"What the hell was that?" She blurted without further delay.
Kakashi noted that she didn't sound angry, just highly confused. And more than a little incredulous. Her voice was higher in pitch than usual.
"I thought you could use some fresh air. Unless you wanted to get to know Anko better...?" He replied reasonably.
Sakura shivered uncontrollably at the memory. "No, not that." Her eyes narrowed on him now when it passed.
"Why were you at our table?" She asked him bluntly, knowing only direct questioning, and most times not even that, was the only way to get a direct answer from him.
"You looked like you needed to be rescued."
"I what?" Sakura asked, her voice having gone up an octave.
Kakashi noted that now, while she still didn't seem angry, the confusion was giving way to incredulous disbelief. Annoyance as well maybe? Her body was tensed noticeably, shoulders thrown back as her head extended towards him in question. He noticed... things.
"No? My mistake then." He said this the same way one would apologize for ordering something at a café that wasn't on the menu anymore.
"Your... mistake...?" She stuttered out from the depths of incredulity. Her eyes had been widening gradually, her eyebrows rising to the vicinity of her hairline. Sakura smoothed her expression in resignation, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I think I should go back in there now." She said, nodding, giving him a growingly annoyed look. He didn't miss a beat.
"Tell Anko good night for me." His voice sounded bored and light, but it hit Sakura hard. Her foot froze above the ground as she had started to turn. He had always been 5 steps ahead of them.She put her foot down slowly, turning back to face him.
Point, Kakashi cheered to himself. While he wasn't that close to Sakura, he knew some basic facts about her life. Such as when that at her Jounin exam, Anko had created a rather realistic genjutsu which involved her morphing into a giant snake and swallowing Sakura. Kakashi had always thought it was in rather bad taste, given the history of the former Team 7.
"Okay, so what is this all about then, Kakashi-sensei?"
He sighed, not sure how to pick the right words so as to not set her off. This was a situation in which he would actually have to explain himself. He hated these situations more than anything. But if he wanted to avoid having to resort to Anko and Genma, so...
"Sakura, don't take this the wrong way, but Fushino Raidon isn't your type." Kakashi said, wincing before the words were completely out of his mouth. Normally he wouldn't get involved in something like this, but he had decided the wisest, and safest, thing to do was put an end to things between her and Raidon before they even started.
Now, he noted, she had made a full circle in terms of facial expressions. Confused shock again.
Actually, Sakura was floored, chocking on the air she was in the middle of breathing in. Honestly, this was not how she had thought the evening would end. He had barely said 40 words to her in the whole last year, and now he was giving her dating advice?
"What!" If her voice went any higher she'd be doing falsetto.
Kakashi cringed. How he hated having to explain himself to anyone.
"Trust me on this one." He said, looking straight at her his expression patently bland.
"Can you... can you tell me why?" She asked cautiously.
"No."
"Why?"
Why? Kakashi almost laughed out loud at that one, but caught himself and covered the momentary lapse with a subtle clearing of his throat. Why indeed.
"Just trust me." He said, starting to walk towards her and in the general direction of his apartment. "Goodnight, Sakura."
Without breaking stride, Kakashi put his gloved hand on her barely clothed shoulder and squeezed ever softly, letting it glide off her arm as he passed.
She turned to watch him walk away, bemused.
"I've got a good one for you." She said, sinking her teeth into the dango, dragging it off the thin wooden stick and into her mouth.
"Oh?" Ino asked when she brought her cup away from her mouth and placed it back on the table. Licking a perfectly manicured finger, she turned the page of the fashion magazine open on the table in front of her.
When Sakura still didn't say anything, Ino looked up at her and started tapping her hand impatiently on the table.
"Forehead..." She lifted the green tea back to her mouth.
Sakura swallowed the sweet treat, wiping her lips gingerly with her napkin.
"I think Kakashi-sensei's jealous of me."
Ino's delicate throat constricted unexpectedly, barely holding back from expelling the hot drink all over Sakura.
"You think he likes Raidon!" She choked the words out.
Sakura paid little attention, biting into another dango, sliding it off and into her mouth.
It was Friday, and Sakura had gotten off duty earlier than usual. People just seemed much more inclined to avoid dangerous, potentially harmful situations on Fridays. And Ino was always free to leave the flower shop whenever she wanted. It had been too early to start drinking already, for respectable kinouchi anyway. So they decided to waste some time in a café for a while, share a plate of dango. Share had been the operative word for Ino. Sakura had relayed the events of a few nights ago to her friend as she muched on the treats.
"I meant over me. Over that date." She said in between chews.
Now, it might have been the hot tea going down the wrong tube, but Ino just couldn't swallow that one either.
"You're serious?" She asked Sakura.
"Absolutely. He wants me." Another dango casually disappeared from the plate that they were sharing.
"Yeah, you keep inhaling those and you'll fix that right quick." She muttered, loud enough for Sakura to get the hint. Ino reached for the plate, pulling it to the relative safety of her side of the table.
"I'm telling you Pig, why else would he do that?" Sakura asked, already reaching across, ignoring Ino as the blonde tried to slap her hand away.
"Friendly, platonic concern?" She asked weakly, eyeing Sakura's dango-laden hand.
Sakura scoffed. "Right. That ended when I was like 12. And he's never said anything before, about any of the losers I've dated. Even the psychotic ones."
"True. He must really not like this guy, huh? If he's fighting him for you..."
Now, Sakura was almost sure the barely concealed insult in that last comment was purely unintentional. Almost. Her eyes narrowed in subtle warning.
"What's that mean?"
"All I'm saying, is that if Kakashi-senpai is showing interest in you, all of the sudden, and only because that Raidon guy is, you should connect the dots." Ino snagged the last skewer with a certain amount of glee, bringing it to her mouth.
"Duh. Thanks. I'm not stupid. I just don't know where I'm going to go with this."
The hand at Ino's mouth paused.
"You, uh, you aren't considering this, are you?" She asked delicately.
"Which part?"
"The, uh, Kakashi-senpai part? You think its wise to get in the middle of their crap?"
"I'm considering it. I do want to give Raidon another chance. Anko really wasn't his fault." Sakura shuddered involuntarily at the name. "And besides, there is some great money to be made here." Sakura trailed off, the gears in her mind already in motion. Ino decided she just might want to stay in with Shikamaru that night.
Pulling up a chair to the rather small, beer and sake crowded table, Sakura dropped a 20 on the pile of bottles.
"I say its over a girl." She declared confidently, without greeting or preamble.
The other 3 occupants didn't need an explanation. After all, it was the exact topic that they had been discussing before she got there. Sasuke snorted in disagreement.
"That's what I say. Be more specific." Naruto replied, pulling out a bill of his own, suddenly gravely serious. This kind of gambling was the only sort he had a chance of winning, so he had to take it seriously. His beer and ramen money depended on this.
"Ok..." Sakura considered for a moment, helping herself to Naruto's beer. "I say they were friends until both went after the same girl."
"I'll take that. I say Fushino-san stole a girl from the Kakashi-sensei." He looked expectantly at the other 2 occupants of the table. Sasuke went first.
"Neither of you know what you're talking about. Who would even care after that long? 40 says it's professional." He challenged. That, of course, translated into "mission gone bad".
Naruto and Sakura exchanged a look, wondering if maybe he knew something they didn't. Sakura shook her head. No matter. She was almost certain what the whole thing was about, after that display a few nights back.
"Fine, bastard. We accept." Naruto sneered as he pulled out another bill, parting with it wistfully. At least the winner would be either him or Sakura, and she was always generous when it came to feeding him.
Three pairs of expectant eyes turned to Sai.
"What?" He blinked at them.
"What's your bet?" Naruto asked.
Sai took a long, lazy look at the scene playing out on the other side of the bar.
There were about 10 or 12 of them in all. It was hard to tell, because all the older Jounin seemed to know each other, so you never knew who was with which group. But at the moment, it seemed like they were all together. A bunch of tables had been pushed together, with a multitude of chairs gathered around, some still empty for late-comers. Fushino Raidon was on one side, surrounded by a few shinobi they all recognized, including Genma and Anko. She was laughing.
On the direct opposite was Hatake Kakashi, Asuma at his side. While the latter was smiling subtly around his cigarette, the former was nursing his beer. It was obvious Kakashi wasn't there of his own volition.
Sai raised his own beer to his lips, taking a long, satisfying draw.
"They used to date."
Even Sasuke choked on his drink, a small trickle appearing at his nostril. He wiped at it with the back of his hand. The effects of Sakura's and Naruto's explosions were still raining down on the table.
"Are you serious?" Naruto asked with no small amount of amusement and glee. One less competitor got him that much closer to the pot. This was one of those times that Sai's lack of tact and knowledge of society and culture in general was a blessing.
Sakura giggled at the idea.
"It's your money, loser." Sasuke remarked as he collected Sai's contribution and added it to the pile he was holding unto for safe-keeping.
Sai shrugged.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys. I'll update again pretty soon. Again, this probably isn't going where you think it is. Maybe. Tell me what you think.
