They stopped in at the hotel again on their way back. They would be travelling through the cold for several days, camping on the hard floor of caves, so the comfort here was one that the were not going to pass on, regardless of the company here.
Kakashi had to do his damn best to keep this thought in his head as he tried to hurry dear old Valerie along with their room keys, something that was not an easy feet. The woman could ramble on for years about absolutely nothing, and unfortunately for him 'absolutely nothing' included every lame pick up line in the book, and the giggling form behind him said that Sakura and Sasuke had absolutely no pity for him.
This could count as a gross case of insubordination.
They unsurprisingly got exactly the same rooms as before, and she decided to see them there, and Kakashi had to put up with an extra hour or so of her dreadful efforts before he could be rid of the damned woman. God, she irritated him. She had changed her appearance somewhat form last time, and he sure hoped that it wasn't for his benefit. She had put on some badly trimmed false eyelashes, that were too wide for her, her lips had darkened to an even deeper red and her nails had been extended and freshly manicured. With the way her nose was pinched, she looked like a terrifying dragon.
Forget the seven swordsmen. They were nothing compared to this.
"And stay out," he mumbled, pushing the door shut behind her. He flopped onto his bed, opening his book in front of his face. There was absolutely nothing productive to be done now, other than lying about like slobs. Naruto and Sasuke would probably be perfectly happy about that, he mused. Maybe he would go annoy a certain pink haired woman a while later.
Sakura had become something more of an anomaly to him. He could admit that he'd never really tried to find out much about her, and as he rarely offered any information about himself it would probably be wrong to probe her for answers.
From that conversation years ago, when he had first met her he knew that her uncle and cousins were dead, but as these were the family members she offered up to him, her parents had presumable not died form those events. They had been dead for a while, that much he knew as he had never met them while looking after their daughter; Sakura had lived alone whenever he had visited her as a teacher. So they had died before she had graduated from the academy.
Were they already gone at the time he had met her? She had grown up arm in arm with Sasuke and Naruto, both of which were orphans, so this was likely. But what had killed them? He was unsure of her mother, but her father had been a ninja, and usually the entire village would mourn the loss, regardless of dying from battle or a heart attack. The dead were honoured.
He thought back to his own parents' death, so long ago. They hadn't been, and this still struck up some bitterness deep inside him. Only if the death was considered 'disgraceful' or distasteful in anyway were details omitted. Of course, usually the tales would come from the mouths of grieving relatives and team mates. Sakura would have been to young to really understand, and wouldn't really have been expected to. They wouldn't have babied her, they seldom did with ninja, but they would have respected her space. Children were difficult to deal with and ninja's sometimes lacked subtlety while talking to them.
Kakashi made his mind up to search through the files once they got back to Konoha, and as usual felt his usual state of calm blankness wash over him once he had made the decision. The different branches of his mental spider diagram vanished and he realised he was getting slightly peckish, and judging by the clock beside him, it was definitely time for some food.
There wasn't as much choice as in the previous town, but there was no way in hell that Kakashi was going to opt for room service, and the thought of Valerie's squinty eyes was enough to persuade him to keep trying. His renewed determination found him somewhere that wasn't a health hazard, and 20 minutes later he was sat in Sakura's bed filling his gob with prawn balls dipped in sweet and sour sauce. Sakura thankfully liked Chinese too, and was stuffing her gob in a Naruto like fashion with spring rolls. If she ever decided to diet near him again, he would be sitting directly next to her with a jumbo sized spring roll, absolutely caked in sweet and sour sauce.
See how long she'd last then.
Kakashi smirked as he pulled the bag of prawn balls out of her reach, simultaneously lifting two spring rolls. He really did find it amusing to aggravate her; her reaction were just so entertaining to watch.
Sakura made a swipe for the spring rolls, back and forth over and over before plucking the bag of prawn balls out of his hand. Now that would not do. Sure, there was another bag, but that was really not the point, and those who stole form him would pay for it. Grinning beneath his mask, Kakashi pinned both her arms above her head. He could not reach the bag without moving one hand, but if he did then Sakura would be free to attack.
The moment he took t o consider his strategy was a moment too long, and he found himself pinned below the slender woman, as she straddled his waist and opened the bag.
"I'm gonna have to eat all of them now, you know that, right?"
Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and gave her the look. "Yeah, well, there's another bag."
"So why did you feel the need to fight over this one?"
He shrugged, glaring at her. "I don't know. Maybe I just like it when you sit on me."
The sentence had it's desired effect, as Sakura coloured bright red and clambered off of him clumsily, muttering something about lousy perverts. Honestly though, she had been getting a little too close for comfort. When a woman sat there what did she really expect? She should be flattered that it wasn't flat out disinterest.
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!" Yeah, like her. Valerie could try all she wanted, but would never achieve the effect of anything remotely attractive.
"Where are you-?" He asked Sakura in confusion as she hurried out of the door. What on Earth was she doing leaving her room at quarter to eleven?
"A woman is screaming, and you wander where I am going?" She gave him a withering look. "I swear, you spend too much time around Naruto."
As it turned out, it was Naruto's fault.
Or at least his and Sasuke's. The two of them apparently couldn't work out between them that there are certain times where it is probably sensible to lock the door, and when they are passionately engaging in friendly intercourse, that could be one of them. The sight that met Kakashi and Sakura when they got downstairs was one that they would definitely remember. Valerie was pointing at Naruto and Sasuke and hyperventilating. Her expression was one of such distaste that Kakashi wished that he wad pretended to be gay from the moment they walked into this crappy establishment. Really, it would have saved him a lot of bother.
"They, they !" Valerie moaned as if it agony, shuddering away from the semi covered couple.
"O, shut the fuck up, you damned homophobe!" Kakashi turned shocked to look at Sakura. She very rarely swore or shat on people's opinions, let alone with a stranger. Apparently her fierce protectiveness towards her team was worth more than politeness, and Kakashi smirked at her proudly, preparing his gay voice that only usually saw an appearance on missions with Genma. It was incredibly camp, and an insult to gay men everywhere. It was perfect, however, for moments like this. He just had to hope that Izumo never came across him while he was using it. He wasn't quite as laid back about these things as his other half.
"Yes, I like get so irritated with people like that! Jeez, if people would only knock there wouldn't even be a problem!" He placed one hand on his hip and shot an offended look at Valerie. Unfortunately for her, Sasuke caught on and decided to ,erm, lend a hand.
"Does that mean you're staying tonight, Kakashi?" His look was sultry and would send his fan girls into a fit. His dark eyes slid their way up Kakashi's body, and Valerie was gone quicker than they could say 'You're not welcome here'.
"Nicely done," Kakashi grinned at his student, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I can't thank you enough."
Sasuke smirked and winked. "When we see some fan girls, you can return the favour." He then looked down at Naruto, who was looking rather confused. "If you two could go now…" He gestured at Kakashi and Sakura who quickly found their way out the door, Naruto's voice floating out before the could close it behind them.
"I didn't know that Kaka-Sensei was gay!"
Sakura snickered as they found their way back upstairs. "How long do you think it is going to take for everyone to know you've come out of the closet?"
Kakashi slid her a smirk in return. " I'll just fix it by telling everyone that I'm dating you."
"That wouldn't work since I'm taken."
"You could have broken up and just not told anyone."
She shot him a look that spoke volumes out his stupidity.
"My best friend is Ino. Of course everyone would know."
"Maybe she caught tonsillitis and can't spread gossip."
"She's a medic. What are the chances of that happening?"
"Fine, I'll tell her our happy news myself, and she'll spread it round for me."
"And then you'll be spending at least a week in hospital, under my care, and I will not use chakra to heal you."
He sighed dramatically and hung his head miserably. " Fine. I'll just have to reinstate my reputation of being Konoha's number one womanizing pervert."
"Oh yes," Sakura nodded sadly. "That would be such a big loss for you."
"Ah well," He winked at her. " It would be a very good thing for the single ladies of Konoha."
Sakura frowned slightly as her thoughts again took on a life of their own. Would he be rough, inconsiderate, brutal? Or would he be like the man in those books that he read like religion? Would he be gentle and kind? Sakura's cheeks flushed as she replaced the male role in her novel with her sensei.
Kakashi noticed this with a shocked confusion. Surely his prudish pink haired student was not picturing him naked. That was slightly alarming as an idea, but the way her cheeks were blushing relayed the truth. Well, they were probably even now for his earlier reaction to her body. He was honestly lucky that he hadn't sprung one, and that was what stopped him from teasing her reaction now.
Yeah, they should probably just call it even.
A/N Whew, another update J (aren't you lucky!) My formatting usually gets killed by fan fictions, but I do believe that I may have fixed it! (Go me!)
R&R People!