Chapter 2 Seeing in a Different Light
Knock, knock.
Sakura looked up at the clock from her bag she had just finished backing. 10pm. Only one person could be visiting her at this hour. She walked out the master bedroom and across the large living room. Being the head of the Konoha Hospital did keep her busy to the point that Naruto felt the need to get her out of the village for what he so nicely phrased 'getting a life.' However the position did allow her to move to this luxury apartment, something that she would have never been able to afford on her medical ninja salary.
The striking blonde kunoichi practically was hopping with excitement as Sakura opened the front door. "Please tell me that the rumors are true." She placed her palms together. Whatever the rumors were they must have been extremely far fetch for Ino to result to praying for them to be correct.
"Exactly what are the rumors you heard?" Sakura was a bit scared to ask. Ino's sources were a bit shady. Kami only knew what crazy stories they were spreading. What was even more frightening was that Ino came to see her so that had to mean they concerned her.
"Are you going to Suna on some sort of exchange?"
"Yes, I am." She went into the kitchen to make some tea. Thank goodness that it wasn't the outrage gossip that usually circulated around town.
"You are actually leaving the hospital?" The blonde's disbelief bothered Sakura.
"The hospital can survive without me for awhile" She came back out into the living room holding two mugs of green tea.
"I'm sure it can. But can you survive outside of it?" Ino smirked and took the mug offered to her and sat on the large chenille sofa. "That hospital is pretty much the center of your universe."
"Contrary to popular belief I do have a life." She pulled out one of the dining chair roughly and sat indignantly. For the second time that day she was being told she didn't have a life.
"You could have fooled me, Forehead." Ino sipped her tea ignoring her friend's anger. "When was the last time you went out with the girls?"
"…"
"When was the last time you did anything non work related?"
"…"
" When was the last time you went on a date?"
"…"
"My point exactly." She smiled smugly but then paused, her expression becoming deadly serious. "You have gotten some though, right?" She whispered.
"PIG!" Sakura dropped her cup. It shattered leaving a mess of tea and porcelain on the hardwood floor. "What a thing to ask a person!"
"Oh my God. You haven't!" Ino bent down to pick up some of the shards of the cup that had made their way near her feet.
"If you must know, I haven't been on a date in over a year so no, I haven't been intimate with anyone." She dried the spilled tea and placed the remnants of the mug in the towel to avoid getting cut. "I don't have time to date with all my duties in the hospital and I just can't have a one night stand. Sex has to be a connection of body and mind for me."
"Ok but still…over a year. Damn." She shook her head obviously she couldn't go that long without satisfying her body's needs.
"I hope I have answered all your questions. And I hope you are happy to hear that I'll try to get myself a life while I'm away." She really hoped that Ino's curiosity about her sex life was appeased.
"I am glad that you will be getting away. Change will do you some good. But I still have one more rumor for you."
"Great." She rolled her eyes and motioned with her hand for Ino to spill it and get it over with quickly.
"Is Kakashi going with you?" Ino said it way to eager for Sakura's liking.
"Yes. Kakashi-sensei is part of the exchange too." What did that matter? Ino seemed to think it was the key point.
"Fantastic!" She jumped up from the sofa excitedly. "He is the answer to your problem." She frowned for a moment. "You have to stop calling him sensei though. That won't do. Actually," she paused, "if the rumors about him are true then maybe it will work in your favor." Ino was lost now in what scheme she was concocting.
"Wait a minute!" Sakura grabbed Ino by the shoulders to snap her back. "He is the answer to what problem?"
Ino stared blanking at her jade-eyed friend. "To your not getting any in over a year problem, duh. Really now, I don't care what you say but that is not healthy. It's like denying oxygen to your body."
"I'm going to let your flawed medical reasons for having sex left and right slide since I'm still confused." She held on to Ino's shoulders a bit tighter. "How is Kakashi the answer to that?"
"The fact that I have to spell it out proves the magnitude of the situation." She removed Sakura's hands off her, smoothing her blouse. "He is man. Which in your case is enough of a qualification. But on top of that, he is older." She lowered her voice and covered her mouth with her hand as if they were in the middle of a crowd and this was top secret. "They make the best lovers. The things the kunoichi say about him. Phew! You don't realize how great it will be." Continuing in her normal voice, "You know him well so he'll pass the whole having a mental connection you want. See, you have a problem," she put the palm of her left hand facing up," he has the solution," she put the palm of her right hand up, "Boom!" she smacked her hands together and laughed. "Everyone happy."
Sakura's mouth fell open. Ino had always had some crazy far out there ideas but this one took the cake. How could she even think that Kakashi could…could…AHHH. She couldn't even think it. "He is my sensei and…and…"
"Stop stuttering. You really are a prude." Ino laughed even harder now. "He was your sensei. That was a long time ago. I'll bet anything that he doesn't see you as his little genin student anymore." She gave her a mischievous wink. "Now I know that back when you were Team 7, you only had eyes for Sasuke but do you mean to tell me you never noticed Kakashi's muscular rock hard body or wonder about what is under that mask?"
"No! I never stole a look at his Greek god like physique." She covered her mouth with both hands at the admission.
It was about six years ago. She had been 18. A routine escort mission that had turned messy. An assassin had ambushed her while she was guarding the VIP. He would have killed her if Kakashi hadn't appeared out of nowhere and blocked the assassin's katana from slashing her in two. It didn't miss completely. Instead of getting her, it cut deep into Kakashi's side. He killed the man easily even with such an injury. She had seen him in action before but this time had been different. He was truly an Elite. After the body of the assassin had been taken care of and Naruto rushed the VIP to safety, Sakura had treated Kakashi. She had taken off his shirt to tend to the wound. It was serious but she was an elite herself. In no time a thin but long scar was all that remained. He was sleeping quietly. His bare chest slowly rose and fell with each breath. Sakura couldn't help but admire the perfection of his body. She reached her hand to remove the mask from his face to take a peek when Sai walked in to inform them of the VIP new location.
"That's a relief." Ino sighed. "You are human. So did you see face?"
Sakura shook her head, the memory still fresh in her mind.
"Shame. Ayame says every woman should get a glimpse of the face of an angel. His must be gorgeous for her to still be going on about him. How long ago did she see his face?"
"Twelve years. Yea every time I go Ichiraku Ramen she asks about him." She laughed. She had always gotten along well with Ayame but how ridiculous to be hung up on a guy when you only saw his face for an instant a decade ago.
~xxxxx
"Uncle Kakashi!" The young dark haired boy bounded to the Copy Ninja. "Did you bring me anything?" He asked looking at Kakashi's seemingly empty hands.
"Now Daichi, don't be rude." The boy's mother came out of the kitchen, ringing her hands on her apron. "Hello Kakashi."
"Hello, Kurenai." He hugged the ruby-eyed woman. He bent down meeting Daichi at eye level. He searched the pockets of his jounin vest. "Mmmm. It should be here somewhere. Ah now I remember where I put it." He reached his hand to the boy's ear and pulled a small metal figurine.
"Cool! It's a metal bird." Daichi took it in his hands, examining it closely.
"Kakashi you really shouldn't have. You are going to spoil him." She smiled. Despite her words she was grateful to him. After Asuma's death, Shikamaru and Kakashi looked after her and then Daichi when he was born. Kakashi, however, had a very close bond with the boy. She couldn't blame him. Daichi looked almost exactly as his father minus the red eyes.
"What are uncles for if not to spoil their nephews." He ruffled the boy's hair. "It's an egret. They are very special birds to the people of The Bird Country. It was given to me by the Feudal Lady Toki. Remind me to tell you her story one day."
"Cool!" Daichi ran off to play with his new addition to the large collection of things Kakashi had brought back from his missions.
"He has every single thing you have ever brought him. I'm going to have move so he can room for them all." Kurenai smiled, handing him a mug of tea.
"I'm glad he likes them. His smile reminds so much of his father's." Kakashi took the mug, bowing his head in thanks. "How have you been? Is there anything you need?"
"I'm fine. Asuma made sure we would be taken care of. Shikamaru and Temari are like a second set of parents to Daichi. I think they are using him as practice for when they start their own family." She looked down into her cup. "I still miss him terribly, I won't lie. Sometimes I don't want to get out of bed. But then I think about Daichi and I feel like Asuma is watching over us. It gives him strength to go on."
Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder. She shook the bad memories away and looked up at him. "How are you? You are still taking all those away missions. We hardly see you anymore. Especially after Jiraiya and Tsunade."
"Yes, It's better to be away."
"Is it truly? You don't seem happier. You should move on with your life. They would all want that of us."
"I know. I tried. You remember when I went to the Bird Country. Toki, the feudal lord, she lost her brother some years ago. She understood my pain. She is a beautiful and strong woman. I thought that maybe I could…" He trailed off. It was true he had tired to build a life with Toki away from the Leaf but in the end she wanted things he couldn't give her.
"I'm sorry to hear that." She patted his hand. "Does your visit mean you will be staying in town for awhile?"
"Actually it's the opposite. Naruto is sending me to Suna with Sakura on an exchange program. We leave tomorrow."
"Oh with Sakura, you say." Kurenai had perked up by the mention of the medic.
"Yes, Sakura. Why?"
"Oh nothing. She was a member of your team. You two have history and…" She was unsure of whether to say what she had been thinking. She didn't think she was the right person to talk to Kakashi about this sort of thing.
"And?" He did a circular motion with his hand to coax more information out of her. Kurenai was usually so forthcoming with him.
"Never mind." She definitely was the wrong person to point this out to the Copy Ninja. "More tea?"
There was no need to pack since he hadn't unpacked from his last mission. He had nothing to do in his small apartment if you could even call it an apartment. It was one room, a bathroom, and a hotplate. It was far from what a normal person would call a home. No wonder he never missed being here. Plus being alone with nothing to do was giving his mind too much free time. His conversation with Kurenai kept coming to forefront of his thoughts. Why had Kurenai seemed to brighten up when he mentioned Sakura was going with him? What was she going to say but decided not to at the last minute?
"Grrr. Women can be so cryptic." He marched to the door. He knew just the place to go when this sort of thing happened.
The Leaf Bar was filled with the usual crowd, mostly shinobi. It was a popular place for ninjas leaving to or returning from a mission or ones that were bored out of their minds since they didn't have a mission. Also it was extremely casual.
"Oi! Kakashi over here!" A tall jounin with a senbon in his mouth waved him over. Like usual Genma was surround by beautiful women and rowdy men. Where ever Genma was a party was sure to follow. Usually Kakashi stayed away but tonight that is what he needed.
"Do you mind buddy?" Genma turned to the young man sitting on his right. "This is the great Copy Ninja of Konoha. And he would like to seat." He rolled his eyes as the man moved swiftly out the booth making way for Kakashi. "Geez, these young shinobi. No respect for their superiors."
"Something tells me if there had a woman sitting here I would standing right now." Kakashi chuckled.
"Ah Kakashi you know me too well." Genma snapped his fingers and a waitress appeared from what seemed like thin air.
"What can I get you, Genma-san?" She leaned over the back of the booth close to Genma's ear. "If it isn't on menu don't haste, I'll make it available to you." It wasn't hard to miss the innuendo.
"I'll take you up on that later." The corners of his mouth turned up into grin that made women swooned. "At moment my friend would like a…" he turned to Kakashi.
"A whiskey, neat, please." Kakashi answered.
"Right away, sir." She turned giving them a full view of her assets.
"Thanks, doll."
She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.
Kakashi suppressed another chuckle. It never seemed to amazing him how Genma acted around women. Kakashi shied away from that type of attention hence the mask. He, too, had a tendency to dazzle women, turning them to babbling mush. He didn't like that effect. He preferred women who were sharp, witty, and strong. Genma, on the other hand, had no problem with the former since the latter were too smart to fall for his game.
"What brings the Copy Ninja to such an establishment? I heard through the grapevine at HQ that you are headed to the Sand." Genma leaned back his arms hanging gingerly over the back of the booth.
"I am." His drink arrived and sipped the amber liquid.
"Sakura Haruno is also going with you, right?" It was another young man who asked. He had dark brown spiky hair. Kakashi hadn't even noticed him. He had been sitting in the booth behind him.
"She is. How does that concern you?" Kakashi sounded harsher than he probably should have. But he hated to be eavesdropped on. And where did this sudden interest in his future travel companion come from?
"She is an old friend. We went through the Academy together. I heard she was taking a leave from the hospital to go to the Village Hidden in the Sand." The man turned in his seat to face the older jounins. "I just came back from a long away mission and was planning on visiting her. Catch up and what not."
"Sorry, kid. It seems like your plans have be changed by the Hokage." Kakashi used the title on purpose. Using Naruto's proper title would emphasis that 'catching up' (he knew the boy had more in mind than just coffee with an old schoolmate) was out of the question. "What's your name? I'll tell her you say hi."
"My name is Kouta." He replied standing up and walking to the door.
"No surname to go with that?" Kakashi called after him.
Kouta turned, his hand already on the open door. "She'll know who I am." He was gone.
"What was that?" The senbon user asked.
"I guess that kid knows Sakura from school." Kakashi took a swig of his drink.
"Yea, I got that part." Genma grinned and pointed to the masked man. "I was talking about your reaction. You sounded mad almost jealous."
"She was my student, the only female student. I was being protective not jealous. You heard the kid. He has been away for a while. Kami knows what kind trouble he has gotten into. Sakura doesn't need that." He said shrugging off the implications.
"Well, you may not have noticed but the girl is hot. Hey don't look at me like that. I'm just stating a fact. All the men in Konoha have noticed the Cherry Blossom has bloomed. It's not that she is drop dead gorgeous but she is smart, and a great fighter. And the fact that she stops any passes made at her just adds to her appeal."
"Really? She doesn't have a boyfriend?" Kakashi was sure there was bound to be a man in the picture especially after seeing her in the Hokage office earlier that day.
"Nope. The woman doesn't even date. She is the unattainable which of course make men want to…umm…attain her."
Genma's eyes focused on someone who had entered the bar. Kakashi turned to look. A voluptuous woman with long blonde hair in a tight cobalt blue dress was ordering a drink from a bartender who wasn't looking at her face.
"Speaking of attaining the unattainable. Excuse me, buddy." Genma leaped over Kakashi with the ease it would take to step over a twig.
"Ino! My ray of sunshine." He walked over to her, senbon dangling from his lips and his arms outstretched to embrace her.
Ino! That was Ino. The mask stopped him from looking dumbfounded as his mouth fell open. What was in the water in Konoha? The little girls he once knew had become knockouts.
She sidestepped his arms with the same ease he displayed by jumping over Kakashi. "I don't think so, Casanova." She strolled away swaying her hips.
Genma rubbed his hands together grinning broadly with the thrill of the hunt. Kakashi wonder if Genma knew he wasn't the hunter in this game of cat and mouse.
Kakashi and Sakura lay in their respective beds that night, staring up at the ceiling. Unable to sleep, thinking. Both posed a mystery waiting to be unraveled. They were in for quite a ride. The question was were they ready for it.
