Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto; he is only kind enough to let us fic writers to use his characters for our own means of use. I have no intentions in making any profit of this story.
Author's notes: Wow, we are really getting close to catching up with me; I'd better pick up the pace. Yes, here we have it, chapter fourteen; I like this chapter because well... the title says it all, and I'm sure you Naruto fans out there will know what I mean. I am currently working on chapter sixteen and I am hoping on finishing this story before school starts, otherwise the chances of me being able to upload or complete new chapters would be very slim, due to the study that will be placed upon me at school. Right now, we are well over half way (I guess), but that doesn't mean we are almost at the end. Sure, we may be another chapter closer, but we are still in the process of actually getting there,
I would like to thank everyone for their support so far throughout this story, especially ifItwasnt4KakashiIwouldLoveYou. I hope you enjoy this chapter because I think it's quite funny if you have the same amount of sense of humour as I do. Have fun and review this chapter after please ..
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Sakura couldn't help but glare at Kakashi's body. Looking from one thing to the next, Sakura just couldn't help herself. She stared at Kakashi's calm and lazy face, which was still masked; curse that mask. Sakura then led her eyes down from the Jounin's wet and silver hair to his chest. It bared a few scars from the many missions he had been on, along with the near death situations he was involved in. Other than that, Sakura was nearly melting at the sight.
Abs, abs, abs. Sakura wasn't able to go past those. Once again, a few scars were revealed, but it showed that Kakashi was strong and managed to survive many near death battles over the years. Kakashi was well toned around…well…everywhere; not to mention the ANBU tattoo on the upper arm of his left shoulder.
Gazing and staring, Sakura just found it hard to peal her eyes away from the older Jounin. Examining every detail of the man; Sakura had to admit it to those fan girls back in Konoha, Kakashi was basically a god and completely irresistible to all women who spoke long conversations with him. Sakura gaze shifted downwards, past his abs and on the towel and what would lie underneath it if she were to 'accidentally' rip it off and, oops; too much information.
Sakura abruptly rubbed her eyes, and then her mouth in case she might've been drooling, which, fortunately for her, she wasn't.
Changing the subject slightly, Sakura relaxed herself on the couch from where she slept and asked, "What happened last night?"
Kakashi's eyes widened slightly at the question. Yes, the question sounded so crazy, but Kakashi had to say something rather than walk away from his former student and avoid the question.
"Uhh, well…you…had your hands all over me while you slept," Kakashi looked off to the side; trying not to blush but it couldn't be helped.
Sakura's face flushed even more right after those words and wanted to hit herself for doing so, "I…I did?" her voice squeaked, showing her embarrassment even more.
Kakashi nodded, scratching his head with the metal plate of his headband, "yeah…" he muttered, before Sakura gave him a ominous look as though she had seen a ghost. Kakashi raised an eyebrow of ambiguity before realising what she meant by that expression, "d-don't worry, I didn't take advantage of you or anything," he stated quickly, holding up one hand as if someone pointed a gun at him.
Sakura's face turned bitter at the thought of what Kakashi had just pointed out, "well that's a relief," she sighed awkwardly, trying to hide the blush on her face with a silly grin.
She looked away, sighing uneasily with all the stress that was placed upon her; not to mention that former silver haired teacher standing in front of her with nothing but a towel around his waist, didn't make things any better for the poor medic.
"Well…sorry," Sakura said diffidently, scratching the bridge of her nose anxiously.
Sakura tugged at the blanket that covered her through the night and pulled it over her bust, sighing for the nth time already.
Kakashi felt the towel that was wrapped slackly around his waist loosen slowly the more he stood there. He tried hard to both keep the towel in place as well as to not look like an idiot and look cool. Kakashi placed his other free hand that had his headband against his hip, getting bored already.
"I'd uhh, better get dressed," Kakashi reminded himself that he was standing in front of his former student with nothing but a towel around his waist.
"Yeah, please do that," Sakura smirked, removing the covers and sitting up.
The Copy Nin turned around and made his way back into the bathroom to change into his day clothes and resume the mission. What he didn't really expect and neither did Sakura herself was that she was having a good look at what would be behind the towel that was around Kakashi's backside.
The second Kakashi was out of sight and inside the bathroom, Sakura cursedly plopped herself back down with her face into the couch pillows, "what is wrong with me?" she mumbled nasally.
Sakura found the morning strength to pull herself upright and rub the sleep from her eyes properly. The first thing Sakura would've wanted to discuss something with anyone near her would be that wretched mask that hid Kakashi's mysterious face.
Oh yes, Sakura had a few grudges towards that piece of cloth, and she wouldn't mind removing it for once in her life. Wait a minute. Once? Sakura remembered now that she had tried with the help of Sasuke and Naruto to see what was behind the mask of their teacher before, but that was back when they were only twelve.
Sakura had to find a way to get Kakashi to take his mask off or for that Copy Nin to drop his guard at least; it'd give Sakura a good opportunity to see something new from her former sensei.
Those thoughts gave Sakura a brilliant idea, 'that's it,' Sakura thought, raising an eyebrow mischievously and grinning sneakily. She gets up quickly, rearranging her shorts and heading to her room to change.
Kakashi rubs his bare face tiredly as he let the water run down both sides of his neck, "ahh, I really needed that," he sighed, staring at his mirror reflection in front of him. Casually, Kakashi pulls the small plug from the sink and let the water run down. He dries his face gently and pulls up his mask.
All ready and clean, Kakashi opens the door of the bathroom and made sure he left things reasonably tidy before leaving it and shut the door behind him with Kuro on his shoulder, purring as usual.
No sign of Sakura.
Kakashi saw the couch tidied up and everything seemed as it should be, except for Sakura, who was no where to be found. He scanned the opened room for any signs of life. Looking from right to left, Kakashi looked around: veranda door, hallway to Sakura's room and closed door to the kitchen, coffee table and couch, passageway to the kitchen and the apartment door.
"Hmm," Kakashi placed his hand under his chin in thought and stared aimlessly at the passageway to the kitchen.
"Another entrance to trouble," sighing for the nth time already, Kakashi waded to the kitchen entrance, hoping nothing would ruin his day.
Before seeing anything inside, Kakashi could hear things being placed of surfaces and decided to be the inspector and check it out. Once all visuals were made, it was clear now that Sakura was up to something.
Kakashi watched as Sakura set the last few things on the kitchen table before receiving a smile from the pink haired medic. Noting the obvious that was breakfast being courteously laid out for the two of them, but mainly Kakashi; he smelt trouble.
"Okay…what do you want?" Kakashi started languidly, folding his arms over his chest in suspicion.
Sakura hid her arms behind her back and stared innocently at the Copy Nin before her, "nothing, just being the nice person for once," she replied, grinning like an idiot and hoping Kakashi would take the bait.
Without any further redo, Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and sat down at the table, staring hungrily at the food that was in front of him. It looked good, it smelt good, but was it trustable? Or was it filled with some kind of medicine that made him fall asleep on the spot or paralyse him temporarily. These were the things Kakashi hated the most; anticipation and things he couldn't trust, even if it was something he had known for very long.
Breakfast was set and Sakura decided to join the other Jounin, "well…don't just sit there, go for it," Sakura encouraged, though trying not to give her scheme away with small boosts of support for the Copy Nin.
Kakashi eyed the food, "umm, no thanks, I'm not really that hungry," he stated firmly to his riposte and crossed his arms again. Before Sakura could say anything to encourage Kakashi to eat, Kakashi's stomach growled loudly, demanding food.
"Sounds like you are hungry," Sakura grinned widely, "just have a bite, I'm sure you'll like it,"
Kakashi exchanged glances from the food in front of him to the pink haired medic across the table from him, "well…okay then," he finally gave up.
Sakura was ready to yip around in utter joy in her accomplishment but held it in until the true moment was revealed, or in this Kakashi's face would be revealed. Sakura had to keep in mind that Kakashi was very smart and usually never let down his guard; not to mention his cunning and sly ways to get back at people for trying to trick him.
"Itadakimasu," Sakura announced happily, grabbing her cutlery and ready to dig into her breakfast.
Kakashi stared a moment more, hesitant to actually eat something that Sakura specially made for him. Inwardly he shrugged and picked up a fork, "hm hmm, how nostalgic," he stated almost teasingly.
Sakura looked up in surprise, speculating what Kakashi was talking about, but remained silent. The only thing Sakura replied with was a smile and a light giggle and resumed her breakfast.
Without giving her true position away while eating, Sakura carefully switched her gaze from her food to Kakashi's face. It was now or never, Kakashi was actually going to remove his mask, finally. Sakura had her previous thoughts from seven years ago: fat lips (shudders), buck teeth (shudders) and the small mouth (where did that one come from? Shudders).
Sakura eyed Kakashi intensely while he slipped his fingers under his mask where it covered his nose. Sakura tried to make sure she looked occupied with her food and quickly took a bite from her toast.
Kakashi was slow sliding his mask down and Sakura was basically crapping herself by just watching him, but before things could get more intense, Sakura's bladder bell was ringing awfully loud.
Noooo.
Sakura was busting to go to the loo now and she still wanted to see Kakashi's face. Of all the times Sakura needed the toilet, it had to be in the most desperate positions and right now.
'Cha! This is absolutely insane! Why now when Kakashi is about to show off his face!' Inner Sakura was infuriated right now and Sakura really needed to go badly.
Sakura didn't want to shuffle around for the finale and for Kakashi's face to be revealed and only let Sakura need to change her clothes right after. Her urge to pee was getting worse and Sakura wasn't going to let that happen.
Finally, "umm, excuse me for a moment," Sakura bolted out of the kitchen and into the bathroom, leaving Kakashi alone with his food.
Sakura sat down and instantly sighed in frustration, "shit…" was all she could say.
Doing this would be harder than what Sakura thought, and obviously with three people was hard too. Naruto and Sasuke were tough and smart in the usual case but they weren't even able to remove their teacher's damn mask; how humiliating.
Sakura washed her hands, staring aimlessly at the mirror where her reflection stared right back at her. With all the stupidity that had been inflicted on Sakura, she leaned forward and let her forehead hit the pane of her reflection and sighed heavily, cursing herself again.
After she had finished up, Sakura quickly made her way back into the kitchen and sat down opposite from Kakashi, "sorry about that, just had to take care of something," she said, grinning sheepishly and trying not to blush.
Now Sakura was ready to see what was behind the mask of her former teacher, but there was a problem; Kakashi had long finished with his breakfast and just sat there with a perpetual grin on his hidden face. Sakura was so pissed off right now, 'note to self: plan toilet breaks and think ahead,' she huffed at her thoughts, taking a bite of her toast again.
Kakashi began to chuckle lightly to himself, "how nostalgic indeed," it was true, Kakashi had seen what Sakura had in store for him and it obviously didn't work on him.
Sakura clenched her fists in annoyance, "how the hell did you know what I was trying to do?" she asked firmly, finishing her food quickly.
Kakashi sat there thoughtfully, tilting his head back a bit before chuckling loudly, "Sakura-chan, I'm an elite Jounin of the Leaf and I've known you far too long to not see what you were planning," he casually crossed his arms over his chest and stared lazily at the medic before him.
Sakura didn't want to admit that Kakashi was right, "ugh, I guess that's true," she muttered in defeat, rolling her eyes longingly.
"But," Kakashi started decisively, "I have to hand it to you that you're still willing enough to see what I really look like," he grinned widely. Sakura sighed as she rested her face on her hand on the table before saying, "so I can see it?" with a bit of luck, Kakashi would be convinced enough to do it.
"Are you kidding me? No way am I going to spoil the fun now. It's far too amusing for it to end so soon," Kakashi leaned back on his chair, grinning like an idiot.'
Sakura huffed under her irritation and just eyeballed the other Jounin, waiting for something to happen. Kakashi remained silent with his small smile still intact. He had a pokerfaced expression and was actually waiting for Sakura to start something up with a yell or argument.
Finally, Kakashi was getting bored; even at such an early stage of the morning, and decided to wrap it up with a decent comment, "but on the other hand," he started slowly, "I'm flattered that you decided to make me breakfast, and not to mention it tasted so good,"
Sakura sensed the tease in his voice and pouted uncontrollably, though glad Kakashi liked her cooking, "thanks, I tried my best to make an effort," she murmured with a soft smile. Kakashi smiled back and stood up, grabbing a few things and carrying them to the sink to wash them.
"Oh, I'll do that for you," Sakura quickly got up from her seat to take the plates from the older Jounin.
Kakashi stood there with Sakura rather close to him, insisting on taking the plates from his hands, "no thanks, I'll do them," he protested, leaning his head over the medic from his tall stance.
Sakura crossed her arms and glared right back up at the silver haired man, "sensei, I prepared the breakfast, so I clean what I set out," Sakura objected, folding her arms over her chest.
"But you've been working all morning, so just let me take over for you," again with the remonstrations, Kakashi didn't want Sakura to do all the work and make him look too lazy to do anything at all.
Sakura sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, "why are we fighting over who gets to do the dishes; it's not something I do very often, but I feel the need that I should," she wondered, looking off to the side.
Kakashi grunted lightly, not seeing the real reason to it all either, "okay here's an idea, how about we both do the dishes, that way we get the job done quickly and we'll both be happy," he suggested thoughtfully.
"Fine then, I'll dry them and put them away while you wash," Sakura announced, smiling sweetly at the Copy Nin and making her way to the kitchen sink.
Kakashi followed the pink haired medic and ran the water. Sighing again, Kakashi rolled up his sleeves of his shirt and began to wash the plates, handing each to Sakura after they were clean.
"So…" Kakashi began half-heartedly, trying to pick up the right things to say, "why are you still wondering what my face looks like?" he asked at last, handing another plate to Sakura.
Sakura paused in her tasks in thought of a way to answer that question, "I guess it's something that I still haven't really accomplished in my life quite yet," she deadpanned, putting a few plates in the cabinets beside her.
"So your goal in life is to see my face?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"Not exactly, although that would be an interesting life story,"
"But I guess it has to do with taking Naruto and Sasuke's place as little mischievous brats you used to call students," Sakura grinned evilly, putting another plate away.
Kakashi arched an eyebrow, washing the last dirty plate and moving on to the cutlery, "you guys did try under any cost to see my face, though you never got to see it," he mused, trying to find the knife he dropped in the water just before.
It was true, Kakashi had found the pranks his team tried to pull on him rather amusing to watch from afar or turn the tables on, but he did try to let them have a chance in a little success in their young lives, by letting them get very close before Kakashi would spoil it for them in the end.
Kakashi finally cleaned the last few things of the dishes and unplugged the sink and dried his hands, "I have to hand it to you; you are one determined woman," he said, looking around for black fox companion, who seemed to be no where to be found.
"Thanks sensei…" Sakura spat, nudging her former teacher in the side and walked off.
Sakura had to think of another way to see Kakashi's face without him really knowing. She knew Kakashi was super smart and would most likely find out what she'd be planning, so she had to come up with something completely unexpected and original, 'come on Sakura, think. Think. What could be a way to see his face?' she wondered, sitting down on the couch, which still had the faint scent of Kakashi on it, mixed with hers too.
Deep in thought, Sakura had to come up with a better plan than feeding Kakashi, because it never worked and Kakashi saw it coming. But what could she do? She could take him to the hot springs but they'd be separated due to the whole sexist thing going on and they wouldn't see each other; though that was kind of the point. Taking him out to lunch could be an option, but Kakashi messed that up the last time Sakura and her teammates tried that. She could take the mask off by force, but Kakashi was much stronger than she was and would presumably outwit her in anything she tried to do. All this was just recapping on what she, Sasuke and Naruto did back when they were kids, and it didn't work; even with the effort of teamwork.
Moaning softly, Sakura kicked her feet up on the coffee table and thought again, 'what can I do?' she thought, thinking over any possible choices of action she could take.
Sakura finally had a few brainstorms of ideas; totally new and pulled right out of the blue, 'I could take his spare masks and hide them somewhere,' she suggested inwardly, placing her finger on her chin thoughtfully.
'Ugh, but I bet Kakashi-sensei will just find a way to make things harder for me to do that,' Sakura thought, looking around the room for motivation, 'I know, I'll just have to get close enough to take the mask off when he's asleep,' grinning evilly, Sakura made herself some personal arrangements to get in reach of the older Jounin's mask.
Almost hooraying in utter joy and determination, Sakura knew she could pull this off, along with that blasted mask that only covered the lower portion of her former teacher's face. This had to be an easy score for Sakura now that she knew what to expect at every cost; it was a trial of success and accomplishment without the humiliation.
As the afternoon went to a glorious start, Sakura was scheming her little plots. She definitely felt like her younger self again; always wandering around to look for something exciting to transpire on a boring day.
It was actually an oppressive day; Sakura was really bored because they decided to stay another night at the resort place so they would be more prepared the next day and have a fresh start. With nothing to do but sit around the apartment and plot, Sakura wanted to get Kakashi to do something with her as a sort of entertainment, before she finally got an idea to keep herself occupied.
Getting to her feet, Sakura looked around the room for the silver haired Jounin she still called 'sensei', "Kakashi-sensei," she beckoned calmly, walking around the apartment room for the older man.
Sakura quietly made her way to Kakashi's bedroom door; it was closed and Sakura had a small hunch about where he was at last, "Kakashi-sensei?" she wondered in a small whisper, opening the door slowly and pushing it until the man's bed was visible.
Sakura paused at an instant at the sight she was looking at; Kakashi snoozing so sound on the bed. It was enough to make Sakura go 'aww'. But enough staring, Sakura wondered why Kakashi would be sleeping at such an hour; maybe because she kept him up for most of the night and caused him to get tired later that day. The medic slowly made her way to Kakashi's bedside, wanting to wake him up but then again wanting to let him rest.
The thought finally came up. With Kakashi sound asleep, Sakura had the perfect opportunity to take her plan into action. Getting a little closer to the silver haired man, Sakura gulped, hoping this plan would work. Steadily and silently, Sakura sat down on the bed, watching Kakashi's facial expressions after every move she made.
Just to be on the safe side, Sakura waved her hand in front of the older Jounin's face to see if he would react in any way and fortunately for Sakura, he didn't move an inch, but that didn't mean Sakura could drop her guard.
Wiping the sweat from her hands on her top, Sakura reached closer to Kakashi's masked face. Pausing almost every intense moment, Sakura held her breath, checking for any other signs of movements such as Kakashi's hands. Resuming slowly, the pink haired medic pushed the lump down her throat and paused again, ogling the sleeping Jounin carefully.
Very carefully, Sakura reached for the man's face; allowing herself to take her time without wasting it. She touches the mask fabric; pausing inattentively and staring at the silver haired Jounin. Kakashi looked so peaceful while he slept; as if all his troubles had been thrown out the window, not to mention he looked so calm too.
Without further redo, Sakura mentally shook her head from her small imaginations and continued on the task at hand. She slipped her fingers under the mask and waited, contemplating over what her next move would be. Gulping again, Sakura gripped onto the mask properly and slowly started to slide it down; switching glances from her actions to Kakashi's lone visible eye and nothing was happening.
Was this it? Was Sakura finally going to see her former teacher's face for the first time? Sakura's heart leapt to her throat and felt it beating heavily as the adrenalin pumped through her veins and the sweat slowly running down the side of her face.
The time was now. Sakura had to see what his face looked like, otherwise it'll never happen. Her heart was beating faster as Sakura slowly pulled the mask down, not even barely over the nose yet. Before Sakura could go on, she noticed Kakashi's eye twitching abruptly and before she knew it, she was stopped and couldn't move her hands.
Sakura gradually shifted her gaze to her right arm to find a hand tightly gripped onto it. Busted. What could she do now? Sakura gulped deeply, staring right into Kakashi's dark eye, wondering quickly of an excuse to get her out of the mess she pulled herself in.
Before Sakura could speak, Kakashi interrupted, "having fun?" he raised an eyebrow seriously and sighed lightly.
Sakura instantly let go of the lip of the mask and tried to find a valid plea, "uhh…umm…I-I'm sorry…?" she trailed off a bit, trying not to look into Kakashi's only visible dark eye.
"Nice try," Kakashi stated firmly, sitting up and readjusting his mask with his only available hand.
Kakashi still had his not so subtle grip on the medic's wrist and just glared at her feebly. He shook his head disappointingly and sighed again, "when will you learn Sakura-chan?" he slurred, shaking his head still.
Sakura gave the man an odd grin, opening her mouth but nothing came out, until she shrugged, "I-I try…" Kakashi didn't look convinced one bit and finally let go of Sakura's wrist, making her rub them uncomfortably.
"Oh well, it's just one of those things you can't let go so easily, huh," Kakashi placed his hand on the top of the medic's head and ruffled her hair teasingly.
"Senseeiiii," Sakura moaned irritably, hitting the older Jounin's arm away and started pouting childishly with Kakashi just chuckling mildly.
Author's notes: Hehehe, when will Sakura learn? I guess old habbits die hard for our little kunoichi. I just had to bring back this subject (if anyone has seen Episode 101) when Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are trying to see what Kakashi's been hiding all his life, but I do wonder if Kakashi will eventually show Naruto and Sakura his face after all these years (which has only been about 3 so far). But back to my story, Sakura nearly got to see Kakashi's face, but Kakashi was too good for her hehehe.
Up next: Boredom gets Sakura to spar for once and things get interesting in the battle. What happens between Sakura and Kakashi? Find out next: Chapter Fifteen: Lost in Faith. Hope you liked the chapter, now for the reviews please.