Welcome back to chapter 4 of my fic

Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto. This was written for fun and because of a rabid plot bunny. Characters may be OOC.

Thanks to TransientShia for reading and giving me the encouragement to finish.

And the stupid editor has been up to its trick of leaving spaces out again - I've checked through but apologies if I missed any!

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Chapter 4

The next evening found Kakashi, the copy ninja, heading toward a certain green-eyed medic-nin's apartment. He told himself that he was just going to check up on her as she had clearly been upset by the incident with the green-blunder the previous day, but deep down he knew that there was more to it than that. The conversation he'd had with Iruka had proved it.

He was thinking about whether to use an excuse about locking himself out and needing the key as a reason for being there, when thinking of the key reminded him of the bet! He was amazed that he had had actually forgotten about the bet!

He stopped in shock. It wasn't about the bet, yet he still wished to see her. Of course he would be concerned, he had known her for a long time after all, but he was sure that this went beyond simple concern.

But what to do about the bet? As he slowly walked, he considered his options then shrugged to himself. At the current state of play it seemed there was a 50/50 chance he could win the bet,but for the moment he decided tojust carry on as if it didn't exist. He really did not want Sakura to end up hurt, she had enough to deal with at the moment.

As for himself? Well, whatever happened he would deal with it.

He knew the bet was stupid, and he cursed himself for getting involved with it in the first place. And damn Gai for insisting that he go through with it. He knew that he would rather pay the penalty than risk hurting his pink haired… team-mate? Friend? Something more? What exactly was she to him? He had been contemplating on it for most of the day and he thought he might just know the answer, but he had to decide what to do about it, or whether it would even be appropriate to do anything under the circumstances.

The conversation with Iruka might have been enlightening, but the scarred Chuunin did not know the full story.

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Sakura had been busying herself tidying and cleaning her apartment to try and avoid thinking about her problem with Lee, but the thoughts kept creeping to the surface.

She hated to admit it, but she was scared of what the obsessed young man might try to do next. To begin with she had not wanted to bother anyone with a problem that she was sure would go away over time, or that she could cope with herself.

After what had happened earlier that day, her confidence had wavered slightly. It was becoming clear that Lee was not going to quit on his own and she silently thanked goodness that Kakashi had "saved" her earlier. She knew that she would probably have been able to cope with it herself, but she was glad that she hadn't had to. Things could have turned… unpleasant.

At least she had managed to avoid him today.

She sighed as she finished dusting and headed to put the cleaning supplies away, starting as she heard a knock on the door.

With not a small amount of fear, she surreptitiously opened her kitchen window to provide an escape route if it were needed, then walked towards the front door.

"Who is it?" She called. She wanted to know who was there before she would even consider letting them in.

"Ah, it's me," came the muffled reply, "I've locked myself out and I need to borrow the key…"

Sakura breathed out in relief. She opened the door to let Kakashi in. "And there I was, thinking that you just wanted to see me again," She mock pouted. "Ok, just let me go get it for you."

He followed her in, cursing himself for using the excuse. Lying had become a bit of a habit, and he knew it would be better to tell the truth. "No, no, hang on a minute. That isn't the real reason I came."

Sakura turned to face the masked man. If it wasn't the key he wanted, what was it?

"Really I just came to check that you were OK. You were really shaken up yesterday."

For a moment Sakura was speechless. "Ah, it's ok, really. He didn't bother me that much." It was an obvious lie and they both knew it.

"Sakura," Kakashi said gently, "you really shouldn't let him bother you like this. It's not healthy either for you or for him. It has to stop."

Sakura looked down at the floor, Her usual demeanor washed away. "It's my problem and I really don't want to cause any trouble…"

Kakashi stared at her. She was obviously still shaken up about it. Just how long had this been going on for anyway? He'd known it had been happening for a while, but… On impulse he stepped forwards and enveloped her in a hug. She accepted the embrace and leaned into him.

They stood in silence for a few moments, until Kakashi felt it was time to speak. "Will you let me help you?" Sakura was silent. He sighed. "It's ok, I won't do anything to him. Just let me keep him away from you for a while. But if he won't take the hint…"

"I understand. If he doesn't stop I'll take it to Tsunade-Sama, I promise."

He was still holding her. Neither of them showed any sign of wishing to let go. He leaned forward and through the mask gave her a chaste kiss on her forehead then reluctantly stepped away, "I'll see you tomorrow."

As she nodded he said, "look after yourself, Sakura," then poofed out.

Sakura shakily raised a hand to her head. She still felt warm from the embrace… "He kissed me…"

She spent the rest of the evening in a daze. She forgot about the window.

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Once again Kakashi found himself knocking on the door of one Maito Gai.

Eventually, Gai opened up. "Well, if it isn't my eternal rival. Do come in."

Kakashi followed Gai to the lounge, almost tempted to pull his forehead protector over BOTH eyes. The green-ness of this house never failed to turn his stomach.

Lee, who was in the lounge, stood up. "Good evening Kakashi-Sensei."

"Good evening Lee-san," Kakashi was annoyed to see the youth there. He turned to Gai. "You already have company, maybe I should leave."

Amazingly, Gai picked up on the fact that Kakashi wanted to talk to him without the presence of his protégé. "No, it's ok. Lee, would you mind? I have something of burning importance to discuss with Kakashi-Sensei."

Lee nodded, bowed, and turned to leave. "Goodnight Gai-Sensei, Kakashi-Sensei."

"Goodnight Lee," the two men intoned as the green clone left.

Gai turned to Kakashi once he was sure Lee was gone. "Let me guess, this is about the bet."

Kakashi sighed. "Well, actually, no. Have you spoken to Lee about his behavior regarding Sakura?"

Gai sighed. "I did try to speak to him, but alas, he is delusional and seems to think it is all some kind of test to see if he is worthy of securing the cherry blossom's hand."

Kakashi's one visible eye narrowed. He had half expected that. "I see. Did you know that he actually grabbed hold of her when she turned him down yesterday?"

"No way! He would never attempt to force himself upon her!"

"I saw it with my own eyes. Sakura was really shaken up. I don't think she ever expected him to become… physical."

Gai slumped. "So I expect we are taking it to the Hokage then."

Kakashi sighed, "Actually we aren't yet, she is still reluctant, soI shall be trying to… dissuade him myself."

"Really? And how are you going to do that?"

"Not by doing anything harmful, I can assure you." 'not yet anyway' he silently added.

"Hmm. I, too will keep an eye on Lee and if necessary attempt to dampen his burning youthful desire towards the beautiful flower that is not for him."

"Thank you Gai. Though you should be aware… if he becomes too persistent…"

Gai sighed again. "I understand. Although the shame is great, if it continues I shall take the matter to the Hokage myself. After all, he is my protégé, so the fault is partially mine."

"As long as we understand each other..." Kakashi tailed off and turned to leave.

Gai stood for a moment as Kakashi left, then appeared to come to some kind of resolution. He grabbed something and chased his rival into the street. "Wait, I want you to have this." He pressed a folded piece of paperinto the Jounin's hand. "In the circumstances it is not the honorable path," he muttered before he returned to his house and closed the door.

Kakashi was surprised and a little confused. That was almost out of character for Gai. He opened his palm to reveal a crumpled piece of paper. He smoothed it open and his jaw dropped in amazement at the fact that his rival had, in effect, let him off the hook.

It was Gai's copy of the bet.

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Later that night, Lee was sitting outside his one true love's apartment, pondering her beauteous perfection when he noticed that her kitchen window had been left open. He thought that he'd made sure that no one was looking and was making to jump up and let himself in when...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Lee spun around. Approaching him was Kakashi.

Kakashi continued, "I don't know why you are stalking Sakura, but I'm not going to let you break into her apartment to do who knows what. You know she doesn't like you that way. What part of 'Not Interested' don't you understand?"

"But she must have left that window open for me!" Lee paused and narrowed his eyes, "This is all part of your little test isn't it?"

"This is not a test. Just stay away from her or the Hokage will get to hear about this, and I can guarantee you, she will not be happy." He spoke with deceptive calm, "But that is nothing compared to what I will do if you don't stop this." Kakashi omitted to mention that Sakura was still reluctant to deal with the nuisance as the Fuzzy-Eyebrowed menace might just take it as encouragement.

Lee said nothing. He stepped away, bowed and left. The stakes of the game had just been raised; he would have to be more careful if he wanted to claim Sakura for his own.

He wondered why she resisted so, when it was fate, written into the stars themselves that they would be together.

Still, it did not matter, she would come around eventually. Soon she would be his.

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Kakashi watched the green-clad idiot retreat from the scene with thinly veiled disgust, and a little concern.Just how delusional was he? What on earth could have happened to make him act like this? How come no one had noticed before now? The whole village had known that the boy had a crush on Sakura, but this behavior was way beyond that of an innocent crush. He believed that there was currently no chance that Lee would be dissuaded so easily, but out of respect for Sakura's wishes he would at least try.

Still, if he became too much of a bother…

As Kakashi pondered below her apartment, a groggy Sakura wandered into the kitchen to get a drink, wondering what it was that had awoken her. She was suddenly wide awake as she noticed she had left the window open.

"Shit!" she cursed to herself as she hurried to close it. Anyone could have got in. She would have to be more careful.

Kakashi heard the exclamation and noted the window closing with a sigh of relief. The thought of what could have happened left the masked man cold. It was not a feeling that he liked very much at all.

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For the next several days, Kakashi was good on his word. Every time Lee tried to approach Sakura he would instantly appear at her side, thus putting the bowl-cut maniac off.

Of course, even though Gai had also tried to again dissuade his clone, Lee was still convinced that this was a test of worthiness, so he took this as part of that test. Lee had taken time to observe Kakashi and Sakura, and he did not like what he saw. They seemed to be getting awfully close, those two.

Still, it must be part of the test… no other explanation would suffice to his deluded mind. So, biting down his frustration at not being able to get close to his beautiful flower, he continued to watch, waiting for the opportunity to speak to her again.

Of course, Lee was not the only one to notice that Sakura and Kakashi seemed to be spending a lot of time together. Naruto and Sasuke were becoming concerned.

You see, Sakura had never told either of her teammates that Lee was becoming such a big problem as they could be quite overprotective at times. Of course they had, on occasion, seen the green-clad boy approach her, but she had always dismissed any concerns Sasuke and Naruto might have had.

She knew that if they grasped the real problem, Naruto would go off half cocked and try to beat Lee to a pulp, then Sasuke would probably go in to finish the job Naruto started. It would have been a total mess that Sakura wanted to avoid, so although the boys suspected that something was up, they had remained, essentially, in the dark.

During the weekly meeting of team 7, the boys had been giving both Sakura and Kakashi funny looks. Sakura was like a sister to them, and they were naturally worried that "Ero-Sensei" was up to something perverted.

At the end of the meeting, Naruto and Sasuke watched Kakashi and Sakura leave together, just as they had arrived together, and he had only been 20 minutes late!

"Ne, Sasuke, What do you think is going on there."

"I don't know, but I don't think I like it." Sasuke was to the point.

"Maybe we should follow them." Naruto suggested, "Just to see that she is alright."

"Sounds like an idea," Sasuke agreed, "but can we start tomorrow? I have something on tonight."

"Why Sasuke, you sly dog!" Naruto couldn't resist needling his friend, "Who is it? Who is it?"

"None of your business, Dobe.."

"Ah, come on Sasuke, tell me!" Naruto continued to pester Sasuke all the way back, completely forgetting about following Sakura and Kakashi that evening.

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The next evening, Kakashi greeted Sakura as she left the medical complex to walk home. "Yo, Sakura," he called out as she approached him.

"Hi Kakashi," she was genuinely pleased to see him. She looked around nervously. "Is he about?"

"Actually I came to let you know that he's out of town with Gai for a week."

"Oh." She looked quite disappointed. If Lee wasn't in town then there would be no need for Kakashi to show up and she enjoyed him being around, even though they'd never got as… close… as they had when he'd come to see her that evening. She decided to take a chance. "Would you like to come over for a while anyway?"

He had a silent war with himself. On one hand part of him was telling him yes, go for it. The other side was telling him that perhaps it was not such a good idea. The attraction he felt was becoming stronger the more time he spent with her, but she was vulnerable at the moment and it would not be right to take advantage.

As if sensing his reluctance she added, "Please?"

He found that he really did not want to see her disappointed face. Besides, he did enjoy spending time with her. "Sure, I'll come." His visible eye turned up in a smile. She took his arm and they walked companionably down the street.

Of course, even though Lee was out of town, someone was still watching the movements of the two as they walked, and the watchers were, of course, the other members of team seven.

"Damn, Ero-Sensei IS up to something!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Dobe, let's just follow them," Sasuke replied, to the point as usual, as they moved off in hot pursuit.

After a while Sakura just had to comment. "I wonder how long they are going to follow us for?" she said in amusement tinged with exasperation. She had noticed Naruto and Sasuke almost as soon as they had left the medical center.

"Maa, I don't know. They've been following me around all day." He sounded amused. "Shall we lose them?"

"Sure!" She enthusiastically agreed. With that the two ninjas took to the rooftops, laughing and racing ahead, far more relaxed than they had been for quite some time.

Eventually, having lost pursuit, they ended up at the top of the Hokage monument. They could see trails of destruction heading through the village as their pursuers chased clones of the fleeing couple, and they heard the "EEEHHHH!" that was obviously Naruto as the clones finally dissipated in front of him.

"Ah, that was fun." Sakura was breathless. She had a light blush from the exertion she had just undertaken and her hair was slightly mussed.

"I agree, I'm sure I haven't laughed so much in years." He thought for a moment then said, "I'm sorry. I should have stopped them before I came to meet you."

"It's OK, you know they probably wouldn't have stopped even if you asked them nicely!" She smiled as she peered out over the edge of the monument. "I wonder if they'll find us up here. I swear they are acting as if they are still twelve."

"They are just worried about you, you know." He paused, then said with amusement tinged resignation, "I don't think they trust me."

Sakura looked deeply into Kakashi's one exposed eye. "I trust you." She said simply.

"Sakura?" He wasn't quite sure what to say.

She started towards him, then stopped and dropped her gaze away. "I… I…" She couldn't seem to get the words out. Suddenly she threw herself at him with a glomp worthy of her Sasuke-chasing days. She was about to let go, when she felt two strong arms wrap around her.

"Sakura," he whispered. The strength of feeling in the air was almost palpable. Then he suddenly let go and stepped away.

Sakura was confused. "Kakashi?"

"I'm sorry Sakura."

"What for?"

"I won't take advantage of you."

"But, but…" she didn't get chance to finish. He poofed out.

Sakura stood there slack jawed for a moment wondering what had just happened, but quickly recovered.

Knowing that he would not have gone far, she tried to call him back. "Hatake Kakashi, I know you can hear me. Come back out here so I can talk to you." She waited, perhaps understanding why he had gone, but annoyed that he had not given her a chance to talk.

Kakashi stayed hidden in his tree, cursing himself for getting too close. He pulled out his latest book and decided to follow her home when she left, just to be sure she was safe.

Sakura couldn't help herself. She had tried to be strong, but everything that had been building up suddenly came crashing down on her. She sank to the ground and buried her face between her hands, trying her hardest not to cry. She stayed there alone for a while, until eventually she left and went home, her heart in tatters.

This tested Kakashi's resolve to the very limit. She was hurting now and it tore him apart to see it, but if he became a crutch for her problems with Lee then he was sure things would be worse in the long run.

Sometimes it seemed the sensible path was the hardest one to take.

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Author's Notes

So, it would seem that the bet is out of the picture, right? Hehe, you think:-P

I'll also say that from here on in the fic got a helluva lot harder to write. I rewrote chapters 2 or 3 times and I'm just hoping that it doesn't suck too badly. (My authors notes in the Prologue should have made my feelings on it clear :-P )

Thanks to -

May - I also like reading KakaIru fics - but I know what you mean about KxS seeming more realistic - after all, it's not as if Kakashi and Iruka had that much interaction in the series (and somehow I don't think those books Kakashi reads are gay porn. XD) Still fun to read though. Also I don't want to end up posting up this story too quickly, so It's going to be a new chapter every few days until it's all out, and I'll look forward to reading your Naruto fic if/when you post it.

"Me" - I haven't read the Kakashi Gaiden - I've picked up bits about it here and there, but I'm holding out for it to be animated. (probably be waiting a long time with all the filler going on...) (Does anyone else want to slap Sakura silly when she starts whining about Sasuke every few minutes?)

Freakenout - I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be writing a lemon for this. If I change my mind I'll let you know.

Also thanks to December Jewel, Ruka-Kun, Black-Aria, Zezura, FireDemonKitsune84, Awreel, White Crow and Hao'sAnjul.Without all the positive responses I would probably never have got this far with posting the fic. I never got so many reviews when I was writing a chaptered fic for Sailor Moon (which I never finished) and I had 11 chapters for that (and probably about 8 reviews) when I deleted it.

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