Second Time Around
By Frozzy
Chapter Five
She could remember the first time that she had referred to Naruto as hers.
It had been around her sixteenth birthday and Ino had been her petty, nasty self and had decided to let them all in on a comment about Naruto that had rubbed Sakura the wrong way. She had told Ino that 'her Naruto' was not a salivating mutt and that Ino could shove it where the sun didn't shine, namely up her pale ass. Prior to that day Sakura had never questioned in what fashion she considered her boys to be hers, but Ino's guffawing response to her slip of the tongue had brought something fatal to her attention that evening.
Sakura didn't own anyone but herself.
And yet here she was, sitting high up in a tree late at night and surveying the staff exit of a shabby-looking burlesque, while she desperately wanted to own the one person who hadn't spoken a willing word to her for the past eight hours.
"Come on, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto's exasperated voice emitted from the electronic device that was attached to Sakura's ear.
"No."
"Give it up, Naruto," Sakura mumbled to herself, daring to take her eyes off the exit so she could rub some much needed movement into her stiff neck. She hated to question Kakashi's methods, as well as Tsunade's, but she couldn't help but be unreasonably pessimistic about this surveillance idea. In the interval of four hours, the vast amount of two men had used the staff exit. One to pee in the nearby bushes and one to smoke a cigarette before he took off with a prostitute draped all over him like a silky rug. Sakura would have loved to suspect that one guy of participating in criminal activities, but sadly sex with a prostitute didn't make you a criminal. Unless, of course, it was an old fart having a fetish for minors. Sakura would slice that one's neck without any hesitation.
Naruto should be deliriously happy. He had the public entrance and all the neatly dressed people who entered. Sakura got the sleazy pervs that left and somehow she got the feeling that it wasn't all coincidence. Kakashi wouldn't compromise their mission. He really was too professional in that sense. But given what had happened the previous night, Sakura was at a loss as to what to believe.
"…ont. Sakura?"
"Sorry, what?"
"Come around to the front."
"Coming."
Slipping off the branch and letting herself fall to the ground, she steered directly for the front of the building and towards Kakashi's location. As she stepped around the small weed-grown rock formation, she wasn't surprised to see that Naruto was already there, his face set in tight displeased lines. Kakashi stood beside him with one foot balanced against a fungus-infected tree stump and with his hands buried in his pockets. The visible part of his face was turned away from her, so she couldn't know if his mood matched Naruto's.
"Change of plans?" she asked.
"Not exactly," Kakashi answers and she was amazed that he had acknowledged her presence.
"We need custom made cards with an identification number in order to enter. People without it haven't been granted access," Naruto explained the second that he was given the green light by Kakashi.
"A high-end burlesque?" Sakura inquired with some skepticism.
"Security is too advanced for us to outsmart them in any other way," Kakashi said with minimal enthusiasm. Normally she would have blamed it on his aloof nature. Now she was certain it was more deliberate than that.
"Okay. So, we'll just have to get a hold of such cards then, right?"
The question was meant for Kakashi – since he was Captain, after all – but the man in question was so deeply engrossed in studying the moldy substance that grew on the slick sides of the rocks that he missed her words completely. That was how she chose to perceive it, and so Naruto ended up answering her question on behalf of their Captain.
"Already on it, Sakura-chan," Naruto said at the same time that Kakashi motioned for him to take off.
"Be quick about it," the older man ordered. With a quick and confident nod Naruto was off. Sakura immediately turned towards the older jonin.
"You're being immature," she said. "You haven't spoken a word to me in eight hours. Almost nine."
When nothing indicated that he was going to acknowledge her comment, she changed tactics.
"You're a real ass."
Of course that tactic would have no effect on a man who regularly tolerated Naruto's x-rated mouth. There was an awkward break in the one-sided conversation while Sakura weighed her options. Kakashi continued to watch the moss on the rocks. At this rate, Sakura almost willed the moldy substance to jump off its accustomed habitat and take up residence on Kakashi's face. Anything to spur a reaction from the man. Animated moss would do that job just fine.
"I'm not giving up," she said at last.
"I'm not giving in," Kakashi said.
"Well, that leaves us at a stalemate, doesn't it," Sakura said. The sarcasm wasn't lost on Kakashi. He steadied her with a nonchalant look. Sakura halfway expected the man to bring up the classic cliché of how you shouldn't play with fire.
"I would have thought you professional enough to save your games for when you're off duty," he said instead. Sakura felt a gentle pang of hurt course through her chest. She knew that Kakashi had played dirty just then, but it still hurt. Sakura wished that she had had a similar dirty trick up her sleeve, but she had nothing of the sort at her disposal. She opted for the truth instead.
"That's a lousy trick," she said.
"If the shoe fits."
"And it hurt," Sakura said.
She thought she heard the older man sigh.
"You know that I respect the three of you more than anyone else," Kakashi said and his gaze swept across her face for the first time that day. It was almost as though he was searching for something that was supposed to be there, written on her face, only she wasn't aware of it herself.
"And respect stops you from- from wanting me?" Sakura asked, stumbling over her sentence.
"I thought we were done with this discussion?"
"We left off with you saying how you wanted to have sex with me."
"And you wish for me to elaborate on that?" he asked in a dull voice. The question was surreal and so very obviously meant to deter her from pursuing the topic, but Sakura was nothing if not persistent when she wanted her answers.
"No," she answered. "I wish for you to understand that I would have no objections if you should choose to pursue that particular desire."
Sakura's wish to get her message across overrode the embarrassment that should have painted her face a cherry red by now. Either that or she had accommodated to the older jonin's newly adopted crudeness towards her. It was a defense mechanism. The Copy Ninja, famous for his nonchalant and lackadaisical attitude, resorted to crudeness when he felt trapped. That revelation, and the laughs it was bound to produce once she passed on the bit of knowledge to Naruto and Sasuke, was just enough to keep Sakura from crawling into a hole and die from embarrassment that she was basically haggling her former sensei to sleep with her. And, if not haggling him to sleep with her, then at the very least haggling him to understand that it was okay for them to be mutually attracted to each other.
"I'm not gonna have sex with you, Sakura."
Blunt and to the point. Effective.
She didn't know what struck her the most. The blatant rejection or the dismissive tone. She just recognized the feeling for being what it was. A negative emotion that settled deep in the back of her chest and one that she would have to dig forth and deal with later. For now, she had to stay focused. She could be hurt later. Not now. Now, she needed courage and confidence.
"Why not?" she asked.
"I don't remember you being this persistent when I tried to teach you how to optimize your aim," Kakashi commented humorlessly. She gave him credit for not having chosen her pursuit of Sasuke as his example. Any lesser man would have done it.
"Kakashi-sen-"
"Don't," he interrupted her. She wasn't sure what he had referred to.
"You have to give me more than a no," she tried instead.
He shifted his weight from one foot to another.
"Is this some sort of messed up admiration complex?" he asked.
Sakura honestly didn't know. She understood the feeling in her body, the feeling that told her she was attracted to Kakashi, but she didn't understand why she was pursuing him so strongly. She was ashamed that she was doing it, but she also couldn't stop herself. Maybe she had missed him. He had all but disappeared from her life after she had risen in rank to jonin. Maybe this was her attempt to bring him back into her life and make him stay. If so, it was more fucked up than an admiration complex.
"No," she said.
"What do you want me to say, Sakura?" Kakashi asked. "You're a clever girl. You already know why you shouldn't be propositioning me like this, regardless of whether I'm susceptible to it or not."
She almost objected to the term 'girl', but chose to focus on a more important part of the sentence instead.
"You're a perverted old fart and my former teacher," she said. "Yes, I'm aware of that."
"You're eighteen now?"
"Nineteen in a month."
She didn't want to consider why she had felt the need to make herself sound older, because with the look that Kakashi was giving her, she really didn't need to think about it at all. But age was relative in their profession. A shinobi grew up harder and faster than anyone else.
"Then it's about time to drop this romanticized idea of love, don't you think?" Kakashi asked.
She opened her mouth. Then closed it and opened it again.
"I'm talking about sex," she said, tentative and quiet. "Screwing. I'm not taking love."
It might have been her uncharacteristic use of foul language that made Kakashi look at her, but when he did look at her, all she could see was the challenge in his one-eyed gaze. She barely noticed how her legs were rooted to the spot.
"And you can separate those?" he asked tonelessly. "Love and sex?"
She didn't want to answer that.
"It's not fair," she said, her frustration escalating with her inability to lie. "Ever since Naruto was promoted, you've been sending me all these weird signals. Subtly, yes, and don't give me that look, because you know it's true. And now you're throwing it back in my face by asking me what Iwant, when youare the one who keeps sending these mixed signals. Kakashi, I don't know how to do this. I don't know-"
"I suggest you save the rest for later," he said and looked off to the side with a now vacant expression on his face. She followed his gaze where she caught sight of Naruto rapidly advancing on them amidst the murky green treetops. In that moment, she felt frighteningly indifferent to her comrade's approach and almost entertained the idea of continuing the discussion regardless of his presence. Thankfully, her professional self finally took charge and revived her composure until she had a steady hold of her priorities once again.
"All right," the blond grinned enthusiastically when he plopped down from the sky with three bright, red cards safely tucked down the pockets of his pants.
"I knocked them out good. They're gonna be out for a couple of hours at least," he informed them. "Anyone who has ordered a bunch of fake identities?"
"It's too late to do it today," Kakashi noted. "Where did you store the bodies?"
"Cave in the forest," Naruto answered automatically. "What are you gonna do?"
"Move them someplace remote and knock them out better with my Sharingan."
"We gonna practice the transformation jutsu on them a couple of times?"
The shift from private to professional wouldn't come to her, so Sakura kept her mouth shut and followed orders for the rest of the night. After all, Kakashi had told her to save the rest for later and she intended to. It was just unfortunate that all the hard work and progress she had just made with him was bound to have lost its effect by then.
Contrary to popular belief, she didn't hire her employees based on their looks alone. That was just a nice bonus whenever it happened. No self-respecting businessman or woman would dishonor their management skills by running a business based on such a fleeting foundation as 'beauty'. Beauty was a relative term and Tora was perfectly aware of that, which was why she hired her staff based primarily, if not solely, on competence. If they could convince her that they belonged in her business, then they were in. Her dancers should be able to choreographically dance their way across a stage, not writhe across the floorboards like amateurs. Incompetence was the killer. Incompetence drained the money out of a business. She would not have incompetence in her employees.
"So, you're saying," she began, looking at the pathetic excuse of a man that was sitting before her. "That the girl is the Hokage's apprentice? Haruno Sakura?"
"My chakra was fucked like hell an' she cleared it all up," Sasaki confirmed, no doubt believing that the piece of information was going to make his employer overlook his crappy job performance. He was sorely mistaken, of course, but he didn't need to know that yet. Competent employees didn't get captured by a fool like Imagawa. They escaped with their fellow comrades.
"And the other two?"
"A blond kid aroun' her age an' an older jonin with a freaky red eye."
"Red eye?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
"He said it could help him see if I lied," Sasaki explained. Fukuda stood behind the seated man, and as Tora removed her attention from the fidgeting man in the chair, she caught the displeased gaze of the man behind him. His face was a mirror of her own. She averted her eyes back to Sasaki in the chair.
"You're dismissed and off the payroll for two weeks," she told him unsympathetically. This one was smart enough not to make a fuss. He simply stood up from the chair and respectfully left the office. The minute that the door closed behind him, Fukuda spoke up.
"Sounds like Hatake."
"Indeed it does," Tora agreed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she processed the newly gathered information.
"Ya think Imagawa hired 'em?"
"I fail to see how else it could fit together, Hisashi," she said and sent her cousin an annoyed look.
"I dunno," he shrugged and pushed himself off the wall, moving closer to the desk she was sitting behind. "They could be 'ere for other purposes."
She knew what he was referring to and his doubt only irritated her furtherer.
"Officially, they don't have anything on me besides the raiding of Okada village and that's hardly enough to have Konoha authorities step in and charge me with illegal distribution of goods. That's out of their political range unless help is requested by Grass or Waterfall, and my spies would know if anything of that sort has been set into action. They're here for the idiot's jewelry. The Hokage is simply smart enough to put skilled people on the job," she concluded with an air of finality.
"If it is Hatake, we need to double security," she added, looking at Fukuda pointedly.
"I'm on it," he nodded and turned towards the door, ready to make his departure.
"And Hisashi?"
He stopped and turned back towards her.
"Prohibit all use of my poisons unless I personally give clearance."
"Ya think Pinkie's got the skills to make antidotes?"
"I'm not taking the risk."
He gave her a blank look. "Ya might want not to sugarcoat it fer me."
"Get your ass moving and secure the premises, Hisashi," she ignored his comment and turned back to the paperwork scattered across her desk, effectively dismissing her cousin.
"Whatever. Don't come cryin' to me if it comes back an' bites ya in the ass, though," he replied and exited the office at a leisure pace. This was why you shouldn't bring family into your business. They thought they had the liberty to question you.
The hardest thing you could be set to do on a mission was waiting.
Tonight at around seven o'clock, Sakura would impersonate Kashiwagi Sui. A blonde at the age of twenty-four with identification number 011B. As for right now, at three o'clock in the afternoon, she had a schedule that was as barren as her fridge at home.
"What do you think Sasuke is doing?" Naruto asked when they eventually came to a halt by a small stream and settled down in the cool grass. The two of them had been wandering about aimlessly in the forested area outside of the village for a good two hours by now, getting used to the unknown terrain and trying to pass the time while Kakashi predictably was nowhere to find. In fact, his current whereabouts were completely unknown. They were reconvening at six o'clock inside the inn, however, so she supposed that they didn't really need to know of his current whereabouts. She still would have welcomed some sort of coordinates though.
"No idea," she answered and tilted her head skywards. The sky was a peaceful, bleak grey. Something you normally associated with Snow Country and something that you rarely witnessed as a Konoha citizen. Marsh and Frost had the same skies, the climate made sure of that, but they were not nearly as peaceful as the grey sky of Snow.
"I kinda miss the bastard already."
"Tsunade-shishou has probably sent him out on a solo mission to blow off some steam," Sakura offered, because she didn't feel comfortable enough to openly admit that she missed the silently supportive presence of the self-conceited Uchiha as well.
"What do you think Kakashi-sensei is doing?"
"What's this?" she smiled. "You're getting homesick?"
"Bored. There's nothing to do around here when we have to keep a low profile," he said and picked at the grass to somehow illustrate just how bored he was.
"Captain's orders," Sakura said.
"Kakashi-sensei should pull the stick out of his ass," Naruto objected and Sakura silently agreed, though her reasons for agreeing were definitely not the same as Naruto's.
"You've just become accustomed to the attention that comes with being idolized," she said. "And nobody knows you here, so nobody is idolizing your smug face."
"Sakura-chan idolizes me?" Naruto asked her, knowing very well that that wasn't the case.
"Sasuke's gonna try out for the exams next year," Sakura said. "All odds says he's gonna pass."
There was a brief pause in which Sakura studied the mountains in the distance.
"Sakura?"
"Mhm?"
"When was the last time you were on a date?"
The punch to her gut made her blurt out the first word that came to mind: "What?"
"When was the-" he started to repeat himself.
"No, I heard you. What kind of question is that?"
"You're just really uptight these days," he said and it wasn't difficult to read into the context of that answer. After all, Sakura was the friend of Ino. She knew exactly what sort of category that the adjective 'uptight' fell under when it was matched up with word 'date'.
"And when did you last have sex?" she asked and gave her blond friend a thoroughly stony look.
"Two weeks ago."
"Why is everything about sex these days," Sakura said and heard the frustration in her own voice. "I thought that the older you got, the less important trivial things became."
There was a pause.
"He's gonna pass," Naruto said.
"Of course he is. He's Uchiha Sasuke. He'll pass and he'll do missions together with us," she replied and pushed herself up from the ground. "Come on. Let's head back."
"Hey, did you hear he got to second base with his girlfriend the night before we took off?"
"He had a girlfriend now?"
"Eh, well, he denies it, but yeah."
They began heading back towards the village.
"Was it that Megumi girl you talked about?" Sakura asked.
"Yup," Naruto confirmed with an uplifting tilt to his voice.
"I thought you were joking," Sakura said.
A year ago, they would have discussed weekly beheadings and compared injuries to find out who was toughest. Nowadays, they talked about relationships. Sometimes, Sakura wished that Sasuke would revive Orochimaru and resume the warpath that he had been on back then. Anything was better than having to justify exactly why she hadn't had sex in almost half a year.
"We should take up sparring again," she said suddenly. "If we're gonna be teamed up from now on, we should be more conscious of each other. I'm betting you've amped up your tricks again, haven't you? You always do that."
"Hell yeah," Naruto said. "We haven't sparred together since you started work at the hospital."
"That can't be right," Sakura said and frowned. "I'm sure we've done it at some point since then."
He looked at her, smiling strangely. "You don't really realize how busy you've been, do you?"
"Apparently not," she said, waiting for him to elaborate on such a statement.
"You work too much, Sakura-chan."
"I have to," she began automatically, "I need to pay-"
"-rent for two places," he finished for her with a knowing smile. She felt silent. Naruto had long ago ceased being an obnoxious, snotty brat. She knew that perhaps a bit too well. But it always caught her by surprise when he stepped out of his charismatically guileless persona. It caught her off guard when he acted his age and it unnerved her when he was serious. It unnerved her, because he was only this serious when he was being honest about something bad.
"Am I that awful?" she asked.
"You're not awful, Sakura. You're, what's the word, occupied," he said and bumped his left shoulder into hers. It stayed there, firmly fixed in place as some sort of physical reassurance that he didn't blame her for neglecting their friendship. Occupied, busy. He could pick whatever adjective he wanted, but the point remained the same. She had neglected their friendship. And she knew it.
Was she supposed to apologize?
"Sor-"
"Don't apologize," Naruto said, looking straight ahead as the village came into sight over the hilltop.
"Is it serious?" Sakura asked. "Sasuke and that girl."
"Megumi," Naruto supplied. "And nah. His flavor of the week has probably changed again when we get back home."
Naruto was possibly the only person that Sakura could spend time with without psychoanalyzing herself and her actions. Everything with him was about instinct and routine. Some days that was a good thing. Other days it wasn't.
"I don't think the bastard even knows himself what he wants," Naruto said.
Sakura unknowingly slowed her walk. What was it Kakashi had said? That she most likely knew what the three men wanted even if she wasn't aware of it? What a load of crap.
"Sakura-chan, you're falling behind. Come on!" Naruto called out to her. Shaking the unease off her shoulders, she hurried up next to him and offered him an apologetic smile.
"Hey, I got an idea!"
She almost bent over when he elbowed her in the ribs.
"Wanna race back to the inn?" he finished with a grin and she was about to point out that they were incognito at the moment and that it was the lamest idea ever. But by then the Rasengan wielder had already taken off. And who would Sakura be not to follow and take him up on that challenge? Besides, if she didn't keep a close eye on her friends, they obviously ran ahead of her and found themselves second-base-girlfriends named Megumi.