Chapter Six: In Which Soup is Punished and a Face is Revealed

Kakashi's three-day mission quickly turned into two weeks. By day ten, he was laboring heavily under the guilt of not having told Sakura that he was leaving. The whole point of this mission had been to clear his head, to get away from her for a little bit…but now he found the longer he stayed away from her, the more constantly she permeated his thoughts. He just couldn't seem to shake her, no matter what he did. Spending time apart did nothing to lessen the butterflies in his stomach when he thought about her…which was often.

He wondered what she thought the first time she showed up at his apartment and he wasn't there, what she thought when Tsunade inevitably mentioned to her what he had done. He hoped desperately that she wouldn't be too angry with him when he got back, although he knew that was asking a lot, being familiar with Sakura's temper first-hand. He knew he deserved her anger, he ran away from her like a scared little boy unsure of how to handle his grown-up feelings. He had always been good at that.

Would she even speak to him? Had he just willed himself away to yet another period of Sakura ignoring him, maybe forever this time? Kakashi certainly hoped not. He wasn't sure he'd be able to take it. He'd spent months apart from Sakura before – away from the village. But now, after only two weeks, there was a Sakura shaped hole in his heart and he felt the hollowness of it acutely. Kakashi acknowledged then that he was well and truly fucked.

He felt pathetic, he felt miserable. He felt exhausted. Here he was, in the Hidden Sand, doing a few small favors for the Kazekage (and thus extending his mission), pining after his ex-student turned best friend. In all actuality, Sakura hadn't been his student in over seven years…they had been friends far longer than they had been student and teacher.

The copy-nin grimaced at the thought of facing her. He was only about a mile outside of the Leaf, but he had been skipping stones in a lake for the last two hours. He couldn't help but imagine a sign hanging around his neck reading "Hatake Kakashi: pervert & coward".

Perhaps he was completely overreacting to the entire situation. He might come home to find that Sakura didn't care that he left, although that possibility made his stomach twist in another way entirely. He was unsure of Sakura's feelings for him, although an unacknowledged part of his brain liked to believe that maybe she held a candle for him. After all, she was always the one to initiate contact, and she had seemed rather jealous after that night in the pub.

Throwing the last rock in his hand as far as he could out into the lake, Kakashi gathered up his pack and turned towards the Leaf. He was going to have to face her sooner or later, and honestly, sooner sounded a lot better. He'd missed her.

Sakura had been surprised to find herself crying a week after Kakashi's sudden absence. She had shown up on his doorstep after four days (having assumed he would be home by then), with a box of donuts and a bag of treats for the dogs. He hadn't been home.

Sakura frowned into her bowl of soup. It was day thirteen of his continued absence, and his thoughtlessness grated on her nerves like nails on a chalkboard. This behavior was so out of the blue and yet so Kakashi all at the same time. She just couldn't understand why he would take off without saying anything, he had to know how much it would upset her, how much it did upset her…

"Excuse me, earth to Forehead," Ino's voice disrupted Sakura's thoughts, as it so often seemed to do. "You're staring at your soup like it murdered your firstborn. Care to share?"

Making what was probably a useless attempt to control her expression (Kakashi always said she wore her heart on her sleeve), Sakura raised her eyes to look at Ino. "Nah, I'm just in a bad mood is all, rough day at work."

"Oh, please, Sakura." The blonde rolled her eyes and flipped her ponytail off of her exposed shoulder. "I know your 'bad-work-day-face' and this isn't it. You're pissed about something…what is it? Did Naruto put his foot in it again? Or Sai? Kakashi? This isn't about Sasuke is it?"

Latching onto the lie, Sakura sighed. "Yeah, it's about…Sasuke, I guess. I just can't believe he had the balls to propose to me after having virtually no contact with me for so long. He has barely spoken to me since then, but I think he's still expecting me to run to him and tell him yes. I hope everyone doesn't see me as the pathetic piece of garbage that he does."

There. All of that was the truth. It wasn't the reason she was glaring daggers into her dinner, but none of what she said was a lie.

Ino quirked an eyebrow, but didn't press the matter further. Instead, she simply said: "Sasuke is an arrogant dumbass who doesn't realize how much you've grown. He still sees you as the weak twelve-year old who would've done anything for a chance with him. He's an egotistical moron."

The medic chuckled, her friend's scathing review of her ex was enough to boost her sour mood a bit…at least enough to eat her soup instead of punishing it with her withering gaze. "Thanks, Ino. You're right. It was just…extremely unexpected."

"You just need to get yourself a new boyfriend, really show him that you're not interested, you know? That'll do it," a wicked smile colored Ino's expression. "I could set you up with someone, you know. I know a few guys who would definitely be interested in going on a date with Konoha's gorgeous top-medic."

Sakura snorted. "Thanks, Ino, but I can't say I'm particularly interested in being set-up with the men you've decided to be not good enough for yourself."

Ino picked an invisible hair out of her food, grimacing at it before flicking it off of her finger onto the floor. "Believe it or not, I know a few men that I haven't actually dated. Some of them were too, I don't know, bookish for me. The broody, intellectual type isn't really my thing."

"Still, I don't know Ino…maybe provoking Sasuke's anger isn't the best idea." Sakura stirred her soup idly, her appetite suddenly shrinking as she imagined herself on a date with one of Ino's bookish boys. "You know how his temper is."

A frown marred Ino's perfect features. "Since when have you been afraid of Sasuke's temper? You can't honestly expect me to believe that, unless – wait a minute! Haruno Sakura, are you already seeing someone?"

"W-what?" Sakura's soup went down the proverbial wrong pipe as she choked out the question. "No! Don't you think you'd be the first to know if I was?"

Ino would most certainly not be the first one to know if Sakura was in a relationship, as the blonde was notorious for a mouth even bigger than Naruto's. But Ino didn't need to know that. Sakura deemed her lie necessary for the continuation of her good health.

"I think you're lying," Ino narrowed her eyes, "but I won't push you, for now at least."

"Thank you." Sakura brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear, noting how long it had gotten over the past few months. She wasn't struck with the urge to cut it as she so usually was.

"However, to make up for your obvious deceit, you will be accompanying me shopping and then to the movies, and there is nothing you can say or do to get out of it," Ino turned her nose up, pulling out her wallet to pay her part of the bill. "Since I know you don't have a mission today and you don't have a significant other to get home to."

"Fine," Sakura sighed, only a little put out that going home to pout would be put off for a few more hours.

Kakashi walked into the village to a cold greeting. The gate guards nodded at him and offered friendly waves, but there was no one else to be seen. It was the middle of the day and extremely hot out, and most people were hidden away in their homes, avoiding the heat. Feeling the heat himself, Kakashi decided to head home to shower and change before he went to find Sakura. If he went to find Sakura. He still had no idea what he should do.

Would she be too mad to even speak to him? Would she be mad at all? He somberly turned over the possibility that he might have ruined something permanently as he trudged home with weary steps. Perhaps it was all for the better, he wasn't exactly an ideal friend. He was quiet, he was lonely, he read all the time, he wasn't much of a conversationalist.

Kakashi hadn't felt this crappy about himself in years. The guilt of running away from her unannounced had begun to outweigh the guilt of his feelings for her. Overall, he felt like a pathetic, guilt-ridden mess of a man. If only she wasn't so damn beautiful, or smart, or funny, or perfect…

The copy-nin smacked himself on the forehead hard enough that the metal of his headband stung his hand. That line of thinking would get him nowhere fast. He was home now. He would find Sakura and be glad to see her, as he would be glad to see Naruto, Sai, and Genma. Nothing more, nothing less.

Kicking his shoes off at his front door, Kakashi haphazardly bit his thumb and summoned Pakkun, as he so often did upon returning home from a mission.

"Sup, Boss?" the ninken jumped up on Kakashi's leg, nudging at his hand to encourage then man to pet him.

"Hey, Pakkun," Kakashi sighed, immediately regretting his decision. If anyone could see right through him, it was Pakkun. Damned animal instincts.

As if on cue, Pakkun began sniffing him more intently. "Hey…whatsamatter, Boss? Ain't ya happy to be back home? Did something happen on your mission?"

"No," the silver-haired man rubbed his face wearily, pulling down his mask to scratch his chin. "I just did something stupid before I left, that's all."

Pakken made a sound that sounded startlingly like a human snort. "Lemme guess, did it have to do with our most lovely Sakura-chan?"

Kakashi scowled at the knowing look on the pug's smug little face. Damn him. "I just didn't tell her I was going. I'm worried she might be mad at me."

"Sakura, the girl who's practically famous for her temper?" Pakkun questioned, hoping lightly on to the couch and settling down on a worn-out pillow. "Yeah, I'd say you're in trouble. Sorry, Boss. Why'd ya go and leave without tellin' her?"

"I thought I needed some…space," Kakashi sighed, unsure of how much to disclose to his dog, although he was sure Pakkun had already made his assumptions. "Turns out, I didn't."

"She's not gonna let you push her away, Kakashi. Sakura's not that kinda girl. Plus, the rest of the ninken will have your head if you do manage to get rid of her," Pakkun curled up lazily among his pillows. "I'd venture to say they love her almost more than you do."

Kakashi choked on the air he was breathing. "Wait a second, I don't – I mean it's not like – I'm not – "

"Save it, Boss," Pakkun closed his eyes, effectively ending the conversation. "You have your opinion, I have mine."

Kakashi stood, mouth hanging open, staring at the now sleeping pug in disbelief. He didn't love Sakura, that's not what this was…right? This was just a crush…a wildly inappropriate crush on a pretty girl far too young for him. He hadn't even considered love – he refused to consider it. That's not what this was and that was that.

Making his way to the shower and suddenly feeling a bit more lost than he ever thought possible, Kakashi began to dread the moment he would come face to face with his Sakura-chan.

There was a light on in his living room.

Sakura had started taking the long way home at some point during the last two weeks – the long way that led her right past Kakashi's crooked little townhouse in a surprisingly civilian part of town. She refused to call it stalking, she was just…checking up on things. She frequently watered the plants on his front porch, as he usually requested her to do when he was away (although this time he hadn't, for obvious reasons). She had bought him those plants earlier that spring, and it made her glad that he had actually made an effort to keep them alive. Well, until he bailed without saying anything, that is. If she hadn't been stopping by to water them, the intense late summer heat would have killed them. She was still angry about that.

Now she stood, blue watering can in hand, unsure of whether she wanted to burst into his home all flailing limbs and harsh words, or turn around right there and go cry into her pillow at home.

Steeling her resolve, Sakura stomped her way up his porch steps, setting her mind to scold the bastard for taking off on her. To say that she had some abandonment issues was an understatement…Sasuke had made sure of that. Kakashi knew that, too, and so his thoughtlessness hurt even more. He knew better and that made his small betrayal sting all the more.

Tossing the watering can onto the porch and slamming open his front door, which wasn't locked, (it never was), so hard she surely left a dent in his wall, she called out, "Kakashi-bastard!"

The man in question stepped out from around the corner…and nearly caused Sakura to trip over her own angry feet in shock.

His hair was so wet it was stuck to his forehead, dripping water all over the floor. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and a hand held up covering the bottom half of his face where his mask should have been. He scrunched his eyes shut in what appeared to be a very tense smile. "Ah, Sakura-chan."

Sakura spluttered. "Sakura-chan? Is that all you have to say for yourself? You were gone for two weeks and you didn't even tell me! And maybe…maybe it's wrong for me to be mad about that, but damn it I'm mad! How would you feel if I did that to you, hmm? I had half a mind to accept the two-month mission Tsunade-sama offered me a few days after you left, you know!" That last bit had been a devious lie, but Sakura was desperate to see what kind of reaction her words would have on the man – if any.

She was not entirely disappointed.

A flash of something crossed his expression, darkening his features just a bit. "Two months?"

Sakura swallowed, willing herself not to be distracted by the very attractive, very half-naked man before her. No amount of medical related nudity could have prepared her to deal with this. "See, I don't do that to my friends. I wouldn't even go on a half-day mission without telling you." She turned away then, half to hide her tears and half to get him out of her sight. She couldn't think straight with him standing there…dripping like that.

"Sakura…" she heard him say, voice strained.

"What?" she laced the word with as much venom as she could, surprising herself with her own anger. She turned just in time to see him drop his hand from his face to push the wet hair from his brow.

Sakura did what came naturally. Her hands immediately flew up to cover her eyes and a startled squeak that she was so not proud of escaped her lips. "What the hell, Kakashi! I was not ready for that, you jerk!"

The man had the audacity to chuckle then, and Sakura growled in the back of her throat.

"Sakura, I'm standing here in a towel and you're covering your eyes because I had the audacity to show you my face?"

"You can't just spring it on me like that! I've been waiting for years and I just can't believe that you chose this moment to – "

"Just open your eyes, Sakura," she heard Kakashi sigh. "Think how jealous Naruto will be."

A fair point, Sakura conceded, and so as carefully and as slowly as she could muster, Sakura cracked her eyes back open.

In the short period that she had had her eyes closed, Kakashi had somehow managed to change into a plain black t-shirt and a pair of loose fitting grey sweatpants. He had also towel-dried his hair a bit, causing it to stick up wildly in a hundred different directions. She focused on all of this before she allowed her gaze to wander to his unhidden face. He hadn't put his mask back on.

He was handsome in a pretty sort of way. Quite honestly, he looked a lot like Sakura had pictured that he would. His features were a bit delicate, not quite feminine… a little harsher than that. When Kakashi opened his mouth to blow out a breath, Sakura noticed that his canine teeth were very pointy, almost like Kiba's, but not quite as pronounced. His left cheek had a dimple.

All-in-all, he looked extremely young. Maybe it was the wet hair, but if Sakura had to judge him on appearance alone, she would have guess him in his mid to late twenties, but no older. The only give away was his eyes – they implied an age much older than his thirty-one years.

"Why?" Sakura barely managed to choke out the word. The single syllable held so much meaning, and they both knew it. She was asking why he had shown her his face, why he hadn't told her he was leaving, and why he hadn't come to see her the moment he got back to explain himself.

Kakashi shrugged, leaning up against the wall and hesitantly making eye-contact. He was obviously nervous to have his face on display. Sakura tried to ignore the part where that was adorable. "I figured it was time you saw my face, I also figured giving you something to lord over Naruto might help make up for the asshole I've been to you."

Sakura fought the smile rising to her lips. Rolling her eyes, she gave into the desire to send a lopsided grin at the now mask-less man standing in front of her. "Does this mean you'll leave your mask off every time I come over now?"

The look of relief on Kakashi's face was clear. "You're still going to come over?"

Sakura scoffed at him, making her way to his kitchen to keep from openly staring at him for too long. No need to make a total fool of herself. "Of course I am. You're not getting rid of me that easily, Hatake," she raised a spatula from his counter and pointed it at him threateningly. "Now sit on your couch while I make some tea and you can tell me all about this two-week long mission to Suna."

Sakura got up to leave around two in the morning. Kakashi was a little disappointed when she didn't fall asleep on his couch, but tried to not let it show as she stood and stretched, mumbling something about cereal and bed. That girl sure as hell loved her cereal. Such a cute little weirdo…

Sakura left him with a pretty smile, a little wave, and a gentle brush of his arm that left his skin tingling as though he had been burnt. The front door clicked shut quietly behind her, and Kakashi was painfully aware of her absence the moment she was out of the door. He sighed gently, reveling in the feeling of the air moving past his lips unencumbered by his mask. He had gotten into the habit of wearing it even when he was home alone, and so having had it off for so many hours had begun to feel strange.

A loud knock on the door startled the ninken lying all around his living room. Bull threw Pakkun off of his head in his great hurry to stand and the poor little pug flew into the side of the couch.

"Good to know that I have guard dogs, always on alert," Kakashi grumbled at them as a whole, irritated to be answering his door so late at night. Sakura probably wouldn't have knocked, so he was almost sure that it wasn't her. He was debating not answering when a second, more urgent knock sounded. Rolling his eyes and grabbing his mask from the counter-top, Kakashi made his way to the door and pulled it open grumpily. He had just returned from a two-week mission, after-all.

He was surprised to find a very irritable Shikamaru, and a nearly equally irritated Sakura trailing a few feet behind him.

"The Hokage needs to see you," Shikamaru cleared his throat, exhaustion clear in his tone. "Both of you."

"And this can't possibly wait for the morning?" Kakashi didn't even try to hide the pout in his voice. Sakura clearly picked up on it if her snort was anything to go by.

Shikamaru frowned. "I'd like to think you know me well enough to know that I wouldn't be here if it could. Mission business, you know."

"Come on, Kakashi," Sakura motioned for him to come out onto the porch, and he obliged begrudgingly. "Tsunade wouldn't call you out hours after you getting home if it wasn't something important."

Kakashi held a hand out in front of him, sighing dramtically. "Alright, lead the way, you two."

Tsunade was looking rough, and that was putting it nicely. She looked exhausted, even her henge wasn't helping to keep the tired look out of her eyes. Papers were stacked high on either side of her desk, and her poor potted plants looked nearly as wilted as she did. Sakura frowned.

"Ah, thank you for getting these two for me, Shikamaru," Tsunade stifled a yawn. "Go ahead and go home, you've been here long enough today."

The Nara left with a slight bow and mumbled: "I only had to go ten feet from one to find the other," as he quickly passed through the door and out into the hall. Sakura couldn't help but deepen her frown when Shikamaru walked passed her, bringing with him the distinct scent of cigarette smoke. He had told her that the patches had been working and he'd quit. Liar.

"I apologize for the late visit from Shikamaru, especially to you, Kakashi, I know you just got home," the Hokage stood behind her desk and stretched her arms out. "I need to send you two out on a mission."

"What? Right now?" Sakura tried to keep the pout from her voice. "What about Kakashi? He hasn't even gotten to sleep yet."

Tsunade quirked an eyebrow at that comment and Sakura felt her cheeks redden. If Tsunade hadn't known that they had been together at two in the morning, she probably did now. Not that they were doing anything, but…it certainly at least implied something.

Luckily, the Hokage was either too tired or too irritable to mention it. "Yes, right now, unfortunately. You're going back to Wave. The young lady you two escorted a few weeks ago, Mami, has been kidnapped from her home. We just received an emergency message from her mother, specifically requesting the two of you for help."

Sakura's heart sank. She felt so terrible for that poor, frail girl she had met. She couldn't imagine what anyone would want from her…although there had been that vague comment about the bandits 'wanting what was inside of her.' "What could they possibly want with Mami? Did the mother say or give any indication that she had an idea?"

The Godaime shook her head solemnly. "No, but I assume the mother is most likely hiding something. It strikes me as odd that there was a kidnapping attempt made when the two of you were escorting her, and not more than a month or so later, a successful attempt was made. There is clearly something fishy going on here."

"Right." Kakashi nodded. "So, we leave for Wave as soon as possible?"

"Yes," Tsunade plopped back into her chair without ceremony. "Go get yourselves packed as quickly as possible and have Sakura give you a soldier pill. How's your chakra level?"

Sakura didn't answer, as the question was clearly directed to Kakashi. He was notorious for overusing chakra on missions and she herself was notorious for her insane ability to conserve and control chakra. She was kind of a badass, if she did say so herself.

"It's fine," Kakashi confirmed, popping his knuckles. "It's not as good as it could be, but nothing I can't deal with. The last few days in Suna were spent mostly helping with tactics and strategy so I only really spent chakra on the run home."

A rare, kind smile lit Tsunade's lips. "Good. Now you two get out of here, get ready, and go. Don't bother reporting back here before you leave, I'll have the gate guards confirm your departure time."

"Yes, Shishou," Sakura bowed slightly, turning to go and locking eyes with Kakashi. There was a grim set to his face. It was clear that neither of them had a good feeling about this.

* Heya, kids. Bet you thought I'd never update this. GUESS AGAIN.

** That's right, I'm back at it. Don't know how fast I'll be able to update, but I'm going to do my best here. I just started school back up for the semester, so what better time to get back into writing! …right? RIGHT?

*** Anyway, hopefully this chapter was tolerable. Honestly, not my favorite, and not as long as I would have liked, but I wanted to get something posted for you. I'll do my best to make the next chapter longer.

**** Is anyone even still reading this? xD

***** If so, please drop me a review and let me know what you think and if you're looking forward to the rest!

****** If you've stuck with this story, thank you! You guys are great and your reviews and comments really keep me going. Love you all! 3