Infiltration
This chapter has strong coarse language. And is rated M for content. I hope you enjoy it though! Things heat up between Sakura and TenTen. The war starts to move.
Enjoy! =)
She made no move to shake off the hand that was on her shoulder. She embraced it actually. Accepted it even. She felt his grip tighten and she raised her head to acknowledge him.
"No, I'm alright. But thank you for asking." She felt her balance fail as she tipped over. She was caught by the waist.
"Did you drink anything tonight?" She turned towards his face. Maybe this could work…If only for tonight.
"Sasuke, my mentor is a drunkard. Don't you think I would be tolerant to even the largest doses of sake?" She snorted and tried to stand up on her own. The hand at her waist didn't leave.
"I'll walk you home." He removed his hand from her waist and instead gripped her forearm. Tight enough to help her stand, but not too harsh. Looks like he learned some lessons in gentleness. She thought with a roll of her eyes.
"That's fine. I don't live too far from here, actually." She led him somewhat to the district in which where she lived. The feeling of sickness was gone, but there was still that painful clench in her heart. He walked her to the steps of the apartment complex.
"Goodnight, Sakura." He was just about to turn around when she grabbed his wrist.
"Please." He nodded his head in understanding and followed after her. She unlocked the door with her key then pushed it open. The sound of her heels on the floor echoed through the quiet house. He closed the door behind him. She slipped off her shoes and turned back around to place them at the door when she saw his was already neatly on the rack. She found him seated on the couch.
"Why, Sakura." He hadn't moved, or even turned his head to look at her.
"Why what?" She moved to sit at the counter. She felt sitting beside him would be too much; she couldn't deal with his expressionless face tonight. No, not tonight.
"You made it clear we had no feelings for each other, yet you invited me into your home. I have a feeling I'm not here to talk."
'Smartass'. She whispered under her breath.
"No, Sasuke, you're not." She took a deep sigh and spoke softly.
"I just need you to hold me tonight. Hold me like you did two years ago. Lie to me and pretend we're still together. That I have someone to love me unconditionally. Can you do that for me Sasuke? For tonight?" She pressed her cheek on the cool countertop and waited.
"No, I can't. Not anymore." She took a sharp intake of breath. The clench on her heart became tighter.
"But I'm going to, Sakura. For tonight." She heard him get up and walk the path to her bedroom. He was going to wait for her. Like he did those nights so many years ago. She slowly got up to go to her dryer. She pulled out a bra and panties and went to her bathroom.
She clicked it shut behind her and slowly peeled off her dress. She left her hair the way it was. She slipped into her panties and strapped on her bra. She left her dress lying across the toilet seat and left the bathroom. She walked the same path to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She saw he was shirtless, with only his standard Shinobi pants. He had his hands interlaced behind his head with one knee bent upwards, the other relaxed. She spotted his other clothes folded across her chair.
She took the rest of the steps to the bed and crawled in. A few seconds later she was being pulled closer to his body and the sheets were being raised to her stomach. His hands were at her waist and she hugged him tightly. She felt the rise and fall of his chest that let her know on nights like these, yes. He was human. She moved upward to place her face in his neck, and he laid his chin on top of her head. She felt him move. A kiss was placed on her brow. She dug her fingernails into his back. All the memories that she pushed away for so long were flooding her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a shaky breath. She felt her façade crumbling. Her wall was falling to pieces. With that single kiss, he broke the dam.
It was there, that she finally cried.
He patted the floor below him in search of his sleeveless shirt with the attached mask. When his fingers grasped it, he detangled his limbs from the body beside him and quickly slipped it on. Making sure his mask was in place, he woke the civilian. He saw her eyes slowly open and she smiled. She pulled the covers up around herself more snugly. He glanced at the clock. 9 am? She has to go.
Damn it. What was her name again? Taki, Takra, something with a T. To save himself for embarrassment, he felt he should do without names.
"Hey, I have some matters to attend to, so you have to go." She opened her eyes once again and stretched. The covers that were once tightly secured around her became loose and fell below her breasts. He could swear she did it purposely; he saw a wink.
He went to the other side of his room to gather her clothes. She got up (without the sheet) and took the clothes from him. She swayed her hips all the way to his bathroom. He slipped his pants on and then a clean jonin shirt.
She emerged from the bathroom. Where did she get that pen from? She walked slowly and seductively towards him and took his hand. It felt like minutes as he gazed up at the ceiling while she wrote. When she was done, he looked at what appeared to be…an address? He smiled despite his thoughts. She stopped at his door to take her shoes and left out of his apartment.
When he was sure she was gone, he too went to the bathroom. He washed the ink off his hands. It wasn't like he was ever going to see her again. Consistency turned into relationships, and those were too hard to get out of. Plus, he wasn't the type of guy to settle down.
When he dried his hands, he tightly grasped the edges of the sink. He does have somewhere to go. Somewhere important. And after how he brushed her off last night, she probably wasn't going to want to see him. Actually, she would probably raise hell upon seeing him, but he had to make matters straight. He sighed.
She was going to kill him.
When she woke up, he was gone. She laid spread eagle on the bed. It was probably better that way. If he stayed, she would've cried. And she was done with that. Only for tonight. She reminded herself. Relationships were too complicating. Now she could go back to ignoring him and partially resenting him. She pushed herself up from her position and swung her feet off the bed to the cold hard floor. She glanced at her wall clock. 9:30 am.
She was just about to go the bathroom to wash up when she heard a knock on her door. She let out a growl and went to her closet to fish for her robe. She found it shortly after and secured it at her waist before going to unlock the door. It was the last person she wanted to see.
It was funny because yesterday, he seemed like just the person she needed. And the last person on her mind was the one she ended up having. And now the roles are reversed. So she slammed the door in his face and stalked away.
Stupid man.
"Sakura. Open the door." She heard three knocks.
"No!" She yelled back at him. If it was one thing she could keep, it was a grudge. She was going to milk this as long as possible. She heard the lock being turned and shot up to make sure he didn't come in, but she was too late. By the time she got to the door, he was already taking his sandals off.
"Get out, you bastard." Her eyes were glowering.
"No can do. I came here for a purpose." He leaned back against her door and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"Kakashi, I will hurt you." He knew it was no joke, but he really needed to apologize.
"I came here to talk to you about yesterday." He closed his eyes. Her pair softened. He was going to apologize.
"No, Kakashi, I was being stupid. You don't have to—" She was half way through stopping him when she was cut off.
"You looked really nice in your dress." She saw his eye crinkle and felt like punching something. To save her new house from damage she calmly walked towards the kitchen. Kakashi took her lack of response as a means to say he really did need to apologize.
"Wait, wait, wait. Sakura." He pushed off of the front door and followed her into the kitchen. He saw her going for the fridge so he stepped in front of it.
"I'm sorry." He made sure it was sincere. She didn't buy it.
"I'm serious, Kakashi. I'll hurt you." He stepped aside, but he didn't stop pleading. She opened the fridge and reached inside.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. Really I am." She slammed it shut. That would've made a lesser man flinch. But that wasn't Kakashi, so he settled for closing his eyes to avoid the look on her face. The look he knew was there. Hurt.
"You blew me off…for sexual release? How many times are you going to do this to me? This is definitely not the first, and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last." She walked towards her cupboards and opened them. She paused, then shut them and turned around to face him.
"What am I really worth to you?" That hurt. "You left without an excuse, or even a goodbye. You had the nerve to sit there and whisper sweet nothings in her ear right in front of me! You know how I feel about it, yet you do it anyway. Does it put you on some kind of high to piss me off? Huh? Does it turn you on, Kakashi?" And with that, she stormed out of the kitchen. She had a point. He couldn't count on one hand how many times he left her for company. He thought it was fun at the time. But Sakura is sensitive.
When he stepped out of the kitchen he saw her facing a wall. And it looked like she was staring pretty intently at. Half of him figured she was thinking that was his face, and was trying to burn holes through it. The other half, the one that lacked common sense, thought she was better than that. He snorted. He slowly walked to her and turned her around. He saw she was on the verge of tears. He gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes, though she was looking at something past him.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. I really am this time. I promise not to do it again." He pulled her into a hug but she didn't reciprocate. Instead she pushed him off of her and hurriedly wiped her tears. She sat on the couch.
"No, I can't make you do that. I know you need your sex as much as I need water." She wrapped her arms around herself. What was that supposed to mean?
"What's that supposed to mean?" He said with narrowed eyes.
"Oh come on, Kakashi. You and I both know you can't abstain from sex. It's physically impossible for you." She faced him with a serious look.
"Sakura, I don't need sex."
"You're right. But you crave it abnormally, which makes it seem to me like you need it." He wasn't going to win this argument.
"I don't crave sex either. I use it as a means of release. It helps me keep my sanity." She rolled her eyes.
"Oh please. You couldn't keep it in your pants for a week."
"Bull."
"Oh really?"
"Yes." She walked towards him, similar to how a panther would right before they pounced on their prey.
"Then let's make it official. Abstain from sex for a whole week; I'll do whatever you ask. If you don't, then you do what I ask. Just one thing." She raised a finger and poked him in the chest.
"What about you?"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about me. I don't have sex." She said with a smug look on her face. She was really missing out.
"No, I meant your part in the bet. Where is it?"
"Look here, mister. I'm doing this to help your body. You can catch hundreds of diseases from the types of girls you bring home. Matter of fact, sit." She pointed to her couch. When he didn't move, she gave him a push in its direction. She then knelt down on the couch facing him. She closed her eyes and pressed a glowing green hand to his chest. It was four minutes before she opened her eyes.
"You're welcome."
"For what?"
"I just cured your gonorrhea." She said with a smirk. His eyes widened then narrowed when she stifled a giggle.
"Yeah, whatever." She got off the couch and went back towards her kitchen.
"I still owe you breakfast, Sakura." She raced back to the couch.
"Really? I'll be back in a flash." And she was. She ran to the bathroom and shut the door. Fifteen minutes later, she was dressed in her customized jonin outfit, but went without her overcoat.
"Let's go!" She grabbed her keys from a hook in the kitchen, and waited until Kakashi stepped out to lock the door.
"Ohhhhhhh, this is so good. When was the last time I had breakfast, Kaka-sensei?" She closed her eyes and hummed as she ate her food. Kakashi finished his a long time ago. He was reading his porn to occupy himself. Watching Sakura eat slowly has long since gotten boring.
"Tell me, how do you finish your food without anyone seeing your face?" She pushed her empty bowl away. Then she put her elbows on the table and leaned forward as if listening to a secret.
"Hmm." He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "No." Then he leaned back to look at the scowl on her face.
"Come on! How do you do it?" She was one second away from slamming his face against the table. He just pisses her off.
"It's easy." Her eyes brightened. "My hands are fast. So is my digestive system. And I have awfully large esophagus, so I guess that helps me not to choke." He said while rubbing his throat up and down.
"That wasn't the answer I wanted. But show me." He stared down at the table. Both of their bowls were empty.
"I don't have any food."
"Neither do I, use the cup of coffee."
"It's hot, I'll kill myself."
"It's lukewarm, I'll bring you back." He sighed. Another argument he wasn't going to win. He grabbed the cup of coffee and grabbed the top of his mask.
"Don't blink. You'll miss it." He brought the cup to his lips and pulled his mask down a bit further. He stayed like that.
"Are you going to do it yet?" She asked impatiently.
"I already did…" He let go of his mask and pushed the once-full coffee cup in front of her.
"That showed me nothing! Do it again!" He stared at her cup of tea. She pushed it to his side of the table. He sighed.
"Sakura, this is the last time I'm going to do it, so I'll do it real slow." She nodded. He once again put the cup to his lips and grabbed his mask. Nothing happened.
"Did you do it yet?"
"No."
"Well, why not?"
"I'm waiting for you to stop blinking."
"I can't stop blinking."
"Sakura, when I do it, you're going to miss it."
"I blink really fast so go ahead." He sighed. She blinked.
"W-What? Are you serious?" She could swear she blinked faster than half a second. But when she opened her eyes again, her tea cup was in the same spot it was before he picked it up, and his porn was returned to his face. The only thing wrong was that her cup was empty.
"You Baka! You said you'll do it slow!"
"I did. You missed it. I told you not to blink." She knew he was smirking behind his mask.
"The bastard," She muttered. He once again snapped his book shut and placed it on the table. He leaned back in his seat with one arm laying across the top of his head, the other resting on his thigh.
"What are you up for today?" His lazy eyes returned.
"Eh, I don't know. Training?" She said while rubbing her belly.
"You're right. You are getting rusty." He said with a smirk.
"Me? What about you? You're a Shinobi. Very good at tracking and not leaving a trace, if I might add. Yet you let everyone know your routines."
"Whatever. I need to train, you need to train. Let's leave it at that." With that he left the table and walked out the door. She made a move to follow him, but a waiter was suddenly at their table with his hand out. Bastard! She thought angrily. She reached into her pouch and pulled out some bills. She slapped some into his hand and stormed out the door. If they thought they were getting a tip, they were sorely mistaken. She spotted him leaning on the wall with his book in front of his face. But he wasn't reading it. He was smiling behind it.
"You stupid man!" She stomped off but he still appeared beside her. When stomping started to hurt her feet, she decided on kicking every stone she saw. They were soon in front of some of the deeper training grounds in the forest.
"Uh, let's not go to this one." She started to back up slowly but then she bumped into him. She turned around.
"Why not?" He said. He turned back towards the clearing. It was a perfectly good spot to train. There was enough shade for the hot weather, and it was secluded. It even had a nice river a little ways over. Then he turned and saw Neji's team. That ultimately meant TenTen. When he saw her come in to view, she stared at Sakura. He felt her chakra get colder and darker.
"Alright, Sakura. Let's go to the next one." She turned and glared at him.
"No, Kakashi. We're going to this one. I want this one." Revenge was the only thing on Sakura's mind. She saw her walk forward.
"Hey white eyes!" Neji turned and then smiled. He deactivated his Byakugan.
"Green eyes." Neji started to walk towards her. He nodded at him. It looked like he wasn't going to train with Sakura, so he should find a nice, secluded spot to avoid being seen by people. Most importantly he needed to avoid—
"My eternal rival!" Damn it. This close. Despite himself he turned around and gave a two-finger wave.
"Guy. How are you?" It wasn't supposed to provoke an hour long response. But that's what he got. At least, it felt like an hour. He tuned him out and turned his attention towards Neji and Sakura. It looked like he was teaching her how to unlock her joints to become more flexible. It looked to him like she was trying hard to not be as flexible as he knew she was. TenTen's attention has long since turned away from Lee, and instead she was glaring daggers at Sakura. With the way Neji's fingers were holding the inside of her upper thigh to pull it up, and his other hand resting on the small of her back, if he were TenTen, he would glare too.
"Higher…Higher…There. Now push chakra to the place where my hand is." Which was too close to her crotch. He then let her leg go, probably because he felt her joints unlock.
"Now kick." He saw her back up and wondered what she was doing. She started for the tallest tree and ran up it. When he started hearing cracking noises, he figured she was smashing every branch in her path. When she crouched on the ground in a cat-like position after breaking her last branch, she smirked. Show off. He thought. She then got up and started to walk back towards Neji's meditative form on the floor.
What took place had happened so fast, he didn't see it coming. TenTen had somehow escaped his eyesight and followed Sakura from coming down from the tree. She stomped after Sakura, and when she was about a foot away from Neji, her shoulder was sharply pulled back and she was punched in the face.
Kakashi quickly snapped his book shut and dropped it as he got up to go to their position. Neji was there faster than he was and had stopped Sakura's chakra flamed fist from colliding with TenTen's face. All he saw was a flash of movement, and TenTen was knocked to the ground forcefully. Naruto? Then he and Sasuke appeared by Sakura's side. When did they all get there? That was when he got to Sakura. TenTen slowly got up and wiped the blood from her mouth.
He slowly lowered Neji's hand from her fist. He saw her shoulders heave up and down heavily. He saw the bruise starting to form on her left cheek. He saw that her eyes were red and puffy. He watched TenTen slowly get back up. When Sakura's pants slowed, he let her fist go. He realized quickly that was a mistake. She was gone with a flicker and appeared behind TenTen. He saw her leg rise, and strike down forcefully. No one was fast enough. He wasn't even moving. His hand was still where he let go of her fist.
She quickly grabbed her back up from the ground and punched her face. He saw she had a split lip. Why wasn't he moving? She still had her hands on her. The next punch was a surprise. TenTen flew across the field towards the next tree. Neji had caught her just before she collided with it and they flew a few feet. Sakura was tackled to the ground by Naruto. And he and Sasuke were still.
"You want to fight me, bitch? I'm Anbu now! I'll kick your sorry ass!" Sakura started to laugh bitterly then spit blood out her mouth. She shoved Naruto off of her and got up shakily. When she looked as if she were about to tip over, he was there beside her. He moved to grasp her waist, but she wriggled out of his grasp and gave him a dirty look.
"Kakashi, I'll hurt you." She walked slowly towards where Neji and TenTen were. TenTen too pushed out of Neji's hold.
"You got anything to say for yourself…slut?" She stood a few feet away from them. This time, he was on standby. Everyone was. They were all waiting for one of them to throw a punch, give them a reason to move in.
"Me? Slut? Ha! Who went back for seconds you whore!" TenTen stood up and pointed at Sakura's widened eyes. She laughed.
"You think I didn't know? How, even after I slept with Sasuke, you went back for him!" She laughed louder. Kakashi's one visible eye widened.
"Shut your mouth," Sakura said in a dark voice.
"What? You don't want your comrades to know you're still in love with Sasuke? That you're still that weak little bitch since Anbu? You haven't changed a bit Sakura." TenTen staggered towards Sakura.
"Was it good? I bet it was. I'd say he is superior in bed." She closed her eyes and hummed.
"Shut the hell up!" Her chakra was getting painfully darker.
"Or what, you'll punch me again? Impressive." TenTen took a small scroll out of her pouch.
"Try me, Sakura." She flipped open her scroll.
"Shut your God damned mouth!" Her hands started to expertly weave through 28 hand seals. She was just about to finish when she was body slammed to the ground.
"Don't you dare." Kakashi growled.
"Get the hell off of me you stupid man!" She struggled under his weight but couldn't seem to get him off.
"Sasuke!" He was there in a split second with his Sharingan blazing. He would do it himself, but he was pretty much focused on getting her to stay on the ground. She was squirming and kept her eyes tightly shut.
"Stop it!" She yelled. Sasuke had forced her eyes open. And when they did, they immediately rolled to the back of her head when they met red. Kakashi got off of her. Naruto came and picked up her slackened form.
Kakashi turned towards TenTen's still smiling form. The look he gave her wiped it off her face. He then jumped and disappeared in the trees. Naruto and Sasuke followed.
When she awoke, she was greeted with angry eyes and a quiet house. Her house. She sat up as the blanket slipped off her. Kakashi turned around. His eyes weren't very different from the rest of theirs. She rolled her eyes.
"Tell me, Sakura." He stopped with his arms crossed directly in front of her.
"What?" She said in an annoyed voice. Her hands fisted the blanket that was still wrapped around her lower body.
"Why the hell would you try to use that jutsu?" His voice was eerily calm.
"I wanted to teach her a damn lesson, Kakashi." Her voice was picking up with anger. He closed his eye and sighed.
"That jutsu is used for killing! Why the hell were you using it on a comrade?" He yelled. She jumped and closed her eyes.
"I wasn't thinking at the moment! You saw how she punched me!" She felt the tender spot on her cheek that was turning purple. She's a creature of impulse. How could she help it if thing on her mind then was to get rid of whatever hurt her? He stared at her for what seemed like hours. Then he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked away. A few short seconds later, she heard the door slam.
"Ugh! He doesn't understand anything!" She started muttering under her breath. She got up and headed for the kitchen.
"Do you guys want anything to eat?" She said tiredly.
"I'll eat anything, Haruno." She heard Naruto say. She heard them both sit on the couch.
"I hope you like cup ramen, Sasuke. That's all I have." There was a sigh.
"I'll go get some takeout if the Teme doesn't like ramen." He got up and walked towards the kitchen. He leaned in close to Sakura's ear and started to speak.
"Don't worry, Sakura. He was upset. He'll come around." And with that, he put his sandals on and left out. She heard the door softly click shut behind him.
She walked around the kitchen island towards the couch and sat down. She was fiddling with the hem of her skirt before she heard him speak.
"I understand, Sakura." She looked up to find him staring straight at her television.
"W-what?"
"Why you needed me. And it's alright. We'll always be comrades." She looked away and nodded. She felt her eyes burn. She stood back up and walked the path to the kitchen table and sat down. It was about twenty more minutes before Naruto came back and brought the noise with him.
They ate like all those nights two years ago. They ate as team seven. And when they left, the house was quiet. She was left with only her thoughts. It was nearly ten, but she knew he would be there. She got up from the kitchen table and left without locking her door.
"Two years and I still haven't been able to control my anger yet, huh? I guess all those hours of countless meditation were for nothing if I can't practice it during the real thing." She said sadly and sat with her back against his. They were once again in the fourth's hair on top of the Hokage monument. She was interrupting his meditation, but if he really wanted to ignore her, he would.
"Bull." She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"How so?" She heard the deep rumble from his chest that told her he was laughing.
"Remember, in Hoshigakure? You kept you're head while I was dying, and you killed all those mercenaries and got us out of there." She laughed bitterly.
"If I didn't, we both would be dead right now." He took in a deep breath.
"I want to talk to you, about earlier." She heard him start conversations like this many times before.
"Yes?" She didn't know what she should expect.
"If you need me, I'll be there." She took that as his apology.
"But it's too bad we didn't get any training in. Tomorrow?" She felt they were alright again. She smiled and nodded her head.
"I'd like that." They sat like that for a while until he started to speak again.
"So, is Sasuke really that good in bed?" He was elbowed in the back.
"I didn't sleep with him!" She yelled. He let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know why, but it bothered him that she went back for him. Luckily, TenTen was wrong.
"Okay, okay." He said with a laugh. "I believe you." He paused and she waited for him to speak again.
"But seriously, when are you going to get laid?" Before she could react, he was already off the Hokage monument. She jumped off after him.
It was a race through the dark village that ended with Sakura being locked out of his house while he taunted her. He didn't expect her to break his deadbolt lock with her bare hands so he quickly apologized. It was good enough. They now sat on his couch sipping hot chocolate. Well, Sakura was sipping hot chocolate. His cup was half empty, and his nose was stuffed in his book.
"It's getting late." She looked to him, but his attention was still on his book.
"Yes," He turned to his clock. "It is." He turned back to his book.
"Aren't you going to walk me home?"
"You're a Kunoichi. You're perfectly capable of walking home by yourself without getting hurt." She rolled her eyes.
"It would be the nice thing to do." He snapped his book shut and sighed. He slipped it into his back pouch as he stood up and walked to the door to put his sandals on.
"Are you coming?" She went to the door to slip on her boots as he opened the door for her.
"Thank you."
"Yeah, whatever. I was forced into this."
"You could've said no." They walked down the stairs of his apartment complex and into the cool night air. He stared at her for a minute. When she looked up, he smiled. She rolled her eyes.
"What are you staring at me like that for?" She huffed. He paused before answering
"I just realized it's been a long time since we went drinking together. Just you and me." He looked off into the night. She looked up at him.
"And it is only 10…" She said agreeing with him.
"There's a pub a few blocks from my house. They have the best sake…" He stuffed his hands in his pockets. She stopped short.
"What?" He said with an eyebrow raised.
"Remember the bet, Kakashi. Or I'll hurt you." She said in a serious tone.
"How long has it been again? Three…four days?" He said while scratching his head.
"Twelve hours." He cursed under his breath.
"I can do this. I haven't craved it all day."
"Bull." And it is. He thought to himself. He opened the pub door and waited until she walked inside to walk in after her. Despite the late hour, he could see many civilians there. Probably some holiday that Ninja didn't celebrate.
They took a seat at a booth in the far right corner. Kakashi waved his hand for a waitress while Sakura stared at him with a look that said 'If you touch her, I'll hurt you.' He knew those words were true. But not only would she hurt him, he would have to do that one thing for her, which would probably be total hell.
The waitress walked with a sway to her hips as she came to their table. Sakura kept her eyes on Kakashi, making sure he wouldn't try anything funny.
"What would you like?" She said in a seductive voice that told him she wasn't talking about Sake.
"What would you like, Sakura?" She put her elbows on the table and leaned forward.
"A bottle of Sake please, would you like one too, honey?" If he wasn't going to do anything to make her back off, she would. The waitress shot up and moved a few feet from Kakashi. There's only one Sakura in Konoha with pink hair and a temper not to be trifled with. If she angered her, she might as well dig her own grave. Kakashi nodded his approval.
"I'll be right back with your drinks." Her seductive voice was replaced with a small one. She smirked.
"Do you have to use that excuse each time we go out?" She rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry, you're not my type." He leaned back in his seat while a smug look was plastered on her face.
"Oh? Then what is your type? Dark hair, dark eyes…dark soul?" He was sure she could see the smirk on his face. She didn't look angry, but she was going to give him a piece of her mind.
"No," She said sweetly. "I don't really have a preference as long as their superior in bed. By the looks of your package, I'd say you can't count in the category, little man." He put a hand over his heart in mock hurt.
"Says a girl who hasn't tried even tried me yet, let alone had sex." He pushed it a bit too far.
"You bastard! I'll hurt you!" Her foot was stopped from kicking him in the jewels when the waitress came back and placed the drinks on the table along with two cups. Sakura smiled sweetly and was about to finish her job when her foot was caught by two legs.
"Give me my foot back!" She wriggled under his grasp, but he wouldn't budge.
"No." She tried to kick him, but it wouldn't work.
"Okay, I'm sorry for trying to kick you in your privates. Will you please give me my foot back, Kaka-sensei?" She said sweetly.
"Since you asked so nicely." He let her foot go. He picked up one of the two sake bottles and poured it into a cup. She did the same and downed her cup.
"Ahhhhh. It feels so good to drink again. But I think our tolerance levels have lowered significantly since we were last at a pub and ordered something. I feel considerably drunk already." She started to giggle. Kakashi rolled his eyes and tried his best not to show he too was getting drunk. He long had finished his cup.
"Speak for yourself," He said behind his book.
"Hey, who won the last drinking contest?"
"I did." He stated point blankly.
"How come?" A pout was evident on her face.
"You threw up first,"
"Oh yeah." She was quiet for a second. "Would you want to have another?" He put down another cup and snapped his book shut.
"You know it." He waved his hand for more sake.
An Hour Later
"Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Yeah!" The civilian crowd cheered as Sakura threw down another bottle of Sake. It shattered on the floor and they cheered louder. She was currently on top of the bar, feeding into the civilian's cheers. She was on her sixteenth bottle, and she couldn't stop. Kakashi was on number seventeen. Kakashi! When she looked for him, he was on the far side of the bar. He was sitting on top of it, a crowd of women around him. She scowled. She saw him wave for another drink and pulled a waitress to his lap. Her eyes narrowed.
"Give me…hic…more!" She yelled angrily. A bottle of sake was thrown to her. She caught it while staring at Kakashi. He was staring back at her. They both uncorked the bottle and started to drink. He finished his way faster than she did. She barely saw him pull his mask down. Well, her vision was escaping her…
"Chug, Chug, Chug, Chug! Yeah!" The civilians started to cheer. Maybe I should've accepted defeat... She thought. She started to sway. The empty bottle left her hands and she heard it smash on the floor along with another cheer. When she lost her footing, the rest of her balance was gone. She heard the crowd 'Oohhh' when she hit the ground.
"Owww," She was on her back staring at the ceiling. Her view was obstructed.
"Well, ladies. I think we know who the winner is here." She found that the figure atop of her was Kakashi, and the giggling she heard belong to the two women he held around their waists. She was offered a hand and she accepted it. When she was pulled up, she felt queasiness.
"Easy there, tiger. I would take it easy on the walking. You may have had a little too much to drink."
"Shut up."
Ten Minutes Later
"I told you," He held her hair back as she threw up behind a pot at the back of the pub.
"Shut up." She paused before going back down to wretch. He patted her back.
"I win,"
"Shut up." She stood up shakily and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. When she tipped, he got up to grab her. She smacked his hand away.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just, walk me home." She clasped her hands behind her and started on the short path towards home. Kakashi got up and fell into step beside her.
"If it's any consolation, I didn't have sex," She let out a bitter laugh.
"Really now." He threw his arm around her shoulders. Maybe it was the sake…
"Look, cheer up. I just have the best tolerance ever," He stuffed his other hand in his pocket.
"Yeah, whatever." They swayed down the street together.
"Here, I'll take you training tomorrow. Is that better?" He looked down on her.
"I guess."
"I'll be there at five in the morning. And I seriously mean it." He looked up at her with widened eyes.
"Are you…hic…serious?" She pushed him to the side and they almost fell.
"Whoa, yeah. The most serious." They walked up the steps to her apartment. She fished for her keys, but after a few seconds of trying she decided on kicking the door open.
"Fix that, would you?" He tried his best to put the door back on the hinges. She went to her closet and pulled out a pillow and some blankets. She tossed them to him.
"Too far and late…hic… for you to walk home. I don't want you…hic…getting taken advantage of. You can crash on the couch…hic." She walked to the bathroom and he heard her gargle.
"Thanks," He shouted to her. She stepped out the bathroom.
"No problem. Night!" She turned off the lights and he watched her sway to her bedroom and shut the door. He took off his vest, shirt, and hitai-ate and put them on the floor. He put the pillow behind his head and wrapped the covers around himself.
He was going to be in for a hell of a morning.
He rested his head on the cool, white porcelain bowl before his sake came back up again. What was worse, he could barely speak, let alone think, with the headache that was threatening to split his head in two. When he felt like he was done, he sighed and washed out his mouth. When he stepped out of the bathroom, all of the curtains were open and he hissed while covering his eyes.
"What the—" He saw Sakura in the kitchen and walked there blindly.
"Did you have to open all the curtains?" He said while still covering his eyes.
"Morning Sunshine." She said in a cheery voice. She drank almost as much as him. Where was her hangover?
"Where do you keep your aspirin?" He walked through her kitchen and started opening all of her cupboards in search of something to stop someone from hammering on his head. When he turned back around, a glass of water was pushed into his hands.
"Medicine cabinet." He went to her bathroom and searched her medicine cabinet for the aspirin. He took four pills and swallowed them with water.
"You Baka! You'll kill yourself!" She came towards him and pressed glowing green fingers to his temples and massaged. His splitting headache was being replaced by a soothing sensation. He hummed in delight.
"Thanks, I'll be back to pick you up." And without another word, he was by the couch picking up and putting on his things, and he was out the door.
They trained and got piss drunk for the rest of the week. But for the rest of the days, Kakashi forwent the aspirin and let her healing fingers massage the headache away. He's been abnormally withdrawn the whole week, and he had a pretty good guess as to why. But it didn't matter anymore, he won the bet. Now he just had to think of what she had to do.
She heard three distinctive knocks on the door but decided to ignore them. She instead went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and shower. She knew what today marked, but somehow, she kind of wished she hadn't threatened to hurt him if he slept with another woman. Doing her laundry would be a plus for her, and she was feeling really lazy today. She heard the doorknob turn and knew there were only three people bold enough to try that.
"Good Morning, Sakura-chan." Nice, the person she guessed it would be was there. Kakashi came in with two coffee cups and closed the door behind them. He set them on the counter and took a seat on the couch. He waited a bit for her to come out the shower before he pounced.
"You know what today is?" She stared at him with a bored look. Her bangs were dripping water onto her face and the towel wasn't protecting her back from her wet hair. And Kakashi just won the bet she just initiated, so anyone could see she was pretty pissed. He was the one person that didn't care.
"Out my face, Hatake." He almost got the bedroom door slammed in his face, but stopped it with his foot and pushed it open. She took a seat on the bed and waited. He leaned against the wall.
"Don't worry, Blossom. I haven't decided what you're going to do for me yet. I just thought we should go out and train. And here," He gave her a microphone and earpiece set.
"What's this?" She turned the electronic device around in her hands.
"Tsunade gave us new ones, so make sure you tune it to frequency four. I have a feeling we'll be called today." He walked out of the door and hit it twice to get her attention.
"You've got five minutes, woman." He closed it shut behind him.
"I hate how this thing chokes me," She said while fiddling with the tightness of the radio.
"You'll get used to it. Or get over it, either way." She snorted. They arrived at a different clearing, still pretty spacious, and it provided shade for the late February sun. She set her pack down and was about to stretch, but she saw something past the tree she was leaning on. She put her leg down and went to inspect it.
"Sakura, where are you going?" He had his book open in front of his face and got concerned when she didn't answer.
"Sakura?" He snapped his book shut and set it down beside his pack. He followed where she went; past their clearing where there were more bushes and trees. It was a pretty guarded space. He found her a few feet away, and he too stopped when he saw what she was gaping at.
There were two figures passionately grinding into each other with the occasional kiss or two. He recovered from his shock quickly, but she didn't. And he couldn't blame her. Those two figures were Sasuke and TenTen. But he didn't feel her anger this time.
"Sakura," He tried to shake her out of it, but she was frozen solid.
"Sakura, come on. Let's start training." She wouldn't move. By then the two figures had already gotten up and dressed themselves.
"Kakashi—" She was cut off by four loud beeps in her ear. They all must've had their radios on because she saw everyone paused.
"Team Seven, Team One! Report to the Hokage Tower immediately!" It was Tsunade-sama's voice.
"We have to go, Sakura." He said. She was about to reply, but then TenTen started coming towards her. A smug look was plastered on her face.
"Enjoy the show?" She said sweetly. She pushed past Sakura, but she was still too stunned to move, or rather, do anything. She slowly turned towards Sasuke's position. His face was still indifferent. When she blinked, he was gone. Her arm was being pulled back towards the clearing; she had no choice but to follow. She felt her pack being pushed into her hands and being dragged along. No doubt for the Hokage Tower.
It wasn't that far away, but she wasn't really paying attention to details at the moment. She slowly walked up the stairs and moved almost mechanically to her Shishou's office. Kakashi opened the door for her. It seemed they were the last to get there because she could already see Neji's team and the rest of her team standing before the Hokage. She started to speak.
"The skirmishes are getting worse. Grass is trying to bring full squads across, and your teams are being sent to stop them. Also, Team Seven you are to infiltrate Grass's Tactical Division room. Search for Tadashi Nao and capture him. The team to infiltrate will consist of Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, TenTen, and Neji. Guy and Lee, you are to push their forces back with the Recon squads and assist in any way you can. Kakashi, you're captain. You are to leave immediately with Team One."
"I object, Hokage-sama." Sakura raised her hand halfway in protest.
"What?" Everyone turned to look at her now.
"TenTen is only a special jonin, so she wasn't trained in tracking and therefore becomes a liability on our squad. Her being a part of that team would only prove her a hindrance since her specialty is long-range combat, not infiltration." Sakura put her hand down and stared at Tsunade's narrowed eyes.
"That is a good point, Sakura,"
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
"But who the hell are you to question my authority?" She slammed her hand down on the desk.
"I just don't understand why we were put with Team One, no disrespect to their abilities, when we work best with Team Three; Ino's team."
"Ino's team works best with their parent's team. They are currently on a mission as we speak. You will work with Team One! Now get out of my office!" She said with another slam to the desk.
She walked mechanically down the steps of the Hokage Tower and out of the door. She didn't want to mess up the mission because of her feelings towards her teammates, and she felt at this point that was exactly what she was going to do. She leaned against a wall by the entrance and sighed. The mission was going to be a complete and total bust if she couldn't get it together. She felt someone come up beside her and whisper in her ear. It was Kakashi.
"You finally get to put on your Anbu gear, Sakura." Then he was gone. She just remembered her Anbu gear. She never did get a chance to try it on, and now, despite the mood she was in, she smiled. She got home with a quickness she wasn't paying attention to and pulled out her Anbu gear from a box that lay forgotten under her bed. A layer of dust was on it and she wiped it clear and opened the box. Her uniform was packaged and her arm guards, Katana, mask, and boots were on top of it.
She got up and quickly started to discard her clothes to get into her Anbu gear. She went to the bathroom to wrap bandages around her breasts, and then slipped on cotton panties. She put on the skintight pants and sleeveless Anbu shirt that looked similar to Kakashi's, then slipped on her vest. She strapped her Katana to her back and snapped on her gloves and arm guards. She got her boots on and grabbed her mask and went to her full-length mirror. She smiled at her reflection. The form-hugging outfit made her ass look bigger than it already was. She tied her hair into a ponytail and put her mask to the side of her face. She put on her pouches and left out after locking the door.
They all met up at the gates. It was only she, Kakashi, and Guy who were in their Anbu gear. The rest of them were in their jonin wear. Sakura was seated on top of the gates beside Naruto. Kakashi leaned against them. Neji and Sasuke were standing while TenTen was seated on the ground. Kakashi pushed off the gate.
"Alright everyone, listen up." Sakura and Naruto looked down to him while everyone else's heads perked up.
"It'll take us about an hour and a half to get to the border. Guy, Lee, you guys can take off now. We're on different teams. Meet with the Recon squad Eastbound." They nodded and took off in the trees.
"We're going to sneak across the border. Sasuke come here." Sasuke walked over to Kakashi and he leant to whisper into his ear.
"This is a very important mission. The team you'll be leading consists of TenTen and Naruto. Keep it in your pants." He pulled back.
"Activate your Sharingan." Sasuke did as told and Kakashi opened his.
"Since you don't know the layout of our Anbu HQ or Kusagakure's, I'll show you. You'll be leading TenTen and Naruto." He saw TenTen smirk. Sakura did nothing. He showed Sasuke the visual layout of the Anbu HQ so he would be able to know his way around. Then he closed his eye.
"Got it?" He nodded.
"We'll split up at the border. Let's move out!" They simultaneously hit the trees. Kakashi led the group; Sakura and TenTen were in the middle, while Sasuke and Naruto were in the back. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see TenTen was smiling.
"What?" She said in annoyed voice.
"So you like older, more unattainable men now?" Sakura growled.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Nothing. Just that you and Kakashi-sensei have been spending an awful amount of time together though…" Sakura jumped forward to fall into step with Kakashi. She reached into her pouch and pulled out two soldier pills. She didn't have anything to eat today.
"I thought I told you. If you eat soldier pills, you'll get…fat..." He trailed off as he heard the telltale crunch of the pill and she leaped forward. He quickly caught up with her.
"What do you want?" She kept her eyes forward as he stared at her.
"I'm just worried about your health."
"It's none of your business." Her eyes were still narrowed and she had a permanent scowl on her face.
"Sakura, your attitude can affect our mission," He said in disbelief.
"Does it look like I care?" He put his hand up to tell the rest of them to stop. He grabbed her arm and jumped down to the forest floor. The rest of them followed. He went a few feet away from where the rest of them were standing. He pulled her behind a tree.
"What the hell is your problem?"
"Why do you care?" He scoffed.
"Why do I care? I'm your comrade! Your friend first and foremost!" She avoided looking at him as guilt plagued her. Why should she blame him for being close to her? But when she looked past him to where the rest of her teammates were, she saw TenTen staring. Her scowl returned.
"It's just,"
"What you saw today. Am I right?" She nodded. Her eyes looked to his and they softened.
"Sakura. Sasuke is…a bastard, as you would probably put it. He doesn't care about your feelings. You know that. Instead of crying over spilt milk, and possibly killing all of us with your mood, you should suck it up. I know you didn't meditate for two years for it to all come down." She smiled at that.
"I know. But you couldn't let me be mad for just five minutes more?" He chuckled.
"No. Not when my life is at stake." She pulled him into a hug and he whispered into her hair.
'Remember, Sakura. I'll be there." He let her go and walked back to where the rest of them were. She followed as he pointed two fingers forward to tell them to keep moving. She kept her pace with Kakashi.
"How long?" He said without turning to look at her.
"I'd say, fourteen minutes max." He snorted.
"Nope, twenty…min." She rolled her eyes.
"Bet?"
"Of course,"
"What are the stakes?"
"If we get into a fix, loser has to take the brunt of it." She bit her lip in thoughtfulness.
"Hopefully it's not anything bad, you're bigger than me and it might hurt." He chuckled. When they got to the border, Kakashi sighed heavily as she grabbed his wrist to check the time.
"Hey, look at that. Fourteen minutes exactly. I guess the bigger person gets to take the bigger hurt!" She giggled.
"Ha, Ha. That wasn't even funny, and on top of that you said it wrong. You call me the stupid man." She frowned.
"Well thanks for bringing down my mood again." He gave her an eye crinkle, then he suddenly turned serious.
"Okay. Sasuke, your team is to find anything that has to do with the war. Their battle plans, their focus, their objective, anything. Once you do that, you get out and meet back here. Even if you don't find anything, be back at this point in an hour. Sakura and I will be locating Nao. If we're not back here in an hour, contact frequency two. If we're in trouble, we'll do the same. If you get back here before us and change positions, Neji you need to get to the highest tree and send off something so that we'll recognize you."
"Hai." He nodded in agreement.
"Everyone got it? Oh, Naruto. Try not to make too much noise. Move out!" The Anbu HQ was near the outskirts of the village. They jumped the gate and got into the building with no problem. When they got inside, they both swiped their masks onto their faces. Remembering the directions given, Sasuke's team split up from Sakura and Kakashi.
"Since they still don't suspect him, I'd say he would be out in battle right now, or preparing for it." He said while running up the stairs.
"No, he's in the Tactical division. He won't be going on any missions. He supposed to be contacting the Ninja through radio. They need him to get new battle strategies. Take me to the Tactical Division's room." He nodded and led the way. That was on the 12th floor if he remembered. When they got to the top of the stairs they waited. A grass nin was walking past.
"I got this Kakashi." She transformed into the red haired waitress, but she barely had any clothes on. She had on stilettos and bright red lipstick.
"I'll be right back," She purred and slipped a poison into her bra. She seductively swayed her hips and tapped on the Grass Nin's shoulder.
"You're not supposed to—" She tapped a finger to his lips.
"Shhh. They called me to the…what did they call it, Tactical room? I'm the entertainment. They said it's getting pretty boring in there." She batted her eyelashes and leaned closer to give him a better view of her breasts. He took the bait.
"O-oh, I c-can take y-you there, Ms…"
"Takira," So that was her name, Kakashi thought. "Thank you for helping a little lady out. Maybe if you stay, when I'm done I can give you a…private show." She saw him blush and picked his hand up and placed it on the small of her back to lead her there. She used her other hand to wave Kakashi over. When the ninja showed her to the Tactical Division's room, he was already being stabbed through the heart and pulled into a utility closet.
"Make yourself invisible, I'll clear out the room." She composed herself as she walked into the room. She heard cheers and catcalls before seeing ninja.
"What are you doing here? A sweet little thing like you should have company already." She held back an eye roll at his attempt to hit on her.
"Oh no, I was called here by…Nao? He told me they were going to need entertainment here." She said as she sat herself into the ninja's lap.
"Oi, Nao is a good man." She felt him reposition her from his lap to in between his legs.
"Where is he by the way? He asked for a private show." She heard laughter. The ninja whispered in her ear.
"What's your name?" He said in a low voice that showed his desire.
"Takira. Do you have a name, ninja?" His hands found their way to her breasts, and it took all she had not to head butt him.
"Matsuri." She let out a fake moan when he squeezed.
"Is Nao here?" She said between pants.
"Sorry Takira, you just missed him. He left on a mission about thirty minutes ago. He won't be back for a while. Hey Baki! Get the sake. Let's chill for a while with…Takira." She let out a laugh. It didn't portray what she felt inside. Nao was on a mission, so who knew where he could be. At least they were bringing out the sake. It would be easier to kill them.
"I'll serve it," She got up from his legs and went to grab the sake and cups from Baki's grasp. She got up and faced the wall. She poured the poison into the bottle of sake and turned it so it mixed and didn't show. It was tasteless and odorless so they wouldn't even know what hit them. They'll be dead in an hour. To avert their suspicion from what she was doing, she sighed deeply and unhooked her bra. Luckily the red head was busty. She turned around with a smirk on her face while the catcalls and cheers returned. She poured all six men a cup. When she saw everyone took at least a sip she bent over for her bra and heard Matsuri speak up.
"No, no need for that. Why don't you come here and show me a little of what you can do." Her lips formed a straight line, but put her bra back down regardless while walking over to sit back down on his lap. His hands immediately went to her uncovered breasts and started to squeeze them. Quite roughly actually. One hand left and went for her panties and clasped her inner thigh. She heard the door open and the squeezing stopped. She turned her head to see who it was. Nao; which meant it was Kakashi.
"Time for my show," She said it got up from his lap. She saved him the trouble of speaking because of course; he didn't know how Nao sounded. She blew a kiss to Matsuri.
"I'll be back for you," But his eyes rested below her face as she walked out the door. Once it was closed she was yanked into a closet.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She could see he was conflicted between looking at her eyes or her breasts. They weren't hers anyways.
"I had to do something!"
"So you decided on giving them lap dances?"
"You took too long!"
"You said I'll be right back!"
"That didn't mean I don't need any help!" He rubbed his eyes and sighed.
"Just change back so we can get Nao. Was he in there?" She transformed back into herself and his conflictions disappeared.
"No, he left on a mission thirty minutes ago." She huffed.
"So you're saying he could be anywhere."
"Exactly." He ran his hands through his hair.
"Alright, let's just get out of here and scope the area. 2 kilometers north and east from the village." He opened the door. Just as they stepped out, grass ninja were waiting for them.
"So the leaf bastards finally come out, huh?" Her shoulders visibly dropped. He whispered to her.
"Avoid fighting them; focus on getting out of here."
"Sorry Anbu, you're not getting out of here. You'll die trying." Sakura looked to Kakashi and nodded at the window. She appeared beside it and tried to kick it, but it didn't break. She put chakra into it, but nothing happened. It didn't even crack.
"I'm doing it Kakashi," She did her Whisper of a Goddess jutsu.
"I'm a little busy, so hurry up." He was currently trying to fight off the three ninja that came towards him without using any chakra. When the window was frozen, she broke it with her foot. What she didn't notice was the two explosive tags on either side of the window. When it shattered, the explosion went off.
"Sakura!" He saw the explosion and the fire burst into the room. He kicked one of the ninja in the jaw and shielded his face from the shrapnel. It was going to be a long fall. He jumped out the window after her and quickly grabbed her body. He held her tightly to himself as they continued to fall outside the gates.
"Sakura," He had to check if she was conscious. If she wasn't, well…
"Mhm," That was a good start. He was about to say something else but they found land.
"Aah!" She let out a short scream as they hit the ground. The wind was knocked out of him. He was the one on the bottom and well, they were going pretty fast. She rolled off of him as she heard him gasp for air. She moved his mask off his face and pulled his other mask down. She put her glowing green hands to his chest to redirect the oxygen flow to his lungs. When he was still gasping for air, she reached into her medical supplies and pulled out a long and thin cylinder and stabbed it through his chest. When she heard the air come through it, she quickly pulled it out and healed the wound that she made. She heard him cough and sit up.
"Thank you."
"No, thank you for taking the brunt of the fall. If it were me, I would've died from the impact."
"Well, I did lose the bet so…"
"You also chose to jump into an explosion just to make sure I got out safely." She touched the singed parts of his hair in emphasis.
"I've been in need of a haircut. Would you mind…?" She pulled out her kunai and slashed through the parts of his hair that was burned. When she was done, it didn't look very different from his usual unkempt style.
"Is that how you get your hair like that?"
"Yeah, but I usually do it myself." He got up and she tried to, but quickly fell.
"What happened?" He tried to help her back up. She slapped his hand away. She started to take her boot off. She folded it as best as she could and stuffed it into one of her bigger pockets.
"My ankle is broken," She said trying not to sound weak. He sighed.
"Can you heal it?"
"The best I can do is put a splint on it for now."
"I'll get some wood."
"No, I got it."
"It's alright, a tree is right there.
"I said I have it." She growled. He backed off and she scooted to a nearby tree and pulled a piece of bark off with her hands. She took gauze out of her supplies and winced when she pushed her ankle to the right position. She wrapped the gauze around it tightly and stood up. When she found that hard, she leaned against the tree.
"Hopefully, the radios weren't damaged in the fire." He turned to their frequency and all he got was static.
"Well, mine is dead. What about yours…?" He already saw her communicating with someone on her radio. She was always one step ahead.
"Well that's great! I just got blown out of a twelve story window what about you?" He saw her eyes narrow.
"Just give me your location, Naruto…yes I'm fine… Yeah, he got the brunt of it though. Are you going to give me your location or what? Okay. Next time, don't use our target as a human shield, you Baka." She put her microphone on mute. She saw Kakashi looking at her expectantly.
"Well?" He motioned for her to go on.
"So, they found Nao. Then they got caught up with enemy ninja, and Naruto's stupid ass used him as a human shield. He got hurt, and they need me. Luckily, Naruto used his Sage mode to find us." She picked up her medical pouch and attached it to her lower back.
"Oh and, Naruto said thank you for saving my life." He smiled and patted her shoulder.
"It's alright, anytime."
"Sakura, Kakashi, we're over here!" How he had eyes in the back of his head, she didn't know. Kakashi jumped down from the branch they were on with Sakura in his arms and ran over to Naruto. He had his hands pressed against Nao's chest and she saw blood seeping through his fingers. He set her down and she quickly moved his hands and then pressed hers against his chest wound. She felt the blood seep through her gloves.
"Damn it," She started to heal the wound as fast and as accurately as she could. She closed her eyes and felt the tissue knit back together. When she felt it was enough, she reached into her medical pouch and pulled out gauze and tape. She pulled off his grass country vest and pulled up his shirt. She placed the gauze over his wound and taped it down. She searched his body for any other injuries, and thankfully there were none.
"He's good." She heard Naruto sigh in relief.
"Thank goodness! I thought he was going to die—"
"It was your fault in the first place!"
"Hey, hey, it was do or die!"
"You could've jumped! He's top priority!" He walked over to Kakashi.
"Do you think that explosion scrambled her brain…?" He said behind his hand.
"I can hear you, Uzumaki!" He shot up.
"Sorry!" Everyone crowded around her as she put her hand to his face.
"Hey—Owww!" She brought it back and slapped it as hard as she could without her chakra. She didn't hear him speak, but if she did, she wouldn't have had to smack him. She covered her hands over her mouth.
"Sorry, Nao-san!" She helped him sit up.
"It's alright, just…ouch." He started to poke the sore spot on his face that was starting to bruise.
"No, let me." She pressed her hand to his face and started to heal his bruise.
"You're very…powerful. I don't think you used chakra in that slap did you?" She blushed.
"No. I tried not to. But you look different from the picture I saw of you.." She looked at his features. "You look…younger than what they showed us."
"Yeah, I know. They didn't actually have my picture. They had my father's picture. I'm actually 24…and you are?"
"Oh, I'm turning 23 in a few weeks." He chuckled.
"I meant your name." Her cheeks were flushed from embarrassment.
"Oh, I'm Sakura. Haruno Sakura." She took her mask off with the hood. She had to get those for this mission because well…she and Kakashi are wanted in Grass, and their hair colors are pretty peculiar.
"Your hair, is it natural?"
"Yeah, I was born like this. But your color is dark blue?"
"Well, I like pink. It looks good on you. And yes, blue is my natural color."
"I like how it looks on you too." When Kakashi cleared his throat, she jumped.
"We have to keep moving. Naruto?" He looked towards him.
"Nobody coming towards us." He looked around in Sage mode.
"Tell me if anything comes up." He nodded.
"Nao, can you run?"
"Yeah."
"Then you'll have to carry Sakura. Since they're both injured, we'll make camp a little ways from here. Naruto, Neji, you guys will have to split the watch. You two have the best long range view." Neji nodded. Nao got up and picked Sakura up bridal style.
"Thank you." She buried her head in his chest.
"No problem." She heard the deep boom of his voice from his chest. It sounded like the smooth rumble of thunder.
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. Here, if you want to repay me, tell me about yourself." She looked up into his eyes. His smokey green eyes. She examined his features. His face was sharp as was his nose. He had one dimple in his right cheek. His hair was pretty spiky, as was all other good looking men she knew. His lips were plump, but wide, and when he smiled, his gums showed.
"What would you like to know?" She grabbed his shoulder tighter.
"Uh, your abilities, likes, your dislikes…things like that." He looked down into her eyes and smiled. She kept his gaze.
"I have a natural affinity for Earth. But I'm also pretty good at water type jutsu and genjutsu. I excel at taijutsu because, well, I have super strength. You might have experienced some of it." He chuckled. "I learn pretty fast and memorize almost anything. I think very strategically and have a very tactical mind so I help in rationalizing things and the best-case and worst-case scenario. I like tempura and I like tea. I like to heal, but I don't enjoy taking lives. I like when people annoy me. I don't like when I'm angry. I can't really control that yet. Is that enough?"
"Yeah. You trained under the Godaime, right?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"What do you mean?"
"She's not the best mentor."
"Explain." She sighed. She didn't want to speak ill of the woman who basically made her who she was, but everyone already knows the good about her; they have to know she has a few skeletons in the closet, right?
"She's a horrible drunk. She has the patience of… actually, she doesn't have any patience. The littlest things tick her off. She has awesome tolerance, though. Her strength is, monstrous. You want to know how many desks she went through since I've known her?"
"How many?"
"1,764. I've known her for ten years! That's how many times she's gotten a new one. Some of them would be repaired. The others, couldn't. Too much damage." She heard him laugh. It sounded like sweet honey.
"Since you told me about yourself, it would be nice for me to do the same. So, I've been a grass ninja about eight years. I was sent over as a spy to gain grass's trust. Like you, I have a very strategic mind. My affinity is also Earth, being that I come from Suna. I like Soda and Udon, and sadly, I dislike Tempura. I actually trained with Gaara for a bit. He spoke very highly of you." She blushed again.
"I healed him, quite a bit. I was also on the team that retrieved him after he was captured. Lady Chiyo was the one to bring him back to life. I just brought him back to full health. While we were there, his brother was poisoned by the Akatsuki. I had made an antidote to save him."
"I see you're pretty popular around these parts."
"Just a few bingo books."
"You're in seven."
"Well my partner is in seventeen."
"The copy nin? I wouldn't expect less." He jumped from the tree branch after seeing the rest of them on the forest floor.
"We'll make camp here. Sakura, can you get us some bark?" Kakashi said. Nao placed her on her feet, but when he saw she couldn't walk on her own, he helped her to a tree farther out. She put her hands on one tree and leant on it.
"This is a good one." She started pulling chunks of bark off of the tree. When she turned back around with her arms full, he was stunned.
"I didn't know you could do that," He said in awe.
"When I said, super strength, I meant monstrous strength. It comes to the point now where I barely have to use my chakra to get things done."
"And it doesn't even show." He checked the part of her arm that was shown for overly large, popping veins or muscles upon muscles but found none. He helped her back to where everyone was making camp. She put the bark in the middle of the camp and motioned to Kakashi telling him he could make the fire. And he did. She went over to where Nao sat a few ways away. He gave her his vest to sit on and she nodded a thank you.
"Could you help me, I need to start healing my ankle." He helped her take the bark out of the gauze while she slowly unwrapped up. He kept it straight while she healed it. When she was done, she flexed it around and put her boot back on.
"As good as new." She smiled at him. She caught him staring at her and turned her head.
"What?" He didn't reply. He pulled her chin the few inches towards his and took her mouth in a kiss. She soon closed her eyes as his hands cupped her face. When he pulled back, he smiled.
"What was that for?"
"I don't know. I couldn't help myself at the moment." She laughed.
"You sound like someone I know." That person she knew was motioning for her to come over. She got up.
"I'll be right back." She walked the few feet over to where he was sitting and looked down on him. He stood up and started to walk away from the clearing; out of earshot. She followed him. When he was sure no one could hear him, he started to talk.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"How many times have you asked me this?" She placed her hands on her hips.
"Sakura, seriously." He closed his eyes.
"I am serious." He sighed.
"Don't get involved with the target, Sakura." He said it as more of an order, than a suggestion. Of course that's what she took it as; a suggestion.
"Why not?" Her eyes narrowed.
"It's not appropriate at the moment."
"Kakashi, listen to me. I haven't kissed anyone in like, two years. Can I have some freedom please? And anyways, I wasn't even thinking of going that far. Thanks for your concern, dad." She rolled her eyes and walked away. He looked up to the sky and sighed deeply. Then Naruto came running towards him.
"Someone's coming."
Sorry if it's a little long. I had a lot of ideas for this chapter. Please review!
-Keoo19