AN: sorry about the wait. Sorry for the anti climax. Sorry for the lame planning bits. Sorry for the semi-cliffhanger. Just wait for the next bit… it may be amusing. Any thoughts for Phase two are welcome. I've only got a few. Whose POV would you like more of? Disclaimers still apply.

1454 words in this chapter

Missing in Action

Chapter sixteen-Hands full

"Hey." Sakura smiled as she sat down next to Kakashi, putting the dusting cloth she had in her hand down onto the table.

His eye smiled back at her. "Yo"

"Are you bored?"

"Not really" he told her "Why?"

"It's just that you've gone and lost your book. That's usually all you ever do so I thought you might be looking for something to do." Other than stare at me.

"Like what? Did you want help with the cleaning?"

"No. This is Gen-jutsu remember, it doesn't get dirty. I'm just keeping my hands busy." Just to demonstrate, she gave the table a wipe, and then looked back up at him.

"Do you do that often?"

"What, cleaning to keep my hands busy? No. Usually I train, or write, or… " She looked up at the camera again and decided against finishing what she said. That's too personal for the audience to know.

"Oh" he seemed to brush passed the last comment.

"Are you sure you aren't bored?" she smiled at him again "I would hate it if I was being neglectful company."

"No, go ahead." "Shannaro! He's hot for us! He likes watching us work" Let's just see if that's the case.

"Alright, well I need a shower so…" she got up to go towards the bathroom.

"Actually… Sakura?" he called her back. She smiled immediately, then readjusted her expression and turned back to him. "Do you think we could just sit and chat for a minute?"

"Is something bothering you Kakashi?" She fake-frowned, as though she was concerned. Dear Kami I sound like my mother. It's brilliant.

"Um… no… not really. I just… we haven't spoken in years."

"We spoke last night." She pointed out cheerily. "And this morning."

"But… I still feel like I barely know you." He glanced away slightly. Now I'm the mystery? I don't know anything about him. He's always been the secretive one.

"Fine." She shrugged, and then sat back down beside him "what do you want to know?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?! You don't know?! Don't be stupid!" He's so nervous. I've never seen him like this.

"Well… you think about it. Then you can ask whatever you like once I get out of the shower. Actually, yeah, I like that. You get one question, and I promise that I will give you a full and honest answer." This time she got up and left quickly, without interruption.

She locked the door and made sure there was a towel set out for when she got out. She then unlocked the door and took off her clothes before stepping into the shower. If he wants to look, he can look, but he still needs to make the first step. At least in terms of physical connection. He doesn't respond to forward flirtation, I've seen that whenever Anko tries to make a move. It makes it far too easy for him to shrug it off. The subtle way is working so far. He's definitely looking. I just need to make him want.

She gave a shiver at the thought. He's still my sensei. Even if not technically. To be trying to make him do these things is just weird. It's not even that it's going to be fake. That's the worst part. I wonder if Ino has figured that out yet. Me and her… we can fake it as much as we like. But for them, the only way that it will work is if they actually feel the attraction for real. They can't very well act in the way they would be expected to in a normal situation, because there is no way that they can calculate anything like that.

No. This is real. I have to make Kakashi-sensei have real, passionate feelings for me. I can only hope that he manages to overcome it afterwards. Otherwise this mission is never going to end. This is typical of Tsunade. I can guarantee that she isn't the only one watching. She'll have anyone in there that she can make bets with. Once we get out I'm going to have to both get rid of Kakashi-sensei's feelings and sort out Tsunade's financial accounts. What fun.

When she finished her shower, she towel dried her hair and left it loose around her shoulders. She then semi-dried the rest of her body and wrapped it in the towel. It was big enough to leave plenty to the imagination, but the fabric still showed off her adult feminine shape and would make it very obvious that she wore nothing else. Right. Act like everything is normal. If he's looking, then I'll have to start giving him something worth looking at. Him and whoever Tsunade has watching. Please don't make it be Ero-sennin, or Naruto… my life is over.

Putting her confident, upbeat face back on, she opened the door and strode into the room. She combed her hair through her fingers before raising her gaze to Kakashi.

It was really hard to tell through his mask what his reaction was, but his one visible eyebrow definitely shot above the level of his hatai-ate. He was frozen in his spot, staring at her.

She smiled innocently at him. "So have you thought about what you are going to ask me?"

He gulped "Um… uh…" Then he tore his gaze away "Shouldn't you go and put some clothes on Sakura?"

"That's your one question?" she said skeptically, and then sighed "Alright then, I'll answer it fully and truthfully, as promised. If you put clothes on skin right after a shower, it doesn't get time to breathe properly, so the liquid does not get to escape. It just makes me feel clammy. So I like to walk around for a bit first, you know, to let myself cool off properly. So the answer is no. I shouldn't go and put some clothes on. Why did you ask? Does it bother you?"

"A little" he admitted quietly.

"You've seen me in less." She reminded him, while heading over to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water, standing against the counter in where she calculated she would be out of camera range. Try to avoid the term pervert. At all costs.

"Yes, but…" his voice was cracked as he accidentally looked up at her again. That was when I was fourteen. I've grown a bit since then.

"Do you want a drink Kakashi?" she offered with a smile.

He merely nodded dumbly. Any excuse to avoid the conversation.

He obviously didn't remember the fact that when she brought him the drink, she would have to come closer. When she did, he had to look at her. She stood there as his eyes drifted south and smirked.

"Kakashi?"

"Hmm." He didn't look up. "Say it Sakura! Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!"

"I'm up he…"

BANG! BANG! BANG! The loud sound echoed off the room from it's origin behind the bed.

Sakura squeaked in shock and leapt at Kakashi. Then to further her surprise, he put his arms around her and held her to his chest. She sunk quickly into his comforting embrace.

The sound stopped quickly but Sakura was still startled. "What the hell was that?!"

"Err…" he hesitated "What?"

"That sound Kakashi! What was it?!"

"Um… I don't know" She felt his arm move awkwardly across her back. So much for no physical contact…

"Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!" Inner Sakura continued to chant.

Sakura looked up into his eyes. Both of them. He had taken off his hatai-ate at some point. Now his expression was a little more exposed, but far from clear.

He stared back down at her as she dragged a hand up to rest on his shoulder. She suddenly became a little too aware of their closeness, and of her damp towel against his clothes, the only thing keeping her from him. She forced herself to view this tactically. It's a bit quick, but he's not resisting, so there's no reason why I should pull away. I'm not taking this further though. His move.

They stood like that for a while before they pulled apart, both looking slightly awkward. Sakura looked down at his torso and cringed "I made your shirt wet"

He looked down himself and nodded. Then he walked off without another word.

"What are you going to do?" she called after him

"Take it off."

Her breath caught. "But said you didn't have any spares"

He simply shrugged and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Sakura went and sat on the bed, dumbstruck. Then she got up and went to her bag, taking out a stick of bubblegum before sitting back down and popping it into her mouth.