Construction criticism is welcomed. Enjoy!

Prompt: Dance

What Could Have Been

Emerald green eyes look up and down at the full body mirror in the corner of the bedroom, checking to see if anything was where it's supposed to be. She did one last double take before a loud knock at her front door had her leaving the room in quick steps.

She slips on her sandals at the front door glancing behind her to make sure all the lights were turned off. Dipping her head in satisfaction, she swings the door open just as the occupant at the door had their hand raised to give the solid frame another knock.

Sakura crosses her arms in front of her, "Your late."

Giving her a sheepish grin, Naruto retracts his arm, "Sorry Sakura, we saw Iruka-sensei on our way here, we stopped to say hello." The blonde says taking in her appearance, "Wow Sakura, you look really pretty."

Sakura runs her hands down her dark green yukata, brushing out the imaginary creases. She gives him a quick look at his own attire knowing that he'd choose such a flamboyant color as bright orange. She nods, "You don't look bad yourself."

She turns to her silent teammate, finding that the dark blue material—that Ino and herself had picked out for him—matched him a whole lot better than the charcoal black that he was going to chose. "It looks good on you, Sai." She says, giving him a bright smile.

Surprise dark eyes widens at the statement, "Thank you, you look better than usual as well."

Her smile cracks at the half-hearted compliment, but she quickly throws it behind her. Reminding herself that it was Sai trying. She scans behind her two teammates looking for a familiar crouch, but with no luck. Her brows creases in disappointment at the absent figure. He didn't come after all.

Naruto's loud voice broke her from her thoughts, "Hey, come on the rest of our group is waiting for us."

The streets were crowded with civilians and shinobi alike, most dressed in yukatas for the event. They met the group at the Ichiraku ramen stand in which Naruto promptly sat down and ordered a bowl of pork ramen. A collective of sighs escape the group at the blonde's actions, "Naruto there's other sands of food we can go to." Sakura tries reasoning, only for her words to fall on deaf ears.

She watches as Chouji, Hinata, and Kiba sit down, surrounding the blonde on all sides, and placing their own orders to the old man behind the counter. Sakura resists a sigh as she turn to acknowledge the last two of the members, only to be met with an empty space. She blinks in surprise as both Sai and Ino where long gone, earning a loud groan from the pinkette.

"Fine then, I'll just enjoy the festival on my own." She mumbles, straightening her shoulders and pushing her way through the thick crowd. Scanning the colorful stands as she went.

Bright red stops her in her tracks. Small round globs of jelly covered strawberries on a stick lines the front counter of a stand. Her stomach growls as she eyes the delicious looking fruit. "I'll take one, please." She smiles at the owner of the stand and pulls out the right amount of yen to pay for the small dessert.

As soon as she turns away from the stand, she brings the jelly strawberries to her open mouth only to stop mid-way as she hears a familiar voice just behind her. "Yo, sorry I'm late."

She whips around to face the newcomer, a smile adorning her face. "I started to think that you weren't going to come." Her voice easily carries over the loud crowd.

Kakashi scratches the back of his head giving her his famous eye-crease smile, "Well I was given a very convincing threat." He replies shoving his hand into his front pocket.

Sakura gives him a triumphant smile before taking a bite of her jelly-covered strawberries. She knew threatening his collection of Icha Icha would work, "It was the only way to get you to even consider coming." She wipes her chin for any excess jelly, "You want to join me?" She asks looking up at him.

"Of course."

Sakura could barely hold back the giddy feeling she got from his answer, even if he was only saying those words to save his precious Icha Icha collection. She finishes off her dessert in quick bites and tosses the wooden stick in a nearby trashcan, "Let's go!"

Sakura feels satisfied as they walk side-by-side down the glowing street. They had stopped at plenty of different stands, including a couple of game ones. Sakura checks her belt that holds her newly won fish, making sure the knot was still secure.

She opens her mouth only to be interrupted by a sudden sound of music playing. She stands on her tippy toes, trying to get a look at what was making the noise, "What's going on?"

Kakashi dips his head, "Dancing by the look of it." He answers stepping through the crowd, Sakura close behind him.

They break through the crowd of people showing a clearing with children and couples dancing. Excitedly, Sakura turns to Kakashi, "Want to dance?" She could feel her cheek burn from her bold actions and with a nervous laugh she says, "I mean that is if you know how to dance." Her fingers wring together as she gauges his action from out of the corner of her eye.

"For your information I happen to be an excellent dancer." He replies with mock hurt.

She grabs his hand from his pocket, " Then show me." She challenges, dragging him out into the clearing. She puts one of her hands on his shoulder and the other is wrap by his gloveless hand. Feather like touch on her waist brings a light blush across her cheeks.

They move in perfect rhythm. She follows his lead obediently, and flawlessly. She lets out a small giggle as Kakashi twirls her around under his arm and back into his hold, "So you can dance."

"Did you ever doubt it?" He asks tightening his hold ever so slightly around her waist.

Everything around them meshes together like an abstract painting, yet, her eyes focuses solely on his single onyx orb. She clears her throat, "Not really no. You are a Shinobi after all." She answers breathlessly.

Her green eyes sparkle with laughter as the silver-haired jounin twirls her once more. "You know, this turned out to be fun." She says in a soft tone as she feels his footing slow down, becoming even with the beat of the music. "It could be almost perfect, if you would have put more thought into you choice of clothing." She sarcastically adds, making a face at his jounin vest.

Kakashi shrugs and glances down at her own attire. She wore a deep green yukata with light green embroidered petals throughout the material, and her face framed by her long bangs while the rest bundled up in a neat knot at the back of her head. She looks absolutely stunning.

He let out a short puff of air that he didn't know he was holding and brought his gaze back to his former student. She was close to him, so close that with every breath she takes he could feel the light movement of fabric against fabric.

He needed to leave.

His jaw clenches as he altogether stops both of their movements. The sudden action brings a confuse look into Sakura's green orbs as she creases her brows together. She blinks as she feels his touch slowly disappear from her person, leaving her empty handed.

"Well I should get going." He lifts his hand in a wave, "Thanks for the dance, Sakura."

She hears him hesitate as he says her name and before she could respond he is gone in a puff of smoke. She swallows as a lump forms in her throat and lets out a short dejected laugh, "You too, Kakashi."