"Uh, well... its– its no one you'd know." Naruto stammered nervously as he turned to face the older man with exaggerated dread.
Sasuke winced ever so slightly. Naruto sucked at lying. Badly. Both he and Sai had made small fortunes off of him in poker.
"No?" Kakashi asked innocently.
"Yeah, no. Just some girl we know. No one important." He rushed out, nodding vigorously to make his words seem more convincing.
But Kakashi didn't seem convinced, and it was no wonder. The only thing that could have given Naruto's lying away even more was if his nose had started to grow. His blue eyes were shifting from side to side, not able to keep eye contact with Kakashi. Sasuke wondered sometimes how he had gotten into ANBU in the first place.
Luckily for them Kakashi didn't press for more.
"Alright then." He said, dismissing them as he tilted his head thoughtfully and left, leaving the pair standing in the middle of the street. He heard the relieved sighs escape them from half way down the block.
Really, Kakashi thought to himself, he was going to have to teach the boy to hide his thoughts better. If he hadn't had a pretty good idea of who they were talking about before, he sure did now. There weren't that many she's in Konoha that Sasuke would voluntarily bring up. What Kakashi really wanted to know was the context of the conversation he had helplessly overheard.
He thought about going to "see how she was doing" himself, as an excuse to find out more.
Just like Naruto and Sasuke, he had (again, helplessly) overheard Fushino boast to another Jounin how the girl had swooned in his arms earlier that morning. Normally Kakashi couldn't be bothered to investigate something so trivial, but something about this whole thing gnawed at him. Part of it had to do with the appreciative looks he had caught passing between Raidon and Sakura earlier that week.
Kakashi couldn't help it. Fushino Raidon just irked him. They hadn't exactly been on the best of terms when the latter had left all those years ago, and it seemed they were picking things up right were they had left off: at each other's throats.
But Sakura... He could understand Raidon's interest in her. She was a particularly pretty girl, smiled a lot too. That alone would have been enough to catch the other man's attention, but Kakashi had no doubt that there was more. He suspected that the fact that she was associated with him was a big selling point.
No, he decided, he'd let it go. Sakura was a smart girl, much smarter than most, and she could take care of herself. She wasn't the type to fall for a pretty face. Anymore.
Besides, Raidon or not, he felt a little weird about intruding on her personal life. He hadn't exactly been a model friend or mentor to her recently.
Ever, a sneaky voice in the back of his mind whispered.
It wasn't entirely his fault. It might have been in the beginning, when he had been much more concerned with his two more problematic students. But then Tsunade had taken over all those years ago and there was really no need for him to be involved anymore.
Sometimes Kakashi wished things had turned out a little differently with that whole situation, but she had turned out fine anyway. Rather well actually, if her list of accomplishments (and admirers) was anything to go by.
Kakashi shook his head, shrugging the whole thing off. There was nothing to be concerned about here. Sakura was smart; he didn't need to worry about her. He was Hatake Kakashi, after all. 'Worry' wasn't even in his vocabulary.
He was starting to get worried, Kakashi decided as he threw back another swig of his beer. He listened with half an ear as Genma made some lewd joke off to the side, but he didn't acknowledge him with anything more than a grunt.
From his position in the back of their usual booth he had an unobstructed view of almost the entire bar, including the door. And just a minute ago, he had had an unobstructed view of a certain long-gone Jounin escorting a familiar pink haired medic to a table.
Genma whistled appreciatively when he followed Kakashi's gaze and finally figured out the cause of his friend's distraction.
"Raidon always did have a way with the ladies." Genma said, openly leering at Sakura.
Anko snorted somewhere in the background, apparently finding the comment amusing.
"So did Hatake, for that matter." She quipped slyly, setting them both into a fit of drunken laughter.
Kakashi chose to not hear them, still eyeing the couple speculatively. They were seated across from each other, a bottle of sake and 2 cups placed between the two of them by a waitress. He was thankful that Sakura had chosen to forego the almost indecently short red shorts for a pair of snug black leggings instead.
He could tell she was a little nervous, her right hand worrying at a bracelet on her left as Raidon poured them both a drink. Each took hold of a cup then, Raidon raising his in what looked like a toast. Sakura did the same, smiled at her companion and then knocked it back like a pro. Raidon said something and she laughed briefly, and he poured them both another drink. Kakashi felt his eye turn down in a frown.
"Really Hatake," Anko was saying in between loud, amused cackles. "I would have thought you'd have gotten over that little thing after 10 years now. Why can't the two of you just be men about this?"
That set Genma off into yet another fit of laughter, this time of epileptic proportions. His two friends had been making cracks at Kakashi's expense for a few minutes now, while Kakashi was studiously trying to ignore them to focus on his other two friends on the other side of the bar.
Solemnly, he swore that the next time he went out for a drink and found only Genma and Anko, without supervision, he would turn right back around and go home thirsty.
As it was, Kakashi was already here and on his way to a similar state of inebriation as the other two, so there was no point in leaving now. Especially after this new development in the evening. Kakashi decided he was in it for the long haul, and motioned to a passing waitress for another drink.
This isn't so bad, Sakura decided, as she listened half-attentively to the story Raidon was currently in the middle of. She wasn't nearly as nervous or uncomfortable as she was earlier that evening. After all, she wasn't here alone with him anymore. Her ever-reliable friend, the Alcohol was here too.
She had been stressing about her upcoming "date" (after confirming with Ino, she had decided it was indeed that) for what seemed like the whole day. She had even begged off 15 minutes before her shift officially ended, just to have a little time to fix herself up before he got there.
Sakura couldn't recall the last time that she had been this nervous on a date. After all, she was no stranger to awkwardness. She only felt nervous about dates when the men taking her on them were especially strange, and that was a different kind of nervous altogether. This was the "oh my god, my hair, my hair!" kind, as opposed to "oh my god, where did he just put that spoon?".
The fact that Raidon might just have been the most attractive creature she had ever set eyes on was only part of it. He was also older (she wasn't exactly sure by just how much yet) and a lot more experienced.
Another big part was the fact that he had been in ANBU, and legend at that, if the rumors that he was on par with Hatake Kakashi himself could be believed.
Oh, and he knew Kakashi. Sakura wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that, but it was definitely not comfortable.
So yes, when she had exited the building earlier that evening to find him leaning lazily against the side of the building with a foot propped up on the wall behind him, she was just a teeny bit uneasy.
And when Raidon had greeted her with a lopsided smile and asked her where she would like to eat, she had laughed (nervously) and suggested drinks before dinner.
And here they were now, with 3 empty bottles of sake between them and their plans of dinner abandoned. And while the conversation wasn't flowing as easy as she would have liked it to be, there was no awkward silences. Raidon compensated for her somewhat quiet demeanor admirably, regaling her with the stories of his travels.
As Raidon was getting to the punch line of how some high Fire Country lord had caught Raidon as he was crawling out of a private bathroom, another Jounin sidled up to their table to say hello, but it wasn't the one that she might had expected.
Sakura had caught a glance of Kakashi and the other two when she had walked in, but paid little attention to them. She was more worried about what she was going to say than who else was in the bar. And as her cup was filled and refilled throughout the evening, she forgot all about the occupants of the far most booth.
That is, until Genma decided to stop by. He made his was over as stealthily as a new born giraffe and loudly clapped Raidon on his shoulder.
"How's it goin', buddy?" Genma bellowed jovially, keeping his hand on Raidon in what Sakura guessed was an attempt to stay upright. His lips formed a wide, highly amused smile around his senbon.
Sakura greeted at him indulgently when he turned his gaze to her with a lecherous "Hello, beautiful."
"You're intruding, Shiranui." Raidon informed him, a warning buried somewhere in his bland tone.
"Am I?" Genma chose to ignore it. The shit-eating grin looked like it would be plastered permanently on his face.
"Yes. Now go." Raidon ordered, the warning a little closer to the surface now. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Anko incapacitated with laughter, her head held in one hand on the table surface while she helplessly slammed her fist against the table with the other. Her shoulders shook violently with mirth. However, he didn't see Hatake anywhere, but Raidon figured he would soon, much to his annoyance.
He was right. A head of white hair, attached to a long, slouched body appeared seemingly out of nowhere while Raidon was preoccupied with glowering at Genma to leave.
"Yo, Sakura." Kakashi smiled at her, eye crinkling in a friendly greeting.
Sakura smiled back uneasily. "Hi, Kakashi-sensei." She wasn't sure how to react to the interruption.
Raidon had no such problem.
"Hatake, glad you're here. Mind taking this-" he gestured derisively at Genma "-back where it came from?"
"As a matter of fact I do." Kakashi replied pleasantly, dismissing Raidon and turning back to Sakura. "And how is my most favorite student tonight?" He asked her.
Sakura could only gape at him with overt surprise. Really, she didn't know if she should be amused or shocked at this turn of events. Genma snickered in the background.
"Just great, thanks. We were actually just having--"
"Yes, yes, we saw." Interrupted Anko, who had clumsily made her way over to crowd around the table as well. She grabbed the nearest chair, which happened to be occupied, shook it free its previous owner with a glare and squeezed herself in between Sakura and Raidon.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He demanded incredulously.
Anko grinned stupidly at Raidon as she reached for the one not empty bottle of booze and crowed with humor when he cast her a dirty look. He opened his mouth to tell her off in the most explicit of ways didn't get the chance.
"Why, yes, we'd love to join you!" Genma chortled from above him, grabbing another chair and pulling it up as well.
"No one invited you!" Raidon snarled at one and then the other unwelcome intruder. He turned his furious gaze at Kakashi.
Sakura was speechless, very much out of her element. Dealing with drunken male friends was one thing. Drunken, deranged, Tokubetsu Jounin was somewhat different.
Just then Anko threw an arm around her neck, pulling Sakura towards her in an awkward(for Sakura) yet friendly(for Anko) hug. Sakura flailed her arms helplessly, casting forlorn, pleading gazes first at Raidon and Kakashi.
Raidon, to his credit, tried to come to her rescue, but Genma's surprisingly sure and steady grip kept him in his seat.
Kakashi mentally reminded himself to thank Genma later as he skillfully extracted Sakura from Anko's serptentine hold.
Sakura shuddered in relief, quickly relinquishing her seat in favor of fresh, non-Anko-invaded air.
"Sakura," Raidon called to her, and she met his sincerely apologetic gaze.
Kakashi moved in smoothly to her side, throwing an arm around her.
"Don't worry, Raidon, she'll get home safe. You stay, catch up with old friends." Kakashi drawled, noting the murderous intent in Raidon's eyes. "I'll catch up with you later, pal" He threw Raidon's words back at him as he turned to leave.
"Uh–call me!" Sakura yelled over her shoulder as she was steered out of the bar.
As soon as Kakashi and Sakura were out of sight, Raidon's righteously furious fist connected to Genma's shoulder. That wasn't where he had aimed it at, but it was satisfying nonetheless. Genma had the good grace to wince and rub it. Anko chuckled.
"What the hell is your problem?" He demanded of the two of them, but in the pit of his stomach he knew it was useless.
When they had all been younger, Raidon himself had gone out on the town with the two of them and he remembered the drunken stunts they used to pull on others. Hatake had been the target more often than not.
Raidon's shoulders deflated. Now Kakashi had used his own monstrous creation (the drunken, highly-open-to-suggestion, fearless duo that was Shiranui Genma and Mitarashi Anko) against him.
He snagged the last of the sake from Anko's freeloading hands, taking a long drink right from the small white bottle. Hatake would pay, Raidon just didn't know how yet. He also didn't know how he would convince Sakura to go on another date after tonight.
He chugged the rest of the sake and motioned for more.
Too crack-like?
