tone incensed and hard.
Kakashi cracked a affable grin, "Suit yourself. Have a great day, Sakura. It was a pleasure to meet you." He turned and exited the room, mulling to himself with a determined grin as he navigated his way out of the hospital.
He wasn't put off by her response.
If anything, it only fueled his desire to get to know her more intimately. She obviously wasn't a woman that let anyone in easily, and that intrigued him. Who was she behind the professional mask?
She was a beautiful challenge that he was more than eager to take on.