Disclaimer: I disown myself from owning Naruto.

Author's Note: Just to tell the readers, the idea of this story was inspired by one of Celine Dion's song which title had been borrowed for this pairing. Yes, it's called In His Touch. If you ever found that song, try to listen to it. It's a very nice ballad. And maybe, you'll happen to see where this story leads to in the end.

Part 2: A Scarecrow On A Windy Day

Shikamaru tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. "After this, I'm bringing you to the hospital. You should get those wounds checked."

Temari was lifting some noodles with the wooden sticks when she shot a glance at him. "Aww…I thought you never care, Crybaby."

"Don't be so full of it. Kakashi-san asked me to do something about it."

"He did? Oh…I thought…" Temari swallowed the food bitterly. '-that you really cared'

The slightly hurt expression on her face went unseen by Shikamaru. "Afterwards, I have a class to teach at the academy. I trust you could find your way back to the inn?"

"What do you think I am? A five year old!"

"Keh. You don't have to shout, woman." He stuck a finger in his ear.

She snapped back that instant. "You should be thankful that my hands were injured."

"You don't have to remind me of that. That is why I'm enjoying the golden opportunity." He leant back on the chair, his arms behind his head. It may looked like he was accompanying his girlfriend for lunch but only Kami-sama knew he would rather be out on the fields, sleeping that moment.

Their exchange started to draw the attentions from other occupants of the Ichiraku ramen shop.

In normal situations, he wouldn't dare lift an eye let alone pissing the girl off because she would definitely whack him on the head with that gigantic fan of hers. But right now, he couldn't help but grinned smugly since he knew he could enjoy watching his favorite clouds without her sending him flying off in a random direction. Of course he still had to 'baby-sit' her but in the mean time, she wouldn't be much of a problem to him like she used to be whenever she's in Konoha, something that has not happened since a year ago.

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It had been almost a week since his last mission and after a few alternating ones before; the last event had almost driven him into the verge of exhaustion. He needed to release all the pressure before he went haywire. And what place would be the best of help when he's in such situation? The memorial site of course. He had been having a hectic schedule in hand and there were a lot of things in his mind. He needed to 'speak' to him.

"How are you doing, Obito? Sorry I haven't been here lately, missions get in the way."

He stood tall in front of the big rock, eyes fixed deeply at the writings carved. It had been 15 years but every time he came here, the memories of Obito's final moments would keep replaying like it just happened yesterday. And also every time, he never failed to apologize to his former teammate for the mistakes he cannot undo, no matter how hard he tried.

"The usual things happened. Naruto's still away, training with Jiraiya-sama. Sakura's busy with her practical. She's gonna be a medic nin just like Rin. And Sasuke…nothing has been heard about him. It's like the history of the legendary Sannin will repeat itself in those three. But, not if I can help it."

Drawing in a deep breath, he sighed slowly. The skies were a perfect blue. Birds were chirping merrily and the sun was shining brightly, blessing the earth with its warm rays.

"A nice day isn't it?" He continued the 'conversation' with his late friend.

All of a sudden, a gust of warm breeze blew, touching his face in a gentle caress. The wind, it reminded him of someone.

"And there's another thing…"

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She way beyond doubt, pissed off. She had been waiting for him for almost two hours at the academy building, only to discover that he actually had the day off! Does it kill him to at least pass a message to her before letting her wait like an idiot? He just ditched her right then and there!

"The nerve!" She was fuming like hell when she stormed across the streets of Konoha, almost knocking down the passers-by. Where the hell would that lazy ass be? Of course…his cloud-gazing spot. Temari gleamed evilly as she calculated the possible actions she would be doing towards a certain pineapple-haired boy! Actions that resulted fractured body parts and a bloody head, among other things.

Unfortunately, Lady Luck wasn't on her side that day. That lazy bastard was nowhere to be found. It seem like he was actually trying to run away from her. And that just made her more upset.

She needed to do something. Her hands were desperately itching to release some steam off. Besides, she had been ditching her daily work-out routines because of the medical restrictions from Shizune-san. Thankfully she had the Kyodai Sensu with her today. In a blink, three stars were revealed and with her first swing, she channeled all her energy, resulting in one of her most deadly techniques; Ninpou Kamaitachi. Several unfortunate trees bristled uncontrollably as an impact followed by a few unquestionably sounds of cracks.

"You're an imbecile, lazy bastard!"

A swing. A few cracks.

"I don't know what I see in you! You ignorant little shit!"

Another swing. A few cracks again. A thud.

"You don't even care to ask how I feel! All you care was your stupid clouds!"

Another swing. Lots of cracks. Several thuds. A few unfortunate timbers. Another swing. She was so immersed in her rage that she didn't perceive there was a lone figure crouching on top of a tree branch behind her.

"I hate you and your bored, arrogant face!"

A number of alternating swings followed, producing a massive cyclone-like disaster on the open, lush greenery field.

She swung for the umpteenth time, but almost dropped the fan when the sudden action strained the healing muscles of her bandaged hand.

"I hate feeling like this…" Metals clanked when she planted the weapon on the ground and rested her head on the hilt. She had consumed a lot of chakra, without her realizing it. She gasped for the air that she loss, panting with sweats flowing down her back. "Why did I have to fall for-"

"You know…you shouldn't be straining your hands, it'll get worst." The figure jumped from where he was sitting.

She certainly didn't budge from her current position. Her body remained stiff, not reacting to the presence of the new visitor. The reasons? One, she was having a really bad day. Two, she had no one she could really talk to. Three, her heart was almost breaking. Four, her hands were hurting like hell and she would do anything just to cut it off. Unfortunately, that was obviously a very stupid idea. And number five, whoever this jerk was, he should've known better to mind his own business.

"Whoever you are buddy, leave me alone." The words came out sternly than she had expected.

"As much as Konoha needs a proper landscaping, we still need our trees."

"That does it! Fuck off, 'pal'." Not wanting to assess his identity, she heaved the fan up and swing towards a spot behind her. The figured vanished and reappeared again behind her. "What do you want?" She almost shrieked when she found out who he was. Who wouldn't if you have his face up close and personal to yours?

"Kakashi-san? What-do-you-think you're doing?"

Seriously, this man had really good…no….excellent stealth skills.

The former teacher of team seven grinned at the still statue of the kunoichi. They were in the same position they first met last week. And that thought somehow stirred a feeling inside him. It's not like he was attracted to this girl. She was eleven years younger than him for Kami's sake!

Clearing his throat, he spoke up casually, "It's a good day for training right?"

"…"

"You seem to be in need of a training partner."

"Nah…I'm not really in the mood. Besides, the only training we'll be doing is me trying to blow you away with the fan and you keep disappearing and reappearing behind my back. That's what we'll be doing. Going around in circles." She folded her fan and put it back behind her sash, as a reason for her to scoot away from the unexpected closeness.

A cool laugh escaped from his lips upon sensing the cynicism in her tone. "You're an excellent analyst, Temari-san. No doubt. But, I was going to suggest a different approach."

"Different…as in?"

"I noticed that you're an excellent long-range fighter. Mind if I ask, how's your Taijutsu?"

"Average, or maybe worst than I thought. I don't think you need a proof since you've already seen how I really got thrashed by those lunatics…" When the incident was mentioned, she looked away from his direction. She didn't need him to see that it somehow still affect her.

But, he will always know even if he pretended that he didn't. "Well then, would you accept my assistance in improving your Taijutsu? It's not a bad thing to be prepared."

"Hmm…why do you wanna help me so suddenly? No offense, but don't you have a mission somewhere?

"I just came back from one. I was nearby when I heard you 'torturing' these poor trees."

Her hands went up to her waist, clutching tightly when she felt the early signs of infuriation overwhelming her senses. "Hey, I am NOT torturing these trees….Anyway, I really had a bad day but…it's not like I had the chance to spar with the infamous Hatake Kakashi when he's around."

"The pleasure's all mine."

"But it won't be for long…Sensei."

"You don't have to call me that, you know. Both of us are Jounins." Why on earth did she have to call him that? It made him looked 'old'. Okay, maybe that's not the word.

Can 'ancient' do?

She gave him a broad grin and that was all he saw before she disappeared.

Only to reappear again by his side, bending low and ready to land a hit on his abs. Unfortunately, he caught her wrist long before it managed to touch him and blocked her other assaulting hand. Their current position looked like as if she was trying to push on a hard, immobile wall. The 'wall' was actually smiling at her fruitless effort to get him to move for even an inch.

At that moment, she remembered the time when she had to stall Uchiha Sasuke from catching up with her siblings in the forest. They were on their way retreating to Suna and she decided that Kankurou would be the one to get Gaara to a safe place when she stayed back and make sure that there were no pursuers. That Uchiha boy did give her a really good beating to the extent of her losing almost all of her chakra and her life.

Right now, she's facing his teacher and they both had the Sharingan. Oh goody. She's starting to feel that she's really going to end up being a loser again and this sparring was not a good idea at all.

"You're deep in thoughts." His voice broke her from her trance. "Looking for this?" She turned around to see him standing approximately 10 meters from where she was. He held up something long and black-colored in one hand. And it happened to be really, really familiar.

"My fan!" She exclaimed in total horror. When did he take it from her?

He placed the giant weapon aside, putting in a good distance between it and its master. "Distraction would be the defeat of even the greatest ninja. Are you forgetting the golden rule?"

"Hmmph…that's the only weapon that I have with me. That's considered unfair."

"Are you sure you're not hiding anything else underneath your skirt?"

Kakashi clamped his mouth shut straightaway. That, by some means wasn't supposed to come out from his lips. 'Congratulations, Kakashi. You've now established yourself as the Royal King of Perverseness.' Dammit.

Her teeth gritted in a cross between laughing and fuming. You get the picture. "You really know how to make me looked like an idiot, Kakashi-san."

"If that's so, are you ready to get serious now, Temari-san?"

"Fine. No Sharingan please."

"Hnn…I won't be using that against a person who's already in a disadvantage."

"DISADVANTAGE? I'll make you sorry for saying that!"

Kakashi laughed all the time for he knew he'll be having a good time. It was not to make a fool out of her. No, it was far from that. He couldn't deny that he actually enjoyed getting her all riled up. To see her face gets all motivated and the way her lips grew into a pout. He was glad when she got back the spark and attitude she had when they first met.

Temari was far from pleased when looking at her situation. Making a resolve, she approached closer and faster towards the older Jounin, trying helplessly to deliver several punches towards his vital points. Although the truth was, she had something planned out inside her head. Her right knee shot upwards only to be hindered by a firm grip on her bare calf. A smirk etched upon her face. She was expecting that.

The silver-haired shinobi heave a sigh of relief. That was a close call. He almost had a woman kneeing his most valuable thing in life. "You don't wanna do that to me, Temari-san." With one hand and one leg seized by him, her other free hand roamed around to settle beside his holster. Just a little bit and she'll sneak one of his kunais out.

Unluckily for her (she was totally out of luck that day), he had been waiting for her particular action. "I saw it coming."

"What the hell!"

He spun her body around in a swift, enfolding her in his arms. One arm draped over her chest whilst the other on her sash. She swore she felt her body jolted when their forms came in contact. A prickling sensation crawled up her spines as she felt the rock-hard planes of his chest against her back. She sensed his warmth seeping through the moderately thin material of her top. Upon assessing their current proximity, she fended off a creeping blush upon her cheeks. Never in life, she had a man holding her THIS close. While Kakashi, who was unaware to her predicament, settled his head just above her left shoulder and he started to speak in low, hushed tune. "If I didn't know better, I believed that you were holding back, Temari-san. That degrades me." His coarse voice flowed smoothly into her ear. Goodness, her heart beat twice faster upon hearing his husky tone. What's happening to her? Why did she felt a foreign tremor building inside the pits of her stomach? Should she blame it on her hormones?

She could hear his warm breath absorbing through the mask he was wearing. And having his solid arms on parallel with her chest and her abs, save it for her hand in the middle didn't seem to be sorting matters out. It complicated them more.

She guessed the answer to her last question before would be: Yes.

Her brain decided that the wisest thing to do would be off-putting him by stepping on his feet or something to gain an opening but something devious was telling her that she should use their current position to her advantage.

What will she do? Let her brain or let her body decide?

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He was thoroughly aware that both of them were standing in a very suggestive position. This was for a good cause. He's trying to show her how to protect herself if she was ever attacked in a close range.

'Is that so?'

Ignoring the taunting voice within, he tightened his hold on her petite frame. "Before I came here, I heard that you were saying some things. What are you mad of?"

She struggled desperately by pushing her body to the front, only to be pushed back afterwards. She clenched her teeth in disappointment. "None of your business."

"Did someone bothered you? Did someone disrespect you?" Anger could bring out a person's true strength. He needed to provoke her so she could be motivated to release all the feelings she had been keeping inside. "Did someone ignore your presence?"

She shook her head earnestly. "…No. You don't know anything! Drop it!" It sure felt hot right now although the wind was blowing like crazy.

"No. Tell me, then. We can stay here all day if you insist on keeping it to yourself."

"To hell…argh..." Her body started squirmed but this time around, she thrust back with great pressure and totally unconscious of the effects she was leaving to her captor. He suppressed a low grunt from escaping his lips when the supple exterior of her shapely hips brushed against his thighs.

All insinuations that his highly imaginative mind had started to cook up inside his head was totally shattered into a million pieces when she elbowed him in the ribs. Hard.

He clenched the area burning with sting, mildly impressed with her ability to land a blow. While she took this opportunity to swipe him around the head and delivered a round-house kick on his unsuspecting legs.

For the next twenty minutes, the luxuriant greenery field witnessed their intense exchange. Temari leant more towards the offensive side while Kakashi remain defensive, goading her once in every three minutes. Sweats poured down her temples and she let out a sigh filled with frustration. It gave the impression that she was the only one who had a strenuous time while he still had the usual smirk on his face. Not even a hair out of place. 'Why did he have to smile all the time? I swear this is starting to drive me crazy.'

"I can't do this, Kakashi-san. You know very well I'll never be able to take you down." The words articulated between her panting breaths. The breeze left a cooling sensation on her perspired skin.

"Are you giving up already? Shikamaru-kun would be laughing if he hears about this."

"Why do you have to mention his name? Dammit. I don't need to hear anything about him right now!"

"Aah…he's the reason of your turmoil?"

"Stop it!" She swore Copy Ninja or not, she's gonna kill him right there and then!

Kakashi wasn't even spared another word as she swung her legs around his own, knocking him down to the ground with no mercy. She jumped on top of him in one swift motion, snatching a random kunai from his pouch and placed it just under his jaw. The ever-existent beam on his face nearly drove her over the edge and how she gladly wanted to slice his throat in two, right that moment.

"What is so damn funny?"

The beam emerged into laughter. Her legs rested alongside his upper body, her free hand holding him down between the collars of his vest. She didn't realize that she was actually sitting on his abs, rather provocatively. 'My, she's quite heavy.' "I never thought that I only need to say one word to get you all worked up."

She flung back at him, "Don't you dare."

His coal-black eye lazed around the girl's annoyed face. From their casual encounters, he could distinguish that she donned a mask too and one need to understand the way she functioned in order to get a glimpse of her true self that she's been hiding. And Kakashi believed that he was only one third in his path of revealing the actual face of Temari of the Sand. "My bad."

"So, I assume we're finished, right?" She began to lift her body but to her disenchantment, Kakashi used this chance to pin her down to the ground. Reversing their position from before but this time, he had full control over their situation. His hands held both of hers beside her head and he made sure that their bodies were in a really safe distance. He wouldn't want to make a mistake. She had more advantage than she knew.

"I didn't remember saying that we're finished."

"Why you…" She raised one leg to help her shove his ass (literally) off her. But alas, he felt something brushing against his thighs and he HAD to do something when her knee was nearing a very dangerous zone, just like before. And block he did, by using one of his hands.

"You know, Temari-san. Your moves were predictable." He looked down to her and his imagination started to run wild once again. Seeing her underneath his form reminded him of a scene in the first installment of Come Come Paradise series.

Subjugation. Submission.

Without both of them realizing, his face inched closer towards hers only leaving a short dangerous gap in between.

Her breathy voice tore him away from his thoughts. "Do you predict this then?"

She held up something square and orange-colored in her escaping hand just right under his nose. That thing happened to be absolutely recognizable to him. The one thing he had been thinking of before.

"My book!" His lips formed a thin line. When did she took it from him?

Wait. This had happened before.

"That's payback for taking my fan away."

Heh, she didn't need to remind him of that.

"I should let you know that nobody messes with my book."

She sneered at her new discovery. "Aah…I guess the great Hatake Kakashi had his own weak spot too."

His voice dropped dangerously low and his face dropped two times lower. "You better give it back before I do something we both regret."

"Well then…" She cast the book carelessly to a random destination, her eyes never once left his face. "Oops…" The usual smug grin materialized in front of him, her turquoise eyes twinkled with merriment. 'Two can play at this game.'

'This girl…'

He leapt off her stranded form and ran for his book before it had a chance to land unceremoniously on the grass-covered earth. By the time he caught the book, he had already planned a few underhanded 'deeds' of his own to teach the taunting vixen. Oh boy, she was surely in for a big 'surprise'.

Maybe Temari wasn't out of luck like she thought she would be. Being a smart person herself, she chose to execute her real plan. Heh, who said that Shikamaru's the only one who can think a few steps ahead?

Run away.

Okay, maybe that sounded a little bit coward.

How about making an escape?

Now that's better. She knew she wasn't thinking straight and it was not in her nature to retreat, but one way or another she had the feeling that if she didn't get her butt out of there, things will get really out of hand. She wasn't sure whether she's ready for it. Whatever it was. But her young virginal body couldn't receive more than a great deal under such pressure. Especially when it came from a really appealing, muscular enigma of a shinobi.

In the end, it was Kakashi who had the best 'shock' when he turned around only to find himself all alone on the pasture, with only the wind and the trees as his loyal companions. While a certain golden-haired fan wielder was no longer to be seen. Along with her fan.

"She's good."

He had to admit that she was a very conniving kunoichi. But never in his life, had he enjoyed a friendly sparring like this before. He always had a great time with his students previously but this time, he couldn't deny that he was rather intrigued.

Temari knew what was to happen if she hadn't sprinted towards her flee. That's why she never spared a glance behind her back to see if she had him hot on her heels.

On the other hand, Kakashi was also aware of what he was going to do to her if she stayed and it wasn't something he would be doing to either his students or his friends. Because there was a limit but with her, Kakashi desired to break that barrier.

In the long run, Temari had a good reason to be very, very afraid.

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End notes: Thanks for reading. I'm really sorry if this chapter was presented with lots of "hidden meanings". If there's a confusion somewhere, please do not hesitate to ask me. Besides, as I wrote the story I realized that it has become a favorite of mine to use the word 'somehow' to describe their interactions. And thanks again for Avari Faye, t3ddiE0x and gundamjunkierx780 for your reviews and support! I love you guys so much! Not forgetting, my deepest appreciation for Jewel Green for your wonderful ideas.

Next Chapter: One Heck Of A Night…Things get 'ugly' at the club…and a person's heart will get broken.