Chapter 42!

Title: 'Flashbacks and Fun'

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Note: This one might get confusing, but if there's a big section in italics that means it's in the past…

Anywho, hope you guys enjoy!

…………………………………………………….

So this is it.

This building.

The building that's gonna cause me all sorts of torment and torture.

I took a few more steps toward this foreboding establishment, following my other team members, while walking a little closer than usual to my team captain, who -being an uncannily skilled actor- was artfully covering up the constant side-glances he's been shooting towards me for the past several hours by 'reading' his book.

Even though I was happy to be back on our 'normal' schedule, back to my 'normal' life and having Kakashi acting 'normal' again… I wasn't so happy about our next mission.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Naruto announced from not too far away, beaming toward the sign of the building ahead of us.

I wanted to punch him. But I settled for peeking towards the masked face of my team captain to calm myself down.

I couldn't hold back a stupid smile – one that I hoped the other two didn't see- when I saw he was already looking at me.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Naruto's antics were only going to get worse after they actually walk through those doors. But Kakashi didn't pay any attention to the blonde-haired boy or his words, not when he couldn't help another glance at the pink-haired girl to his left.

After only a moment of looking at her, her eyes met his.

The timing was too perfect. He almost couldn't control himself from reaching out to her.

She smiled one of her brighter smiles, the kind that she only made around him.

He really wanted to kiss her.

Really.

But even though he didn't have much stopping him, now that their relationship was stronger than ever, he couldn't forget the overwhelming secrecy they had to keep up.

So no matter how much closer they had become, he still had to act like they were as oblivious as they had been towards each other for the years before all this.

They had to act like they were the student and teacher they once were, like the team member and captain they are now, despite his growing urge to wrap an arm around her.

He quickly tried to stop those awkward thoughts, closing his eyes and turning back to his book.

But she didn't stray far from his thoughts. That smile didn't either.

He was quickly reminded of the last time he had seen that smile.

………

"This last mission was so easy, wasn't it?" Naruto had no idea how wrong he was, but for sanity's sake Kakashi simply nodded his head, looking down at the half-empty bowl of ramen in front of him a little wryly.

Naruto had dragged the entire team to Ichiraku Ramen as soon as they had left the Hokage's office.

It definitely wasn't anything new to Kakashi, this would usually happen after every other mission.

And although, he really didn't feel like having, or attending, a team outing… he had ulterior motives now.

"I don't know about that." He heard the soft, albeit slightly annoyed, voice of the pink-haired girl sitting next to him shoot down Naruto's rhetorical question.

She set down her chopsticks. He couldn't help the slight hiccup in his heartbeats when her hand barely grazed his. He tried to ignore it... He took a moment to try and calm himself… he definitely couldn't be acting like this. Not now…

She spun in her seat a little, turning towards Kakashi for a moment, giving him a knowing glance that lasted no more than a moment.

That was it.

He couldn't just sit here and pretend like he wasn't counting the minutes until he could snatch an opportunity to be alone with her.

He stood up from his stool quickly, picking his wallet out of his pocket.

"We're probably going to be sent out on another mission almost immediately. Possibly even tomorrow, so I think it's about time we turn in." He made an excuse for his early departure. He had no idea how true that excuse would be.

But he wasn't thinking about future missions or anything about resting as he leaned over the counter, placing the money for all of their meals onto the higher shelf of the counter.

He momentarily checked on Naruto and Sai out of the corner of his eye.

Naruto was noisily slurping at the broth in his bowl as Sai was aimlessly picking at the last of his noodles… either way, both of them weren't paying attention, giving Kakashi his chance.

He set down the pieces of paper on the top counter, but lingered for a moment beside the girl next to him.

"Meet me… now."

And with those three words he left the ramen shop, knowing full-well that she had nearly jumped out of her seat when he had whispered in her ear like that, and knowing all-too-well how dangerous that was.

But given their last adventures… danger was something he was willing to risk in order to get her alone for a moment.

……..

It only took him a few minutes till he reached the end of the tori-covered road that led up to the red, aged, bridge and the river he had come to love over the years he had spent sitting on this bridge before any of this.

He was surprised that he didn't have to wait more than a single minute until he heard her footfalls running towards the bridge with an almost urgent pace. She must've been just as eager for some time together.

He couldn't beat back the smile that crept across his masked face. He decided to have a little fun.

He hid.

He jumped over the railing of the bridge, clinging onto the side silently, the water rushing a couple feet below his feet.

Even though he was tired, he couldn't resist doing this.

"Kakashi." She called his name a little loudly, but not loud enough for anyone too close to hear.

His feet landed back onto the boards of the bridge floor without making any more sound than a moth.

She didn't even seem to sense him, she only kept looking towards the trees, looking for him.

He really had too much fun sneaking up on her like this. But just as he was about to place his hands on either of her shoulders, hoping to give her a little shock, he felt hers pull them around her.

He was the one who got a little shock from that. But it didn't take long for him to get over it.

After a second of settling into this moment, letting his arms feel her warmth again, letting his face rest against her hair, letting himself remember the slightly faster pace of her breathing, he finally decided to say something.

"Was I too loud?" He asked, staring out into the water as it seemed to turn an amber color. The sun was beginning to set.

"No, I just… knew." Her hands gripped onto his arms a little tighter. He loved the way she did that…

"I think you're finally starting to learn something, then." He teased lightly, not even paying attention to the lack of punch in his little joke, since he was paying more of it to the way her fingers brushed along his hand.

"I think you're finally starting to lose your touch after all those years on the battlefield." She retorted with fake criticism.

He definitely knew she was just joking around, but her little jab at his 'years' was enough to wake him up.

"From where I'm standing, I haven't lost any 'touch'." He inflected that sentence skillfully as he let his hands wander to her waist a little suggestively.

She only squirmed a little.

And then, after a moment, worry tarnished his playful mood. He had actually forgotten, for a second, how taboo that subject had become over the past day.

He really shouldn't be making jokes about this right now.

He started thinking of ways to apologize and change the subject… but he didn't have to.

"If you don't stop with the witty comebacks, you won't be touching anything." Her voice joked.

He couldn't hold back a deep laughter at that, losing his grip on her for a moment. She turned towards him, looking at him laugh like he was stupid. He didn't care.

"What's so funny?" She asked up to him, visibly perturbed.

"Nothing." He finally finished laughing as smoothly as possible, reaching up to her shoulders again.

"Then what's with the laughing?" She didn't give up as he pulled her into a hug.

He chuckled some more for a few seconds.

"I just wasn't expecting that, is all." He excused himself truthfully.

She didn't say anything.

He felt her bury her face against him.

He felt her arms wrap around his back securely.

Neither of them really said anything for a long moment.

They didn't have to say anything.

They both knew that they had just been joking about a really touchy subject.

With what had just happened… the mission…

It was both on their minds… what happened between them, and how serious things were becoming…

And the way she was joking about it only a few moments ago probably meant something.

Something had changed. It might've been something small… but something was different.

Either she was uncomfortable with the subject, and that's why she joked about it… or perhaps, after everything, she's changed.... Grown?

But he couldn't bring it up now.

Not now… after all what's happened during that mission. Even if they are joking around, he could feel that she was just as tired as he was, physically, and especially, emotionally.

Besides, he still had to take some time for himself… to enjoy this.

This moment.

The way things are now. The way she trusts him now.

'I never doubted you.'

He knew now, for sure, she trusted him completely. He had never really believed she would've been able to. Of course she would trust him with her life, she would trust him in the battlefield as a captain… but for her to trust him with herself. That's one of the rarest gifts anyone could give.

And that's all he wanted right now.

This was all he wanted.

Standing here, holding her, knowing she's safe, knowing she trusts him, believing that everything would work out…

There was nothing that could ruin this moment.

"Hey, Kakashi-senpai!"

Except one thing, of course.

…………

Kakashi was suddenly jolted from his recent memories as a flash of orange and black pushed passed him, almost knocking the book out of his hand.

Kakashi snapped his attention to his, suddenly very noisy, team members.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I'll take care of him!" Naruto shouted his battlecry, his fist raised, as if he was protecting Sakura's honor, like this was some sort of old film.

He glanced at the spectacle for no longer than a second before turning back to their destination -which seemed farther than ever-, Naruto was trying to punch a impartially elusive Sai, and Sakura was simply standing on the sidelines, an unamused expression plastered on her face.

He didn't know what caused this, but he didn't need any sort of teenage drama interrupting his efforts on concentrating on not concentrating on his relationship with one of those teenagers.

God, that sounded really wrong…
He barely held back a grimace.

"Calm down, Naruto." He finally ordered over his shoulder as he heard the scuffling of sandaled-feet behind him get louder and more erratic.

He just kept pretending like he was reading, walking slowly away from the scene behind him.

"But he called Sakura 'ugly'!" Naruto yelled his excuse as the scuffling only got louder.

Kakashi stopped in his tracks almost immediately.

… If he wasn't really careful right now, he was going to get caught up in that teenage drama, himself… and then he'd have real problems.

They're just kids… and Sai's never been that talented with girls… or people in general… I can't sink too low and actually get offended by something he says.

But despite what he was telling himself at that moment he was still turning around and closing his book, not really planning on anything... but his fist seemed to be clenching by itself.

"Knock it off, both of you!" The voice of the third teenager spoke up with a bit of strength. Two little thuds ended the sentence perfectly.

By the time he turned around completely, he didn't see the two boys fighting (or at least one of them trying to pick a fight), they were both just standing there, holding their arms as if they had just been punched.

The girl who had been insulted and defended just walked between the insulter and defender, not picking a side, and definitely not happy about either of them.

She paused at his side before he started walking again, smiling somewhat smugly.

Again… now with a pang of pride… it was harder not to wrap an arm around her.

Well that was easier to handle than I thought.
I commented mentally as I walked past Naruto and Sai, both of which seemed completely confused why I had to resort to violence to shut them up… but from Kakashi's well-hidden smile, I could see that he felt that violence was necessary, too.

But now that there weren't any distractions –besides the one I was walking next to- I couldn't ignore our fast-approaching destination.

I grimaced until my eyes landed on a sign that was planted on the roadside.

'No service for shinobi'

Suddenly, I was the one who was confused.

"They don't allow shinobi here?" I whispered over to Kakashi-sensei.

Even though this was a normal question, and would probably lead to somewhat of a normal conversation, just talking to him alone made me feel a little shifty.

"No, these people have some heavy ties with the more crooked family leaders in this area, having even off-duty shinobi around would cripple their business…" He summarized, his voice lower than normal, too. I wondered if he felt the same sort of wariness when talking to me.

"So what are we doing here?" I asked a little abruptly.

"You know our mission." He reminded me unnecessarily.

"Yeah, I know what we're gonna do. But how are we going to sneak in?" I asked with a little alarm since we were closing in on the front doors of the establishment, but I still had no idea what we were doing.

"We're going to sign in." He said with a simple, innocent voice.

I hadn't heard that voice in several hours. But it was still like I had only heard it a few minutes ago.

……………

"Hey, Yamato." Kakashi's 'innocent' voice was all I could hear as I hid behind the brush in the forest. I wondered to myself how no one could have ever noticed that Kakashi only used that voice when he was hiding something.

"I thought it was you, I wasn't sure at first." Yamato revisited the ordeal that happened a few minutes ago. He had come walking up the road, calling for Kakashi, while I had barely been able to jump behind a tree before Yamato was close enough to confirm that the man he saw standing on the bridge was Kakashi. "Who was that you were with before?" Yamato finished.

Damn it!
I cursed mentally with surprise.

"Just a friend. They wanted to say 'bye' before going on their next mission." Kakashi lied artfully.

"Yes, of course. The missions are really piling up, aren't they?" Yamato continued with a conversational tone as I tried to silently readjust my sitting position.

I could tell I was probably gonna be here for a long time.

"Well, with the new conflicts spreading over the Lands. Someone has to help our neighboring countries." Kakashi followed Yamato-taichou's conversational direction, while I was brushing grainy mud off of my legs.

"Well, that's why I'm here." Yamato-taichou spoke up after a moment. "The Hokage has another job for Team Kakashi."

There was a moment of quiet. I peeked through the leaves.

They were just leaning on the railing. Yamato was looking at the sun, while Kakashi was staring at the water… he looked a little bothered for a moment until he started talking.

"You gonna take those troublemakers off my hands, again?" He joked lightly. I could tell it was a fake joke.

"That's the other reason why I'm here…" Yamato-taichou explained. "I wanted to ask you to take care of them again this time…. I have another mission of my own to deal with, one that requires a lot of concentration."

My curiosity was piqued… as well as Kakahsi's.

"ANBU call you out?" His voice was a little serious.

"No, the problem hasn't escalated that far… but there has been some talk, rumors really, of something bigger happening in the background…" Yamato-taichou trailed off.

"If you need a second opinion on any of the facts…" Kakashi offered politely.

"No, I couldn't bother you with that… besides, I don't think it's in our best interest to discuss details of a secret mission with an eavesdropper listening in."

Damn it!
I cursed to myself again.

"Come on out." Yamatou-taichou called lightly towards my little hiding spot.

I had no choice but to follow his half-serious order.

I walked back onto the bridge, trying to look a little nervous…

"Sakura. How long have you been there?" Kakashi asked me, fake cluelessness in his voice.

I kind of wanted to laugh at how serious of an actor he could be.

"Only a few minutes. I just wanted to hear what our next mission was going to be early." I lied along with him, using my 'over-achieving' voice.

"You could have just asked." Kakashi fake-scolded me. Well, if Kakashi-sensei ever scolded us, it would've sounded like that.

"No, it's alright, I mind as well tell the both of you where the mission'll take place, now." Yamatou-taichou smiled like he was giving us a treat, while we were probably both just feeling this nagging obligation to carry on the act. I don't think either of us really quite cared what the next mission was. We just wanted to be alone.

But when Yamato-taichou finally finished this conversation with those few words, I think we both suddenly cared about what our next mission was going to be.

"Shinshu Onsen"

………

We only kept walking towards the building of foreboding torment.

I tugged at the bottom of my casual shirt and skirt worriedly for a moment, feeling a little lacking of courage since I wasn't in my usual, confidence-inducing, mission-wear… but after seeing those 'No Shinobi' signs, our casual-dress requirement finally made sense.

We were going in undercover… it bugged me for some reason...

I barely got the time to reread the painted sign above the door.

'Shinshu Onsen'

People are supposed to feel relaxed and happy when they know that they'll be spending a couple days in an expensive, famous, onsen…. So why did I feel like I was walking to the gauntlet?

Of course I hid that feeling from the others, and especially from the greeters waiting by the front door, with a warm smile.

Think relaxed, think happy, think grateful, think soothing…

I repeated those words through my mind over and over as we walking into the surprisingly grand building. It didn't look this fancy from outside, but this place was actually really elaborate. High ceilings, warm lighting, and a visible courtyard-garden between the entrance and hot spring divider-walls. The extravagance of the place didn't help my anxiety.

I could swear that Kakashi-sensei could pick up on my fretting, since he placed a hand on my back for only a moment, leading me up the step (after we slid off our shoes and accepted the very expensive-looking slippers from the smiling door-greeters) and towards the lady waiting behind a podium, who was scribbling onto a clipboard. Naruto and Sai were dawdling behind us, probably taking up the offer of free tea that the door-greeters had offered Kakashi-sensei and I only a few seconds earlier. I could hear Naruto's spare exclamations over the 'fanciness' of this place, while Sai only agreed quietly.

We were only a few feet from the clipboard-woman now.

"So this was the part where we 'sign in'?" I asked almost silently to the man at my right, the tension audible in my voice.

He didn't say anything or even look at me. He just smirked that smirk.

The one that said he knew he was planning on having fun at someone else's expense… Mine, I'm guessing.

I restrained the urge to punch his arm, too as the lady finally looked up from her podium to greet us.

"Welcome, to Shinsu Onsen." She smiled a broad and bright smile, which was unmistakably fake. "Are you all together?" She peeked between me and Kakashi.

"Yes, but we'll take two rooms, of course." I had to double-take when Kakashi-sensei started talking. Not because he asked for two rooms, I knew what that was about. It's a common practice, to split up large groups like that, in order to cut down loud noises and big parties that would trash the hotel and disturb the other customers who have literally paper-thin walls between them and strangers. But it was strange to hear his voice so calm and… soothing.

It must be his 'dealing with the public' voice.

I would always forget just how many sides there were to this man. Especially when he had to act.

I guess this was his 'normal, unremarkable man going on a onsen-vacation' character.

I directed my attention back to the conversation silently, trying to ignore the noisy tea-slurping from behind me.

"And what are the arrangements?" The woman scribbled something on her clipboard calmly.

I hadn't even thought about that yet.

Who would be roomed with who?...

After only thinking for a split moment I finally realized exactly how dangerous this decision was.

There were so many possibilities, and all of which could end really badly!

Kakashi-sensei and I sharing a room is completely out of the question.

Naruto and I would be the perfect recipe for wall-tearing.

And if I had to deal with Sai's insults for days, there was going to be just as much destruction ahead of us.

I tugged at my shirt nervously again.

… I hoped that Kakashi would at least know better than to room me with Naruto…

"Those two will pair up, and we'll share a room."

When Kakahsi pointed to the two boys behind him when he said 'those two', only to point to the space between me and him when he said 'we'll share a room', I just had to take a mental moment to flip out.

What?!!

Pairing me up with Naruto would've been horrible, pairing me up with Sai would've been a little risky… but this was so much worse!

I looked up at him after glancing at Naruto and Sai… both of them displayed varied disappointment. Naruto was taking it especially bad…

Despite the drama he just sparked, Kakashi-sensei seemed completely serious… like what he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.

Like his 'normal, unremarkable man' character does this all the time!

But I didn't have any more time to flip out over this… not when a more serious issue was about to be introduced by the sign-in lady.

"And she is your…?" She looked up from her paper, now interested in whatever relationship this man had with me.

First I was confused: Did she have to know about this?!

But then I suddenly wondered: How was he going to explain this?

Is he going to say I'm his student?… no, of course not…

What about niece?... that's a little weird…

Daughter?.... God, THAT would scar me… he's not even old enough anyways…

…

Then what about a second cousin?.... I guess that would be the only-

His voice interrupted me.

"Fiancée…"

. . .

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?!!

Kakashi-sensei's arm suddenly wrapped around my waist like he had done so many times before, I heard Naruto cough on his free tea noisily.