Chapter 14: Sexy Neighbour Kakashi

Kakashi stood in the doorway, daylight filtering in behind him as he looked down at them, hands buried in his pockets and the picture of unbothered aloofness. She had to give him credit where credit was due; he was doing an excellent job appearing like it wasn't totally absurd that he had just burst in on them in this random corner of Konoha.

"Yo," he said after a long moment of the three of them just staring at each other. "I came to help plant trees," he said calmly. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You mean followed us," Sakura snapped angrily.

"Oh! That's so nice of you!" Tenzou cried happily at the same time. Sakura elbowed him.

"He's lying, he came because he was jealous," she said, glaring up at Kakashi as she shoved Tenzou off of her and gathered herself to stand up.

"I wasn't jealous," Kakashi argued.

"Do not bullshit me. I am already covered head-to-toe in cow shit, and I cannot handle any more of it right now," Sakura said with a tired sigh.

"Ah, I thought you smelled strange," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Actually, it's chicken manure…" Sakura shot a withering glare at Tenzou over her shoulder. "Never mind," he mumbled.

"So?" Sakura prompted, folding her arms over her chest and mustering as much attitude as she could whilst covered in organic fertilizer. Kakashi shrugged.

"You said you were planting trees, and a quick internet search of the Leaf Conservation told me you'd be here. I figured the help would be appreciated," Kakashi explained nonchalantly, and she could feel Tenzou swooning behind her but she knew he was just playing it cool.

"We really do appreciate it!" Tenzou gushed.

"See?" Kakashi said with an arrogant lilt to his voice.

"This is ridiculous," Sakura grumbled. "I'm going home."

"In whose car? You're covered in manure," Kakashi pointed out cheerfully. Sakura glowered.

"He's not wrong," Tenzou offered unhelpfully.

"Why didn't you get hit with any?!" Sakura cried in dismay. "And why are you so smug?" she demanded of Kakashi.

"No reason."

"Why did you burst in here like that?" she asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion. She saw a hint of that subtle nervousness he rarely displayed, his shoulders tensing up to his ears for the briefest moment before he forced his air of nonchalance once more.

"I should take this out to the other volunteers," Tenzou said with an awkward laugh as he made a move for the door, the unspilled bucket of fertilizer in hand.

"Stay where you are," Sakura snapped. "You answer my question," she said, fixing her attention back on Kakashi.

"Don't laugh when I'm on top of you," he said in a mocking voice. "You should choose your words more carefully."

"So, I'm covered in chicken manure because you thought I was hooking up with Tenzou in a supply shed," she said plainly. Tenzou balked. Kakashi just shifted awkwardly from foot to foot.

Sakura had to take several deep breaths to calm herself, but every deep inhale only served as a poignant reminder that she was covered in fertilizer and as much as she wanted to demand her jealous idiot of a friend—boyfriend?—whatever he was, take her home as reparations, even she wasn't that vindictive.

With a hefty sigh, she turned her back to Kakashi to face Tenzou. "Please tell me there's a shower onsite," she pleaded. At least he had the decency to look apologetic, which was more than she could say for Kakashi.

"Uh, no shower but...we have a hose?"

It had seemed like a good idea—it was the only idea—but now that she was literally being hosed down behind the shed, she was having regrets. Teeth chattering and fully drenched, Sakura spitefully thanked Tenzou for his help, even though none of this was really his fault. She glared at Kakashi for the entire process, and boy, was it a long one.

Funny thing about fertilizer; it smelled way worse once it was wet. Her only silver lining was that now Kakashi was showing signs of a guilty conscience. She would bet good money that he was grimacing under that stupid mask of his as she got repeatedly blasted with the hose.

"I hate you," she said through violently clattering teeth.

"Understandable," he sighed.

"I think a few more passes and you'll be good to go," Tenzou offered, trying to be a beacon of positivity but failing.

Well, he was half right, in any case. A few more passes with the intensely cold water had her cleaned of all the fertilizer that clung to her skin and clothes, but there was little it could do for the stench. She could still smell and taste it, and no hose could help her with that.

Tenzou walked them out to the car park, probably because he wanted to make sure Sakura didn't murder Kakashi near the volunteer site. She thought that it wasn't a bad murder spot, as far murder spots went. Lots of open space and trees to hide the deed, but still, she refrained from any violent outbursts. For the time being, anyway.

Sakura was shivering uncontrollably by the time they made it back to Kakashi's car, though that didn't stop her from throwing her most vile look of disdain his way. He raised an arm out toward her, looking like he was going to drop it over her shoulders before he thought better of that plan and let it drop back to his side. She would have welcomed the warmth, but she wasn't sure she was ready to have him embrace her like that just yet.

She was miserable as she sat in the passenger seat, even as he cranked the heat up for her benefit alone, even as beads of sweat started to appear at his forehead. He even thought to crank the seat warmer up to the highest setting, which admittedly did feel wonderful, but not wonderful enough for her to tell him that.

"I can't believe you thought I was fucking Tenzou in a shed," she grumbled as they sat in silence in the parking lot.

"As opposed to fucking him elsewhere?"

"I'm not fucking him anywhere, asshole!" she spat. "You're the only person I've even considered in the last three months. I don't want anyone else."

Silence engulfed them again, Kakashi staring blankly out the windshield while Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and huffed and puffed pathetically.

"Oh," he said at last. She peeked at him from the corner of her eye.

"Oh," she repeated. "And, what do I get for it? Covered in chicken manure."

"I mean...it's good luck, isn't it? Bird shit on your shoulder?"

"I suggest you put this car in drive before I throw you through the windshield."

He seemed to think her threat was a real one, because he tore out of that parking lot without delay.

The drive up to the site had been a nice, peaceful one. A little long, but she had been enjoying the morning breeze blowing in through the window, and the glow of the sun warming her cheeks as she and Tenzou laughed all the way from the city centre to the conservation site.

Now, she was dreading the lengthy drive. Every stop sign, red light, or sign of traffic had her huffing in frustration and had Kakashi's hands tightening on the steering wheel. She wasn't sure what he was feeling, but whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant. She could relate.

Or maybe it was the fact that he didn't drop his mask once they were alone that wasn't sitting well with her. She told herself he was just protecting himself from her stench, but there was a nagging in the back of her head that said otherwise. It said that he wasn't in the mood to be vulnerable with her, and hiding his face was the easiest way to shut that possibility down.

Well, if he wasn't in the mood to be vulnerable, she wasn't in the mood to entertain his stoicism. She was the one who had paraded past the bulk of the volunteers smelling horrendous, and then again, wet as a dog, shivering, and still smelling absolutely foul.

So much for a nice day off in nature.

Home couldn't come quick enough. Kakashi had barely thrown the car in park and Sakura was already unbuckling her seatbelt and flinging herself from the passenger seat. She was way ahead of him by the time she heard his car chirp as he locked it, but there was nothing she could do to speed up the elevator. Kakashi was at her side as it only just began the slow descent to parking level 3.

"Sakura," he said softly, experimentally. She tried to ignore him even though every bone in her body was screaming at her to face him and hear him out. Thankfully, she didn't have to battle herself for long.

The elevator chimed and she darted into it, punching the button for the 32nd floor a little too hard and repeatedly pressing the button for the doors, even as Kakashi was still standing between them. He sighed and leaned against the corner furthest from her. He made no attempts to speak to her again the whole ride up. She thought she should have felt pleased by that, but all she felt was disgruntled and dissatisfied.

"What happened?" Sakura asked abruptly, surprising both Kakashi and herself. She cleared her throat to try again, ignoring the watchful gaze Kakashi had her pinned with. "I thought that we had cleared all of this up this morning when I left," she said as they passed the 25th floor.

Kakashi said nothing, and looked like he had every intention of maintaining his silence. Every second that passed without his response fuelled her rage. She could feel it rolling off of her, and it took every ounce of her willpower to not punch the button for the next floor and just take the stairs up on her own the rest of the way.

"Did we?" he grumbled. Sakura locked eyes with his warped reflection in the elevator doors just before they slid open on the 32nd floor. She probably would have stood there, staring at him until he continued speaking, but there was someone waiting outside the elevator, and Sakura was all too aware of the look of disgust on their face as they got a good whiff of her.

"I told you there was nothing going on," Sakura said as they stepped away from the unfortunate person gagging in the elevator they had just evacuated.

"Mm," Kakashi grunted quietly. "And then that was promptly followed by Tenzou whispering in your ear, you giggling, and mutual flirting," he rattled off, voice flat and his eyes passive as he stared straight ahead down the hall.

Some inkling of her could understand why this had happened. It was deep in her, and that little voice of reason was hardly a whisper, but it was there. Unfortunately, her very justified rage was much, much louder, and was only infinitely fuelled by the fact that she had likely ingested some amount of chicken manure because of his jealousy.

So, that little voice whispering "hear him out" was effectively silenced, and instead, Sakura found herself shoving Kakashi into her apartment so she could tell him just how angry she was without the whole apartment block being privy to the conversation.

"Okay, first of all, we were not flirting," Sakura said, jabbing a finger into Kakashi's chest as she whirled on him. Now that they were behind closed doors, his mask was down and she could see traces of anger in his eyes. She didn't know what he had to be angry about, but just knowing that he was only enraged her further.

"Could've fooled me," he said with a scoff.

"That whispering you saw was about you!" Sakura burst. That surprised the anger right out of his eyes. "You, and your stupid, handsome face! Because, no matter how irritating you are, somehow you always seem to come out on top!"

"Me?" Kakashi asked, baffled.

"Yes, you. And, even if we hadn't been talking about that bastard face of yours, you don't get to decide how I interact with my friends," Sakura said sternly, arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm not trying to," Kakashi insisted. "It's just...him," he finished with a grimace at his own words. At least he knew on some level that he was being ridiculous, but it did little to placate Sakura.

"I told you we are just friends," she gritted out, feeling like if she had to utter that sentence one more time, she was going to yank all her hair out.

"You say the same thing about us!" Kakashi blurted out unexpectedly. He slumped forward and roughly rubbed his hands over his face with a tired sigh. "How many of your friendships are like this?" he asked, gesturing between the two of them.

"Are you serious?" Sakura asked quietly after a long moment. "You can't be serious."

Kakashi fixed her with a dry look that conveyed that he was, in fact, being very serious.

"Kakashi," she began slowly, trying to keep her calm, "I don't know how I could make this anymore obvious."

"Well, you could start with telling me what the fuck is actually going on," he said with a frustrated huff. "I can't read your mind, Sakura."

Well, there went all that calm she had been trying to foster.

"I like you!" she all but shouted at him. "I like you," she repeated, planting her palms on his chest so hard he stumbled. "And I don't just mean that I like sleeping with you. I like spending time with you, and laughing with you, and talking or not talking," she listed off so ardently she began panting.

Kakashi just watched her, shell shocked, as she continued.

"I like that you play trashy prog rock for your dog when you're not home, I like that you read bad erotica in broad daylight, I like that you're the most loyal friend in the history of friendship." Her hair was falling out of her ponytail and around her face, a damp reminder that she still reeked, and instead of showering, she was aggressively confessing her feelings to a stupid, stupid, wonderful, annoying man.

And then, despite her fury and her stink, he was kissing her.

"Mmph!" she grunted in protest.

His hands were squishing her cheeks as he held her face, and she could feel that his face was tightly pinched, probably because he could taste the result of his unfounded jealousy on her lips, just as distinctly as she could.

She shoved him hard off of her, but she didn't really have to because he was already backing away, trying to hold back from gagging.

"What are you doing?!" she cried, whacking him hard on the shoulder.

"I—ugh—I like you, too," he struggled to say, retching and convulsing through it. "Oh, god," he groaned, his nausea evident on his face. She glared at him for a moment, but he continued to convulse and groan quietly in disgust.

Sakura sighed. "I need to shower. You should go home," she said with a small squeeze to his bicep.

"No, wait," he strained. "I can wait until you're finished."

She shook her head with another small sigh. "I need a minute, Kakashi," she said softly. "Alone."

The disappointment on his face was fleeting but it was enough to make her heart sink. Cool detachment slid effortlessly into place, and with a nod he obliged her, leaving her alone to deal with the strange cocktail of emotions swirling around in her head.

She wondered how many times she'd have to wash her hair before she finally felt clean again. So far, she had hopped in the shower a grand total of three times, brushed her teeth for a lump sum of twenty minutes, and had meticulously cleaned and cut all her fingernails, and then her toenails too, just to be sure.

At this point, she was certain the smell was just living in her nostrils, but still, that did not stop her from pouring a cap of mouthwash onto her tongue and swishing it around for another five minutes. She was only two minutes into it when Ino's big blue eyes popped up on her phone with an incoming call.

"Urlo?" Sakura mumbled around her mouthwash.

"Hey, Forehead." Ino's voice echoed against the tiled walls of her washroom. Sakura grunted back in response and continued her swishing. "Got your mouth full?" Ino asked suggestively.

Sakura grunted once again and prematurely spit into the basin, glaring down at the phone sitting on her counter, as if Ino could see her. "Don't be nasty," Sakura chastised.

"Mm, so I guess that means the sexy neighbour is tucked away?" Ino continued, keeping her streak just as nasty as she pleased.

"He's not here," Sakura said softly, staring into the mirror above her sink to inspect herself for any more traces of fertilizer.

"Uh oh, sounds like there's a story there," Ino said, and while Sakura knew her friend was likely very genuinely concerned about Sakura's current state of turmoil, she also knew Ino was an insufferable gossip and was just itching for something juicy. Sakura wasn't sure how well "bucket of chicken shit" would go over, but at the very least, Ino would get a good laugh out at her expense.

"Yeah, a long one," Sakura said with an edge in her voice, hoping to ward off Ino from the topic. It seemed to work. For now, anyway.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" Ino said instead.

"Showering."

"All night?"

"It's a long story," Sakura repeated pointedly. Ino harrumphed on the other end in displeasure.

"Okay, cranky pants. Change of plans. We're going out." Ino had a knack for always sounding incredibly pleased with herself, even while in the midst of proposing something preposterous and entirely undesirable. What part of Sakura's callous responses had her thinking she was in the mood to party?

"That's not a good idea. I stink," Sakura grumbled, pouting at her reflection.

"Ew. What have I told you about personal hygiene?"

"Literally not a damn thing, Pig," Sakura seethed.

"Okay, I'll swing by 'round eleven," Ino said in the most annoyingly chipper voice with a quiet edge of shut up and do as you're told that was entirely unique to her.

"What? No, I'm not going out," Sakura insisted. Ino paid her no mind.

"Wear something sexy! I miss those legs."

"Ino! I am not going out!"

"Toodles!"

"Ino!" Sakura shouted as the call ended.

Dammit. Now she had to find something cute to wear that she didn't mind marking with the possibly permanent stench of chicken manure.

With a frustrated sigh, Sakura climbed back into the shower and took extra care to scrub behind her ears.

Ino found her with her legs out and her heels on, and the beaming smile she sent Sakura's way was so satisfying, she nearly forgot all about her troubling day. Not only was the smile satisfying, but she brought with her a big bottle of tequila, and took care to ask very few questions as she plied Sakura with one drink after another, until the two of them were giggly drunk.

Ideal level of intoxication achieved, they headed out to meet their friends at whatever swanky new spot Ino had finagled her way into this time. Whatever it was, Sakura was promised good dancers and better drinks. Sakura had a feeling the good dancers in question were Ino and company, but that wasn't the worst thing in the world.

Especially with the way Ino kept pinching her bum and whistling every time Sakura turned her back to her as they scrambled to get their shit together enough to make it down the hallway to the elevator and then somehow find their way into a cab. Baby steps, she told herself, as she took very short, very clumsy steps in the sexy black sandals she had stolen from Ino three years ago, and then hidden in the back of her closet in hopes Ino would forget they were ever hers to begin with.

"Damn, Forehead, you might look even better than me tonight," Ino said with a disappointed pout followed by a saucy wink. Sakura kissed her forehead in condolences which seemed to placate her for the time being.

It only took her a good minute to get her door locked, and then Ino was towing her off to the elevator. They were trapped in one of their giggle fits by the time they stumbled inside. Just as the doors were closing, a hand appeared and forced the doors back open, and Sakura felt her giggles die in her chest.

"Oooooh," Ino sang softly as Kakashi and Sakura locked eyes, Kakashi standing between the open doors, and the elevator beginning to scream in protest.

"You look nice," he mumbled before finally stepping fully into the elevator.

"Nice?" Ino asked skeptically. "Nice is for little girls and grandmas. She looks hot as all hell," she argued.

"I stand corrected," Kakashi said with a small eye crinkle that Sakura wasn't sure was entirely genuine.

"Ino gave me tequila," she informed him, though he could probably smell it on her. Tequila was better than fertilizer, at least. He gave her another crinkly-eyed smile.

"Have fun," he said softly as the doors opened in the lobby. Her hand was still clasped in Ino's, otherwise, she probably would have been too busy staring at him to remember to exit the elevator. As it was, Ino had a firm grip on her, and when she started moving for the main doors at the front of the building, Sakura had no choice but to trail along behind her.

That didn't stop her from casting looks back over her shoulder to Kakashi until the doors closed and there was nothing left to look at. Even if it did mean tripping and tumbling into Ino several times, earning her ire and one particularly nasty threat.

Sakura spent the whole ride over to the club thinking about how his hair had been sticking up a little more haphazardly than usual, as if he had been pulling his hair out over all of this the same way she had. His sleepy eyes had been so focused on her. She shivered a little just thinking about it.

Had he been jealous, seeing her head out in her itty bitty skirt and high heels? He hadn't seemed jealous, not even after Ino's handsiness and blatant ogling. Maybe it really had just been about Tenzou.

She sighed and stared out the window, watching the city lights pass by in a blur and thinking she would need more tequila to flush all of this out of her mind for the night. Thankfully, if there was one thing Ino could do it was distract.

She supplied drink after drink once they made it inside, their other friends meeting them at the bar and swarming them with their already-sweaty bodies. Something about being around intoxicated people made her feel a little more drunk. She found the uneasiness of the Kakashi situation leaving her.

A few shots and several ridiculous dances later, Ino was dragging Sakura out to the patio for a breather. Their friends, Tenten and Hinata, trailed behind, Hinata clinging on to Tenten to keep her from continuing her streak of bar fights with men twice her size.

As kind as Ino had been thus far into their night, it seemed her benevolence had run out. She had nothing but question after question for Sakura after that stunted interaction with Kakashi. Sakura kept her answers short and clipped, hoping that would dissuade her from continuing, but Ino was like a dog with a bone.

Actually, she was much cleverer than that. She had a way of asking questions that made Sakura want to keep talking. Now, she was sitting on a bench, drunk people all around her, while she ranted to Ino, Tenten and Hinata about how her hot asshole neighbour turned out to be less of an asshole than she originally thought. And then, how he had somehow turned straight back into an asshole of the jealous variety, only to turn around and be annoyingly sweet again.

Tenten offered to kick him in the chin, and while Sakura appreciated the thought, she quite liked Kakashi's chin as it was. Hinata offered some sage advice, suggesting that maybe he was just feeling a little insecure. She had hit the nail on the head, but Sakura was too drunk and still too irritated to admit that she had anything to do with the chicken manure that had rained down on her.

Ino was only angry that Sakura had kissed her forehead with her fertilized lips. Fair enough, but it didn't stop Sakura from pouting until Ino apologized with a forehead kiss of her own.

Ranting helped clear her head, and then they were back to drinking and dancing, Ino circling the three girls, taking a turn to grind up behind each of them until they were all laughing too hard to actually dance. Tenten was glaring at any and everyone that bumped into them, Hinata politely refused all advances, and Sakura was hip checking anyone that got too close. Standard night-out shenanigans, and Sakura wouldn't have it any other way.

Until she had a moment of weakness and had fumbled around to pull her phone out, typing out a completely unintelligible message to Kakashi, about how he was cute and annoying and this whole what are we business was equally so. She made it maybe a quarter of the way into the message when her phone tumbled out of her hands and onto the crowded dance floor. When she doubled over to pick it up, Ino materialized behind her, her hands yanking on the hem of Sakura's skirt as she chased her phone around. One drunken dancer at a time kicked her phone across the dance floor, and Sakura scrambled after it, still bent over, ass still out, Ino still being towed behind her, holding tight to her skirt.

Finally, she caught up to it. Before she could pick it up, though, Ino swooped around her and scooped it up herself. With a pointed glare, she dropped Sakura's phone into the little bag dangling from her wrist.

"Your phone privileges have been revoked," Ino shouted. Sakura couldn't even remember why she had taken it out to begin with.

No matter, without the possibility of horribly embarrassing herself via drunk text, Sakura was able to focus on bigger and better things—using her feminine wiles on the bartender to get free drinks. One sweet smile and two dramatic bats of her mascara coated eyelashes, and two tequila shots materialized before her. Ino would have been proud.

She was less proud when Sakura told her she'd downed both shots by herself. Still, her high could not be dampened. She was feeling fuzzy and happy, Tenten was dancing instead of throwing hands, Ino was flirting with anything on two legs, and Hinata was good and giggly. She wasn't even thinking about Kakashi and his jealousy and their awkward heart to heart, or the way she'd distanced herself following the confession.

Okay, now she was definitely thinking about that.

It took a good three turns around that train of thought before Sakura was worrying herself dizzy, and then that dizziness was manifesting as nausea. Before she knew it, she was throwing up into a planter out on the patio, Ino holding back her hair and Hinata soothingly rubbing her back while Tenten kept watch to ensure the bouncers didn't have them kicked out.

"I'm so sorry, oh my god," Sakura moaned before burping up some more tequila.

"It happens to everyone, Sakura!" Hinata said, rubbing her back a little faster.

"Bitch, you are a mess," Ino said with a long-suffering sigh. Sakura supposed Ino was probably more correct than Hinata, but she chose to hang onto those sweet words instead of Ino's blunt ones.

Her three friends made an executive decision that it was probably time to go home. Sakura was in no position to argue. In fact, her current position was seated on the bench beside the poor fern she'd defiled, with her legs draped across Ino's lap.

Hinata and Tenten headed inside to scavenge for some water, bless their souls. Meanwhile, Ino had a death grip on Sakura's thigh and her phone up and poised for a selfie. Sakura buried her face in Ino's neck, embarrassed and a little bit miserable. Still, Ino snapped the picture, with little regard to Sakura's humiliation.

After a few minutes of Ino furiously typing away on her phone Sakura pinched her arm and huffed.

"Can I have phone privileges back?" she asked with her cutest pout. Ino was entirely immune to it.

"That depends. Are you going to text something stupid to sexy neighbour?" she asked with a knowingly raised eyebrow.

"His name is Kakashi," Sakura said, her pout morphing from cute into grumpy because they both knew she absolutely wanted to text something stupid to her sexy neighbour.

"And are you ready to admit that you are very, deeply into Sexy Neighbour Kakashi?"

"No."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Sakura?"

"What?"

"You practically made yourself sick thinking about him."

"Don't be so dramatic!" Sakura complained. "Tequila made me sick. And, fine, I'm into him, but—"

"But you're a coward?" Ino finished.

Sakura glared at her. "But it's complicated."

"It's not."

"It is."

"It really isn't. You like him, he likes you, the sex is good," Ino rattled off with a cocky smile.

"The sex is great, actually," Sakura corrected.

"Then it's a good thing you'll be seeing him tonight," Ino said suggestively.

"I doubt that," Sakura mumbled, thinking back to that glimpse of disappointment she'd gotten when she had asked him to leave. "I don't think he's very happy with me right now."

"Oh, I'd say he's pretty pleased with you." Ino's smile was a little too self-satisfied to instill comfort in Sakura.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ino grinned as she pulled her phone out again and proudly displayed the unopened message on the lock screen.

Sexy Neighbour Kakashi: be there in 15

Sakura blinked and read it again, and then one more time for good measure. Then, she saw the delivery time—sent seventeen minutes ago.

"Ino," Sakura cried. "You stole his number from my phone?! I can't see him like this!" She gestured to herself and then to the pukey fern beside them.

"But you like him," Ino said with her own adorable pout. Despite their years of friendship, Sakura never had been able to resist that pout.

"Yes! But I'm still upset with him!" she seethed, though she could feel the fight leaving her.

"Pleeeease don't be mad at me!" Ino wailed with a quivering lip and wide, sad eyes.

"I am mad," Sakura said petulantly but followed it up with another forehead kiss.

"But you're so sexy," Ino quietly whined.

"I am sexy and mad."

"You could say that again."

Sakura nearly fell off of Ino's lap when she heard his voice. When she looked at him, she actually did fall off Ino's lap.

Naturally, because he was annoyingly wonderful, Kakashi was there to keep her on her feet, however ungraceful it may have been. Her back hit his chest hard, and her legs were flailing out in front of her. Her streak of shame continued, but she wasn't too embarrassed to note that his hands on her hips were making her feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy. She worried she might puke again.

"You okay?" he asked gently, looking genuinely concerned and adding fuel to her unjustified irritation.

"I'm drunk," she told him with conviction, as she continued to lean heavily against him. She could feel his quiet laughter rolling through his chest.

"I can see that."

"Where's your clingy shirt?" she demanded. He looked good—as usual, if she was being honest—but his short-sleeve button down was more loose fitting than she was used to seeing on him, and she was missing the taut pull of the buttons against his chest. The loose fit didn't hide his shoulders, though, and she found it quite easy to fixate on how the fabric stretched across him, as she finally gathered her footing and turned to face him.

"I've had some less-than-favourable feedback regarding the clinginess of my shirts, so I've turned over a new leaf." His eyes were creased softly above his black mask, and her stupid little heart was pitter-pattering around in her chest, that traitorous bitch.

"I'm still mad at you," she told him (and herself). He was still smiling at her, but something about it felt softer, and she was beginning to forget why she was even mad to begin with..

"Understandable," he said. She was tempted to ask him to explain it to her, because she was feeling less sure about it with every passing second.

"And you are not allowed to hold me," she said, gingerly moving his hands off her hips. He nodded sagely and dropped his hands to his side.

"Noted."

She stared at him for a moment, contemplating the sudden cold feeling on her hips now that his hands were gone. She frowned and grasped his hands in hers and put them back where they were.

"Okay, you can hold me, but you're not allowed to enjoy it," she amended.

"I will do my best." She could hear the smirk in his voice, and instead of being annoyed by it as she usually was, she found herself curling further into him and smiling to herself.

"Sakura, we found you water!"

"Who's that? Should I hit him?"

"Would you two shut up?! We have front row seats to the rom-com of the century, and you're ruining it for me."

"My friends suck," Sakura informed Kakashi.

"I kind of like them," he said with a little shrug. Her heart went from pitter-patter to full blown marching band.

Tenten invited Kakashi to have a drink with her, and when he passed, saying he would be driving home, she gave Sakura a (completely indiscreet) wink in satisfaction. Hinata was just happy Sakura wasn't puking anymore, and told everyone as much.

"That explains the fern," Kakashi said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye that had Sakura's stomach erupting with butterflies as she rolled her eyes at him.

With Sakura back on her feet and Tenten positive that Kakashi was not looking for the ass-kicking of a lifetime, she and Hinata called it a night and hopped into a cab together. Kakashi still had a hand resting heavily on her hip and she had the sneaking suspicion that he was enjoying holding her despite her demands. Ino kept winking at her and whispering "you're welcome" so loudly that even Kakashi's ears had gone a little red.

"Time to get you home, Fernhead," Ino declared.

"That was mean," Sakura said with a pout. "Are you staying with me?"

"I think your bed might be a little full tonight."

Sakura couldn't tell if Kakashi's ears had just gone permanently red at this point. "I'll give you a lift home, Ino," he said with a nervous laugh.

"Mhm, that means go home and let me have my girl," Ino said knowingly.

"Pretty sure it just means he'll give you a ride home," Sakura grumbled as they stepped off the patio and toward the street.

"You said you're only a few blocks west of us, right?" Kakashi said, neither confirming nor denying what Ino said.

"Mhm," Ino hummed happily. "And I would thank you, but I think we're both doing each other favours here."

"My bed will be free!" Sakura interjected loudly.

"I'll join you!" someone shouted from behind them. Ino's head snapped around as she told them to put their mouth on some anatomy that she did not possess and Sakura felt herself flush from the top of her head to the tip of her toes.

"Never mind, my bed is unavailable," Sakura squeaked.

"Yeah, because Kakashi's about to be in it," Ino said with a wide smirk and a big wink at Kakashi.

He heaved a long sigh. "Mah, I don't want to end up like that fern."

"Kakashi!" Sakura cried, swiping her palm against his shoulder as Ino laughed for the entire short walk to his car.

When Sakura tried to scoot into the backseat, Ino hip checked her hard enough she was nearly launched across the sidewalk. Kakashi's laugh was quiet as he helped her into the passenger seat instead, but she still glared at him regardless.

"You two are menaces," Sakura grumbled.

"Tell that to the fern," Kakashi said.

"Um, ew? Why does it smell like a cow pie in here?" Ino slurred from the backseat.

"Chicken," she and Kakashi corrected in tandem. He was so lucky he was cute. Really cute. Too cute. God, he was so fucking cute.

The drive to Ino's was quick, and only made quicker by the feeling of Kakashi's hand on her thigh, just above her knee. She was endlessly entertained by the slight panic in his eye whenever she nudged it a little higher. She got the feeling that his panic was in part due to Ino drunkenly rambling in the backseat, but also because Sakura was giving him some mixed signals. She was feeling pretty mixed up herself, but if there was one thing she knew, it was that having him beside her was a hell of a lot better than not.

"Thanks again for the ride," Ino chirped as she clumsily climbed out of the backseat.

"Wait, my phone!" Sakura called out after her.

"Ah, shit," Ino cursed. Sakura could hear her rustling through her small bag, and then a low clatter as things began tumbling out of it. "Ah, shit," she whined. Kakashi hopped out to help her gather herself, and Sakura hopped out after him, mostly because she wanted the chance to mock Ino as Ino had mocked her.

It took Sakura a hot minute to clumsily climb out of and circle the car to bear witness to Ino's embarrassment, and she was not disappointed. Ino was doubled over, chasing three different lip glosses across the paved driveway of her building while Kakashi was bent over into the backseat, digging around for something.

As much as she wanted to watch Ino click-clack her way around her building's entrance while her dress rode up and her hair dragged on the floor, it was far more tempting to lean back and enjoy the sight of Kakashi rifling around in the backseat. Or, more specifically, the sight of his taut backside perfectly displayed for her viewing pleasure.

One minute, Sakura was imaging sinking her teeth into him, and the next, he was upright and facing her, one silver eyebrow arched high and his arms crossed over his chest as he scrutinized her.

"Were you just checking me out?" he asked knowingly.

"You look at my ass all the time, I think I earned that," she said with a haughty sniff.

"And?" he teased.

"And it is a good ass," she conceded as Ino returned, lip gloss in hand.

"Did you find it?" she asked as she shoved the three glittery tubes back into her purse.

"Yeah, I just called it and followed the light. What does SNK mean?" Kakashi asked as he handed her her phone, displaying one missed call from SNK. Ino was smirking with pure, unadulterated wickedness, and when she opened her mouth to tell him just what it meant, Sakura clapped a hand over her lips.

"Nothing, she's crazy!" she blurted out, glaring at Ino pointedly.

"Mhm, sure am," Ino relented with a shrug. "Anyway, thanks again. Here's your phone, Forehead. Text me when you get home, and feel free to share dirty details. Ta-ta!" she called out as she headed into the building.

"Dirty details?" Kakashi asked.

"Let's just go home, please," Sakura sighed.

Sakura held Kakashi's hand between both of hers all the way from Ino's apartment to theirs, and then from the car to the elevator, and then finally to her door. She could feel herself blabbering about one thing or another, and she was pretty sure she had said some truly embarrassing things, but Kakashi just chuckled quietly beside her as he escorted her home.

She made sure to tell him, multiple times, that she liked him very, very much, but she did not like him following her and Tenzou, and she definitely did not like having fertilizer in her mouth. He seemed to find that fair, and even apologized for going to such lengths.

"And maybe we're a little more than just friends," she said with a long sigh.

"Good to know," he teased.

She clung to him from the hall to her kitchen for a glass of water, and then to the washroom to brush her teeth, and then finally to bed, where she shocked him by stripping down to her birthday suit without warning and then hopping straight into bed.

"Now I see why Ino was so sure you'd have company tonight," he teased.

"I like to be naked," she said with a shrug.

"I gathered that," he laughed. "Have a goodnight, Sak," he said before pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. She hummed happily beneath his kiss. He only made it three steps before she called out to him again.

"Hey, what did Ino say that made you decide to come tonight?" she mumbled as she burrowed into her sheets.

Kakashi pulled his phone out of his pocket to display his messages to her. She blinked blearily at the screen, seeing a picture of her own face as she tried to hide in Ino's neck. The message beneath it just said she wants to see you.

"That's it?" she asked, scooting up in the bed and taking a closer look to see if she was missing something.

"Afraid so," Kakashi said with a small smile.

"And you just came?"

"Mm," he hummed dryly. "I guess it was wishful thinking on my part, believing her."

Sakura stared at his face, barely visible in the darkness of the bedroom. She felt her heart twist painfully for just a moment. "I did want to see you," she confessed. She could see his surprise, even in the darkness. "Ino is a little too good at reading people," she grumbled.

"Well, I'm glad she shared her talents with me."

"Me too."

"I thought you'd be angry," Kakashi said.

"Mm, too drunk to be angry," she mumbled, letting her eyes finally droop shut.

"I think I like drunk Sakura," Kakashi laughed breathlessly.

"Mhm, I think she likes you, too. 'Night, Kashi," she whispered, feeling herself fading slowly into her slumber.

"Goodnight," she heard before finally falling under.

Sakura felt like her head was splitting open when she opened her eyes hours later. Going out always seemed like a bad idea until she was out, and now she was remembering why. At least she didn't feel like she had to puke. Probably because she'd already done that—repeatedly and into a potted fern. She groaned as the details of the previous night came to her bit by bit.

Once she came to terms with all the life decisions she'd made that led her right here, to this hangover, she sighed and forced herself out of bed. It was a long, slumping walk to the kitchen for coffee, but she knew it would be worth it once she had her caffeinated nectar of the gods in hand.

She was reaching into the cupboard above the sink that housed her coffee beans when a little note stuck to her fridge caught her eye. She let out a surprised laugh that made her head throb as she plucked up the pink post-it.

Hope the hangover isn't too bad, but in the event that it is, you are welcome to partake in the best hangover cure known to mankind. Just knock on my door (or let yourself in, you're good at that)

-KH

Coffee forgotten, she headed across the hall and let herself into his apartment, as instructed. No hangover in the world could kill her mood after what she walked into.

Kakashi was cuddled up on the couch with Pakkun, watching her enter over his hot cup of coffee while a fresh pot brewed in the kitchen behind him. She could see various bowls out on his counter, and whatever was in them already smelled divine. Pakkun leapt off the couch to nuzzle at her ankles and she scooped him into her arms before joining Kakashi on the couch.

"Coffee?" he offered. She took the mug from his hands and put it on the coffee table, well out of reach. He raised a brow in confusion, but she was kissing him before he could question her. She could feel him smiling against her.

"Excellent hangover remedy," she praised.

"Mm, I hope you brushed your teeth," he mumbled.

"Not since last night," she teased, pressing another peck against his lips as she laughed at him.

"Disgusting," he grumbled, though he was still smiling. "You're lucky I like you so much," he said softly, brushing his thumb against her cheek and sending electric shock from that cheek straight into her heart. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe.

"I am," she whispered before pressing a slow, lingering kiss to his lips. Just as she felt him leaning into it, she pulled away. "Coffee," she said with one last teasing peck before jumping up and darting to the kitchen, laughing as he sighed wearily in her wake.