Chapter Three

A Plight for Friends

Sakura needed to wash her windows.

It was an afterthought she arrived at reluctantly, on account of the early morning sunlight spilling into her living room, and bathing Konoha's renowned Copy-nin in a pool of liquid gold. Kakashi was passed out on Sakura's couch with his masked face turned towards the seatback, and one of his arms draped lazily over the side – barely holding on to the threadbare book resting almost entirely on the floor. The scene before her was not an unusual one, per se; Sakura was used to her teammates lounging around or sleeping off an injury from the comfort of her couch… She was even used to seeing them half naked, or in compromising situations when she was saving their lives. Most shinobi were not overly concerned with modesty, and as a rule, tended to run on the 'fit' side… Kakashi was no exception.

Sakura wasn't exactly sure when she started appreciating her former sensei's physique; she wondered in part, how she managed to go so long without noticing… Kakashi was on the taller, rangy side, and because of that, his muscle tone was all the more impressionable. He was blessed with broad shoulders and a torso that narrowed through his hips. Sometime during the night, the blanket he'd been using slipped halfway off the couch, and was only covering a very small portion of Kakashi's waist. His sculpted abdomen and powerfully honed chest were on display for Sakura's private viewing pleasure. She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, and felt marginally guilty for staring. Grudgingly, she tore her gaze away, which is how she noticed that her windows were in need of a good scrubbing.

Sakura was standing at the island counter in her kitchen, half propped on an elbow, and gnawing on a senbon she'd found in her utensil drawer. She'd barely slept after reading the scroll, and she was fairly certain that if she looked in the mirror, she'd find dark halfmoons underscoring her mossy-green eyes.

Her sleep had been fitful at best. When she did manage to drift off, her subconscious mind played tricks and left her waking in worry over her recovering teammate sleeping on the couch, and the parchment of paper tucked into the back of her nightstand drawer. She gave up on rest when the first soft hue of indigo light crept into her bedroom, and conceded to the rise of dawn. Sakura finished writing her mission report and padded quietly down the stairs and set to work on the coffee machine – hoping all the while that she wouldn't wake Kakashi.

Sakura heard a rattling of keys outside her front door, vaguely noting the twist of her doorknob. Only one other person had a key to Sakura's house – a key that was given to her best friend so she could take care of Sakura's plants while she was on missions. A key, that Sakura wished she hadn't given to her right about now…

The blond-haired nin strode through the foyer with a vase of lilacs, shifting them in her grip as she closed the door behind her. "Hey Forehe–"

Sakura held a finger to her lips, and then pointed into the living room where Kakashi had remarkably still not moved. Ino turned her head, gaze sliding over the Copy-nin in his scant clothing, and almost dropped the vase of flowers. Sakura took them from her friend, placing them on the counter, and tugging on the girl's arm to get her to follow her upstairs where it was quiet.

Once they were behind the safety of Sakura's closed door, Ino dropped dramatically to the foot of Sakura's bed and her arm darted out, pointing in the general direction of what lay beyond and below Sakura's bedroom. "You wanna' tell me what Kakashi is doing half-naked on your couch, Forehead?" Ino whisper-hissed.

"He came back from a mission late last night, wounded and practically drained of chakra. I healed him and then sentenced him to couch rest." Sakura shrugged innocently.

Ino's expression shifted mischievously as a slender eyebrow shot to her hairline. "That's not nearly as juicy as I was hoping, but lucky you." The blond reached forward and plucked the senbon out of Sakura's mouth. "Is that why you're stress chewing on your weapons?"

"It works for Genma."

"Genma's dentist probably hate's him." Ino crossed her arms. "How long do you plan on keeping Hot-ake on your couch?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and flopped back on her mattress. "Until he's recovered."

"Seriously Sakura, I don't know how you haven't jumped him yet." Ino flopped back, joining her friend in a more relaxed position.

Sakura pressed the heels of her palms into her eye sockets. "I shouldn't dignify that comment with a response."

"You're going to anyway." Ino rolled to her side, propping her head up with a fist and waited.

A heavy sigh departed Sakura's lips as she found a discolored mark on her ceiling to fixate on. "Kakashi is… Kakashi. He's my teammate and my friend, Ino. Besides, I don't think he looks at me like… like that." There was a lot of history between them. He'd been her first real instructor when she was a Genin and there were eleven years separating them… Sakura didn't even think Kakashi liked her very much until she'd come back from her apprenticeship with Tsunade and proved how powerful and capable she was. The bond of friendship had blossomed after the war – after he'd come back from his year-long hiatus and started finding reasons to linger with she and the boys. Kakashi was one of her closest friends now. Sakura could never risk damaging that bond on account of… what exactly? A substantial appreciation for his body?

Ino snorted. "Believe me Forehead, he's looking."

"How would you know? Most of his face is hidden by the mask."

"Because he's a man – a walking canvas of art, mind you – but a man nonetheless, and the mask doesn't hide his eyes. Well, you know what I mean… Besides that, you are beautiful and he's around you like all the time."

"So are Naruto and Sai," Sakura countered.

"Yeah, but they're like your brothers." Ino waved this off. "Also terrific to look at, but totally too sibling-esque for you to consider banging one of them."

Sakura made a face. "Banging? What are you, like twelve?"

"I'm just pointing out the facts," Ino offered unhelpfully. "Maybe you don't notice, but Kakashi does look at you."

Sakura couldn't think of anything to say to this, so she picked up a pillow and smacked her friend gently upside the head. "What are you doing out and about so early this morning?"

"I'm opening the shop for my dad." Ino shrugged. "We got a new shipment of lilacs in yesterday and I wanted to drop some off before the flower hounds sweep in and whisk them all away. I know they're one of your favorites. I was going to replace them with what's on your counter, but I wasn't sure if you were back from your mission yet."

"Aw, thank you Pig." Sakura grinned. "Now get out."

"So incredibly rude!"

"Sleeping nin on the couch who needs his rest and you," Sakura said, pausing for dramatic effect, "have yet to master the subtle art of being quiet."

"Hey, I resemble that comment." Ino made a show of slowly rising from the bed and tiptoeing towards the bedroom door. "Speaking of rest," she said, "it doesn't look like you got any."

"Gee, thanks."

"Just don't forget to take care of yourself while you're taking care of your boys," Ino said as both girls exited her bedroom. They stopped talking as they walked down the stairs in effort to keep quiet for Kakashi's sake, but when they rounded the corner, they found the nin pouring himself a mug of coffee in Sakura's kitchen. It appeared the Copy-nin located his clean, dry pants, but hadn't made an effort to button them – or even put a shirt on.

"Step away from the caffeine, Hatake," Sakura warned as she swept into the kitchen and made a grab for the mug in his hand.

Kakashi's grip tightened on the handle. "Mine," he said through a gravelly sounding voice.

"You need to sleep. This magical potion will have you doing exactly the opposite." Sakura pulled gently, but Kakashi only narrowed his eyes. Correction: he narrowed his eye. The eye containing the Sharingan was still closed, bisected by a long pink scar that started above his eyebrow and ended on the top of his cheekbone. Sakura supposed it could have gone further down his face, but she would never know so long as the man insisted on wearing that confounded mask. "Don't even try that look with me."

"You're not the boss of me," Kakashi insisted.

"I'm acting as your medical advisor, so I kind of am." Sakura grinned up at him, partially aware that Kakashi's fingertips were brushing hers as they battled for possession of the coffee mug.

"So looking," Ino said from her spot on the opposite side of the counter. An amused expression contorted her features.

Sakura felt warmth suffuse into her cheeks. She'd almost forgotten that Ino was still present. "Weren't you leaving?"

Ino glanced up at Kakashi from beneath her eyelashes and bit her lower lip suggestively. "Only if I have to."

"Goodbye Ino, thanks for stopping by with the flowers; it was very thoughtful of you."

Kakashi (ignoring Ino) used Sakura's momentary distraction to his advantage; he plucked the coffee mug from her fingers, and stalked off towards the couch.

Sakura walked Ino to the door, opening it, and playfully shoving her out onto the porch. Ino only laughed, shaking her head at her pink-haired friend. "If you bone him, I want all the details."

"For the love of all the Kage's, Ino, get out of here."

Ino chuckled, throwing her hand up in a wave as she jumped off the porch and headed back towards town. Sakura gracefully spun on her heel, closed the door, and promptly leaned back against it with her hands resting on the door behind her back. She looked at Kakashi, who had his chin tilted towards her expectantly. "Hi."

"Hi," he returned somewhat musically. His tone was less gravelly, warmed by the coffee he had snuck behind her back.

"You deliberately disobeyed my orders," Sakura began in a synthetic bossy tone.

Kakashi melted into the couch cushion, tilting his head back. "Are you going to punish me?" he teased, but there was a hidden implication in his tone, one that hinted at a euphemism.

"You'd enjoy it too much," Sakura said, taking the bait.

Kakashi chuckled.

Sakura shoved off the door and walked over to the couch, folding herself neatly into the cushion opposite from him. "How are you feeling? Did you sleep all right?"

"Probably better than you." Kakashi reached out, gently touching the outer bone of her eye socket with a featherlight sweep of his thumb.

Sakura's breath hitched for reasons unknown. Kakashi let his arm fall back to his side, the long elegant fingers of his hand splayed against the fabric of his pant leg. He'd touched her like that before… hadn't he? It didn't mean anything. It couldn't mean anything. Ino's earlier comment about him looking at her was just playing with her mind. Kakashi was still Kakashi. Still just her friend.

"I look awful, don't I?" Sakura picked up a throw pillow and buried her face in it, peeking above the tasseled gold threads.

Kakashi looked her straight in the face and said, "The worst."

It was a very Kakashi-like thing to say. She threw the pillow at him, but he caught it midair without spilling a single drop of his coffee, and laid it on his lap. He patted it once, and Sakura accepted the invitation. She dropped her head onto the pillow, staring up at the underside of Kakashi's chin as he reached for his book on her end table.

"Close your eyes," Kakashi said, using his old instructor tone.

"You're not the boss of me."

"Have you forgotten whose team you're on?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Is this a ploy so I won't catch you with your mask down while you drink the coffee I specifically told you not to?"

Kakashi rewarded her with an eye creasing smile, but didn't take his eyes off the page in his book. "Why, Sakura-chan… what kind of man do you take me for?"

"A pervy one with a fetish for smutty books." She reached up and tapped the copy of Icha Icha, barely moving it an inch.

Kakashi ignored her, having heard the line about a thousand times since she was a Genin. Besides, Sakura didn't really mean it. She kind of admired the fact that he liked to read – so what if there was a little bit of spice in the storyline? She'd swiped the books he carried during missions from time to time, and had to admit the plot development was just as enthralling as the sexual stuff.

"Why do you keep re-reading those anyway? Don't you have them memorized by now?"

"Familiarity I suppose," Kakashi answered thoughtfully. "They distract me when I'm too in my head. It's a comfort thing."

"I get it," Sakura said. "But are you too in your head right now?"

Kakashi inhaled slowly, his single-eyed gaze dropping to hers with a shadowy look she couldn't quite read. "I'm always in my head."

"You could talk about whatever it is. If you want," she tacked on the last part as an afterthought. She didn't want to seem pushy and invasive, but wanted him to know the door was open on the off chance he might open up to her.

Kakashi stared at the pink-haired nin for longer than necessary, finally offering her a slight eye-creasing smile before turning his attention back to his book. "Get some sleep," he told her.

"I can't. I need to go turn in my mission report, and I told the boys we could go to the training grounds after for a healthy sparring session."

"I'll wake you up before ten," Kakashi promised.

"You're the one that should be sleeping."

"I'm not as fragile as you, I don't require as much rest." Kakashi turned the page.

Sakura lifted her hand to swat him, but Kakashi caught it easily in his grip and the warmth of his touch was a balm to her chilled skin. "Sleep," Kakashi insisted as he released her hand. Sakura relented with a yawn and pulled the blanket from the floor and positioned it around her. The last thing she thought before falling asleep was that the blanket still blessedly smelled like him.

oOoOo

Hatake Kakashi had become one of Konoha's elite ninja at a very young age. He was a child prodigy and a bit of a hard ass – but he'd experienced more suffering than most kids his age, and more than some people would experience in their entire lives. He'd endured a mountain of trauma where his father was concerned, and that mountain only grew as he lost his best friends and teammates in battle… But that was the life of a ninja, wasn't it? A ninja knew what they were signing up for, and gladly put their lives on the line to protect their homes and the people they loved.

Kakashi had lost everyone he'd ever loved.

Depression had sucked him into the black hole of oblivion for a long time, and life became something monotonous and mundane. It wasn't until the birth of his sensei's son, Uzumaki Naruto, that Kakashi had truly felt like he had purpose again. It was because of a promise he made to Minato-sensei that he even agreed to take on the responsibility of Team 7 in the first place. Kakashi never wanted to be a team leader to Genin, especially when he was still so young himself, but supposed in some roundabout way, those three little holy terrors assigned to him had been a blessing in disguise.

The years passed, and little by little, Kakashi's heart began to heal. Maybe most of it was scar tissue now, but his heart was still beating. He'd made so many mistakes with his team, but for reasons unknown to him, they stuck around and chose to remain with him in spite of his shortcomings. He liked to think he had the best squad in all of Konoha, and that largely had to do with the pink-haired medic currently curled up on the couch next to him with her head still resting on the pillow on his lap.

Kakashi sighed, experimentally brushing a lock of Sakura's hair that had slipped across her forehead, and tucking it behind her ear. It felt like silk against his fingertips. Dimly, he wondered if she'd be pissed he'd taken the liberty to touch her while she was sleeping… He wondered, in vain, at what juncture in his life he wanted to start touching her…

Kakashi dropped his head back against the headrest, closing his eyes at the implicated weight of that realization. Something shifted for him during the last war; he'd been distracted – his thoughts always coming back to his teammates and where they were and what they were doing on the battlefield; but more than anything, they'd settle on Sakura. She'd healed him during and after the battle, and there was something in her gaze that he'd never noticed before. Never allowed himself to notice. Sakura had grown up under his nose, and while he'd always found her to be a pretty girl, he was simply devastated by the woman she'd become.

But Kakashi couldn't have… feelings, especially for his teammate. He'd reasoned that it was probably just a ridiculous crush. Once he'd healed, he asked Tsunade to send him away where he could be useful to the allied clans struggling to rebuild territories. He just needed a distraction. But weeks had turned into months, and the months turned into a year before Kakashi realized that his crush on Sakura was not going away… He wasn't going to be able to distract himself forever and it was pointless to stay away. Even more disturbing was the dawning realization that he didn't want to stay away. He missed his whole team, but mostly he missed the easy back and forth he shared with Sakura – he missed the banter, the laughter, and the way being around her just made him feel… better.

Kakashi knew that Sakura enjoyed his company and liked having him around, but he didn't know to what extent. Yes, he made promiscuous jokes with her on the regular, but so did Naruto and Sai. For all Kakashi knew, Sakura probably just considered him one of the boys.

He glanced down at the sleeping nin, taking another calculated risk as he stroked the length of her arm with his knuckles. Sakura shifted in her sleep, twitching a little, and turned her face towards Kakashi's bare stomach as she rolled to her side. Her hand settled on his forearm as she snuggled in tighter. Gods, she was going to be the death of him…

Kakashi realized he might be in some serious trouble when Sakura awoke, but for now, he was going to enjoy the warmth of her body – half curled in his arms.

oOoOo

But oh my gods! What's in that damn scroll?!

Thank you for the new likes/follows/comments. I was waiting for someone to give me shit about the scroll. Thank you for delivering. I too promise to deliver... in the NEXT chapter. XD

(Chapter 4 will be released on Saturday! I NEED you guys to have Chapter 5 on Valentine's Day.)

Happy Reading.

XOXO
~Sparrow