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This chapter is mostly fun :)

Chapter 12

Sakura surrounded herself with friends while her mother stayed at her apartment. She was only alone with her mother while they slept, and she made sure she was home after her mother fell asleep and gone before she awoke. No one had come to her apartment since Kakashi came that first day. No one would meet her mother.

Ino knew the most out of all her friends, being Sakura's best friend. Though she didn't know specific details, she knew all the major events. She sympathized with Sakura about her mother's visit, but she knew if she came over to support her she'd punch Sakura's mother in the mouth. Kakashi came second, Sakura surprisingly realized. He knew she had a shaky relationship with her mother —her mother's presence scared her because someone else might find her — and she had her dark past looming at all times. Sai only knew her mother was visiting announced, and Shikamaru knew nothing.

Sakura wondered if Kakashi's girlfriend or friends knew. What all did he tell them? Did this count as standard gossip or something more? Would his girlfriend be privy to information his friends were not?

Kakashi brought his girlfriend to the coffee shop a few times, sometimes early in the morning. She didn't want to know what they were doing together so early. They stayed fairly platonic while drinking their coffee, only occasional touches between them, but the girlfriend was almost always laughing. She wore that purple highlighter on her cheeks every day, which Sakura found odd. It seemed a little fancy for everyday wear. But what did she know?

One day he had the audacity to flirt with her while his girlfriend sat across the room. He said she looked cute in the hat she was wearing. He even gave her a wink. This frustrated her to no end. For one thing, his girlfriend was a handful of feet away. She also hated that he complimented her at her worst — the hat was to cover her greasy hair because she was too hungover to shower — which was probably why he did it.

Sakura had successfully avoided needing to talk to the girlfriend until that night. A large group of people were going to play laser tag, including his girlfriend. Initially Sakura was excited, but soon the group began to include people she wasn't ready to meet, ones she didn't want to be in close quarters with, and strangers.

Ino had the idea to go and invited Sakura, Sai, and Shikamaru. Shikamaru invited his college girlfriend Tamari — it wasn't weird, Ino assured her, since Shikamaru and Temari were just good friends now. Tamari said she was bringing her two brothers, Gaara and Kankuro, who turned out to be the tattooed guys Sai had drawn at the bar. Kakashi overheard Ino telling Sakura all this, and soon he was bringing his friends. She knew that included the girlfriend.

There were so many people in their group, they decided for a free-for-all game with no teams. Most of them didn't know each other — or like each other — so teams would have been hard. Free-for-all was fine, though Sakura knew she would lose against all the boys. From what she's heard, Temari was the only girl who had a fighting chance.

Sakura, Sai, Ino, Shikamaru, Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro had their vests on and were ready by the time Kakashi arrived with his group. He had his beautiful girlfriend standing close with Iruka, Genma, Asuma, and Kurenai following.

"We don't stand a chance against these older, stronger men, right?" Sai whispered in Sakura's ears. She giggled and didn't fail to notice how Kakashi's eyes zoned-in on the sound, as well as who inspired it in her.

The procter assigned everyone a base to start at random. Three people were at each base. After the buzzer rang signaling the beginning of the game, the laser guns would be inactive for two minutes for everyone to spread out as they wished. The game would last twenty-five minutes after that. The person with the most points won.

Sakura was given a base with Kakashi and his girlfriend. So much for random assignment, she thought.

"You must be Sakura," the girlfriend said. Her highlighter glimmered in the dim lighting. "My name is Rin."

Sakura just nodded, hoping Rin saw her disinterest. The girl didn't seem to notice as she whispered something into Kakashi's ear. He seemed to smirk as she let out a harsh laugh. Sakura's cheeks burned, worried they were whispering about her, possibly how stupid she was for thinking a successful, attractive man like Kakashi would be interested in her.

The buzzer rang, starting the two minute timer for dispersal. Rin shouted, "Kakashi, come get me!" as they both ran off. Sakura didn't feel like running, not anymore. Instead she leaned against the wall and slid down until she was sitting, her legs stretched out in front of her.

If she scooted over a little further, Sakura realized she could see anyone rounding the corner before they saw her. People may come to tag the base, as it gave twice as many points as shooting someone, so Sakura was sure to see more people than if she randomly ran around. She could also tag the base while she waited every time its internal timer reset. "Maybe I can do this," she said out loud.

Minutes ticked by, and no one came. Sakura checked the small scoreboard on her laser gun, and she was fairing well. Out of thirteen people she was placed seventh. There were five girls in total, and assuming they were all doing worse than the boys, Sakura was beating the four of them and one of the boys. She assumed it was Sai, but it also could have been Gaara. He looked scrawny.

When a warning bell sounded to let all players know they were halfway through, she heard someone approaching. Sakura tried not to gasp in surprise. She didn't want to give away her location.

The footsteps stopped and a gunned arm stretched out. The person must have suspected someone was hiding, possibly because others were doing the same thing as Sakura. Knowing she had seconds before the person tagged the base and ran off, she threw herself onto her stomach to get close enough to tag the person.

She didn't get as far as she thought and landed with a hard oomf, not close enough. The person took two steps around the corner and shot her back. She looked up at male legs and a hang reaching down towards her. She took it and let him pull her up.

"That wasn't your most graceful moment."

Sakura wanted to groan. Of course it was Kakashi. "Yeah, well, I never claimed I was graceful," she snapped. She peaked her head around the corner, expecting Rin to be close behind.

"Looking for someone?" he asked in a teasing voice.

"Your girlfriend. It looks like you abandoned her. Very gentleman-like." She found herself crossing her arm, defensive and slightly angry on behalf of Rin and all girlfriends who had boyfriends that didn't help them win games they had no chance of winning.

"You see, I'm not sure who you keep referring to," he said, shocking her. "Unless I have a secret girlfriend that only you know about."

She found herself blushing, hoping it was too dark for him to see. "Do you just share milkshakes and laugh a lot with any girl then?" She didn't know she was angry at him until she started talking, her voice filled with rage. "Considering you kiss random girls, I shouldn't be surprised with how you giggle together and-"

His turtleneck was down and his lips on hers before she could finish blinking. She let out a gasp, and he took the chance to deepen their kiss. He had her against the wall, one hand beside her head and one on her hip. She felt a burning in her chest and a tingle to her toes.

This was the second time they kissed, this time with no alcohol in her system to blame it on the next morning. Hopefully this time would also be without panic attacks or Ino and Shikamaru showing up to ruin it.

She let out a small moan and grabbed the back of his neck, yanking him flush against her. The kiss felt amazing, the way their lips and tongues moved together. She finally understood the hype of kissing. She never wanted him to stop.

A small voice in the back of her mind told her to push him away, to not let him get close enough to hurt her. The images of his hands wrapping around her neck came back, but she willed them away. She wouldn't let her subconscious ruin this moment. This perfect, wonderful moment where she felt as if she could float to the clouds and weave the sun's rays between her fingers.

They kissed and kissed until the alarm sounded, signalling the end of the game. He barely moved his lips away from hers, as if asking if she wanted to keep kissing regardless of the game ending. She answered his silent question by removing her one leg from his hip, where he must have moved it to some time ago.

"I'll have to tell my girlfriend about this. Rin gets very jealous, so lock your windows and-"

She started swinging her gun at him, aiming for his head. He laughed and ducked out of the way, pulling his turtleneck back up. She paused long enough to consider she could have seen his face if the lights weren't out then continued to try to hit him. He ran and she chased. Luckily he knew the way to the exit, because she had no idea.

They were the last ones to get to the exit. Everyone already had their vests off and were crowding around the giant scoreboard. Kakashi had his off in a snap, but Sakura was struggling. He moved in front of her to start unbuckling all the straps.

"Dude, what happened?" Genma asked, pushing his way through their little crowd over to Kakashi and Sakura. "You were in first place for most the game, now you're in 12th! The only one who did worse than you was Sakura!"

Kakashi got her vest off, so Sakura stepped away from the two men, not wanting to hear what Kakashi said in response. She didn't think he'd boldly declare he'd spent the last half of the game making-out with her so he fell behind, but he may have some smart remark.

Ino came over to Sakura, excitedly telling her how she got fifth place. Shikamaru had helped her, she said. Apparently he wasn't the type to abandon a girlfriend in a game she couldn't win on her own. "I'm sorry you got last place," Ino said. "You must have been trying really hard."

"What?" She was looking over at Kakashi, who was laughing with Iruka and Genma. She looked back to her blonde friend. "Why do you think I was trying hard?"

Ino laughed as if the answer was obvious. "With how sweaty and red-faced you are, you must have been running the whole time!"

Sakura had only moved two steps from her original place, minus the leap towards the ground she made, but she played along for Ino. "You caught me. I tried super hard and still sucked."

"You'll get 'em next time." Ino draped her arm around Sakura's shoulders. "Come on, come chat with Temari and her brothers. They're a blast!"

Sakura looked back one last time at Kakashi, who was already looking at her. A fresh coat of red dusted her cheeks, and he gave her a wink. She didn't know what their kiss meant or where they stood, but she did know for the first time in weeks she forgot about her mother waiting for her at home.

Thank you for taking the time to read! Please leave a review, letting me know what you think! I'm happy to take constructive critisism, ideas, and general thoughts :)