Double Edged

Song Reference: Riot In Thunder Alley
Artist: Eddie Beram
Lyrics: Instrumental

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“What’re you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m gonna go find the bastard that stole Kakashi’s book,” Sakura called over her shoulder to Pakkun as she hastily kicked off the healed shoes she’d been wearing. She stamped her feet down into her boots and double checked to make sure the dress wasn’t moving before rushing back into the living room. Even though running through the streets of Konoha in a strapless dress had disaster written all over it, she really didn’t have time to change. Not if she expected to intercept the thief before Kakashi did.

This wasn’t at all according to her plan… but if she could catch the thief before Kakashi, steal the book from whoever they were, then the blame would fall on some nameless, faceless person and she would be free to use her plan for the other book. But it would only work if she hurried. And if she could possibly talk the dogs into helping her track down the other ninken. There was no way she could search the entire village for their chakra signatures, not without depleting her own chakra in the process… and she had a feeling she’d need them in order to make this work.

“Sakura-chan… ya’ve gotta think this through,” Pakkun continued, jumping off the couch to trot after her as she grabbed her gloves and began searching around for her purse. “If you find this guy, Kakashi’s gonna be seconds behind him. An’ if he finds you in th’ area, he’s gonna know you’re after th’ book.”

“I know, but that’s only if he catches me. Damn it, where the hell is my purse?”

“Is that it on the chair?” the pug supplied with a helpful tilt of his head toward the piece of furniture.

“Yeah, thanks,” Sakura replied gratefully as she hurried over and grabbed it, slinging the strap across her chest on her way toward the door. “That’s why I need to get going now… and I need your help tracking the scent.”

Dead silence followed her request, causing her to pause with her hand on the door and adrenaline pounding through her body. “Pakkun?” she asked, arching a brow questioningly as the little dog shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly. This was going to be the hardest part here; talking the two dogs into lending her their noses. She’d broached the subject abruptly because of the limited time they had as well as to hopefully catch them off guard by the request.

It seemed the second part of her reasoning had worked. Both dogs were staring at her like she’d grown a second head. Then, Anu began to snicker as he stretched out more fully across her couch. “Not movin’,” he declared, muzzle curling into a smug leer.

“Fine, you can stay here. Pakkun, how about you?” Please, please, please…

Pakkun sighed, his head drooping in defeat. But her triumph was short lived as the pug mumbled, “Sorry, Sakura-chan. I like you… but I’m not gonna break contract with Kakashi any more than I already have. If you wanna find this guy, you’re gonna have ta do it without me.”

“But Pakkun…”

“Can’t do it, kid.”

Sakura let out a heavy puff of breath as her shoulders sagged forward. Great… just great. Without Pakkun’s nose, the chances of her finding the thief before Kakashi were slim to none. Damn it, this was such a good opportunity! If only there was some way she could…

Her eyes widened and hope surged through her once again as a new idea took shape. “Listen Pakkun; what if I promised to give the book to Kakashi as soon as he shows up?”

Pakkun’s head quirked to the side and his ears perked up curiously. “What’d be th’ point in trackin’ down th’ thief then?” he asked, peering at her with the sort of shrewd intelligence one normally saw in a human. “It doesn’t make sense for you ta find th’ guy just to give th’ book back to Kakashi.”

“No, it makes perfect sense,” she continued excitedly, crouching down in front of the little dog. “See, if I help catch the thief and give Kakashi the book, then when I do try and take it he won’t suspect me at all. And if you help me find the thief with the full knowledge that I will give Kakashi the book, then you won’t be breaking contract with him.”

“I dunno...,” he hedged, swiping a paw across his flat nose to itch it. “We shouldn’t even be talkin’ about this at all.”

“Why not? I’m not asking you to do anything besides point me in the right direction,” Sakura pressed. When Pakkun shifted his gaze away from her to study the floor sullenly, she sighed and added, “Please… I’m just asking you to track the guy down. I promise I won’t ever involve you or the other ninken in this any more.” She felt really bad asking Pakkun to do this but there was no way she could let an opportunity like this slip away.

Sakura waited anxiously as the pug glanced over to where Anu was sprawled on the couch, her lower lip caught between her teeth while she continued to chant silently for his agreement. This time when he sighed, she knew she’d won. “Okay… we’ll do it. But ya’ve gotta promise to give it back to Kakashi, alright?”

Sakura nodded eagerly and held her hand out for the dog to place his paw on. “I promise that if we catch him I’ll give the book to Kakashi as soon as he arrives on the scene,” she swore, shaking the tiny paw Pakkun settled on her palm. What the dog didn’t know was that ‘the book’ she would be returning was the gardening tome in her bag, which would be Henge no Jutsu’d to look like Icha Icha. Yes, it was sneaky and could maybe be considered taking advantage of Pakkun, but technically… she wasn’t breaking her word to him. She just never specified which book she’d be handing over.

Grunting in reluctant acceptance, the pug waddled toward the door and called over his shoulder, “C’mon, Anu. We’re goin’.”

Anu was off the couch in an instant, though judging by the look in his eyes he wasn’t happy about doing so. “Yer so mean, Pakkun,” he grumbled as the trio left her apartment. “Thassa really comfy dog bed.”

Pakkun snorted as he hurried down the stairs alongside Sakura and replied, “Yeah, it is.”

“You guys are welcome to sleep there tonight, if you want,” Sakura offered solicitously as they exited onto the street. While she didn’t relish the idea of dog hair on the couch, at this point it was very, very important to keep these two happy.

“Really?” Anu asked hopefully, his ears twitching upward as he peered at her.

“It’s okay by me.” Whether it was going to be okay with Ino was a different matter though.

The three of them came to a stop on the sidewalk, Sakura fidgeting anxiously as the two dogs began to sniff the air for the trail. She could feel the faintest pulse of chakra coming from both canines as they tried to feel out where their comrades were, the currents brushing along her skin and making the hairs stand up at the static-like feel. After several minutes of her bouncing on the balls of her feet restlessly, Pakkun’s head suddenly snapped upright and before she could even think to ask what was wrong he was running down the sidewalk with Anu right behind him. Yelping in surprise at their sudden movement, Sakura shot off after them, trying desperately to catch up and keep pace.

One thing she learned very quickly while struggling to keep their tails in sight was that Kakashi made this look soooo much easier than it actually was. It gave her a new appreciation for just how fast he actually was to be able to keep pace with the ninken and make it look effortless in the process. Here she was running as fast as she could, fueling chakra into her leg muscles to strengthen them and give her an added boost of speed, and she was just barely able to follow them around sudden curves, up the sides of buildings and diving from rooftop to rooftop. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how terrifying it would be to have these dogs chasing her down.

Sakura did her best to follow after them, using the motivation of finding the thief before Kakashi as a means of pushing herself harder. Her lungs burned, her sides ached so badly that tears stung her eyes and her legs were throbbing wildly, but she kept running. She just needed to get the thief within range and she knew she could take them out. All she would need was one good hit.

“They’re comin’ at us due east,” Pakkun shouted back at her, skidding to a halt in order to run back and join her while Anu ran on ahead. “Hurry up, Sakura-chan! They’re gonna be here any minute!”

“I’m coming!” she wheezed, Pakkun’s encouragement helping her to find a reserve of speed she hadn’t been aware she possessed. The throbbing of her leg muscles had become so commonplace that she barely noticed it any more than she noticed drawing desperate, panting breaths.

Both she and Pakkun skidded to a halt on the edge of the building they’d just landed on when they heard excited barking coming from the alleyway below. Glancing down, they saw Anu had switched to street level and was barking loudly to get their attention, his body recoiling with each yap. “Target’s bein’ funneled this way,” he shouted. “Moroha an’ Jubei’re pullin’ ahead ta pinch ‘im in! Others’re right behind ‘im!”

Sakura’s eyes narrowed as she scanned out over the rooftops, trying to plan the best course of action in a matter of seconds. If the thief took to the roofs, then she was in a perfect position for an ambush. However, it would be a risky move for anyone being pursued to go out into the open, so chances were the thief was sticking to the roads and back alleys in an attempt to avoid detection. Damn it, if she only had a clue as to which direction he was heading…

Her eye caught on a wide stretch of something glittering silvery under the moonlight… and she knew exactly where the thief was going. “Pakkun! The river! They’re heading toward the river!”

“Anu, go toward th’ water!” Pakkun shouted down to the other dog as he and Sakura took off running across the rooftops toward the pale curve of the Shirakaba River. “If he gets in to th’ water, no way we’re gonna be able ta track ‘im then.”

“Then we’ve gotta beat him—“ Her words were cut off as the approaching snarls and growls from dogs that weren’t already with her came to her ears. Sakura ventured a glance down and back over her shoulder and caught sight of a dark figure racing through the streets below. And damn was he coming up on her fast! This wasn’t just some random thief running in terror from the ninken; this was jounin level speed she was seeing here.

Despite the fact her legs were shaking due to the strain and the stitch in her side had returned with insistent force, Sakura grunted and pushed herself to maintain her decreased lead on the target below. She focused on controlling her breath; in through her nose, out through her mouth, calm and collected. This was her chance, if she could keep the lead and ambush him at the last second. Just a little farther and she had him!


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“Kakashi! He’s headin’ toward th’ river!” Bull rumbled over his shoulder without once breaking pace.

Shit! If the bastard made it to the river, the chase was over. Whoever had his book was definitely skilled in avoiding detection; there wasn’t a trace of chakra or to track due to the dispersion jutsu they’d used. Only a very select group of people knew how to use that particular jutsu; ANBU operatives who specialized in infiltration. Unfortunately, that field was one of the most popular ones for ANBU recruits to go into, which meant his list of suspects was something like one hundred or so elite ninja.

Whoever the target was, they were very, very good and they’d obviously put more thought into this than he’d initially assumed. They were being careful not to give away their identity through any special techniques, sticking only to standard jutsu and speed to get the job done. If he didn’t catch the thief now, chances were more than likely he never would. It was nearly impossible to catch someone from the infiltration units.

Unfortunately for whoever this was… that’s what the tracking units specialized in doing. He still had quite a few tricks up his sleeve.

Kakashi increased the pace and overtook the enormous dog, his eye trained on the back of the thief’s head intently. “Who’s closest to the target right now?” he demanded, leaping easily over a dumpster that had been shoved toward him with brutal force.

“Moroha an’ Jubei are almost on him,” Bull continued, scrabbling to catch up as Kakashi blew by him. “Don’t worry, he’s not goin’ anywhere!”

“Do we have a scent mark yet?” As much faith as he had in his dogs, on the off chance that the target did manage to get away he wanted to make certain they had the scent down for tracking at a later date.

“Kinda hard ta get a scent offa someone who doesn’t have one,” Yaku commented dryly as he jumped down from the rooftops to join them, Ikibe coming down on the other side and pulling ahead to join Squint in the middle. “He’s scramblin’ th’ scent up so we can’t get a fix on it.”

Damn it… That dispersion jutsu had scattered his scent as well. While scent and chakra signature were definitely the easiest way to track someone, they certainly weren’t the only means. There was a third alternative, though he really didn’t want to employ it. Still though… this was very quickly becoming a matter of pride for him. He would never live it down if he let a thief escape with his beloved book.

Shaking his head in disbelief that he was being forced to do this, Kakashi reached up and tugged the hitae-ate covering his sharingan up. Immediately, one half of his view began to shift and adjust in dizzying disarray, forcing him to close his other eye to counteract the sudden imbalance of view. He could see everything now, right down to the after image blurs of potential movement from the ninken as well as the target. He could also feel the chakra in his body redirecting itself immediately to the exposed sharingan, the eye sucking at his reserves like a leech.

The target was being incredibly careful not to use any distinctive moves that might give away his identity… but that didn’t mean his natural movements wouldn’t give him away. Everyone was unique in the way their carried themselves. From their posture to the placement of their feet as they ran, a person’s physical presence was almost as singular as a fingerprint. It didn’t matter how careful the thief was; the sharingan would memorize the way he moved down to the last detail.

Another useful trick of the sharingan was to predict the possible movements of the enemy. That was why when the thief dove unexpectedly to one side Kakashi had plenty of time to swerve into a side alley in order to avoid the sudden explosion of concrete and dirt that erupted out of nowhere. Dust and debris scattered down the alley way from only a few feet away, and it was while he went plunging into that vision impairing cloud of smoke that he realized he wasn’t the only one after the thief. There was another chakra signature there… one he recognized too well as belonging to Haruno Sakura.

It took him less than a few seconds to figure out how she’d found them and what she was doing there and even less time than that for his hands to fly through all the seals needed to activate the jutsu. His next step dragged him completely underground and toward Sakura’s chakra reading. He may not be able to track the thief… but he was certainly capable of tracking her.

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Lee was panting, his teeth clenched tightly and sweat beading his brow as he raced across rooftops and through the streets. This wasn’t at all what was supposed to have happen! He was supposed to steal Kakashi-sensei’s book and present it to Sakura as a token of his undying love for her. After all of the training and hard work Gai-sensei had given him… and it was not enough!

He sped as quickly as he could toward the Shirakaba River, heading for the apartment rise along the bank. That was where Gai-sensei lived; fourth flour, dead center and overlooking the park. He had to get there as quickly as possible! Only Gai-sensei would know what to do.

Lee sped up, moving faster than he ever had before while wearing his leg weights, and pushed off the ground into the air with such force that the pavement cracked from the strain. A louder rumble of sound came from further away, sounding very much like an explosion, but Lee paid it no mind as he landed on the correct balcony and very nearly went through the glass door. Tears stinging his eyes, a grimace of frustration twisting across his face, Lee knocked quickly on the balcony door. “Gai-sensei… please be here,” he murmured, knocking again when there was no response.

After what felt like an eternity of him knocking, the curtain drew back and the relieving sight of Gai-sensei’s face came into view. Immediately, the older man’s brows rose in surprise at seeing his student practically in tears on his balcony. The door slid open and suddenly Lee was being pulled inside the private sanctuary of his beloved idol.

“Lee! What happened? What’s wrong?” Gai asked as he guided the boy to the bright orange couch on one side of the room. Lee was too busy catching his breath to notice his sensei wave discreetly behind his back at the brunette woman slipping out his front door while still rearranging her dress.

“Sensei, this is terrible!” Lee choked out, his hands curling into tight, shaky fists. “I had planned to take Kakashi-sensei’s books tonight—,”

“What?!”

“— But it did not go as planned,” the boy continued, ignoring the older man who had a hand slapped over his eyes and was groaning. “I remembered everything you had taught me and… and…”

“Lee, calm down,” Gai said, his voice soothing but carrying an authoritative edge that never failed to gain Lee’s undivided attention. “We will address the fact that you didn’t listen to me later, but for now I have one question; how far behind is Kakashi? Did you lead him directly here?”

Lee’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he shot a nervous glance out the window, as if the man in question were about to show up on the very same balcony he had only moments before. “I… I do not understand…,” he stammered, shaking his head slightly.

Gai placed his hands on his student’s shoulders and gave him a light shake. “Just answer the question, Lee; how far behind you is Kakashi?”

“But… why would Kakashi-sensei be behind me?”

Frowning, the older man released Lee’s shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest, his thick brows pinched tightly together. “Why else? You attempted to steal his book. If there’s one thing I know about my rival it’s that he’s disturbingly persistent. So, I’ll ask you one more time, Lee; where is Kakashi?”

Lee shook his head quickly, his own brows pinching downward in an expression to match his mentor’s. “That is what I have been trying to tell you, Gai-sensei. Kakashi-sensei is not chasing me. I was going to attempt retrieving the book tonight… but… Gai-sensei, there is another rival for Sakura-san’s heart! He somehow found out about your clever and brilliant plan and used it to steal the book himself! What am I to do now, Gai-sensei? I have two rivals in love!”

To lee’s utter surprise, Gai’s response was to tip his head back and laugh with wicked delight. “Never fear, Lee,” he chuckled, a challenging gleam flickering through his dark eyes. “Maybe it was for the best that this unknown love rival used our plan instead. Upon retrospect, I think perhaps it was beneath your honor to resort to such devious tactics.”

“Gai-sensei…?”

“Tomorrow, Lee, we will start on your new plan; confront Kakashi man-to-man in order to prove yourself to the woman you love! Show her that you are his equal and she will undoubtedly shower you with her affections!”

Lee swallowed hard at the idea of ever facing Maito Gai’s rival head on… but a determined look settled across his face as he gave one decisive nod. “Yes! I will do it! I will show Sakura-san that I am a man!”

Laughing once again as he gave his prized student a hearty clap on the back, Gai guided Lee toward his door and exclaimed, “That’s the proper attitude, Lee! Never give up, no matter the odds! We will begin tomorrow at six just outside the village gates. I will teach you everything I know on how best to defeat my rival!”

“Thank you, Gai-sensei! I look forward to working harder than I ever have before!” the boy cried enthusiastically as his mentor gave him a gentle shove out the door.

“And you most definitely will. I will personally see to it. But for now, Lee… go home and rest up.” Gai waited until Lee disappeared down the first flight of steps before letting out a relieved sigh and calling out, “My deepest apologies for the interruption, my beautiful flower, but I couldn’t turn away one of my students in their hour of need.

The brunette that had been leaning against the wall two doors down smiled coyly as she walked over to him, putting a sway to her hips that he found difficult not to stare at. “That is just so sweet,” she purred enticingly before purposely rubbing against him as she entered his apartment once more. “So, Gai-sensei… mind helping this poor student in her hour of need?”

Gai arched a brow as he shut his door and flicked the lights out in his living room to give the appearance that he wasn’t home. “As they say, a teacher’s work is never done.”


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Sakura was up and out of the small crater she’d just punched in the sidewalk before the dust cloud could dissipate and was charging after the dark shape she’d seen spin off down a side alley with renewed energy. She was right on top of him now, maneuvering through narrow turns and gaps between the buildings. The combination of their close quarters as well as the maze of power lines overhead made it impossible for the thief to move as fast as he had been. A smile touched her lips as the sure knowledge that she had him funneled through her head.

Her victory was short lived however when they suddenly came bursting out from a particularly tight alleyway and into the open park area near the Shirakaba River. It would seem her opponent new the streets of Konoha better than she did and was taking full advantage of that. Cursing under her breath, Sakura fueled chakra into her legs for added power as she broke into a sprint to close the small gap between them. She was so close now she could hear him panting, see the thin slit in his hood that allowed him to see. Her fist cocked back, chakra coursing through her arm and down into her hand. She was at the perfect angle for the one hit she would need to send this bastard sprawling onto his back. With a loud snarl, she sent her fist whipping toward him, nothing more than a bright slash of pale movement against the night sky.

The thief came to an abrupt halt by fueling chakra into his feet and into the ground, using it as an anchor to pivot low and avoid her fist altogether. Sakura’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected maneuver and she quickly skidded to a stop as well, the balls of her feet digging deep furrows through the grass and dirt. While her way of slowing down wasn’t nearly as impressive as his, it was a hell of a lot safer on her body. She couldn’t believe the man was still standing after overloading his muscles with that much chakra.

Apparently, he was feeling some of the effects of sudden rapid chakra infusion because she heard him hiss and saw the faintest wincing at the corners of his eyes. But she didn’t hesitate in the least as she pushed off the ground and rushed at him again, this time funneling her chakra into both fists. The thief stood his ground as she raced toward him, crouched low and hands held loose at his sides in a way that reminded her a little of the Hyuuga fighting style.

Her first fist whistled shrilly toward his head and the thief dodged it by bending almost completely backward. He followed the movement through by bracing himself on one hand and swinging a foot toward her chest. Sakura blocked it quickly with her arm and sent her other fist flying toward the inside of his thigh. The thief twisted around in a maneuver that was both impressive as well as graceful, landing on his feet again with his palms open and his eyes following her every move.

Sakura wasted no time in recharging her fists and diving for him again, being careful to aim for his shoulders, arms and legs rather than his torso. All it would take was one solid punch to stop the thief’s heart, and she didn’t want that. Not when the man was obviously one of Konoha’s elite. She swung, he dodged and she continued to press the offensive while he barely raised a defense. It soon became apparent that this was more than just some random jounin she was facing here. This man was top quality shinobi, possibly even ANBU. Not once did he attack her; the speed and flawless precision that he exuded with every feint and dodge was more than enough against her.

She could feel the sweat clinging to her skin as a dull, throbbing ache began to spread through her shoulders and arms due to sustained chakra use. Her attacks were coming slower now and she knew her opponent could tell he was wearing her down. She needed to end this and quickly. Kakashi was going to be there any minute now. Sakura decided the use the knowledge her opponent had on her weakening attacks against him and on the next punch, she pretended to stumble off balance. The thief accommodated for her movement accordingly, twisting his upper body to the side to avoid contact… and leaving the area right above his hip open for a punch that would knock the wind right out of him.

Her fist connected with air and the lack of resistance sent her arm swinging widely, throwing her off balance for real this time. Sakura yelped in surprise when the thief suddenly reappeared in front of her and had only a brief second for panic as his palm slammed hard into her left shoulder, using her forward momentum against her. The moment he made bruising contact, Sakura felt the undeniable shock of foreign chakra forcing its way through her skin to sink into her arm, spreading warmly through her muscles and sending them into a relaxed state. Eyes rounded in shock, Sakura quickly pivoted away from his palm and put a few feet between them, feeding chakra into her numb arm at the same time.

She recognized that technique. It was one commonly used at the hospital on patients whose muscles were severely cramped from overuse. Chakra would be used to penetrate deep into the knotted tissues, to sort of massage them from the inside out. The thief had simply taken that technique and used it offensively to force the tensed muscles in her arm to loosen up, thus making her unable to form a fist to attack. That would mean that the thief was…

Before she could finish the thought, her eyes widened yet again as a deep rumbling sound filled the air. For a moment, she thought it was the thunder of a storm rolling through the area but was muffled, almost as if it were… She yelped when the earth in front of her suddenly heaved upward, exploding in a violent spray of dirt, uprooted daisies and clumps of grass that sent both her and the thief reeling away from it quickly.

Sakura’s mouth hung open as a figure exploded out of the ground and immediately threw itself at the thief. She knew instantly that it was Kakashi and her heart sank with the knowledge that she hadn’t been quick enough. Pushing to her feet, she raced after the two figures, her eyes barely able to follow the lightning quick attacks as the two faced off. She heard soft grunts from the two every so often, signifying someone had just taken a hit, but no one looked to be going down any time soon.

Kakashi suddenly vanished from view and the thief immediately spun around to block the fist aiming for the base of his spine. The thief launched a kick toward Kakashi’s chest, forcing him to duck backward to avoid it. Sakura’s eyes widened as the thief’s hands began to fly through a series of seals, very carefully maneuvering so that his back was to Kakashi to prevent the sharingan from memorizing the movements. Kakashi sank down into a crouch and pivoted with the thief’s rotation with his fist cocked back and ready to strike for the other man’s side. He couldn’t see the seals. He had no idea that the thief…

“Kakashi!” she screamed as she tore through the distance between her and the fight in a matter of seconds, the chakra all but burning as it coursed through her arms and into her fists. She didn’t stop to think about the dangers of getting in the middle of a fight between two high leveled ninja. She didn’t even consider that the jutsu the thief was about to activate might be fatal. All that mattered at that moment was the fact that Kakashi could be in very real danger and she was not about to sit by and watch when she could do something about it.

She caught sight of both men gaping at her in shock before her fist opened up and she slammed her palm into the thief’s shoulder, shoving her own chakra directly into the muscles covering his shoulder blades and forcing them to contract tightly. A startled look came to the thief’s eyes as she used the exact same technique he had used on her… only in reverse. Instead of forcing the muscles to relax, she was purposely knotting them to not only prevent movement but to make it painful if he tried to move. She heard him choke back a curse… and then much to her horror he finished the last seal of the jutsu.

A sudden, violent rush of wind came from out of nowhere, blowing the skirt of her dress up over her head and causing her to quickly grab the billowing fabric and haul down over her exposed panties. Sakura’s surprised screech was drowned out by the roaring of the wind as it continued to whip by so brutally that it stung her skin, flinging chunks of grass, earth and flowers at her in its wake. It began to swirl in a controlled pattern, shaping itself into a cyclone that raged around them as it ripped up still more chunks of dirt and grass from the park.

Someone grabbed her shoulder to spin her around and she in turn latched onto their wrist and hauled whoever it was over her shoulder, slamming them into the ground hard. Unfortunately, the assailant managed to take hold her own wrist and used it to jerk her down with him roughly, rolling her underneath his body just as a series of shrill, crackling pops burst inside the miniature tornado surrounding them. Sakura was about to give the man on top of her a good kick to the groin for the hand he had on her ass, but then her eyes started stinging horribly and her next inhale brought an itchy, burning sensation to her throat. The wind suddenly burst outward, whipping through the trees and grass so viciously that it tore leaves from branches and slender stalks from earth.

It didn’t take her long to identify the cause of her sudden eye irritation; pepper gas. The thief, in order to escape, had set off explosives with pepper gas in them and was using the wind jutsu as a way of distributing it more quickly. And Kakashi, having guessed what the thief was about to do, had dragged her underneath him to try and shield her from the worst of it.

Any warm feelings his concern for her would have evoked were overshadowed by the fact that the pepper gas was now taking effect and making her cough violently into his shoulder as tears streamed freely down her cheeks. She wanted desperately to rub at her eyes but she knew doing that would only make it worse. So instead she buried her face into the curve of Kakashi’s neck to try and filter the smoke from getting to her lungs. She breathed deeply, taking in not only slightly filtered air but the scent of him as well. The smell of sweat and dirt were heavy in her nose but underneath that was a completely different scent, one that was much nicer and all him.

Sakura closed her eyes, partially due to the burning sensation caused by the gas but also to savor the smell of Kakashi. It reminded her a little like rainfall or maybe that early morning aroma of dew on grass. A silly analogy really, but it was all she could think of to describe that crisp, slightly metallic scent. Sakura’s arms circled his neck without her realizing it and the next thing she knew she was being hauled to her feet and Kakashi was wheezing in her ear, “Might want to hold your skirt down this time.”

Before she could ask him what he meant, she felt his hands moving behind her back… and then she yelped in surprise as yet another burst of wind swept through the area, clearing it of the lingering smoke from the pepper bombs. Sakura quickly took hold of her skirt to keep it from flying up once again and blushed hotly at the knowledge that Kakashi had more than likely caught a glance at her underwear... for the second time in a little over a week. At least he’d given her some warning before whipping out the wind jutsu. That and the fact that he’d tried to get her out of the way were the only reasons why she didn’t punch him for sneaking a peek in the middle of a fight.

As soon as the air was clear of smoke, Sakura took a deep breath in and stifled a lingering cough with one hand. “Well, that was fun,” she choked as she wandered over to a bench and sat down. “You sure do pick some interesting dates.”

Kakashi followed her over, pressing the heel of one hand over his normal eye while tugging the hitae-ate down over the sharingan once more. “And you complain about my sense of humor being warped,” he muttered as he dropped into the seat next to her and slouched forward, resting his elbows on his knees and shaking his head dismally.

He didn’t so much as look up when Pakkun and Bull came trotting over, the rest of the ninken still sniffing around the fight area for any clue as to who the thief had been. “Ikibe got a face full of that pepper gas an’ he’s gone to the Inuzuka women ta have ‘em sort him out. Moroha an’ Jubei are covering th’ river in either direction to see if they can catch the guy, seeing as that’s the most likely escape route. We’re gonna stay here an’ see if we can find a scent mark, if that’s okay with you.”

“Hm? Oh, sure. That’s fine, I suppose,” Kakashi mumbled absently.

Pakkun remained unmoving for several seconds, simply staring at his summoner. Then, he stretched upward and gave Kakashi’s fingers a quick nudge. “We’ll get ‘im, don’t worry about that. ‘Kay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

The pug paused as he was about to walk away and met Sakura’s gaze steadily. It clearly said ‘you owe me big time’, and Sakura wondered dismally just what it was she’d have to do now to repay the dog for his help. Pakkun and Bull wandered back over to the other dogs and joined in on the search, leaving her alone with a very quiet copy ninja.

Sakura studied his profile uncertainly, something that was made difficult given how swollen and sore her eyes were. She chewed lightly on her lower lip and shifted next to him, not sure what she should do. She didn’t need to see his entire face to know that he was dejected. It was obvious in the curve of his shoulders and the tight crease in his brow. Kakashi was really upset about the theft of his book, though she couldn’t decide whether it was due to the loss of Icha Icha or the blow to his pride. The thought sent a pang of guilt through her either way, for not being able to catch the thief as well as for the fact that she was trying to do the exact same thing. It seemed silly that someone would care so much about pornography… but apparently, he did.

Sighing heavily, she twisted around so that she could sit facing him with one knee positioned by his hip. Kakashi watched her curiously as she opened her purse and pulled out a small bottle of eye drops. “Tip your head back and open both eyes for a moment,” she instructed while unscrewing the cap. “I want to flush your eyes out.”

“Ah.” He complied with her request, slouching against the bench and tipping his head back. He lifted the hitae-ate up once more before folding his hands complacently over his stomach. Sakura moved so that she was now kneeling on the bench seat and leaned over him with the little plastic bottle in one hand.

She squeezed a couple drops into his good eye, grinning when he blinked sharply at the touch of the cool drops hitting his retina. While he swiped at the little bit that managed to escape from the corner of his eye she repeated the process with his sharingan, peering curiously as the tomoe shifted slightly in response. How interesting... She’d never had a chance to really see it this close before and outside of a fight. With the way the eye reacted to eye drops, it made her think that perhaps it was a little hypersensitive, possibly as a result of…

The sound of Kakashi clearing his throat lightly made her snap out of her fascinated study of his eye with a start. Blushing, Sakura quickly put a little space between them under the pretence of applying a few drops to her own aching eyes, sniffling a little as they made contact. She capped the bottle and tossed it back in her purse before dabbing at the moisture clinging to her lower lashes. “Better?”

“Mm… yeah, a bit,” Kakashi replied while fixing the material over his sharingan again. “A good thing you came prepared.”

Sakura paused in closing her purse and turned slowly to regard him with narrow, wary eyes. Maybe she was reading more into this than there actually was… but it sounded a bit like he was hinting she’d known about the theft beforehand. Deciding it was just her imagination, she smiled and shrugged indifferently. “I started carrying eye drops around when Tsunade-shishou put me down in the poisons lab. We’re working with chemicals and toxins all day, and even with safety glasses on you can never be too careful.”

Kakashi hummed a sound of agreement as his gaze swept her from head to toe curiously. “That’s a very pretty dress,” he commented, allowing his eye to linger a little longer on the bare skin of her shoulders.

Her cheeks darkened again at the obvious interest and she self-consciously rubbed a hand down one arm to try and stop the goose bumps from rising. “Thanks,” she laughed softly. “It looked much better when it wasn’t covered in dirt and I had cuter shoes and my hair wasn’t so—“

She stopped dead when she felt his fingers brush through her hair gently, combing through the tangles to tuck a few pieces behind her ear. “Trust me, it still looks good.”

A shiver ran down her spine when his fingers slipped lower, tracing along her neck lightly. Her eyes closed briefly at the sensation of his calloused fingertips moving across her skin. “S-So,” she stammered as his hand fell away from her shoulder slowly. “What’s the plan now?”

“The plan?” Kakashi asked, a hint of amusement creeping into his voice.

“Yeah, the plan. Are we gonna go after the guy or what?”

Kakashi’s eyes creased into a look of amusement, though she got the distinct impression he was anything but. “Well, that’ll be very hard to do without something to track.”

Sakura’s eyes widened a touch as she twisted around to face him once again. “How can there be nothing to track? I mean, the guy had to have a scent! And his chakra—“

“He used a specialized jutsu to scramble his scent and suppressed his chakra right up until the last second. Unfortunately, it was such a quick burst that I didn’t have time to pick it up, what with being a little… distracted.”

Heat touched her cheeks at the less than subtle hint that she’d been the distraction, though this time it had less to do with embarrassment so much as it did resentment. “Sorry,” she mumbled, folding her arms over her chest. “How was I supposed to know you’d come springing out of the ground like that? I thought you were right behind the guy.”

“Speaking of which… what in the world possessed you to set off an exploding tag within village limits? It’s a miracle we didn’t have at least six ANBU squads on our backs for that stunt.”

For a moment, Sakura’s brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to recall doing what he’d said she had. She was about to shake her head and deny it… when it dawned on her that the explosion he was talking about was actually from when she’d punched the pavement. Kakashi had no idea that she… Amused at the thought that he didn’t know just how strong she’d gotten, Sakura smirked and said, “I did what I thought I had to. After all, the bastard did ruin my night out.”

“And you would blow him up for that? Wow… you certainly take the vengeance thing seriously, don’t you?”

“Only for things that matter,” she laughed, nudging his side playfully. It earned her a little chuckle from him, which in turn made her beam at his profile. She unfolded her arms again and reached out to cover his hand with hers. When Kakashi turned his palm over and twined his fingers with hers, a small flare of warmth coursed through her chest. Even though he was wearing gloves, she could still feel the heat of his skin and the strength in his hands. Inadvertently, her mind flashed back onto their last kiss when he’d cupped her face in his palms and took his time…

Sakura stopped thinking about it immediately as the warmth began to sink lower into her stomach, settling between her legs. In an effort to distract her mind from other thoughts, Sakura asked, “So, about our date… are you still game?”

Kakashi took a slow deep breath and released it steadily as he raked his free hand back through his tussled hair. “Honestly?” he said. “I think I’ll take a rain check, if that’s okay with you.”

Disappointment lanced through her at his words, but she nodded and managed what she hoped was a convincing smile. “I understand. It’s okay if you wanna do this some other time. I mean, it’s been a long night and it’s probably too late to get a table now anyway—”

“No, no it’s not that. It’s that I don’t have any money to go out with.”

It took her a moment to process what he’d just said before she shook her head and asked, “Wait… what do you mean you don’t have any money?”

The look he gave her was utterly bland, as if he were trying to decide whether she was being particularly dense or making a joke he didn’t get. “You might not have noticed, but I was just mugged,” he replied dryly, his visible brow lifting slightly.

Wait… wait, wait, wait! Sakura snatched her hand free from his and pressed it to her furrowed brow as confusion pounded through her brain. “Hold on a second,” she said tersely as he leaned back more comfortably on the bench. “The thief… stole your wallet?”

“That’s generally what thieves target when mugging someone,” he sighed.

But… that wasn’t possible! She knew damn well the only thing that had been stolen was Icha Icha. Pakkun had said so. Whatever Kakashi’s game was she wasn’t buying it. Crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest, she jerked her chin in his direction and said, “I don’t believe you.”

“Pardon?”

“I said I don’t believe you,” she repeated. “With as tight as you are about opening your wallet to begin with, there’s no way in hell you’d allow someone to steal it from you.” He had to be lying. No shinobi in his right mind would ever allow someone to steal their hard earned mission pay. It just wasn’t plausible… but why would he lie about something like that?

A vaguely annoyed look flickered across the exposed portion of his face as Kakashi very slowly reached for his belt and undid it. Sakura’s eyes narrowed skeptically, her nails tapping an impatient rhythm along the back of the bench. “What re you doing?”

“Offering up proof of my innocence, Prosecutor Haruno,” he deadpanned as he removed the belt with its attached pouch and held the items out to her. “Do you do this to all your dates when they tell you they’ve been robbed?”

“Shut up,” she grumbled as she snatched the belt from his hands gruffly. Sakura flicked the snap on the pouch open and spread the canvas material open to peer inside suspiciously. Extra shuriken sleeves… a couple smaller kunai… what looked like a travel sized First Aid kit… and one very familiar red covered book. What the… Icha Icha Violence was still there?! What the hell was it still doing in his possession?

Sakura blinked in surprise, her mouth falling open and her eyes rounding in disbelief as he took the pouch back from her. “Satisfied?” he asked as he fastened the belt once again and resettled the pouch at his back.

Her mouth opened and closed a couple times but she was unable to formulate any words. Icha Icha shouldn’t have been there… but there was no denying what her eyes saw. Did that mean… that Pakkun had lied to her? She wanted to believe that maybe he’d just made a mistake, but she knew better than that. Part of her wanted to be furious with the pug, but the more rational side of her reminded her that he was Kakashi’s summon, not hers. Pakkun’s loyalty went first and foremost to Kakashi and it wouldn’t be fair if she got mad at him for that.

Realizing that Kakashi was giving her a curious look, Sakura cleared her throat and squeezed out, “Yeah… yeah, ah… I just thought that…” That what, his dog was a dirty liar? That she’d gone and messed up a dry clean only dress for nothing?

Kakashi arched a brow and drawled, “You just thought… what?”

Sakura forced a smile and stood up, shaking her head. “Nothing, it’s not important. So... shall we get going? It’s a little cold out tonight and since we’re not getting dinner I’d like to go home and heat something up.”

Chuckling as she rubbed her arms briskly, Kakashi stood as well and tucked his hands in his pockets. “I’m not surprised you’re cold. A thong? Really? You don’t seem the type.”

Her cheeks flared hotly when she caught his gaze flicker downward briefly. The pervert... “It just figures you’d still manage to sneak a peek at my panties in the middle of a skirmish,” she muttered.

“Well, I did say I was a little distracted. The little pearls going down the front were especially—“

“Will you cut it out already?!” Sakura shoved his shoulder hard, earning her a snicker in return. Ignoring him as he continued to laugh under his breath, she corrected in a mumble, “And those weren’t pearls, they were buttons.”

“Were they? They looked like pearls to me. Perhaps if I had another look—“

“No!” She folded her arms huffily across her chest and glared at a nearby tree. When he hooked a hand around the back of her neck to try and drag her into a hug, she resisted stubbornly. “Anyway, shouldn’t you be tracking this guy down now rather than obsessing over my panties?”

Kakashi’s eye crinkled happily as he threaded his fingers back through her hair gently. “Is there a rule somewhere stating I can’t do both?”

Oh, god… he was the worst sort of pervert! But it was difficult staying angry with him when he was touching her so sweetly and looking at her mouth like it was something delicious he wanted to taste. “So,” Sakura said, quickly redirecting her thoughts once again. “How do you catch someone without a scent or chakra?” This time when he applied pressure to the back of her neck, she responded by taking a step closer.

“Very sneakily,” he replied while running a hand down her bicep, his knuckles just barely grazing the outer curve of her breast. Sakura was torn between tightening her arms protectively over her breasts and letting them fall away completely to encourage more of that warmth producing touch.

“Wow. It sounds like you really gave this some thought,” she deadpanned as she freed a hand to trace over his vest lightly, following the line of the zipper until she reached the tab. She flicked the little metal piece with her fingertip and grinned. “Anything I can do to help with this sneaky plan?”

Kakashi gave a thoughtful hum as he watched her while she continued to play with the zipper on his flak vest. “That depends. Did you notice anything about him when you engaged him?”

“You mean like the fact that he has at least some knowledge in medicinal chakra application?”

Her grin widened as he blinked slowly in surprise. “How do you know that?” he questioned.

Laughing, Sakura poked his chest and said, “Because one of the techniques he used is one that’s employed to relax cramped muscles in the hospital. It was a bit crude in execution, which makes me think he’s not a fully trained medic. Or he was just in a rush to get out of here.”

The next thing she knew, Kakashi was kissing her. The mask was still on and it really only lasted for maybe a handful of seconds, but it was still enough to leave her dizzy and wanting more. Sakura stared dazedly up at him while he beamed at her and murmured, “W-What was that for?”

“For being an incredibly sexy genius,” he replied, his eye sparking mischievously as her cheeks burned at the compliment.

“O-Oh,” she stammered, her fingers fidgeting with the fabric of her skirt. “I, ah… thanks.”

Kakashi tucked her hair back behind her ear, his fingers lingering a little as they brushed across her warm cheek. “I always knew you were a smart girl,” he continued, causing her blush to burn hotter even as his words coaxed a flattered smile from her. “But to make a connection like that… it’s impressive.”

“Not really,” she laughed breathlessly as she shifted just a little closer to him. It was because she was cold and he was so warm… or at least that’s what she what she was telling herself. “I mean, it’s something I do everyday so when you look at it like that it—“

She was cut off by his thumb rubbing along her lower lip, causing her breath to catch and her eyes to close. He was leaning toward her again and her lips parted slightly in anticipation for a kiss. It didn’t come. Instead, he paused just as she could feel the warming of his breath along her mouth and murmured, “You’re right. When you think about it like that, it really wasn’t all that impressive.”

Kakashi snickered as she shoved him away from her roughly and snapped, “Asshole!” How typical of him to take a really sweet moment and ruin it by opening his damn mouth!

Despite her annoyance though, she still let him take her hand and pull her into a light hug. And she really couldn’t help the softening feeling in her chest when he kissed the top of her head and murmured, “At least you’re still sexy, right?”

A begrudging smile touched her lips as she pressed her cheek to his chest and replied dryly, “The only reason you didn’t take that part back was because you know I’d kick your ass.”

“Hmm… maybe I should take it back. That could be fun.”

“Masochist.”

“Only for you.”

Even though they were only teasing each other now, for some reason those last three words made her heart speed up slightly. She was probably reading more into it than there really was, but she was fairly certain she heard a thread of something warmer and more meaningful in his voice. Like maybe she was having just as much an affect on him as he was on her. The thought sent a rush of affection through her and made her fingers curl just a little more into his vest.

Sighing, Kakashi rubbed his hands up her arms briefly before placing them on her shoulders to set her away from him. “Sorry I can’t walk you home, but I’ve got some things to take care of here. If you want, we can do something tomorrow… so long as it’s cheap.”

Normally, that stipulation would have been a complete turn off but seeing as the man had just been mugged… she could forgive him. Sakura smiled and was about to agree to that when she slapped a hand over her eyes and groaned, “I can’t, not tomorrow. Tsunade-sama is having Shizune-san and I stay late to finalize everything for Suna’s visit.”

“Ah. What about the following day?”

She winced. “That’s when Suna is supposed to arrive.”

“Hm… and the day after that is the banquet, right?” he mused, tapping his lips thoughtfully with one finger.

Sakura nodded, chewing on her lower lip and sucking off the lingering traces of her butterscotch lip gloss. “Well, you’ll be at the banquet too, right? I mean, I’m pretty sure I saw your name on an invitation,” she suggested brightly.

“Oh… yes, I seem to recall seeing that in with the mail. I probably won’t go.”

Disappointed flooded through her at that. Her shoulders drooping just a touch, Sakura gave him her best puppy eyes and asked, “What? Why not?”

“Well,” he hedged, a thread of sheepish laughter tinting his voice. “Formal functions… really aren’t my thing. And I think there’s a good chance I’ll be busy that night.”

“Doing what?” she demanded dryly, arching a cynical brow at him. “Washing your hair?”

“That or perhaps planning a daring raid on your panty drawer. I haven’t decided yet.”

“Will you leave my panties alone for one minute?” she seethed. And when his eyebrow rose nearly to his hair line as he cleared his throat, she realized what exactly she’d just said and covered her bright red face with both hands. Dear god… why? Why was she always putting her foot in her mouth around him? And especially in ways that fed to his perversion? She moaned and dropped her hands from her face, shaking her head while he very kindly tried to mask his laughter by turning it into a cough. “I’m going home now.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Sakura.” He bent and pressed a quick, affectionate kiss to her lips, one she managed to reciprocate despite the fact that she was still reeling from what she’d just blurted out. Mumbling a half hearted goodnight in return, Sakura turned her back on him and started off toward her apartment again.

So… tonight was certainly one of the most unusual ones of her life. First, the plans for a nice evening out were ruined. Then, she somehow managed to go through an entire fight without her strapless dress slipping down (a miracle, for sure) though she did manage to get her skirt blown over her head. Kakashi had now seen her panties three times, none of which he was directly responsible for. Oh, and mustn’t leave out the fact that she’d all but shouted for the world to hear (or, more accurately, whoever happened to be within hearing range) that he couldn’t leave her panties alone. All in all… definitely a very weird night.

Well, at least there was one consolation; Kakashi still had Icha Icha Violence on his person. That meant her mission was still on. All she could say to that was thank goodness for small blessings. The last thing she needed was to have to track down a thief just to complete her mission. It was relieving to hear that this was a normal theft and not one for the book, if only for the simple fact that it meant her suspicions about Tsunade bringing in some competition were wrong. The mission to seduce Hatake Kakashi and get his Icha Icha books was still hers.

A small pang of sadness moved through her as she once again realized that this was only a mission. She was really going to miss this— the dates, the easy banter, the physical closeness… him. Kakashi wasn’t at all the sort of man she’d ever imagined she would enjoy dating. He didn’t do any of the typical things she’d thought a normal date would do, like rushing to open doors or offering to pay all the time. But while he was fairly atypical as far as men went, he was definitely sweet in his own right. It was the little things he did that made him endearing, such as walking her home from work or leaving coffee with the doorman at her apartment for her after being out late.

Or when he’d returned the Tupperware container she’d put his cookies in with a single daffodil and a note saying the ‘treatment plan worked, no more stars’.

Ino had gone on and on about the implications of a single daffodil, wondering whether it was meant to say ‘you’re the only one’ or ‘misfortune’. Knowing Kakashi, he probably had no clue that certain flowers meant certain things. He more than likely just saw it in someone’s flower box, thought it looked nice and stuck it in the container. Sakura hadn’t much cared about finding the hidden meaning in his flower selection or the fact that daffodils didn’t keep well. She’d been too caught up in the fact that it’d been a very nice surprise.

Yeah… she was definitely going to miss him. She was going to miss hearing his quiet laugh and his relentless teasing, the way he would brush her hair back and how sometimes all he had to do was look at her a certain way to make her want to kiss him. She was going to miss the way her breath would catch at the end of their date, moments before he’d rob her of breath completely by kissing her.

It made a heavy feeling settle in the pit of her stomach to think this would all end, but there really was no other way for it to. Once Kakashi found out the real reason she’d been dating him, there wasn’t a chance in hell he would ever consider staying on with her. How could she expect otherwise, seeing as she’d been getting close to him to steal his books? She knew she wouldn’t be very forgiving if he were using her like that. It was going to be tough letting him go, but for now he was with her and she was happy with that. It was better to have love and lost than to have never loved at all… right?

___________________________


Kakashi was a little relieved Sakura decided to go home rather than push her involvement any further. As much as he enjoyed having her around, he needed to think and having her there asking him questions wasn’t exactly conducive to that. A high ranked jounin or ANBU infiltration operative with a basic understanding of medicinal chakra application and a stolen copy of Icha Icha Violence was on the loose and he had to find them.
He couldn’t say for certain whether or not he would have been successful in subduing the thief were it not for Sakura’s intervention, but there was no denying that her arrival on the scene was just a little too… convenient. She’d known someone had successfully snatched his book and he knew for a fact that Pakkun had been the one to spill that information to her. He didn’t think the pug acted out of malicious intent or to purposely betray him… but even so, Kakashi couldn’t allow for that alliance to remain intact.

That was why he’d very quickly used a Henge no Jutsu on his wallet to make it look like he still had Icha Icha Violence. He’d purposely told her he didn’t have his wallet in the hopes that she’d take the bait and present him with an opportunity to ‘prove it’—which she thankfully did. By letting her think that his book was still safely in his possession, it ensured that she wouldn’t deviate from her plans and also (hopefully) put a thread of doubt in her mind as to how reliable Pakkun really was.

It was a shame that he couldn’t find the thief as easily as he could break up this budding alliance. The thief had certainly done a very thorough job of covering his tracks, but Kakashi had three things working in his favor; patience, the sharingan… and the small bit of blood he’d wiped across the thief’s clothing from the cut used to summon the ninken. He already had an idea of his suspect profile to work off of, so it was a simple matter of biding his time, observing and waiting to see what the ninken turned up.

And when he did find the culprit… he’d make damn sure they didn’t look at an Icha Icha book ever again without whimpering. To take a man’s porn from him was an unforgiveable offense.

On a more positive note, at least one mystery was cleared up; he now knew without a doubt that she was after his books. He’d been operating under that assumption since the coin toss, but now he had undeniable proof of it. The only two questions that remained were who had put her up to this… and what did they want with his book? Due to the fact that she’d tried to stop the theft (he still couldn’t believe she’d set off an explosive inside the village), he was almost positive she wasn’t connected with it at all. The only reasons that made sense for her to intervene were to either try stealing the book herself or to keep the book from being stolen so that she could take it later.

There was also the possibility that she was in league with the thief and had only given chase to make herself look innocent before going home to wait for the drop… but that was a little too Machiavellian for Sakura. That was more like something he would do, not her.

In a way, it made him a little sad that now he knew for certain what her objective was. He couldn’t deny that there was a small part of him that had thought perhaps she was genuinely interested in him… but that was a foolish notion to hang on to. Sakura was far too young for him— too happy and hopeful and definitely too clean for him. He knew that and on some level he was certain she knew that as well. The only reason she looked his way to begin with was because someone put her up to it. Simple as that.

And yet… whenever she did look at him, the emotion was so sincere that he believed it. She wasn’t that good an actress that she could lie with her eyes. That level of lying took years to cultivate and perfect. It took being put in a position where the slightest misstep meant having your throat cut. Sakura had never been in that position before and she certainly didn’t have the years needed to perfect that particular skill. But that would mean that all those warm, affectionate glances she would give him across a table and all the heated, eager ones right before he kissed her were real.

Kakashi shook his head slightly and shoved those thoughts aside irritably. Chances were he was just reading too much into this. Again. Strange how she could make him overanalyze something as straightforward as this. More than likely, the emotions were real and were brought on by the fact that he was striving for just that very thing. After all, he did have a second objective here; to show her how thin the line could become for seduction missions. That was why he’d arranged for some of their more unique dates, in order to not only sweep her off her feet but knock her onto her back and—

Okay. That was as far as that thought was going. He didn’t need to think about Sakura on her back. At least no more so than his dirty imagination already was.

Kakashi headed over to where the dogs were still searching and called, “Any luck with that blood trace yet?”

“Still workin’ on it,” Pakkun mumbled distractedly as he snuffled at the ground. “Squint thought he caught somethin’ earlier but turns out it was just a blood drop on th’ ground.”

“Did he search around it anyway just to make sure?”

Pakkun paused and lifted his head slowly to pin Kakashi with a dull, annoyed stare. “Yeah, he did. We do know how to do our job.”

“Mm… just checking. You never know when a refresher course on a ninken’s job is in order,” he replied coolly. He wasn’t going to call Pakkun out in front of the rest of the pack, but he was letting the small dog know that he was very aware of what had happened tonight and wasn’t happy about it.

The pug shifted from one paw to the other slightly and his ears lost a bit of their perkiness. “I guess we’re gonna have a talk, huh?”

“Yes, I’d say that’s a safe guess. If you find the target, don’t move in. Summon me and we’ll take it from there.”

“Sure thing.”

“And when you get a chance, cut loose and come over to my place. We need to set some new rules. For everyone.”

“… Yeah, okay.”

Kakashi took one last survey of the area and the searching dogs before shaking his head and releasing a heavy sigh. He tucked his hands into his pockets and headed off in the direction of his own place. There really wasn’t much he could do at the moment, so it made sense to go home, shower, cook some instant soup and strategize in solitude for the rest of the night. Hopefully, the ninken would find that blood trace he’d put on the thief, providing the pepper bomb hadn’t destroyed it completely.

So, to sum up the night: he didn’t get a date, he was mugged for porn, his dog was fraternizing with the opposition and he’d discovered Sakura occasionally wore thongs. A green satin thong with little buttons down the front, to be exact. With something that fancy, he knew there had to be a strapless bra to match. His cock twitched in interest as his mind fantasized about seeing that rich green color against her pale skin, preferably while she was stretched out on cool, white sheets with her hair fanned across the pillow… and now he was hard. And there were still twelve blocks until he reached his apartment. That would be twelve blocks of walking the streets with a noticeable bulge in his pants.

Sighing again as he pulled his hands out of his pockets and did the seals for a transportation jutsu, Kakashi muttered, “What a fucked up evening.”


____________________________


Genma landed on the fire escape to his and Shizune’s apartment soundlessly and very quickly opened the window to slip inside their bedroom. He hissed when his shoulder hit the wooden frame and was still cursing roundly under his breath as he slid the glass in place again and limped to the bathroom. The light clicked on and he kicked the door closed before sinking down onto the closed toilet lid with a grateful sigh. After taking a few moments to catch his breath while his shoulder and arm continued to pulse painfully, he stripped the hood and mask from his head and pulled Icha Icha Violence from inside his shirt to place on the edge of the sink.

Son of a bitch… he’d been fully prepared to face off with Kakashi but had he known the bastard would get his she-demon involved, he would have said fuck it and stayed home alone to watch porn until Shizune finished up with the Hokage. Goddamn, did Sakura do a number on his shoulder! It hurt enough that it drowned out the pain in his knee from where her stupid asshole boyfriend went and kicked him.

Groaning in agony, Genma pressed a hand to his shoulder and pushed chakra into his muscles to try and loosen some of the tightness. There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d be able to undo all the knotting completely; he wasn’t that good with the medical jutsu. But having a medic for a lover meant he’d learned a few tricks over the course of their relationship. He could at least undo enough of it that it didn’t burn like the fucking fires of hell were contained in his flesh. He’d have Shizune fix it up the rest of the way when she came home, and if she asked questions… well, he’d just blame his horrible students on it.

At least the smarmy little brats were good for something. Besides torturing, of course.

When the painful scrunching of his muscles eased enough that he could clench and unclench his hand with only a brief flare of pain, Genma rolled his pant leg up to take a look at his knee. Already, the flesh was a swollen, discolored mottling of purple and red that extended down his calf a little way. He supposed he should consider himself lucky Kakashi had only been trying to take him down and not cause permanent injury. Tentatively, he bent and straightened his leg to see just how badly it actually hurt. It was definitely stiff and putting pressure on it was gonna be a bitch… but he could just ice it for now. It didn’t require immediate attention like his damn shoulder did.

Sighing as he used the towel bar across the way to pull himself to his feet, Genma began stripping off his gear. His undershirt and shirt hit the floor, followed by the full length ANBU gloves and the black bindings from around his ankles. It’d been years since he’d had to use any of the gear from his days in the infiltration units and he’d been very pleased to discover that he still fit in most of it.

Genma paused in undoing his pants to take a good look at his torso for any telltale signs that he’d been in a fight. He frowned when he noticed a deep bruise on his side from where Kakashi’s elbow had made contact. He pressed his hand over the tender spot and applied just enough chakra to it to remove the deeper coloring. When he pulled his hand away, it was the yellow-grey color of an old bruise. Nothing that would make Shizune suspicious.

He systematically repeated that process over the other spots on his body that were the result of tonight’s fight until he was positive there was nothing to tip his very observant lover off that there was more to his shoulder and knee injury than a bad training session with the hell spawn. Genma twisted around as best he could to check out his back and frowned when he noticed a small brown patch, no bigger than a ryo, on his lower back. “What the hell?” he muttered, wrapping a hand around to touch it curiously. It was dry and flaked off his skin as he rubbed it. He examined the bits that still clung to his fingertips and his frown deepened in confusion. This was blood. He was pretty sure no one cut him up…

Genma’s eyes widened as he played back a part of the fight where he’d pivoted away and Kakashi had given him a hard shove in the back. He’d thought the copy ninja was only trying to shove him off balance, but what if he’d… “Oh, fuck! Kakashi, you prick!”

Because he’d used a diffusion jutsu on his scent to throw the ninken off, Kakashi had marked him with something that was damned near impossible to get rid of; his own blood. Not even the overwhelming scent of pepper would keep the ninken from finding a drop of their summoner’s blood.

He wasted no time in stripping down the rest of the way and tossing it all into the bathtub. Yeah, the blood was more than likely just on his shirts… but he wasn’t taking any chances, not when it involved Hatake Kakashi and his ninken. Genma shoved the shower curtain out of harm’s way before doing the seals for a fire jutsu. Immediately, his clothing went up in flames and he quickly turned on the overhead fan to suck up the smoke wafting from the burning fabric. If Shizune asked why the bathroom smelled like a fire, he’d just tell her he had to light a candle or something. Nasty and embarrassing? Yes. But it would prevent her from asking any further questions.

Genma waited until the flames died down to tiny flickers and smoldering ashes before sliding the curtain in place and cranking on the shower to wash the charred remains down the drain. He grimaced as the ashes and water mixed to form a dull grey sludge that stained the bottom of his bathtub and pulled open the cabinet under the sink to get out the cleaning supplies. “This is such bullshit,” he complained out loud as he knelt outside the tub, stark fucking naked, and began scrubbing at the mess. “Now I’ve gotta replace my ANBU gear, just because you had to go and wipe your goddamn blood off on my shirt. I don’t know why I bother doing you any favors or even give a shit about your wellbeing.”

Once the bathtub was clean and clear of ashy remains, Genma hopped into the hot spray and began attacking the spot on his back with such force he was certain he scrubbed at least a couple layers of skin away. The room smelled like a combination of soap and fire smoke still, but he was hoping that maybe if he left the fan running for a while it would diffuse a bit more. He tipped his head back into the hot spray and groaned in bliss as the hot water sank into his poor, abused body.

The things he did to help a friend out… If Kakashi wasn’t such a hopeless idiot when it came to women, he wouldn’t have been forced to steal the damn book! But sadly, as brilliant as he was on a battlefield and during a mission, Hatake Kakashi was probably the dumbest man he knew concerning relationships. The man barely dated and when he did he chose, purposely or subconsciously, women who were so annoying that he never had to worry about it ever getting too personal. The only reason he was considered a long term dater was because he was to fucking lazy to break up with anyone.

He swore someone could do a whole case study on Kakashi’s dating habits alone and guarantee themselves a successful career for life.

Genma considered himself to be a pretty observant guy. He had to be in order to be in the ANBU infiltration units. And he’d been using this gift in particular over the last month or so to observe Kakashi’s interactions with Sakura. Yeah, he knew what the man had said about seducing her to teach her a lesson, blah, blah, blah. If that was the case though, then why did Kakashi’s gaze linger on her even when her attention wasn’t on him? And why did he go to such lengths to come up with unique dating experiences when it was obvious a nice dinner out with some flowers would have won her over just as easily? Then there was the fact that Kakashi walked her home after work— every night. The copy ninja could argue that he was simply strengthening his base, but anyone with eyes could see that wasn’t necessary. Haruno Sakura was smitten to pieces by Hatake Kakashi.

The reason Kakashi did all those things was because he in turn was smitten by his pink haired target and just didn’t want to admit it. Ooooh… the irony of it all was just too perfect. Kakashi was attracted to Sakura. Sakura was attracted to Kakashi. Both were on a mission to take down the other via seduction and neither of them was capable of seeing that they were bit in the ass by their own plan. Add to that the complication that both of them are insanely stubborn individuals and what you get is one giant clusterfuck romance.

A slow, amused smirk tilted one corner of his mouth as Genma massaged shampoo into his hair. Their inability to realize or accept that there was the potential for them to have a really great thing together (or at least some decent sex) was what sparked his involvement in all this. He was a firm believer that everyone deserved a bit of happiness in their lives, ninja perhaps more so than others. Their lives weren’t easy by any means. They saw more pain, suffering, blood and death than most civilians ever did. So why would any ninja deny themselves of what makes them happy? Maybe he was being presumptuous in all this… but whenever he saw those two together, they both looked happy. Genuinely and truly happy. And for someone as jaded and fucked up as Kakashi, that was a huge, huge, huge deal.

So seeing as there wasn’t a chance in hell Kakashi would ever listen to him seriously about all this, Genma decided to take matters into his own hands. The pivotal force behind why Kakashi and Sakura were dating was that she, for some unknown reason, needed to get Icha Icha off of him. It was a hunch on his part that the books were her objective, but it was a fifty-fifty one and he was willing to bet on it. So, the way he figured it Sakura’s mission wouldn’t end until she had both books in her possession, which meant that if an outside source (cue his entry here) were to come by and steal one of the two targets… well, she’d have no choice but to keep seeing Kakashi in the hopes that he caught the thief so that she could get the book from him. And Kakashi would still have to date her because of the lesson he was trying to teach her.

And the more time they spent dating each other, the more time they would have to get over their damned stubborn streaks and just be happy together.

Naturally, as soon as one of them caved in and admitted they were attracted to the other in a more serious way then he’d see to it that Icha Icha Violence was safely returned to its owner. He had it all planned out just how he would do that without having it traced back to him, too. But if they both just let this pass them by… well, he’d have a shiny new edition of pornography for his stash under the bed. One that was in pristine condition and even signed by the author.

Chuckling to himself, Genma shut off the shower and snaked a hand out to grab a towel from the bar. Everything was set. The pieces were in place and now all he had to do was sit back and wait for the game to play itself out. Here was hoping the two key players went along with the plan now.