Author's notes: Here we have it, Chapter Nineteen. Oh god I can't believe it, I'm reaching the climax of the story at the moment and it's goooood. Gomen for shouting how I think it is so far; I hate spoilers myself, but it can't be helped. Oh well, at least I'm not saying what happens next, because that would piss you guys off as much as me :S. Anyway, enjoy the chapter
CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE BET
Sakura awoke with the strangest feeling. She didn't dream of Naruto or Sasuke this time but in fact a mental roll play from the book she recently started reading.
Sitting up quickly, Sakura rubbed the sleep from her eyes and gave Kitsune a gentle stroke, making her stretch out with a soft meow. The medic stretched out her arms and sighed.
"Morning," a low voice greeted casually.
Sakura looked to her left, smelling something good in the air and found Kakashi sitting in front of a fire, cooking breakfast. Sakura rubbed her eyes again and blinked, "morning, I didn't know you cooked; what's the occasion?" she began, sitting up properly and removing the sleeping bag from her legs.
Kakashi chuckled, "I just thought we should have some cooked breakfast before we head out today; I don't cook much but I'm sure it should be okay to eat," he handed Sakura a stick that she assumed were slices of toasted bread and smoked fish from the nearby pond.
Kakashi watched Sakura take a bite from his cooking and watched her reaction. Sakura swallowed the food and cleared her throat to glance up at the Copy Nin, "since when did you learn how to cook so well?" she asked, taking another bite out of the fish.
"I cook on very rare occasions; mostly when I have plenty of time and I'm not about to leave for a meeting or mission," Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, prodding at the fire with a stick and sighing.
Silence fell and Sakura awkwardly munched down on her breakfast. Kakashi just sat there, staring at the morning sunrise and listening to the trees dancing against the wind. Kakashi started to think and rose an eyebrow. The thought of Sakura reading his naughty books ran through his mind; it actually made him mentally shudder at the thought.
As the morning progressed, Sakura and Kakashi were ready to carry on with the mission and head off to the next mission. It was a quiet start. Kakashi just watched the sky change colour as the sun rose higher in the sky, whereas Sakura had her nose buried in Icha Icha Paradise, which didn't really surprise Kakashi so much. He knew the story was good, but didn't really expect Sakura to like it as much as he did.
"Still reading the book huh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, as did Kuro.
Sakura lowered the book and glanced up at Kakashi, "yeah," a faint blush crossed her cheeks and she returned her gaze to the book. Silently, Kakashi watched momentarily as the journey went on.
Noon had already passed and Kakashi was bored. Having nothing to do, Kakashi glanced over at Sakura, who was still reading his book. At first Kakashi thought his lone visible eye was seeing things, but he only just noticed how close Sakura was to finishing. It actually made him grin.
Sakura felt a little burdened by the fact that she was not only reading the infamous Icha Icha Paradise, but Kakashi's private reading material. He never let his students read those books; the reason for that was either Kakashi didn't want his students reading those restricting books or he didn't want them to start reading his favourite books and shouting spoilers.
The two took a break on the side of the road to rest up and have lunch. Within half an hour, Sakura shut the book with a very soft sigh, startling Kakashi.
"That was quick," he stated.
Sakura flushed a little and tried to rub it off, "yeah," she said, trying to act as if nothing happened to her.
Kakashi knew it; Sakura was blushing deeply, signalling Sakura was affected by the story. Kakashi was certain he saw Sakura's eye twitch the second she closed the book. After all, the book ends with a cliff-hanger.
"I win," Sakura exclaimed proudly, placing her hands on her hips and eyeing the other Jounin beside her.
Kakashi cocked his head to her in suspicion, "no you didn't," he retorted blandly and folded his arms.
"Yes I did, because that silly book of yours didn't affect me one bit, and I managed to read through the whole book," she lifted her head, acting rather cocky about her victory.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "exactly, you finished the entire book and you aren't concerned one bit?" he wondered. Sakura scratched the back of her neck and looked off, "no, not one bit," she stood firmly by her words, although she knew Kakashi probably knew she was lying.
Yes, Sakura was taken aback by how the book had ended and wanted to continue, but she didn't want to lose the bet to Kakashi and be humiliated for most likely the rest of her life. She could see it now: when she got married, Kakashi would stand up and give a speech, saying "to the one who lost a bet to her old sensei, whose objective was to read my books without a sign of physical breakdown," Sakura shuddered at the thought.
"So you liked the book?" Kakashi suggested, making Sakura click back into reality.
Sakura blushed a deeper shade of red and looked at Kitsune, who meowed in puzzlement. She had to say it, "yyyyyyyeah…I guess you could say that," Sakura's face changed colours again and stared blankly at the cover of the orange book.
Kakashi chuckled at her embarrassment and stood up, giving the medic a cheeky grin from under his mask. He approached Sakura with the grin still plastered on his masked face. Sakura felt she wasn't going to like this.
Kakashi held out his hand, daring Sakura to take it, "oh Karin-chan, I am baffled by your beauty…" Kakashi trailed off, hoping the medic would catch on.
Instantly Sakura's eyes widened, 'role-play?' Inner Sakura wept in irritation, slapping her forehead with her hand with a loud grunt. Sakura felt a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth and gladly took Kakashi's hand.
"But Junko, I'm engaged and this would break my heart if this relationship went on…" Sakura's face turned to many darker shades of red and urged herself not to look back in the book to remember the damn lines. Kakashi's grin widened as Sakura's face changed colours so quickly.
With one fluid movement, he pulled the medic closer to him once Sakura had finished saying her bit. Sakura's heart immediately skipped a beat at the close proximity. The silver haired Jounin rest his hand around Sakura's waist, sending a chill down her spine.
Kakashi beamed in plot as he eyed the medic in his slightly subtle grip, watching her expression turn to complete and total discomfort. Kakashi had to think if it was either that they were role-playing from his favourite book or that he was holding the pink haired Kunoichi so close to him.
"But I am madly in love with you; you can't refuse that," Kakashi continued, knowing Sakura would fall apart at this point.
Sakura cringed, 'oh my god, hes getting to me!' Sakura said inwardly, almost groaning loudly at the thought if Kakashi actually meant what he had just said. She swallowed, hard, wondering what to do next. She felt Kakashi's hand slide up from the small of her back.
Sakura remembered this part clearly. This scene coming up was the part when Junko seduces the nurse and kisses her passionately until she finally told him she would dump her fiancé and run off with Junko. But Kakashi wouldn't do that to his former student, would he?
Kakashi brought up his free hand to the side of Sakura's face, stroking her reddened cheeks as he closed himself with the medic in his arms.
'He would!' Inner Sakura screeched, gripping her pink hair and closing her eyes.
Sakura could've forced herself away from the older Jounin, but something about Kakashi's face kept her completely still. He got closer and closer until his face was less than an inch from Sakura's. At this point, Sakura just stared into Kakashi's lazy eye, kind of forgetting that she held her breath for so long and the need to take in oxygen was urgent.
Slowly, Sakura let out her breath slowly, not taking her eyes from the silver haired Copy Nin. The medic felt butterflies fill her stomach as their lips were so close to touching. Kakashi stared lazily into Sakura's emerald green eyes before planting his masked lips on the medic's cheeks, lingering it softly before pulling away.
The medic felt her whole body nearly melt at the touch. She was so damn close to him, Sakura would've grabbed the man and kissed him and…HOLY MOLEY! Did Sakura just think that about Kakashi? Her former sensei? The perverted Copy Nin? Sakura had to pull her mind from the gutter, and the damn book she finished reading a half hour ago.
'He did!' Inner Sakura wailed in annoyance.
She just stared red-faced at the Jounin who only grinned, knowing what he had just done had gotten to her. Sakura suddenly felt the grip let go of her upper arms and she mindlessly tilted back until she forced her foot to move backwards for support.
Sakura's face spoke nothing but confusion, her eyes twitching and her mouth about to drop to the ground. She felt her knees quiver and the butterflies in her stomach ready to burst out of her mouth.
Kakashi chuckled at Sakura's red-faced embarrassment and let her go, stuffing his hands in his pockets and grinning like an idiot, "so, I guess you can handle it," he raised, placing a finger in his chin thoughtfully. He was actually glad that he was wearing his mask; he could feel a faint blush crawling across his face when Sakura's eyes met his.
Sakura's blush was priceless; Kakashi knew what he had done really did affect the poor medic and couldn't hold back his amusement and began to laugh hysterically.
Sakura pouted with the red staining her cheeks still and crossed her arms frustratingly, "of course I can handle it; believe me, I can handle anything!" she snapped back, but before anything more was said, Sakura just realised what she had said to the older Jounin. She raised her hands to her mouth to stop her words from spewing out randomly and thought back on it.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow before he too realised what she said. Did Sakura's attitude sound more like, Naruto? She did say the believe part and certainly sounded like the knucklehead ninja Kakashi knew back then and the number one phrase 'believe it, had just bounced back like a tennis ball.
Without trying to show any form of surprise, Kakashi's lone visible eye crinkled up to a smile, "how nostalgic," he uttered, placing his hand on the medic's head and ruffling up her pink hair.
"Damn it Kakashi, stop that!" Sakura swatted the older Jounin's hand from her head to only receive a grin from the man.
Sakura pouted. Sakura really hated it when Kakashi did that to her, but that wasn't the only thing bothering her. Kakashi wasn't acting himself lately, or basically since he kissed her when she had that little breakdown a few days ago.
Kakashi's grin remained and turned his back to her, "we'd better move on; the next village awaits," he made shooing motions with his hands before stuffing them into his pockets. Sakura frowned in agitation and obliged, "yep," she muttered, putting her bag on quickly and scooping up the brown fox from the grass and placing her on the medic's shoulder and following Kakashi out on the road again.
Kakashi was well ahead of Sakura, whereas the medic was deep in thought, as well as deep in a fantasy, which she didn't want to share in public at all. Sakura was having a good stare at the slump movements of Kakashi's backside and couldn't keep her eyes off him. Kakashi however felt her emerald eyes boring into him and felt a little queasy about the idea of Sakura staring at him, but chose to ignore it.
Again, Sakura was staring at the older Jounin, trying to take her prying eyes from him but the little role-play they took part in an hour ago gave Sakura a whole new perspective on things toward her former sensei.
Feeling the sweat drop run down the side of her face from the anticipation, Sakura could barely stand the pressure. Was Kakashi doing this on purpose or was life just being a bitch and unfair for the poor medic?
Another hour later and Sakura was still at it, although she was thinking deeply about the progress of the mission to take her mind of the issue, it didn't really help because of the tall bundle of body swaying with every step.
That was it! Sakura couldn't contain the pressure within any longer. This was going insane and the awkward silence had to stop.
"That's it!" Sakura shrieked, stopping on her steps, "I can't take it any longer!"
Kakashi stopped, facing the medic with a raised eyebrow with somewhat puzzlement in his eye, "huh?" he uttered, cocking his head to the side a bit to assess the blushing medic nin.
Sakura's lip twitched before finally giving in, "I admit it!" she started, trying to find the courage to actually admit what she was about to say.
"The book did affect me, and it's driving me nuts," Sakura trailed off, noting the slight grin forming across the older Jounin before her, "and what you did back then made things so much worse and my mind is completely fallen apart!" Kakashi found this rather amusing to watch his former student say things like that to him.
Kakashi crossed his arms, expecting Sakura to say something, which she did, "you win the bet," she murmured, glancing to something at her side.
The Copy Nin grinned, enjoying almost every moment of this current event.
"Since I finished reading your damn porn book, I've been thinking in a completely different way towards almost everything I look at, and…and…I feel dirty…" Sakura's face reddened at her own thoughts and wished she could fall into a pit and die right now.
"See? When you read that book, you become a changed man, but in this case you're a changed woman," Kakashi chuckled loudly, unable to contain his mirth any longer.
Sakura growled softly as she glared at the tall Jounin, "you just have to rub it in don't you?" she asked with scorn, eye twitching.
Kakashi chuckled uncontrollably as he watched Sakura's reddening face change a deeper shade whenever they even looked at one another. Again, Sakura pouted deeply, ready to whine irritably before Kakashi beat her to the words.
"You get used to it the more you read it. I had a bit of trouble dealing with the intensity when I first started," Kakashi assured, crinkling his eye up to a small smile.
"How old were you when you first started reading those books?"
"About eighteen," Kakashi responded blankly, shrugging his shoulders.
Sakura's eyes widened, "crap! You certainly are the pervert nowadays," she grinned widely, trying to prove how much of a sissy pervert Kakashi was. Kakashi laughed singly and loudly before saying, "well that made me feel oh so much better about myself," he pretended he was hurt by pulling a sad face; masked, but still sad. He placed his hand over his heart to get his point across.
Sakura furrowed her eyebrows at the Copy Nin and watched his saddened expressions fail to impress the medic.
The day went by faster than Sakura had anticipated and soon the sun had set and the two Shinobi set up camp. It was quiet as the two lazed around the campfire, having nothing better to do but watch the stars and listen to the calm noises of the night.
Kakashi sighed audibly, running his hand through his silver hair as he stared at the sparkling sky above. He glanced at the medic on his right, noting she was just staring at the fire calmly and was almost completely captivated by the changing colours and movement of the flames as they danced on the charring wood.
They weren't separated on either side of the fire, in fact, they were almost less than a metre apart, just doing nothing. There was the occasional comment and giggle, but other than that, the silence was endless. Sakura soon drifted off to sleep and soon after so did Kakashi and the night went on.
He didn't want to make himself do it, but he couldn't bear the commotion coming from outside his dreams. He opened his dark eye a crack and could vaguely hear what reality had to offer. It was obviously still night at what the Copy Nin could see, which on his account was something he didn't want to wake up to.
Kakashi tried to fall back asleep but the abrupt noises brewed again, 'what the hell?' he thought, taking a deep breath to signal he was awake and alert. He rubbed his lone visible eye and assessed the issue. The older Jounin witnessed the young medic tossing and turning, mumbling something hastily but something Kakashi couldn't quite catch.
"Sakura-chan?" Kakashi started groggily.
Sakura replied with a desperate groan. She was lying on her stomach with her face buried in her small and thin pillow. Kakashi noticed the tears streaming down her face and immediately figured she was in a bad nightmare.
Kakashi shuffled his way to Sakura's side, who was still crying in her slumber, "Sakura-chan, wake up," he nudged the medic gently to wake her from her deep sleep to only get an ominous moan, sounding a bit drowned probably due to the saliva in her mouth.
Sakura's breathing was husky and fast, as if she had been trying to run from something, or someone. Kakashi placed his hand on the pink haired ninja's back for comfort, and as soon as he came in contact with the medic, she ceased her mindless struggling but was still moaning in her tears.
Kakashi frowned in sympathy for the poor medic and rubbed her back. Sakura's back shook from her crying before she finally opened her eyes.
"Sakura, are you okay?" Kakashi asked in concern.
Sakura rubbed her eyes and looked up at the worried Copy Nin with blurry green eyes and swallowed deeply. She remained silent, probably figured out at an instant that Kakashi had known she was having a bad dream, as well as the lack of speech she could give at this time.
Kakashi sighed, "you were having a bad dream," he smiled courteously at the slightly startled medic and he waited for her to say at least something.
"Yeah, I kind of figured that," she finally said huskily, as if she was still scared that whatever she was running from would still be around to scare her.
Sakura sat up, snivelling constantly. She looked like her twelve year old self again; so scared and lost that she didn't really know who she was anymore. Kakashi had known Sakura to be strong and brave, as well as talented with her medical Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, but to see her cowering away like a frightened rabbit gave Kakashi the impression that he did something wrong.
Kakashi grinned lightly before giving her a tired but serious gaze, "get some rest, we need to get to the next village as soon as we can so we can relax a bit better," he smiled dearly at the medic.
Sakura felt slight force on her shoulder where Kakashi's hand was and indicated that he was trying to get her to lie back down, and so she complied, frowning deeply as she rest her head on the not so comfy pillow and sighed.
Kakashi continuously rubbed Sakura's back subtly as she drifted back to sleep, watching her expression calm as she sighed once more. Kakashi reluctantly pulled his hand away and shuffled back to his original sleeping position and lay back down.
Watching momentarily, Kakashi almost felt compelled to look at her every time he got the chance to do so, "Kakashi…" slurred the sleeping medic in a light moan, startling the silver haired Jounin. Sakura's lips tugged lazily to a small smile, causing Kakashi to do the same. Slowly, Kakashi let his head rest and let slumber take over his body for some well earned rest.
Author's notes: I liked this chapter, I finally added some randomly fluffy bits, but that's just my opinion, so I don't know what you would say about it. So there, Chapter Nine done and done. I hope you liked this chapter, now reviews please
Preview: What will Sakura and Kakashi do to kill the boredom? Wait and see in the next chapter, Chapter Twenty: One Of Those Days.