DONT FORGET TO READ THE OTHER CHAPTERS FIRST!
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I'm back and posted them all simultaniously.
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Have fun ;)
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18. A little Mission to Cool Down
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ARRIVAL:
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They should leave at 8 a.m., Sakura had waited for 2 hours before the great copy-nin appeared.
He acted like nothing had happened.
"Ready to go?"
"Ehrm, if you're finally ready?" She raised a brow at him.
"Sure, let's go." And he sprinted off.
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They ran ninja-style through the tree-tops. Kakashi forced an enormous speed, it was too quick to talk and when they set up camp for the night they both were too tired to talk properly. She was glad for her homemade soldier pills, otherwise she couldn't keep up with his insane pace. It was clear he tried to finish this mission as fast as possible.
After a quick meal at campfire consisting of some heated up field rations and fresh brewed tea, Kakashi stood up. "I'll take first watch."
Sakura crawled into her bedroll and tried to sleep. Why was he that distant? Has she said or done something wrong?
The copy-nin woke her up at 2.a.m to take her watch, so he could sleep at least four hours himself.
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They had some crackers and coffee for breakfast before they continued to run their way to their destination. Just a few moments before Sakura would finally try to strangle him for his bone-breaking speed, he dashed down the branches and halted at the ground. The young kunoichi followed suit. "We arrived, the hotel is within sight." He stated.
"Great." Sakura braced her hands on her slight bent knees to breathe. She was at her limit. The urge to kill him decreased as her breathing began to slow down.
He gave her a friendly eye-crinkle. "Do you need a moment?"
Damn you! She glared daggers at him. "No."
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He signalled for her to go first and so she did.
They arrived at a huge building, it was a mix of modern and traditional Japanese structures and very appealing. Sakura led their way into a spacious lobby, there was a glass dome in the middle of the room and a reception on the opposite of the entry doors.
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"Good evening! What can I do for you?"
"Good evening! I'm Haruno Sakura and this is Hatake Kakashi, we're sent from the hokage to meet Kenmoto Habayashi. Is he here?"
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"I'm sorry Miss, he is out of office until tomorrow morning. We expected you to arrive not before tomorrow afternoon, I'm afraid we don't have your suite ready by now. Do you mind to stay the night in another room?"
Kakashi looked at the receptionist and crinkled his eye. "No problem."
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The woman behind the counter smiled. "Let me see… We have only one room ready, I'm sorry. It has two beds, a nice bathroom and a submontane view, but it's far from the luxury suite assigned to you."
"We don't mind."
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"Good. Welcome at the Kotoamatsukami! This are your keys to room 202, it's located on the second floor on the right wing and should be ready in 2o minutes. Just take a seat at the bar and have a drink, while we prepare your room. Of course it's on the house. The restaurant is over here and dinner starts at 7p.m., but you may take a shower first after your long travel. You could use room service too, if you're too tired to come down before 9. If you need anything, just call me. I'm here all night."
Did she really just bat her eyes at Kakashi?
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Wordless they sat down at the homey, inviting bar.
A nice-looking barkeeper in a black bottom down shirt with a white bow tie greeted them. "Welcome at the Kotoamatsukami! What do you want to drink?"
"A beer please, Sakura?"
"Oh, I take a Gin Tonic please!"
The friendly barkeeper prepared their drinks.
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Kakashi chuckled and shook his head.
"What?"
He barely looked at her. "A longdrink before dinner. Never knew you're fond of alcohol, that's all."
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"Says the one who ordered a beer." Sakura laughed.
In his sensei manner he responded "Beer is isotonic, you know."
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Their drinks were set in front of them. The blue eyed barkeeper smiled at them "Enjoy your holiday!" and left to serve the other guests.
Sakura smiled at the black haired waiter, then she turned to her companion. "Cheers."
The copy-nin crinkled his eye "Cheers, Sakura. Enjoy your holiday!"
"You too!"
He shook his head and chuckled before he took a sip of his beer.
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"What?"
"I've never been on such a strange mission before. You know it could be a trap!"
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"Calm down, it's just a nice farewell present from Tsunade. There won't be any danger. Could you please at least try to enjoy our stay?"
"I will." He took another sip and smiled at her with his eye.
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After their drink they both seemed calmer, but really tired. They went to their room
"Do you mind if I shower first?" Sakura asked.
"It's all yours." He plopped down on an arm chair next to the window and began to read one of his favourite novels.
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The pinkette enjoyed the hot water easing her sore muscles and washing away all the sweat. She felt new born as she came back into their room dressed in a champaign coloured nightgown with a towel wrapped around her head.
"I'm afraid I'm too tired to go downstairs. Are you hungry?"
"I'll take a quick shower and get us some food, ok?"
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"Take your time, I'll order something from the room service. What do you want?"
"I don't mind. I just want something warm and fresh. This field rations suck."
The young kunoichi had to laugh, as the copy-nin closed the bathroom door behind him she studied the menu card and phoned the reception.
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Kakashi came back only wearing loose fitting track pants and his tank top with a mask. He had a towel around his neck and tousled his wet hair with it occasionally.
"Room service will be here in a few."
There was a knock at the door, Kakashi opened it and took the food inside. They ate in silence before one after another went to brush the teeth.
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The excessive run took its toll and they crawled into bed far beyond tiredness.
As the two shinobi were lying in their cosy sheets, Sakura had to ask him, she couldn't stay quiet. "Sensei, you've been in ANBU right?"
He didn't respond.
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"I've seen your tattoo, Sensei."
"Hm." He grunted.
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"Besides you're an ANBU legend, you know? Many ninja idolize you for your great actions." She tried to soft-soap him.
"What do you want, Sakura? Be honest with me." Shit, of course he'd figure that out.
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"Ehrm, I thought maybe you've heard something about an ANBU named Tatsuo?"
He sighed and turned his back to her. "We should try to get some sleep, Sakura. It was a long travel"
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So he knows something indeed.
"I guess you're right. Goodnight Sensei!"
"Goodnight Sakura."
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DAY1:
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In the morning, they get dressed and went for breakfast. The restaurant turned out to be designed to grant every table enough privacy with alcoves, partitions and arbours. Its whole design emanated harmony and exclusiveness.
The waiter came up to them and told them that the hotel owner wanted to talk to them after their breakfast.
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"Hello Miss Haruno, Mister Hatake! Nice to meet you! My name is Kenmoto Habayashi, I am the owner and manager of Kotoamatsukami palace. Please take a seat."
They sat down, Habayashi behind his broad desk and the two ninja on the armchairs in front of it.
"Nice to meet you too! We're here to deliver a scroll from the hokage." Kakashi handed him the scroll.
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"Thank you. Please tell Tsunade-sama I hope she'll come again soon. You must know without her help this all would have never been possible. I'm deeply indebted to her."
He smiled friendly at them.
"Where are my manners? Do you want some tea or coffee?"
"No, thanks."
"Tea would be great." Sakura kicked the grumpy silver-haired jounin unobtrusively.
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The corpulent man poured them some tea.
"Tsunade said you need some time to relax before a hard mission, so here you are! We provide you a luxurious suite, full board residential and access to our wonderful spa area. As a special present I should hand you this envelope, open it yourself. Enjoy your weekend at our hotel!"
"Thank you so much!" Sakura smiled happily.
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"You're welcome! I'm glad to have two famous shinobi as my guests here."
"You're kidding, right?" Kakashi grunted.
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"No. Just one more thing: Please fill out an evaluation paper at the check-out. If you need something don't hesitate and let me know. Nozomi will lead you to your suite."
A beautiful girl showed them their way to their new abode.
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Kakashi opened the door. There was a small vestibule with a clothes hanger and a door to a small lavatory. Then there was a huge living room and an open transition to the bedroom.
"Nice!" Sakura said with mirth.
The silverhead stood in the middle of the living room and pointed at the bedroom. "Hm, there is no wall."
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"Yeah, but the question is where's the second bedroom?" The curious kunoichi wandered to the room and looked for another door.
"There is none." Kakashi shrugged.
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"What?" The pink-haired girl stopped in her tracks.
The legendary jounin chuckled and mumbled something like "Tsunade, are you fucking serious?"
He walked from the bed to the door on the left wall of the bedroom, before he addressed his companion. "Ehrm, Sakura, look what we have here!"
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"You found the bedroom?" Relief clearly audible in her voice.
"No." He chuckled amused as he opened the door.
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Sakura stepped into the bedroom and looked at him. "Oh my god… Please tell me that's a joke…"
"Nope."
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Sakura gaped at the wall to the left of the kingsize bed. It couldn't even be called a wall, it was nothing but a glass partition, separating the bedroom from the bathroom.
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She regained composure and tried to think positive. "Ok, at least the toilet is separated."
"Still happy with your holiday?" He raised a brow at her as he was leaning at the doorframe of the see-through wall.
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The young kunoichi smiled at him. "We can do this. We've joined a bed a few times before on missions, Sensei."
The tall jounin crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. "With Naruto and Sasuke in the other bed, yes."
Tsunade will pay for this!
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"Oh come on!" Sakura raised her hands in the air before she sat down on a sun-lounger at the balcony and opened the envelope from Tsunade.
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To my favourite apprentice and to my current best ninja in town,
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I want to thank you both for your duty for the village.
Take full three days to relax for your big mission. I have a surprise set for your second day there, you will see tomorrow.
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Enjoy your stay and unwind!
Signed by the hokage
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The silver-head leaned at the doorframe with his arms crossed.
"Good or bad content?"
"Actually a pretty good one. Read it yourself." She handed him the letter.
He hummed. Maybe it won't be so bad to unwind a little.
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"So what do you want to do today?" He asked her friendly.
"I'd love to go to the spa."
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"Hm, maybe I'll go there too. First I want to take a nap in the sun."
"You could do it there too, you know?" Sakura smiled at him.
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"I think I need some time alone." He stared into the distance.
Sakura nodded and gathered her things for the spa, then she left.
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Kakashi waited a bit before he went there himself. He watched out for her chakra, but the kunoichi avoided him too. They enjoyed the spa each one alone, seemingly both needed a little distance from the other after the intense last months.
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They had dinner together at the restaurant filled with nice and light conversations about their day and some stories of funny missions, like the weird ninja ostrich.
Suddenly a woman showed up and flirted with Kakashi right at their table, interrupting Sakura's story.
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry, but we met at the spa today." The brunette said condescendingly to Sakura, before she turned to Kakashi and continued in a flirty tone "Do you want to go for a drink later?"
To the pinkette's surprise he accepted the invitation. The young kunoichi stood up and left the scene without a word. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the pushy woman taking her seat.
Furious she went to their room alone and banged the door shut.
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As the copy-nin returned it was late at night, Sakura was sleeping on the bed completely sprawled over. He decided to better sleep on the floor.