Chapter 44!
Title: 'Playing and Paranoia'
Note: Shout out to Nadette who commented about Growing Pangs on the KakaSaku Fanfiction Group on Facebook!! It's so surreal seeing references to my fics in other places, I love it!!
(Btw, if you guys have a Facebook, you should join, the groups looking a little inactive… )
Disclaimer: I own nothing!!
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"Get moving Sakura, you only have 5 minutes." My silver-haired teacher/team captain yelled out loud without looking back at me as he started walking down the hallway and away from the deeply confusing conversation we had been having inside our 'Couple's Suite'.
I watched after him – in a sort of shock- for only a few seconds but just long enough to see him glance over his shoulder back at me… grinning underneath that mask.
I wanted to reach down, grab my slipper, and throw it at his strangely-volumed hair while yelling some sort of witty comeback…. but 'The Interrupter' struck again.
"Hey, Sakura-chan!"
I nearly jumped as Naruto rushed passed me in a bathrobe, projecting his greeting loudly next to my ear. Apparently he had completely recouped from the whole 'why-are-Kakashi-sensei-and-Sakura-sleeping-in-the-same-room' fiasco.
…
That made one of us.
…
"Hello, Sakura." Sai practically glided past me with one of his little smiles.
"Uh, hey." I answered back, already walking towards the door of my room again.
All three of my male teammates disappeared around the corner of the hallway, following the convenient signs pointing the way to the baths. I walked back to my room, bee-lining straight to my bag.
The look Sai gave me wouldn't leave my mind.
That knowing smile.
Something about him had been weirding me out lately.
Maybe it was because he seemed to know more than he was letting on, like he knew something about my secret, well it was Kakashi's secret, too –but I could tell he didn't seem to think of it as dangerous a secret as I did, since it was the same secret that was currently on display through his 'fiancé-façade'…
But that's not the point.
Sai was acting weird…er.
Well, maybe that's it… I only think he's acting weirder because I'm so paranoid and he's actually behaving at his usual level of weirdness.
But things probably couldn't be that simple.
I just hoped he didn't know anything about… anything.
The whole issue was forcefully pushed to the back of my mind when I grabbed my towel and couldn't help a wave of ironic nostalgia. I always brought this towel with me on missions, in case I got the chance to bathe… including the night I tripped face-first in front of a more-than-half-naked Kakashi-sensei.
I felt my face heat up when I thought about the last part of that memory…
Seeing him like that… it hadn't only been the first time I ever noticed Kakashi was a man (and not the social-lifeless teacher I thought I knew), but it was also the first time I had ever seen/noticed his body like that.
…A lot has happened since then.
So why did my face feel hot?… I've gotten closer to him since then, I've seen more of him, I've learned more about him… so why am I blushing at such an old memory?!
Then it hit me…
Maybe it's the fact that we have gotten closer…
The fact that we've gotten a lot closer…
really close…
So close that if I got caught in the same situation… it probably wouldn't end with me running away…
My heart and stomach thumped simultaneously as I suddenly stood up from kneeling over my bag and jogged out of that Couples Suite like I was a little kid running up and out of the basement after turning off the last light.
I slid the door closed behind me, nearly slamming it.
I was about to break into a run down the hallway in an attempt to get myself as far away from that foreboding room as possible, but I stopped myself.
I can't let this get to me.
This isn't a big deal.
Nothing's going to happen.
Just think of it as a vacation…. With friends… and a 'boyfriend'…
Normal teenagers do that all the time…. right?
Somewhere in the back of my mind a little voice shot down my attempts at minimizing the issue.
Sure, lots of teenagers take undercover vacations and lie about being engaged to their team captain/teacher, who they're actually in a secret relationship with.
… I trudged my way to the baths, following the signs.
I sighed.
I really need to work on outgrowing this squeamish-school-girl thing I've got going.
"Yosh! Time to hit the water!" Naruto started out with a sprint as soon as they reached the male cubby-room outside the bath, where they could place all their belongings and bathrobes.
Naruto couldn't take more than a few steps before he was forced to stop altogether.
"Eh?" he asked monosyllabically why Kakashi-sensei was suddenly holding him back from running to the water.
"Wait a couple minutes, Naruto." He ordered casually.
"Why?" Naruto whined a little.
"You can get in after Sakura does." Kakashi added, looking towards the doorway to the hallway.
"What're ya talking about, sensei? Sakura should be on the girls' side."
Kakashi took a moment to really consider explaining what he meant… he decided against it and went with a vague answer.
"There isn't a girls' side."
There was a long pause.
Kakashi was still staring at the open doorway, but he could imagine the confusion on Naruto's face.
He felt a sort of gratitude when Sai took the risky task of telling Naruto exactly what was going on.
"This onsen is famous for its gender-communal bath." Sai explained in near-English.
"Eh?" Naruto grunted.
Kakashi finally caught a single glimpse of the all-too-familiar form of his pink-haired student walking by to get to the adjacent female cubby-room.
"It's a mixed bath, Naruto." Kakashi put it bluntly as he walked past the two boys, already impatient to move the conversation along. He had his own plans to think about.
"EHH?!"
Naruto's yelling could probably be heard on the other side of the establishment.
"No need to yell." Sai complained quietly as he picked out his own cubby and basket.
"EHH?!" A familiar, muffled, voice of a girl yelled from the room next to them.
"I guess I was the only one who read the brochure." Sai stated simply.
Kakashi held back his laughter, grateful that he always wore a mask, otherwise the two boys next to him –one of which was still reacting wildly while the other was trying to calm him down- would see the undeniably devious grin he had on right now.
This trip was definitely going to be interesting.
He knew he shouldn't tease her or play with her, but the environment was too perfect, if there was ever an occasion to have fun with her and try to forget his responsible side, this was it. If there was ever a time when they could act like something close to a real couple, it was now.
God knows they needed it…
Besides, he had already lined up an itinerary of fun… but he wasn't going to tell her that.
His smile widened genuinely at the thought of spending some real time with her… that is until Naruto decided to bring the conversation back to Kakashi.
"So Sakura-chan will be… in the same bath… as us?" Naruto's voice was mixed with boyish curiosity and excitement. Kakashi suddenly suffered several flashbacks to other occasions when Naruto had either planned or attempted to peek at Sakura.
He already felt his instinctual defenses rise a little.
"Don't try anything." Kakashi tried to warn the boy with his usual carefree teacher voice, but even he noticed a tone of hostility slip out. Sai glanced at him for strange moment
"Okay, okay" Naruto chorused with considerably less energy.
The idea of Naruto seeing Sakura before he did filled him with a sort of petty jealousy. Kakashi ran his hand through his hair for a moment, as if he was trying to wipe that childish feeling away.
"I'll go first, then." He said aloud simply, trying not to make a scene. He shrugged off his bathrobe, and wrapped a towel around his waist, and with many years of practice, managed to take off his mask and put on an improvised hand-towel mask without showing any part of his face. He was only a few feet away from the curtain separating them and the hot springs on the other side before the Scene-Maker caught on.
"But… Kakashi-sensei! What if you… see?!" Naruto went running up to him, alternatively yelling and whispering after every pause.
By 'see', Naruto was implying the possibility of going out there at the same moment Sakura was, and consequently, 'seeing' Sakura.
Kakashi quickly held back any wandering thoughts about the possibility of 'seeing' the pink-haired student in question.
He coolly turned away from the yellow-haired troublemaker, reaching a hand out to the curtain lifting it to the side.
"Situations like that don't matter to adults." He half-lied over his shoulder, trying to act like an innocent team captain.
Of course adults shouldn't be bothered by situations like this… but he couldn't say that in this particular case, it didn't matter to him. Even worse, he couldn't lie and say that he wasn't hoping for a 'situation'. But either way, he wasn't about to let Naruto go first and see whatever was to be seen.
But before his eyes could adjust to sudden sunlight a familiar, slender hand closed around his wrist with iron-strength.
He didn't need more than a nanosecond to figure out who was suddenly dragging him several feet away from the curtain and towards the corner of the courtyard.
I tugged him a few more feet, one hand around his arm, the other desperately holding up the giant towel wrapped around me.
"Why didn't you tell me it was a mixed bath?!" I whisper-yelled loud enough he would hear me.
I didn't have much of a problem with mixed baths… sure, it could get awkward, but it was the fact he didn't tell me. Like he was trying to keep it a secret, like he had a plan or something.
And even though I had gotten used to his 'plans' and tricks… one that included bathing wasn't really one I wanted to get caught off guard about.
I was probably just being paranoid… but after he pulled that whole 'fiance' thing, how could I not start question every single thing he did?!
I immediately turned around as soon as I knew we were far enough away from the boys' room that those two couldn't hear unless I actually started yelling… Which wasn't a problem anymore after I suddenly lost my voice for moment when I saw him.
It was just like that night… only minus the steam and frantic awkwardness, and plus a new appreciation to the way he looked without a shirt on and that sadistic grin of his I could sense behind that stupid towel-mask.
I took only a moment to think about a weird thought:
… I would have never believed things would have ever turned out like this back then… that I would one day drag Kakashi-sensei away from the others and scold him while we're both partially naked…
"Sensei?!" Naruto's voice squawked from across the courtyard interrupting whatever the heck this was.
My hand quickly snatched away from his, noticeably firm-muscled, arm at record speed.
Kakashi turned around, Naruto was peeking from the curtain, but thank god he was childishly covering his eyes with his hands.
"Wait there!" Kakashi called back normally right before he turned back to me, his entire demeanor changing in an instant. "You need to lower your voice." His voice was on the edge of laughing at me, causing my own to reach the edge of yelling.
"Why didn't you warn me!?"
He only chuckled under the towel, shaking his head a little. Like I was some little kid who was cutely getting upset over something that didn't matter. I wanted to say something to make him stop thinking of me like that… but then he proved himself right.
"I told you to read the brochure carefully."
And with that I couldn't find anything else to yell about… I thought it was just a dumb brochure, I didn't think it would hold such important information!
So he wasn't hiding it from me or anything… or planning something… I was just being paranoid.
But, being stubborn, I settled for giving him a death glare for a moment, which, as usual, never seemed to work on him. He only smiled back at me charmingly.
And as usual, my nerves eased after a few seconds of that invisible smile (I couldn't see it, but it wasn't hard to imagine after seeing it so many times).
"Now, hurry and get in," He quickly pushed me towards the hot spring with a little nudge, as he checked over his shoulder, responsibly breaking the moment between us right then. I couldn't really focus on anything other than how hot his hand felt on my shoulder until his skin left mine. "Naruto's been waiting for a chance like this, he's not going to wait much longer." He warned, his voice a little defensive.
That thought was disturbing, but it wasn't as unsettling as the fact that Kakashi-sensei was telling me to get in while he was standing right next to me. I turned back to him, ready to make any sort of suggestion that made him go back behind that curtain for a moment.
"Um-"
As soon as I turned around to face him, my lips couldn't form any words… not while they were momentarily occupied by Kakashi-sensei's lips. One of his hands was holding the towel that had been on his face before he pulled it off just a few moments ago, the other one seemed to just materialize on my shoulder again, pulling me forward.
And before I had a chance to even remember how to kiss him back, he stopped.
I reached up to his arms, losing my sense of reality, trying to pull him back for a real kiss.
He tugged away from me a little.
"Don't want to put on too much of show." He said quietly glancing towards the water… and the few elderly, male and female inhabitants in it, who seemed to have been watching the two of us for the past few minutes. They seemed wistful, as if they were all thinking at the same moment 'Young people these days….".
I quickly turned away from them, a little freaked out.
I kissed Kakashi-sensei… other people saw it… and they didn't care!
Nothing seemed to make sense in this place!
"Now hurry, I'll be back out with the other two in a few seconds." I turned around and he was already walking back to the curtain again.
And just like that, he had left me after having his fun… again.
Point Two for Sensei… Zero for me.
If I was going to get back at him I was going to have really start planning my attack.
… but even as I told myself that… I couldn't stop staring at his back, and how detailed his shoulder muscles were, or how his waist curved inward on the sides.
… Seeing him like this in daylight was really a different experience.
…
A smile betrayed my vindictive spirit.
If only he hadn't kissed me like that just now, I might've actually managed to stay serious about my revenge for a few moments longer, instead here I was, already back under the influence of his cunning charm… and not hating it.
He walked away from the half-crazed girl he just kissed publicly for the first time, placing the towel over his face again, efficiently covering the broad smile he had on.
He knew he probably shouldn't provoke her just to see how cute she looks when she's angry… but that wouldn't stop him anytime soon.
He reached the curtain, he brushed it aside with his forearm, and resumed his teacher-posture and voice.
"Alright, you two, you can-"
His sentence was cut short when he saw that the two boys weren't the only ones in the room anymore.
After successfully managing to find a rock to hide behind while I took off my towel in order to get into the water without risking any exposure (I could've gotten in with the towel still on, but I didn't want a wet towel… or to seem childish. And although I didn't care if old people saw me, but it was more like practice in case I had to get out before the guys), I could finally relax for the few seconds I had before Kakashi-sensei and the other two walked through that curtain again.
I closed my eyes for a relaxing moment.
I let out a deep breath, feeling the invisible steam rise up against the underside of my chin.
I looked back to the curtain, expecting to see two awkward teenage boys and a shirtless Kakashi-sensei walking over to the 'Men's' side of the spring (though it was a mixed spring, I could tell by the few other bathers [there were a couple elderly men and women, as well as one young woman who was currently only a few feet away from me] that women stuck to the right side of the spring and the men to the left), but I didn't see anyone.
Maybe Naruto's causing trouble, I wondered.
A few minutes passed and still I was the only teammate in the water.
I eyed my towel, wondering whether or not something happened and I had to get out… we were on a mission now. A mission that included a mob boss… what if he already knew we were here, and he sent some of his guys to go attack those three? What if things started earlier than we planned?
When a few more silent seconds passed.
What if something is really going on and I'm just sitting here bathing!?
I waited a few more seconds.
And then a few more.
I was finally driven by my recent case of paranoia to grab my towel and stand up out of the water.
And the universe, with its humorous timing, struck again as not only Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, and Sai walked through that curtain as soon as my waist was now out of the water, but a band of strange, loud men hanging around them. They were all joking and yelling, surrounding Kakashi and the guys like they all managed to make friends in the several minutes that I had spent worrying that enemies were attacking.
Even though I now knew that the violent part of our mission hadn't already started, I still couldn't breath a sigh of relief. I was now fully exposed for those stranger and my teammates to see… but none of them had looked over here yet.
I started to slowly, discreetly, lower myself back into the water, placing my towel on the stone again. Slowly, carefully, calml-
"Momo-kun!~"
I heard one girly voice squeal out that greeting from right behind me and then there were twenty pairs of eyes looking my way.
. . .
A big splash later, and I was now completely submerged in the water.
I didn't know whether I tripped or if my sudden reflex to hide myself was stronger than I intended, but regardless of how I committed such a graceless act, I still heard the laughter from underwater.
Of course I wasn't being laughed at by complete strangers, none of them seemed to have been looking at me anyways.
Instead, it was the laughter of a single, silver-haired, man… He was laughing at me…
I peeked over the edge of the water just in time to see him stop laughing as he pointed at me casually, saying something with a grin towards the tough-looking guys around him. I glared at him.
I read his lips for the word 'fiancee'…
I swear, is he says it… I threatened him mentally.
"You alright?" A familiar voice interrupted my Kakashi-watching. It was the same voice that had just called all that attention from those guys when I least needed it with that 'Momo-kun~!'.
I turned around. It was the young woman from before, she was really pretty, but seemed nice…
"Er, yeah." I answered a little awkwardly as I poked the rest of my head out of the water so that I could talk without blowing bubbles.
I shot a shifty glance back to the men's side of the spring, only to see that all of them were already soaking and joking around. Kakashi-sensei seemed to be the one who was doing most of the talking, sitting in the middle of all of them, while Naruto and Sai were both just keeping quiet on the sidelines.
I had no idea he could be so social.
He wasn't the kind of man who would just pick up conversations with random people and make friends… he was quieter, kept to himself, and was usually very responsible (in public at least… I think I'm the only one who gets to see his devious side… [something about that made me a little proud for some reason])…
This was just another character Kakashi-sensei built for missions like these.
Another personality he groomed for public situations.
I had no idea that I was staring at him until his eyes suddenly met mine… I would usually look away from him when we had eye contact in public… but even as several seconds passed I still couldn't think of looking away. I couldn't think of a reason to. He kept the eye contact just as willingly, the guys around him not noticing.
I was immediately reminded of the last time we stared at each other like this… only twenty or so minutes ago… when he…….
One of the tough-looking guys hit Kakashi's shoulder with an suggestive laugh, saying something and pointing at me, other guys around him started laughing, too.
I immediately looked away with speed, the wet strands of my hair whipping the sides of my face.
I really shouldn't draw attention to myself anymore. I should just try to be inconspicuous… But I was so out of my element right now!
"You're a little spastic aren't you?" The lady's voice brought me back to reality.
"What?" I totally didn't hear what she said because was too busy mentally scolding myself for staring at Kakashi –sensei in public like that.
"Were you looking at that black-haired boy?" She suddenly started a conversation before I even knew what was going on. Her voice sounded a little gossipy.
"Eh?" Was all I could say before she started talking again.
"He's cute. But he looks a little awkward." The blonde-haired woman graded Sai as she settled against the side of the spring.
She glanced over to the 'black-haired boy', who was currently staring off into space, seemingly paying no attention to the male-bonding going on around him.
Her words finally registered in my brain.
"Oh, him? No, I wasn't looking at him. And yeah, he is a little awkward." I answered truthfully, trying to sound friendly.
If Kakashi was making friends without hesitation, no doubt for the sake of the mission, then I should follow his example. Maybe I can find out something… or something.
"So you know that kid?" She asked back, her voice still sweet with a gossipy tone.
"Yep, for a while now." I settled against the wall of the spring, an arm's length away from her.
She looked back and forth between me and Sai for a moment, her green eyes deep in thought.
"So, you're here with him, but you two aren't…" She trailed off suggestively.
"Oh, no. I'm not here with him, he's just a part of the group." I answered with immediate zeal.
"Oh, really?" She asked with a sort of ditzy excitement. "Anybody else over there a part of your group?"
I wondered for a moment whether or not I should tell the truth… no point in lying, I guess.
"Yeah, the blonde-haired boy and the guy with the mask." I lifted my hand out of the water, pointing discreetly towards my other teammates.
"So you know that silver-haired man?" Was her immediate question. I was almost grateful for her keen observation that his hair was 'silver' not 'grey', until I saw her eyes wander up and down his figure, face to chest and back again. I felt a twinge of annoyance, but tried to ignore it.
"Isn't he top-grade eye-candy?" She pressed on.
I nodded… completely clueless of what else to do when some random woman starts talking about my… team captain… like that.
Sure, I had thought the same thing… not with those words, of course… but hearing someone else talk about Kakashi-sensei like that was really strange. Besides the annoyance (which I wouldn't admit as jealousy just yet), I felt… proud?
It's probably really weird… but knowing that other girls thought he was attractive, while I knew that he was in a serious relationship with me. It was kind of nice… but that's probably some sort of superiority complex I've got going or something… I decided to try and ignore that feeling, I couldn't focus on that issue anyways when another suddenly popped up.
"Is he your uncle or something?"
Hearing that was like hearing nails on a chalkboard. My arm plopped back into the water noisily as all my motor functions went into forming my one-worded response.
"No!" I answered a little too enthusiastically. I shushed myself quickly, not even looking towards Kakashi.
She didn't seem to notice my overreaction because she was the one who was now lost in looking at Kakashi-sensei… still…
"So he's not like a family member or chaperon or something?" She asked further, her eyes still glued on him.
Now, I was on the verge of jealousy.
I tried to answer sensibly.
"He's my… fiancé."
I don't think I succeeded.
There was a moment of silence… she was hesitating or something. Maybe she could see the really big age difference or something?!
"Really?!" She quickly looked away from Kakashi like she had just heard my words, she was suddenly really interested.
I nodded again. Slowly.
"That's so sweet!" She nearly yelled with enthusiasm.
I kept myself from checking whether Kakashi heard or not.
"I guess the young ones always seem to snatch the good-looking guys." The lady continued, a little calmer. "I was only seventeen when Momo-kun and I got together. He was so handsome." She explained to me, nostalgia in her voice.
"Mo-mo-kun?" I asked… she had screamed that name before, but it was hard to believe that any of the men over there could have a nickname like 'Momo-kun'.
But as soon as I said his name, her face lit up.
"The one next to your fiancé, with the tattoo." She pointed happily while I was just trying to recover from the 'your fiancé' part of that sentence.
It was so extremely weird hearing that.
But I pushed all that to the back of my mind as I saw this 'Momo-kun'.
He must've been at least forty, scars on his shoulders, and a face that didn't look like it was used to smiling… but 'my fiancé' was doing a fine job at making friends with this scary-looking guy.
The lady looked back to me expectantly.
"Oh… he's very nice." I used the wrong adjective while I was still lost in thoughts about the word 'fiance'.
She laughed… no, giggled…
"Isn't he?..." She asked, completely serious in her girly way. Her mood dropped substantially while saying the next sentence, though, "But… It's already been four years and he still won't let us go public yet." She whined.
She could probably tell from my clueless look that I had no idea what she was talking about.
She looked back to 'Momo' and then back to me and answered my confusion really quietly.
"I'm his mistress." She explained as-a-matter-of-factly.
"Oh." I responded as nicely as I could.
Four years together with his mistress and he was still hadn't chosen between his wife or this lady?
What was his problem?!
Four years of keeping secrets…
… That sounded so exhausting…
…so depressing…
My eyes found Kakashi without meaning to.
…
"But you're lucky. A man like him… a man that handsome who only looks at you. That has to be heaven." She sounded like she was lost in her own romantic fairytales of what my life must be like.
But, in reality… it was probably a lot like her own.
Only I wasn't a secret mistress he had to hide from a wife… I was a secret he had to hide from society… from everyone…
"Yeah." I answered quietly… pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind…
But I could already tell that they wouldn't stay there for long.
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Grr, I really didn't want to end it right here, but with all the shenanigans that shall ensue in the next chapter alone, I had to cut it here.
Anyways, thanl you so much for sticking around despite the long wait between chaptersI'm really hoping I have the time to get the next chapter out soon!!
Thank you again for reading and reviewing (if you did)!!
:D