We have a little more private Kakashi moments here, because he has a surprise for Kakashi! Remember that vague project he mentioned in Chapter 13? Well, we're getting an update :)

I wasn't going to update for a couple more days, but I had to get this chapter to you guys! We're really starting to get to the parts I've been most excited about, as well as some of the not-so-exciting things that we need for the story. Because we not conflict, not just constant happiness and fluff :(

Without further ado~

Chapter 17

"I can't believe this is your last day!" Sakura squealed, grabbing Ino's hands and jumping up and down. "I'm going to miss you so much." They had worked together at the coffee shop almost as long as they'd known each other.

Ino smiled. "I know but-"

"Though we have only known each other a short while," Lee interrupted, "I do hope you will show your beautiful face here as often as possible!"

"I won't miss him," Ino mumbled to Sakura, making the pinkette giggle. "Thank you, Lee," she said louder.

The coffee shop was closed, but Gai reopened it for employees to have a small celebration for Ino. She and Sakura just finished their last shift together closing the store when Gai and Lee burst in with cake, balloons, and presents for Ino. It was a total surprise, and Ino thought it was very sweet. Even if the two most overbearing people in the world were throwing the party.

Not all the employees had arrived yet. Moegi came with her new boyfriend Konohamaru, and they were whispering in a corner together. The two older ladies — who Sakura never worked with, since they worked the mornings she didn't — were huddled around the gifts they brought for Ino, no doubt discussing what they bought her. They still had a couple more to come, but they would probably be there soon.

"Is Shikamaru coming?" Sakura asked Ino, who was texting.

"Huh? Oh, no, this is him now." She waved her phone a little before going back to texting. Her and Shikamaru hadn't had a major fight since Ino accused him of cheating with Temari, but Sakura had still noticed a strain. They had more small fights than before.

"Kakashi, welcome!" Gai shouted from across the store.

Sakura felt the back of her neck heat up. She didn't know Kakashi would be coming. He was the boss, yes, but Ino wasn't exactly his star employee. Not that Sakura was, though she liked to think she was.

Sakura turned towards Kakashi and tried not to smile, lest Ino start her teasing. He was just finishing talking to Gai and turning to face her. His eyes smiled when he saw her, which made her think of his face. The beautiful face that haunted her dreams.

"My beautiful Sakura, I got you a piece of cake!" Lee said, jumping in front of Sakura. He held out a plate with a massive piece of cake. A corner piece with a giant flower made of frosting, clearly one of the best pieces on the cake.

"Uh, thanks, Lee," she said, grabbing the plate.

"Please eat without abandon! You're beautiful figure will not perish from one slice!"

"Lee!" she gasped, her cheeks flaming. She peaked around Lee to see Kakashi a few feet away. She couldn't tell what face he was making under his turtleneck, and she really hoped it was a smirk instead of a grimace. The last thing she needed was Kakashi thinking she had a thing with Lee.

Lee started going off about how Sakura should not be embarrassed and her beauty keeps her youthful, all the garbage sayings Gai says. He really was a mini-Gai. He even had the same bursting energy and the inability to let anyone politely walk away from a conversation. There was no saving someone once Gai or Lee started talking to them, unless someone else dragged them away. Kakashi was one of the few who could steer Gai away, and apparently his powers extended to Lee.

"Lee, is it?" Kakashi said, moving between Sakura and Lee, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't believe we've officially met."

Sakura watched Lee's face change multiple times. The bubbly excitement while speaking with her faded to an annoyed face of being interrupted, then quickly to confusion. "Kakashi Hatake," Kakashi supplied. Lee's face changed to a mix of embarrassment and happiness.

Sakura didn't want to listen to Lee fan-girl over his boss, so she turned to talk to Ino. Ino was just finishing a text and stuffed her phone in her pocket. "Sweet, a corner piece," she said, grabbing Sakura's cake. She stuffed a big piece in her mouth then said, "You're coming to the hospital tomorrow for my first official lunch break, right?"

"Oh, I don't think so," Sakura said slowly, as if she could make the rejection less painful.

"What, why not?" Ino asked rather loudly. Lee and Kakashi stopped talking to look over. "You have to come, as my best friend."

Sakura looked over her shoulder at Lee and Kakashi, panic filling her eyes. "Ino, I can't," she said. Ino was about to say something, so she quickly added, "not a hospital."

Ino's mouth opened into a big "o". She ate two more bites of cake, then said, "Sorry. Right. We'll go to a restaurant."

There was a new Mexican restaurant Ino said they should go to. Another nurse who also finished her internship would be coming, as well as the new doctor. Recently the doctor had started seeing Ino and this other nurse as fellow lost-in-the-big-hospital people, so they were all becoming fast friends.

Ino got dragged away after that. Everyone wanted to give her presents, so she went to each person to open them. Most of the gifts were either coffee mugs, symbolizing the job she was quitting, or nurse-related items, for the job she was getting. Then Gai passed out cake to anyone Lee hadn't already given a piece to, and everyone started telling stories about Ino at the coffee shop. Sakura even gave some from outside of work, mostly stories of her being drunk.

Just as Gai started his third round of stories, Kakashi went up to Sakura. "Let's get out of here," he said. She didn't ask where because anywhere Gai wasn't yelling was a good place. She gave Ino a wave on her way out, and Ino gave her a wink in return.

Once Kakashi was driving, she asked where they were going. "I just need to stop at the hospital real quick," he said.

"What? No, go back!" Sakura yelled. She wildly looked around, and when she saw a hospital sign she took the steering wheeling and jerked it the other way, nearly running them into another car.

"Sakura!" Kakashi gasped, pushing her back. "Stop, I'm kidding!" He never raised his voice at her, but she could see the fear in his eyes. She scared him grabbing the wheel like that. "I'm sorry, I just heard you tell Ino you didn't like hospitals. I thought maybe you hated needles or something."

Or maybe she had bad experiences in one, he thought. He still couldn't get Sai's drawings out of his head, the ones of the beaten and damaged woman that was probably Sakura.

Sakura let the air out of her lungs. She didn't say anything, having nothing to offer him. She panicked, not for the first time around him. Last time was when he kissed her for the first time, and she may have played that off well enough. This time, there was no denying it.

They drove for fifteen minutes in silence before Kakashi pulled into a parking lot. Sakura was surprised to see it was a furniture store. "It's nearly midnight," she said. "It's definitely closed."

"Not for the Hatake Corporation," he said, trying to make a joke. When she didn't laugh, he added, "I'm making it worth it, trust me."

They walked up to the doors, and a young guy in a tucked-in polo was already standing there, ready to open the door. "Welcome, Mr. Hatake. Please, right this way." They followed him to the back of the store, making Sakura guess Kakashi called ahead with a specific item in mind.

They stopped at the bookshelves.

"Please let me know when you decide," the man said. "You can put these yellow tags on any you like, then just let me know how many of each." He handed the tags to Sakura before walking away.

"Kakashi, what…?" She was speechless. She looked at the four tags in her hands like they were alien artifacts.

He pulled down his turtleneck and gave her a wide smile. "You heard him. Go pick which ones you like."

She looked at him for a minute, partly to marvel at his face and also to see if he was going to say "just kidding!" He didn't, so she slowly started walking around, looking at all the shelves. Some were only as tall as her hip, others nearly twice her height. Dozens of colors, from wood to neutral to hot pink.

She found one shelf that nearly had her drooling. The shelf was about eight feet tall and three feet wide. It had a small cupboard at the bottom and seven shelves, the top one being extra tall because of an arch. The color was gorgeous, the same blue clouds are just before sunset. "This one," she said breathlessly. She slapped a yellow tag on it.

Kakashi had her find one more shelf, one that came to her waist. She quickly found one with a dark wood color, which would look great beside the blue. He wouldn't tell her why she was picking out the shelves. She knew they weren't for her, because she couldn't fit a new bookshelf anywhere in her apartment.

The employee came back over, and Kakashi jerked his turtleneck back up. "Did you find acceptable shelves, Mr. Hatake?" the man asked.

"Sakura, why don't you go see if you can find a nice desk? I believe it's in the next room over," Kakashi said.

Once Sakura was out of sight, Kakashi turned back to the man. "I'll take whatever desk she picks out, as well as a nice office chair. Pick anything you'd like, just make sure it's comfortable and matches the desk."

The man nodded. "And the bookshelves?"

"I'll take six of the short ones and fifteen of the tall blue."

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