I don't own anything Naruto.
…
"OI!" the loud, rough voice called out over the bustling crowd of early morning shoppers. "KAKA-SENSEI!"
The older jounin sighed, not bothering to look up from the worn pages of his book. Continuing his pace, Kakashi fought the urge to disappear into the crowd and allowed Naruto to flash at his side. The powerful young man bright smile beamed with the already hot sun and his hands entwined to rest on the top of his head as he fell into step with his old teacher.
"Naruto," he addressed with a small grin, but his attention never strayed from the book that blocked his line of sight. It used to intrigue the young genin that he had never tripped on anything, then annoyed them, but now they barely noticed it. "You are up rather early. I don't think the ramen stand is even open."
The future hokage scoffed, not recognizing Kakashi's sarcasm. "Tell me about it. Maybe when I have more pull around here I can talk them into a breakfast menu."
"Your abundant business should be influence enough."
His whiskered face twisted in confusion. "What?"
"Nothing." Kakashi smiled again.
Side-stepping a rowdy child running past, Naruto's attention was brought back to the true subject. "Oh, you haven't seen three little hellions around here, have you?"
His silver brows rose as he turned the page. "Your team, I take it?"
"Yeah," he all but growled in response. "I know we weren't this awful for you."
Jokingly, the taller man cleared his throat. "You say that like you three still don't give me endless grief."
"Oi! You like having us around."
"Which, apparently, you can't say the same for your team."
The young man groaned, which was easier to hear as they left the marketplace to venture through the narrow alleyways of the Hidden Leaf. "Was teaching this difficult for you?"
His answering shrug lifted the weighted jounin vest in his reply. "They say the only true measure of your performance as a teacher is how well your students do in the same role."
"But Sasuke threatened to kill them and I was late for our first arranged meeting… Oh…" Clarity struck Naruto. "Maybe they are right."
Unamused, he glowered into the pages. "Perhaps the quality of the students should be taken into greater consideration."
"In that case," the blonde jounin sulked, "I'm doomed. At least Sasuke got Hinata-chan's sister."
To this, Kakashi's dark eyes finally lifted from the printed words to glance towards the other nin. He remembered being assigned Sasuke because of the optical power they shared. Perhaps Tsunade was thinking along the same lines when she gave the Uchiha a Hyuuga prodigy. Regardless, this was probably not going over well at the girl's compound, since their negative stance on Sasuke's reintegration into Konoha was well known.
"Sakura showed us the bells," Naruto suddenly said seriously.
The book snapped closed and found its place in the silver-haired man's pouch. He waited for the shinobi to continue his thought, but the next few paces remained quiet between them.
And then, he smiled so wide dimples formed between his whiskered markings. "She is going to be a great teacher."
Kakashi grinned back. "She already performed the Bell Test."
"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed. "That was yesterday, huh? Did you go watch?"
With a nod, he shoved his calloused hands deep into his pockets and lamented the sticky heat of the abnormally warm summer.
"Aaannnnd?" the vibrant man bated, and Kakashi could still see the twelve-year old boy in his eyes.
"Sakura passed them. That is what matters," he answered simply, earning a frown from Naruto.
"But, what are they like? I hear," his large hands fidgeted. "I hear that they cause a lot of trouble."
The Hokage Tower only stood a few meters away and he could tell from the chakra signatures inside that Sakura was among those receiving missions for the day. Her last D-Rank assignment was probably his last one as well when they were children, though he could not remember what is was. She was going to hate it, but all her other skills aside, she was a master of perseverance. The corner of his mouth curled without him knowing exactly why when he brought his attention back to Naruto and thought about all she had to cope with in her younger years because of her teammates. "I am pretty sure it is not anything she cannot handle."
.
Sakura bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, anxious for her team's first assignment, and slightly impatient with her shishou's unorganized delay. Tsunade lifted a pile of papers and swore under her breath as she searched for the mission scroll to be delegated out to the younger medic's genin. The open windows allowed whatever air could drift in, but the heat wave stifled even the strongest breezes and the effect agitated the already unstable leader.
"SHIZUNE!" the Slug Princess screamed, and all three children jumped at the strength of her voice. "Why is nothing ever where I put it!?"
"That's the problem, Tsunade-sama," her lifelong retainer and friend countered as she resumed the search. "Everything is exactly where you leave it."
The blonde's red lips pursed. "Perhaps I just need better help around here."
Shizine rolled her eyes, Manami chuckled, and Sakura gave the young girl a none-to-gentle pop to the back of her head.
Finally, the thin scroll was found and Tsunade relayed the team's mission; D-Rank, within Konoha's limits, and outside. The gardening they were tasked for the afternoon was highly anti-climatic, but, remembering how sharp Fire Nation cats' claws could get, Sakura was grateful at least it was animal-free.
"Alright," the Hokage finished while wiping sweat from her forehead. "Are there any questions?"
"Yeah," Manami began, and Sakura felt her limbs go numb. She had ordered them not to say anything. "Why do you have Sakura-sensei's forehead diamond thing?"
The master medic's irked expression wrinkled her brow. "I don't. She has mine."
Tarou questioned, "What does it do?"
"It stores up chakra in the guise of a henge." Her polished blonde eyebrow twitched as she casted a bothered look towards her old student, who felt the situation quickly spiraling out of control.
"Oh," Tarou figured. "So you don't really look like that."
"What's different?" Shou finally spoke.
"I bet she isn't a blond," Manami criticized, crossing her arms.
Sakura heard the familiar sound of a sake dish crumble in her shishou's hand.
The genin, however, were not conditioned for this noise, and Tarou continued to assess the henge's use. "It has to be an age thing."
Shou chuckled and jabbed an elbow in the perverted teammate's rib. "No, it's got to be the boobs, huh?"
A vein began to pulse in the Hokage's temple and she stood up, gritting her teeth, when the oblivious icy girl scoffed. "Of course not, Baka. If that were the case, then Sakura-sensei would have some too."
Shizune instinctively backed herself into a quiet corner as both ferociously strong, and famously short-tempered, medics glowered at the young team.
Immediately after saying his farewell to Naruto, Kakashi felt a spike of familiar chakra from the building behind him and, when the following crash echoed out the Hokage's open windows, he quickly retreated hiding deeper into his book. He was not sure what had caused the outburst, but the man knew he did not want to be involved in any way.
.
Sakura slumped in the hard chair at her old team's favored bar and the grime from her day remained caked in random patches over her normally immaculate uniform. Her knees were dirty, which was normal for any farming mission, but the smudged circles at her temples from massaging away several headaches was not. The owner knew his patrons well and set down an unrequested, but welcomed, second carafe of sake right when the first was finished greedily.
"Rough day, Sakura-sensei?"
She scowled Kakashi's way, but didn't have the energy tease back. "This must have been absolute torture for you."
"Oh?" He leaned deep into the bar's seat, crossing his arms and feigning interested in the selection lining the wall.
"If I get this annoyed at having to do D-Rank missions, then you must have wanted to pull out your hair."
He laughed, and the deep timbre of his amusement lolled her temper, slightly. "Well, you are a much better teacher than me."
Exasperated all over again, she rolled her eyes. "You know, Kakashi, the only person who thought you were a bad sensei was you."
His face remained forward, but eyes darted her way. They remained silent, staring at the other companionably, until Sakura snorted and took another sip of sake. Wordlessly, she offered him a drink by lifting the small jug his way. Once he gave her a nonchalant nod in response, Sakura leaned over the bar to grab a second cup and poured out a healthy helping for both of them.
She went back to her own glass and looked into space, her eyes glazing over as she thought about her team and the disaster that was their first mission. The silence was broken as she began ranting to her silent drinking partner. They did not cooperate with each other. Manami and Shou purposefully fought. Tarou bullied the client's child. They were all restless with the easy mission, but inexperienced for anything more, and barely even completed it. Sakura groaned after several minutes and hung her head, only then realizing Kakashi had not responded in any way. Curious, she turned back towards him. His sake was still untouched and he was regarding her with a narrowed, curious gaze.
She swallowed more of the dry, sweet liquid. "What?"
"I thought you were offering a drink to try to see under my mask."
Her green eyes widened and they once again stared at the other. Then, she smiled. And her lips began to quiver. And the next moment, she could not stop laughing. His shoulders hung low as hers shook. The crestfallen expression in his uncovered eyes furrowed his brow with the unrelenting, and accusatory, glare.
"I'm sorry!" She tried to explain between giggles, waving her hands in the air. "No, I'm sorry," but she laughed again and he was clearly starting to get angry. "It's just, I haven't thought about that in such a long time."
"This game is no fun if you three aren't interested."
Sakura took in a deep breath to catch hers. "We know a lost cause when we see one."
"I'm a lost cause, now?"
"We are convinced your face is just a mask, some ninja henge technique gone wrong."
"There was once a time you respected me."
"Well, Kaka-sens- ur – Kakashi, if it will make you feel better, maybe after a couple more pours I can get underneath your underne- …oh…"
He leaned forward. The girl's flirting technique gone wrong shocked away any irritation he was feeling and he grinned at her blush. She turned away, deeply embarrassed, and the heat in her cheeks began to rise to anger when the laid-back man started laughing. Suddenly very annoyed, Sakura shot a deadly look his way to notice that his sake was gone and he was looking rather pleased with himself.
Her anger quelled and she sighed instead. She didn't know when their friendship took on the flirting quality, but the innocent fun made him seem more accessible her feel more mature. They were always friends, but now she felt more on his level personally.
"Another?" she asked with a coy tilt to her voice.
Kakashi crinkled his exposed eyes in an innocent smile. "Please."
…
A/N: It's KakaSaku week and I am loving it. The sun is finally shining in Oregon, but I can't get off tumblr.
YESIHAVETUMBLRDON'TJUDGEME #kakasaku #shameless fangirl #i'll go down with this ship #murdoch