Chapter 6

When Kakashi and Sakura arrived home, she instructed the security team to set up additional watch points in a five block radius around the building. They were able to pull a fuzzy image of the man from the CCTV cameras and issued every officer employed a copy to keep an eye out for the possible threat and instructions to arrest on site if spotted for questioning.

Sakura even had them change the access code in the elevator for Kakashi's floor for an added measure. She didn't reach the top ranks of being a bodyguard by being lazy and not taking extra measures of safety for her clients. She'd be damned if anything could get by her with her process.

"Aren't you going just a little overboard with all this?" she heard him speak as he entered into the dining room.

It was Sunday morning now and Sakura had woken up extra early to begin her own process of investigating. She had the laptop Shikamaru and Tenzo had given her to access the security systems and had been doing an extensive review of all the footage from the last few days to see if this man had appeared anywhere in or near the building.

She had set up shop at the large dining room table and had stacks of papers and files surrounding her and the computer. She was waiting to hear back from the police department on identifying this man at the moment. Once they obtained that information, figuring out what his motive was and getting clearer answers might make this situation resolve easier and faster.

Sakura looked up from the laptop and found that Kakashi was in a pair of grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt. He must have just gotten up she thought as she noted the slight stubble on his jaw and the way his silver hair seemed more untamed and unruly than usual.

Sakura felt her cheeks warm up at the sight and forced herself to look back down at the computer screen of surveillance footage.

'Focus, Haruno.'

"We were being followed yesterday, I think that it's justified to be going overboard like this. We were in a shopping district, so I dismissed him at first as just a shopper who was going to store to store like we were. But when he followed us all the way to the restaurant, which was fifteen blocks away from the boutique, that's when I knew something was up. He wouldn't stop staring at you either."

She looked back up to Kakashi to gauge his reaction and found he was staring intently at her.

"And when we left there, he was obviously waiting for you. So I had to take action."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner that we we're being followed?" he asked.

Sakura took a deep breath and let out a quiet sigh. She knew he was eventually going to start asking these types of questions.

"Because I didn't want to alarm you. Like I said, I gave the guy the benefit of doubt and the moment I knew it wasn't what I hoped, I informed you and got us to safety."

The silver haired man was quiet for a few moments as her words sunk in. Kakashi suddenly moved and walked into the kitchen and she watched as he silently pulled out a pan and various food items and began making himself breakfast. She watched him for a few more seconds before she decided to return to her own work.

'I just don't want to worry him, but it looks like this is going to be more complicated than I originally thought. We're obviously extremely safe here in the building, but I can't force him into essentially being under house arrest. It's not possible given his job and position… But if it's like this everytime we leave and we get followed, or worse, attacked…'

Sakura sighed as she rubbed her temples with her fingers to ebb away the oncoming headache. The smell of the food Kakashi was cooking made her stomach growl and she realized she hadn't eaten since she got up, only drank a few cups of coffee.

Suddenly a plate and glass was placed in front of her and she looked up to find that Kakashi was holding a plate of his own as he sat down in the chair next to her.

"You looked pale, you should eat something before you pass out." he mumbled as he began eating his own food.

She furrowed her brows and frowned at him for a second before looking down to the plate of food. Kakashi had just made a simple omelette for both of them with mushrooms and spinach mixed in. He had even went out of his way and poured them both a small glass of orange juice.

She smiled warmly at the simple gesture before picking up her own fork and cutting into the piping hot food.

She realized he wasn't all that bad to be around and work for. She'd experienced some class act assholes over the years being a female in a male dominated position after all. So, she was nervous that he'd be some typical arrogant jerk given his extreme wealth and being a newly appointed CEO. But soon learned he was actually a very down to earth man.

"Thank you." she replied after a few minutes of silence, "You know you don't need to make me any food. I can make myself something to eat."

"You're very stubborn, you know that right?"

She shot him a dirty look and found he was giving her a half teasing look as he chewed more of his breakfast.

"I know I don't need to do or am required to do anything, but I do. I'm not greedy, if I make food or buy something, I make sure everyone is covered and there's enough to go around. Like me buying your clothes yesterday or all the meals I've cooked for us so far."

"I still want to pay you back for those clothes by the way. You spent nearly a month of my regular wages!" she quickly added, "I can't let you waste money like that."

She was still not over how much he spent yesterday on her. She didn't need to be spoiled or given handouts. She was more than capable of taking care of herself and Kakashi's insistent need to help out drove her slightly crazy. She was thankful that he was very caring, but she wasn't used to it at all.

It was now his turn to give her a dirty look.

"Don't worry. Please?"

Rather than continuing a pointless argument, Sakura just shoved a forkful of food into her mouth and angrily chewed at him. Shaking his head head at her childlike behavior, he returned to his own food.

"You mentioned that you didn't know if he had a gun or not on him." he asked when they had finished eating.

Grabbing their plates and cups, he sat them off to the side so they could continue talking.

"He stayed far enough back that I couldn't tell. He was wearing very loose fitting clothes too, that's what tipped me off. You don't wear sizes too big unless you're doing it for fashion or you're trying to hide something and he obviously wasn't going for fashion." she explained as she returned to working.

He smiled at her sort of joke. She was trying to make light of the seriousness of the situation for his benefit. Looking over, he finally got a clear look at her for the first time since sitting down to eat. She was still in her pajamas like he was, wearing a dark green tank top and black shorts. Her long pink hair was pulled up into a messy bun that held a scary amount of flyaway hairs.

'How long has she been up? It was just before nine when I got up… and it has to be nearly ten now…'

Kakashi didn't realize just how small she actually was as she sat crossed legged on the dining table chair. He thought back to the first day they met and how she was easily able to bring him down in less than five seconds. He noted that he had to have at least fifty to sixty pounds on her and the fact that her small size caused people to doubt her only seemed to give her an upper hand. He was still wary of her though, even he doubted that someone that short and petite could effectively protect him. He knew he shouldn't, but he did.

"Can I help you?" her voice ripped him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" he glanced up and found she had her eyes narrowed at him in suspicion.

"You were staring at me for a while. Is something wrong?"

'I wasn't staring at her that long was I?'

"No, I just didn't realize how small you actually are." he replied, deciding to be honest, "Sorry for staring."

She looked unconvinced with his reason.

"I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult."

"Neither, just an observation." he shot back quickly.

Sakura just rolled her eyes at him before returning back to her work once again. He smirked at her bold reaction. Not many people sassed him or gave him grief like she seemed too. It was nice change of pace, he thought. Like he mentioned to her yesterday, he hated his ass being kissed constantly and the fact that she didn't treat him differently was a breath of fresh air. She was blunt and said what was on her mind, no beating around the bush.

The sudden sound of a defeated groan coming from Sakura caused him to return to reality once again.

"What's wrong?" he quickly asked as she continued reading what was on the screen of the computer.

"We sent in a photo of the guy to the police to see if maybe they knew who he was or if he had any priors and they got nothing. For added measure, they forwarded it to the DMV to see and they don't any records of him on file either."

Kakashi's eyes widened at the news. There was no trace of this guy that was following them yesterday? He felt odd suddenly.

"So what does that mean now?"

Sakura turned and gave him a defeated look and he felt his stomach feel a little uneasy.

"It means we've hit yet another dead end. I've gone through hours and hours of footage from the cameras around here myself and there's not a trace of him, we only have the couple CCTV clips from yesterday. I even read through a month's worth of security logs to see if anything stuck out." she explained as she pointed at the stacks of files and papers around her laptop.

Kakashi leaned back into the chair with a huff and scowled down at the table as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"What do they even want from me? Why do they want me dead so bad? I don't understand why this is happening…"

Suddenly Sakura's hand came into his field of vision as she rested it on his left forearm. Kakashi glanced back up and found the softest expression he's ever seen on her before as she started speaking in a comforting tone.

"I know and that's why I'm here. This is just a slight bump in the road, but I'm going to figure this out and make sure you stay safe and sound in the process."

All the worry and anxiety he felt seconds earlier disappeared within a few seconds from her comforting words. He was surprised with how easily she was able to reassure him and calm him down.

"Thank you." was all he was able to get out, giving her a small smile in the process.

Kakashi looked back down and saw that the small hand was still on his arm and it suddenly felt like her touch was fire against his skin. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he forced himself to look back up to her. He saw she was watching him closely with those bright green eyes of hers that seemed to see right through him.

"So what's the next step then? Where do we go from here?" he asked as a distraction from his thoughts.

Sakura pursed her lips and shifted in her seat causing her to remove her hand from his arm as she faced back to the laptop. He suddenly wanted to tell her to put her hand back as the cool air replaced her warm touch, but stopped himself before he made things weird.

"Well, for you, nothing. You can continue on doing as you wish. For me? I'll continue to investigate in my spare time and prepare slightly more for when we go out. We don't know if he'll be back again or not and I'll be damned if I let them win."

Kakashi felt his lip twitch up in a smile.

"You sound a little competitive now." he joked.

The sound of her laughing made him grin bigger. He enjoyed her laugh, it always oddly soothing and managed to make him smile whenever he was able to get one out of her. Kakashi purposely made bad jokes around her now for the sheer fact that he knew she'd laugh at every single one of them. Her sense of humor seemed to be as twisted as his he quickly realized.

"It's true, I am. It's a bad habit as you can tell. How are your legs by the way? You're not too sore are you?"

"Oh, I'm sore. I couldn't run today because of it." he replied as he shot her an amused look.

Sakura brought her hand up to cover her mouth as he watched her stifle another laugh.

"I'm sorry!" she practically giggled which only cause him to chuckle at her attempt of an apology.

They spent the next hour chatting as Sakura showed him the various security programs his company was using to cover every square inch of the sixty five floor skyscraper. Kakashi couldn't help glancing over to her and smiling every so often when she'd go into detailed explanation after he'd ask a question.

He silently thanked her for her company since she didn't really have to be around him unless necessary. She had a desk in her room and could've easily done all her work in privacy, but chose to stay out in the open where he could easily access her. He didn't realize how comforting it was to have someone around constantly and he was glad she seemed to enjoy being around him too.

A/N: Sorry for a late upload since I usually update on Friday's and it's Sunday now... Whoops. I'm still experiencing the issue of no phone and internet... So I had to wait for a day off of work and I'm currently camped out at my local coffee shop mooching their wifi and enjoying a yummy bagel and iced coffee while I get my updates posted and catch up on some writing!

I love these two so much, ugh. Their interactions just seem so natural and fluid and I love the course I have them on!

Please leave a review if you'd like! I love hearing your guys thoughts and opinions on my writing and stories! Hit follow too so you don't miss any updates bc I got MANY, MANY ideas for this story. I legit have a little notebook filled with post it notes and scribbles of ideas, plot points I wanna explore, and a legit time line spanning like three pages. Call me DEDICATED, YO.

Thank you to Taytay95 for being an amazing friend and beta! She's like the best hypeman ever when it comes to writing!