Well the last chapter wasn't as great but I hope this one makes you guys happy. Thanks for reviewing. You guys rock!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
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The next morning Sakura quietly knocked on Kakashi's door, every pore of her body radiating tension. Knocking softly she waited patiently for him to open the door. She waited a moment before knocking again, this time louder.
When he still didn't answer she started banging on it. "Kakashi! Open this door before I bust it down!" It was then that she remembered that the door was kept unlocked. She ducked inside quickly to avoid the curious stares passerbys were giving her.
'Way to draw attention to yourself baka' She didn't want to go back out again. What if they all jumped to the conclusion that they were going out or something. What if they thought they were secret lovers!
She calmed a bit when she noticed that no one was in the room. 'That's strange' She figured she must've made enough of a commotion to wake even Naruto up. "Kakashi?"
Well if he wasn't out here and the only room she hadn't checked was his bedroom… she gulped. 'Maybe I should just let him sleep the day away. He does need his energy after all…' /Oh please. What happens when he wakes up and you're not there/ She pictured Kakashi going out and robbing the bookstore and sweat dropped.
She was just outside of his door. 'I guess I should stay.' She put her hand on the knob. 'It'd be the right thing to do.' Bracing herself, as quietly as she could she opened the door to find….
"He's not here!"
Fuming to herself she decided how she was going to hurt Kakashi.
/I could break his legs/
'But he'd need those during a mission.'
/What about his arms/
'Wait need those too.
Finally she settled for just setting his hair on fire. She contemplated setting his pants on fire but that wouldn't leave quite a lasting impression.
His room was just as unadorned and clean as the rest of his house. It consisted of a small shelf with books. Half of it filled with familiar bright covers and others with various ninja guides to jutsus and chakra control.
His bed sheets were white as well as his pillow and had black covers. It was a queen sized bed which was about the size of hers. His walls were a grey color and the carpet was brown.
The only other things in his room were a drawer and a desk. Either he didn't have enough money to go shopping or he was just too lazy. She decided it was the latter. On top of the drawer were two pictures. One of team 7 and another of a pretty auburn-haired girl, a raven haired guy that resembled Sasuke, the fourth hokage and Kakashi.
They were all smiling except for Kakashi who looked like he could care less. 'Who would've thought Kakashi would be the delinquent in the group.
"Hmm. If I were Kakashi where would I be..?" A memory of her genin years came back to her of when she had followed Kakashi to the memorial stone. Of course! She'd seen him come and go from there a multitude of time when she'd been training.
When she was younger she hadn't understood why the stone had been so important to him. She knew his comrades had been killed in action but she couldn't comprehend why someone would just stare at a rock for hours.
Even into her chuunin years it remained a mystery to her. She could understand going to visit them once in a while or honoring them for a few minutes even for an hour. But to just stand and stare wouldn't change anything. It couldn't bring them back.
It wasn't until just before she became a jounin that she realized why people stood there for hours on end. Why they wouldn't go home even when it started to pour.
It was more than just a name. It was more than a memory. It was regret, sorrow, memories, love, compassion and repentance.
She'd finally experienced it during the war. Everyday someone died. There was so much blood, death and hatred. All because of one man's lust for power. She had felt so helpless, so insignificant.
People died left and right and she could only watch unable to save them. Those that she'd known forever and those she'd only known for a few hours. All of them she missed. She had made it a ritual to come to the memorial at least twice a week.
So many names had been added to it after Orochimaru had died. True he had not succeeded in gaining ultimate power but he had succeeded in destroying Konohagakure both spiritually and physically.
For nearly two years Konoha had been a sad and mourning city. Buildings were demolished, loved ones were gone and no one smiled. Not surprisingly it was Naruto who had gotten everyone back on their feets. He had caused a scene in front of the Tsunade's office yelling at everyone to get back into shape because sound was probably going to want revenge.
That had brought everyone out of their stupor. It wasn't as if the thought hadn't occurred to them but having someone shove it in your face was more moving she supposed.
As the saying goes when you hit rock bottom there's no place to go but up. She was lucky her parents had lived but just barely. They each had sustained vital wounds and had been out of commission for months.
But now they were barely home trying to make up for it. Not that they were home before but now she'd be lucky to see them once a week and even then it wouldn't be for long. She pushed back the empty feeling of loneliness as it tried to force its way through her barriers.
She'd become quite adapt to pushing feelings away. But it would only come back later stronger and faster and she'd burst and take out her emotions on the closest person to her. Hopefully she'd be far away from Kakashi when that happened.
When she saw him all violent thoughts disappeared. He was staring silently at the memorial looking more melancholy than she'd seen him in a while almost to a point of sadness.
She approached him silently not quite sure where they stood right now. The tensing of his shoulders told her he knew she was there. Unsure of what to do she stood next to him and gazed at the memorial and did some meditating of her own.
Having her stand next to him was awkward. /Are you afraid of me/ 'Why did I say that? Stupid!' His self-restraint was getting better. He no longer had trouble restraining his urge to seek her out but when she was so close to him it was hard for him to resist reaching out to her.
Internally sighing to himself he wondered what exactly he did to deserve this cruel punishment. Earlier he had been mentally telling Obito the situation he had gotten himself into. He knew it was kind of strange to be talking to an inanimate object but it helped him think it through and if he listened hard enough sometimes he got answers.
He had either three choices. 1) He could tell her how he honestly felt and get it off his chest. 2) He could ignore her and his feelings and wait for it all to subside. 3) He could run away and become a monk.
Nome of those choices sounded particularly inviting and he didn't think he could become a bald, peace-loving preacher anyhow. He was surprised Sakura hadn't yelled at him yet. He subtly chanced a glance at her.
She had her eyes closed as if concentrating and her expression was fixed in an almost sad expression. It took him a moment to realize that his hand was outstretched and moving further and further away from him and closer to her.
He retracted it a split second before she reopened he eyes. 'That was close'.
Sakura looked at him for a second before looking away again. 'I swear I felt something…'
The tension in the air was suffocating. It'd never been like this between them before. The silences they shared had always been comfortable. He wanted it to be back to normal. He wanted to be back to normal.
"Kakashi?" An edge of timidity in her tone.
"Hmm?" His usual bored expression back on his face.
"Can you teach me some new juutsus?"
Surprise flickered over his face before settling again. "Sure."
"It's just Tsunade has a lot on her hands and doesn't always have the time to teach me, and I get tired of keep practicing the same ones over and over again and—"
Kakashi smirked as she continued to ramble. "I said yes."
Sakura looked at him with her eyes wide and startled by his answer. "Yes?"
He held back a chuckle. "Yes. You know when someone agrees to something." His sarcastic remark earned him a glare. "Shall we?"
The kunoichi just huffed as she walked past him without looking back. "Smart ass."
"Did you say something?" He loved to tease her.
"Kakashi no baka!" This was how it's supposed to be. When they reached the glade he asked what she wanted to learn.
She put her finger to her chin thoughtfully and shrugged. "What do you recommend? Anything the great copy ninja has for me will no doubt make me infinitely stronger."
"Well I am pretty powerful aren't I?" Her grinned at her.
She rolled her eyes. "Modest too." She was happy that they were on familiar terms again.
"I'm going to show a taijutsu." His tone now serious. "Your speed is good as well as your strength. I'm sure Tsunade has been training you well."
She nodded. She could now successfully uproot a tree without killing it while hardly breaking a sweat. Sometimes she scared herself with how strong she was. Not to mention her temper. One day she'd probably end up giving Naruto a concussion.
"This will enable you to create an instant cubicle. First you need to concentrate your chakra into your arms and fists." He looked at her to gauge her reaction. Her eyes were wide with curiosity while absorbing every word he said.
"This is where the strength part comes in handy. You'll need to push the chakra out into the ground by using your physical strength in order to push the ground up and around your enemy. In other words you're punching into the earth and channeling your chakra into it to create a temporary prison."
"This is called the earth imprisonment jutsu. A very advanced juutsu and takes some people even years to perfect. At first it may come out a bit feeble but it'll become sturdier as you gain control of this."
The anticipation Sakura was exuding was almost tangible. Her eyes shining with excitement and focused on him. She really was cute.
The rest of that day was spent training and Kakashi showing her how to master the technique. She had no problem memorizing the hand signals but she had trouble trying to channel her chakra through the ground. Even with her perfect chakra control it was extremely difficult to even move the ground.
Sometime right before noon Kakashi left Sakura to practice and whipped out his prized book much to Sakura's irritation. "Stupid perve."
"I heard that." Sakura fell resulting in a loss in concentration.
The next few hours flew past with Sakura continuing in her mastery of the earth imprisonment technique. Kakashi would glance at her every few minutes. Just to see how much she'd progressed though. It wasn't like he had trouble tearing his eyes away either. Nope, none.
It was a good thing Sakura had her back to her sensei or she might've been getting nowhere with this. She was having some trouble as it was. If she had been facing him she didn't think she'd be able to focus at all. She thought she deserved some credit though. Even if she wasn't at 100 percent she had managed to at least move the ground.
"Ugh. I'm exhausted." She wondered what her mentor would say if she saw her apprentice working so hard when she was on her 'break'. She'd probably be proud but pissed that she wasn't taking it easy.
She plopped herself right next to Kakashi almost touching. The fact didn't go unnoticed by either party. 'Maybe I should've left a little more space between us'. The events of yesterday still fresh in her mind.
Stomachs growling reminded them that they hadn't eaten since breakfast. Kakashi chuckled sending a warm feeling to her chest at hearing him laugh. "Let's get something to eat. My treat."
Sakura blushed the slightest bit. "You don't have to do that. Besides I should be the one to treat you for showing me that awesome juutsu!"
He looked down amusedly at her. "If you insist…"
"I do insist." While trying to stand up she turned too quickly, tripping over a root in the process and promptly fell on Kakashi.
It took a significant amount of will power on his part to contain the groan threatening to come out. She had ended in a straddle position and with her soft body right on top of his he felt his restraint cracking.
Sakura herself was having thoughts of a similar nature. /Mmm… this feels nice./ Sakura agreed with her other personality. Her eyes having closed on their own snapped back open. 'What am I doing!'
Quickly she scrambled off of him feeling like her face was on fire. She had no idea how long she'd been laying there. She crossed he arms and looked anywhere but at him. If he laughed her he'd be sporting a few bruises the next day regardless of her tired state.
He was disappointed when he felt her move but didn't try to keep her there. He was satisfied with the crimson hue on her face but didn't show it.
Suddenly her face lit into a bright smile. "Hey I know! Let's go to that new place that just opened, the Aburame. I hear they have the best Sukiyaki! Wasn't that one of your favorites?"
He raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"
Sakura's blush returned. "Well I see you with it during most of the town parties so I assumed it was."
His smirk was visible through the mask. "So you watch me eat?"
"Of course not! I just happen to notice things." When he continued smirking she groaned in exasperation and grabbed his hand. "Let's go I'm starving. And if you keep teasing me I might just take back my offer."
Kakashi laughed but refrained from saying anything else while his eyes lingered on her Sakura's hand over his. "Hai, hai."
After stopping by his house to get her wallet they headed towards the Aburame this time without holding hands. Sakura was grateful it was close because her feet were beginning to feel like lead.
The restaurant wasn't fancy or anything but had a cozy atmosphere and didn't look too expensive. 'This is officially my favorite restaurant.' Looking around she saw that the only table available was in a corner by the window.
The floors were polished wood and the seats were comfortable. The walls were colored green with pictures of the hokages decorating every one. "This place is nice."
Kakashi nodded in agreement.
A petite, brunette, woman came to take their order smiling flirtatiously at the handsome jounin. "How are you two doing this evening?" Sakura was tempted to kick him when he smiled back at the waitress.
'He can flirt with whoever he wants. I don't care.' At least that's what she tried to convince herself.
While talking to the waitress he watched Sakura out of the corner of his eye to see her reactions. She looked like she was about to kill him. When she asked her what they wanted he ordered two sukiyaki meals.
"I'll be back soon with your meals." As she turned away she winked disappearing into the double doors that led into the kitchen.
"So you're finally done flirting with that woman." Her tone was sour and she looked cross.
He looked innocently at her. "I was just making conversation."
"Don't give me that look. It doesn't suit you." She was still upset with him but her frown lightened.
It changed into a puppy dog pout and for some reason she just couldn't keep the scowl on her face. Maybe because it looked so absurd for Kakashi to be having around a puppy dog look on his face but the sight made her laugh.
It came out as light, happy giggles, which seemed contagious because Kakashi started to chuckle.
Somewhere in the back of her mind it occurred to her that the fact that he could make her feel so happy around him might've been dangerous but it went unheeded and was stowed away with the rest of troubles that night.
When the waitress came back with their food he thanked her and she went off to tend to other customers but not before slipping him a piece of paper which Sakura was positive had her number on it. She glared at her retreating back wishing that she'd trip and drop all her dishes.
She watched her companion put the paper in his vest pocket and she wanted nothing more that to rip it to shreds and burn on the candle in the center of their table.
The rest of meal was spent in silence except for the occasional comment here or there about the waitress and Kakashi would just grin and say she was just being friendly.
'To you maybe, but she didn't even give me a glance.'
Back at the apartment the two of them sat on the comfortable, grey couch. This was getting to be a familiar routine. Without having to say anything Kakashi turned and let Sakura check his chakra flow.
Once again he reveled in the feeling of her being with him. Chakras melding together and it was done before he knew it shaking him out of his daze.
"It seems you'll be healed sooner than I thought. I can feel your inhibitions now. They're getting stronger at a rapid pace. I think in a few days you'll be done and I won't be needed anymore."
The last part was said softly. She felt a pang in her chest and rested her hand right over in wonder. 'Why am I feeling like this?' This was what she wanted. To be able to heal again and get back on her feet. So then why did she feel so cold ?
/Who do you think you're fooling? If you'd stop pushing him away you'd see it too. Can't you see this is your chance to be happy? Kakashi wouldn't hurt you./.
The reason she didn't date anymore was because the guys she went out with just wanted her as a trophy to show off. Every time she thought it might be different but every time she had been sorely mistaken.
Which had been her reason for not wanting to get close to Kakashi. It was dangerous because she had finally been enjoying her freedom and being unattached to anyone. What right did he have disrupting her life like this?
He was starting to worry. She had suddenly gone silent and hadn't moved a muscle. "Hey Kakashi, do you think you can get to sleep now?"
'What?' Where had that come from? "You see, I'm not supposed to leave until you're asleep." He glanced at the clock, which read 11:49. When had it gotten so late?
He shrugged. "You can just leave. I won't tell Tsunade you've been ditching your duties."
'It wasn't her fault she hadn't stayed last night. If scary, old men didn't keep frightening her away maybe she would've.' "Nope. It's my job and besides I have to make sure you get enough sleep."
He sighed dramatically. "Yes mother dearest."
She pointed to his bathroom. "Go brush your teeth young man." Her voice mock mothering.
A few minutes later he emerged looking refreshed. As he sat on the side of his bed he looked expectantly at her. "Aren't you going to read me a bedtime story?" He asked sarcastically.
She smiled sweetly. "Once upon a time there was a sweet, beautiful jounin who had to baby-sit a cranky old man who was really an evil, foul-smelling dragon. One day he transformed into his real form and tried to eat the wonderful girl but she defeated him and everyone lived happily ever after. The End."
"Would you like me to tuck you in?" But he was already asleep with his blanket all sprawled out under him and his arm hanging over the edge. She grinned at how cute he looked. This would be the perfect blackmail picture." If only she could get his mask off.
Smiling wickedly as quiet as a mouse she crept up right next to him and waited to see if he'd stir. He didn't move. Slowly she brought her hand up to his face and hooked two fingers under his mask.
As smoothly as she could she drew it down inch by inch past his cheekbones and then his nose when suddenly his arm grabbed her hand and pulled her to him making her squeal. "Curious?"
Peeking through her hand she hoped he wouldn't be mad at her. Surprisingly he was just grinning at her and already had his mask back in place. "Just you wait Kakashi, I will get your mask down."
She pouted drawing his attention to her lips. "Well there's one way you can get it down."
"Eh? Really how!" He brought his fingers to his mask pulling it down slowly but also leaning in. His meaning finally sinking in she panicked and pushed him resulting in her losing balance thus falling off the bed blushing like a ripe tomato.
Then an idea popped into her head. She walked over and leaned down. "Here's your goodnight kiss." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. The feeling of her soft lips on his skin lingered even after she pulled away.
A split second later it sunk in that she couldn't have kissed his cheek because his mask covered it. Then he finally realized she had his mask and was running away with it laughing like a madman.
"Bye bye Kakashi! And don't worry I'll take good care of your mask." She ran out and slammed the door closed with it reverberating throughout the house.
He stared at the door for a moment then flung himself back into his pillows. "Hatake… you are an idiot." He smirked. He'd just have to get the little minx back tomorrow. No one got away with stealing his mask. Not that anyone had before. So he'd have to teach her a lesson.
After brushing her teeth she looked at her prize and couldn't help but laugh at her victory. 'Ha serves him right!' She'd definitely need to get a picture of him tomorrow. /We rock/ She drifted off to sleep happily completely unaware of the troubles tomorrow would bring.
A/N I didn't mean to make the chapter so long. But it just did. I hope this one was better than my last one. I'm not good at writing long ones because I keep droning on and on about minor details. Please review!