Chapter 3
He woke with the sound of eggs sizzling in a pan and the smell of breakfast. He swiftly straightened up and went after the smell in his small kitchen, only to find Sakura tossing eggs on his frying pan and pancakes steaming on plate, butter and syrup ready on the side to drown them with extra flavours.
"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura chirped lightly. That smile on her face was definitely not a Sai smile.
"Oh, good morning Sakura." It would be very deadly if a certain Uchiha ventures round to say hi this morning, a thought that injected Kakashi with uneasiness. Surely he did say that the new generation will surpass the last, but when he put his mind to it, that also applied to the Uchiha who is out for his blood.
"Eat up, the Hokage wants to see us afterwards." Sakura was back to her empty voice again. "I won't watch you eat if you want to hide your face." She added after a short pause.
Ah, the good old days…Kakashi thought as he remembered the time when team 7 went to their limits in hope to see his face, completely unaware that he was wary of their intentions from the very beginning. He gobbled down the pancakes and wolfed down the eggs as if he was in a real hurry.
"What's this?" The kunoichi said as she reached out to the little piece of paper stuck to his fridge. "Oh, so you like to eat cereal too eh Kakashi-sensei?" A small giggle escaped her lips, reminding him of her younger self.
"Well, you see, I was helping an old lady and she gave me this."
"Liar!"
Breakfast went for at least half an hour of nostalgic quotes and phrases. Kakashi watched as Sarkura's emotions returned to her and it made him feel much more at ease talking to her. Although he has not taken much responsibility in training her and dare not take credit for her current reputation, he finds it hard to say that the naïve young genin he once met is now the 'feared' jonin in front of him now.
It wasn't long before time knocked on their doorstep and forced them to move onto their next task of the day – meeting with the Hokage. Sakura didn't feel easy walking beside the man who has not changed a bit through time, still having his nose stuck in those orange novels. It did tempt Sakura to have a small read, but it is just not right for her to read that in public, not to mention she needs to keep an eye out of a certain raven haired man. Thankfully today is one of those days when he spends the morning in trying to put a start to his plans.
"Come in." Tsunade said before the pink haired jonin had a chance to even knock on her door, as expected from her great shisho.
"You asked to see us?" Kakashi said as he tucked his novel back into his pouch.
"I have a mission for you two. It is an S ranked mission to check on Orochimaru's lair. I have some suspicions. I've sent Jiraiya to scout in that area too. He sent back these reports and a book for you Kakashi." She said the last sentence with a sigh. Jiraiya was the renowned author of the 'best selling' series known as the Make Out Series. Kakashi, as predicted swooned over the little orange book like a child swooning over candy, just that the 'candy' was orange and rectangular.
On their way back to Kakashi's apartment, Sakura started reading the reports, while Kakashi continued reading his orange book. It hit Sakura with a pang of curiosity just why are those books so interesting.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei…I was wondering…what is in those books of yours that make you read it all the time?"
"Oh, you want to know what's in them? Here, you can read it too!" Somehow, Kakashi is sometimes rather thick on matters of reading porn in public.
"I'm not going to read porn in public!" She retorted, "I'll read it later."
"Mmm, suit yourself…So Junko said 'I think I'm about to loose sight of you'…" He trailed off as he lost himself in his book again.
"My my, how fitting." A third voice joined the conversation behind the two.
"Sasuke. Stop stalking me." Sakura quickly slapped the words back at him, as expected from a quick-witted girl like her.
"Oh, I was just stopping by your parents to say hi. Would you like to come as well? They would love to know how good a wife you have been." He was threatening her.
Anger shot flared up in her eyes, while Kakashi looked indifferent with his nose still stuck in his book.
"Hi, Sasuke. Up for ramen as usual? I'm afraid I can't pay today. A black cat crossed my path."
"Cut the crap, Kakashi." He whispered from behind Kakashi.
He's fast, the silver haired jonin noted.
"Ahh, Sasuke-teme! I haven't seen you for a long time! Let's go eat ramen, my treat! I'm famished!" Naruto bluntly joined the conversation, unaware of the tension in the crowd. It was then when Sakura blurred out of her spot and smacked Sasuke's head from behind.
"Uh, what's happening? Sakura-chan, what's that for? I thought he's your husband!"
"So it seems." She replied in a whisper just barely audible and then vanished with a puff of smoke.
"I have no idea what's happening, but oh well." Kakashi was about to form the seal for his usual disappearance when a strong hand grabbed his wrist.
"Don't play stupid."
"Ah, Sasuke. You see, I have a mission to go to. Hokage's orders." He added the last statement slightly angrily as he tugged his wrist back to perform his seal, leaving Sasuke and Naruto with a puff of smoke.
Sasuke turned and walked away as Naruto gaped at the spot like a fish out of water.
When Kakashi got back to his apartment, Sakura had already finished reading all the reports and was packing a small backpack for the mission. She was slightly shaken by the situation just now, but who can blame her. Not me, Kakashi thought as he went to his bookshelf to grab an orange book, and slipped it into her backpack when she was out of the room. He then proceeds to packing his own things.
It wasn't before he returned to his own living room to find Sakura intently reading the little orange book he just slipped into her bag. I guess I should've hid it better, oh well. He joined her in the reading, sitting next to her on his two-seater sofa. He also noticed just how absorbed she was in the little orange book…Tsunade better not find out or this may be the last time he lay his hands on one of these.
"How can you read this?" She asked after a while.
"You don't like it?"
"No way." The kunoichi said in horror.
"You looked so absorbed in it just now."
"That wasn't 'absorbed', that was disbelief!" she exclaimed. Yep, she's in denial. Then she continued reading, claiming that there wasn't anything else to read since she finished reading through Jiraiya's report, focused mainly on where the hideout is and how many hot springs there were around the area with beautiful women in and…basically women. With a sigh, she turned another page in the little book.