Double Edged

Song Reference: Head Over Feet

Artist: Alanis Morissette

Lyrics: You’ve already won me over in spite of me/And don’t be alarmed if I fall head over feet/Don’t be surprised if I love you for all that you are/I couldn’t help it/It’s all your fault


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“Oh, my god, Sakura… He took the mask off!” Ino gushed happily as she clasped her blankly staring friend’s hand excitedly. “So… was their tongue? A little or a lot? And is he as hot as rumor says he is? Did he grope you? Are you even listening to me?!”

Sakura blinked slowly, a small pinch forming between her brows. “What?” she asked softly. That far off look was just beginning to creep out of her eyes as she turned to look at her friend.

Ino groaned in exasperation and flopped back onto the couch. “Sakura, it was only a kiss… wasn’t it?” Her blue eyes widened in disbelief as she pressed a hand to her mouth. “Oh, my… did he sex you up? Are you freakin’ kidding me?!”

“Wha— No! Do you have to be so gross, Pig?” Sakura snapped, shooting a scathing glare at the blonde.

“Then what is it?” the other girl insisted, her voice increasing in volume. “You can’t seriously mean that he kisses that well!”

Sakura turned away from her friend, but not before Ino caught the raging blush staining her cheeks. For a moment, she simply gaped at her friend before she burst out laughing, rolling back onto the couch while clutching her sides. “Forehead… you’re killing me,” she howled, wincing as Sakura jabbed an elbow into her thigh hard enough to hurt. “I can’t believe you’re sitting here spacing out over a kiss!”

“It was a really good kiss,” Sakura defended hotly, pushing up from the couch and leaving the blonde to gasp for breath. “So what if I enjoyed it?”

“Enjoyed it? Sakura, you look like he stripped naked, threw himself across your bed and demanded you give him the stallion treatment.”

“Ew! The stallion treatment? Where the hell did you hear something like that?!” the pink haired girl railed as she stomped down the hall toward her bedroom. “Wait, I know. Probably one of those trashy romance novels you keep burying your nose in!’

“Haruno Sakura, you get back here right now and give me proper details! I let you get away with it this morning, but don’t you dare skimp out on me now! It’s been three months since I had a good make out session!”

“Not my problem, Pig,” Sakura hollered from her bedroom as she began undressing. Her fingers were shaking as she worked the zipper of her shirt free and her cheeks were burning hot. She could still feel Kakashi’s mouth on hers, his tongue stroking inside her mouth. And the way his hands had touched her… She paused with her thumbs hooked in the waistband of her shorts when she caught sight of her reflection in the little vanity mirror.

Her hair was messy and her eyes looked darker than usual. The flush to her cheeks matched the color of her lips, which were a little puffy now that she got a good look at them. Hesitantly, she brushed her fingers across her mouth, following the faint curves lightly. It reminded her immediately of how Kakashi had touched her, his thumb smoothing over her lower lip almost exactly as her finger was doing now. She quickly hugged her arms around her bare stomach and tried to suppress pleasant shiver moving down her spine.

The sound of Ino’s footsteps outside her door snapped her out of her daze. She quickly went back to peeling her shorts down, careful not to look the other girl in the face as she swept into the room. “You know,” the blonde continued, making herself at home on Sakura’s bed and uncaring that her roommate was in her underwear and glaring at her. “You are a horrible friend. I’m suffering through a romantic drought and you’re not doing a damn thing to make it easier. Will you at least tell me if he’s hot?”

“I don’t know,” Sakura mumbled as she rifled through her top drawer and pulled out a baggy shirt for bed. She tugged the shirt over her head before slipping her arms inside to remove the cotton and mesh sports bra with some privacy. “I didn’t see.”

“What?!” Ino snapped, pausing in her pillage for anything of interest in the top drawer of Sakura’s nightstand. There was already a small collection of items on the bed by her elbow, ranging from hair clips to samples of perfume.

Head dropping forward as she heaved a heavy, reluctant sigh, Sakura repeated more clearly, “I didn’t see his face. He… well…”

“Wait… You had this man’s tongue down your throat and you didn’t see his face?” the blonde shouted as she sat up fully, uncaring that her little treasure pile was sent spilling onto the floor. “How the hell could you miss something like that, Forehead?!”

Blushing as she yanked her hitae-ate from her head (which made her blush even harder as she recalled just what had been done with it not too long ago), Sakura grabbed the hairbrush from her dresser and began pulling it harshly through her tangled hair. She saw Ino’s wince through the mirror at the rough treatment, but she didn’t stop until there wasn’t a single snare left and a satisfying collection of pink strands were intertwined in the bristles. “Not that it’s really any of your business, but the reason I didn’t see is because my eyes were covered,” she replied curtly.

At that, Ino arched a brow and shot her reflection an incredulous look. “And why is that? Does Kakashi-sensei carry a blindfold in his back pocket?”

God… she could not stop blushing tonight! Very aware that her friend was laughing at the shade of her face, Sakura made a vague motion toward her hitae-ate on the vanity top.

Ino’s brow furrowed for a moment in confusion, but when it finally dawned on her what Sakura was getting at, her jaw dropped and a light pink color tinted her cheeks for a change. “Y-You mean he… with that… Oh, my… That is so sexy!”

Sakura gaped at her friend as the blonde fanned her face with both hands. “Excuse me?” she asked in disbelief, having steeled herself for some sort of snide remark.

“Wow. No wonder you were out of it,” the other girl continued with an excited gleam in her eyes. “I mean, I had a feeling he was a kink but… wow!”

Nodding slowly as she sank onto the bed next to her roommate, Sakura repeated in a low voice, “Yeah, wow.” She rubbed her hands down her arms as the sensory memory made her skin prickle.

Sighing almost dreamily, Ino reclined back on Sakura’s pillows, hugging one of the smaller ones to her chest. “Sakura… you have got to see his face. It would be a crime against nature if he kisses that nicely and looks like he went face first into a brick wall.”

The pink haired girl looked up from studying her bare toes and frowned at her roommate sharply. “Trust me, I’d bet my income for the entire year he’s not ugly,” she replied dryly. She may not have seen his face but she’d certainly felt enough of it to say with certainty that Hatake Kakashi was not deformed in anyway. Now, whether he was handsome or just average… that was the real mystery.

Ino rolled her eyes and gave Sakura a withering glare. “Well, I’m not gonna believe it until someone confirms it for real. If he’s half as hot as he kisses…” The blonde trailed off as another blush flooded across her cheeks. She cleared her throat and added, “Anyway, you need to kiss him without anything between you and his face. No mask, no blindfold. Nothing.”

Sakura wrinkled her nose as she leaned across the other girl to start tossing the decorative pillows off of the bed. “I don’t really care if I do see his face,” she said, meaning every word of it. Whereas in the past she would have done just about anything to rip that strip of black away, now it didn’t seem like that big a deal. He had his reasons for it and if he wanted her to see he’d show her on his own terms. She was already trying to remove his books from him. It seemed a bit too cruel to try and get beneath the mask as well.

“What?” Ino yelped, moving as Sakura tugged the covers in a less-than-subtle hint that she wanted to lay down. “Why not?”

“Because…,” Because if he really was as hot as his kiss, then she was screwed. She could barely keep her head together as it was while kissing him blindfolded. “Because it’s not my objective. I’m after Icha Icha, not his mask. I’ve gotta stay focused.”

For some reason, this answer seemed to amuse Ino to no end. “Ooooh,” she drawled, a very catty smirk curling her lips. “Is that what the problem is? You’re having trouble staying focused on your mission around him?”

“Yes, that’s what— I mean, no! That’s not what I was saying at all!” Sakura stammered, giving her covers another futile tug in hopes that Ino would clear out.

Ino didn’t budge an inch, her grin widening at the very irritated scowl from her roommate. “Really? Because that’s what it sounded like to me, Forehead. Admit it; you’ve got a crush on sensei!”

“I do not!” she shouted back, furiously jerking the covers out from under the blonde. “So I think he’s a very good kisser? Big deal! And yes, he has several really good qualities and is fun to hang out with. But that doesn’t mean I like him like… that! Now, move!”

“Alright, alright,” Ino grumbled as she scooted off the bed. “Jeez… you’re a real bitch when you’re tired.”

“And what’s your excuse, Pig? You’re like that every day.”

“Hey, now,” the blonde girl argued, planting her hands firmly on her hips as Sakura crawled under the covers and pulled them up so that only her face was sticking out. “Don’t get cranky with me because you’ve got a thing for your teacher.”

“Good night, Pig,” Sakura growled, flicking the little lamp on her nightstand off to signal that was the end of the conversation.

Ino stood for a few seconds longer in the darkened room before she huffed and stomped out, muttering about lame people going to bed at six in the evening. Sakura scowled after her as she snuggled further into her bed. Yeah… she wanted to see Ino work all day after being up since seven in the morning the day before! She considered it a miracle she’d managed to stay awake at all that afternoon.

Despite the fact that exhaustion had seeped its way into every fiber of her body, she couldn’t seem to get her brain to settle down. It was a combination of the caffeine and the fact that she kept repeating that kiss over and over again with Ino’s accusation of her having a crush on Kakashi as an annoying soundtrack. That had been the first time she’d ever been kissed like that in her entire life. She’d heard about it, seen it a few times courtesy of Ino, but she’d never thought she’d actually like it. The idea of someone putting their tongue in her mouth seemed so… unsanitary.

Sakura rolled over onto her back, one arm draped over her head while the other picked at her blankets uneasily. She sucked her lower lip between her teeth while studying the moon-washed coloring of her ceiling, trying to make better sense of everything that had happened. The last two days had been… mind blowing. So much had happened in so little time that it seemed so unreal. She’d received a sort of promotion, been on two dates (she counted the failed dinner and the walk home as a half a date apiece), received two very intense kisses and discovered that she was interested sexually in her much older team leader.

Where the hell did she even start?

Sighing as she raked her fingers back through her hair, Sakura decided to go with the kisses rather than the sexual interest. Just admitting it to herself was enough to make her blush hotly.

There was such a huge difference between those two kisses and the ones prior. In terms of her mission, this was a good thing. It showed an increased interest in her sexually, which was exactly what she’d been aiming for. However, it was also proving to be a little more than she’d been expecting as well. Kakashi was the first man (that she was aware of, at least) to ever give her that look; the one that all the movies portrayed right before the actors shared a passionate kiss… or had sex. Until she’d seen that overwhelming intensity in his eye, she’d always thought it was just something the actors did to make the scene more romantic.

To think someone like Kakashi would look at her like that… it was intimidating, to say the least. She’d never had a man stare at her like he wanted nothing more than to strip her bare and do things that made Ino’s romance novels seem decent in comparison. She’d also never felt like she wouldn’t have minded that either. Even now, despite the fact that she knew she had to keep her head and treat this like a mission, her stomach clenched eagerly at the memory of that kiss.

As if it were a reflexive action, Sakura traced her fingers over her lips once again, closing her eyes as she replayed the kiss in her head for what felt like the hundredth time that evening. Little details that had been overlooked due to her brain shutting down now surfaced more clearly. Such as the fact that she knew he kept a clean jaw line, as was evident by the lack of facial hair scraping against her jaw. His lower lip was also a little fuller than the top, which meant he could probably pull off a decent pout if he wanted to. She was also certain there was absolutely nothing wrong with his teeth.

Sakura rolled over onto her side, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she stared at the wall, still running her fingertips back and forth over her lips. Her first truly passionate kiss. She knew, regardless of her inexperience, that it had been one helluva kiss, too. Just the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about it proved that. Such a surprising mix of gentleness and forcefulness… She could very easily see herself getting hooked on kissing him.

She growled irritably and smacked her pillow, annoyed with herself for even thinking something that stupid. Damn it… why couldn’t he have been really bad at it? Why couldn’t he have suctioned half her face off, drooled all over… done something to make it less enjoyable than it had been! She was already having a hard enough time coping with the fact that he was actually fun to date. It just seemed so unfair that he had to be a good kisser, too.

That last kiss… oh, god… She squirmed under the covers as the warm, achy feeling began to tighten in her lower stomach, the movement making her thighs rub together lightly… and her eyes widened when a jolt of pleasure lanced through her.

Sakura wasn’t so naïve that she didn’t understand the cause of that sensation. She’d spent the last two and a half years studying medicine, after all-- and that included a full course on anatomy and sexual reproduction. By unintentionally applying pressure to the labia and clitoris, she had stimulated the nerve connections which in turn triggered the pleasure receptors in her brain to release endorphins into her system. Naturally, this reaction didn’t happen every time a woman happened to clench her thighs. While always sensitive, this reaction from the vaginal area only occurred when a woman was sexually receptive.

And it was all because she couldn’t get that last kiss out of her head.

In hesitant experimentation, she rubbed her thighs together again. The jolt returned, causing her breath to hitch and her nipples to harden as if cold. She repeated the movement while thinking about the way Kakashi’s mouth had felt on hers—the slow slide of his tongue, the faint taste of coffee, the pressure of his hands as he’d held her to him—and a small gasp edged its way between her parted lips. It felt good. But something told her it could feel great, if only she…

Her hand was sliding across her hip before she was even aware of it, fingers shaking as it traced down over her bare thigh. She was touching the cotton hem of her panties now and the ache had evolved into a dull, needing throb that echoed her pulse. Her fingers trailed slowly inward, tracing the decal design of smiling daisies. Just one last inch and then—

“Yo.”

Sakura bolted upright with a quickly choked off cry at the lazily drawled voice coming from her floor. She pulled her hand away swiftly, her cheeks so hot that it was a miracle her face didn’t catch fire. It took her several panicked moments before she recognized the lumpy mass staring at her as a small pug. Crap… she’d forgotten all about telling him he could come over!

“Pakkun! Jeez… You scared the crap outta me,” she complained, slumping back against her pillows as the adrenaline flooded through her body. She couldn’t believe what she’d been about to do. Hell, she couldn’t believe Pakkun had almost caught her about to do that! She knew that it was normal to touch one’s self in a more sexual sense, but, well… she’d never had the urge to do it before. And it was both embarrassing and a little frightening.

“Sorry. Thought you’d heard me,” the dog commented, stretching to put his front paws as close to the mattress edge as possible. She’d thought it was impossible to blush any harder, but she did when she noticed his crinkled nose sniff the air curiously. “Want me to come back later?”

Sighing heavily, she shook her head before leaning over to scoop the dog up and deposit him on the mattress beside her, all while ignoring the lingering throb between her legs and hoping like hell Pakkun couldn’t actually smell her. That would be beyond embarrassing and she would probably never be able to face the little pug again. She pulled the tiny hitae-ate from his wrinkled face and worked the Velcro tabs on his vest open to pull the garment off as well.

Pakkun grunted gratefully as he turned a couple circles on the bedspread before settling himself between her elbow and her side. “Jubei’s right,” he commented. “Your bed’s much nicer than Kakashi’s.”

“Thanks,” she muttered back, idly scratching her nails along his shoulder and lower chest. “Pakkun?”

“Hn?”

“Am I… What kind of woman does Kakashi like?” The only reason she could think of to ask such a silly question was to attempt to get her mind off… other things.

The pug heaved a deep breath, one that made his whiskers tickle against her forearm. “If you’re askin’ if you’re it, then I’ll tell ya right now you’re nothin’ like the usual females he introduces us to. So… I guess you’re not.”

Sakura cringed as a heavy, sinking feeling settled in her stomach. That shouldn’t have upset her as much as it did. She’d sort of guessed from the way Genma and Shizune had talked that she wasn’t his preferred type. Frowning thoughtfully as the dog next to her rolled over onto his back, she asked, “Then why’d he say yes? If I’m not his type, I mean.”

“Maybe he’s just sick of the usual sort,” Pakkun suggested, groaning blissfully as she found a particularly itchy spot. “The Big Dog knows we’re sick of ‘em.”

That caused her to lift her head just enough to stare at him. “’We’re’ as in… the ninken?”

Pakkun snorted, causing his flopping jowls to jerk with the sharp movement. “Yep. That last one was th’ worst. I’ve eaten rawhides that were more fun than her.”

Sakura giggled, covering her mouth with her free hand to stifle the sound. She didn’t want Ino waltzing back in there to see what was so funny. “What was wrong with her?” she asked, knowing she probably shouldn’t pry but feeling extremely curious at the same time.

“Little to th’ right… yeah… right there. Anyway, for starters she didn’t like us. Like, she was nice to us whenever he was in the room, but as soon as he left she’d stop pettin’ us and always looked like she was ready to get sick if we got too close to her. An’ she had an annoying laugh, an’ she laughed at everything he said, even the stuff that wasn’t funny.”

“Which is everything he says,” she joked dryly, earning a grumbling sort of laugh from the dog.

“The only thing we all liked about her was when she tried to end it with him,” Pakkun continued, his leg giving a hard thump when she found a sensitive spot. “See, Moroha was havin’ puppies one night—,”

“Who’s Moroha?” she interrupted curiously.

“Oh, she’s another ninken. Don’t think you’ve been introduced to her properly,” the pug supplied helpfully. “Anyway, she was havin’ puppies for the first time so me an’ Yaku went to get Kakashi ‘cause Moroha was freakin’ out. So, we track ‘im down at this woman’s place an’ pop in on ‘em while they’re eating. We tell Kakashi what’s going on an’ he gets up to leave. That’s when the woman starts screamin’ at him, telling him she’s sick of him putting everything but her first.”

Sakura snorted and rolled her eyes. Yeah, she sounded like she was a lovely woman. And probably a civilian, too. It was hard for anyone who wasn’t a ninja to understand that some things had to take precedence over a relationship. Such as a dog that was there through thick and thin having her first litter of puppies. “And then what?” she prompted, already guessing what was coming next.

“Then, she told him it was her or us… and Kakashi told her that was an easy one and walked out the door.”

Despite the fact that the woman sounded just awful, she couldn’t help wincing in sympathy. “So, did Kakashi get there in time?”

“Yep. One of the Inuzuka women was helpin’ Moroha out until he got there. He only missed two of the eight.”

“Aw… She had eight puppies? That’s so cute!”

Pakkun rolled over and gave himself a good shake before settling down so that his head was now pillowed on her shoulder. “Yeah, they’re some of the best lookin’ pups I’ve ever seen,” the pug replied proudly. “’Course, Moroha’s a nice lookin’ bitch herself. A good thing they take after her and not the father…”

Sakura arched a brow at the disgruntled tone in his voice. “It sounds like you’re not too fond of the father,” she commented.

The pug glowered sourly at her and said in a clipped tone, “I’m not, an’ neither’s Kakashi. Moroha’s the fastest dog in our pack an’ she was out for four months to take care of her puppies.”

“Well, can you blame her? I mean, that was her first litter.”

“Yeah… you’re right,” he agreed reluctantly. “An’ she was fine leavin' them alone after that first mission. You should see 'em now though. Barely a year old an' they're bigger than Yaku. An' they're smart, too! Three of 'em are already talking full out words. Even the Inuzuka women are impressed, which is really sayin' something.”

Sakura couldn’t help smiling as she gave the pug a little squeeze. “That's really great, although I can't say as I'm surprised. All of you guys are really smart.”

Pakkun cracked an eye open sleepily before he snuggled closer against her side. “It’s too bad you’re tryin’ to get his books, Sakura-chan. ‘Cause you’d be a good change for him.”

She blushed hotly, squirming uneasily at that unexpected comment as well as the fact that it made her recall his kiss once again. Smiling hesitantly at the pug, she patted his side and said, “I’m going to bed now, Pakkun. You can stay if you want.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” the small dog replied smugly.

It didn’t take him long to fall asleep, snoring softly against her shoulder. She normally would have been cursing over the fact that yet another night’s sleep was going to be ruined by a dog who snored, but seeing as it didn’t seem like she was going to sleep anyway… she could let it slide. Sighing, Sakura raked her fingers back through her hair and stared at her ceiling dismally.

What if Ino was right and this was a little more than just lust? What if, as unbelievable as it sounded, she was actually falling for him? No… that wasn’t happening. They’d only been on four dates, damn it! There was no way she had a crush on him, not that quickly. Besides, she couldn’t afford to let that happen.

Because in a little under six months, this would all be over. She would either get the books or end up working midnight shifts. Neither solution included dating Kakashi anywhere in it, so it was stupid to even entertain the idea. This was a mission. This was only a mission.

Despite how many times she repeated that mantra to herself, it still couldn’t drown out Ino’s accusation. Great… Sighing wearily, Sakura covered her eyes with one hand and muttered, “You are such an idiot!”


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Kakashi closed the door of his apartment and locked it before slouching back against the solid wood with an exhausted sigh. With an idle flick of his hand, he hit the light switch and flooded the small, cramped space in a dull yellow glow. He tugged his hitae-ate off, letting it drop heavily to the worn wooden floor without a care that people lived below him, and pulled his mask down to bunch around his neck. His head tipped back until it met the door as he closed his other eye wearily.

Well… tonight was an absolute success. The only thing he hadn’t planned on was her kiss being so sweet. What she’d lacked in technique she’d more than made up for in enthusiasm. He couldn’t recall ever kissing a woman whose responses were so raw and honest. Most of the women he’d dated in the past had made it very obvious that it was little more than a tool to get him in bed, not that he really needed much encouraging there. But Sakura… she kissed like she wanted to kiss him. In a way, he supposed he shouldn’t be so surprised about it. She was a very straightforward girl, so it made sense that quality would show through in every aspect of her life.

And yes, the irony of her kissing so sincerely when in fact her motives were anything but wasn’t lost on him either.

He pushed away from the door, unzipping his flak vest to let it fall with a heavy thud and the clanking of metal on metal to the floor. His shoes followed almost immediately after as he flopped onto the worn couch barely even ten feet from the doorway. The bindings around his ankles came off next and the neatly rolled strips were dropped onto his battered coffee table haphazardly. Kakashi tugged the long sleeved shirt off and tossed it onto the floor as well before feeling around under the couch for his book.

Tonight felt like it was an Icha Icha Violence night. He was too tired to dig through his library of books for anything else, a feat that would have required shuffling around cardboard boxes filled to overflowing with novels in order to get to the bookcase that covered the entire length of one wall. The bookcase was courtesy of Tenzou, who had been appalled to find that his sempai had taken to using the stacks of books as makeshift tables or chairs. He’d made the solid wooden shelves and had even helped to alphabetize the volumes (something that Kakashi hadn’t bothered with since), all in exchange for some dinner. It was a fair trade, he supposed.

But even with all the storage space Tenzou had provided, there were still at least six boxes of books without a home. It was organized chaos, and he loved it.

It always surprised people when they discovered his rather impressive collection of books. Their wide eyes and slack jaws never ceased to amuse him. What, people honestly thought he owned and read only two books? It was so amusing in fact that he helped perpetuate the image by making certain those were the only two books people ever saw-- even if it wasn’t what he was actually reading. It was amazing what a little Henge no Jutsu could do. While Jiraiya’s books were undoubtedly his favorites (and nine times out of ten what he actually was carrying on him), there were other authors of equal talent. He had everything from poetry to horror in those boxes, even a few self help books that some sick acquaintances had given to him—which remained unread to this day. They came in awfully handy for propping his broken windows open in the summer.

But Jiraiya… the man was truly gifted. He made writing an art, used words in a way that left a person in awe after a single sentence. What he did with a story transcended genius and entered the realms of magical. It was a shame the man would only be known for his smut novels rather than the beautiful, lyrical stories in his other books. He had a way of writing that made the reader experience the story first hand, which was why the Icha Icha series was so popular despite the fact that they usually had two or three full blown sex sequences at most per volume. Jiraiya didn’t need sex to write an erotic story. Just his verbiage alone was enough to get a reader hot.

Icha Icha Paradise was very good, but it was very apparent in reading that it was the first of the series. A solid plot, everything tied up nicely in the end… but there was enough left open that it needed a second book. Icha Icha Violence’s plot was much more condensed and focused than its predecessor’s, which produced an overall better quality book in his opinion. Yes, it still left him eager to find out what happened to the protagonist, but if Jiraiya chose to stop the series right there it would be a satisfactory ending. Though… he really hoped that wouldn’t happen. Sighing contentedly as he flipped through the pages to where he’d left off, Kakashi settled comfortably into his couch with the intention of losing himself in the story line once more.

The night air was cool on my face, slightly damp feeling from rain that had only moments before swept through the area. Moonlight shifted the natural colors of the scenery so that the blue river became a sliver of silver, green trees splotched the sky like ink stains, the mountains a black void that ate the stars. The night was filled with its usual quiet cacophony; the clicking of katydids hidden in the brush, the hushed gossip of wind whispering through trees and the occasional query of a nocturnal bird searching out its next meal. And here I was, amidst this simple and perfect beauty, and yet my memory kept reminding me of a beauty more perfect than anything this night could offer.

It had been two years since we last saw each other, and yet her impression lingered so fixedly in my conscious mind that I could experience her simply by remembering. I could touch skin that was not reminiscent silk, but rather the softest and most addicting sin. Her eyes, old in the things they’d seen and yet youthful in the joy they still beheld in the world. I remembered curling my hands through strands of sunlight—that was how her hair looked under the dawn light as it splayed across the dirt and dew speckled grass. And her lips… those deceptive lips. They fooled a man with their gentle curvature. She hid the sharpness of her tongue behind lips that any man would die to taste—

Sounded a bit like Sakura, actually. She certainly had a kunai for a tongue when the occasion warranted it. And her lips could definitely be described as tasty, especially since she used a fruity flavored lip gloss… Kakashi blew out a breath and focused once again on his book, determined not to think any further about her or her delicious mouth.

But more than her eyes and hair, more even than her lips, what I remembered most about her were the soft swells of her breasts, rising from her slim frame much like the gentle, rolling hills I was currently camped in. My fingertips slid through the swaying grass with an almost reverent caress, as if I were sampling that supple flesh once more. If I closed my eyes right there, I could almost feel the dimpling of those full mounds under my fingers, the tightening of rose-tipped peaks with the faintest tracing of my—

“Damn it, Jiraiya, get to the point,” he muttered irritably, huffing as he skipped the rest of that overly descriptive paragraph and took up again at the one below. Normally, the Sannin’s use of eloquent phrasing was nothing short of breathtaking, but tonight… it was reminding him a little too much of a particular pink haired girl. Most notably the way she’d rubbed her breasts against him with subconscious abandon. He scowled at his book and started into the next paragraph eagerly.

It saddened me that such shapely thighs belonged to another, that hands other than my own were now exploring the sweetness of her—

Kakashi growled under his breath and flipped the page sharply, his eye scanning through the paragraphs quickly to find when the reminiscing ended and the violence started. Two pages later and he found his bloodshed.

I grabbed hold of her ebony hair, twisting the silken locks around my fist as I hauled her back against me. She had succeeded in controlling her labored bids for breath, but from the way I had her smooth, porcelain neck arched I could see her pulse fluttering erratically. I couldn’t resist inhaling the sweetness of her skin mingled with the salty sweat and copper-tinted blood from our fight. She was young, inexperienced… and she was beautiful.

How could any man resist the intoxicating feel of a woman writhing against them? She was struggling to break free, the kunai still gripped tightly in the hand I held pinned securely across her small, firm breasts. The gasps and pants that came with her efforts were addicting. The hand I had around her wrist, keeping that deadly blade from moving in for the kill, shifted that barest fraction needed to rub over a pert nipple.

There was no bra between her skin and the rough texture of her shirt… and the effect of that simple touch was immediate. Her grip on the kunai loosened, slowly, until it fell to the ground and stuck. It was no longer my grip in her hair that was causing her to arch against me, nor was it the thrill of battle that now made her gasp.

“Junko… I-I didn’t want to,” she whispered, pressing her toned rear into my groin eagerly. “They said if I didn’t kill you that they’d—,”

“Shh,” I soothed, bending lower so as to taste the flawless skin of her throat. She cried out, pressing her hips more eagerly against mine as I sucked that quivering pulse between my lips. “I know, Mariko. They have your family hostage. I know.”

“Please… help me. Anything I have to offer is yours, just please help me save my family.” As if to prove her point, she gently pushed away from me and began to disrobe, exposing more and more of that deliciously pale skin to the moonlight. Her delicate shoulders, those high, proud breasts with their puckered—

Kakashi shut the book with a sharp, irritable snap and dropped it onto the beaten coffee table, displacing a small stack of unopened mail onto the floor. Maybe it wasn’t an Icha Icha Violence night after all. The more he read about Mariko’s physique, the more his imagination started altering certain canonical facts about her. She was shorter than was described, her brown eyes looked closer to green and her dark hair had suddenly lightened to a pale pink shade. By the time his imagination was done making its alterations, Mariko looked more like Sakura than the woman Jiraiya described.

Kakashi ran a hand back through his hair, frowning at the water stained ceiling of his apartment. This wasn’t good. He’d never had any problem losing himself in Icha Icha before. And he’d never replaced any of the attractive female leads with another woman either. Especially not Tsutokami Mariko. She was by far his favorite female in the series, barring the as yet unnamed blonde Junko never seemed able to forget. So… why was Sakura crowding in on his favorite fictional woman?

More than likely, it was because the last time he’d had any sort of intimate contact with a woman had been close to a year ago. What had her name been? Aki? Akemi? Oh, that’s right… it was Ayakimi— Kimi for short. He seemed to remember her telling Genma that repeatedly. She’d been a wild one, liked to scratch his back raw. He hadn’t been too happy with that. Fortunately she’d also had a fetish for being tied down otherwise his back would have been a bloody, shredded mess.

That had been the shortest relationship he’d ever had. Maybe three weeks, tops. Other than the (mostly) amazing sex, he really wasn’t sure why he’d been interested in her. She hadn’t been particularly good conversation and had been unnaturally obsessed with ‘getting some color’ in his closet, as she put it. One of her attempt, a bright green sweater he was almost positive Gai had a hand in picking out, had been converted into a cute little dog bed for Pakkun. He’d found pieces of it scattered across his living room the following morning.

The only reason he remembered breaking up with her was because that was the night Moroha had given birth to her first litter. Kimi had been furious when he’d left to go take care of the new mother, something to this day he didn’t understand. Why she would ever think that he would pick her over his ninken was baffling. As a jounin and a fellow dog lover (or so she’d claimed to be), she should have known where his priorities were. Moroha was one of the best trackers in all of Fire Country and she’d done more for him in the past than quite a few of his human counterparts ever had. He wasn’t about to repay that sort of loyalty by abandoning her when she needed him.

Besides… newborn puppies were the sort of cuteness he just couldn’t resist. He was embarrassed to admit that he had a Gai Moment every time he saw them.

It wasn’t until afterward that Asuma had informed him that no one, not even Gai, had liked Kimi. He’d known from the start that the ninken didn’t like her, but he’d just chalked that up to them being a little territorial, seeing as they hadn’t liked any of the women he’d introduced them to thus far. To hear that same dislike from his human companions had only confirmed that she’d been as bad as Pakkun had said.

But that raised the question of Sakura once again. He knew Jubei genuinely liked the girl, which wasn’t saying much considering the mutt would make friends with just about anyone. The only thing off about the white dog’s regard of her was that he actually called her by name. Jubei never did that, not even for the baker down the street who spoiled him horribly with treats. It was always ‘the treat man’. Not even Tsunade was addressed by anything other than ‘boss woman’.

Yaku’s indifference didn’t really surprise him. That dog didn’t care about anything unless it was mission related or affected him getting fed on time. But even he’d been a little more charitable toward Sakura than he was with anyone else. Commenting that at least she wasn’t squeamish over a little mud was a huge compliment from the normally indifferent dog. That meant he was at least willing to tolerate her.

Still though, even if he discounted Jubei being excessively friendly and Yaku being himself that didn’t explain why Bull and Pakkun were abnormally fond of her. The fact that those two, whom he usually could depend on completely, were purposely keeping information as to her mission from him was shocking. He knew they, unlike their other pack mates, didn’t think with their stomachs, so there had to be another reason why both dogs liked Sakura to the point that they’d lie for her.

Kakashi sighed harshly and rubbed a hand across his eyes. He was tired, he was hungry and he was probably over thinking the entire thing. So what if the ninken liked her? Sakura was a very likeable girl. It made sense that the dogs would respond to her friendly nature favorably. There probably wasn’t anything more to it than that.

Just like there wasn’t anything more to him substituting Sakura for the Icha Icha women than it having been a while since he’d last had sex.

Satisfied that logic had once again reasserted itself, Kakashi pushed up from the couch and wandered into his kitchen to see about finding something edible. The cookies Sakura had made him were already gone, the empty container sitting on the small folding table next to the refrigerator. Asuma’s remark about returning the dish with something in it had set the proverbial wheels to spinning. Personally, he thought that was the most ridiculous rule of etiquette he’d ever heard. If it was his dish, he would have preferred it come back clean rather than with more food in it. But… if that was the rule, then that was the rule.

Kakashi pulled open the cabinets above his sink, his eye narrowing thoughtfully as he scanned the meager contents. There were two cans of dog food, which really wasn’t bad in a pinch and was probably a good deal healthier than most of the food in the grocery store. Some seaweed wrappers from who-knew-when. He didn’t remember buying them, so they must have been from a long time ago. There was a small container of uncooked rice next to a bottle of cooking oil… Wow. He really needed to do some shopping.

He pulled down the rice and the seaweed wrappers, sniffing the latter hesitantly to see if they’d gone bad. They smelled okay, which meant they couldn’t be more than a year old at worse. Why did he even have these…? Oh, right. That cooking class Asuma had dragged him to a while back. Asuma had signed himself up for it in hopes of impressing Kurenai with his culinary skills. The reason Kakashi had gotten roped into it was because Asuma didn't want to be the only man in the room. But... that had been over a year ago. Shit… Kakashi sniffed them again just to be sure he hadn’t missed the tell-tale muskiness of mold.

Dropping the items on the countertop, he wandered over to the fridge to see if there were maybe a couple eggs left. An omelet wasn’t ideally what he would have wanted for dinner, but it was about the best option he had considering he was down to the last vestiges of his cupboard. He grinned when he spotted two lonely eggs left in the small container on the door and pulled them out.

Fortunately, he had enough of the basic seasonings to at least make it taste more exciting than it actually was. A little salt, pepper and garlic did wonders to an otherwise bland dish. It didn’t take long to prepare his concoction and soon he was once again sitting on his lumpy couch and blowing across a small chunk of egg, rice and seaweed to cool it off. Kakashi took a bite and shrugged. Not half bad considering he pulled it out of his ass. Of course, it probably didn’t hold a candle to the dinner Sakura had made for him…

Kakashi dropped his chopsticks onto the plate with a harsh clatter and slouched further into the couch as he glowered at the half eaten eggs. “This is crazy,” he muttered out loud as he shook his head, poking one of the chopsticks with his fingers so that it nudged a piece of egg across his plate. He couldn’t seem to go five minutes without that girl entering his thoughts.

Letting out an irritated breath, Kakashi took the remains of his dinner and put it in the fridge to have later since his appetite had up and left him. He stripped off his sleeveless shirt completely, tossing it into a chair that had seen much better days, before squeezing through the sliding door of what was supposed to have been a closet sized bedroom. It was now a small training area, complete with a punching bag and free weights that could be used with or without chakra.

The reason the door wouldn’t open all the way was due to a sparring session with Asuma a while ago. The much larger man had thrown him across the room and directly into the door. They’d spent the rest of that afternoon trying to figure out what was wrong with the sliding track before admitting defeat. He probably should get that fixed sometime, seeing as he lost a bit of skin from his stomach every time he worked his way between the door and the wall.

Since his brain was refusing to forget about one kiss, he’d just have to give it something else to concentrate on instead… like weight repetitions and sparring exercises. Yes, he was exhausted and had just gotten back from a mission… but nothing else was working. So, rather than relax with a book like he’d wanted to, Kakashi went to work on the punching bag.

It was heavier than the standard style, the idea being that if he could hit it hard enough to set it in motion then he wouldn’t have any trouble taking out an enemy with a good blow to the chest. He’d gotten the idea from Genma, who had borrowed it from Asuma, who had stolen it from Gai. While it technically was one of Maito Gai’s inventions, he figured it was far enough removed from the original source that it didn’t look like he’d copied the eccentric man. Of course, that had the side effect of upping Genma’s overall coolness factor… But if it was a choice between that or Gai smirking because he’d borrowed another training concept, he would gladly elevate Genma’s status any day.

The first punch was hard enough to jerk the chains attaching it to the ceiling and floor harshly, sending fine drywall dust falling from above. One of these days the ceiling chain was going to give. Luckily for him, he knew a fabulous woodworker who could fix it up better than brand new. Kakashi quickly fell into a rhythm of punches, interspersing a few elbow jabs and palm blows for good measure. The pleasant warmth that came from working his muscles began to spread throughout his entire upper body. It was the sort of ache that felt fantastic while it was happening but would probably leave him sore and exhausted later. He couldn’t wait.

He had no idea how long he’d been at it but he didn’t stop until his lungs were burning for an even breath and his skin was slick with sweat. Panting, Kakashi pushed the hair out of his eyes and studied his reddened knuckles with mild interest. He remembered a time when he would punch to the point that the skin would break and his palms would be sticky with drying blood. That hadn’t happened in years.

Against his will, his mind flashed back to Sakura’s hands and how they now sported a few of the same scars as his did. Kakashi frowned as he ran a finger over his sore knuckles. No… hers weren’t the same. His scars had long ago smoothed out so that they were barely noticeable against his natural skin tone. Hers were still new enough to be felt, raised marks to her otherwise smooth…

Kakashi hung his head in defeat, the ends of his hair dripping sweat onto the matted floor of the small workout space. A few stray drops hit his bare feet, but he hardly noticed. “So… it’s going to be like this, is it?” he murmured, though whether he was speaking to his one-tracked thoughts or to the object of those thoughts was unclear, even to him. All he really knew was that it was absurd to be thinking about her like this, not unless it was related to her mission or his lesson. He shouldn’t be so fixated on her hands or her personality or the way she’d kissed him.

Especially not the way she’d kissed him. It wasn’t like it was all that spectacular, really. She’d obviously never been kissed like that before and it showed. From a technical aspect, he’d had better. Not that she was awful or anything. It was just… maybe a seven out of ten, if he were rating it. So if it was just an average kiss why in the hell did he keep coming back to it?

Sighing, Kakashi pushed his damp hair away from his forehead once again. He needed to shower and he needed to sleep. That’s what his problem was. He would have added a quick hand job to the list of things he needed were it not for the fact he was a little afraid of where his mind would wander. So, with a rather grim look on his face, Kakashi exited the cramped training space and entered the bathroom. He turned on the shower, stripped down and waited the customary five minutes for the water to heat up.

It wasn’t until he stepped under the spray, gasping in shock at the feel of it hitting him all over, that he discovered the hot water heater had more than likely broken down again. Normally, this sort of discovery was followed by a healthy round of cussing, some fumbling to shut the water off and a desperate grab for a towel and his clothing. Tonight, however, he wasn’t going to fight fate.

Because apparently fate thought he needed a good, cold shower.


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Jiraiya chewed on the end of his pen thoughtfully, his eyes narrowed as he read over the words he’d written so far. His publishers were all but breathing down his neck to get a new book out… which was why he and his apprentice were constantly on the move. There were bigger things going on than a new book from him. Good luck telling that to a publishing agency though. Yeah, so he was almost three years overdue for a new Icha Icha book. Big deal! Did they have any idea how hard it was penning the script for—not one, but two—movies? Not to mention all the promotional side stories, the book signings all over the place and the film premieres he was expected to attend but rarely did? They were damned lucky he was only a few pages away from being finished!

And was this one a doozy! It was probably the best thing he’d ever written to date, if he said so himself… which he did. Emphatically. No matter what that snot-nosed little brat of an apprentice said. One of these days, he knew Naruto would appreciate his art. Jiraiya snorted and rolled his eyes at that. Yeah, maybe when it was converted into picture format… which the publisher was in talks to do. He’d made it very clear though that he had the final word about the chosen artist to best represent his work. After all, he didn’t want some two-bit hack destroying the beauty of his leading ladies.

The Sannin sighed and set his pen down, stretching fingers that had long gone stiff from hugging a pen all evening. An answering sigh across the room made him glance up from the scattered sheets of paper to the boy lying on his stomach across one of the twin beds. Their inn for the evening was a modest one, but it boasted a very nice wait staff. Most particularly the buxom brunette in the kitchen and that feisty little red head in the bar. He’d have to see about tracking them down later, once the kid went to sleep.

Speaking of the kid though… Jiraiya smiled at the back of Naruto’s head as the boy continued to stare out the window, chin propped on his palms. He didn’t need to see his face to know it had that wistful look on it. That expression had been coming out more and more these days. Well, it only made sense, seeing as they were getting closer to the border of Fire Country. It’d been almost two and a half years since they’d left together, so naturally Naruto was feeling a little homesick.

Jeez… two and a half years already. It seemed like just yesterday that he’d left Konoha with a scrawny, loud-mouthed runt in tow. Now though… it was hard to believe this was the same kid. He’d definitely hit his growth spurt and was filling out pretty well in the muscles, too. Every day that went by, he was starting to look more and more like his father. The only thing that hadn’t changed was that mouth of his.

There were only two times Jiraiya knew of where Naruto ever shut up; when he was bribed with food or when he was missing home. And seeing as they’d just eaten a good amount at the local buffet (the owners were probably regretting they’d made it an all-you-can-eat establishment now), chances were likely that it was the latter. Or maybe indigestion. Damn it… he really didn’t want to sleep with a window open tonight!

“Y’know,” he drawled, startling Naruto so badly the kid almost fell off the bed. “Konoha… is that way.” He pointed toward the far left wall, his grin widening as those wide blue eyes scrunched closed indignantly.

“I know that,” Naruto said quickly, scurrying into a sitting position. “And how d’you know I was looking for it anyway? Maybe I was just watchin’ the stars.”

Jiraiya snorted and began gathering his manuscript up for the evening. “Yeah, sure. Thinking of becoming an astrologist instead of Hokage?”

“Ha-ha! I don’t see why you’re makin’ a big deal outta it.” The boy’s scowl deepened further as he grabbed his pillows, flung them at the foot of the bed and flopped down on them.

The Sannin arched a brow at that but didn’t comment on the oh-so-coincidental fact that this rather odd sleeping arrangement now made it possible for Naruto to stare at the far left wall. Massaging the back of his neck to ease the crick that was formed from writing all day, Jiraiya released a low breath and glanced at the stiff shoulders of his apprentice thoughtfully.

He knew time was running out, just as surely as Naruto did. The kid was definitely stronger than he’d been two years ago… but was he ready to face his old teammate in battle? Jiraiya wasn’t foolish enough to believe that Orochimaru hadn’t put Uchiha Sasuke through his paces and back again during that same time. And, admittedly, he probably should have been a bit stricter with Naruto’s training himself… but sometimes there were things more important than training and getting stronger.

Like being a sixteen-year-old kid.

Damn, he hated wartime. Everyone just grew up too fast. He’d been younger than Naruto the first time he’d seen a front line. Thankfully, he didn’t remember most of it due to some nasty head trauma, but according to the stories he’d heard that was probably for the best. The only thing he regretted not seeing was Tsunade in action. Goddamn, was she a fine woman in a fight! As morbid as it was, she never looked more beautiful than when she was on a battlefield.

It occurred to Jiraiya that maybe he wasn’t delaying the return to Konoha for Naruto’s sake. Maybe… he just didn’t want to see another kid lose his childhood to war. Yeah, he knew it was all part of being a shinobi. That didn’t mean he had to like it. It was a bit childish to think that way perhaps… but since when had he ever claimed to be mature? Still though, they had to return sometime. He couldn’t very well expect Naruto to be content simply to wander around at his side. The boy had friends to get back to, dreams to see through. Jiraiya cared too much about him to deny him those things.

Sighing once again, Jiraiya stood up and sat on the edge of Naruto’s bed. The boy slid a curious glance at him from the corner of his eye but didn’t say a word. “Listen,” the Sannin said slowly, drumming his fingers on the mattress idly. “Two more weeks.”

“Huh?” Naruto asked, rolling onto his side to regard his mentor with a confused look on his face.

“Two more weeks,” Jiraiya repeated, holding up the corresponding number of fingers. “You give me two more weeks to finish up a few things and we’ll head back to Konoha. Deal?”

The grin Naruto flashed was enough to let him know that was the right decision. “Deal,” he laughed back, his eyes lighting up excitedly. “And don’t think I’m not gonna hold you to that either, ya pervy sage!”

“Hey now, kiddo. I can easily get us lost, you know,” the older man growled in mock threat.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he resumed his former position on his stomach. “Yeah, like that whole week we spent lost in those hot springs in Rain Country?” he shot back sarcastically. “I think you were just too busy peekin’ on all the women to pay attention to the map!”

Jiraiya glowered at the back of that impudent blonde head but didn’t bother replying. What was the point when the kid spoke the truth? He stood up and ruffled the messy blonde hair sticking out in every direction but flat, grinning at the outraged snarl from the younger boy. “I hear there’s a really nice nudist community around here. Maybe we should go pay them a visit,” he joked, his grin widening at the muffled groan from his apprentice.