Chapter 47!
Title:"Baths and Break-Ins"
Note: Hey, guys, Sorry for the long wait! But lots are going on for me right now, I never have enough energy to write... but I'll be back to normal in a few weeks.
Oh, and sorry for making you wait so long, Candice! :(
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
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'Our room'
His answer echoed in my mind uncomfortably.
… Why did he say it like that?
He didn't even say 'The room' or anything… he said 'Our room'…. And with that voice. The voice that always made my nerves fizzle with something like anxiety. That voice was always the prelude to something risky…
I stared at his hand, which was wrapped around my wrist a little firmly.
I could tug away at any moment.
I could stop this.
I could ask him straight out what his 'plan' was. Or if he even had one.
So…
Why wasn't I?
Why couldn't I decide to plant my feet and demand an explanation?
I wasn't really scared or anything, per se, but I definitely wasn't okay with whatever this turning into… not when I had no idea what it was turning into, at least.
But if he had a plan… I didn't want to let him see how clueless I was about it… He'll laugh at me and point out my bad deductive skills or something.
Maybe I should just swallow my pride and ask him?
But before I could even decide on that, we suddenly started slowing down, my feet taking smaller steps as he slowed our pace.
I saw a familiar door in front of us, the door to 'our room'. My heart backfired into a series of sputtering pumps with the realization that whatever he was 'planning' was going to happen in only a few more seconds… inside that room.
There was another hiccup in my heartbeats when I glanced up to the masked face of the man who was currently using the hand that wasn't clasped around my wrist to tug at the knot of his tie, swinging it left and right with a couple of forceful jerks.
Why was he taking off his tie?!
After his tie hung loose around his neck as a single line of fabric his fingers quickly darted up to the top buttons of his shirt, undoing them faster than I thought was possible for a moment.
Why is he unbuttoning his shirt?!
I cursed my sudden disability that rendered me incapable of doing anything but point out the obvious and ask mental questions about it.
Why was he starting to take off his jacket?!
He shrugged off one of the jacket's shoulders just before he grabbed the door-handle.
Why was he opening the door so quickly!?
Why was it so dark inside the -'our'- room!?
Why wasn't he telling me what the plan was?!
All my thoughts seemed to disappear into the darkness of that room as I felt his hand drag me across the threshold with one last tug.
He turned around to face me. I could barely make out any of his unmasked features in the dark.
I felt his arm reach passed and behind me, his bicep only inches from my cheek. He closed the door with a heavy clack, and the room was even darker.
A long moment of silence.
I could only hear my own heartbeat.
But I could feel his hand loosen and let go of my wrist. The hand that had been planted on the door behind my head was gone, too.
He seemed to disappear into the dark for a moment.
What should I do?
Should I say something?
"So… what's going on?" I asked the area in front of me, knowing he was somewhere in it. It was too dark to even see him.
I tried to adjust my eyes and get a glimpse of him.
I reached out, my hand feeling for him.
"Kakash-"
I was interrupted by several things.
His right hand grabbing my outreached one. His left hand sliding onto the side of my neck. His fingers titling my head upward. The sudden need to take a few steps backward as I felt him push me a little.
My back hit the door the same moment his lips fell onto my skin. His uncovered face was now pressed against mine, his lips focusing on the underside of my jaw, brushing back and forth.
What is he doing?!
This can't be the part of any sort of 'plan' for this mission!
It was like he was only continuing what he had been doing in that karaoke room and havoc! Like this was the only reason he had arranged our early departure from that party!
I was about to lift my arms to his chest, to push him away and finally demand some of his well-hidden answers when I quickly lost my track of thought.
His hands left me for only a moment before I felt them land on either side of my currently exposed waist.
He pulled me forward with a simple tug, our bodies met in the middle. My back was arched a little uncomfortably since the pressure his hand and lips were putting onto the side of my neck kept my head and shoulders up against the door, while he was still pulling my waist against him.
I couldn't control a sudden intake of breath that sounded dangerously close to a gasp …
I only heard a single, almost inaudible, chuckle escape his lips before they suddenly moved to the corner of my neck, traveling quickly across my shoulder, lingering next to the strap of my dress.
I could feel my resolve weaken. I couldn't bring myself to stop whatever he was doing.
How does he always do this to me?
.. make me feel like this…
I felt him press against me. His hands roaming over the section of skin that my 'dress' left exposed, his fingers traveling along my stomach, my sides, down and around to the small of back, and then up as he traced the curve of my waist slowly. Both of his hands gliding upward, both paying close attention to the thin border between skin and dress.
Goosebumps took over my body as his warm breath washed over my shoulder a little heavier than before. It was even harder to focus on just how much he shouldn't be doing this right now when his fingertips slid under the fabric of the dress he had picked out for me only hours before.
"Don-" I tried to talk, but failed as his hands pressed against my skin tighter in order to reach farther under the fabric a couple inches. His hands resting on either side of my ribs, his fingers stretching towards my back.
He has to be drunk.
There was no other way he would be like this... Especially on a mission…
So much for my faith in his nonexistent plan!
I tried to lift my arms to his hands, to tug them back out from under the fabric and fix my currently heavier-than-normal breathing, but as if sensing my goal before I actually had a chance to touch his arms, his hands suddenly pushed upward a few more inches. My own hands ended up on his shoulders, gripping a little tightly for support as my posture suddenly straightened in reaction, the arch of my back tensing.
In only the matter of moments it took for him to make me feel like I couldn't breathe even when he wasn't kissing me on the lips, his hands curved around to my back, pushing me against him a little tightly, not letting the tension in my posture leave.
"You have to stop..." His hands and lips still showed no consideration for my request as they wandered dangerously along my skin. I managed to find my voice again, "You're drunk… You shouldn't be-" I tried to reason with him, to get his attention, but I didn't finish… not because of anything he did. But because I suddenly noticed… I was shaking…?
I felt like I was shivering, but I knew I couldn't be.
It only took a moment to realize that I wasn't the source of the trembling, he was…
I was only confused for a moment before I heard the laughter pick up volume as his hands suddenly slipped out from under my dress. He backed away, his shoulder shaking with every chuckle.
I quickly found that all the mind-fogging feelings that his touch had given me had disappeared, sheer irritation taking their place.
He only laughed harder when he looked at my face.
My fist curled instinctively as my annoyance grew with every chuckle he gave. I was going to wait until he calmed down to say something, possible even give him a good jab in the ribs, but he started the conversation before I could.
"Did you really think…?" He laughed for another moment, breaking up the sentence, and inching even farther onto my last nerve, "…I was that drunk?" He finished as his laughter finally stopped as he looked down at me.
So he wasn't?!!
"Wha-We-…" I sputtered for a moment, trying to find any sort of excuse, but my mind was too busy to think of anything except what the hell he had been up to if he wasn't drunk.
He did all that knowing that I would be completely confused?!
Why did he keep up the act like that?!
I let out an aggravated sigh as my fist just seemed to find its way to the ribs I had thought about punching earlier. It definitely wasn't my style to act out like this against Kakashi… but what he just did was completely out of style, too.
"Easy there." He stopped my punch before it could reach him, his hand that had been on my shoulder was now closing around my fist gently, pushing it away from him. "No need for violence." He told me gently. I inwardly disagreed with him as his fingers opened my hand against its will before they found the spaces between my own fingers, settling in comfortably.
That made me want to hit him even more, but I tried to use my words now… like an adult.
"Well, if you aren't drunk, then how do you explain what you were doing? Explain what you did back at the party…" I ordered with a defiant tone that only made his smile widen with a sort of annoying charm.
"Back in that room, I simply made a scene that gave us enough reason and credibility to slip out for a little while without seeming suspicious." He explained, his voice reverting to his 'teacher/lecture'-voice for only a moment.
"What about Naruto! He saw what you were doing. How can you pass that off as an act when you took it so far!" My fingers clasped onto his hand a little too tight to be comfortable.
"'So far'? I thought I was holding myself back really well." He joked badly. I think he could see the glare I gave him, because he immediately offered me a better response. He gave a little sigh that sounded as if he was saying 'you really can't take a joke' before he used real words. "The takao-root in the sake has neurological side-effects when consumed in large quantities… Naruto shouldn't be able to remember exactly what happened when he wakes up. He might remember getting upset, but he won't remember what it was over…"
My frustration subsided a little when he explained that part… it made sense, and that meant I didn't have to worry about Naruto later. My hand eased a little, dropping to my side, still holding his loosely. My mind picked up something that was wrong with that explanation.
"But you drank that stuff, too." I pointed out suddenly.
He chuckled a little, his hand tugging mine closer to him.
"It won't do anything to me. As a top-jounin my body's already immune to a number of chemicals, besides I already over-dosed on takao root during one of my earlier missions as a jounin. It doesn't affect me very much anymore." He smiled down at me a little nostalgically; I could see his face better now… it was getting a little hard to stay angry.
"Did you really think I didn't have a plan?" His voice interrupted my thoughts as it seemed a lot more serious than before.
The million-dollar question:… Does Kakashi always have a plan, or is he just winging it half the time?
This time I had an answer.
"I think you wanted me to."
He only chuckled in response before he changed the subject altogether by saying something that would not only confuse me but make me question my new-found confidence in him.
He closed the door behind him, leaving the girl in the bedroom no doubt reeling in confusion.
He didn't know why it was so much fun to play with her.
It was probably her reactions or the way she got upset so easily.
Maybe I should stop before she manages to figure out how to play along…
He thought back to her response to his trick question.
'I think you wanted me to.'
He smiled to himself as he unbuttoned the rest of his shirt.
She already figured out the game. It's probably only a matter of time.
…
He hadn't really planned to do anything just now, as he dragged her into the room… but seeing her so confused and almost a little expectant after he drug her into the room… he couldn't help himself.
That was really risky just now… but I can't bring myself to care.
…
She's really starting to mess with my self-control.
He laughed at himself for a moment.
But she's still so flustered by everything I do.
Even giving her simple orders like that can throw off her composure.
'Undress and meet me out the veranda.'
'What?'
'And you won't need a towel.'
The fresh memory of her face at that moment almost made him laugh out loud as he started unbuckling his belt.
This is definitely too much fun.
Okay… I wasn't dressed really appropriately before, but now, as I was inching my way on my tip-toes out onto the veranda in nothing but my… undergarments… I couldn't help but feel like my attire was breaking some rule.
Even though no one was here, and there was a tall bamboo wall separating the veranda and hot spring from public views, and even though couples were probably supposed to bathe out here wearing even less, I still couldn't walk or stand up straight or even unfold my arms from around my torso, trying my best to cover up as much as possible.
I shivered a little; it was already really dark out here. The night wind was a little chilly. Or maybe I was just cold because I was half-freaking-naked!
My mind flashed to his instructions that led to the pathetically embarrassed mess I was right now:
'Undress and meet me out the veranda.'
'What?'
'And you won't need a towel.'
I felt my eyebrow twitch with irritation.
What could this possibly be for?!
Hot-tub research?!
What kind of excuse was he going to come up with for this!?
I let out an aggravated sigh, trying to listen to the cicadas ad steaming water for any sort of relaxation.
I had no choice but to wait here for either his teasing when he comes out here to see me hunched over and embarrassed like this, or I could do my best to pretend that I wasn't as embarrassed as I really was, so that I still had some pride.
I liked the second one better.
…
I watched the steam rise off the spring in front of me. It would've been calming if that crazy team captain of mine wasn't filling up every space in my mind that could possibly be soothed by such a pleasant sight.
He seriously has way too much fun with me.
And as if simply thinking that thought was enough to cue his entrance, I immediately felt a familiar hand land on my bare back. I fought the urge to jump with not only the shock but the goosebumps that quickly took over my skin when his hand simply slid up my back tipping over and off my shoulder as he walked in front of me.
God, how does he always manage to do that?!
I tried to pay more attention to the what he was doing…. But even that became a little harder when I saw he wasn't wearing anything except boxers. Not even a mask. He just stood in front of me for a quiet moment smiling gently.
"Wh-what's going on?" I asked with embarrassing ineloquence feeling as fidgety as a little kid. (I couldn't be blamed, though. It was his fault for only wearing boxers)
"You sound a little worried." He graded me, taking a step towards me. My arms fastened around my chest a little tighter, feeling so completely self-conscious when he was looking at me so closely with both eyes like that.
"I just want to know what you plan is this time." I spoke up with a little bit of a fighting spirit, taking offense to this while embarrassing ordeal he set up. But the shreds of my cool attitude were destroyed by his sudden response.
"What if I said I didn't have a plan?"
His voice was warm as he took another step towards me.
…
"Eh?" Again, that was all I could say while my heart was still trying to calm down.
It only took a moment of looking at my, no doubt, stupid dace before he started cracking up… again.
I've always loved his laughter… especially when it sounded so genuine like this. But that sound was starting to get on my nerves if he was only ever going to laugh at me from now on!
I huffed impatiently, feeling my face heat up, cursing myself for falling into another one of his jokes.
I walked right past him, trying not to let him see the pink agitation on my face. As soon as my feet were in the steaming water I dunked down to the point where the water was up to my neck. Of course it was a form of cover, but it was also my childish attempt at giving him the silent treatment… which I forgot about in only a few more seconds after his laughter stopped for good.
After a few moments I heard his voice again.
"I guess we should be getting to it."
To what?....
His feet stepped into the water, which raised up and above his waist as he walked further into the water, closer to me.
He was walking right towards me. Smiling that 'innocent' smile.
"Uh-" I was about to say something, to break this eye contact, to break up this really strange moment that I could just feel was about to turn into something stranger if I didn't say anything.
"I'll be right back." He interrupted me. His voice as innocent as a little boy's.
"Eh?" I asked monosyllabically, again unable to think of a better way to state my sheer confusion with all this.
He was gone.
Nowhere.
One moment he had been here, looking at me almost invasively without shame, and now in a blink of an eye, he was gone… I stretched my neck, looking around the courtyard, back at the room.
My stomach flipped when I finally though of where he probably was.
Crashing invaded my ears as I suddenly submerged my head underwater, keeping my eyes open and alert.
And in a moment, I saw him… but he was at the other side of the spring. He was lingering at the bottom of the spring, he was doing something… I couldn't quite see.
I crashed back up through the water, the cold air chilling my water-warmed face. I sputtered for a moment, getting the water away from my mouth and nose. I wiped the water from my face, running my hands through my now stringy hair that was a shade of darker pink than before.
And as if following my lead, another head emerged from the water across the spring.
He stood up, the water reaching just up to his chest. He ran his hand through his own hair, which was now soaked completely and clinging to his skin, dripping water down his face to his neck, down his muscles… I tried not to get distracted, but when he slicked the silver strands back, framing his face so perfectly like that… I couldn't really hear what he said for a moment.
"Follow me." He said shortly before disappearing again.
"What?" I asked myself, standing there clueless for a moment.
'Follow' him?
But he just went underwater… where the hell was I supposed to follow him under there?
Another moment passed when nothing happened. I resolved myself to 'following' him, even if I was so confused… then again, what else was new?
I dunked back into the water, a little used to the feeling of the water now. I brushed my hair from my eyes, the cloud of pink floated back slowly, but he was already gone.
I freaked for a moment.
Where did he go?
Did he actually go somewhere?
The answer seemed all too obvious when I noticed something… the place I saw him before… it was different.
I waded myself over to it, feeling a little ridiculous for swimming around in such shallow water like this. I didn't care about that when I suddenly realized where I had to follow him to.
There was a crawl-hole in the bamboo wall. The bamboo sticks that were once there were now on the bottom of the spring, resting on the rocks. It was just big enough for a person to pass through really carefully without cutting themselves on the jagged bamboo.
I paused for a moment before lunging forward through the hole, doing my best not to touch the bamboo. After my torso had gone through I wiggled my legs through, trying not to bend them to quick and get cut. By the time I was finally free from the little bamboo loop I could feel my oxygen run out… a feeling I was too familiar with now… I broke through the shallow surface immediately taking in a few deep breaths, sputtering a little as I wiped my face and hair a little frantically before I could look around.
"That took you a while." I heard that voice grade me playfully.
I immediately turned around towards him, my hair slapping against the side of my face. I almost wanted to say something back, but I settled for the most obvious question.
"Where are we?"
He smiled again, pushing himself away from the bamboo wall he had been leaning on for a moment.
"The Boss's room." He said simply, stepping out of the water.
Momoshita's room?
So that's why we left the party early… otherwise we could risk running into Momoshita around here…
Suddenly, as if the boulder of confusion and irritation had been lifted from me, I suddenly felt more than a little compelled to start trusting my recently dubious team captain again.
"Really?" I stepped out of the spring, shivering with the sudden chill of leaving the steamy water, following after my half-dressed team captain a little hurriedly toward the extravagantly architecture-d veranda in front of us. It was a lot nicer than ours, this room even had a little rock garden off to the side. But I really couldn't find myself staring at the scenery for too long when the way the water was dripping from his slicked silver hair and down his bare back seemed to be more interesting.
"Yes. He booked the only other Couples Suites in the establishment." Kakashi answered my question just before I forgot I asked it. "I knew according to the blueprints that the Couples Suite shared the best individual hot spring here." He continued, explaining the situation rather seriously… I could hear the old Kakashi-sensei in that voice.
I chased after him as he walked up the steps onto the veranda like he owned the building, showing no fear of being caught or leaving water on the wood floor, while I was hunched over again, partly because I wanted to hide myself and also because I somehow thought that grabbing onto my sides, my freezing arms could somehow warm myself any faster. But something hit me… the contrast between his adult confidence and my sudden lack of it… I felt like that little student again, chasing after sensei like this as he'd calmly explain a mission that I hadn't figured out yet. I almost smiled at the nostalgic feeling… Kakashi's voice spoke up again just as he reached the door to the room.
"Which explain only half of the reason why I decided to book our room…"
He opened the door a little slowly, but he didn't bother to hide against the door frame, like standard protocol usually said to. The room in front of us was dark and empty, but the furniture and pillows were obviously much better than ours, it was almost ridiculous how pretty everything looked even in the darkness.
But I didn't pay more than a moment of attention to what was going on in that room since I was more curious about what Kakashi was going to say. It was like I had really fallen back into old habits of following him around, trying to memorize all the rules and details of a mission, and this was just another one of his lectures.
"What was the other reason?" I asked expectantly. Ready for some sort of astounding logic in his plan.
He stood in front of the door for a moment longer before saying anything.
"Getting some privacy with a certain student of mine…" His voice sounded so innocent as he took a few fast steps into the room already.
I stumbled a little walking through the threshold into the room as my 'Ah, the old teacher-student days'-moment came crashing down with that inappropriate sentence which he would have never have said back when we were only teacher and student.
He smiled happily over his shoulder, seeming pleased with the clumsy reaction he managed to get from me with that.
I only reverted back to glaring for a moment, refusing to say anything and please him any further if he found something I said funny or, god-forbid, cute…
But I didn't need to worry about any more of his teasing at that moment.
"Alright, check the front room, I'll search the bedroom." And just like that, without any of my scolding or glaring, he was back into Team Captain-mode.
Without really thinking, my body started moving towards the front room he had motioned towards… again, the habit of blindly following his orders was a little too strong sometimes.
I managed to stop myself just in time to ask a question before he left the room."For what?"
He turned back to me for a moment, Kakashi-sensei again.
"Any sort of document or evidence that can tell us exactly what he's doing with the Yomashita family."
My memory jump-started with that. I immediately understood what I had to do.
I nodded towards him with a monosyllabic answer. He looked at me for a little longer than normal than a normal team captain would.
And for a second I thought I saw his eyes drop downwards for a moment.
Suddenly remembering the fact that I was practically wearing just a bathing suit, I immediately grabbed my sides again, feeling my face fire up. I heard a soft chuckle and when I looked back up, he had already disappeared into the doorway.
Agh!
He got me to blush again.
That was probably another point for him.
I shook my head of the thought, trying to pay more attention to the mission and not to the man in the other room who had managed to get a reaction out of me with only a single movement of his eyes.
I repeated the mission mentally, trying to get it straight, as I immediately started opening up drawers and desks, searching for paperwork.
Our mission was centered around Momoshita, or as I've heard 'Momo', and his upcoming deal/alliance with the previously peaceful, wealthy Yomasa family. Since 'Momo' has often meddled with governmental affairs and was even a part of a radical anti-government group before, the Lands were a little worried about any movements he made. So naturally, fearing what might happen if Momo suddenly came into lots of money, the Lands sent us on a reconnaissance mission.
And that's what I was doing here, going through some random luggage, looking for any sort of proof or evidence that Momoshita is a fraud and that he should be stopped from making the deal with the Yomasa family.
I froze when I heard a voice I recognized, but not one I had heard before a few hours ago.
"EH, what did I tell YOU… You gotta learn that you can't jush go off shoppin whenever ya waant!"
Whoever it was, he was drunk. He had a sort of pompous voice that sounded so full of itself even when intoxicated.
But I didn't focus on what the voice sounded like, especially since that voice was just outside the front door of the room, getting closer with every word.
I immediately stood up straight, dropping everything, as soon as I heard the second voice.
"Stop talking like Momo and just open the door!" It was a woman's.
I suddenly remembered the woman from the hot spring, 'Momo's' mistress.
I was about to turn around, but I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. He started walking quickly back through the middle room, and towards the veranda. I wasn't surprised; I'd been expecting Kakashi to do something like this as soon as I heard that man's voice. I was mostly in mission-mode right now, ready to fight.
There was a loud noise from the front room.
"Oi, don't jush bust through the door like dat!" The man's voice again.
I focused my hearing, two people walked into the room. One of them walking around really fast, the other almost staggering through the doorway.
Kakashi leaned around the corner of the door, looking into the room that the two were arguing in just for a moment, no longer than if you managed to see his eyes, you'd think it was your imagination. I gripped his hand a little tighter.
He turned back to me. The look in his eyes, completely serious, told me that we wouldn't be able to leave right now.
It was refreshing to see the old team captain in him again for a moment, but I couldn't think about that again any longer as he suddenly started pulling me across the room the same moment I heard the other two's footsteps coming closer to the door we were by.
"An' I talk like myshelf, the Bossh is jush copyin me."The man's voice was really starting to sound familiar… there was something distinct about it.
"Yeah, yeah." The woman answered back begrudgingly.
I watched the door as he led me somewhere I wasn't paying attention to, but just as I saw it inch open, in the spare moment before I could see the face I knew belonged to that voice, I was engulfed by darkness.
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Ok, ok…. Horrible ending, I know..… But the next chapter will be out in a little while. I think you guys will like it.:)