DAY 11

Ayame's Second Date with Kakashi

After their mission the next day, which involved recovering a stolen set of family heirloom antique katana (It turned out that the feudal lord's six year old grandson had taken it to use in his play therapy sessions.), the Kakashi and his team went to Ichiraku for a late dinner. Ayame had given Sakura and Naruto free ramen coupons good for dine-in only without her father's permission:

"Ayame, this is going too far - handing out free coupons!"

"Sakura-chan has a plan. This will work! At least we'll get to see Kakashi-sensei's face again."

"Well, that's something…yeah, that's worthfour bowls of ramen."

Ayame meticulously prepared four steaming bowls of ramen: beef ramen for Sasuke, vegetarian ramen for Sakura, seafood ramen for Naruto and a plain miso ramen for Kakashi. The three genin were sitting together to Kakashi's right. They waited with bated breath as they did nearly three weeks ago when they almost saw Kakashi's face.

Kakashi, apparently oblivious that everyone was staring at him, casually picked up his chopsticks. "The ramen I had the other day was quite excellent. I hope this is just as good. Thanks for the coupon."

"Oh, no problem. It's a special we're running for our best customers," Ayame explained.

Everyone fell silent as Kakashi took the paper wrapper off his disposable chopsticks. The snapping apart of the chopsticks could be heard by all. He didn't seem to notice that no one else was eating. The tension in the air built up. Ayame and her father had the best, direct, view while the genin were craning their necks. Kakashi's hand moved to pull down his mask…

Suddenly there was a loud crash! The genin turned their heads in the direction of the noise. Ayame's stock pot had boiled over and the lid crashed onto the floor! She had adjusted the heat to achieve the perfect serving temperature, but in her excitement forgot to turn it down and the lid was placed precariously. The genin turned their heads back to Kakashi, but it was already too late. They missed seeing his face again! Ayame and her father were completely oblivious to the soup accident. They both had that silly love-struck look in their eyes again.

But not to worry, time for phase two of Sakura's plan.

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei. Your team told me you're off tomorrow…so you have time tonight to go for a drink?" Ayame asked tentatively.

Kakashi said nothing but just scratched his head as though seriously thinking about it.

"My treat."

That seemed to spark a response and Kakashi finally nodded.

Ayame quickly took off her ramen robes to reveal a red dress with a too-low-cut neckline (in her father's opinion). Ayame and Kakashi left the kids behind with her father. They went to the sake bar where Iruka had taken Ayame on their first date. They found seats by the window where Ayame ordered a drink, but Kakashi declined, saying he wasn't thirsty yet. Instead he took out his little red book and started reading.

Nonplussed, Ayame tried hard to start a conversation. "So, are those books really that good? Can I borrow one?"

Kakashi stopped reading and looked at her, hard, with his one exposed eye. `Lend my precious book to someone else? Is she nuts?'

-...-...-...-

Meanwhile, the three genin followed through on their plans.

Naruto: "Ok, time for phase 2. We need to transform to adults so we can enter the bar."

Sakura: "Right, I can look like Kurenai-sensei."

Sasuke: "There's no one cool I want to look like." `I can't believe I'm going along with this inane plan, but I have to see Kakashi's face!'

Naruto: "How about Gai-sensei?"

Sasuke: "You have got to be kidding."

Naruto: "Hey, he's a good guy. He gave me a nifty green jumpsuit. I'll show it to you sometime. It's…aerodynamic!"

Sasuke: "Fine, you be pageboy. I'll be…hmm…"

Sakura: "What about Asuma-sensei?"

Sasuke: "No, he smokes. Filthy habit."

Naruto: "What about Ebisu-sensei?"

Sasuke: "I don't want to cover my eyes with sunglasses." `Another weirdo.'

Naruto: "What about one of the examiner guys?"

Sasuke: "No, one's dead, one's got an oral fixation, and the other's got too many scars to duplicate easily."

Naruto (in jest): "What about the other examiner…Anko-sensei?"

Sakura: "Look, we'd better hurry up. We're wasting time. Who knows, Kakashi-sensei may have finished his drink already."

Sasuke: "Fine, I'll go as Anko. At least she knows some cool techniques." `Plus I look good in fishnet.'

-…-…-

On their way to the sake bar, Sakura wondered, "You know, Kurenai-sensei and Anko-sensei are friends, but I don't know if Gai-sensei would hang out with them. Do you think it's suspicious?"

"A guy hanging out with two girls. What's wrong with that?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke answered, "Don't worry. In Gai-sensei's case, it'll appear perfectly normal."

Sasuke was right as the bouncer barely looked at them when they enter the bar. A waitress quickly came up to them to show them to a table.

Naruto-Gai remarked, "Hey, this is working out pretty well. We have a clear view of Kakashi-sensei over there."

"Looks like he hasn't ordered a drink yet. Guess we'll have to wait," said Sakura-Kurenai.

After a minute, the waitress came back for their drink orders. "Your usual Gai-sensei?" she asked with a coquettish smile and a flip of her short red hair.

Naruto-Gai replied, "Oh, uh, of course."

Sakura-Kurenai said, "Just tea for me please."

"Your usual Anko-sensei?" asked the waitress, looking at the woman in fishnet.

Sasuke-Anko just nodded.

The three said nothing as they concentrated on looking at Kakashi, willing him to order a drink and pull down his mask.

The waitress soon returned with their drinks. She placed their drink orders down in front of the appropriate patron, but before she left she stopped and stared at Sakura-Kurenai. "Kurenai-sensei, that's a good color on you. I thought you were more conservative, but the pink highlights suit you." The waitress smiled at them conspiratorially before leaving.

Naruto-Gai whispered, "Hey Sakura-chan, your hair is turning from black to pink!"

"What? My hair? What's going on?"

Sasuke-Anko explained, "You just don't have enough chakra to hold your transformation for very long. You better get out of here before you completely transform back. No minors you know."

No way in hell! I'm not going to miss this!'

"Sakura-chan you'd better go. Don't worry, we'll tell you all about it," Naruto-Gai offered.

That's not the same! No, not when we're so close!DAMMIT!' She did not want to leave, but then Sakura felt the transformation unravel as her fake ample breasts started to deflate. She quickly ran out of the bar with her arms folded over her chest.

A while later, the waitress came over to their table again. "Is there something wrong with your drinks?" she asked when she saw that they were untouched.

"Oh, no, nothing wrong at all," Naruto-Gai said as he gulped down his large cup of sake. What Naruto didn't realize was that Gai, a master of the drunken fist technique, liked his drinks 150 proof! The bar kept a special bottle just for him. The alcohol burned Naruto's epiglottis, esophagus, and abdomen immediately! He coughed and sputtered sake all over Sasuke-Anko. The alcohol was quickly absorbed into his blood stream and he started to feel sleepy...

Sasuke-Anko carefully took a sip of his drink and frowned. He didn't know what it was, and something told him he didn't want to know. It had alcohol in it, but also weird floating pieces of something. He looked over at Naruto-Gai and realized that in his drunken state, Naruto could no longer hold his transformation. `Crap, why am I stuck with two useless idiots!'

Naruto-Gai's hair started to lighten and his eyebrows thinned out. Sasuke-Anko quickly dumped some money on the table, grabbed Naruto-Gai and carried him out the door. `Damn, another failed mission…'

-...-...-...-

Kakashi actually lent Ayame his book! After Ayame plagued him with questions on the differences between the movie and its original source, Kakashi decided it was easier to let her read the book herself. He finished reading it at the bar in between (not) answering any of the personal questions Ayame posed to him: Do you live alone? Do you have any family? How do you get along with your genin team? How long have you been a jounin? Do you like being a shinobi? What would you rather do? Kakashi's answers: Yes, No, Okay, Awhile, Yes, Don't know.

After a few drinks, Ayame started to feel a bit tipsy. Being rather nervous, she drank more than her usual. Kakashi meanwhile finally ordered a drink, but it sat in front of him untouched. Ayame yawned loudly. Her conscious thoughts and fantasy dreams began to intertwine. Her inhibitions began to fade. "Kakashi-kun," she said dreamily while leaning forward boldly, "I really…like…your…hair…" She crashed against his chest - fast asleep.

Kakashi eased the young woman off him and gently settled her on the table with her arms folded under her head like a makeshift pillow. Then he finally, and quickly, pulled down his mask and knocked back his drink. Before he could decide what to do with the girl passed out on the table, the waitress came by with the bill. He frowned deeply as he looked at the total. `Geez, she drinks like a fish. This costs more than the movie and ramen!'

-...-...-...-