Welcome back to the 2nd chapter in my "alternate one shot."
Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto – Characters may be OOC – Rated for some bad words and Adult Situations. I don't think it's too bad, but it might be towards the high end of PG-13 (T). If anyone thinks I should up the rating at any time, let me know and I'll raise it!
Pairing: Kakashi x Sakura. Small note - I apologize if it's not totally clear to everyone reading, but Sakura is grown up in this story. I would say that Sakura is about 19 which would make Kakashi about 33. I don't go for all that loli stuff.
This story was written for the hell of it, and was a lot more fun and easier to write than the original "It Started with a Bet?" XD
Thanks to TDotShia who read the whole thing over and pointed out a few things that needed to be fixed up. Also this story only exists because of something she said to me in regard to the original story over MSN one day - so blame her :-P
xo xo xo xo xo xo xo
Chapter 2 – The Date.
The next evening, Sakura waited for Kakashi to arrive. She knew it was odds on that her 'date' would be late, but she hoped that he wouldn't be too late. She didn't want to waste half the evening waiting on the eternally tardy man.
She had decided to put her plan into action. She was wearing a figure hugging black dress that left little to the imagination, whilst not looking slutty. She wore a pair of strappy sandals with a small heel and she finished the ensemble off with a pair of small gold earrings with a matching necklace and a small black purse. Her pink hair cascaded down her back, and she had sprayed herself with her favorite perfume.
Her mission, should she choose to accept it, was to get under the skin (and mask) of one Hatake Kakashi, this being the best chance she would ever have at getting close to the normally unflappable ninja. Of course, she had wanted him to make an effort for this 'date,' which is why she had come up with the idea of asking him to do something after the date was over. There had been just a little misdirection in that request, and she hoped that he'd bought her act.
Eventually, the masked man knocked on the door only 15 minutes late! It would also appear as if he had made an effort, at least having turned up not in uniform, which was a miracle in itself. Sakura had wondered if he had even owned any other clothes. He was dressed all in black though, and he had ditched the forehead protector in favor of a simple black eye-patch.
"Yo," he said in his usual nonchalant manner as Sakura appeared, "you look nice." That was what he said anyway, what he was thinking was more along the lines of 'wow, she looks fantastic!'
"You don't look so bad yourself," she replied. "I must admit that I half expected you to turn up in uniform."
"Well, I said I wanted to show Gai how it should be done, and if I turned up in my usual attire he wouldn't learn anything." Kakashi offered his arm, Sakura took it and they left her apartment together.
Sakura had to ask, "Speaking of Gai-Sensei, how did he take the news?"
Kakashi looked embarrassed, "Actually, I forgot to tell him."
"What?" Sakura was incredulous, "you know that if he doesn't see us for himself he'll say we are making it up…"
"I wouldn't worry, I'm sure we'll run into him before the evening is over."
Sakura sighed, "You're probably right. He's probably out looking for me right now. I have no idea how I managed to avoid him all day."
Kakashi knew though. He'd been tailing Gai for most of the day and distracting him whenever he got too close to Sakura.
Of course, that was the cue for said moronic green idiot to turn up.
"Ah, there you are Sakura, I've been looking for you," Gai started, then he stopped dead. "What's going on here?" he asked.
"I'm sorry Gai-Sensei, but before you ask, I can't go out with you. I'm on a date with Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.
"Sakura, I think you can drop the sensei part now. It's not exactly appropriate in the circumstances." Kakashi was amused.
"Ah, yes Kakashi, sorry." Sakura blushed.
"A… a date? You actually got her to go on a date with you?" Gai was incredulous.
"Is that so strange?" Kakashi smirked at Gai.
Before Gai could reply, there was a shout of "Gai-Sensei!" and Lee bounded up. At the sight of the green clone, Kakashi's visible eye bugged out, and Sakura turned almost as green as the attire of the two in front of her. You see, Lee had made good on his idea of investing in a 'box'(1) but he had chosen one that made him look like some kind of deformed, perverted ballet dancer, especially when coupled with that green spandex. Kakashi couldn't suppress a snigger, which brought Lee's attention to them.
"What is going on here?" Lee asked.
"They are going on a date," Gai had tears running down his face, "Ah, the shame! Bested by my eternal rival again!"
"A date? The beautiful Sakura-chan is on a date with someone other than me?" It was too much for Lee, he started crying too, and the green pair embraced as they turned into a blubbering mess in the middle of the street.
"Ah, whatever," Sakura said as she sweatdropped. She nudged Kakashi and they quietly left the green blunders to their misery.
"You know, they'll probably watch us for the rest of the evening?" Kakashi said.
"I suppose we'd better give them a show to remember then," Sakura laughed.
They reached the quiet restaurant that Kakashi had chosen, and they were given a seat near the window. They ordered and made small talk until the food arrived.
Watching the food disappear from Kakashi's plate, Sakura was really curious. "So how is it that you can eat and not take off your mask?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me," Sakura really wanted to know.
Kakashi considered for a moment, then decided to tell her. If she didn't believe him, then tough.
"Back in my youth I met a wandering martial artist and he taught me the basics of Martial Arts Dining.(2) The point of the style is to eat as much as you can without anyone seeing the food entering your mouth, I just had to take it to the next level to be able to do it whilst wearing a mask, which took a lot of practice. Of course I could never use the full style as the main practitioners of that particular art all have huge mouths, I suppose it's their version of a bloodline limit, but with normal sized portions it's enough to get me by."
Sakura wasn't convinced. "That's ridiculous," she said, "Who ever heard of Martial Arts Dining?"
Kakashi sighed. He should have known that she wouldn't believe him. "Well, at least it's not as bad as Martial Arts Tea Ceremony." He said with a chuckle. "There is another part to the style of Martial Arts Dining called the Gourmet du fois gras, where you feed your opponent without them noticing. Did you never wonder why when you were on all those diets back in your Genin days, you never lost weight? It was because I couldn't see the team weakened on missions by a member that was starving themselves and I used that style to ensure your strength."
Sakura sat there, her eyes widening in realization. "You did that?" she looked shocked.
"I did what I had to, to ensure the safety of the team." He replied, "But for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I should have talked to you about it instead."
"That's ok, I'm actually rather impressed, but how come the owners of Ichiraku Ramen managed to see your face when we bought you ramen back then?"
"Ah, well, I had just got out of the hospital and I was having an off day…"
"Hmm, that's understandable I suppose. So can you show me the second technique now?"
"What? The Gourmet du fois gras?" You want me to feed you?"
"Sure. No one is going to notice if what you said is true." Sakura waited a few moments. "Well?" she asked.
"You didn't even notice." Kakashi said with a smirk.
Sakura looked at his plate. Yes, it was a little emptier, and if she thought about it she could just catch the lingering taste of the food. "Wow, that IS good," she said, then she stopped as she realized that he had probably fed her using HIS fork. That meant it was like an indirect kiss. She blushed at that thought.
Kakashi had just eaten another forkful, when he noticed Sakura blushing. "Huh?" he said, then looked at the fork and said "Oh…"
There was a pregnant silence for a few moments, which was suddenly broken by a ruckus from outside.
"Heh, looks like we've attracted another 2 people for our audience tonight," Kakashi said gesturing to the window. He waved cheerily to Naruto and Sasuke who were bug eyed at seeing the couple inside. Naruto suddenly got even more bug eyed when he saw Lee, and collapsed to the floor, howling with laughter and pointing at the green clad young man's 'Box.' Sasuke just scowled and looked like he was doing his best not to throw up.
Sakura laughed, "The way things are going, by the time this date is over we'll have every ninja in the village following us."
"So, do you still want to put on a show for them?"
"Sure, sounds like fun." Sakura was happy, if they were going to continue to put on a show, then she would make sure it was a good one… and maybe, just maybe, it would make her own plan somewhat easier.
They finished their meal, occasionally watching the antics of the idiots outside with relative amusement, then moved on.
As they walked through the streets the small group behind them kept a respectful distance, but by the time they got to their next destination, a small nightclub, it had grown, adding Ino, Shikamaru and to Naruto's delight, Hinata to the ranks. They could just about hear Shikamaru saying that this was troublesome (it didn't stop him from tagging along though,) and Ino was berating Lee over his choice of… apparel. Hinata could be heard to say that she thought the couple in front of them looked cute, which earned her some strange looks and caused her to hide behind Naruto.
The couple slipped into the nightclub, Kakashi ordered drinks for them and they took a couple of seats in an out of the way booth. They were both amused at the antics of the so-called 'peanut gallery,' watching as the group moved though the club looking for them. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes, muttered "troublesome" and gestured straight towards them. Then the group squeezed around a table on the opposite side of the club.
Sakura couldn't help but laugh, "That lot are supposed to be elite ninjas, but they couldn't be more obvious if they tried."
"I can't decide if they are being nosey or whether they are just concerned about you," Kakashi replied.
"It's probably a bit of both," Sakura smiled, "But I'm a big girl now, I can look after myself."
"Yeah, no kidding," the masked man muttered, remembering what she had done to Gai the day before.
Sakura had been looking at the couples on the dance floor for a while, and noting that a slow song had just come on, she had an idea. "Hey, we don't want to hide in here all night, how about we go out there?" She gestured towards the dancers.
"Why not," Kakashi said and he led Sakura on to the floor. The couple noted with amusement the reactions of their audience as they danced close together. Sakura put her head on Kakashi's shoulder. She was enjoying this more than she thought she would.
Kakashi was also enjoying the close contact. He could smell the clean scent of Sakura's hair mingled with her perfume, which was wonderful. It had been a long time since he had been so close to a real woman, let alone one as attractive as the pink haired girl in his arms, and it was having quite an effect on him, especially in a certain area that was beyond his control. He knew it was inevitable that Sakura would notice, seeing as they were so close together, and he just hoped that she wouldn't get upset…"
Suddenly Sakura looked up in shock. What was that she had just felt?
Kakashi looked embarrassed, "Ah, sorry…" he apologized.
Sakura blushed and caught her breath as she realized exactly what it was she was feeling, "Um… it's ok. I'm quite flattered actually." She put her head back on his shoulder, not trusting herself to say anything else. Inside she was congratulating herself on a job well done. It seemed that her little game may just be paying off.
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that she would slap him, call him a pervert and storm off. It seemed that she really had grown up, a fact that a certain part of his anatomy seemed only too aware of.
Back at the peanut gallery, they had seen Sakura look up in shock, and they too had been convinced that she would slap the masked man, even if they didn't know the reason. When all she did was blush and go back to her previous position, Lee decided to take action. Followed by catcalls from the group, (which had now swelled by 3 more, those being Chouji and Kiba with Akamaru,) Lee walked out onto the dance floor. Kakashi groaned as he noticed the younger bowl-cut idiot's approach.
Sakura noted Kakashi's groan, and wondered what was wrong. She didn't have to wait long for her answer.
"Sakura, please may I have this dance?" Lee asked.
"Get lost Lee-san," Sakura wasn't in the mood to deal with him now, she was enjoying her dance with Kakashi too much.
"But Sakura…" Lee began, only to be cut off by the masked man.
"You heard the lady. Get lost," Kakashi interjected.
Lee wasn't finished yet. "You do know that he is only going out with you for a bet?"
"Yes Lee-san," Sakura replied with amusement, "Kakashi told me about it. Now piss off before I do something you'll regret."
Knowing that he would not get any further, Lee made his way back to the rest of the group. "She already knew about the bet!" Lee said to Gai, "Kakashi-Sensei told her."
Gai stood up, "That is not an honorable way to go about winning a bet!" he shouted.
Shikamaru spoke up, "Did you specify that he couldn't tell her?"
"Well, no…"
He shrugged, "Seems to me that he's in the clear then."
"But it's not honorable…"
"Is it any less honorable than making a bet like that in the first place? And besides, Lee just tried to interfere by telling Sakura himself." the lazy ninja pointed out.
"I suppose you have a point." Gai was crestfallen, knowing that he had truly lost.
"Ano," Hinata almost whispered, "It may have started off being about a bet, but I'd say they look far too comfortable together for that to be an issue anymore."
"What!" Naruto sat up, "No way…" He made to get up, only to be stopped by Sasuke.
"Listen moron, you remember why Lee-san is wearing that… thing?" Sasuke was referring, of course, to the monstrosity of a 'box' that Lee was sporting.
"Ah, yeah. Sakura-chan kicked Gai-Sensei where it hurts the most…"
"Well if you go out there and disturb her and she takes exception to it, do you want that to happen to you?" All the males at the table, with the exception of Lee, automatically covered their 'family jewels' and winced at the thought, especially Gai, who had been on the receiving end the first time.
Naruto settled down again. "Ah, I get your point," he said, "I think I'll leave them to it…"
"I've got an idea," Said Ino. She lined up, waited for a moment until she had a clear shot and made the appropriate seals "Shintenshin no Jutsu" she muttered, and slumped onto the table, only to find herself pushed back almost straight away. She sat up straight and looked at the couple on the dance floor in shock, with a deep blush on her face.
The whole table wanted to know what had caused Ino to come back so suddenly and blush like that, but she was absolutely mortified, and wouldn't tell them anything. She did lean over and whisper something to Hinata, who gave an "EEP!" and blushed even redder than Ino, if that was possible. She also refused to tell any of the men at the table anything, being far too embarrassed to say such a thing.
Out on the dance floor, Kakashi had noticed Sakura slump for a moment. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, concerned.
Sakura glanced across at the table where their audience was sitting. She caught Ino's eye just as she looked away in embarrassment. "No, I'm fine, but I think that Ino might have got a little more than she bargained for."
Kakashi looked across. "Ah," he said in understanding. He knew all about the Yamanaka's little trick, and figured immediately that must be what Ino had used.
"I tell you what," Sakura said, "Let's get out of here and go for a walk. It's getting a little… crowded, if you know what I mean."
Kakashi readily agreed, and they left the club, tailed by the nosey ninja squad.
They walked around the town and out towards the bridge, Kakashi with his arm around Sakura, something she did not object to. They noted with amusement that someone else had added himself to the group, that being, strangely enough, Ebisu. They could hear the prudish ninja telling Lee off for his immodest state of dress, and asking the group what the hell they were doing. When they told him, he decided to tag along, 'for the sake of keeping an eye on the morals of those involved' being his excuse.
Ibiki had also passed by, but he thought that the group were being moronic, so he left them to it.
The couple stood on the bridge for a while, listening to the antics of the idiot squad behind them with amusement.
Eventually, they decided that enough was enough and headed back towards Sakura's apartment. "Did you have a good time?" Kakashi asked.
"Yes," Sakura replied happily, "It was certainly interesting though." She glanced back at the group of Ninjas that were still following them.
"It certainly was an unusual date, but I'm glad you enjoyed it." Kakashi said amused. "Of course, if you would like a more normal date without the audience…"
"That would be nice," Sakura replied with a smile.
They reached the entrance to Sakura's apartment block. "Well, I suppose I'd better leave you now," Kakashi said. He couldn't keep a small trace of regret out of his voice.
"No, come in for a while," Sakura said.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"Look, we wanted to put on a show for the peanut gallery over there," Sakura gestured to the Nosey Ninjas who were trying to make themselves inconspicuous, but partially owing to the large number of them, they were failing dreadfully, "and if you come in now it'll really mess with their heads." She knew he wasn't convinced, but she wasn't about to let him go now. "I want to talk to you for a moment in private anyway."
Sakura took his hand and Kakashi shrugged and let her lead him into her apartment. Almost as soon as the door was closed, the inevitable ruckus started up outside. They grinned as they could hear several calls of "YEAH GO FOR IT!" coupled with, "NOOOO!" (from Lee,) "That is immoral!" (from Ebisu, who was called down for being a prude by the 'yeah go for it' faction,) and Gai was blubbering about his eternal rival having more than won the bet.
Sasuke cut through all the nonsense when he said, "Che, he's only gone in to wind us up. He'll probably come out again before long."
"Do you really think so, Sasuke-kun?" Chouji said in between mouthfuls of popcorn.
"I'm sure, those two have been playing it up for us all evening. Let's face it, we haven't exactly been subtle about following them."
The group collectively thought about it, and decided that considering Sakura had known about the bet, coupled with the fact that they had been extremely obvious, Sasuke probably had a point. They settled down to wait for Kakashi to come out again so they could take the piss out of him. Well, except for Ino and Hinata. They knew what had happened at the nightclub, and they guessed that the group might be in for a long wait.
"I think we'll head off," Ino said, "it's late and we girls need our beauty sleep."
Not one single shinobi dared to even mutter anything in reply to that as Ino and Hinata left. It would have been more than their life was worth!
Kiba and Naruto then left and returned with a crate of strong beer, much to the appreciation of the rest of the group. If they were going to have to wait, then they might as well enjoy themselves doing it. Ebisu said that it wouldn't be a good idea, but when everyone, including Gai, ignored him, he shrugged and joined in anyway after having had a can shoved into his hand. The only person not allowed to drink was Lee. Everyone knew how he got when he had even a small amount to drink and, as amusing as it could have been, the last thing anyone wanted was for him to go and break down Sakura's door in a jealous fit.
Lee would get annoyed later on though, when Kiba, Naruto and Sasuke started using his 'box' for target practice using stones. Of course, with them being drunk their aim wasn't so good, so he sported quite a few bruises once they got tired of the game, which took quite a long time. Gai had refused to intervene, muttering something about it being good training.
There was also a mini riot involving Chouji as someone tried to steal his last box of popcorn. At this point a couple of Sakura's neighbors had popped their heads out of their windows and yelled at the group to be quiet, which had calmed them down for a short while.
As it turned out, the idiot brigade would end up staying there all night, and getting through several more crates of beer. Then just as they were nursing their hangovers and thinking about going home to sleep, someone remarked that it was past time that they should be in mission control, so with much grumbling and groaning, they shambled over there in complete disarray in search of coffee… (and bandages for Lee)
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As the noise from outside died down, Sakura went through her apartment and closed all the curtains, hoping that the group outside would leave soon so they wouldn't disturb the neighbors too much. She turned to the masked man. "Coffee?" She asked.
"Sure," he replied as he sat down. Sakura left to make the coffee, and after a few minutes returned with the steaming beverages. She sat next to Kakashi.
"So what was it you wanted to talk to me in private about?" he asked.
She turned towards him, "Remember I said that I wanted to ask you to do something after the date was over?" she asked in return.
Kakashi was confused, "I thought you would only ask me that if it didn't go well tonight."
Sakura blushed, "Actually, I never said that. All I said was that it depended on how the date went. I didn't specify good or bad."
Kakashi thought back to what Sakura had said the previous day and realized that he'd been outwitted. He'd forgotten she was that smart. Well, he supposed that he could always blame it on alcohol clouding his judgment so he needn't feel too bad about it. "Damn, you got me," he smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head, "So what do you want me to do?" He really hoped that it wouldn't be anything too bad.
Sakura paused for a few moments looking at anything except Kakashi, raising her courage. Suddenly, she caught his eye with her own and said, "I want you to let me take your mask off." Originally she was going to ask him to remove it himself, but after the events of the evening, she was feeling a little bolder. Besides, if she let him take it off he would probably find some way to stop her seeing his face.
"Does it have to be that?" He asked, knowing that he should have expected something along those lines.
Sakura sighed, "Fine, I won't hold you to it. It wasn't very fair of me to trick you like that anyway."
Kakashi thought about it for a moment, then came to a decision, "No, we made a deal and you won fair and square. You can take it off if you want." He smiled to encourage her.
Sakura blushed and moved herself into a better position for the task. Strangely enough, this involved straddling Kakashi's lap, and putting one hand on his shoulder to steady herself. Maybe she wanted to make sure that he couldn't get away, maybe it was something else, but she didn't feel too forward for doing such a thing.
Kakashi suppressed a groan. It was happening again. She was so close to him and in a far more provocative position than before. He forced himself to remain focused on the matter in hand as Sakura reached up to the thin material covering his face.
"Are you sure you want to let me do this?" Sakura asked as she hooked her fingers under the edge of his mask. In response, he reached up and helped her pull the offending covering down.
Sakura looked at his exposed face in awe. "Damn," she whispered. She couldn't stop herself. She leaned forward and kissed him.
Kakashi's arms went around her as he automatically kissed her back. His tongue sought entrance to her mouth, and she let him in. They kissed like this for quite a while, but eventually they had to come up for air.
"Wow," Sakura panted. She was feeling tingly all over. "Can we do that again?"
"Sakura," Kakashi was nearing the end of his control, but decided to leave the decision of what happened next to the pink haired woman straddling him, "if we do that again I'm going to end up doing a lot more than just kissing you."
Sakura looked at Kakashi, blushed as she realized the position they were in and the implications of what he had just said, then shrugged and kissed him again anyway.
The group outside were completely forgotten, and the coffee cooled with nobody to drink it.
xo xo xo xo xo xo xo
Authors Notes
(1)"Box" – See notes in chapter 1
(2)"Martial Arts Dining," "Martial Arts Tea Ceremony" and "Gourmet du fois gras" are taken from Ranma ½. I just thought it would be amusing to explain how Kakashi eats using the Dining technique. I got the relevant DVD out and re-watched those 2 eps of Ranma (at double speed) to make sure I got it at least somewhere near right, if altered slightly to fit circumstances. Oh, BTW – I don't own Ranma either!
Thanks to -
Freakenout - my first review for this story. I'm glad you liked it. I was beginning to think that no one was going to read/review at all. Of course I was still going to post it all even if nobody reviewed, but you made me feel better about it. XD
sweatthangpaige - I hope I answered your question at the top of the chapter. :-)
BBKarateGrl - I thought I'd better make sure that everyone knew what I was on about, as I will sometimes use British slang words when I'm talking to my American and Canadian freinds over MSN and they'll have no clue what I mean. I'm glad you are enjoying it, even though, I agree, the first part is kinda boring and repetetive. Can't be helped tho ;-)
Also thanks to -
Sakurachild, PRoyalAngel, Active-Heart, Ragingslayer, Qingy, Amwong and Eralda.
And once again, thanks to everyone who is still reviewing the original "It Started with a Bet?" - especially BrittRasetra who got the 100th review. In regard to that story, the 2nd epilogue is probably not going to work out. I've started to write it 4 different ways so far, and it just doesn't seem to want to work. If it ever does work, I'll post it up, but don't hold your breath! I quite like the way it ends anyway, and adding to it might spoil it.
Stay tuned for the third and final part of this alternate story, "The Aftermath," in a few days.