Double Edged

Song Reference: Do You Want To

Artist: Franz Ferdinand

Lyrics: When I woke up tonight/I said I’m gonna make somebody love me/I’m gonna make somebody love me/And now I know, now I know, now I know/I know that it’s you/ You’re lucky, lucky, you’re so lucky


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Sakura hissed in pain, her features contorting sharply as she half-hopped, half-stumbled, out of the bathroom clutching a towel around her and rubbing the foot she’d just rammed into the door when she’d jerked it open. Uncaring that footprint shaped puddles marked her trail, she hurried into her room with chattering teeth and a mind that was frantically trying to think of something to wear that would match all the hype she’d put into it.

Stupid… She just had to open her big mouth and tell him she had a dress that she didn’t actually have! That was the very, very last time she ever did that. Sakura grabbed her robe, which she’d left draped over the foot of her bed like an idiot before getting in the shower, and wrapped it around herself with a grateful sigh. Immediately, the cold chill brought on by being wet in a nippy apartment felt just a little better. Folding the towel around her dripping hair like a turban, Sakura hurried over to her half open closet door to search for… well, anything at this point.

Something nice… something sexy… It really would have helped if he’d told her where they were going. Seemed to be a nasty habit of his, come to think of it. This time she supposed it was okay though, seeing as their night out was last minute due to her massacring dinner. She still had no idea how that had even happened! Every time she replayed setting the oven in her head, she could have sworn she’d set it to three-twenty-five. Well, it didn’t matter now. What was important was that she needed to find a dress and fast.

The teal one she’d borrowed from Ino for all of a few hours before their hiking date was out. She’d told him this was a new one, one he hadn’t seen before, and wearing it would call her on the lie. Sakura scowled darkly as she tore through her closet, flinging out anything that looked potentially date-like onto her bed for further inspection. So far, the only items were the dress she’d worn on their first date and one she hadn’t worn since she was twelve, which wasn’t even a serious option. There was no way in hell she was wearing a dress covered in large pink daises and tied in back with a big pink bow.

When all that was left in her closet was the formal kimono she wore for holidays and that chartreuse monstrosity her dad had been so proud of buying for her birthday, Sakura flopped to her knees heavily and gave a despairing groan. Her wardrobe really was as pathetic as Ino always claimed it to be. Even with everything scraped out of the closet and strewn across her bed and floor, she could still see plenty of the hardwood and her rug. Maybe if she hurried she could stop off and do some quick shopping? Kakashi was more than likely going to be late anyway, so that bought her at least a half an hour or so. That was assuming, of course, that he was actually rushing.

Lips twisting thoughtfully, Sakura leaned over and snatched off the t-shirt that was covering her alarm clock to check the time. Twenty to eight. She was supposed to meet him in twenty minutes. Combine that with the potential half an hour gained from Kakashi running late as usual and that meant she had almost an hour to get ready and go shop. She flopped down on her clothing-strewn bed and stared bleakly at the ceiling. There wasn’t a girl in the world that could pull that off.

So… it was time to move on to Plan B: Raid the Pig’s closet.

Borrowing something from Ino wasn’t exactly what she wanted to do, but she really didn’t have much choice. At least she could guarantee anything in the blonde’s closet was racy enough for what she needed. The only problem was the fact that Ino’s breasts were easily three times the size of hers. Even if the dress fit great everywhere else, if she couldn’t fill it out on top then she’d look like she had saggy boobs. And there was no way in hell she was gonna go out looking like her breasts flopped down around her belly button.

Scrambling to her feet, Sakura picked her way through the disaster zone that was her room and opened the door to Ino’s. Her nose wrinkled at the lingering smell of that vanilla perfume her roommate insisted on spraying everywhere while she felt around on the wall for the light switch. Warm yellow light filled the room, illuminating what looked like a minefield of hastily kicked off shoes, clothing of unknown cleanliness and a whole mess of magazines boasting everything from sex tips to lip plumping secrets. Geeze… Ino really was a pig!

Sakura made her way through the mess and pulled the slotted closet doors opened to begin rummaging through the tightly compacted space. Ino seriously had more clothing than space in her closet, which explained why a lot of her wardrobe was probably on the floor. It was almost impossible to see what each article looked like with the way it was crammed in there. Well… there was only one way to fix that. Ino wasn’t going to be happy about it, but this was an emergency.

So, muttering an apology to her absent friend, she grabbed an armful of hanging clothes and dropped them onto Ino’s bed before reaching back for more. It took two more armfuls of clothing before she felt like she was making progress in weeding the closet out but there was still a healthy chunk left to go. Sakura shook her head in disbelief, her lips pursing in stern disapproval. She’d always known that clothing made her friend broke, but she’d had no idea it was like this! The next time Ino said she couldn’t make rent, Sakura was going to make her sell off some of this crap.

Ino’s closet was one of those things where Sakura literally didn’t even know where to begin. Even with the closet weeded out to give her more searching room, she had no idea where to start. There were just so much to go through! If only she hadn’t wasted time with her own wardrobe… Growling in frustration, Sakura dove into the remaining garments in the closet to find something that was sexy by her standards, which meant it had to be nun-like by Ino’s. She’d seen what the blonde usually wore on her dates. There was no way she’d ever wear anything like that!

As she searched, Sakura made certain to return all of the unacceptable clothes back to the closet, unsure of where they belonged… or even if there had been an order to begin with. Judging by Ino’s lack of organization throughout the room in general, she figured it was safe to assume she didn’t sort her closet by color or anything. It was also surprising that such skimpy clothing took up so much space. She wasn’t even a third of the way through the pile and she’d already found six tops that she had no idea how to even get into. Apparently, if it had confusing straps, sequins and looked like it should be worn under clothing, Yamanaka Ino would buy it.

Despite the fact that Ino’s clock was nowhere in sight, Sakura knew her time was running out. Her hair was still wet, she needed to put on some makeup and she still needed to get dressed. So, instead of digging even further through Ino’s ample wardrobe, Sakura took the four selections she thought might work and hurried back to her own room. She threw the dresses on her bed and untied her robe with one hand while pulling open her underwear drawer with the other. She grabbed the first pair of panties and bra that she came across, put them on and unzipped the first dress to try on.

Sakura kicked her door closed so that the cracked full length mirror hanging on the other side was facing her. Her reflection made her scowl, and it had nothing to do with the fact that her hair was still wrapped in fluffy yellow terrycloth. The dress wasn’t even zipped up and she could already tell that she wouldn’t fill in the sweetheart neckline. Okay… next dress.

The reason she’d chosen this one was because it was strapless and Ino had said she could pull off a strapless dress. However, the blonde apparently took her clothing a size up due to her ample chest because as soon as Sakura put the damn thing on the entire bodice area crumpled down around her waist. Without anything to support it, there was no way the stupid thing would stay up. Sighing irritably as she glared at her small breasts, Sakura tugged the dress off and went for the third.

This one at least had thin straps that crisscrossed over an open back. What had drawn her eye to it was the deep purple-pink coloring and the way the short skirt flowed as it moved. Unfortunately… Ino’d had the dress tailored for her more curvaceous figure, which meant it hung like a sack at Sakura’s less-than-full hips. Damn it! This was so frustrating!

Instead of bothering with the third, Sakura quickly took off the dress she was currently wearing, returned it and the other one she’d tried on previously to their hangers, and began going through her own clothing again. She refused to believe she didn’t have a single thing that would work! There was just no way her wardrobe was that bad. She needed something, anything, that she could…

Sakura paused when her hand pulled out something she’d missed the first time through. The reason she’d overlooked it was because, well… it wasn’t at all what she’d been looking for. But now that she thought about it... Frowning thoughtfully, she tilted her head at an angle as she studied her discovery more closely. It had more fabric to it than more than three-quarters of Ino’s clothing, and she already knew it looked good on her. It was going to be incredibly short though.

Giving a sigh of resignation, Sakura stood up and pulled the article over her toweled head. This was going to work. It had to work! There really wasn’t much else she could think of, but still… The idea of wearing just this out was a little uncomfortable.

After all, her ‘dress’ was really nothing more than a long shirt, the kind she normally wore with leggings underneath. If this actually worked, this would be the second time in one day that Kakashi would see her without her pants on. This time though… she was going to be the only one who knew.

Any doubts as to whether or not she could pull it off flew out the window the minute she saw her reflection. She grinned as she smoothed her hands down the dark magenta material, her fingers plucking at the lower hem to encourage the fabric to stretch lower just a bit. This was pretty much what she’d been looking for, minus the fact that the fabric was just a basic stretch-cotton. Then again, she only ever wore this when she was off duty and usually out with Ino. It wasn’t designed to be dressy or anything… but that’s what accessories would fix.

Her smile softened a little as she looked the ‘dress’ over with a more critical eye. The sleeves were loose and fanned out down to her elbows, thus camouflaging how wide her shoulders were. It had a subtle V-shaped neckline that was gathered in the middle and actually gave the illusion of more breast. The only real issue was the ‘skirt’ length. It was definitely long enough to cover everything, but calling it mid-thigh might be a little generous. The only time she ever showed this much leg was in a bathing suit.

Still though… it was actually pretty good for a spur-of-the-moment pick. Sakura nodded approvingly as she twisted back and forth to double check just how high up the ‘skirt’ would move when she did. She lifted her arms as high as she could and even turned her back to the mirror and bent over to look between her legs to see if her reflection was flashing panty. It road up pretty high… but everything remained nicely covered. Kakashi wasn’t going to be seeing her star-spangled ass anytime tonight, thank god! He’d already seen more than she wanted him to with those stupid flyers.

She popped back into Ino’s room to do a little jewelry and shoe theft, scowling when she saw a few items that belonged to her (and had been missing for several months) mixed in with the blonde’s accessories. She was gonna have a talk with Ino about that in the morning, especially seeing as she’d specifically asked about a few of those items and received a snippy, ‘I don’t know where they are’ in response.

Okay… now her hair. Sakura grimaced as she fingered her slightly damp locks and glanced at the clock to see if she had time to maybe stick it in the sink for a quick dampening. Fifteen minutes before she was a half an hour late, which was also the soonest she was expecting Kakashi. That wouldn’t be enough time to do anything really. Sighing, Sakura brushed her hair out and grabbed the only real hair accessory she had for going out; a thin black scarf made out of some kind of sparkly material. It had been a present from Ino for her birthday the year before and was always good for a quick hair fix. She tied it like she normally did her hitae-ate, fluffing out and encouraging a few stray pieces while tucking others back into the band.

Makeup was a simple affair, seeing as she a) didn’t have time and b) hated doing anything really elaborate anyway. Just some eyeliner, a bit of concealer for the minor breakouts near her hairline and her sugar-cookie flavored lip gloss, which also found its way into her purse for later. She also made certain to grab her wallet, just in case Kakashi decided to “forget” his. She didn’t think he would, seeing as he’d been gentlemanly enough to pay for their first dinner out, but past experience warned her against leaving home without being prepared when dining with him.

Feeling much better now that she had something to wear, Sakura did one final check in the mirror of skirt length and appearance, decided that the extra tall heels she’d snagged from Ino made her look too slutty and switched out for the simple black dress heels she usually wore for formal events. True, they weren’t nearly as sexy as Ino’s shoes… but at least she didn’t feel like a prostitute in them. And she didn’t have to worry about her feet killing her later either.

Sakura snagged her key off the hook by the light switch as she ran out the door, turning to lock it as quickly as she could. The glance she’d managed to get at the clock in the kitchen said she had about ten minutes to get there if she wanted to beat a (hopefully) late Kakashi. She raced down the stairs of her apartment, flashing a pleased smile as Ubizu whistled at her good-naturedly, and was out the door and on her way to meet Kakashi. All she could do now was hope and pray that she knocked him out… and that nobody guessed she was only wearing a shirt.


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The minute he rounded the corner and saw Sakura leaning against the closed tea shop’s front, Kakashi came to a dead halt and felt his jaw drop. Never… not in this lifetime or the next… would he have ever thought that Haruno Sakura would ever wear something so scandalously short. He’d seen some pretty racy things from kunoichi before, but damn… He was fairly certain that if she were to bend over he’d be getting an eyeful of her panties again. If only he were that lucky.

Tonight… was going to be a long, difficult night. It was also going to be a brutal exercise in restraint.

Kakashi gave himself a firm slap across the cheek, unaware that a few people looked at him oddly as he did, and reminded himself once again this was a look but don’t touch too much mission. Though, if she kept tugging at her dress like she was doing now, that might change. With each discrete pull to try and make that skirt cover more of her thighs, the fabric clung more tightly across her breasts. He wasn’t certain, but he could almost swear he saw the faintest press of a lacy trim through the cotton fabric. Kakashi felt a bead of sweat slip down the side of his face. Masochistic. He was definitely masochistic.

Thankful for the fact that she was too busy trying to encourage her skirt to miraculously lengthen to notice he was there, Kakashi took a deep breath, released it and rotated his shoulders to regain his composure. It was only a dress, after all. Yes, it made her already shapely legs look even more appealing, and the potential for getting another glimpse of her panties was rather high… But it didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t like she’d shown up in nothing but a t-shirt and panties.

Oh… why in the world did he have to put that image in his head?

Stifling a groan at that stray thought, Kakashi jammed his hands into his pockets, his fingers fisted tightly, and headed across the street to where she was waiting. She was either blissfully unaware of the piqued looks being directed at her from several male passersby or she was pointedly ignoring them. For some reason, he didn’t like the looks one bit. Yes, she was a pretty girl… and yes, they had essentially been staring at her legs in a fairly similar fashion as he had been. But there was a difference between him and them, and that was the fact that they wouldn’t hesitate to slink their hands under her short skirt to see if the trim on her panties matched her bra. And that was completely unacceptable in his book.

This wasn’t jealousy. It was merely the fact that Sakura had been his student and was still, officially speaking, an active member of Team Seven. As the leader of Team Seven, he had a responsibility to look after his teammates, whether it was during the course of a mission… or protecting them from would-be wolves. Kakashi recognized the look in their eyes very well; a sort of predatory gleam, a need to make what they saw theirs. If one of those whelps wanted to possess any part of Haruno Sakura… they would have to go through him first.

But if this wasn’t jealousy… why did it feel a little like it?

Kakashi wove his way free of the people out for a night on the town just as one brave soul decided to test the waters with the pink-haired kunoichi. Sakura’s shoulders stiffened warily as the boy made eye contact and smiled slowly. Kakashi sped up without even thinking about it.

The boy was just about to open his mouth to deliver what he probably thought was a very clever line when Kakashi swept in, deftly positioning himself so that he was half blocking Sakura from her would-be suitor. “Sorry I’m late,” he said cheerfully while the boy tried to grasp what had just happened. What had happened, boys and girls, was a little thing called ‘cock blocking’, and it was an embarrassingly easy demonstration of this technique at that.

Sakura’s lips twisted into an amused smirk as her gaze slid briefly to the boy still standing to one side and looking very confused. “Take the wrong road in life again?” she teased as she lightly traced the ribbed texture of his sleeves. There was a mischievous glint to her green eyes that said she was trying not to laugh at the baffled boy behind him.

“No, this time it was the nice old lady next door. See, she’d lost her kitten and… Oh, sorry. Did you need something?” Kakashi glanced over his shoulder at the youth who still hadn’t taken the hint that Sakura was off limits to his hormonal urges. God, he hoped this one wasn’t a shinobi. It would be a sad day indeed if someone so oblivious had made it into the program.

Mouth opening and closing a couple times, the flustered boy glanced from Sakura to Kakashi and back again as confusion finally gave way to understanding. “O-Oh… I was just… I mean… Did they change their hours? Wow.”

Feigning mild shock, Kakashi studied the sign posting the teashop’s hours as he very casually maneuvered Sakura so that he was now very firmly between her and the boy. “Ah, it looks like they did,” he mused out loud, dropping his arm over Sakura’s shoulders as she slid her arm around his waist and gave him a grateful, one-armed hug… one that momentarily brought her breasts into contact with his chest. Sometimes, it really paid off to be the hero. “Well, it’s a good thing there’s another teashop all the way across town, isn’t it?” Though he said it pleasantly, there was no mistaking the implied meaning to his words; Leave. Now.

Laughing nervously as he tried to stop staring at Sakura’s legs, the boy rubbed his neck sheepishly and began backing away. “Y-Yes. Very good thing. Um… yeah. Sorry.” He whirled around then and took off at a fairly good pace, startling the people he dove between in order to get away.

“Have a good night,” Kakashi called after him cheerfully while Sakura fought hard not to burst out laughing.

As soon as the boy was out of sight, she broke down into a fit of giggles and peeled herself away from his side. “Did you see his face?” she laughed, her eyes sparkling with more than mirth. “I think you scarred him for life!”

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied with an air of haughty indifference. “All I said was he should be glad there are other teashops in Konoha since he’s such a connoisseur.”

Grinning deviously at him, Sakura’s brows rose as she said sarcastically, “Gee, jealous much?”

“That was an act of mercy, not jealousy. I saved you from having to listen to his pickup line.”

“Really?” she drawled, crossing her arms over her chest challengingly. “Because it sounded more like jealousy to me.”

“Nope, definitely wasn’t. You look wonderful, by the way.”

Her smile became flirtier as she smoothed her hands down her dress in a way that made his mouth go a little dry. “Glad you think so, seeing as I did dress up for you.”

For some reason, that pleased him more than it really should have. “Did you now?” he questioned, stepping closer to her just to watch the rosy color rise in her cheeks. He let his gaze drop from hers, purposely allowing her to catch him checking her out. When he finally made eye contact again, Kakashi didn’t bother hiding his appreciation for her physique. “I’m flattered.”

Her lips parted to allow for the sudden quickening of her breath. That look was creeping into her eyes again, the one that made them just a shade darker than usual. It was the same bottle green color that came out whenever he was doing something she rather liked. Sakura could protest it all she wanted, but all he had to do was look at her eyes to know the truth; she was enjoying his proximity very much. It made him smirk beneath his mask to know that she was completely unawares the tables had been turned and that she’d become his mouse.

Sakura cleared her throat and broke the eye contact abruptly to run a nervous hand up and down her arm as if to stimulate some warmth back into it. “So,” she began conversationally, her voice a little higher pitched and strained. “Where are we going?”

Letting her change the subject, Kakashi took a step back and shrugged. “Well, we have quite a few options. What are you in the mood for?”

“Food,” she answered promptly, grinning as he rolled his eye sarcastically.

“Any particular kind, or should I give you a run-down of the best dumpsters in Konoha?” he remarked dryly as he fell into step beside her. They were heading toward the Entertainment District in Konoha, which was the same area of town Kurropoi was located in. At this hour in the evening, that district was about the only place he could think of with a decent selection of restaurants.

Laughing, Sakura surprised him by reaching between them to twine her hand with his. Excluding their last kiss, she had always seemed a little hesitant about initiating more intimate contact with him. While the feel of her slender, calloused fingers curling around his was nice, he couldn’t help but wonder at the sudden change; was it because his plan was working… or was she trying a new angle for her own plan?

“Oh, I don’t know. Anywhere that doesn’t have vinyl seats will do, I guess,” she replied, flashing a smile at him that was designed to melt a lesser man’s resolve. Too bad for her that in addition to puppy eyes, he’d also developed an immunity for brain-melting smiles.

Wincing slightly, Kakashi glanced down at her and muttered, “So… I guess a diner’s flat out then?” His financial situation was a little tighter than he liked, seeing as he hadn’t picked up his mission pay yet. He’d been sort of hoping for somewhere cheap and fast.

The look she gave him said it would be in his best interest to play that question off as a joke. “Do you know how uncomfortable it is to have your bare thighs stick to vinyl seats? Chairs and booths with real, non-vinyl material, please.”

Sighing dismally as he bid a silent farewell to what little money he had, Kakashi said, “Okay, fine. Someplace with real chairs or booths, got it.” That ruled out about ninety percent of the places he’d been thinking about. He had a momentary flash of regret for having destroyed dinner at her place. Getting her into that dress was a real treat but it was going to cost him a bit more than he’d planned.

He wondered briefly what the odds were that he could talk her into going Dutch on the bill. Knowing his luck and the fact that she probably had even less money than he did, chances were very good they would be doing dishes later that night. Or making a daring escape from the restaurant. He wasn’t sure about her, but he certainly wasn’t opposed to a good dine-n-dash. The only downside to that plan was that he’d be blacklisted from that establishment for the rest of his life. So… someplace nice but not anywhere he would mourn the loss of should it come to skipping out on the bill.

They passed under a narrow archway that was lit with bright red lights and entered the Entertainment District of Konoha, also known as The Gauntlet due to the fact that it was a mile long stretch of narrow, twisting street crowded on either side by restaurants, bars and clubs of various degrees of decency. One of the most popular things to do was called ‘running the Gauntlet’- start at the entrance and hit every single bar on the way down, cross the street and hit everything on the opposite side. With the number of places serving alcohol in the Gauntlet, it was pretty much a guarantee someone was going to find themselves naked in a tree wondering what the hell had happened before the evening was done. Not that he knew from experience or anything…

The entrance to the Entertainment District was located in one of the older sections of the village. Most of the buildings here had once been barracks and dormitories for ninja, back in the days when Konoha had been nothing but a military village. But now that civilians freely mixed with ninja, most of those multi-leveled buildings had been converted into bars and clubs. On each floor was a different establishment so that, in order to get to the ones on the second and third levels, it was necessary to go through the others. It was a good business strategy, really, but it made for an overall seedy appearance from the street. If one knew where to look though, there were several really good hole-in-the-wall establishments to be found.

As they wound their way into the newer segments, the buildings began to change. Instead of sharing, each restaurant and club had its own facility, complete with an appropriately eye catching sign or gimmick to lure customers in. These seemed to be the ones that Sakura’s eyes were most drawn to, much to his dismay since they also tended to be a bit pricier. He couldn’t blame her though, seeing as some of them were pretty impressive from an aesthetic stand point. They continued to weave their way through the area, her hand curling more firmly around his so as not to lose him in the throng, and she kept making little awed sounds as the building fronts got more and more elaborate.

While it was pretty adorable to watch her face light up excitedly, all Kakashi could think about was the fact that none of them had their menus posted in the windows. That was never, ever a good sign.

Okay… time for a little redirection. Despite the fact that he really wasn’t into the party scene, Kakashi did know his way around the Entertainment District fairly well. Of course, most of his knowledge was gleaned from many a drunken night spent stumbling from place to place but he knew of a few locations that would satisfy Sakura’s low requirements without robbing him blind in the process. All he had to do was remember what they were called and where they were.

Kurropoi was out, and not just because they’d already been there. He doubted he had enough money to afford a glass of water there at the moment. There was always Aikano’s, but the last time he went there the spicy food had ripped his insides to pieces. That was an experience he really didn’t care to repeat. Madarano had good food but the atmosphere might be too seedy for her tastes. And Godaraime’s needed a reservation…

But Tedzukuri might work. He hadn’t been there in a while, but as he recalled the food was good, it was reasonably priced and the atmosphere was fairly relaxing. Plus, it was one of the many hidden treasures in the Entertainment District, so the chances of them getting a table so late were very good.

Flashing a smile over his shoulder, Kakashi gave her hand a tug and began guiding her back the way they had come. “Come on. I think I know the perfect place.”

Sakura followed him quickly through the laughing people exiting one bar and stumbling on to the next. Her head whipped around when a woman let out a surprised shriek while shoving a man roughly into the middle of the street. The man laughed riotously as he collided with another group just leaving one of the clubs, ignoring the shouts and dirty glares directed at him.

“Idiots,” she muttered, a slightly disgusted look crossing her face as they passed a rather rambunctious couple engaged in an impressive display of oral acrobatics.

Chuckling, Kakashi pulled her in against his side once more and gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry, they’ll regret it in the morning,” he soothed before neatly ushering her around a group of shinobi showing off for their civilian lovers by walking up the side of a restaurant. The girls “oo’d” and clapped excitedly over this impressive feat, which made Sakura roll her eyes disdainfully at their antics.

“A hangover isn’t much of a punishment,” she remarked dryly. “A couple pills, lots of water and vitamin C and- Oh… Is this where we’re going?” Sakura stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes scanning the front of the building dubiously.

He could understand her trepidation. Tedzukuri didn’t really look like much from the outside, what with the worn cement front that had been painted some odd grey-brown shade and a porch that had obviously seen better days. The windows were heavily tinted so that looking in was nearly impossible, the only thing really noticeable from the street being the strands of white pixie lights framing the windows.

Flower bowls containing scraggly, unnourished plants were on either side of the door, an obvious attempt on the owner’s part to make it more appealing. As patrons left the restaurant laughing, they had to push hard on a door whose catch was a little difficult to work. But the smell that wafted out once the door was finally opened made Sakura press a hand to her gurgling stomach.

Kakashi appreciatively inhaled the scent of cooking meat and felt his stomach roll eagerly. “This is where we’re going,” he confirmed as he ushered her toward the door before she could even think to protest.

“Is this a dive bar or something?” Sakura asked in a low voice as he gave the door a hard jerk and held it open for her. “Because if it is-,”

Kakashi laughed as he followed her inside. “It’s a restaurant that happens to have a bar, and neither portion constitute as a dive. Tedzukuri may toe the line a bit, but it’s definitely not.”

Inside the small establishment, it soon became apparent that the darkened windows weren’t completely due to the tinting job. To say Tedzukuri’s was dimly lit was a bit of an understatement. The overhead lights were just barely glowing, allowing the candles on every table to shine more brightly in the dusky atmosphere. More of the white pixie lights were strung everywhere; around ceiling beams, along the molding, covering the small bar toward the back. There were no tablecloths and the napkins were paper… but there wasn’t a vinyl seat within sight.

Sakura was still glancing around uneasily when Kakashi curved his hand around her waist and led her up to the hosting station, his thumb drawing random circles along her hip. He couldn’t help smirking as her breath caught in response to his touch. Apparently, she wasn’t accustomed to his touch after all. That was a little relieving, seeing as it was rather fun to make her squirm.

“Hello,” the hostess said cheerfully as she grabbed two laminated menus from behind her podium. “Two of you?”

“That’s right,” Kakashi answered.

“Booth, window or other?”

He glanced at Sakura with a questioning lift to his brow. It took her a second before she realized he was leaving the decision up to her, though whether her delayed response was due to her uncertainty of his restaurant choice or his hand fit snugly along her hip remained unclear. Giving her head a little shake, Sakura stammered, “Oh, um… Do you have a window with a booth?”

Smile brightening, the hostess nodded her head for them to follow her. “You came at a good time, you know,” she said conversationally. “We’re gonna be getting the evening rush in the next twenty minutes or so, which means finding place for anyone’s gonna be a nightmare. Here we go!”

The young woman stepped aside to let them into the booth, Sakura taking the spot across from him much to his disappointment. So much for ‘accidentally’ brushing his hand along her thigh while they ate. The hostess set their menus on the table, as well as their utensils, all while still beaming happily. “Yumi will be your server tonight, and she’ll go over the specials for you. Can I get you anything to drink right now? We’ve got homemade beer, a really good selection of local wine, imported drinks…?”

“I’m fine with water for now,” Kakashi answered, already perusing the menu for food.

“Do you have any tea?” Sakura asked hopefully.

Laughing, the hostess nodded and said, “Sure! We’ve got mint, jasmine, oolong, red roobias, our special Iron Monkey blend and white ginseng. Personally, I really like the Iron Monkey. It’s got a really nice spice flavor to it. And if you try it and don’t like, I’ll be more than happy to bring out something else for you, no extra charge.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a go. Thank you.”

“No problem. Yumi will be right over, so have a good evening!” The chipper young woman bowed and left their table, disappearing behind the swinging door that led to the kitchen.

“Wow... Was she ever cheerful,” Sakura remarked dryly. “Makes me wonder what exactly is in this Iron Monkey tea.”

Chuckling, Kakashi didn’t take his eyes off the menu as he replied, “It’s been my experience that you never ask what’s in the house-anything. Just accept that it’s good and leave it at that.”

“Mm… you’re probably right. I just hope there’s nothing in it that’ll show up on a toxicology screening. I’m due next month for one of those.”

“I’m surprised you even need to be screened.”

Sakura shrugged unconcernedly as she looked over the menu as well. “It’s just standard procedure,” she explained. “Everyone who works at the hospital has to do it. And it’s not like it’s bothersome or anything. You go in, do what needs to be done and get out. The only reason it should be a problem is if you’ve got something to hide.”

“As usual, a very practical answer,” he commented with an approving nod. That particular trait of hers had been an absolute blessing during the Team Seven days. It had been nice knowing he at least hadn’t needed to worry about Sakura doing something incredibly stupid.

She flashed him a bright smile, one that clearly said she was touched by the compliment. Such a funny girl… Most women would have preferred he tell them just how beautiful they were. This one got off by being called practical. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask as he scanned the appetizers again. Haruno Sakura truly was an odd one.

Just then, their waitress arrived with a cheerful grin and a tray carrying their drinks. “Hiya,” she greeted as she tucked a piece of her short hair behind her ear. She set their drinks down in front of them before digging an order pad out from her apron pocket. “I’m Yumi, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. We’ve got a few specials we’re running, the most popular one being our homemade sukiyaki for two. It’s prepared to order, so if you want more meat than veggies or whatever, we can do that.”

Just thinking about sukiyaki made Kakashi’s stomach roil in anticipation. This had to be the best spur of the moment idea he’d had in his entire life. He met Sakura’s gaze across the table and asked, “Wanna go for it?”

Sakura hesitated, her nose wrinkling a little as her lips twisted thoughtfully. “Sukiyaki does sound really good,” she said slowly. “But I don’t know… I mean, half the fun with sukiyaki is doing it yourself, right?”

Yumi chuckled as she leaned against the side of the both closest to Sakura. “That’s true,” she admitted. “And we used to do it tableside, but our landlord was charging us almost double in rent because of the fire liability. Apparently, having a hot plate around a bunch of drunken people constitutes as a fire hazard. So… we had to cut it out. But it’s still really good though.”

The waitress’ reassurance that the sukiyaki was good seemed to convince Sakura. Shrugging, she slid her menu toward the edge of the table and said, “Okay, we’ll give it a try. Can we have extra mushrooms, please?”

“Sure thing,” the waitress replied as she scooped up their menus. “I’ll go get that in for you right away. And don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything else, okay?” She disappeared quickly, making her way to the kitchen to place their order.

“You know, I rather like this place,” Sakura commented once their server was gone, surprise lacing her words. “It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the service is really pretty good.”

“I’m glad you think so,” he replied, beaming at her. “Sorry it’s not fancier, but I haven’t picked up my mission pay yet, so…”

Instantly, Sakura pressed a horror-stricken hand over her mouth, her eyes widening considerably. “You’re broke?” she exclaimed. “Oh…I’m so sorry! Had I known-,”

Kakashi waved off her concern quickly. “No, no, don’t worry about it,” he insisted, prompting her mouth to close abruptly. “It’s not your fault.” Which was the truth. She wasn’t the one who had ruined their dinner. He was. And, while he didn’t regret doing it, he did feel bad that she thought she was responsible for the charcoal chicken.

Sakura’s lips curled uncertainly as she studied the dim candle on their table. Several seconds of silence passed between them before she conceded with a reluctant nod. “Okay… but we’re getting separate checks tonight. I’d offer to pay for you, but I’m sort of limited myself.”

“It’s a deal.” Unable to resist the urge, Kakashi moved swifter than she could follow and ruffled her hair well and good, causing her to let out an outraged squawk. Once he was satisfied with the job, he sat back and grinned at her. Sakura just sat there with her hair suitably awry, her green eyes glaring at him through a few loosened strands. He really couldn’t resist giving her a hard time.

Huffing irritably, Sakura once again set her hair to order. Her movements were slow and stiff, as if she were just barely resisting the urge to punch him through the booth. “You are such a child sometimes, Kakashi-sensei,” she muttered darkly. “I seriously think I deserve a medal or a trophy for tolerating you.”

“Oh, come now. I’m not that disagreeable,” Kakashi admonished, glancing toward the door on impulse as people suddenly began piling in. Hmm… the hostess hadn’t been kidding about their timing. Apparently, Tedzukuri’s was the place to be down this way.

Snorting and shaking her head in disbelief, Sakura lifted her teacup to her lips and retorted sharply, “I swear I saw a t-shirt somewhere that said ‘I Survived Hatake Kakashi’.”

“Oo… That’s a good line for tourism. ‘Come to Konoha and experience the marvel that is Hatake Kakashi’,” he deadpanned in return. Any hostility she might have still held for him dissipated with that, leaving her giggling as she sipped her tea.

Her eyes still glowing merrily, Sakura set her cup down and leaned back in her booth. “That sounds more like a reason to avoid coming to Fire Country than anything else. Plus it’d be false advertising. There’s nothing at all marvelous about you.”

Feigning indignance, Kakashi leveled a hard look at her from his open eye. “You honestly can’t think of one thing that’s pretty fantastic about me?” he demanded.

Sakura tapped her lips slowly with one finger, as if she had to think long and hard about this. After several seconds where he simply watched her act, she broke out into a wide, mischievous grin and shook her head. “Sorry, can’t think of a single one.”

Nodding once, Kakashi murmured, “I see,” before he made as if to leave.

Instantly Sakura was reaching across the table and tugging at his sleeve to get him to sit down again, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” she exclaimed, laughing as he dropped into his seat again with an air of reluctance. “You do have your good qualities, Kakashi-sensei, really.”

“Like the fact that I’ve not called you Cherry-chan yet?” he quipped pointedly.

Blushing, Sakura released his sleeve quickly and folded her hands in her lap. “Sorry,” she said, wincing a little. “I really don’t mean to, it’s just… well… You’ve always been Kakashi-sensei. It’s kinda hard to break the habit, that’s all.”

Deciding he wasn’t quite through making her squirm, Kakashi sighed dramatically and ruffled his own hair. “It’s alright, Sakura. I understand.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she waited for him to drop the bomb.

Still pretending to be deeply upset, he placed an elbow on the table and propped his chin on his palm, directing a disappointed glance toward the ceiling. “It’s obvious that you’re trying to keep your distance because you want to break up with me and are afraid of shattering my poor, scarred heart.”

He just barely dove out of the way when she went to swat his head, snickering as he quickly moved his legs out of the way of her kicking feet. “You arrogant… argh!” she snarled angrily, though he could tell by her eyes that she was trying hard not to laugh. “That’s not it at all!”

Kakashi caught her wrist easily when she went to smack him again and didn’t release it, even when she pulled her arm back sharply. Instead, he forced her to turn her hand over (which took a surprising amount of effort considering the difference in muscle mass between them) so that her palm was now resting against his. Sakura froze completely when he brushed a light kiss along her fingers, his gaze locked with hers the entire time.

“You really are too sensitive, Sakura,” he teased quietly, running one finger along each of hers gently. “And you’re also as bad as I am about the teasing.”

“Am not,” she argued, though her voice was a little too breathy to offer real heat.

A low hum came from him as he continued to study her slim hand like it was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. In a way though, her hands were rather intriguing. Not as soft as he would have imagined them to be, but not so course that he couldn’t tell they belonged to a woman.

Her fingers were slender and delicate looking, something that was aided by the pale color of her skin. But he now saw the tiny scars that marred her knuckles, looking like very fine cracks in porcelain. Sakura had the hands of a kunoichi; deceptive in their femininity but completely capable of killing a man. It was quite a change from the little girl who’d come to training with freshly manicured nails… though he could tell that was still something she indulged in, given how well kept her cuticles were.

Kakashi watched as those fingers twitched a little as he traced over her knuckles softly, tickling her skin. He could feel her eyes on him, knew that her breath had caught again. A glance at her face allowed him to see the flush of pink to her cheeks and that darker color to her eyes that he was really starting to like. Sakura’s gaze was fixed on their hands, following each stroke of his fingertip as if the action had her mesmerized.

When he finally released her hand, there was a moment of hesitation where Sakura’s lips parted as if getting ready to protest. But just as quickly as the impulse had come, it was gone again and she was quickly pulling her hand to safety under the table while her cheeks turned a shade that rivaled her dress in intensity.

As she busied herself with tracing a nail along the rim of her teacup, Kakashi slouched back against the booth, stretching his legs out under the table so that his knees ‘accidentally’ brushed against hers. Sakura’s finger froze on its lap around her teacup briefly before resuming as if nothing at all had happened. “So,” she said after a bit as she folded her hands around the teacup and leaned forward expectantly. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Kakashi inquired before taking a sip of water.

Rolling her eyes at his deliberate avoidance of the topic, Sakura elaborated, “I mean, tell me about you. What do you like to do besides read Icha Icha nonstop? How did you end up with so many dogs? Anything, as long as it’s something I don’t know already.”

“So… you want to know my hopes and dreams for the future?” he mocked, earning him a look that aimed for annoyance and came out more amused.

“Sure, if that’s what you feel like sharing,” she laughed, nudging his knee under the table with her own. “I was just aiming for hobbies and stuff though. You said a while back that you’ve got several. So… what are some of them?”

Kakashi knew this attempt to get to know him was more than likely just her way of establishing a deeper connection, which was crucial to seduction missions. To not giver her information might clue her in that he wasn’t oblivious to what she was trying to do. However… she was asking him to open up and share his private doings with her. That was just something he didn’t really do, no matter who was doing the asking. No one, not even the group of people he normally associated with, knew everything about him. What they did know they usually found out by accident… or on those rare occasion where he needed some help walking home.

So… what to do? She really did have him checked in a corner, so to speak. The only two options he had was to give her an honest answer… or give her an honest answer that was so unbelievable that she thought he was teasing her. Decisions, decisions…

Deciding door number two would provide the most entertainment, Kakashi smoothed his hands flat against the table top and took a deep breath in, as if preparing to share something of the utmost secrecy. “Well, something I like to do when I have the time is…,” he began, purposely stalling for dramatic affect.

Sakura’s eyes were gleaming anxiously and she was probably unaware that she was now leaning so far across the table that he could see clear down her bodice. He couldn’t help but wonder if the same purple, green and pink striped pattern adorned her panties as well. “Yes?” she prompted when his words trailed off.

Keeping his expression completely blank, Kakashi held her gaze steadily and said, “Quilting.”

There was a moment where all they did was stare at each other, him without a trace of emotion and she as if he’d just told her he was going to start going in drag on missions. Sakura was the first to break that stillness when she leaned back and released a low, controlled breath. “You know,” she replied slowly, as if still trying to process this new information. “I think that’s almost as bad as the one about getting lost on the road to life.”

“You think so?” He couldn’t help the thread of laughter in his voice at her response. Success was such a wonderful thing. She didn’t believe him, and he couldn’t blame her in the least. Whoever heard of an elite shinobi who enjoyed quilting in his spare time? Unbeknownst to her though… It was the truth. There was a very nice shuriken patterned quilt on his bed to prove it.

“Mm-hm. If you’re gonna be a pathological liar you might wanna try making the lies more believable.”

Kakashi chuckled at her sarcastic remark, shaking his head in appreciation for her quick wit. Sakura always had been the smartest one in the group. It was good to see that intelligence extended into other areas as well. “I’ll take that under advisement then,” he remarked dryly.

Grinning, Sakura nudged his calf with her foot good-naturedly and accused, “You’re avoiding the question, by the way.”

“How do you figure that?”

“I asked you to give me a hobby.”

“I did give you a hobby,” Kakashi pointed out, idly tracing a random pattern on the tabletop with his fingertip.

This time, Sakura’s foot connected just a little harder with his shin, prompting him to move it out of the line of fire. “I meant a hobby that you do, not other people.”

“And just how do you know I don’t quilt?” he challenged, still highly amused that she didn’t believe him.

Sakura shot an aggravated glare at him and replied wryly, “Because quilting is for nice old ladies and grandmothers. It’s not something that sadistic, question-avoiding, elite shinobi do in their spare time.”

Shrugging away her response, Kakashi scratched the back of his neck and sighed. “Then I guess I have no choice but to prove it to you.”

Snorting, Sakura rolled her eyes and flounced back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. “What, you brought quilting supplies with you instead of Icha Icha tonight?” she quipped sarcastically.

Laughing softly, Kakashi replied, “Sadly, no. Had I known I’d have to prove my quilting prowess though, I would have.”

“Well, unless I see you in the process of quilting, I’m not gonna buy that you do it.”

“Fair enough. Want me to make you one?”

Arching a disbelieving brow, Sakura sighed and spun her teacup offhandedly . “Sure, why not?” she grumbled. “But unless you work on it with me watching, I’m not gonna believe you.”

Nodding, Kakashi extended his hand across the table for her to shake, as if they’d just reached some grand compromise in a disagreement. “It’s a deal then. But you only get to watch the beginning stages. I want the finished product to be a surprise.”

Warily, Sakura took his hand in return, her eyes narrowing as they shook on the arrangement. “How do I know you’re not just going to pretend like you know what you’re doing before sending out for a professional to finish the job?” she asked dubiously.

“Want to get a third party involved?” he offered solicitously. If she was aware of the fact that their polite handshake had evolved into them holding hands across the table once again, she didn’t give any indication of it.

She paused in bringing her tea to her lips, eying him curiously over the porcelain rim. “How?”

“Simple. We find someone we can trust to watch the progress, without reporting the details of my masterpiece to you. It’ll have to be someone we both agree on though. No offense, but I wouldn’t trust your roommate not to go blabbing about what it looks like.”

“And no offense, but I think all your friends are as sneaky and conniving as you are.”

“I protest the use of the word ‘friend’ for about ninety-percent of the people I associate with.”

A small, amused smile tugged at the corners of her lips, a glint of that same emotion appearing in her leaf-green eyes. “But you won’t deny the sneaky and conniving part?” she teased.

“Of course not,” Kakashi remarked. “They’re all ninja. Sneaky and conniving are two of the traits necessary for the job. Every ninja should have them. Including you.”

Sakura gave a subtle start at that as her brow furrowed with what looked almost like worry. Kakashi made certain the expression on his face remained neutrally teasing as she studied him carefully for several seconds. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head right then; was that just an innocent comment, or was he hinting that he was on to her? Oh… it really was such fun messing with that pretty head of hers.

She recovered fairly quickly though, giving herself a little shake as a slow, amused smile curved her lips. Apparently, she was choosing not to take that seemingly innocuous remark beyond face value. So much for all those lectures on looking underneath the underneath. In a way, he was a little disappointed that she hadn’t caught on completely, since it reflected badly on a lesson he’d thought was firmly drilled into her by now. And yet… it was also good that she hadn’t. After all, there was still something to be learned here.

“So,” Sakura began while squeezing his hand playfully. “If you don’t deliver on this masterpiece of a quilt, what do I get?”

“Who says you get anything?” Kakashi fired back promptly. “This was an agreement, not a bet.”

“Yes, but as with most agreements there are usually fallouts for failure of completion,” she argued. “Like, if you break contract with a trade ally, they have the right to press for damages and loss of income. Or if you get caught sharing village secrets they send a hunter squad after you.”

Eyebrows arching, Kakashi asked in an amused tone, “Are you suggesting you’ll get the Hokage to send a squad of ANBU hunters after me for not making you a quilt?”

Laughing at his joke, Sakura wrinkled her nose and said, “No, nothing that extreme! More like... Oh, I don’t know… you have to give me Icha Icha Paradise for one whole week.”

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully as he considered this new stipulation. “And if I’m successful?” he pressed curiously. The fact that she’d named his beloved book as the prize for the incompletion of the promised quilt made every fiber in his being scream out a warning. It occurred to him then that he’d never had the chance to finish his coin toss. Damn it… and the coin was still in his other pants pocket, too.

Sakura blinked slowly as the realization that a bet worked both ways suddenly dawned on her. Taking a slow breath in, her eyes flickered to the side thoughtfully as she tried to come up with something that would equate in personal value to Icha Icha Paradise. “If you’re successful,” she repeated slowly, as if still thinking through her end of the arrangement. “I’ll… I’ll flash you.”

It was now his turn to blink slowly as he regarded the girl across from him, not fully trusting that his ears had heard correctly. Did she really just say she’d flash him if he made her a quilt? Clearing his throat, Kakashi asked hesitantly, “With or without a bra?”

Cheeks coloring brightly, Sakura delivered an almost savage kick to his leg, causing him to wince as he reach down to rub the tender spot. “With a bra, of course,” she hissed angrily.

“Just thought I’d check,” he muttered.

“Well, you should have known better! Like I’d flash you without a bra just for some quilt…”

Pride stung that she would refer to his work as ‘just some quilt’, Kakashi stopped rubbing his abused shin in favor of grabbing the spot right above one of her knee caps… the one he knew from an accident during a training session would throw her into spastic fits of laughter. Poor Sasuke hadn’t wanted to go anywhere near her legs after the resulting -and completely unintentional- injury he’d received to his, ah… male anatomy. And Sakura had spent the next three weeks groveling for the dark haired boy to forgive her, as he recalled.

A loud, high-pitched squeak tore from her throat as her entire body jerked almost violently, her movements so sharp and sudden that the table actually rocked on its base. Water and tea splashed over the sides of their cups to splatter onto the flat surface as the table went rocking back into place once again. By the time he was done, Sakura was almost half way under the table and frantically clinging to her skirt to keep it from riding up, while a good majority of the restaurant was staring at them curiously.

Trying very hard not to laugh as she squirmed her way back into a sitting position with a raging blush coloring not only her cheeks but her neck as well, Kakashi drawled, “Well… That was certainly fun.”

Scowling and looking as if she wanted nothing more than to jam her chopsticks in his eye, Sakura continued to pluck fussily at her dress as she muttered, “Sure, if by fun you mean that was the most horrible thing in the world.”

“It’s only horrible if you’re on the receiving end of it. Personally, I rather enjoyed it. I haven’t seen you jump like that since that one time a snake found its way into your bedroll.”

Sakura grimaced at that memory, her shoulders shuddering visibly. “Don’t remind me. I thought it was one of Naruto’s stupid pranks.”

“Mm… I remember that.” And the reason he remembered that was because he’d had to restrain a particularly furious kunoichi from beating her teammate unconscious. He’d sported claw marks down his arms for a solid week as a result of saving Naruto’s life.

Apparently, she remembered that as well because she peeked guiltily at him through lowered lashes. “You were really nice that day. I don’t think I ever thanked you for it.”

A thread of warmth wound its way through his chest at her words, prompting him to smile even as he shrugged it off by saying, “It was nothing.” All he’d done was fish the snake out of her bedroll and let her have his when she’d looked ready to puke at the idea of sleeping in hers again.

It was a damn good thing they’d been out in the middle of nowhere at the time. If anyone from the village had caught him sleeping in a pink, floral printed sleeping bag… And the reason neither of the boys had said a word was due to some veiled threats in regard to them being able to wake up in the morning should it get out. So… his reputation for being a hard ass remained nice and safe to this day.

The smile she gave him was warm and maybe just a touch affectionate as she traced a shy finger along the rim of her cup. “Well, to you it was probably nothing, but to a terrified girl… it was pretty cool.”

“Pretty cool?” he repeated, arching a brow.

The look on her face said she was completely unmoved by his nudging. “Yes, pretty cool,” she said firmly, as if there would be no debating this fact. “As in, I thought you were cool for maybe four-point-two seconds before you did something that was so completely uncool that I forgot all about it.”

Slumping dismally, his posture the very picture of the word despondency, Kakashi sighed heavily and muttered, “You really know how to stroke a guy’s ego, Sakura.”

Grinning cheekily, Sakura propped her elbows on the table and laced her fingers together to rest her chin on. “If you feel so abused, why do you keep coming back for more?”

“For the same reason I agreed to teach; I’m a glutton for punishment.”

“So… you like being punished?”

Kakashi fought very hard not to read more into the question than innocent fun. Sakura didn’t mean it the way his perverted mind heard it, despite the teasing little smile playing on her lips. However… she’d already done several things to readjust his perspective of the ‘innocent girl’ act he’d been used to from her. What if this was yet another attempt to knock him off balance?

Holding her gaze as he sprawled more comfortably in the booth, Kakashi said in a low, sensual tone, “Depends mostly on who’s doing the punishing.”

Color tinted her cheeks and her eyes widened a touch in surprise at his words. Sakura’s lips parted to release a low, shuddering breath. Her eyes, normally the color of new leaves, were now a shade closer to being evergreen as her tongue flicked out to wet lips that had suddenly gone dry. Kakashi couldn’t help but follow that almost imperceptible swipe of pink as it quickly darted out from her mouth. Once again, he clamped down hard on an overactive imagination trying to plague him with other things that pert tongue could do.

“R-Really?” she stammered breathlessly, her fingers skimming over the table top nervously.

Nodding slowly, Kakashi reached across the space between them and traced his fingers over hers lightly, instantly stopping their uneasy movements. “Really,” he replied softly. “If it’s someone like, say, Tsunade doing the punishing, you know it’s going to be something awful.”

It took her a few seconds before the joke finally sank in through the haziness caused by their verbal foreplay. Sakura’s brows furrowed slightly as she repeated his words to herself, her lips moving but no sound coming out. When it finally occurred to her that he hadn’t been referring to anything sexual at all (changing the subject for his benefit as well as hers), Sakura broke out into a wide grin and pinched his hand sharply.

“You’re such a dork, Kakashi,” she giggled, catching her lower lip between her teeth as their fingers twined once again.

“I can live with that,” he answered pleasantly. “I’d rather be a dork than-,”

“Well, well… isn’t this a pretty picture,” a man’s voice drawled from the crowd of people.

Kakashi stifled a groan as both he and Sakura turned to look at the couple separating from the rest of the patrons to approach their table. He knew the owner of that voice very well. He also knew from past experience that when said owner smiled like he’d just won a year’s worth of lap dances that it never boded well. And something told him that all that bad energy was going to be directed on him any minute. Well… there was only one way to find out what he’d done to deserve such bad juju, and that was to play along.

And then exact retribution on the offending party later if it turned out to be really bad juju.

Forcing a cheerful expression onto his face, Kakashi flicked his hand in an idle wave toward Genma and Shizune. “Yo! What are you two doing here?”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This… was awesome. This was the best thing ever. If it weren’t for the fact that Shizune put her extensive knowledge of the human body to deviant use in bed, he’d almost say it was as good as sex.

After all, it wasn’t every day a guy got to blackmail Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja of Konoha. And Genma would be damned if he wasn’t going to savor every last minute of this rare and precious treat.

Shrugging as he chewed on the toothpick stuck between his lips, Genma regarded his victim with wicked delight. “Oh, nothing much. Shizune and I are just out for dinner. Same as you two, apparently,” he drawled, ignoring Shizune as she whispered his name like a plea. He rubbed the hand curved around her waist along her hip in a comforting gesture, letting her know silently he knew what he was doing. And what he was doing was getting revenge on a two-faced, copying son of a bitch.

Kakashi knew something was up, no surprise there. It was evident in the little things, such as the way his eyes remained cheerfully crinkled and how he was nodding as if what Genma had said was the most logical thing he’d heard all year. But Kakashi also wasn’t simply telling him to shove off, which meant he was going to play along… for now.

The silver haired man indicated both Genma and Shizune with a quick gesture and asked, “Going for the monochromatic look, are we?” He was referring to the fact that they were both dressed in all black. “Or are you trying to pass off that matching couple look?”

Snorting contemptuously, Genma raked a hand back through his loose hair and replied, “Not hardly. We’re in mourning right now, so show a little respect.” As if he’d be caught dead wearing matching track uniforms or anything like that! He and Shizune took very careful measures to make sure that sort of thing never happened. Some people (like Hatake Kakashi) would never let them hear the end of it if they became ‘that couple’.

The once-over Kakashi gave Shizune clearly said there was no way in hell he thought her dress was at all appropriate for mourning. Genma agreed, though it was with a bit more enthusiasm than the silver haired man. What wasn’t to love about shiny black fabric that left a lot of bare back and leg for viewing? “Is that so?” Kakashi murmured thoughtfully, not at all convinced.

“Oh, that’s awful,” Sakura exclaimed in dismay, a look of utmost sympathy written across her face. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Genma-san. May I ask who you’re mourning for?”

Sighing dramatically, he pressed a dramatic hand to his chest and ignored the fact that Shizune was more than likely rolling her eyes at him. “Tonight, we’re in mourning… for my social life,” he announced austerely.

The reaction he got from the other couple was a matching set of blank stares. All they needed now to make the scene complete was a string quartet of crickets.

“Do I even wanna ask why?” Sakura asked sarcastically, much to Shizune’s amusement.

Shooting his snickering lover an annoyed glance, Genma replied curtly, “Sure you do, seeing as your man here’s part of the reason why tomorrow is gonna suck more than an extended mission in Suna during the summer.”

Immediately, Sakura swung a hard, accusing glare toward Kakashi, who held his hands up as if to ward off an attack and replied, “Don’t look at me like that. This is the first I’ve head of it, too. Been away on a mission for almost two weeks, remember?”

“Please, just ignore him,” Shizune pleaded, twisting away as Genma tried to give her hip a good pinch. “He’s just upset that he has to start training his genin team tomorrow.”

Traitorous woman. And all this time he’d thought she loved him. Groaning, Genma swiped a hand down his face and bit out, “It’s not the training part that’s bothersome. It’s the fact that Iruka hand-picked the little demons.”

“They surely aren’t as bad as the files indicated,” his lover argued. That was one thing he truly did adore about her; Shizune was ever the optimist.

Unfortunately, optimism didn’t change the fact that Iruka had still been holding a grudge against him when picking who got which team. Apparently, returning stolen Academy property (which hadn’t been stolen by him in the first place) was a sure fired way to piss off the instructors there. He knew he should have left that stupid thing out in the middle of the damn forest!

Genma arched a brow at Shizune and said dryly, “You saw their Academy files. If I don’t attempt to fly off the Hokage monument, I’ll be in jail for mass murder. I mean it.” Sighing dismally, he shook his head and cast a sad glance at the tabletop. “Maybe I should just walk in and fail them like a certain someone.”

“Surely you aren’t referring to me as that ‘certain someone’. Each and every genin they sent my way had a fair shot at getting through,” Kakashi drawled, fixing the sort of glare on Genma that had probably made his own genin team wet themselves. Too bad for him the person he was directing that glare at was a grown-ass man.

Genma waved that off as if it were only a minor detail and leaned against the side of the booth Kakashi was sitting in. “Anyway,” he continued. “That’s all beside the point. What I’m doing here, at this very moment, is collecting on a debt… which is now being charged interest seeing as part of the reason Iruka felt the need to select my team personally is all your fault, Hatake.”

Once again, Sakura shot a what-did-you-do-now look at her date, to which Kakashi gave a subtle shake of his head. “I don’t remember a debt,” he mumbled as Shizune gave her own date’s waist a tug and whispered something about maybe finding another restaurant. Umm… No. It didn’t matter where they went at this hour, the wait was going to be at least thirty to sixty minutes. They’d just been about to leave when Genma had spotted a familiar mop of pale silver hair and discovered that, hey, they had a shot at getting seated sooner.

Ignoring her, Genma motioned to the table with a tilt of his chin, earning him a narrow eyed don’t-even-think-it glare from the man next to him. “I ran an errand for you before you left, one that took me by the Academy as you may recall. And as a payment, I thought we’d join you guys for dinner so that we don’t have to wait an hour for a table to open up.”

It was a reasonable request, one that it looked like the copy ninja was going to answer with a firm ‘hell, no’… That was until his much younger, and far kinder, date opened her mouth and said, “That’d be lovely! We just ordered not too long ago, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem for our waitress to add onto it.”

Shizune, always the polite one of their dynamic duo, bowed deeply and said with utmost sincerity, “We really appreciate this, Kakashi-san, Sakura-chan.”

Smiling happily, Sakura scooted into the far corner of the booth to make room for Shizune. Kakashi meanwhile gave Genma what had to be the dirtiest look he’d received in a long time. To further grind in the fact that the copy ninja’s ‘date’ was being horned in on, Genma nudged the seated man with his knee and said, “Shove over, Kakashi. I’m not gonna stand and eat.”

“Maybe it’d be better for you to get a chair?” the other man hinted, not at all attempting to be civil. He gave a sudden jerk and winced as the pink haired girl across from him sent him a meaningful glare. Sighing irritably, Kakashi dutifully crammed himself into the corner and allowed Genma to drop into the spot next to him.

The waitress circled back around to their table, smiling broadly as she noted the newcomers. “Hey, there,” she spoke over the din of the other patrons, dropping two menus in front of Genma and Shizune. “I’m Yumi. Can I get you guys something to drink?”

“Yeah, do you have Orion on tap?” Genma asked as he flipped the menu open, letting the cover whack Kakashi’s knuckles. The result of that was Kakashi studiously ignoring his existence, which was just as good a response as any. Oh… tonight was going to be such fun!

“Sure do! Sixteen or twenty-two?”

“Twenty-two. I’m trying not to remember the reason why I’ve gotta get up in the morning.”

Chuckling, the waitress looked toward Shizune for her order.

“I’ll have a glass of the house white, please,” the dark haired woman said, smiling pleasantly.

Nodding, Yumi went to place their drink orders, leaving behind a very mixed atmosphere at the table. As soon as she was gone, Shizune and Sakura instantly struck up a quiet, happy conversation involving hospital talk while across from them, well… Things were fairly frigid.

Smoothing a finger over a deep gouge in the table top, Kakashi muttered, “What are you up to, Genma?”

Genma leered at his sometimes-friend and flicked at the strands of hair that had fallen into his eyes airily. “I think that should be pretty obvious by now, Hatake,” he replied, speaking just as low so that the ladies didn’t catch on that all wasn’t peachy keen between their dates.

“I have nothing to do with the fact that you allowed yourself to get caught returning a projector.”

“True… but you are responsible for stealing that projector to begin with, which in turn is why Iruka decided to stick me with the loveliest group of kiddies he could find. So, in a roundabout way… you’re totally to blame for me being miserable for the next several months.”

Kakashi gave an imperceptible shake of his head, his brow rising briefly in a display of disbelief. “Your logic sometimes is simply astounding,” he remarked sarcastically.

Grin widening, Genma shrugged and leaned back as the waitress returned with his beer. “Yeah, I get that a lot,” he said, choosing to ignore the lack of sincerity in that last comment. “But… you know what they say about paybacks.”

“That they’re like your mother?”

Now that he couldn’t help laughing at, especially when he caught the slight crinkling near the corner of Kakashi’s eye that meant the other man was smiling as well. Yeah, the reason he’d suggested trying to sponge some seating off of Kakashi instead of finding another place was mostly because he wanted to make the copying son of a bitch squirm… but that didn’t mean he wanted to completely alienate one of the few people he truly did regard in a friendly sense.

That was one good thing about Hatake Kakashi; very little actually bothered him, and when it did he was usually over it in a matter of minutes, unless it was something serious of course. What Genma was doing now constituted as maybe some slight feather ruffling, but nothing more.

“Cute, Hatake,” he chuckled, earning a confused glance from the women across from them. “Next time I see dear old mom, I’ll tell her you said that.”

“Mm. You do that. And tell her thanks for the apple cookies. They were delicious.”

“Will do. Hey, Shizune, wanna split the spicy shrimp stuff?”

Shizune blinked quickly, stopping mid-sentence in whatever she and Sakura had been talking about. “Oh, umm… What page is that on?” she asked distractedly as she flipped through the menu.

“Page three, middle,” Genma supplied. “I’m sorta feeling something with a kick.” He grinned and winked at her as he brought his beer up for a quick sip. The ‘kick’ he was referring to would come later, when the cayenne pepper took effect.

After reading something not too long ago about spicy foods being good for the libido, he’d rediscovered his love of tingling lips and burning dental palette. Not that he needed any chemical stimulation in order to deliver top notch loving whenever his woman wanted it. Sometimes, all Shizune had to do was look at him a certain way and it was on. But an extra little boost never hurt, right?

Groaning under her breath, Shizune slapped the menu onto the tabletop and frowned disapprovingly at her lover. “For the last time, Genma, foods are not aphrodisiacs. There is absolutely no medical or scientific documentation to support this!”

And then there were the times where she completely sucked the fun out of something with her insanely detailed knowledge of the medical world. Pouting as he fingered a corner of the plastic coated menu that was beginning to curl up, he muttered, “Just because it hasn’t been dissected within an inch of its life in a lab…”

“Actually, Tsunade-shishou was just talking about that today,” Sakura piped up in support of Shizune, who was now smirking in his direction at having found a fellow playmate in the sciences to confirm what she said was true. “She was saying that food as an aphrodisiac was nothing better than a placebo and that it was the belief people put behind those old wives’ tales that made them appear effective.”

“Oh, yeah?” Genma countered immediately, smiling as the younger girl leaned away from the finger he was pointing at her like it was a kunai. “Then how do you explain all those old horny bastards who eat a plate of raw oysters and then spring a boner every time a pretty girl walks by?”

“Pretty gross imagery is how I’d explain it,” Kakashi remarked blandly, causing the senbon user to snicker and give him an approving nudge for his quick wit. Sakura bit back her own little smile at the pale haired man’s quip while Shizune’s frown intensified as the ‘schoolmarm look’ settled firmly across her features. Genma groaned and rubbed a hand over his face, preparing himself for yet another medical lecture.

“First of all,” she began, ticking the points off on her fingers. “It’s perfectly possible for older men to still be fully capable of an erection without the aid of supplements. Second of all, you’re not including the fact that there are plenty of people who eat oysters regularly who do not experience any increase in sexuality. And thirdly, may I remind you again that there is no laboratory testing that has proven this is even possible? So, until I see it on a slide or in a medical journal… it’s not true.”

Holding up his hands defensively, Genma exclaimed, “Okay, okay! Thanks for the info, Medic Shizune. Do you want the spicy shrimp or not?”

“That sounds good, actually. Can we get extra limes on the side though?”

“Anything you want.” Genma took the menu Shizune handed to him and set it along the edge of the table, winking at his lover to let her know he’d only been teasing her. In return, she flashed a flirtatious glance back, one that said aphrodisiacs wouldn’t be needed once they got home. Sa-weet! Basking in the knowledge that he’d be getting some grade-A sexing later, Genma nodded toward Sakura and asked, “So, how’s the old hag treating you, Sakura-chan? Working you like a slave, I can imagine.”

A cold, censorious look flashed through her bright green eyes, one probably brought on by the fact that he’d referred to her precious mentor as an old hag. But just as she was about to open her mouth to start on what promised to be a tirade to rival Shizune’s, Kakashi interjected smoothly and said, “Actually, Sakura was saying something earlier about the Hokage teaching her to make poisons. Isn’t that right, Sakura?”

There was just a bit of a suggestive purr to his question, one that wasn’t at all sexual and that Sakura picked up on without any further prompting. Back straightening primly as a wicked little smirk teased the corners of her lips, she replied cheerfully, “Yes, that’s right. It’s really very interesting, Genma-san. Like, did you know most of the ingredients for poisoning someone can actually be found within the home? Why, I can’t even begin to imagine how nicely stocked a restaurant would be…”

Clearing his throat as he took the hint to leave off of the Hokage for now or risk having an amateur dose him up, Genma nodded and mumbled, “Yeah, sounds really fascinating.”

The waitress returned then with a refill on drinks as well as to take their order, giving Genma a much appreciated break on the topic of potentially being poisoned. The menus disappeared with the waitress, as did the not-so-fun conversation from only moments before. Running his fingers back through his hair idly, Genma turned and scrutinized the man next to him. “I thought you said you’d just returned from a mission, Kakashi,” he commented, confusion pinching at his brow.

Nodding once, Kakashi set his water down and answered, “I did.”

“Then how come you don’t smell like a wet dog?” He was referring to a time where he’d bumped into Kakashi returning from a long-haul mission in Wave Country. The copy ninja had been away for a month tracking down some missing nin. He’d camped out most of the time due to the quarries’ constant movement, and Wave Country being what it was… well, it rained. Nonstop. Kakashi had been forced to curl up with his mutts to stay warm and had come home smelling the worse for ware.

Their landlady hadn’t wanted to let him in with the stench and the thick layers of mud… so Genma, being the gentleman that he was, had taken Kakashi out back and hosed him down good. And he never missed a chance of reminding the other man about that incident.

“It’s a little thing called a shower and a bar of soap. Apparently, it’s all the rage,” Kakashi replied sardonically, having caught the reference.

Playing along with the deadpanned tone, Genma arched his brows and drawled thoughtfully, “That so?”

Kakashi nodded again, the very picture of gravity as he regarded Genma with a level stare. “Mm-hmm. Women love it.” He flashed a wink across to his date, who in turn made a scoffing sound as she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s really what caught my attention,” Sakura commented dryly, though with a smile twitching at her lips. “Standard issue soap is soooo sexy.”

“Well, seeing as I apparently have absolutely no redeeming qualities, I can only assume you keep coming back because the showers really do work,” the silver haired man retorted with a happy eye crease.

Sakura’s eyes were warm as she reached across and gave Kakashi’s hand an affectionate squeeze. When he turned his hand over in response so that their palms met, both Genma and Shizune shared long, pointed looks. Hatake Kakashi wasn’t the sort of man who did public displays of affection with his dates, not without quite a bit of arm twisting from the lady. Shizune probably thought this was some groundbreaking achievement for the slightly reclusive man, but Genma knew better than that. The reason he was being amenable was probably more because of the fact that he was playing the younger girl than because he’d suddenly discovered his softer, squishy side.

Still though… there was a warmth to the man’s dark eye that seemed a little too genuine to be faked. Kakashi was a good actor when the occasion called for it, but Genma doubted even the Copy Ninja was that good. Immediately, he shoved any thoughts that perhaps Kakashi was actually falling for his target out of his head. This was business, and Hatake Kakashi never mixed business with pleasure.

But oh, the irony if that was the case; Kakashi being seduced by the student he was trying to seduce.

Genma was still chuckling to himself at the very notion, earning him a questioning glance from Shizune, as the waitress came back with a tray of food. “Okay,” she announced, skillfully flipping the folding stand out to rest her tray on while still balancing their meals. “Sukiyaki for two and fire shrimp. I’ll be back a little later to check on you guys.”

“Thank you,” Shizune called as the woman rushed off once again.

“So,” Genma continued as he began dishing out shrimp and vegetables onto a spare plate. “After this, Shizune and I were gonna hit up Omajinai for a bit. Asuma and Kurenai are supposed to be meeting us there… but they’ve been acting kinda weird lately, don’t you think?”

Kakashi shrugged indifferently as he poked his chopsticks at the food on his plate. “I can’t say as I’ve really noticed,” he replied idly, his brow pinching slightly as he studied the mushroom he’d recently stabbed with the end of a chopstick. “Do you plan to stare at me all during dinner?”

Genma was momentarily confused by the question, seeing as he hadn’t been looking at the other man at all. Following the half-lidded, lazy look Kakashi was directing across the table, the senbon user grinned when he noticed Sakura was watching her date with all the intent and focus of someone finally getting the gift of their dreams. So… she seriously thought she was gonna see Kakashi’s face? The girl obviously didn’t know the masked man very well. Kakashi was the only man in the entire world who could go out to dinner with someone, sit across from them while eating and enjoying polite conversation without that person once catching a peek at his face. It was an odd talent, to be sure.

Smirking as Kakashi continued to toy with his food while Sakura watched him like a hawk, Genma quipped, “Trust me, Sakura-chan, it’s not much to look at.”

That wasn’t a total lie either. Hatake Kakashi really wasn’t much to look at… depending on who was asked. Since Genma preferred individuals with more curvaceous figures, Kakashi didn’t score very high on the Hot List. However, he also knew for a fact that Shizune thought the copy ninja was a very good looking man. She’d pretty much admitted it to him several months back after he’d caught her sneaking a peak at his lower assets. It didn’t bother Genma if he happened to catch her staring at the other man’s ass every now and then. She could look all she wanted. He knew who she would ultimately end up going home with.

Frowning, Sakura broke her trance long enough to send a quick pout in Genma’s direction as she said, “Even if it’s not, the fact that I haven’t seen it is- Hey! You took a bite!”

“Di-na,” Kakashi mumbled back around a mouthful of hot sukiyaki. His eye watered a little as he immediately reached for the glass of water on the table. Half the glass of ice cold water disappeared in a few heavy gulps in an effort to alleviate the burning sting in his mouth. “Be careful of the meat,” he continued, voice rasping a little as he set the glass down once again. “It’ll burn the skin right off your tongue.”

Huffing in annoyance, Sakura dropped her chopsticks on the table in favor of crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re ridiculous,” she muttered, shaking her head.

Offering a comforting smile, Shizune patted the younger girl’s shoulder and said quietly, “Most men usually are, Sakura-chan. And the older they get, the more ridiculous they become.”

“Then Kakashi-sensei’s older than dirt!” the pink haired girl fired back, causing Genma to burst out laughing while Kakashi gave her a decidedly unfriendly glance.

“Or maybe it’s because you keep poking at the subject,” Kakashi replied evenly.

“So, you’re saying that if I stop asking that I’ll get to see?”

Kakashi shrugged noncommittally and returned to poking holes in his vegetables. “What were you saying about Omajinai, Genma?”

Taking the cue to change the subject (much to Sakura’s annoyance), Genma set his beer down and nodded. “Right, about Omajinai. Anyway, Shizune and I are heading over there later for some fun. I don’t know if Asuma and Kurenai are gonna show or not, but if you two aren’t doing anything you should come on over.”

“What’s Omajinai?” Sakura asked curiously, redirecting her attention from Kakashi long enough for him to sneak another bite of food. Instantly, her eyes narrowed to thin, angry slits as she caught the tail end of his hand movements, one manicured nail tapping irritably on the table top. “And don’t think for one second you’re being at all sneaky over there!”

“Sneakiness is expected of a ninja, remember?” the silver haired man replied cheerfully, uncaring that his response only made her glare intensify.

“Omajinai,” Shizune explained, leaning forward so as to draw Sakura’s wrath away from her date. “Is a gaming establishment about four blocks up from here. It’s mostly for darts and pool, but there’s also some betting games in the back. It’s also a good venue for live music. Though, I do think you have to be eighteen to enter…”

Genma wagged a finger at his lover and said, “Not if you have a chaperoning adult over twenty-five.” He looked pointedly over at Kakashi, who in turn was doing his best to disappear into the corner of the booth.

Unfortunately, the other man’s squirming was put to a short end as Shizune spoke up once again. “I certainly don’t mind filling the role, Sakura-chan. That is, if you and Kakashi-san are interested in going?”

Sakura turned hopeful green eyes on her date, seemingly unaware that his bowl was now scraped so clean it looked as if it hadn’t been used. Genma felt his lips curve upward slowly as that hopeful look began to morph into a full out, pleading, puppy-eyed expression. When her lower lip curved out into the faintest of pouts, it was all he could do to not smack the other man in the head and tell him to just give in already. It would take a real coldhearted son of a bitch to refuse a look like that.

But a coldhearted son of a bitch was the very definition of Hatake Kakashi, so expecting the man to crumble when faced with what had to be the best puppy face ever to be pulled off by a human was-

“Sure, sounds fun,” Kakashi answered with a pleasant shrug.

What in the hell was going on here? Both Genma and Shizune blinked in shock at the pale haired man as Sakura flashed a bright, ecstatic smile and returned to her dinner. Genma shook his head lightly to clear it and wondered briefly if some smart ass had worked a genjutsu over on him. First the hand holding and now he was caving to puppy eyes? Not to mention that Kakashi had just gotten back from a mission that had gone longer than planned. Just the fact that he was even out and not buried in bed went against everything Genma knew of the man. It had to be part of the attentive suitor ruse… but there was that look in his eye again, the one of such genuine affection that it couldn’t have been faked.

Sighing under his breath, Genma shook his head once again and took a deep swig of beer. Either this was the acting job of the century... or Hatake Kakashi was completely oblivious to the fact that he was falling for his target. Or maybe it was the full moon playing tricks on him. At this point, Genma was almost prepared to believe anything.

Including that certain foods weren’t aphrodisiacs.


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Despite the fact that it was almost eleven at night, they were covered in sludge and sweat and had moved at a full sprint for the last six miles… the sight of Konoha’s enormous gates was the most beautiful thing Tenten had seen in so long! Her leg muscles were twitching in tiny, spastic movements from the strain, her lungs were burning as they gasped for an even breath, yet she still managed a wide, albeit sleepy, grin at being home once again. Granted, it was only for four days before Team Gai was on the road again… but it was going to be a glorious four days! No more camp rations, no more traveling from dawn to near-dawn…

“Lee! Be at training ground three by six tomorrow morning. Now that we’re back on our mutual rival’s home turf you must work harder than ever if you want to be successful!”

“Yes, Gai-sensei! I look forward to it!”

… And no more listening to their team leader train his favorite student how to pickpocket porn. Tenten sighed happily and glanced over to where Neji was hunched and panting, hands on his knees with his hair curtaining his face. While the idea of being able to soak her sore feet in a tub of warm water with some of those fancy bath salts Ino’d given her for her birthday sounded like heaven, what made these next few days off even better was the fact that Neji had them off as well.

Hyuuga Neji… who’d said he liked her too.

Obviously, they hadn’t had a chance to expand on their conversation, not with their overly dramatic mentor and teammate so close by. Plus… it seemed kind of impractical to be discussing what to do now that they liked each other on a mission. It was all well and good for an Icha Icha chapter if there was romance blooming during a mission. But in reality? That was a big, fat ‘hell no’.

Tenten’s thoughts were disrupted from the pleasant fantasies of just what she and Neji could do on their time off when Maito Gai whipped a finger in their direction and declared loudly, “And you two… Good work! Not only did you manage to keep pace with Lee and myself but you also encouraged us to go faster.”

Instantly, any joy she’d felt at being home was swept away in a wave of disbelief. “You mean,” she panted, eyes rounding incredulously at their teacher. “That you… and Lee… both started running faster… ‘cause Neji and I… were keeping up?!”

Beaming at his only female student, Gai gave her thumbs up and confirmed proudly, “That’s right! I push you, you push me. That’s what teamwork is for!”

Tenten glanced over at Neji when she heard what sounded vaguely like, “Sadist…” come from the dark haired boy. She snickered, prompting him to peer at her from between the strands of hair swinging over his shoulders.

Clapping his hands to get their attention, Gai planted his fists on his hips and announced, “Goodbye for now, my incredibly awesome team! Try not to miss my presence too much for the next few days. However, if you find yourselves in need of my guidance… you know where to find me!” Crouching low, the eccentric man gave a hard push off the ground and disappeared over the wall in a single jump. Without telling them where they could find him, should they be insane enough to do so.

A sniffle drew her attention away from their leader’s dramatic exit to Lee, who was still staring after Gai with shining eyes. “Gai-sensei… is so cool,” he choked out, admiration dripping from his words.

“Yeah, he’s something alright,” Tenten commented, grinning when she caught sight of Neji’s answering smirk. In truth, Gai wasn’t such a bad leader. He really cared about everyone on his team and did his best to be there when they needed him to be. But sometimes… his oddities were almost too much to handle. Combine that with Lee fueling his weirdness and it made for a really… unique working arrangement. Tenten seriously believed that if it weren’t for Neji’s steady presence (and shared misery on occasion) she would have gone cracked a long time ago.

Taking a deep, satisfying breath, Lee’s hands curled into determined fists as he continued to stare out over the rooftops of Konoha. “I too shall say goodnight,” he said, his tone a mirror of his hero’s in tenacity. “In order to perform my best, it is necessary to have ample rest!”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Tenten sighed, twisting her upper body around to loosen the kink that had formed just under her ribs. “G’night.”

Neji didn’t reply to Lee’s comment, and Lee didn’t stick around to wait for it. Even after being together for almost four years, those two still weren’t well off with each other. Oh, sure they worked together perfectly as a team… but forget anything of a social nature.

Speaking of social… She was alone. With Neji. Tenten swallowed against the tightness in her throat and offered a weak smile to her teammate/love interest. Neji’s brow furrowed almost thoughtfully and what looked like a little bit of color touched his pale cheeks. Swinging her arms idly, just to do something to break up the awkward tension, Tenten drawled, “Sooo…”

“So,” Neji repeated, voice a little stiff and uneasy. If she didn’t know any better, she’d almost say he sounded nervous. But that was a stupid thing to think about a Hyuuga. Well... except if it was in regards to Hinata, of course.

“I guess… I’ll see you around then,” she added when it became apparent he wasn’t going to keep the conversation going. Another bout of silence fell between them, complete with the chirping of crickets in the background. Greeeeat… Grimacing slightly, Tenten tucked her hands in her pockets and began walking toward the gate.

Maybe he hadn’t meant ‘like’ in the same way she had after all. Maybe Neji’d only meant he-

“Is it normal to walk away from someone you claim to like in a more than platonic sense without arranging a time to meet outside of the team environment?” Neji called in a tone that someone other than her would have said was cold. But she knew Hyuuga Neji very well now and knew better than anyone outside of the family clan just how to dissect his voice.

And instead of hearing the cold formality of someone talking to a lesser person, all she heard was the thread of uncertainty tinged with a touch of hope. Smiling briefly to herself, Tenten slowly turned around to face him again. “Since when has Team Gai been normal?” she joked, drawing a quick little smirk from him before he could stop it.

Neji took a casual step toward her, his opalescent eyes staring at the gate like he intended to memorize every last detail. “Do you know of the Shinbuki Gardens just south of the Hyuuga compound?”

Tenten nodded, her breath caught in her chest. Holy crap… was he seriously asking her out on a date? On the one hand, she really hoped he was, but on the other… she was afraid she might pass out from shock if that was what he was getting at.

“The Shinbuki Gardens are especially nice to walk in this time of year. Especially around four in the afternoon,” he remarked as casually as if they were discussing the weather.

A wide, happy grin spread across her lips before she could even think to check it and a giddy feeling swept over her. Forcing herself to take steady, even breaths in order to tame her racing heart, Tenten managed to contrive a bit of nonchalance as she replied, “That so, huh? Might have to check that out, say… day after tomorrow.”

Neji gave a crisp, curt nod as he tucked his hands into his pockets and began heading back down the road they’d just traveled on for his own home. “The day after tomorrow is probably the most ideal time to do so,” he said as he passed her by, leaving her staring at him long after the shadows of the surrounding trees had swallowed him up.

It took her several more seconds to recover from her shock before Tenten released a long, low breath and all but skipped back to her small apartment. She… had a date… with Hyuuga Neji. She, Tenten, was going to be on a date with the Hyuuga Neji in two days, at the Shinbuki Gardens. Wow…

Now all she had to do was get a crash course in botany. And she knew just the right blonde for the job.


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AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: Whooooa… Sorry, everyone for the REALLY long delay in posting. Finals and life stuff and… life stuff. –ahem- Anyway, thank you to the following people for inspiration/technical advice on this chapter:

red_brunja

ShipperTrish

mirarie

Kodukadvakch

If I could send you all cookies and little cartoon bubble hearts, I would. Thank you VERY much.

And thank you to ALL of the readers/reviewers for your patience and continued interest in this fic. It’s really and truly appreciated.