A/N I got far too excited and smashed out another chapter lol! Hope I haven't missed any spelling/grammatical errors and hopefully I can get some beta readers eventually but for now I'll have to make do :P
So this is looking at developing the relationship between Kakashi and Sakura. I really don't want to rush into it but for the story to progress as all us fans of KakaSaku smut have come to expect, I need to start laying down the curiosity and agonising confusion I take so much joy in these characters feeling. I'm only slightly mean to our beloved Kaka-chan ^_^
So stick with me because I want to develop this properly! Reviews always welcome.
Chapter 6: Poking at dragons
Sakura waited.
It was hardly surprising he wasn't there yet, but she still sighed and angrily kicked at the grass. She was pretty sure by now she must have spent what equated to three years of her life just waiting for Kakashi to show up. She had half a mind just to go home and crawl back into bed but she knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep.
It must have been close to two hours by the time he showed up looking as if he didn't have a care in the world. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.
He lifted a hand lazily and smiled. "Hey, Sakura-chan."
She continued her icy stare but it just seemed to amuse him more than anything and he stopped in front of her, hands in his pockets waiting for her to break the silence. They both knew she would.
"What, no excuse?" She snapped.
"Would you believe it?"
"No."
He just shrugged happily and continued to smile at her. She sighed heavily and lowered her arms.
"Alright, let's get star-"
"Actually, Sakura, I don't really feel like training."
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"And what do you feel like doing, Kakashi-sensei?"
"What," he grinned, "no Kaka-chan?"
She folded her arms and glared at the ground, feeling a slight heat rise in her cheeks. She had forgotten about that until this moment.
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head the same way he had been doing since she had met him. "Anyway, I actually need your help with something."
"Oh?" She tried to sound disinterested but her curiosity had been piqued.
Kakashi sat cross-legged on the ground and indicated to the patch of grass in front of him. She folded her knees underneath herself and fixed eager eyes on him. If she was honest with herself, the idea of training wasn't terribly exciting this morning for her, either.
"So," he began cheerfully, "I just ran into Naruto on his way out for some more training with Yamato and after a little chat, he informed me that before he passed, Jiraiya had begun drafting the next Icha Icha novel."
Sakura's eyes widened. What exactly would he need her help with regarding pornography? She honestly could not think of a single scenario that didn't turn perverted in her mind.
Kakashi cocked his head. "Why are you blushing?"
"I'm not!"
He raised an eyebrow but said nothing more about it. Instead, he continued asking about this so called favour. Sakura felt her mouth opening wider and wider with every word he spoke, until eventually one of Naruto's toads could have jumped into it.
"Are you insane?" She hissed. "I am so not helping you!"
"Sakura-chan," he whined, "you're the only one who can."
She got to her feet shaking her head dumbly. He was an idiot with a death wish, there was no other explanation. She pulled at the ends of her hair and bit her lip. True, it would get her heart racing more than an S-class mission, and hadn't she wanted that for a while? But this... this was just asking for trouble. She glanced up into his glinting eye and all was lost. He was promising an adventure if nothing else, and she couldn't help grinning at him.
"If she catches us..."
"I have the utmost faith in our teamwork."
Sakura laughed and started towards the Hokage tower. "Come on then."
She contemplated Kakashi's plan as they walked. It was simple enough; Kakashi would distract her and Sakura would steal the transcript of the first ten chapters of the never to be completed Icha Icha book Tsunade had confiscated from Naruto.
"How do you plan to distract her?" Sakura asked, curious. It was true Kakashi could grate on the Godaime's nerves, but the Hokage physically had to leave the room for her to get into the draws on her desk.
"Hand in my late report."
Sakura's eyebrows knitted in confusion. He noticed her expression and crinkled his eye at her in a smile.
"I blew up a castle by accident, it's costing the village a hell of a lot of ryo, the report is two weeks late and consists of approximately, oh..." He made an exaggerated show of counting his fingers. "Three words."
Sakura snorted. Oh yeah, her shishou was definitely not going to be happy with him.
"What do you two want?"
Tsunade barely glanced at them as they came in. Apparently the scroll that unfurled over the ends of her desk was demanding most of her attention and nothing was going to distract her from reading it. Sakura was scuffing her foot on the ground nervously, hands clasped behind her back.
"I'm just keeping Kakashi out of trouble like you asked, shishou."
"Well," Kakashi added, "she's trying her absolute hardest, Tsunade-sama; I am a pretty big pain in the ass at times."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him and Sakura fixed him with an unreadable stare.
"Anyway," he chuckled, "I have something for you. Sorry it's so late." He held out the small scroll for her to take and Tsunade's eyebrows disappeared into her hair.
"Did you just apologise for handing in a late report?" He shrugged as she began to open it. "We can finally sort out this mess with-" Tsunade cut herself off with what could only be described as a snarl. Her eyes narrowed dangerously and the fury emanating from her would have been enough to send all the members of the Akatsuki running home to their mothers. Sakura tactfully tried to press herself into the wall.
"KAKASHI!" A coffee mug narrowly missed his head.
"What... the... HELL!" Each word was accompanied by an object being thrown at high velocity towards Kakashi, who evaded them gracefully.
"What's the problem? I feel it is an adequate description of what happened."
At that Tsunade was throwing herself across the desk. Kakashi ran out of the door followed by a blonde steam train.
Sakura gave a chuckle and walked around the side of the Godaime's desk where the oh-so detailed report lay open.
'I kicked ass.'
With a smirk, she rifled through the top draw for a few seconds before- yes! There it was! The only draft in the entire world of the never-to-be-published fourth Icha Icha book! Humming cheerily, Sakura made her way to the door. It opened before she reached it, however.
"Oh, Sakura, great. I need you to take these down to the archives."
She blinked stupidly at Shizune before rubbing the back of her head. "Umm.. sure thing Shizune. I just need to run this out. Tsunade said it was of utmost importance. I'll be right back though!" And with that, she ducked through the door.
"Sakura, wait a second!"
Shizune's head poked around the door.
"O-oh.. did Sakura go by?"
She stared into bored grey eyes. Kakashi shrugged and continued strolling down the hall, the draft securely in his pouch. He couldn't keep the grin off his face, so it was probably a good thing he wore a mask. He distantly heard a rumble which indicated Tsunade had caught up with Sakura. He winced and gave a forlorn sigh. If he was any kind of gentleman, he would go and help her out. Then again, the whole reason he proposed the henge's in the first place was because if Tsunade caught up with him, there was no way he'd survive. Sakura could match her strength and heal herself if necessary.
No, he thought, giving his pouch a happy pat. Sakura would be better off without him getting in the way. Besides, that's what she got for referring to him as a pain in the ass. So with a very uncharacteristic bark of laughter which spooked a nearby genin team, he disappeared in a cloud of grey smoke.
"What the hell, Sakura?"
"You were the one who told me to keep an eye on him," Sakura snapped, rubbing her bruised hip.
"And how exactly did that translate to helping him steal that piece of smut?" Sakura regarded her shishou with a heavy sigh. She had taken a painful hit to the side early on and been slammed into a nearby tree, resulting in a string of profanities that gave her away to the Hokage instantly. After dropping the henge Sakura had been forced to explain herself from her undignified sprawled position on the grass.
"It's been a while since I had a mission... I don't know shishou; it seemed like a little bit of fun." Tsunade raised her eyebrow. "I was going to make him put it back after he had finished..."
Tsunade sighed. "Tell him if he hands in a thoroughly succinct report he can keep it." With a wave over her shoulder, Tsunade walked away. Sakura sighed and crossed her arms- so much for Kakashi being her back up. She knew he would turn traitor the second that draft was in his hands. She should have known better; he was a brilliant shinobi after all. Picking herself up Sakura dusted off and applied a little medical jutsu to get rid of the bruise. She took a few steps forward gingerly and winced. It was going to be sore for a little while.
Stupid damn Hatake.
She wanted to pound him into so much jounin mash but decided to cool off before she went to see him. Who said she wasn't becoming a mature, level-headed woman? She threw her hands together into a seal and disappeared – appearing again outside her favourite tea shop. Sitting down with grunt, she waved over the waitress and ordered some green tea.
She thought about going over to his apartment and smashing through another door but eventually she would end up having to pay for it, no doubt conned into giving up her cash by his ridiculous charm... She sighed heavily. She really had nowhere else to go so after she finished her tea, she meandered painfully over to her old sensei's apartment.
Forgoing the door, she pulled herself in through the window, knocking over the Team 7 picture as she did. Hastily picking it up, she placed it beside the picture of Kakashi's genin team, smiling at the uncanny resemblance between Naruto and his father. She strolled into Kakashi's living room and unsurprisingly he was hunched over the draft.
"Yo."
She stomped to the table and snatched the draft up. "I do believe, as I did all the work, this is mine."
He gave her a raised eyebrow for her troubles and shrugged.
"If you really want it, you can have it."
Sakura was surprised her jaw didn't hit the ground. "What?"
He shrugged and lay back on the couch, eye never leaving her face. Sakura stood dumbfounded for a moment before shrugging and taking a seat on the floor. She lay the pages on his coffee table and began reading. She barely got two paragraphs in before she felt the tell-tale heat creeping up her neck. She lasted another three sentences before putting her head in her hands and muttering, "oh Kami..."
She heard Kakashi chuckle and shot him a glare.
"I cannot believe you abandoned me for THIS!"
"Really?" Kakashi mused, rubbing his chin.
"This is ridiculous! It isn't even a story!"
"Well, it is a draft, Sakura-chan. Maybe the story was something he came up with later?"
Sakura glared at the pages, demanding them to form themselves into a semblance of a plot.
"You probably shouldn't read anymore though." Kakashi reached across to take the pages, only to have a delicate hand slam down on his with enough force to crack the table.
Sakura was feeling particularly vexed, and decided her dear old sensei could sweat it out for a few days. "I'm taking it home; you can have it when I'm done."
Kakashi's eye narrowed at her. She was aware he was looking at her with the same stare he saved for his enemies right before raikiri cut through their hearts, but she refused to back down. Picking the papers up, she gave him her sweetest smile before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Sakura chuckled to herself as she entered her apartment.
Flicking on the kettle, she settled down at the table and decided to carry on. She supposed it had been the fact she was reading it around Kakashi that had made her so uncomfortable. He was a massive pervert after all.
But- if you want to read it, doesn't that make you one, too?
"Shut up," Sakura growled at her inner-self. Reading through the first two pages, she was unsure why Kakashi didn't want her reading it. Perhaps he thought she was too young? But he was a fool if he thought she honestly hadn't been exposed to this kind of material before. Both her teammates were boys after all, and porn was one of Naruto's favourite things. That and Kiba loved to over share...
Sakura reached over for a pen when she noticed a spelling error and corrected it without thinking. Similarly, when a sentence she read didn't make much sense to her, she reworded it; as well as she could without exactly trying to picture the incredibly descriptive passage of what the protagonist of the story was doing with the daimyo's daughter.
She realised the third page in that a plot line was slowly developing. It appeared Jiraiya had started somewhere in the middle. She was starting to enjoy herself when it became apparent the daughter wasn't going to be the main squeeze of the protagonist Takashi. Oh no, it was a beautiful kunoichi from a far off village whose hair just so happened to be a beautiful shade of cherry blossoms in the spring.
Pink cherry blossom.
Jiraiya had given the love interest of TAKASHI PINK hair.
"That perverted old BASTARD!"
"Don't speak ill of the dead, Sakura." Kakashi chuckled to himself from his perch outside her window.
Obviously she had reached the part about the pink-haired kunoichi. He had seriously debated whether to just knock her out and hide the draft to save her from the embarrassment but he knew her reaction would amuse him to no end. Besides, it's not like she could blame him for it really. He didn't write it. If he was honest, he was quite surprised himself. Jiraiya had often gone on about how affairs with students were literary goldmines, but the fact he had used Sakura and himself as characters was a bit unnerving. What if this had actually been published? It might have caused a scandal in the village. Then again, if what he planned to do got out he would be in enough strife as it was.
He sighed to himself quietly. That particular problem wasn't becoming any easier for him the more she read on. Jiraiya had probably set him back in his mission about three years, which was around two years and forty-eight weeks too late. He doubted she would be able to even look him in the eye after she had finished, and he hadn't even got half way through before she showed up. Kami knows what else had been so descriptively put in there.
"I am going to bring him back and KILL HIM!"
Kakashi smirked. Obviously the personality of the fictional kunoichi was beginning to sound quite familiar to Sakura. Kakashi shook his head; how Jiraiya had planned to get away with that novel he would never know. Sakura was Tsunade in miniature; surely the old perverted sannin would have learnt his lesson when he used his teammate's image for Icha Icha Paradise. Sakura was just as capable of punching through walls as her shishou.
Kakashi heard an indignant snort from within.
"As if I'd be that easy."
He popped his head around the window to see Sakura scribbling furiously at a page. There was no way.
"What are you doing?" he demanded.
She let out a squeak and jumped from her seat, sending the chair crashing against the wall.
"What the hell are YOU doing!"
Kakashi dropped in through the window with ease and strolled to her table, picking up the page she had mutilated.
"Why are you correcting his work?"
"Because he's an idiot if he thinks that I would – err... that any kunoichi would be so damn easy to win over!"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her correction and turned to face her.
"So you're what – rewriting the story?"
"NO! Why would I even care that much? It's just annoying!"
Kakashi nodded and gathered up the other pages.
"What are you doing?" Sakura asked, moving back towards the small table.
"Given your complete lack of appreciation for art, I'm taking it back."
"But I haven't finished!"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her, a small grin playing on his lips. "You want to read it?"
Sakura spluttered incoherently for a second, face turning a wonderful shade of magenta. Kakashi suppressed a chuckle as he watched the wheels turning in her head. If she admitted she wanted to read it, he would tease her mercilessly. If she stubbornly insisted she didn't really care; he could tease her mercilessly. He waited for the yelling to start so he could quite childishly call her a liar.
Sakura slumped into his favourite armchair and sighed. "Fine," she snapped, "it's mildly interesting enough for me to be intrigued." Kakashi blinked at her slowly. "Besides," she snapped, "I need to correct all those ridiculous things Jiraiya wrote about me!"
"You?" Kakashi asked lightly.
"How many other girls do you know with pink hair!"
Something happened then that Kakashi had not done in a long time. He saw his old students eyes go wide, for she had never seen it in all the years she had known him, of that he was dead certain. In fact, the last time he could recall it ever occurring was when Obito had crashed headlong into a tree mere seconds after claiming he was more graceful and deadly than a mountain cat.
Kakashi laughed. Not his usually chuckle or the occasionally manly (or so he liked to think) giggle that came from enjoying Icha Icha, but a delighted, raucous sound that had him groping for the back of the couch. The dumbfounded expression on Sakura's face made it all the worse and he collapsed onto the soft cushions, trying to compose himself.
He couldn't really explain it. She was so indignant, so naive, so damn adorable and all Kakashi could think was of how absolutely screwed he was. How the hell was he supposed to go through with this? There had to be some kind of bitter irony hidden in the situation somewhere and his subconscious had caught on before he had. That and the stress of the situation had clearly melted his brain.
How was he supposed to show her that it was the naughty things described in that draft that men loved. How was he supposed to encourage lustful behaviour from a woman who would rather sit there and correct grammatical errors in a piece of erotic literature than enjoy it the way it was intended.
He was a perverted, old man that much he could admit to himself. He had told himself he was following her because he wanted to get the draft back. But if that was the case surely he would have just let himself in and taken it straight away rather than sitting outside her window. So why had he then? Because he was masochistic and perverted and honestly wanted to see the way she reacted. Sure he knew she would get angry that Jiraiya had written her into the plot but that was no reason to be peeking through the window. He could convince himself that he was being wise and keeping his distance in case she really did blow up, but no. He was intrigued by how she would react once she got over her initial fury.
He wanted her to enjoy the idea. As in, enjoy.
'You're only male, it's natural to want women to want you' the Jiraiya-inspired voice whispered.
"Oh Kami," Kakashi answered, "I'm going to hell."
He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled exasperatedly. Coming back to himself, he realised Sakura was staring at him, lips parted, evident confusion etched in her features. At some point she had stood up, perhaps to see if he was alright, but was now standing there like a rabbit watching the wolf's jaws closing in. He sighed. He thought he could get away with what he had to do because no matter what his fellow jounin had said, no matter what he had tried to convince himself, he had made the decision that he was going to feel guilty about it. He was going to take Sakura's fury when it came because it was well deserved.
However, some primal part of Kakashi had already decided that he was going to relish the physical moment when it came. Jiraiya had apparently known him better than he had. Perhaps this was going to be the old sannin's way of pushing Kakashi into something the number one pervert couldn't pursue himself. Maybe the old man just knew Kakashi would be enthralled by the idea and unable to shake it, begin trying to bring some of the words to fruition. He didn't think the timing of the drafts appearance was a mere coincidence either and half-wondered whether the Hokage already knew of its existence.
Confused. That was the only definite conclusion his jumbled thoughts could come to. One of the greatest minds of the village and he couldn't sort through the mess of images and emotions swirling around his own head. He should have turned this mission down. Turning rouge honestly seemed like the safer option. If Naruto or Sakura herself didn't kill him when they found out, he would probably drive himself mad with the guilt.
Although, hadn't he just admitted he wouldn't feel guilty? He groaned outwardly. Not at the time, that was for sure. Something inside him had already laid claim to her. She was going to be his to mould as he saw fit; to do with as he wished and it had snaked its way into his conscious so subtly it had happened before he could stop it. What came afterwards though... he could think of no way of repairing what he would do. He would put it off for as long as possible as he was surely going to miss being a part of team 7, but when the inevitable happened it was going to eat him alive for the remainder of his days. This, in retrospect, wouldn't be very long once Sakura realised what had her innocence had been taken for.
He placed his head in his hands, fingers gently massaging his temples, and sighed. How had he lived long enough for this to have happened to him? Why couldn't he have gone out during the war as a blazing, honoured hero? Why did every single Sannin member see fit to at some point make his life damn miserable?
Sakura realised standing in the middle of the room with her mouth wide open was anything but classy, but what the hell was she witnessing right now? Had the Copy Ninja final snapped? It was no doubt he has seen a lot in his life but she had no idea why he was choosing this moment and her living room to have his mental breakdown or midlife crisis or whatever this was. She honest to Kami had no idea what to do. Maybe she could fetch him a glass of water... though he looked like he could do with something stronger... She supposed she could just give him back the draft if it honestly meant that much to him. Perhaps that was it? He was so distraught she was scribbling all over the last remaining link to his favourite author that he had broken down. He sighed audibly again. She had a feeling a headache was forming from the way he was rubbing his head. Her mouth closed and her eyes grew soft as she truly contemplated her last line of thought.
Jiraiya hadn't just been an author; Kakashi had known him since he was a child. She supposed they had even been friends, united by their mutual perversions. She made her way silently into the kitchen and poured three shots of sake. She placed them on the coffee table and picking up the draft, knelt down in front of Kakashi. He didn't move or in any way acknowledge her presence, simply continuing the small circular movements that now moved from his temples to his brow.
She reached out uncertain, hand hesitating momentarily before placing it tentatively on his knee. His head snapped up instantly and his eye focused on her with such intensity she stammered over her words as she spoke.
"I-I'm sorry. I never m-meant to upset you. Here," she thrust the draft into his hands and reached behind her for two of the shot glasses, holding one out for him to take. "In honour of Jiraiya-senpai," she said, downing her shot and vaguely remembering the promise she had made not to drink. "I shouldn't have been so disrespectful and changed his work. I'm so sorry, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi seemed to survey her closely for a long moment before looking at the papers in his hand. She saw his eye scanning over the corrections and notes she had made. She knew the moment he read the particularly descriptive paragraph she had reworded as his eye widened slightly and his eyebrow twitched upwards.
"It's actually better," he said, voice unnervingly calm after his display. He slouched backwards onto the couch, drank the shot through his mask and flipped the page over to continue reading through her editing.
"Really?" He asked lightly, "you wouldn't do that but you would, 'gently bite down on his neck, feeling his pulse quicken under your tongue while your hands moved lightly over his thigh'?" Sakura was so perturbed by the drastic turn in his demeanour to the normal, slouching, unfazed and frankly, irritatingly composed man he usually was that the embarrassment of having her words read back to her didn't sink in straight away. Apparently he seemed to realise this too, glancing up as if confused he didn't illicit a response from her. Apprehension dawned in his eye and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Dont worry, Sakura-chan." She just stared at him. He gave her his patented I'm-as-happy-as-a-lark eye crease and said, "It's just been a strange day."
She nodded slowly. It wasn't everyday you stole something from the Hokage then read a pornographic draft that depicted yourself and your student doing such compromising things to one another , only to have said student be apparently intrigued by the story enough to add her own ryo's worth.
She worried at her bottom lip. Perhaps that was it? Maybe he thought she was actually interested in the idea of the two of them together like... that. Oh... dear... KAMI!
"NO!" She practically screamed at him. He blinked at her. "Oh no!" She spluttered, rising to her feet and taking a step back. Her legs hit the coffee table and she fell into a sitting position. A tell-tale thunk indicated she had just knocked over the third shot she was going to tip out in tribute to Jiraiya but she ignored it as she tried to string together a sentence to explain herself. Without considering it, however, she just opened her mouth.
"I just wanted to fix it up a bit! I never considered- I mean, I wasn't paying attention to the characters or the fact that they were u- well! I, um... I just thought it would read better if – not that I'm a writer or anything! I wasn't thinking about u-us..." Her eyes were fixed firmly on her knees. She could feel the blood creeping up her neck and had no delusions as to the colour of her cheeks at that moment.
Obviously Kakashi had felt disgusted at the idea of the two of them together, it explained his reaction perfectly. She realised her babbling probably hadn't been very eloquent but at least he would understand (she hoped) what she had been doing. Surely he had realised the idea of them being used in a story together had outraged her? Though she could see why her editing it had perhaps hinted to otherwise.
She felt the all-too familiar prickle in the corner of her eye that indicated tears. Was she really that revolting to have warranted such an obviously despairing response? Surely he had overreacted somewhat. She realised he had never thought of her that way; indeed, she would be surprised if Kakashi had ever really stopped seeing her as his twelve-year-old student, but it seemed a bit harsh, especially as he was usually so kind and considerate of her feelings most of the time. Unless he was bored of course, but even his teasing was never done in a hurtful manner.
She could feel him looking at her and raised her eyes to his slowly, almost dreading to see what was in that grey orb. She realised he was schooling his expression. Years of being a shinobi had taught him how to appear emotionless and the eye he was giving her now was too well guarded for her to gauge the impact of her words.
For what felt like the longest of eternities passed between them. She had a feeling Kakashi was probably trying to fathom the easiest way to dismiss the subject before leaving as quickly as possible.
He made a small sound in his throat before saying slowly, "that was quite the reaction to a thought I hadn't really considered..."
Sakura said nothing. Apparently she had overreacted, but she was so confused by the situation she really couldn't think of what to say next. So she had been wrong, he hadn't thought she had some little crush and was rewriting Jiraiya's draft to reflect her own fantasises. That was a relief; but then, what had made him laugh so hard and then seem so discouraged?
For the briefest of moments, she replayed the sound of his laugh. The image of him curled up on himself, holding onto the couch for dear life. It had shocked her into absolute stillness. She never considered he could display such mirth. More than that, the sound had been so pleasant and warm, almost like a long lost comforter she could wrap around herself. She frowned slightly at the thought and was woken from her small reverie by his soft voice.
"Sakura..." He leant forward, his knees brushing hers such was their proximity. "Please don't worry yourself about me too much. It'll give you frown lines." He poked her forehead lightly and she could tell he was smiling at her. Perplexed as she still was, she couldn't help her lips reacting as they twitched into their own small smile.
He slouched back, bringing his feet up onto the small oak table beside her. "So,' he said, matter-of-factly. "You never told me why the tongue-on-pulse was a better sentence." Her cheeks flushed once more and Sakura coughed slightly. She could hear it in his voice. He was trying to lighten up the atmosphere by refusing to address his strange behaviour. It worked for her. She crossed her arms sulkily and glared up at him. "Never you mind," she snapped, albeit with less venom in her voice than usual.
"Oh go on, Sakura-chan," he grinned, "do tell – where has this little talent sprouted from?" Sakura stood, kicking his feet off the table so she could move past and slump onto the couch next to him with a heavy sigh. She could feel the damp material clinging to her skin from the spilt sake shot but decided to ignore it. For some reason she felt completely drained. Pulling her knees up, she tucked her toes under Kakashi's leg and tipped her head back onto the armrest. She felt him tense slightly and realised, too late, her actions were probably doing nothing to stymie the suspicion that she had an interest in him. Instead of whipping her feet away and causing more uneasiness between them, she kept them where they were and reminded herself that Kakashi had admitted that wasn't the case. Although he could just be saying that to spare her the mortification, she didn't really believe he would lie to her. Indeed, if he seriously thought it was a possibility she assumed he would address the issue more seriously. Student and sensei were taboo, strictly forbidden. Their relationship may not exactly be that anymore but it once was and she could not see someone like Kakashi seriously going for something like that even if he was a younger version of Jiraiya.
He appeared to relax again and neither said anything for a while. She supposed he was contemplating his own reaction earlier. She half wanted to pry into his mind and find out what it had been about, but she knew there was no way to get Kakashi to talk if he didn't feel like sharing.
"Sakura?"
"Mm?" She kept her eyes closed.
"I meant it,' he said casually, "it is better."
"Thanks, I guess."
There was another short silence, before – "seriously, I think you should look over the rest of it."
Sakura looked up at him slowly. Was he asking her to edit the story of a man that could really only be considered as the Daimyo of pornographic literature?
Kakashi cleared his throat, shifting slightly in his seat. "I'm never going to read a new Jiraiya novel again," he said softly. Sakura sighed and regarded him with a raised eyebrow. She had the awful feeling she was being played. His eye was round and looked for all the world like it belonged on Pakkun's face when the little pug was begging for a snack.
She could deny Naruto these eyes, she could even deny Ino if she really wanted to, but for some unknown reason, she found herself unable to refuse the man in front of her. That was a worrying thought.
"Fine," she sighed, holding out her hand. Kakashi handed over the pages and she saw his mask shift in a smile. "But it's not like it will be a whole novel."
Kakashi shrugged, "you never know, maybe you'll be inspired."
"Wha-?" Kakashi raised a hand and disappeared, temporarily flooding her small lounge room with smoke. Had Sakura just been conned into actually finishing this piece of filthy smut? Was that silver-haired moron serious?
She sighed and thought for a moment what it would be like if Kakashi wrote stories and someone she knew finished one off for her after his untimely death. She supposed up until his little display she wouldn't have really appreciated it, knowing exactly the kinds of things her sensei would write about, but it meant a lot to Kakashi and a part of her was always constantly trying to prove herself to him. This was just one more way to do that. With a sigh she rifled under the table for a notebook, picked up her pen an continued to read through the rest of the chapters, trying very hard to ignore the chagrin she felt whenever the 'lustrous, pink hair' was mentioned.
Kakashi watched as the kunoichi flipped through the pages. She thought she had hurt his feelings and tried to apologise. She thought Kakashi wanted her to finish because it meant a lot to him to read his departed friend and favourite authors work. Because it would make him feel close to a man he missed. She was quite kind-hearted behind those powerful fists.
He was a very bad man.
Tsunade looked up as a small movement in the air announced someone's arrival. She raised an eyebrow and tried very hard to maintain the air of a calm and collected woman.
"I do hope you're here to deliver a thorough report," she quipped.
"No." The man before her said. She felt the all-too familiar twitch start in her eyebrow and narrowed her eyes in a way she knew made most of her subordinates wet themselves. Not this man, of course. Unperturbed as always, Kakashi leant casually against the railings next to her, surveying the village with a lazy, unimpressed expression, she assumed.
"Funny," he began, "how Jiraiya-sama's draft happens to show up the same week you tell me to seduce my old student." Tsunade said nothing, unmoving. She somehow felt, however, that her inaction did more to confirm Kakashi's theory than deny it.
"Even more hilarious," Kakashi continued, "that it should just so happen to portray a story of a handsome shinobi named Takashi and his beautiful, pink-haired conquest."
Again, Tsunade said nothing, turning bored eyes to her most elite jounin.
"And further still, how you seem so kind enough to let me keep it."
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "What's your point?" She snapped.
"Oh no point," Kakashi said lightly, "I just thought I would share an amusing story with my most esteemed Hokage."
Tsunade glared at the most irritating man she had ever met after Jiraiya. "Then I guess you can leave," she growled.
"But of course," Kakashi bowed, taking several steps away from her. "Oh," he exclaimed, turning his head to view her over his shoulder as he continued walking, hands stuffed into his pockets. "I want to congratulate you. Not many people can fool me with a henge. You can be very Naruto-esq when you try, Tsnuade-sama."
Tsunade turned away from the White Fang's son, mostly to hide her smile. When she had first discovered the unfinished fourth book she had wanted to read the last writings of her late teammate, ultimately regretting it as soon as she realised who it was about. She had cursed Jiraiya before locking it away. When she realised what the mission to Hatchimitsu was going to entail for Sakura, however, she thought the smutty, unfinished novel might be just the thing to help her apprentice begin seeing her former sensei in a new light.
True, she didn't think it would be long before Kakashi realised it had been her guised as Naruto who had told him about the draft, but he had pieced it together quicker than she could have imagined.
"A prodigy indeed," she muttered.
"Sorry, Tsunade-sama?"
"Oh, nothing," Tsunade waved her hand absently at an obviously harassed Shizune. The girl worried far too much in the Hokage's opinion. "What is it?" She asked, wondering if she really wanted to know.
"Oh," spluttered Shizune, "I was wondering if we could get security cameras in the staff rooms at the hospital?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, curious. Shizune held out five blazing orange roses. "They keep showing up," she muttered,
"I'm not paying for cameras to catch you're secret admirer; you're a kunoichi of the Leaf – do it yourself!"
"H-hai..." Shizune stammered. She gazed at the flowers thoughtfully for a moment, before snapping back to attention. "Oh, and reports have come in from the border. Kaito Fujioka has been spotted moving towards Tea Country."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. It appeared Sakura's target was making his way towards his vacation spot earlier than they intended. "We need more intel," Tsunade said, "tell the team in the field to keep an eye on his movements and get someone on Hatchimitsu to double-check his booking dates."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Shizune replied dutifully.
"Oh, and Shizune," the Godaime drawled, "It's nice to see you have your priorities in order."
Shizune flushed "S-sorry, Hokage-sama!" Tsunade waved her hand in dismissal. She had been in love once; she knew how these matters could override everything else. She turned honey-coloured eyes onto the village before her, worry spilling from them despite herself. True, they had faced threats far greater than this deadly new kunai before, but it was becoming increasingly risky to send her shinobi out on missions. She needed these things off the market as soon as possible, and they could not miss their chance to intercept Kaito while he gets his kicks on the little resort Island.
She tossed a blonde lock over her shoulder frowning. Those kicks would be none other than Sakura, and she could only pray to whatever gods would listen that the little cherry blossom would be ready when the time came.
A/N Ok, I hope things aren't moving too slowly for you! It just frustrates me when people write about these characters and suddenly they're in love over night. Anyone who has truly felt love knows it's more beautiful the longer it is worked at