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Chapter 7 - Denial and Avoiding Temptation
"Ugh, my head." Sakura winced in pain, burying herself into the plush pillow. She didn't dare open her eyes knowing that light would only make things worse. Nor did she have the courage to move, fully aware that the second she got up from bed there would be the most uncomfortable squeeze of her tummy, making the bathroom her best friend for the next couple hours.
"Here, drink some water." the strong tenor sound startled her.
Sakura was instantly floored. 'What the..'
Sakura knew that voice. She freakin' knew that voice. She would sooner recognize that voice faster than her own.
She held her breath, trying not to make any movement. The world began to spin and she could feel herself tumbling down an inescapable abyss of future self-torture. And it was not due to her hangover. Although odds already seemed bleak, she still wished, shit, she prayed that this was just a nightmare.
"Kakashi?" she asked timidly into the pillow finally allowing herself to inhale. To her greatest fear, she breathed in the familiar scent of him. Yup. Doomed. This was not her apartment and this was not her bed. What happened last night? And what the hell did she do?
"I'm going to shower. Water is on the nightstand. If you can't get up yet you may rest a little longer." he spoke casually.
She remained still until she heard the door of his bathroom close and the sound of streaming water from the shower run before she began to kick frantically in frustration, feeling the heavy burden of her humiliation.
"Shiiiiiiiiiit!"
She smashed her forehead into the pillow in a crazed scream and instantly regretted making such hasty movement; the effects of her excessive alcohol consumption taking a toll on her.
It was definitely one of those mornings.
"Ah.. my head, my head. Oh, my aching everything." her voice was raspy and coarse as she winced.
Sitting up, she reached for the water and was thankful to find two aspirin pills waiting beside it. She popped the pills into her mouth and greedily drank the whole glass, hoping to alleviate the pain she was in.
Hangover = dehydration.
Sakura's current hangover = extreme dehydration, bordering the brink of death.
She placed the cup down and looked around her, dreading most what was about to come. What she would have to face.
'Please.. please..'
With much reluctance she finally lifted the covers to reveal.. that she was not naked!
She was currently dressed in an oversized olive shirt and brown sweat pants. But that was not all. Reaching underneath the shirt she wore she felt a sort of terry cloth material wrapped around her, quickly realizing that it was a towel and absolutely nothing, save for her panties underneath. Why was she wearing a towel underneath the sweats? How did she get into these strange clothing? And where was her dress?
'What happened last night?'
She was instantly ecstatic with that revelation that she wasn't naked in his bed, however, her inner self was feeling otherwise.
'Yaaaawn. I can't believe I have to live vicariously through you.'
'You are me!'
'Uggghhh, stop reminding me!'
Despite the throbbing pains, she shook her head in attempts to silence the evil inside her while trying to remember last night.
The last thing she recalled was storming out of the club after the skank twins showed up. She closed her eyes and concentrated, straining to remember. Slowly but surely the events of the night began to unfold into her conscious state of mind.
Holy fuck. What. Did. She. Do?
She remembered yelling at Kakashi. On some busy street.. and saying.. many things.
... How could she yell at him for lying about birthing kittens! Of course, she was pissed. That was a given. But she wouldn't outright yell at anyone for being an idiot.. so soon.
Maybe after some time of knowing him, but not yet! She had, what? Spent two weeks now being his friend? How could she threaten their friendship over a stupid, badly thought out alibi? Ugh, drunk Sakura was always so irrational! And humiliating! She definitely wouldn't take things that far! Hitting, she was okay with, but threatening?
Oh, Kami, what else did she do? She closed her eyes once more, concentrating hard on what else other monstrosities she committed and suddenly, as a plethora of unwanted scenes played out in her head, she lost all ability to breathe. A deep, crimson blush filled her pale face. She remembered after the fight- strong, warm arms encircled all around her- and.. and-
"Fuck." she swore aloud. She quickly scrambled to her feet in frantic search for her clothes. She needed to get out of there! "Clothes, clothes. Where are my clothes?"
"They're at the dry cleaners. Your clothes will be here in an hour or so." Kakashi emerged from his bathroom, toweling his damp silver hair that fell downward over his eyes, steam following from behind him. Evidently, he took a hot shower.
Sakura's breath hitched and she visibly swallowed. There was the man of her dreams leaning against the door frame, his muscular, chiseled chest exposed to her in all its glory. He still wore his mask and cloth over his eye, but his body was only covered with a white towel wrapped loosely around his most private area, hanging deliciously low on his narrow hips. Even from a distance she saw water droplets sliding down his contoured abs begging to be licked. Unconsciously, she nipped her bottom lip as her eyes hungrily devoured the sight of him. Heat prickled the bottom of her stomach and she could feel herself slightly losing control. Her fingers practically itched to tug away the towel shielding him from her eyes.
'Get a hold of yourself, Haruno.' she told herself while trying to compose herself. But that was a very hard task to do when a man like Hatake Kakashi, a vision of masculine perfection, was right in front of you in only a towel.
Kakashi cursed under his breath, now realizing his state of undress. He watched as her eyes turned cloudy with lust- a deep flame igniting beneath their depths, expressing the demand her body needed from him. His male pride wouldn't allow him to retreat back into the bathroom to retrieve another towel, but he did want to cover himself from her intense gaze slaughtering his body.
He coughed uncomfortably. "I'm going to get dressed now." he announced, making way to his closet. He walked inside and closed the door, allowing himself to blush in embarrassment there.
The way she had stared at him didn't make him feel as uncomfortable as he thought. No. Surprisingly not. He looked down at the very apparent bulge beneath his towel trying to will himself to calm down. All she did was look at him with her deep green eyes, begging him silently to fuck her senseless, and the memory of their aggressive play the previous night flooded him. And it was just one kiss.
He couldn't help but feel wrong. This was wrong. He shouldn't be craving for his student for any reason. This was Sakura. The girl who was in love with Sasuke during her adolescence. The girl who sliced her beautiful pink locks off in determination to be stronger. The girl whom he helped to guide for the last ten years.
But she was no longer the girl he knew. Wait.. she wasn't the girl he knew. This was a different woman. Though same soul, different woman. Same face, same mannerisms, same fiery temper.. She was a woman- a woman who.. very obviously wanted him.
This was wrong. Kakashi was absolutely clouded. This woman was exactly the same as his student, just with a different background. But that shouldn't change anything on how he felt.
Shit. This was bad. And to make matters worse, he was never the type to be so fixated on a woman after anything. Especially from one mere accidental, alcohol influenced act.
Safe to say that last night, after he had calmed the beast that resided in Sakura (a side of her that he was too familiar with for his own good), he was unable to find his sleep.
His mind had, of course, rationalized the situation- they were drunk and he hadn't had a woman for so long. The adrenaline of their argument was still coursing through her veins and he was shocked into responding. Not to mention she was surprisingly skilled. But that end thought caused his other, smaller head to respond telling him that her rough, almost abusive hands and lips were something that he should not regret. And that he should look further into it.
He blamed the years and years spent reading Icha Icha religiously. It was the classic story. He was the Sensei willing to teach. And she was the seductress student, very willing to learn wonderfully naughty things from him. This was bad news.
And he couldn't fucking help but respond. Why did he? This was reality, not some fantastic novel that Jiraya-sama masterpieced for his enjoyment.
After their little.. episode, it was safe to say that his counterpart and Sakura had some sort of history, but there was no way he could find out for sure. He wasn't quite positive how he felt about that, but there was one thing he knew- he had more than enough on his plate. And, of course, there was a chance that they didn't... do that. He could be taking it out of proportion. It could have been innocent, for all he knew. Because there was no way in any world that he and Sakura would ever- ...
He couldn't even finish his thought. Kakashi brought his hands to his face and rubbed, groaning in frustration. He couldn't deny that something did happen. They kissed.. and he enjoyed it.
Despite what had happened last night, he had to concentrate on making their friendship work out. There were still five more months left for him in this world and he knew if there was any way on recovering their friendship, he had to take it. Three moments of pure happiness, and he was pretty sure he hadn't even grazed the marker on that one. He needed her. Her. Not her body in his bed.. which she was laying in right now.. waiting for him.. probably still willing to learn very naughty-
And he was already off track.
He sighed audibly and slipped on a pair of dark sweats, tucking his hardness behind the waist band and reached for a white shirt. They had to get things straightened out.
Opening the door he found her pacing in the middle of the room, muttering incoherent words to herself.
Kakashi cleared his throat to gain her attention and she was obviously startled. Her emerald eyes widened like a deer caught by headlights."Yo." he called out to her.
"Hey.."
"You're going to wear out the floor with all that pacing. Care to sit down?" he tried to sound composed while motioning towards the couch.
She chewed her inner cheek trying to come up with anything that sounded okay to say, something plausible. "I was wondering when the dry cleaner people will get here."
"If you're that uncomfortable in my clothing you can go home and change if you'd like. You do live across the hall."
"Ah, that's right!" Sweet relief washed over her at the reasonable excuse she could use to make her escape! Her mind was so cluttered it didn't even occur to her that she could do that. She turned back towards the door.
"Buuut," he drawled out the 'uh' sound, smiling at the way her shoulders slumped downward, "before you go we should talk."
'Shit.' she cursed in her head.
"Sure. Why not?" she answered nervously.
He stretched languidly before slowly sitting himself onto the couch. With shy steps she moved to sit as far as she could from him, feeling the tension grow with each passing second.
Kakashi was the first to break the silence. "Do you remember what happened last night?"
"Bits and parts, but I think I got the gist of what happened." she bitterly admitted.
Ah, so she remembered.. Well, he knew what next step he had to take. "What happened between us yesterday- we both had a lot to drink. I'm not blaming you for what happened. It was also my fault." he said as calmly as he could.
"You don't?" she asked bewildered.
"Of course not."
Wow, this was going better than she thought."Good." she exclaimed happily. "I was worried I messed up so badly that you wanted nothing to do with me."
Kakashi was beginning to feel slightly more relieved. She was okay, he was.. going to be okay. He smiled. "It's good we're on the same page with this."
"I'm really glad! And relieved. After what I did to you, I thought we'd never recover."
"It really is okay, Sakura. I did it too."
"What?" she gave him a quizzical look. "Did what too?"
"Wait." he cocked his head to the side confused.
"What are you talking about?" they both said together in unison.
Her blush spread, coloring her whole face and her ears, "Well, I'm talking about a lot of things I did."
"Like?"
"Do I really have to repeat it?"
He wanted to say no because he couldn't dare hear her repeat in her own words what happened for his sanity, but he had a feeling something wasn't right. "Go on."
"Well.. I'm talking about the whole night. I yelled at you like a stubborn child.. then when you hugged me I.. uhm.. I.."
"Yes?"
She groaned from the back of his throat, eye brows furrowed in extreme concern for her well being. "... I'm pretty sure that bruise under your eye is from me.. and that feint acidic smell in your apartment is also.. from me." she hesitantly pointed to the dark green discoloring on his face that she had just noticed before covering her face in humiliation. "And I threw up on your shoes. I don't remember how we got home but I have a feeling it involved you carrying me and I think I vomited again.. on you. Then somewhere in this apartment. I think I vaguely remember you chasing me with a towel with your eyes closed.. I'm so sorry, Kakashi." her head shook pitifully in her hands.
'That was it?' he thought to himself. He experienced far worse with his Sakura back home. Again, he had too much experience with her drunken, bizarre, not to mention, bipolar behavior.
"Ah, it's fine." he dismissed quickly, "Do you remember anything else?"
"Well.." Kakashi held his breath in anticipation, "Nope. Should I? Did I do anything else?" she asked with hopelessness in her voice. He looked her over, trying to see if she was purposely trying to hide something but all he could see was a panicked girl who really had no inkling of the heated moment passed between them last night.
A burden was lifted from his shoulders.
"No. You pretty much summed it all." he said with an eye crinkled smile swiftly deciding this was the best way to go to not complicate their relationship. Only five more months, he repeated in his head. There was no need to feel guilty, right?
"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better. But I'm glad nothing has changed between us." she returned his smile.
"Friends have drunk stories, and we've just made one. It's fine, Sakura."
She nodded feeling slightly better. He wasn't mad at her! Or even irritated. If the situation was reversed she knew for damn sure how she would feel like. Wow, maybe he wasn't the heartless bastard she first predetermined. But there were a few things that made her curious. "What did you mean by saying you did it too?"
It took all of his willpower not to widen his eyes in shock. "I threw up, too." he said as coolly as he could.
"Really? Wow, I must have been really out of it. I don't remember that."
"Good. Because I really didn't."
"Ass. Like you said, it was a drunken experience shared by friends." she smirked.
"You're paying for the dry cleaning."
"I got it." her smirk dissolved at the reminder of her embarrassment.
"And maid service."
"Okay.."
"And new shoes."
"Get your own damn shoes!" she blushed, pushing herself off the couch. She was sure she was the color of a cherry tomato at this point.
"I did have shoes but you defiled them."
His kicked puppy expression was tying her body into melted knots of goo, even though she knew he was faking it, she found herself unable to deny him. "Fine! I'll cover dry cleaning, maid service and new shoes for you." she glared, but surprisingly, she was feeling better about the situation.
"And next time you're taking care of me when we drink."
"If that's all do you mind if I head back home now? I think I smell last night in my hair." she brought a pink lock to her nose and cringed, "Oh, yes. It's definitely there."
"I tried to clean you up the best I could."
"Oh yeah. How did I end up out of my clothes and in yours anyways?" she said lifting a questioning brow while crossing her arms over her chest.
Kakashi sighed, recalling that moment all too well. "You were telling me the story about how you won in a drinking game with your boys and made your friend wear a dress. Then you thought it was a great idea if I wore your dress so you stripped and threw it at me."
"No I did not!"
"Yeah, you did. I can't make up stories that good."
Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated and sadly, somehow the image of her free breasts bouncing around as Kakashi chased her with a towel, eyes shut and the sounds of her inner self cackling aloud came to her mind. Ah, so that memory that came rushing to her earlier wasn't a dream.. Shit. Lifting her hands to her face for the billionth time, she groaned. "Okay, I think I gotta leave before things get worse."
"How are you going to get into your apartment? I tried to look for your keys in your purse but they weren't there."
Sakura scowled looking far off and Kakashi felt like he did something wrong again. "Ino has this nasty little habit of taking my keys away from me when we go out."
"That doesn't make sense. You don't drive."
"Right! That's what I said to her! Whatever her reasoning I'm sure it's not respectable."
Kakashi silently nodded in agreement.
"But don't worry. I keep a spare behind the wood panel of my door frame." she smiled and turned to leave but after a few steps she stopped in her tracks and spun around again, "Thank you, again, Kakashi. I made a fool of myself and you're still so cool about it."
"No problem, Sakura." he smiled.
"See you later!" she said cheerfully while leaving his home.
Although she did feel deep regret from last night, Sakura had to look at the bright side. At least she didn't make a fool of herself by throwing herself at him. Now that would have destroyed her mental stability.
Kakashi waited till he heard his front door close before heading to the bathroom. He needed to take another shower, and this time as cold as it could possibly get.
It wasn't her fault. And he wasn't being a complete bastard. He was just so preoccupied that he hadn't had any time to see her at all this week.
He tried. He did try.
When she called or text, he responded- granted it was hours later when he was aware that she was working or sleeping, but he did always respond. He didn't purposely check his mail when she was out of the building, it was all just coincidence. The times she tried to stop by his humble abode, he didn't answer his door simply because he was too busy.
He later found that his alter ego had an abundant collection of his type of novels- romance with a dash of spice and pictures to go along with it- and he had been investing his time in carefully going over each book that he barely could get himself to pay attention to the outside world. And he had a hidden room to explore, and a mysterious computer to hack into which kept him busy at all hours.
That was why he didn't answer his door.
Not because he was avoiding her.
Well.. Perhaps he was avoiding her, in the smallest sense of the word.
Okay, okay fine! In the largest sense of the word, Hatake Kakashi had been avoiding her.
But in his defense, he just couldn't help himself. The morning after things between them ended well he thought. They talked, they joked, she didn't remember and he didn't try to reinforce her memory. It went perfectly well. But as the minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days and it festered inside him.
It.
The sweet torturous memory of that night plagued him so deeply, he was sure if his hair didn't lack any pigmentation, it would now. He couldn't help but feel.. guilty.
Kami, he wished he could just get passed this. That's what he usually would do. Actually, he had never thought so deeply about a woman, so he wasn't positive exactly what he'd do. It had already been a week, and instead of forgetting and returning to his life of normalcy, it just got worse.
Was there ever a time when his body would react so violently with need for someone, just from one. damn. kiss?
Certainly, he had his share of women. Coy, fierce, adventurous, sexy- he had all types. But they never left this strong of an impression. The ferocity in Sakura's touch, the heat, the strong willed determined strength in her eyes. She was the type of woman who got what she wanted, when she wanted. Not to mention, she was untouchable to him even though she was willing. And that lit him inside.
He was in deep shit.
Here was Sakura, the incredibly willing, cute student and he the sinful, sinful teacher he was. It was the forbidden fruit that he should not taste. Will not ever taste.
So instead he sat and festered inside his mind all the things he didn't want to think about.
Strumming her fingers against the arm rest of her chair, Sakura waited in Professor Tsunade's vacant office, waiting for her new boss/godmother to return from the copy room. She had just survived her first day of back to school and was now waiting to receive instruction on her internship.
Today was tiring on the mind, body and soul. And to top it all off, she was pissed.
Usually, she was ecstatic about school. Not to mention, she was in a position that every one of her peers wanted. But she was too busy being angry than concentrating on basking in her accomplishments.
Receiving her schedule a few days ago she noticed that Professor Hatake was no longer her instructor. Instead, without being consulted with, she had genetics as an independent study class, therefore eliminating her chance to smack the crap out of him- of course she would wait till after class when all the students were gone; she didn't want to ruin his reputation in their eyes, after all.
The bastard was avoiding her even after he had said that things between them were okay. What the hell was his problem anyway? Couldn't he just suck it up? It was just a little throw up.
…
Okay, it was a lot of throw up. But she didn't do it on purpose! Everyone had their moments..
The first few days she was concerned that he was replying to her calls and texts rather late. The next couple days after that she tried to drop off new replacement shoes at his apartment but he didn't answer the door even though she clearly heard his television turn off the second she knocked. That was when her concern turned into confusion and of course, to complete and utter anger towards the idiot.
Fondly, since she wanted to wring his neck, she knew it was because she had gotten comfortable. It was so recent that their friendship had developed but she felt like she knew him for years. She felt her feelings shift, and was glad to feel herself getting over him, caring for him in a different way.
And now, being his friend, she was pissed. And there were certain liberties she took with her friends when she was angry. There was a small itch inside her that wanted his exposed eye to sport a blackened bruise from the artistry that only her hands were capable of.
It was amazing what a little vomit could do to ones' relationship.
A soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Mechanically she got up and answered the door, the fact that this was Tsunade's office slipped her mind.
"Coming!"
Kakashi heard a muffled voice from the other side of the door saying 'coming'. He cocked his head to the side confused. Wasn't she suppose to say 'Come in'? To his surprise the door opened and he was greeted by a familiar sight.
Sakura's eyes widened before quickly turning into a narrowed glare. She leaned her body against the door frame, using the door to shield the room from him.
"Long time no see." he smiled nervously. He knew he'd have to run into her eventually, especially on this campus, but he didn't know it was going to be so soon. He had just made it through the whole day without bumping into her. His luck really wasn't the best..
"Who's fault is that?" she bit back accusingly. She searchingly looked him over for something to give away what he was feeling, but he remained as passive as ever.
"Certainly you are not insinuating that I am avoiding you?" he asked casually, doing his best to look her straight in the eye.
"No, no. I'm not insinuating anything." she said sarcastically, "You're a jerk!"
"What? Forgetful, perhaps, but I am not a jerk."
"Yes you are! If you are avoiding me you should have the decency to not make it so pathetically noticeable."
"I'm not avoiding you." he deadpanned, but the scrutiny of her gaze was making him shift uncomfortably, ".. completely."
"I knew it!" she yelled causing a few people passing by to look their way.
He sighed and lifted a single digit in front of his mouth to motion her to be quiet.
"No, I will not quiet down!"
"What's going on here?" Tsunade appeared behind Kakashi, tapping her foot impatiently.
They both froze as the blonde woman dressed in a hunter green pants suit openly glared at the both of them.
"Well, are you both going to move out of my way or are we going to continue this conversation outside my office?"
They both quickly moved out of the way, which wasn't much given the size of the door entrance as they flattened themselves on the frame, and Tsunade rolled her eyes before pushing herself past them. They shuffled inside and sat as Tsunade put the files in her hands away into the cabinets on the offside of the wall.
"I take it you both know each other." she commented.
"Yeah." Sakura muttered.
"It is a strange web we weave."
Sakura snorted.
"Figures." Tsunade finished her task and sat at her desk, "The two biggest pains in my ass would get along quite well."
"Dean, is that sake I see on your desk?" Sakura shifted the conversation slyly as her emerald eyes went large and doe-eyed causing her godmother to glare at her.
Kakashi chuckled. It was amazing that some things never change.. Why couldn't his life be like that?
"Take this form and complete it by the end of your lab today or I'll have your ass." she handed her goddaughter an impossibly large packet the size of a mini novel, "You better prove yourself or else people are going to start saying I'm showing you favoritism."
"Of course, Dean Tsunade." Sakura took the packet and smiled respectfully.
"Get out of here."
Sakura stood and turned to leave but before she did she mouthed to Kakashi 'We're talking later or else.'
Kakashi hesitated but she wasn't making any motion to go. He slowly inclined his head slightly into a curt nod. She seemed satisfied with his reply and quickly left the office.
"Well, that was awkward." Tsunade commented, smirking.
"Sakura and I have an excellent friendship." he nonchalantly defended.
"I could see that." her eyes grew menacing, "But if you touch her, you're fired. You try to go past this 'excellent friendship', you're fired. You make her mad or upset, you're fired-"
"But that's not very fair. Sakura's always mad or upset at something."
A quick quirk of her lip curled upward and she snorted, "Okay, I'll give you that."
"So basically if I try to romantically tie myself with Haruno Sakura I will be fired."
"Precisely."
"Good to know."
"Anyway, we aren't here to discuss Sakura. I called you into this office for a specific reason."
"mmhmm" he hummed while flashing her a smile. For some odd reason, he missed this icy queen and her salty attitude.
"No smart ass replies, Hatake. It's the first day of the semester and there's too many idiots running around needing my help."
"I understand why they are in desperation for your wise advice."
Tsunade rubbed her temples with her index and middle finger. She wasn't sure if the hint of sarcasm in his voice was really sarcasm or if that was naturally the way he talked. "I take it that this is your last semester with us?"
"It is?"
"That's what's in your contract. I wanted to know if you still wanted to go along with this or if you want to extend your stay with us. Although you are troublesome, you are an asset to this university."
Kakashi sat in silence carefully deciding on what to do. It wasn't his place to make such a decision, but did it matter?
"I believe I'll go by the contract." he answered simply.
"That's fine. And I assume you're choosing your replacement?"
"I am?"
"It does state so in your contract. It was the only thing you requested, of course if they pass requirements."
Only thing he requested? So there was a legitimate reason why he chose this job as short term. Why did he do so? And for whom?
"Ah, yes. My chosen replacement is quite remarkable. You will be greatly impressed-" he watched she raise a brow in skepticism, "You will be mildly impressed by my decision." he rectified.
"Fine. Get out of my sight and go do your job."
Kakashi smiled. He was glad that some things never changed.
He got up from his seat and turned toward the door when he heard a forced, awkward cough call his attention.
"Good job today, Professor." although her voice was gruff and apathetic, there was an underlining of genuine satisfaction, "I heard your lecture went brilliantly. Keep it up and do make sure to keep class in session for the designated time. No more fifteen minute lectures proceeding with two hour study time. Still, I am disappointed that we're going to be losing you so soon."
He turned his head in acknowledgment and nodded his gratitude.
Before he knew it, it was already the end of the week. And he sailed through his job without any whirlpools or storms. Surprisingly enough, the subject was easy. He gave himself about three nights of full attentive study and he was able to master the subject, at least memorize all the theorems and equations. He used class time as means to apply everything he read, and quickly he was prepared enough to teach subjects well. At least, as well as he felt like. Fifteen minute lectures with two hour study time wasn't that bad to do everyday.
Kakashi was currently riding the elevator to his floor. He took out his cell phone to check for any missed calls or texts for the fifteenth time that hour. It wasn't compulsive and he wasn't anxiously awaiting a call from someone in particular.. And by particular he didn't mean a petite, fair skinned woman with emerald eyes and bubblegum pink hair...
He sighed loudly stuffing his phone reluctantly into his pocket. All week he had been anticipating a call or text from Sakura- even a random appearance at his front door.
Sure, he did call her a few times but he always caught her voicemail. She would graciously return his calls at around one in the morning, when she got off work, but he was already fast asleep by then.
At first, he was very hesitant with contacting her, not really wanting to talk, but as the days turned into nights, nights into days, he had to admit, he was starting to miss her company. By the second day of not seeing her, he was able to come up with an alibi of why he was avoiding her and it seemed justifiable. His plans were to quickly get the talk over so she could help him with his remaining five months to complete this mission.
He did want to pursue the task. However busy he was, he did not forget. It was only because he was so busy with balancing his new life and trying to not look suspicious that he was too busy to do anything.
He needed a partner in crime to help him. He was at a loss, and all the ideas in his brain weren't good enough. He needed another mind. He needed advice. His habitual self told him that he was able to do this alone, but he knew better. He had to act completely against his regular impulses since they were the ones who got him into this mess in the first place- apparently earning him a half life, according to his personal spirit guide.
Genma was an option, but he knew that they would end up locked in a prison together no matter if they robbed a bank or simply went for a stroll in the park. Naruto was thousands of miles away and he had yet to meet his other comrades.
So that left Sakura. Not that she was his last choice. Kakashi was sure that even if he had all his friends around him and he had the only option of picking one to play with, he would chose Sakura.
He was sure of it. Especially now that he had done his best to shove every indecent thought and memory deep inside the dark crevasses of his soul. He still felt guilty, albeit a bit disappointed with himself, but it was getting better.
The idea of hanging out with her outweighed the shame he felt in himself. At least, currently it did.
Kakashi fumbled for his keys to open his door when he saw a familiar sight hastily come out of her apartment, unaware of the world around her.
"Damnit!"
The silver haired man watched as she practically scolded herself with vigor, struggling to find the right key to lock her door. He smirked. Pleasantly, her hair was disheveled and tied up into a pony tail, random hairs falling around her and sticking up. She wore a grayed lab coat with many spills on it- he assumed it was once white. Her shoes were different and both on the wrong foot. But he had to give it to her. At least she remembered pants.
"Sakura, do you need help?"
Surprised, she glanced his way and returned to fumbling her large key chain, "No, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'd like to stay and chat, but I'm really late for work."
"Alright, be safe."
"Erm.. Yeah, for sure! I gotta go! See you later!" she finally got her door locked and she gave him a quick smile before running towards the elevators. With clumsy steps she entered but before the doors closed she called out to him, "Don't think I have forgotten anything, Hatake. I'm getting off early tonight and we're talking!" and the automatic doors closed.
'Ah.. talking..' He sighed, again. He couldn't wait to get this over with.
It was only seven o'clock! Sakura happily toweled her damn hair and flipped on the television as she sat slouched on her suede, chestnut couch. She got off work at six to her relief. Although deep, deep inside her she was reprimanding herself for being so excited about having less hours. The bills didn't pay themselves!
Luckily her new internship was a paid internship. Her salary was the same as minimum wage, but that was tremendous help already. Perhaps she could try to get overtime on Monday, then she would have enough money for things like food.
She glanced at the clock and thirty minutes had already passed by. It was a good time to bother Kakashi and force him to talk.
Even though she had been terribly busy over the last week, she hadn't forgotten that she had to punish the idiot for ignoring her. She flipped through a couple more channels before she decided there wasn't really anything interesting on. Pulling her hair tie off her arm she quickly tied her damp hair into a braid before looking herself over in the mirror. No make up, flannel pajamas and fuzzy moccasins. She had a busy week, she deserved to be comfortable. There was no longer any need to try to impress or dress up for Kakashi since he, ahem, already saw her during her finest, embarrassing moments.
Sakura didn't feel any need to grab her things before she marched up to his door. She pounded twice, feeling that knocking loudly would be more effective than ringing the door bell.
There was no answer.
She glared and knocked again. Still no answer. Pressing her ear against the door, she strained to hear if there was any life behind it but it was deathly quiet.
That bastard. Did he try to make another escape? After she made herself perfectly clear they were going to speak tonight?
No, they were talking tonight if that was the last thing there is. It had already been two weeks, he's had more than enough peace in his life.
She pulled out a bobby pin from her pocket, pulled the rubber ends with her teeth smoothly and proceeded to pick the lock. Jiggling the pin twice she smile with satisfaction as she felt a familiar click and turned.
Years of Ino stealing her keys led her to this special skill.
Sakura made her way towards his couch. She was determined on waiting for him to come home then yelling the shit out of him. But as she entered his living room she heard faint even breathing and quickly she directed her gaze to his bed where, to no surprise, was a soundly sleeping Kakashi, arm over his eyes, one leg propped up, still dressed in slacks and white button up, save for the first two buttons.
She took a step into the living room and instantly the silver haired man instinctively woke up startling her. His head turned and she saw his exposed eye focus on her then visibly relax as he groggily pulled himself out of bed. Despite herself, the corners of her mouth went upwards in a soft smile, finding him completely adorable after being woken up, his eye puffy and freshened from sleep.
"Hey, this is a nice surprise. How did you get in here?" his voice was coarse and rough from sleep.
Chills flowed down her body from his tired, and unconsciously sexy sound but she quickly shook it off. She wasn't here to check him out. "I have my ways."
The sleepy man simply nodded, not really caring that she had just broke into his apartment. He looked out the window and Sakura watched as his eye widened. Kakashi quickly got up and grabbed his keys on the nightstand.
"What time is it?" he asked rushed.
"It's a little past seven."
"Shit." he walked to his closet and pulled out a black leather jacket.
"Whoa, whoa. Where do you think you're going?" she put her hand on her hip as he stealthily walked around his apartment to gather his things.
Kakashi ignored her question and made way towards the door to put on his shoes.
"Oh, no you don't. You're not escaping from me, buddy." Sakura marched right up to him.
"Who's escaping? You're coming with me." he answered nonchalantly.
"What?"
"I'm not running away and I haven't forgotten our talk. There's something that I have to get before the place closes and then we can talk." he opened the door and held it, waiting for her to follow.
She looked at him incredulously. "But look at me! I'm not exactly dressed to go anywhere."
His onyx eye looked over her once. "What's the problem?" he asked blankly.
"What's the problem? I'm in pajamas!"
He shrugged and waited, still looking at her passively as if waiting for her to quickly get over the issue.
Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. It's only because I don't want you thinking you can escape this. And I'm not leaving the car."
Kakashi made an amused noise through his nose as he exhaled and nodded.
The car ride was quiet as he smoothly weaved through traffic driving at an alarming rate. But for some reason, Sakura wasn't scared. She usually preferred to drive because her friends were completely incapable of driving sanely. And although he was apparently rushing to where ever he needed to go, he was driving like an expert.
"When did you learn how to drive?"
"Over the course of the week." he answered casually, "One of the many reasons why I haven't been able to really see you."
Sakura snorted. "Right." she shifted and narrowed her eyes, growing more annoyed that his expression was looking more and more amused by her displeasure.
"Sit tight. We're almost there." he smiled.
After several minutes Kakashi pulled into a dark, large, deserted parking lot right in front of a suspicious looking warehouse. The building was large, white and decayed. More windows were broken than not and there was a strange discoloring of mold all over the building. There were hardly any trees besides the vast, desolate land that surrounded the building. And there was no one in sight.
"Stay here. I'll only be a moment." he quickly unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door, "Do not leave the car for any reason." he added, pointing and instructing finger at her before running towards the building.
Dread crept into her mind from his warning as she looked around her. She didn't mean to be scared or suspicious. This place brought it out of her.
There was only one street light illuminating very little of the large parking lot she was in. It flickered every now and then, leaving her in complete darkness with only shadows around her. Strange, moving shadows. Everything was so quiet.. and so still. Sakura sat frozen in place, for what it seemed like hours, even though the clock told her it had only been fifteen minutes. Her mind was going at a thousand miles per hour.
Why were they here? A number of things ran through her mind. Like perhaps something dealing with the mafia or other gangs, supplies for drugs because he was an insane scientist or perhaps something dealing with dead bodies. She had only known him personally for a short while, there was a chance that this guy, this handsome guy was up to no good.
It was always the good ones..
Another thought entered her mind. Why did he want her to come?
She had to get out of there. Every instinct she had was screaming fight or flight and she was ready to leave.
Sakura fumbled with her seat belt and opened her door.
"I thought I said to stay in the car."
The voice startled her. "Hey! I was just wanting some air." she lied through her teeth. She closed her door and watched as he approached the car with a ridiculously large box.
Yup. It was definitely drugs.
Could she go to jail for this?
He opened the back seat and placed the box inside while safely buckling it down with the seat belt. She then heard something shift inside.
Not drugs. It was a body. And it was alive. It was one of his experiments gone wrong..
"Are we going home now?" she asked, forcing her voice to be normal while keeping her eyes focused straight ahead of her.
"Yeah. We've got what we've come for."
'Oh, shit.'
To her displeasure he drove back very slowly. Each second ticked like torture as she frantically thought of all the possibilities of what may be in the box. Every careful turn he made she heard something shuffle inside.
As they approached their building she concluded it was a mutated experiment on a person gone wrong and he was either trying to fix it at his home or kill it.
She wasn't sure.
But she was positive that didn't want anything to do with this.
Kakashi parked and happily walked around to his back seat to retrieve his package. Sakura grew more worried with his excited expression.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked as he waited for her in front of the building.
Wordlessly she opened the car door and followed. Inside the elevator she watched him from the corner of her eye as he held the large box with the most aloof expression on his face as if he hadn't a care in the world.
She exited the elevator shaft first so she could make a quick escape into her apartment before he could say anything but for some reason her shaky limbs could only take small, child-like steps.
Kakashi cleared his throat and that sprung her back to life. She darted for her door as if her life depended on it.
He chuckled. "Is there a problem here?"
Sakura clumsily looked for her keys in her pockets. "No, not at all."
Kakashi calmly reached his door and opened it. "Aren't we still talking?"
Finally she twisted her key and she was so close to safety! "Oh, we don't need to do that anymore! I totally forgive you! We're good. Very good. Goodnight, Professor!"
'Professor?' he questioned. She hadn't called him by that authoritative term since they had first been acquainted. He walked forward and stopped her door from shutting with one strong move of his arm. "Although being forgiven is quite nice, something doesn't feel right. What's the matter?"
Her eyes opened wide. Was that fear he saw? Was she afraid of him? He knew instantly that this was one of those moments that he should try to clear up as soon as possible but he couldn't help but find this situation interesting.
Such an intriguing creature Sakura was. Hot-headed, feisty, calculative and always quick to draw up conclusions.
She was so much fun.
"There's nothing wrong! I'm just tired!" she giggled nervously, so high pitched she winced inside.
Effortlessly he pushed the door open causing her to step back several steps. Despite him carrying an impossibly large box with one arm, he still managed to look like the most dangerous man she had ever encountered.
"What is going on in that head of yours, Sakura?" he mused. He placed the box down on her floor and walked forward.
This was it. She was going to die.. or be severely hurt. "Not.. noth.. nothing, sir." she stuttered.
"Sir? Come on, now. I believe we're close enough to be on first name basis, Sakura." he enunciated slowly. His voice so soothing, reminding her of the glossy, smooth scales of a snake before you fall prey to the constriction of its body around you. "You can take a peek in the box if you want." He said cheerfully, smiling. He bent down and moved to undo the flap.
'He thinks that this is being curious? This guy is a psycho. Abort mission. ABORT MISSION!' her inner self screeched.
There was nothing she could do! She lived on the eleventh floor so jumping out of the window was sure death. He was blocking the door and she was well aware that his reflexes were inhumane. So she closed her eyes and braced herself.
She loudly inhaled in preparation.
"I didn't say to close your eyes but that's fine I suppose."
Her body turned stone like. She was unable to move, more like too afraid to move. He opened the box and Sakura clenched every muscle she had. Little scurrying sounds filled her ears and her mind began to illustrate what kind of experimental beast was unleashed into her safe zone.
"Don't worry. She's like this sometimes but it'll grow on you."
"What?" Was he still talking to her?
"I'm not talking to you." he replied to her thought.
"Then who the hell are you talking to?"
"Well, if you open your eyes you'll be able to see. He's right in front of you."
'He?'
"I promise he won't bite." he said with a wry smile.
Alright. She had to admit, curiosity was getting the best of her. And she could not stand the smugness in his voice. If she didn't know better she could have sworn he was teasing her right now... she probably did know better and that was exactly what he was doing.
Mustering up the courage, she peeked open her eye and was completely taken aback by what was in front of her. This is what she was freaked out about?
Fully opening her eyes, she was greeted by an aloof expression on a pudged little brown face looking up at her.
"Sakura, meet Pakkun. Pakkun this is Sakura." Kakashi introduced smiling. "But since we don't have to have that talk now I'm going to take this little guy shopping for new stuff. See you later! I'm glad that we had our talk.. or not have it. Ah, how should I put this, I'm glad everything is settled. That's better."
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review!