Hello, guys! Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it and I'm awaiting your reviews!
PS I do not own "Naruto" it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto ©
But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Let it burn while I cry
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name…
"Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele
A date? She had to bring a date to the festival? And who exactly? Naruto, who was going with Hinata or the dead men in the morgue? Because they were the only male companions she had for the last year or so. The possibility of her and Sai going to the festival popped out in her head but immediately afterwards a frown appeared on her face. Maybe showing up with a mummy wasn't so bad after all.
The only ones left were Tenzo and Kakashi. Her new neighbor was still on a mission out of the village so the only choice she had was to ask the Copy nin. It would be a disaster. After the first stage of the challenge, she couldn't look him in the eye and Sakura did her best to avoid him. Especially after their heartwarming moment in the hospital room. And more over, her eccentric ex-teacher hated that kind of social events, crowds and dances. He would never accept. Could he dance anyway?...
Her face flushed at the image in her mind how she was asking him out. Impossible. She could never do it. Yes, they were friends but the kunoichi wasn't sure exactly how close they were. Close enough to go out together, have some fun at the festival without affecting their relationship in any way? Or the things between them weren't as innocent and platonic as she thought they were? Sakura shook her head, chasing the disturbing thoughts away. She shouldn't doubt him, she trusted him to see her only as a friend. Nothing more…
"Those must be pretty dirty thoughts you have in your head…", Ino's voice startled her and the pink-haired kunoichi cursed under her breath, settling comfortably again on the bench .
"Why should they be dirty?", Sakura frowned at her friend.
"You're flushed.", the blonde grinned, "So, what were you thinking of?"
"How epically screwed I am.", the pinkie sighed tiredly, "I need a date for tomorrow's festival…"
"Ooh, yep, I heard.", the other kunoichi smirked, "What are the choices?"
"That's the problem. There are no choices, except for one but I'm not very keen on asking him out."
"I'm pretty sure Kakashi-senpai isn't the worst possible companion.", Ino blurted out with a smug expression.
"Why would you ever consider…."
"Oh, please. Your love life isn't exactly complicated.", the blonde waved her hand in front of her face.
"My love life has nothing to do with him. It's about the tournament only."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…", Ino patted her on the shoulder, "You can always ask him out on a date as friends. I doubt that he would reject you. Me – almost for sure, but you – never."
Sakura shifted nervously in her spot.
"Oh, I see. That's the real problem, isn't it? You like him and you're afraid that he'd turn your invitation down.", Ino nodded slowly in understanding, sending her a compassionate glance.
"No! That's not it…", Sakura objected, slightly rising her voice, "I mean I am a little scared of inviting him…", the pink-haired kunoichi shook her hands in defence before her, "Not that I like him or anything…"
"So, you don't like him…", Ino glared at her confused.
"No! I do like him, but not like "like" him, more like "like" him. You know…", Sakura silenced and interrupted her passionate explanation, blushing a little.
"So you "like" him but you don't "like" him…", Ino scratched the back of her neck.
"No! I "like" him but it's not liking as to "like" someone…"
"Who do you "like", but not "like"?", a voice behind the girls echoed, forcing them to jump from the bench and turn around to see to whom it belonged.
When Sakura recognized the familiar eye crinkle, something clenched in her gut, forming a lump in her throat.
"Yo.", Kakashi murmured, raising his hand in greeting.
"Kakashi-senpai!", Ino's face brightened, "Sakura was just about to look for you."
"Really? Why?", his head turned to his former student, whose face now was colored in deep red.
Sakura changed the weight of her feet and cleared her throat, sending burning glares at Ino; her friend only shook her head in Kakashi's direction, encouraging her, "Well, I wanted to ask you something.", the pink-haired kunoichi sent a terrified look to her blonde friend before forcing herself to look at Kakashi's eye, "About the tournament…"
"Ah, what about it?", the Copy nin raised his brow questioningly at his teammate's uneasiness.
"Um, would you like to…", Sakura cleared her throat again because the lump in it was causing her to lose her voice, "I mean, I thought that since we're friends…maybe… you could…", her words faded and she kicked a small rock on the ground with her foot, "Anyway, do you want to comewithme to the festival?", her green eyes searched for the small stone on the ground, not able to look him in the face.
"Ha?", the Copy nin frowned confused. Ino slapped her palm on her face, silently, shaking her head in disbelief. Her friend could be so retarded some times.
"I wondered…", Sakura took a deep breath and lifted her eyes to meet his, "If you would like to come with me to the festival. As friends."
Kakashi's black eye widened and he stared at the girl before him. Was she really inviting him? She wanted him to be her date? He didn't see that coming, not at all. If he wasn't the always rational and reasonable Copy nin he would have said yes as soon as she asked him, but Kakashi knew what would happen if they did go to the festival together. People would start talking. No, they were talking now, they would be literally yelling. It was against the social principles of the community. But, fuck the people, he could deal with them. The part which stopped him was that if he did accept her invitation, Kakashi wasn't sure that he'd be able to retain his feelings about her as they were now. Purely platonic, friendly. He didn't trust his will. Not after seeing her like that on the screen during the challenge. Sensual, teasing, hot…
"Won't you say something?", the pink-haired girl whispered quietly with blank expression, still staring at him.
"Sakura, I…", Kakashi murmured, looking down to her green eyes.
Suddenly a shout echoed and the three shinobi turned around to see Darui coming closer to them. Sakura turned her back to Kakashi and faced her opponent.
"Hey, Sakura-san.", the white-haired shinobi smiled, ignoring the other people around the petit kunoichi.
"Hello.", the girl answered uncertainly.
"Would you like to be my date at the festival?", the lightning shinobi blurted out bluntly.
Sakura's and Ino's mouths dropped open and probably Kakashi's too but the fabric, covering his face, prevented them from seeing it.
"Why me?", the pink-haired kunoichi answered puzzled.
"Because I'm an elite shinobi, I can't just show up at a social event in a foreign country with some random chick.", the young ninja smiled, "You're easy on the eyes, strong and intelligent as far as I saw during the challenges. Moreover, I'm first on the temporary ranking and you're second. It's almost expected of us to go there together."
Sakura chuckled at his reasons to invite her. It was a while since anyone asked her to be his date and it was even longer since she received such compliments from a stranger. It was nice to be liked because of her own abilities. When she explored his face little more relaxed than usually when she was in his company, Sakura realized that he was almost at her age and he was quite good-looking. The kunoichi bit her lip. She really wanted to go with Kakashi. No matter what she wanted to think, her real inner desires were about him. But he was about to reject her. She saw it in his look. There was this regret in his warm coal eye that revealed his intentions.
The kunoichi turned around and sent Kakashi an expecting glare. She was staring at him, he was looking at her but the Copy nin didn't utter a word. A shadow passed through Sakura's eye. Kakashi could swear that for a second a hurtful, pained expression appeared on her face before she turned around again at her opponent.
"I accept.", the pink-haired kunoichi rewarded Darui with a sparkling, bright smile.
The shinobi returned the smile and offered his arm, "Can you help me to chose my outfit for tonight?", Sakura nodded, catching him by the arm, "I have no idea what Moonlight means as a festival theme."
They moved slowly away, "May be we should consider wearing clothes in colours that represent the moonlight…", the voice of the pink-haired kunoichi gradually faded completely as they walked further away from Kakashi and Ino.
The Copy nin stared motionlessly after them in shock.
"I think she wanted you to stop her.", Ino murmured quietly, knowing that he heard her, "Whatever…He isn't quite bad himself. Damn, that lucky, Sakura.", the blonde kunoichi shook her head, "She's going to have him wrapped around her pinky in no time."
Kakashi only snorted and disappeared in poof of smoke.
Ino grinned and murmured to herself, "Sometimes it's too easy."
A loud knock echoed in Sakura's apartment.
"I'm coming.", the kunoichi shouted from her bedroom, adding some finishing touches on her makeup. The pink-haired girl tapped her right forefinger lightly on her lips to spread the pink lipstick more evenly, smiled at her reflection on the mirror and fixed one silky hair lock which had fallen before her outlined with black eyeliner green eyes. The pale silver eye shadow was giving extra lustre to her already glistening emeralds.
With one swift motion Sakura readjusted her short pleated black skirt, making sure that it was hiding her rear well. She tampered in her bosom and fixated her bra with extra padding. She wasn't used to wear that kind of underwear, considering it uncomfortable but desperate times called for desperate measures. Earlier today when she rummaged in her clothes' archive, Sakura found out Ino's long lost present for her sixteenth birthday – a sleeveless satin light gray top which to Sakura's horror turned out to be made entirely from holes. The garment was meant to show not hide. When she tried it on, the kunoichi felt as naked as when she was only in her bra. There was no way she could wear only this.
So now standing in front of the mirror, the pink-haired girl was admiring her creativeness. She had refashioned an old black singlet and sewed part of it under the blouse in the area where her bra was showing, so now the satin garment's holes were revealing only a large part of her stomach. The kunoichi sighed deeply and nodded, giving herself a courage at her reflection in the mirror. She could do it. Now was the perfect chance for her to get to know Darui as well.
Sakura walked out of the bedroom and headed to the door. Standing before it, she took a deep breath and opened it wide with a smile, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting.", the kunoichi bowed slightly while apologizing.
The shinobi's eye travelled all over her body, drinking the sweet view with a slight smirk, "It was worth the waiting. You look stunning."
"Thank you.", Sakura blushed and locked the door behind her, "You look quite good too."
The kunoichi wasn't completely surprised by the look of her date, after all she helped him to pick up the clothes. But now dressed up and with changed hair style he looked completely different. He had changed the way he wore his white shirt as well, comparing to the way he tried it in the shop. Now his sleeves were rolled up a little above his elbow and the first five buttons weren't clasped, revealing his smooth firm chest. The thing that grabbed her attention at first were the bracers he had attached to his black trousers. They shaped him quite well, giving a strong sense of the western fashion in the more developed foreign cities.
"Oh, I almost forgot.", Darui pulled out of his pocket a small box. The shinobi opened it and pulled out a tiny black leather bracelet with a white flower on it, covered with silver brocade. He reached for her hand and buckled it gently. Still holding her wrist his thumb traced the plastic ornament, "It's a m…"
"Moonflower.", Sakura finished instead of him, looking at the bracelet. Then she lifted her eyes and stared at his to see the amusement in them, "I'm quite familiar with plants and herbs."
"I guess I'm not that surprised. You specialize in poisoning, don't you?", the man smiled at her as she caught him by his arm and they walked down the stairs to go to the festival.
"You can say that but my real speciality is the healing. Not that I'm some kind of prodigy or something. I just enjoy what I'm doing.", the pink-haired kunoichi returned the smile, pretending to ignore the fact that her date had made a deep background check beforehand.
"I've heard quite a lot about you.", the lightning participant held the outside door of the main apartment building open for her and offered his hand for support when Sakura was walking down the stars on the stairs, leading to the street.
The kunoichi rewarded him with a dazzling smile as she took his hand, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Don't believe everything you hear. About me at least.", Sakura glanced at him with a smug expression, "I'm not as good as they think I am."
"I deeply doubt that, Sakura-san.", Darui grinned, "I saw your outrun with Kankuro. That was some nice strength."
"Please, call me Sakura.", the kunoichi bowed her head to one side silently. She could swear that someone was following them, "As for that time, I think I got lucky that I hit some geophysical weak point in the earth crust or whatever it's called."
"I see.", the man besides her stopped for a second and looked around. Then he bowed and stack his mouth to Sakura's ear as if he was kissing her on the cheek, "We're being followed."
"I know.", the kunoichi smiled whispering as if they weren't aware of it, "Do you recognize the chakra?"
"He's hiding it pretty well.", Darui chuckled fakery and placed his hand on her waist, winging her playfully, allowing her to scan the area.
"I can't see anything.", Sakura laughed at the gesture of her companion, "We're almost to the festival's grounds, we should hurry."
"Why don't we check it out?", the shinobi whispered with a smirk on his face, and eyes lock with Sakura's.
"I can't fight in this clothes, especially in those shoes.", she grabbed the hem of her skirt on the both sides and span, sticking her tongue at him.
"I can handle him alone. There is no reason to put you at risk too.", Darui offered his arm again in a sign to continue walking.
"Absolutely not. We can't know who this might be. If they're really an enemy that means they had passed under the noses of all the guards here, which requires quite amazing skills. It'd be too dangerous to face them alone.", the kunoichi shook her head and pulled him slightly in direction to the tournament.
"What do you mean if they're really an enemy?", Darui shot her a confused look, "Why would your comrades spy on you?"
"My teammates and friends are such worry-heads. They don't trust you. It won't surprise me if some of them is the one following us.", Sakura smiled at her date reassuringly, trying to keep his mind away from their stalker.
"I understand.", the man smiled and nodded, "Let's enjoy ourselves then, without worrying for such minor things."
"Couldn't say it better.", Sakura winked at him.
They both laughed.
"They almost saw us!", Ino poked Naruto in the ribs.
"I'm sorry…", the blonde boy rubbed the sore place, sending a killing glare at the kunoichi, "How long do we need to spy on them? Hinata is waiting for me…"
"That was your idea!", Ino hissed, crawling to the edge of the roof they were standing on, carefully peeking, "Oh, god! Look at them! He just won her a plush rabbit…", the girl exclaimed, "How sweet!"
"Let me see…", Naruto crawled a well and peek just in time to see them both laughing at something, "Cute…", the Jinchuuriki murmured with dark expression.
"You don't trust him?"
"He's nothing more than some cocky sham, who's good with the ninjato.", Naruto growled, "I think he's up to something."
"You can't accept that maybe he liked Sakura and that's why he invited her?", Ino frowned annoyed, moving aside to follow the couple, who was heading to the dance floor now.
"It's not that. I just don't like him. That's all.", the blonde boy whispered.
"You don't like Kakashi-senpai being around Sakura, either.", Ino grinned, "If I didn't know you were with Hinata, I'd say that you have a crush on your best friend."
"I'm just scared that if she falls for the wrong person again it would be too difficult for her to get over it. Not after what happened with Sasuke…", Ino didn't answer and Naruto stood up, "I'm leaving. You should too.", the boy jumped from the roof in the back street.
The kunoichi peeked once more at the festival when something caught her attention and she grinned widely, "So predictable, Kakashi-senpai…". The Copy nin was lying on the roof across the street, scanning the area, "I guess I can go back without worrying about Forehead.", Ino smiled and jumped off the roof, heading home to change her clothes and enjoy the rest of the festival.
Kakashi couldn't believe himself. Why would he abandon the Hokage to go and stalk his former student? This was absurd. He shouldn't have listened to Tsunade-sama. Even though she told him that he could leave her. It wasn't right. But the Copy nin doubted that she would have allowed him that if she didn't know that the thing distracting him was her protégée. Somehow the Hokage always managed to see right through him. Honestly talking, the blonde kunoichi was able to see right through everybody she knew long enough. It was serving her well as the Hokage.
The silver-haired jonin saw the couple walking towards the dance floor. Something glistened on Sakura's wrist. When Kakashi narrowed his eyes he realized that it was a bracelet. The kunoichi didn't wear bracelets, he had never seen her wearing one and he even doubted that she had any. Did he give it to her? Why would Darui do this? And why was he getting irritated by it? The jonin jumped on the next roof for a better view. The hand of Darui was gently pressed on Sakura's lower back as he guided her to the dance floor. A silent growl escaped the Copy nin's mouth, how dared he touch her?
Kakashi cursed. He should have accepted her invitation; she was probably hurt because of his behavior. She was blushing heavily then, probably it took all of her will and courage to ask him out and like a jerk he just stood there without uttering a word. Why wouldn't anything work out fine when he took decisions concerning Sakura? He was always wrong, irrational and childish.
The shinobi saw Darui swaying Sakura in the rhythm of the music. The bastard was dancing well and obviously Sakura was enjoying herself. Kakashi mustn't do what he wanted to do right now. The idea was not just bad it was apocalyptic and it would cause the end of the world for him literally if it ended up badly. What were the odds for Sakura to forgive him what he wanted to do?
"Fuck.", Kakashi cursed and made a few hand seals. In a second a brown pub appeared next to him.
"Yo, Kakashi-boy.", the dog barked.
"Pakkun. Can you please do me a favour?", the jonin tried to smile and act carefree but in the end probably his expression only cause the dog to worry.
"Whatever you want.", the pub raised his paw and placed it on Kakashi's foot.
"Go to my apartment and fetch me the plastic bag with clothes inside it, that is on the sofa.", Kakashi whispered, "Can you do it fast?"
"Be right back.", the pub barked for a goodbye and ran away.
The Copy nin sat tiredly on the roof. That was a bad idea indeed but he'd think about the consequences later when they occurred.
Sakura laughed as Darui swung her around him and then pulled her to his body, "You dance quite well."
"Same goes for you.", the white-haired man shot her amused look and traced her waist with his big hands, ensuring her stability, "I've always admired the girls who can dance while wearing high heels."
"It's a nice balance training.", Sakura chuckled, and span in harmony with the music, "Especially when you dance on a smooth marble floor like this one.", the boy grinned and supported her as she slightly slipped.
"If you ask me, this looks more like sliding than dancing…", Darui laughed and pulled her close to him again when the music slowly died away.
Sakura placed her hands on his shoulders and lifted her gaze to look in his dark eyes. For a moment they reminded her of Kakashi's but then she realized that they weren't as black as the Copy nin's. These ones were blank, empty and a little bit cold. These were the eyes of a trained killer. She suddenly missed the warmth and the playful flicker in her ex-sensei's eye.
A new song sounded around the couples on the dance floor. Sakura watched with amusement how the boys and the girls separated in two groups and moved to the sides of the stage. She loved this dance. Smiling she let go of Darui and winked at him, "We'll meet on the dance floor." The pink-haired kunoichi hurried to join the girls' group.
The music became clearer and louder, filling the air with jingling tones. Sakura aligned her movements with those to the other girls and noticed the amazed look Darui shot her. They swayed, turned and span, following the rhythm of the song. When the tune changed the girls froze in one place and watched how the boys started dancing. For her amusement, Sakura saw Darui, dancing the complicated moves flawlessly. The both groups on the dance floor were dancing, spinning and playing with one another, teasing and bantering. Soon the boys and girls mixed and everyone found themselves a partner.
Sakura was laughing with dazzling eyes to the young boy who was in front of her now. It was her turn to change her partner. Spinning she found herself in Darui's arms again, "I didn't know you knew this dance."
"There are many things you don't know about me.", the man grinned and his hand travelled from her lower back to her bottom.
Before Sakura had the chance to do something, someone pulled her away from Darui's hands, spinning her in time with the rhythm. Startled the kunoichi lifted her wide open eyes and met a coal one, looking down at her with irritation flickering in it.
"Kakashi…", she whispered. The man pulled her closer and turned her around, just in time to avoid the changing partners part, "What are you doing here?", she managed to ask between the moves.
"Dancing.", the Copy nin stared at her popped green eyes.
"You shouldn't have ripped me off from Darui like that!", the kunoichi frowned, still dancing.
"You shouldn't have let him run his fingers over your butt.", Kakashi replied with caustic voice.
Sakura's mouth snapped open in disbelief, "It's my butt! I can do whatever I want with it."
The Coy nin slowly turned around and headed to the end of the dance floor still dancing, ignoring the curious looks of the skipped men who should have been Sakura's partners, "Yes, you can. But he can't because as you said, it's your butt, not his."
The pink-haired kunoichi growled annoyed but still continued to follow his lead, not wanting to cause a scene, "You're being childish."
"I know.", Kakashi laughed fakery, "Lets go to the Ferris wheel next!"
"Unbelievable!.", Sakura sighed. When they reached the edge of the dance floor, Kakashi jumped down and grabbed her for the waist, forcing her to go to him as well, "Where are you taking me?", she asked annoyed when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her after him.
Kakashi stopped and turned around to face the kunoichi. His eye was glistening but except for anger there was something else too that Sakura couldn't define, "Did he give this to you?", the Copy nin reached and grabbed roughly her wrist.
"Yes. You got a problem with that?", Sakura straightened he back and raised her chin, challengingly.
"Take it off.", the silver-haired jonin bowed his head down to her eye level.
"Why? No!", she exclaimed confused. An illuminating lightning split the night sky in two, filing the air with nervous anticipation for the thunder.
"I don't like it.", the Copy nin said bluntly, "It doesn't suit you.", the thunder echoed above their heads.
A large drop fell on Sakura's nose and the kunoichi lifted her gaze up to the sky. Only a second later another million raindrops fell from the sky. Kakashi cursed and looked around to find shelter. The Copy nin noticed a small alley between two houses, his eyes raised a little and he saw the roofs overlapping above it. With one swift motion he pulled Sakura there and pinned her to the wall with his body.
His eye fell down to meet hers. She was looking at him with a weird, unexpected composure, "Why are you angry about the bracelet?", her voice was nothing more than a quiet whisper.
Kakashi silenced for a second, forming his logical answer in his head, "Because he's your competitor."
Sakura sighed and took a deep breath gazing at his black eye, "Are you jealous, Kakashi?"
The Copy nin averted his face from her and looked at the night sky, flashing with lightnings, "I don't have the right to be…", he whispered and slowly faced the petit kunoichi before him, "We're just friends."
Sakura stared at his coal eye and saw the truth behind the lies, his mouth was telling. There was jealousy, anger and desire in there. She realized just how much the man before her had suppressed his true feelings and itches, and he was continuing to do it. Just for her sake. Because he knew that she wanted him as a friend nothing more, because they could only be friends. Sakura frowned at her thoughts, still staring at Kakashi's eye. Why wasn't she pulling back from him? Why didn't she pushed him away at a safe distance where their relationship won't be compromised? Because Sakura knew that deep inside she liked that feeling. The warmth,… no,… the heat, his body was radiating, the strength and security that was surrounding her when he was close to her, the tension and the eagerness. She liked it all, but she was too stubborn to admit it to herself.
But now when he was so close to her, when she could feel his firm, strong body stack to hers, her will was wavering, her wall, built around her inner desires was cracking. His heart was beating in time with hers as if they were one and the same. The kunoichi opened her mouth to say something but her voice couldn't come out. She cleared her throat.
"Your shirt is wet.", Sakura whispered, "You're gonna catch a cold."
Kakashi let out the breath he was holding and pulled back a little, unfastening his tie. His eyes averted from Sakura's face and he focused them on unclasping his shirt buttons. Avoiding her gaze, the Copy nin eased his back on the opposite wall and bowed his head.
Sakura glanced at the bracelet on her wrist and slowly her fingers traced the silver lock. With one swift motion the jewellery was gone and the kunoichi threw it aside on the street. Her green eyes stared at it. The rain was pouring down on the bracelet, and soon the runnel formed from the flood rain washed it away from her sight.
"I'm sorry.", she whispered lifting her gaze at Kakashi.
The Copy nin raised his chin and his black eye met hers, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have kidnapped you like that."
Sakura smiled slightly and eased her head on the wall behind her, still looking at him, "You didn't answer my question…Are you jealous?"
"I did answer you.", he whispered.
"No, you didn't. You said you shouldn't be, not that you aren't.", her words rolled on her tongue with a slight smile, "There is a huge difference. That's why I'm asking… are you jealous?"
Kakashi pushed back from the wall and stood before her, only inch away from her face, "And what if I am?"
"Then we have a serious problem.", Sakura raised her eyebrow, "Because I kinda like you when you are ."
A spark flickered in Kakashi's eye, "Then definitely, I'm jealous."
"Is that so?", the kunoichi traced with fingers his unfastened tie and stroke its satin surface. Her fingers worked her way up to his face and she partly opened her lips as she felt Kakashi's hand, caressing her waist, pulling her closer to him. Her face flushed and she ran her finger slowly at the edge of the mask, "Can I?"
A little anxiously the man nodded and gulped the lump that had appeared in his throat. Sakura's finger slowly pulled the hem down, revealing his face centimeter by centimeter. His skin was smooth, obviously he was shaving his beard regularly. When she pulled it down completely exposing his features, Sakura took a deep breath. He was completely gorgeous and he looked so young. She never imagined that he could look this way.
"Holy cow…", the words rolled from her mouth mumbling and she saw him smirking slightly. He had a great smile. Sakura's eyes looked up to his and removed the eye patch he was wearing. Suddenly another black eye gazed at her. Her emeralds popped out and she was taken a little aback.
"I put a contact lens to cover the sharingan if I somehow lost my eye patch.", the Copy nin explained and pulled back a little, suddenly realized their proximity.
His hand fell from her waist and Sakura felt weirdly cold at the spot where his palm was just a second ago. Her heart was beating fast and she could tell that her body temperature was higher than normal. She reached and grabbed the silver satin shirt of Kakashi and lifted her green dazzling eyes to meet his, "Why did you pull back?"
The Copy nin took a deep breath, "What are we doing, Sakura?", there was a pained tone in his voice which stung the girl's heart, "This isn't something friends should be doing. Most of the things we do aren't appropriate for us to do..."
"I don't know what we're doing, Kakashi...", her eyes fell, "But what I do know is that I only love you like a friend, a really close friend but at the same time when I look at your eyes, I see a desire, a passion, that shouldn't be there. And the worst part is… that I like what I see..."
"Tell me what do you want me to do, Sakura.", Kakashi sighed and straightened his posture, "Tell me what you want and I'll fucking do it. Just don't look at me with those big green glistening eyes of yours expectantly because I don't even know what I am supposed to do when you stare at me like that. The only thing I can think of at times like that is that I wanna…", his voice silenced; the Copy nin cursed and ran his fingers through his hair. When his eyes met Sakura's he saw the confusion in them, the same ambivalent feelings he felt right at this moment.
"What do you want to do, Kakashi?", she whispered.
"Nothing. I wanna do nothing.", he murmured and turned to the side, facing the pouring rain.
"Kakashi…", his name rolled on her tongue and when the kunoichi didn't get an answer she pulled him for his sleeve and forced him to look at her, "Tell me what you want to do!", she cursed at his silence, "Tell me!", her yell as if triggered something in the Copy nin because his eyes widened and he roughly grabbed her for her shoulders, shaking her.
"I WANT OT KISS YOU...", the shinobi cursed under his breath and let go of her, turning his back to the girl, running his fingers through his silver locks.
Sakura stood there shocked and then she opened her mouth trying to form the words but she couldn't. The kunoichi whispered with a raspy voice, " Then do it."
Kakashi slowly turned around and glared at her, "I can't.", his eyes fell and the Copy nin left the penthouse, walking mindlessly under the pouring rain away from Sakura.
The kunoichi watched him going further and further away, she wanted to do something, to stop him. The girl ran after him, not caring for the rain, the thunders or her dripping clothes and shoes. She caught up to him and yelled, trying to outshout the noise of the storm, "Why?"
Kakashi stopped in the middle of the street without turning around to face the girl. Sakura saw him slightly moving his head, showing her his naked face profile. His mouth opened but he closed it again, obviously suppressing a nagging sarcastic comment. The only words that came out of his mouth, made Sakura's heart jerk, "Because we're only friends." The silver-haired jonin continued walking under the rain, leaving the girl standing there alone in the storm.
The kunoichi lifted her face upwards and tried to stare at the dark, crying sky but the power of the falling drops didn't allow her to keep her eyes open. Her hair was dripping wet and it was sticking to her body and the short locks clinging to her face. She brushed them away with her hand and tried to dry up the pouring water from her face. Because they were friends. Sakura felt a warmth on her cheeks and burning in her eyes. No, she mustn't cry, not again. The kunoichi squatted in the middle of the street, and buried her face in her knees.
How could this happen? Why now of all times? When everything was coming into place…she always screwed things up. She admitted she was attracted to the silver-haired jonin but only this. They were friends, nothing more, a physical attraction wasn't always a sign of real feelings. And he…why was he even jealous? Could it be that he liked her? No, it couldn't be that. He was a man and she was young woman it was a natural for them to feel sexually drawn to each other. More over their deep feelings and long friendship just multiplied this attraction. That was it.
But then… why did it hurt so bad when he called her a friend? Why did it hurt so bad to see his pained expression? Why was her heart crying and her chest burning when he left her there all by herself? Why did she feel the fear crawling under her skin? What was she afraid of?
Sakura stood up with a blank expression on her face. The girl looked around. There were no people. The rain had forced them to hide and the kunoichi was grateful for the tranquillity of her surroundings. The windows of the houses she passed were glistening in soft warm yellow light. Laughs and songs could be heard from the bars and the taverns. A door opened and a girl came out of the nearest club but Sakura ignored her. She didn't really wanted to talk with anyone, she wanted to be alone, like Kakashi left her. She deserved it.
A arm wrapped around Sakura's shoulders, but the kunoichi just slowly turned her empty stare at the person who touched her.
"Sakura! What happened?", Ino's voice was higher than usual and the girl shook her friend when she didn't receive an answer, "Are you ok?"
"Leave me alone, Pig."
"Hell no, Forehead.", Ino hugged her tightly and tried to lead her in direction to her house but Sakura didn't move an inch, "Tell me what happened!"
The pink-haired kunoichi glanced blankly at the blonde girl and her lower lip trembled. Sakura knit her brows and wrinkled her nose in a sad grimace. The medical nin yelped and buried her face in Ino's nape, sobbing and sniffing.
"It's OK. Everything's going to be fine.", the blonde caressed her cheek and patted her on her wet hair, "Let's get you home. We'll talk about everything once you get rid of those wet clothes.", Sakura slowly nodded still crying and the two girl headed to her apartment.
TBC