Edited: 7/25/2006
Title: A Reason To Love You
Summary: Sakura's in denial over her feelings for her ex-sensei, and when he leaves on a mission, she's left to ponder quietly on her problems. But when Kakashi comes back with a surprise, Sakura may just have a chance….
Kaka/Saku
(PS: I messed up on the ages for the first chapter. Please Ignore The Ages at the First Chapter)
Ages:
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura: 18
Kakashi: 20
Chapter 5: It's Just A Date
" OOOh…green tea moichi…." A voice grumbled under the kunai printed bed sheets. Suddenly the lump shot up, and shook the covers off.
Sakura blinked sleepily at her shuriken clock, " Eh…..Only 10…" She slumped back onto her pillow.
……………………
Moments later, the mussed up pink haired woman fell out of her bed.
" I can't go back to sleep!" She whined, and picked herself off the ground, tidied up her bed and headed to the bathroom grumbling unintelligible things under her breath.
About ten minutes later, Sakura was pouring some green tea into her cup when the doorbell rang. She got up and headed to her door and opened it.
" Wh- oh hi.." Sakura trailed off when she found herself face to face with a familiar blue haired chuunin.
" Morning, Sakura-san, I hope I'm not too early," It was Koichi Sumita.
Damned politeness!
" Oh, erm. Morning Koichi-san, I'm fine….really. So, come in!" Sakura pushed the door wider to let her guest in.
He bowed slightly and walked into Sakura's cozy apartment. Koichi made his way over to the couch and sat down. Sakura looked down at her wear and found out she was still wearing her pajamas.
" Ehh, Koichi-san, I think….I should go change, yah….be right back.." Sakura dashed off to her room and slammed the door shut. A few moments later, Sakura came out, wearing a pair of dark blue cargos and a white tee shirt.
" Want some tea?"
The blue haired chuunin shook his head, " No thank you, I'm just here to ask a small favor."
Sakura sat down on the couch opposite of Koichi's and raised an eyebrow, " Ask away."
" I was wondering if I could treat you for dinner tonight. Call it…. my way of congratulating you on passing your jounin exams."
The pink haired girl stared at the smiling man; " It's alright, besides I passed the exam a few weeks ago!"
Koichi's ever-present smile became slightly wider, " I insist, I've been on several missions after the exams, and I never got the chance to personally congratulate you."
Sakura's emerald left eye twitched slightly, " Err.."
Much to her relief, Koichi added, " I'll leave you alone after our dinner, Sakura-san. I know I must be a bothersome to you."
Yeah, no kidding.
" oh…….alright. I guess."
Koichi smiled wider (A/N: Is that even possible?), " Then we'll meet up in front of your apartment at four fifty pm."
Sakura raised an eyebrow, " Isn't that a bit early for dinner?"
" The restaurant we're going is…considered famous, so it'll be hard to get a seat. Ah yes, just wear something casual, all right? "
" I see…"
Koichi stood up and bowed, " See you tonight, Sakura-san."
Sakura sweat dropped and walked Koichi to the door.
The moment Koichi left, Sakura closed the door and locked it, heaving an exasperated sigh.
Grumbling nonsense under her breath, Sakura continued to drink her tea.
DING DONG!
Sakura glared at the door, wishing it would burn.
She stomped over to the door and threw it open, " Who the hell- Oh. It's you."
Kakashi was leaning against the doorframe with a smirk underneath his mask. He was wearing his usual jounin outfit, but Sakura could tell he had to go and request a smaller size of his green vest. Ha, shorty.
" Yo."
" Yo to yourself." Sakura deadpanned and trudged back to her spot on the couch and continued to sip her tea.
" What pissed you off? The guy who just left your apartment?" Kakashi's visible eye was arced in an anime smile.
Sakura peered over the rim of her cup, " Yeah. Him."
" So…what did he want?" Kakashi plopped unceremoniously on her couch.
" He wanted to treat me dinner. His way of congratulating me on passing the exams, or so he said." Kakashi's eye narrowed at this.
" Oh. So did you accept?"
Sakura looked at the silver haired jounin, and said with a smirk " Since when you're so interested in my personal life?"
Kakashi blinked, " I'm not. I'm just…"
" I accepted. It's just to get him off my back." The silver haired jounin's eye kept on staring at Sakura, making her fidget in her seat.
" Where're you going to eat?"
" Uhh….I'm not sure, Koichi-san said something about a famous restaurant."
Kakashi's stare became a cold glare, and Sakura could almost feel the temperature in the room dropped ever so slightly.
" Oh I see. Well, I should get going." He stood up and walked briskly to the door. Sakura placed her cup on table and shot up.
" Kakashi, wait!"
Said jounin stopped in front of the door. Sakura stood behind him, and muttered, " Why are you acting like this?"
Kakashi remained silent, before saying, " What? Just go, you've already accepted. Besides," He turned around facing Sakura, staring coldly at her, making her flinch.
" He probably has a lot of money, so just…..enjoy it, alright?" Kakashi didn't bother to wait Sakura to answer, unlocked the door and left, leaving a mouth agape Sakura standing there.
" What the…..KAKASHI! YOU DUMBASS!"
Sakura cursed and slammed the door shut. Never did she think that Kakashi, out of all the people, would be JEALOUS.
Grumbling under her breath, she plopped on the couch again. " Urgh…work……."
--
Kakashi leaned against the wall of Sakura's apartment, sighing.
" What the hell did I just say up there?"
" Mister?" The silver haired jounin looked down, and saw a young boy around six with messy dark brown hair. " Hm?"
" Can I ask you a question?" Kakashi kneeled so he was facing the boy.
" Sure, squirt."
The boy blinked innocently at him, " Do you love Sakura-san?"
The Copy-nin blinked several times, " Eh?"
" Well, I see you and her always together in the mornings, and you always seemed happy….urmm……" The boy trailed off, fidgeting, and wondering if asking the jounin this was safe for him.
Kakashi continued to stare at the boy before chuckling and patted his left shoulder, " Kid, love's a complicated thing."
The boy stared up at Kakashi and grinned, " Oh. Then, bye mister!" Waving, the boy bolted off.
Staring after the boy, Kakashi frowned mentally, Do I love her?
--
" BASTARD!"
" ………."
" WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
" I never said anything, idiot." Sasuke deadpanned as he and the loud blond sat underneath a maple tree in the forests near Konoha. Dozens of kunai and shuriken were scattered around the two.
" You were gonna say something!"
" Prove it."
" GRR……." Naruto pouted, folded his arms over his chest and glared at the clearing before them. Sasuke smirked.
" Hey….Sasuke, have you noticed Kaka-sensei and Sakura are…..almost always together in the mornings?" The blue eyed man asked a while later, breaking the silence.
The Uchiha, who had closed his eyes, opened them and glanced at the dobe, " Hm."
" They say that they're just doing morning training." Naruto continued. " Do you think they're-"
" Don't think so." Sasuke deadpanned. Naruto stared at him, and grinned.
" Ah, hey, another round?" Naruto held up a kunai and shot Sasuke a foxy grin. Sasuke smirked, " You're going down."
--
Fast Forward- 4:45
Sakura stood in front of her bedroom mirror, and sighed. She was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans, a black shirt with two small angel wings printed on the back. Something casual….har…
She stared at what she should pick which shoes and settled on the black shoes with a small sakura petal printed at the side of the shoes. She tied up her shoulder length hair in a loose ponytail, applied some lip-gloss and headed out.
Outside, stood Koichi Sumita, he was wearing black jeans, and a simple gray shirt. He smiled when Sakura appeared at the steps.
Yeah, really casual.
" Good afternoon, Sakura-san."
" Err.. Hi,"
They walked together to the restaurant that happened to be beside the dumplings stand where Sakura and Kakashi had once ate at.
Sakura frowned slightly, remembering that Kakashi was still angry and stormed out of her apartment this morning.
Both of them stopped in front a restaurant that was built in a Wave Country style, Sakura could tell from the rooftop, and having done some missions in Wave Country sometime ago.
" This restaurant just recently opened, but the food there is really good," Koichi said and led his…erm. Date to the door.
--
Kakashi prodded the steaming dumplings with his chopstick; he sat in the dumplings stand beside the restaurant where Sakura and Koichi were.
He sighed and pulled up his mask to reveal his lips, to eat the dumpling.
" AH! KAKASHI! MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" A shinobi clad in a green stretch suit bounced onto the seat across from Kakashi. He continued to chew thoughtfully, totally ignoring Gai's presence.
" Why are you doing here? You should be out! ENJOYING YOUR SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" Gai bellowed, earning shout of, " AH, shuddap you bowl-cut hair freak!" Said jounin ignored the shout.
Kakashi looked up lazily, " Hn? You said something?"
Gai grinned, his teeth sparkling, " Ah, caught up in your youthful mind!"
The silver haired jounin frowned, got out his Icha Icha and read, ignoring the rambling Gai.
" Hey you two," Both of them looked up, it was Asuma, Genma and Kurenai.
Gai shot his teeth sparkling grin at the three, earning him a few nervous chuckles.
Kakashi lazily muttered, " So much for a quiet dinner.." Genma grinned and sat next to the silver haired jounin, while Asuma and Kurenai took the two people seat behind them.
" Say, Kakashi, where's Sakura?" Genma asked, earning him a glare from the Copy-nin.
" …………….On a date."
Asuma who had just ordered a drink choked on the contents, Kurenai whacked on his back.
" Say WHAT?"
" On a date. With that chuunin she was against with in the exams." Kakashi replied, eye never leaving his book.
" Oh. Him. That polite guy."
Kurenai looked thoughtful, " Where're they eating at?"
The silver haired man stared at his friends, " The restaurant beside this stand."
Hearing this, Genma's eyes bugged out, " Geeze! He's rich!"
" Heard his parents are merchants. I think they're out at Thunder Country," Asuma muttered.
Genma grinned and elbowed Kakashi, " Heh, jealous?"
The jounin glared coldly at the senbon sucking man, " Hm."
" You should be, just take her out for dinner tomorrow!" Genma concluded and took a swig if his drink, " Oh yeah, I'm still taller than you." He burst into hysterical laughter, Kurenai and Asuma snorted into their drinks, Gai chuckled and Kakashi sighed.
So sad the truth is, he used to be the tallest of the bunch. Now he's the shortest. Damned age reversal jutsu.
" The lack of missions is getting to me, what's the Hokage doing? The Konoha Shinobis are on a low budget!" A pair of chuunins muttered at the bar, while Genma sighed.
" Bet Hokage-sama's out gambling.."
Kurenai snorted, " Flunking work?"
" That's something Tsunade-sama would do…."
--
Tsunade sneezed as she placed down her cards. The gamblers around her raised an eyebrow questionably at her.
--
The group of jounins looked thoughtful for a second and shrugged it off with a 'nah."
Meanwhile……
Sasuke and Naruto were eating ramen at Ichiraku's, Naruto was trying to hide back a snigger as Sasuke placed a spoonful of noodles in his mouth, biting down the spoon, a small habit of his. His eyes became saucer wide and spat out the noodles.
" Rubber spoon!" Sasuke glared at the now laughing hysterically blond.
" HAHAHAHAHAH!"
" I'LL KILL YOU! IDIOT!"
" So, Sakura-san, are you in a relationship now?" Koichi asked as he swallowed some cake. Sakura shook her head, and Koichi smiled, " Such a beautiful lady like you single?"
They were eating desert now, and Sakura was ever so happy that their dinner was coming to an end. She swore she would suffocate from the politeness radiating from Koichi.
Both of them soon finished the cake, the blue haired man paid and they headed out of the restaurant with filled stomachs.
" Shall I walk you home, Sakura-san?" Koichi asked, (still) smiling. The pink haired kunoichi shook her head, several loose strands of hair shaking.
" It's alright, I still have a few things to do before I retire for the night," Sakura gave a shaky smile. The man nodded and walked off, before saying softly, " Good-night, Sakura-san."
" Night, Koichi-san,"
Sakura continued to watch Koichi Sumita's disappearing back, before she sagged with relief.
Not that she really hated the man, but seriously, the politeness was getting to her. Who would remain sane with a person who's so damned polite? (A/N: Meh –frowns-)
The pink haired medic-nin suddenly had a strange urge to seek out her ex-mentor.
Hmmm….how strange. Sakura grinned slightly before heading to the memorial stone.
" Seriously, Kakashi, I don't understand how you can live without bonking like bunnies with woman for so long!" Genma slurred while trying to leaning onto Kakashi's shoulder for support. Several empty bottles of sake were in front of the man.
Kakashi glared at the jounin, while Asuma was snickering about Genma's comment.
" I mean, you have hots for pinky there, but you've been deprived of woman for months! If I were you, I'd die!"
The silver haired jounin looked disgruntled and Asuma laughed out. Kurenai chuckled.
Gai had left a few minutes ago, while showing his sparkling teeth to the customers, earning him some glares.
" Pinky?" Kakashi murmured, amused by Genma's nickname for Sakura. Genma grinned in a drunken way, " Yeaaaahh, I'm talking bout Sakura! Heeeeyy, look! There she goes!" He pointed weakly out, and indeed, Sakura was walking past the stands with her hands stuffed in her pockets.
Kakashi stood up, having finished his dumplings a while ago, and with a lazy smile, " Later." And walked out.
Asuma chuckled, " Looks like Genma's right for once,"
" Yeah, for once," Kurenai agreed. Genma glared weakly at the two.
Sakura whistled a happy tune as she made her way to the Memorial Stone. The whistles slowly died down, as she heard some feet shuffling behind her. Tensing up, her hand went to her shuriken holster.
" Relax, Sakura, it's just me." Came a lazy drawl. Sakura's shoulders sagged slightly, turning around to glare at the silver haired jounin, who had a lazy stare.
" Why, are you doing here?"
Kakashi shrugged as he walked in pace with Sakura, " Just finished up dinner,"
" Ah. I see…" Sakura glanced at Kakashi.
Isn't he supposed to be mad or brooding? Oh well.
" So, how did the dinner go?" Kakashi asked, when they were nearing the stone. Sakura shrugged, " It went………well. The politeness was getting to me, but it's all right I guess. He's a gentleman for sure." Sakura glanced slightly to the Copy-nin, who was blank faced, except for his eye. A mix of emotions is seen in his visible eye.
" Hn."
They remained silent when they arrived at the stone, sat down on the bench with a reasonable amount of space.
After a few minutes of silence, Sakura spoke up, " Kakashi?"
" Hm?"
" Can you take off your mask?"
" ……no."
Silence.
Sakura frowned mentally, even though it was mid May, the night was still a bit windy, and she didn't bring a wind jacket. She meekly glanced at the silver haired jounin. Her jaw nearly dropped when her emerald eyes met dark ones; she was caught staring at Kakashi. Or……she caught Kakashi staring at her? A slight blush graced her cheeks and she quickly averted her gaze.
Kakashi smiled, and both of them continued to sit in comfortable silence.
Sakura secretly grinned and stared at the stone, making out a few words.
Haruno Hiroshi
Haruno Yuriko
Dad…..mom……
She stole a glance at Kakashi, who also was staring at the memorial stone, looking for loved one's names.
I think I…..
I really do love you…….
No matter what the age…
A/N:
Oh yeah, lack of update. Hmm…….finished homework this week so I was kinda…crammed up. And school for just 9th graders starts next week, so I'll update once a week. Or twice. Depending on how fast the ideas come to me. Ha.
This has to be one of the hardest chapters to write………coz I absolutely had no idea what to write. Amen.
So! Criticism is highly welcomed, and point out anything that seems………weird to you in this chapter.
Note: Due to the classes I'm going to take next week, I won't able to update of all the tests…yeah.
So, don't kill me. Seriously.