Double Edged

Song Reference: I Want You

Artist: Savage Garden

Lyrics: Come stand a little bit closer/Breathe in and get a bit higher/You’ll never know what hit you when/I get to you/Ooh, I want you, I don’t know if I need you but/Ooh I’d die to find out


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“Sakura, can I borrow a couple of your sparkly hair clips?” Ino called. Judging by her voice, she was already in her friend’s bedroom looking for said items.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Sakura replied from the bathroom as she finished applying cherry flavored gloss to her lips. “Hey, Ino? How late are you planning to stay out tonight?”

“Mm … I don’t know. Not super late or anything since Asuma-sensei has us scheduled to leave early tomorrow morning. Why?” The blonde came into the bathroom and stood on tiptoe to see the mirror over Sakura’s shoulder.

She hesitated before saying, “I was going to have Kakashi come over for a bit.”

As expected, Ino paused in clipping back her hair to give her roommate a knowing grin. “Oh, what’s this?” she teased. “Do I need to knock before coming in?”

“No,” Sakura grumbled irritably as she purposely repositioned herself to block Ino’s view. The indignant gasp from behind made her smirk. “We’re just going to talk, that’s all.”

Ino sucked in a sharp breath and shifted so that she could meet Sakura’s gaze through the mirror. “Are you gonna tell him?” she asked cautiously. All traces of her earlier humor were gone and in its place was something close to worry for her friend.

Sakura gave a soft, reassuring smile to the blonde as she shook her head. “No, not yet. I still need to ask Tsunade about the mission.” And before she went and potentially pissed off her mentor, she wanted make sure it wasn’t for nothing. She needed to know where Kakashi stood on their relationship.

Blue eyes regarded her uncertainly for a moment longer before Ino nodded and said solemnly, “Okay. Will midnight be late enough?”

“That’ll be perfect. Thanks, Pig.”

“No problem, Forehead. Good luck.” With a final, encouraging smile, the blonde headed out the door to join her teammates for dinner. It was a ritual Asuma-sensei had started with them back in their genin days; eat out somewhere nice before a mission, because it could be the last.

Sakura finished getting ready and sat on the couch to wait for Kakashi’s arrival. It was only a little after six-thirty, which meant she had at least another forty-five minutes before he’d come knocking on the door. She had no illusions that they’d be on time for dinner; it went against nature for Hatake Kakashi to be on time for anything. So, she arranged a couple pillows behind her back, leaned across the coffee table, and picked up the book she was currently obsessed with.

Yes … she was now officially a fan of Jiraiya’s work. As much as it pained her to admit, he was a literary genius. She was already almost half way through the collection of short stories Kakashi had loaned her, and every single one had left her breathless at how beautiful it was. Some were epically tragic, others so cleverly witty that she giggled out loud. There were terrifying stories that sent her scurrying under the covers at night, love stories that made her sigh.

Her favorite stories though were the ones he told about every day events. From trying to scratch a living in rice fields to the busy city life, Jiraiya described it all in such rich detail that she felt like she knew the places and the people involved. She loved the story about the children playing during a rain storm in Ame, and the one about a homeless musician and his dancing daughter was absolutely elegant. But, if she had to pick one to read over and over again … it would be the one she was right in the middle of reading.

At first, she’d been a little skeptical about it. The story took place in a brothel and was about one of the women who worked there. She’d been afraid that Jiraiya was going to throw in the pornography he was so popular for – but he didn’t. It was about a man, presumably him, watching his lover get ready for work. There was nothing sexual at all about it, and the way he described her actions was rather sensual and bittersweet. All the character had done was get dressed in a kimono, and it left her feeling like she’d read something much more intimate.

If that was what Jiraiya could with someone getting dressed, she wondered what it’d be like to read about someone getting undressed … Sakura’s cheeks flared brightly and her mouth went a little dry.

She shook her head vehemently. No, she was not going there. She’d rather die than be caught reading Icha Icha. Opening the book to where she’d left off, Sakura quickly found her place and began reading.

Her movements are precise, well-practiced, and as expert as a kunoichi’s. The weapons of her trade are softer, but just as deadly; she paints herself to attract the eye, displays herself as bait to lure men in. Even those who know the secret behind the illusion – myself included – are incapable of resisting her. She knows this, but as I watch her apply the trappings of her trade, I can tell she curses her beauty.

“Come away with me.”

The words leave my mouth without any forethought, as natural and reflexive as the steady pulse of my heart. Her hand pauses, vermillion-coated paintbrush inches from caressing the full curve of her lower lip. Eyes an indescribable shade of blue meet mine through the reflection of the mirror, and for a moment the mask slips, leaving her bare and exposed: hunger, fear, hope, despair … emotions clash and conflict in the space of a few seconds, but then the mask is in place again and she’s laughing at me.

“You know I can’t do that,” she chides gently, speaking as if she were a mother and I her errant son. “I have a contract with Fujiko-san.”

My mask isn’t as perfected as hers, so I turn away in order to hide the bitterness her response provokes. “The debt isn’t yours to pay,” I murmur, speaking the thoughts that had been in the back of my mind since she told me her story.

Mariko closes her eyes as she grips the paintbrush tighter between her slim, elegant fingers. “It is mine,” she replies, and there is a brittleness to her voice that I’d never heard before.

And I, being foolish, didn’t recognize the change for the warning that it was. “No, it’s not,” I insist, pushing myself up from the silken tangle of her sheets. “It’s your husband’s.”

“And by the extension of marriage, it’s mine. Please, no more of this. I have customers waiting.”

Fury sears through my veins, not at her refusal but at the degenerate who sold his wife into whoredom to satisfy a gambling debt. I had seen the beast who dared call himself a man three nights prior to this visit. He was a disgusting little creature, nothing more than sweaty skin and small, shifty eyes that regarded me haughtily as I’d taken a place at the card table. Obviously, the misbegotten guttersnipe felt no remorse for his actions or that his wife suffered because of him.

My fingers twist viciously into the sheets as I watch her coil and pin her hair intricately on top of her head. She is angry with me; I can tell by how her fingers tremble in their work, how she refuses to look at me. Just as swiftly as the fury assailed me, it fled at the realization I’d caused her pain.

I fall back on the bed, cover my face with my hands. A sigh escapes me as I say in a voice so soft I doubt she’ll hear it, “I’m sorry.”

The scrape of a chair being pushed back reaches my ears, followed by the light tread of bare feet across the wooden floor. I feel the bed dip under her weight as she sits on the edge, and at the gentle touch of her hand on mine, I uncover my face. Mariko smiles at me, and though it’s as tender and winsome as it ever was, there is a distinctly acrimonious tilt that taints it. She leans down over me, presses her lips to mine. I can taste the crimson staining my mouth; it’s artificial, a compliment to her façade.

My eyes are fixated on her mouth as she takes a breath and parts her lips to say –

“Sakura, are you planning on opening the door any time soon?”

The book fell from her hands like it was burning hot as Sakura gasped and grabbed the arm of the sofa to keep from sliding off in shock. She quickly, albeit it ungracefully, got to her feet and hurried over to let Kakashi in.

“Sorry,” she said breathlessly as she jerked the door open. “I was reading and I didn’t hear you knock. What are you doing here anyway?”

Kakashi arched a brow and pushed the sleeve of his sweater back to glance at an imaginary watch. “You said six forty-five, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did, but I wasn’t expecting you to actually show up on time.” She wasn’t sure what was more impressive, the fact that he showed up on time or that he was actually wearing color. The lightweight sweater fit very nicely across his chest, and the pale blue shade brought out the softer grey tones in his eye. It looked a little weird with his mask still in place, but without it she knew he’d be stopping people at fifty paces with how good he looked.

She couldn’t help feeling a bit smug that she was one of the few people allowed to see beneath the mask.

“Ah. Well, as I’ve told you before … some things are worth showing up on time for,” he replied. The warmth in his eye made her blush and look away with a smile.

“I wasn’t aware you were so fond of Genma-san. Are you sure you want me to go with you tonight? I don’t want to be a third wheel,” she joked, reaching out to smooth a nonexistent wrinkle from the front of his sweater. The heat of his skin seeped through the layers of clothing, causing her fingers to curl a little into the knit fabric as she caught her lower lip between her teeth.

He sighed dramatically and leaned one shoulder against the doorframe, affecting a resigned mien. “Unfortunately, it’s a couple’s dinner, so I kind of need you to get in,” he deadpanned, causing her to giggle. “But once we’re there, if you want to play sick and leave, Genma and I won’t mind in the least.”

“Mmm … I’ll think about it,” she replied, grinning as her hand slid up higher to curve around his neck.

“Of course, if you wanted to play sick now, I wouldn’t mind.” One of his hands slipped around her waist to pull her closer to him.

Her heart sped up and the pleasant warmth was beginning to throb between her legs again as Kakashi began to lean toward her for a kiss. “Wait,” she whispered, stopping him short of brushing his mouth across hers. He remained still as she dragged his mask down just enough to bare his lips. “I don’t think you want lip gloss all over your mask.”

The corners of Kakashi’s lips quirked in a little smile and for a moment it felt like her knees were about to melt from under her. “No, of course not,” he murmured, his words fanning hotly across her lips and making a moan tangle in her throat. “Genma gets jealous so easily.”

She laughed softly, but the sound was smothered against his mouth and very swiftly turned into a sigh when she felt the brush of his tongue along her lower lip – not trying to enter her mouth, just to taste the fruity gloss she was wearing. Sakura’s fingers wound through the hair at the nape of his neck, preventing him from pulling away completely. Not that he seemed inclined to anyway; his hands gripped her hips so firmly she half thought he intended to keep hold of her all night long.

That didn’t sound like a bad idea, actually.

As much as she wanted to just drag him inside and spend the evening alone with him, they couldn’t do that. Genma and Shizune had gone through a lot of trouble for tonight’s dinner and it’d be rude to skip out. Letting out a reluctant sigh, Sakura placed another soft kiss to his mouth and murmured, “We should get going.”

“Should doesn’t mean have to,” he pointed out, even as he slowly released her hips.

Laughing again, Sakura backed into her apartment, leaving the door open for him to follow after her. She grabbed her purse from the chair and was just about to pick up the fallen book when he reached down to pluck it from the floor with a mildly annoyed frown to his lips.

Cringing as he very carefully smoothed out a slight bend in the corner of the page, Sakura said sheepishly, “Sorry. I was reading when you came up. You startled me and I accidentally dropped it.”

“It’s alright,” Kakashi replied, though the way he kept running his fingers over the spine and pages made her think it really wasn’t. She knew he was very particular on the condition of his belongings and imagined even the barest hint of damage was enough to make him sweat.

Sakura chewed her lower lip uneasily as he continued to examine it for a bit longer before sliding the battered paper bookmark she used from the back cover. “What page were you on?” he asked, thumbing through to the approximate location of where she’d been.

“Oh,” she said, brushing flustered fingers through her hair. “Um … I don’t remember. It was the one in the brothel, where she’s getting ready for work and—”

“Ah, that one. It’s my favorite.”

A smile twitched at her lips as she took a half step closer to him. “Really?”

Kakashi nodded and continued flipping through pages, this time much more slowly as his eye scanned over the words. “You can tell Jiraiya really poured his heart into that story. What part were you at?”

“The one where Mariko’s lover asked her to leave with him,” she replied softly as a blush dusted across her cheeks. She was a little surprised that he liked the same story she did. Tragic romance didn’t really seem like his thing. She supposed that was a testament to the power of excellent writing. Clearing her throat lightly, she ventured in a voice that was a bit steadier, “I really like the scene where he’s describing her getting dressed. The way he talks about her putting on the kimono is just … it’s just…”

“Breathtaking,” he finished, glancing up from the pages to meet her gaze.

The heat flared brighter across Sakura’s cheeks as she swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded. “Yeah,” she whispered. The heavy, hot sensation was creeping back into her stomach, drawn out by the intensity of his gaze.

She gave a soft, nervous laugh and quickly looked away, embarrassed that he could make her feel like that with just a simple glance. “I guess that’s why you almost had a nosebleed when you saw my yukata the other night,” she joked lightly in an attempt to ease the mood.

“The blood was very firmly trapped inside my body, thank you,” Kakashi remarked dryly. “Now, if you’d answered the door in the cute thong you were wearing underneath it—”

Sakura glared at him angrily and barely resisted testing the theory that his blood wasn’t going anywhere. “I wish you’d quit staring at my ass all the time,” she griped, practically ripping the book from his hands as he held it out to her. “And how do you know it was cute?”

“First, you have no room whatsoever to complain about staring at people’s asses, not when your eyes were glued to mine the entire walk out to the training field today,” he returned quickly as he tugged his mask back in place. "Second, your underwear is always cute, so I have no reason to assume otherwise."

She didn’t need a mirror to know her cheeks were a burning red color, and even with the mask covering his mouth she could tell the smug bastard was probably smirking up a storm. If he wasn’t such a good kisser, she’d deck the smile right off his face.

“So, have you ever been to one of these dinners?” she asked tartly, ignoring the amused sound he made as she stuck the book inside her purse. It was a good bet that at some point during the evening, Kakashi would break his own reading material out. Why shouldn’t she do the same?

“Not that I can recall,” he grunted noncommittally. He followed her out the door and stood just off to one side with his hands in his pockets as she locked up.

“Really?” Her heart skipped a joyful beat at this news. That meant he never taken one of his past girlfriends to a couple’s only dinner. She was his first. A smile broke across her lips before she could bite it back.

“Really,” Kakashi confirmed as she slipped a hand between his arm and side comfortably. She heard him inhale sharply as she rubbed her cheek against his bicep. The sweater actually wasn’t soft at all, but she held on all the same.

Sakura settled against him and released a small, contented sigh. Being with Kakashi made her happy, and she could tell the feeling was mutual with him, too. It was evident in the way he was touching her, running his knuckles gently across her cardigan-covered shoulder, and how he kept sneaking glances at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. The warmth and closeness of his body made her heart flutter faster, her blood race hotly through her veins. Her eyes flickered to the alley they were passing by and a sudden urge to drag him into the shadows and kiss him swept over her.

Whatever happened later tonight with the talk, for now she could just enjoy him – the way he touched her, how she fit so nicely against his side, the smell of him beneath the clean scent of laundry detergent. Sakura sighed under her breath and let the contented feeling take over, temporarily allowing her to forget about their future conversation.


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When they arrived at Genma’s apartment, Kakashi very nearly decided to bypass it and take her to his instead. He didn’t really feel like having dinner with other couples, and not just because he knew he would probably spend very little time actually talking to Sakura. The main reason was because he could hardly keep his eye off her the entire walk over. He doubted that once they walked through the door this problem would be magically rectified, so chances were good someone would take notice – someone like Genma, who then wouldn’t let him hear the end of it.

He couldn’t help it, really, not when she was wearing a dress that pushed the same buttons as her yukata did. It was some kind of lime shade that complimented her hair and eyes nicely. There was hardly any cleavage to be seen and the hem hit just above her knee. She wore less fabric on a day-to-day basis, but the image of propriety she projected made him want to sully her up a bit. There had been more than a few occasions during their walk where he’d come damn close to dragging her into an alleyway to do just that. Now that they were here and standing outside the door … he regretted his inaction.

Maybe he could still talk her out of it? No one knew they were there yet, and he was pretty good at faking illness. Perhaps, with the right words, he could coerce her into… But any ideas of copping out on dinner died when he glanced over and saw the excited sparkle in her eyes. Sakura was really looking forward to tonight.

Letting out a resigned sigh, Kakashi raised his hand to the door.

“Oh!”

He paused at Sakura’s soft exclamation and arched an inquiring brow. Perhaps she’d changed her mind…

Sakura’s lips twisted ruefully as she shook her head. “We should have brought something with us.”

Okay… Not what he’d been expecting. “Like what?” he asked.

“Something,” she replied with a shrug. “Wine, flowers, a dessert… It’s rude to go over to someone’s home without bringing them something.

“It is?” This was news to him.

She grinned at him then and poked his ribs playfully. “Now I really believe you’ve never been to a couple’s dinner before. No woman would ever have allowed you to get away without bringing something.”

“Well, you did,” he pointed out, frowning at her as he knocked on the door.

The teasing light faded from her eyes as a darker, heated look crept in. It brought a flush to her cheeks and made his breath catch as blood started moving south. “You can make it up to me later, if you want,” she said softly.

Kakashi shifted to one foot as his cock twitched in his pants. If she kept saying things like that, this was going to be a very uncomfortable and embarrassing evening for him. He was about to casually suggest she refrain from the flirtations when the door opened to reveal Genma.

“What is this?” the senbon user exclaimed, feigning shock. “Hatake Kakashi showing up on time? It’s a miracle!”

He rolled his eyes at the other man’s antics and said, “Hello to you too, Genma.”

Genma’s grin widened as his gaze fell on Sakura. “You know, Sakura-chan, I have to say I’m impressed. In all the years I’ve known this man, not one woman has ever made him arrive on time for anything. That’s quite the taming ability you have there.”

“Are you just going to stand there talking nonsense or are you going to invite us in?” Kakashi demanded in a bored tone.

Pouting at having his fun ruined, their host stepped away enough to allow them in. “Shizune’s gonna hit the floor when she sees you’re both on time,” he continued as he led them toward the living room. “We purposely held off on dinner for another twenty minutes, and unfortunately the appetizers are almost gone. Do you guys want something to drink? We’ve got whiskey, beer, sake … you name it, we either have it or someone brought it with them.”

Kakashi ignored the pointed look Sakura shot his way and said, “Water will be fine, thanks.”

“Same for me, please,” she added as she looped an arm around his. Her fingers stroked absently along the bend of his elbow and the sensation was enough to send a tingle down his spine.

Genma winced and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah … that’s about the one thing we don’t have at the moment. See, the pipes froze and—”

“Again?” Kakashi asked, his eye widening in surprise. Sakura gave him an odd look and he belatedly realized she still didn’t know he lived in the same building.

The senbon user threw his hands up in a show of disbelief. “I know, right? After we rigged the system up with heating points for Himiko-baasan, the damn things still freeze up.”

“I’m tellin’ you, the whole system needs to be replaced with plastic piping,” Asuma called from the living room. He was sitting on the couch with Kurenai perched on the arm to one side of him. On the other was a man with scars running down his face that Kakashi vaguely remembered meeting a couple time. Raidou or Rague or something like that. He didn’t recognize the blonde woman with the shrewd face sitting next to him, though it was obvious from her build that she was a kunoichi.

And on the smaller couch that had its back to the main entrance was a very familiar head of bowl cut black hair. Gai’s arm was around a redheaded woman who was doing a poor job of smothering her nasally giggle at whatever he was whispering in her ear. Kakashi wasn’t sure if he’d met her before or if she was new, and frankly he really wasn’t interested. Gai had so many dates and girlfriends that it was hard keeping track of them. How his rival did it, he had no idea.

“Yeah, well when I quit being a ninja and become a plumber, maybe I’ll do that,” Genma retorted as he motioned for Kakashi and Sakura to follow him into the living room. “Sakura-chan, I think you know most everyone here already, but that guy over there is Raidou and the woman next to him is his fiancée Mikabi, and the woman next to Gai is Aki. She’s a model.” The way he said the last implied he’d heard that fact a few too many times already.

“I’m a lingerie model,” Aki corrected with another giggle as she smiled cheerfully at the new arrivals. “And what do you do, Sakura-chan?”

“Well, actually I’m a medic-nin,” she answered slowly. She was nervous; he could tell by the way her fingers trembled against his arm. Kakashi freed himself from her grip and smoothed his hand across her lower back soothingly.

Aki fluttered her hands excitedly and exclaimed, “Oh, is that like a nurse?”

“Actually, it’s more like a doctor,” Shizune supplied as she came in with a tray full of appetizers. “Hello, Kakashi-san, Sakura-chan. I’m sorry dinner’s not ready yet, but I wasn’t expecting you quite so promptly.”

“Ah, sorry about that,” Kakashi replied. “We won’t make that mistake again.”

She chuckled softly and motioned to the space next to Gai. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. I’m afraid dinner won’t be for another fifteen minutes though. Genma, did you offer them anything to drink yet?”

“I did,” he assured her as he returned from the kitchen with a bottle of sake and several drinking bowls. “They both asked for the only fluid we don’t have at the moment.”

Shizune winced and immediately headed back for the kitchen. “I think we still have some juice, if you want.”

“Uh … love, if you’re looking for the orange juice I had it this morning for breakfast,” Genma called after her.

“I see. Well, I could squeeze some fresh for you both, if you’d like?”

“Oh, that’s not necessary, Shizune-san!” Sakura exclaimed quickly. “Really, please don’t put yourself through any trouble on our account.”

“Speak for yourself,” Kakashi murmured to her. He regretted it the minute her elbow connected with his ribs.

They took the open spot next to Gai on the smaller sofa, the other couple shuffling over a little to make room. It was a tight fit, and Sakura was a little more than halfway on his lap … but he wasn’t complaining in the least. She was so close that he could feel every breath she took against his chest and all he could smell was the sweetness of her shampoo. He inhaled slightly and she immediately turned to frown at him disapprovingly. When all he did was shrug, she made a soft scoffing sound and resettled herself against him.

And apparently ‘resettling’ meant scooching even further onto his lap so that the nape of her neck was temptingly close. Kakashi smirked and blew lightly across her skin. He chuckled as her back stiffened against him, but she didn’t retaliate.

“You know, there’s an entire public library at your disposal,” Kurenai pointed out as she hastily waved away the sake offered to her. “One afternoon there and Kakashi will be an expert on plumbing.”

Genma paused in distributing the filled bowls to shrug in question. Kakashi arched a brow and said, “I think checking the seals again will be better.” If he was going to spend an afternoon reading, it sure as hell better involve Icha Icha.

Nodding in agreement, the senbon user added, “Yeah, definitely a better idea.”

“Do it right the first time and you won’t have to do it again,” the named Raidou remarked dryly.

“Not if the first time is too damned expensive and time consuming. So, how about tomorrow afternoon, Kakashi? We’ll pop down to the basement, rig the seals better, and hope like hell we can take baths.”

Kakashi shifted uneasily as Sakura gave him another appraising look and mumbled, “Um… sure. Sounds great.”

“Excellent! I’ll bring the booze and you bring … whatever else we need.”

“So, Kakashi,” Gai drawled, a hint of his usual smile quirking at his lips. “I see you’ve finally decided to show off the beautiful blossom of your heart.”

“Yeah, I … guess you could say that,” he muttered back.

“And you’ve been dating for … what? A month?” Kurenai pressed as she loaded a small plate with offerings from the tray of food on the table.

“Nah, it’s been longer than that, hasn’t it?” Asuma asked. He was worrying a poor toothpick within an inch of its wooden life between his teeth and he kept sending glances of longing toward the balcony.

Kakashi frowned at the odd behavior. Since when did Asuma quit smoking? His eye flickered to Kurenai just in time to see her smile fondly as she rubbed her stomach. Oh… His eyebrows rose in surprise, but he refrained from confirming his suspicions by asking. Chances were, they were trying to keep quiet about the baby as well.

“It’s been a little over a month now, yes,” Sakura answered, blinking as she took the sake Genma passed to her automatically. She looked about as if questioning whether or not she was allowed to have it before setting it on her thigh.

Kakashi leaned forward enough to whisper in her ear, “You don’t have to drink it, you know.”

“I know,” she replied, turning just enough to flash him a quick, warm smile. “But thanks for being concerned.”

Their eyes locked and held, and for a moment he debated about closing the scant distance to brush a kiss across her lips. But then Genma was tapping the side of his glass with an hoer d’oevre fork to get everyone’s attention, and the moment was broken.

“A toast!” he declared, beaming around those assembled as proudly as a daimyo observing his followers. “To all friends, old and new! And to getting some tonight.” The senbon user looked pointedly at Kakashi there. He wished he’d had the foresight to bring a couple shuriken to lodge between the bastard’s eyes.

Asuma shook his head and muttered, “You suck at giving toasts.”

Genma whipped around with a slack jaw and bewildered eyes. “Wha… I do not suck! I sincerely hope that everyone here goes home and—”

“So, I hope you all like duck,” Shizune interrupted swiftly, her smile a little more contrived than before. “Tonight, we’re having cherry-orange glazed duck over saffron rice with steamed vegetables.”

“You’re a mind reader, Shizune, I swear,” Kurenai commented. “I’ve been craving a nice piece of fatty duck like you can’t believe.”

“I can’t believe it either,” Asuma complained lightly, grinning as his wife gave him a dirty look.

Shizune laughed pleasantly and added, “Well, this is a new recipe so I’m not sure how it tastes yet. And if it’s not good—”

“Eat it anyway, you ungrateful bastards,” Genma interrupted with a mock scowl as he took hold of his lover’s hand and guided her to the overstuffed chair next to his. He quickly caught the decorative pillow Asuma lobbed his way, and it was only by miracle that he avoided spilling his sake in the process.

“So, one month since first discovering your love for each other,” Gai remarked. “And have you found the spirit of your youth returning to you as you bask in her sweet affections?”

Genma quickly covered up his snicker with a cough when his lover glared at him. Kakashi, however, had no idea how to even reply to something like that. Fortunately though, Aki saved him the trouble as she leaned forward and murmured, “You are such a romantic man.”

“It’s only a reflection of the beauty surrounding me.”

Shaking his head, Kakashi took a sip of sake in hopes of maybe obtaining some liquid resolve.

A low groan drew his attention to Genma, who had his face buried in his palms as he shook his head. “You did not just drink that through your mask,” the senbon user moaned pitifully. “That’s a Wataribune sake, not tap water!”

Raidou paused just as he was about to sip his and raised a brow. “How’d you get your hands on this?”

Shizune laughed and shrugged easily. “Compliments of the Hokage, actually. I, ah … told her some good news today and she sent this over to celebrate.”

Sakura gasped and bolted upright, one hand covering her mouth. “Shizune-san…?”

The older woman couldn’t have smiled any brighter if she’d tried. “That’s right Sakura-chan. I perfected the extraction technique we’d been working on. Whereas before we used to have to extract the blood as well as the toxin, I’ve figured out how to isolate only the unwanted segments. Isn’t that exciting?”

Kurenai snorted and flopped back in her seat with a pout. “Yeah. Real exciting. I thought it was going to be something else.”

“But this is exciting,” Sakura countered enthusiastically. “This means we don’t need to worry about blood transfusions for poison cases and patients won’t be immuno-compromised from having their white cells removed. It’s also more accurate and can be used on tissue repair as well.”

“That’s right,” Shizune agreed happily. “It’s revolutionary and it’ll start being taught first thing Monday morning.”

“So, how does this extraction method work?” Raidou asked.

“Oh, it’s very easy,” the dark haired medic explained. “See, once the blood anomaly is discovered and a sample isolated, it’s possible to create a bond with it through chakra. You can then use your chakra as a sort of magnet to the anomaly and draw it through the body for collection. So far, I’ve been able to do it in a series of three to four extractions, though it doesn’t remove the anomaly completely from the body. But it’s cleaner and less damaging than before.”

The blonde woman next to Raidou, Mikabi, frowned and looked at Sakura with more interest than she had before. “That sounds like it requires precision chakra use, Shizune.”

“Most medic jutsu do,” her date informed her. “Even the slightest mistake can have very negative results.”

Mikabi’s eyebrows went up at that. “Does this new method extend beyond toxins?”

“Potentially. I’ve yet to try it on, say, viral conditions, but theoretically it should work,” Shizune replied.

“And when you say ‘theoretically’ that means ‘definitely’,” Genma murmured as he smiled warmly at his lover.

Shizune smiled back and gave his hair an affectionate tousle. “Not always, but thanks for the vote of confidence.” Then, she turned toward Kakashi and Sakura again and asked, “So, if you don’t mind sharing … how did you ask her out, Kakashi?”

Kakashi cleared his throat and fidgeted uneasily. “I, ah … didn’t, actually. She asked me.”

Aki wrinkled her pert nose. “That’s awfully forward! Most women prefer it when a man takes charge,” she commented with yet another nasal snicker. “Did she pay too?”

“Actually, I didn’t,” Sakura cut in, fixing the older woman with a rather unfriendly look. “He took me to Kuroppoi.”

There was a beat of stunned silence around the room as all eyes turned toward Kakashi in shock. He fidgeted under the scrutiny while wishing silently that Sakura hadn’t felt the need to boast about that.

It was Asuma who finally broke the silence by muttering, “Damn. I’d date you if you took me there.”

“I like my dates with a lot less facial hair, thanks,” he replied sweetly.

“Awww, but that’s such a wonderful first date,” Aki cooed dreamily. “He must be a really terrific boyfriend, huh, Sakura-chan?”

Kakashi’s hand paused as he was about to sip his sake and his eye widened at the label. Boyfriend? Him? Surely not! That was just … it wasn’t him.

And yet, it didn’t bother as much as surprise him to hear someone say he was Sakura’s boyfriend. Weird.

Sakura, however, nearly choked on the minuscule sip she’d taken from her own bowl. “Boyfriend?” she squeezed out, her voice colored with incredulity. “Oh… No. No, it’s not like that. Well, I mean … not officially. I-It’s more like ... um…”

Eyebrows were raising around the room and Shizune was giving him a distinctly unfriendly glare. Kakashi winced and tried to make himself invisible as small a target as possible for the other woman’s ire. He knew Sakura’s denial made it sound like they were only having sex, and how quick she’d been to state it killed the part of him that had been okay with the label.

Sakura must have picked up on the unspoken assumptions because her cheeks darkened a remarkable shade of red as she hastily stammered, “Wait, that’s not… I didn’t mean it—”

“Of course it isn’t,” Gai stepped in smoothly. “A love like yours is too young to be defined, too free to be so constrained by a mere word.”

“Yeah. That’s… That’s kind of what I meant,” Sakura murmured, ducking her head quickly.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Kakashi shoved any disappointment aside in favor of covering her hand with his own and squeezing gently. She glanced at him hesitantly and whatever she saw made her smile return, albeit shyly.

Aki laughed playfully and nudged her verbose date. “So, what’s our love like, seeing as we’ve only been together two weeks?”

“Ah, we are in the most sensual moment of any relationship,” the taijutsu expert replied, oblivious to the reaction of the other diners. “It is that beautiful moment of discovery and exploration, of learning the other’s inner delights.”

Despite the fact that Asuma and Genma were both rolling their eyes, both of their women were staring at Gai with flushed cheeks and bright eyes – much like Aki was herself. “You say the most beautiful things,” she whispered, staring at Gai like he controlled the solar and lunar cycles.

Kakashi took silent pride in the fact that Sakura seemed genuinely disinterested in the romantic prose and used the moment of distraction for an opportunity to do what he’d wanted to do ever since she sat down; he brushed his lips lightly along the nape of her neck, savoring the soft skin as much as he did her hitched breath.

She turned slowly toward him, her lips parting as she fixed dark, needy eyes on his mouth. Immediately, his body began to respond to her, and it was aided when she ran a hand slowly along his thigh.

A sharp chime sounded from in the kitchen, but it was Genma’s sudden movement that caused them to break apart. Kakashi did a quick glance around and happily noted that no one had witnessed their small exchange. While conducting his check, he also noted the time on the clock and groaned when he realized they’d barely been there fore twenty minutes. This was going to be a long, long night.

“Hey, Shizune? Can you stop making moon eyes at Gai and give me a hand in here?” Genma called.

“Oh… Yes, sorry. I’ll be right there,” she replied softly as she pushed to her feet.

“So, Genma,” Asuma said as Kurenai left him to go lend a hand in the kitchen. “I hear your team got assigned their first mission.”

Genma’s groan could be heard from the kitchen. “Can we not talk about that? Those brats are gonna be the death of me, I swear.”

Gai chuckled lightly and said, “Having trouble keeping up with today’s youth, eh, Genma?”

“More like today’s youth are more annoying than yesterday’s. Due to their disobedient nature – and this is almost directly as the Hokage said it – my team will be assigned missions with a heavy emphasis on teamwork. And none of it higher than D-rank. Do you know how embarrassing that is? Me, a jounin, going on D-ranked missions?”

“Yes,” every jounin-turned-instructor in the room chorused.

“Well, setting the blow to my ego aside for a moment, there’s also the fact that these kids … they’re just not learning!”

“Don’t worry. After their first real mission … they’ll listen,” Kurenai comforted. “Kiba was very much the trouble maker for a long time. All it took was him almost taking a kunai to the crotch to realize this isn’t all fun and games.”

“Yeah, but that wasn’t a D-ranked mission, was it?” Genma argued bitterly. “I won’t be hitting anything above that for a long damn time.”

“You know, one of my team’s early missions was supposed to be a B-rank,” Kakashi supplied casually. “Turned out it should have been A. After that, everyone was much more attentive during training.”

Sakura arched a brow at him and said, “That is, when we did have training sessions because a certain someone kept showing up several hours late.”

“That was part of the lesson.”

“What?” she squawked, pushing away from him incredulously.

“Uh-oh, this is gonna be good,” Genma murmured, earning him a chuckle from Asuma.

Kakashi blinked slowly and pinned her with a dull, unaffected stare. “Your enemies won’t attack based off of a timeline, so why should your training sessions follow suit? A ninja should be prepared for anything: rule number—”

“—Three in the Shinobi Handbook, yes I know. Rule number thirteen: daily, regular training is necessary to maintain the skills developed and increase abilities.” Sakura smirked at him triumphantly. “If you want to keep quoting the Handbook, be my guest.”

Asuma laughed from across the way and said, “She’s got you there, Kakashi! Sakura, even if the duck proves inedible, just playing witness to Hatake Kakashi eating his own words was worth the invitation.”

“And speaking of the duck, it’s ready now if everyone wants to take a seat at the table,” Shizune said, beaming proudly as she carried a tray of delicious smelling meat to the dining room.

Everyone stood and followed after her as her other two assistants arrived carrying the side dishes and more sake, and Kakashi was a little disappointed when Sakura followed suit. She only took a couple steps before she noticed he wasn’t with her and paused. Smiling, she held her hand out to him.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Kakashi stood up and took her offered hand, noting as he did so that her smile became softer. A small smile formed beneath his mask as he looked down at her, and the part of him that was dreading their conversation to come reared its head.

He was nervous; there was no questioning that. Whatever it was she wanted to talk about had to do with them and their relationship, and he knew by the way she’d spoken the day before that it wasn’t going to be pleasant. And that made him very uneasy, though he did his best to hide it. He knew it was inevitable that the truth would eventually have to come out, he just … wanted things to stay the way they were. As necessary as it was for them to be truthful, deep down his gut told him it would also signal the end to what they had.

And he was far too jaded to believe for one second that the end would only give way to something better. That worked in movies in books – parodies of real life.

For now though, he was perfectly fine living in denial for just a bit longer if it meant holding her hand and having her smile at him in that special way. If it meant her sneaking glances at his ass, exchanging banter, burning dinner and kissing him so sweetly … he’d gladly stay in Denial Land for a good while longer.


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

“Hey, hey! Ichiraku Ramen’s back that way!” Naruto shouted as the others walked by the turn they should have taken.

Kiba snorted and said, “Who said we were goin’ there? Korean barbeque’s better than ramen!” Shino made a soft hum of agreement as they continued heading toward the smell of grilling meats.

For a few seconds, all he could do was splutter incoherently at such sacrilege. Burned meat better than ramen? Like hell! Making ramen was an art. It took a helluva lot more talent than slapping some dead animal on a dirty grill and letting it sit there until it’s blackened.

His growling stomach didn’t seem to agree with that though. It didn’t care about careful preparation or anything like that. To it, food was food and it wanted it now.

Sighing in resignation, Naruto cast a sad glance down the street before trudging slowly to catch up. Yeah, he’d already been there for lunch with Sakura … but it’d been over two years since he’d last had Ichiraku Ramen. He didn’t care what Sakura said; he was going through some serious withdrawal.

He’d met Kiba and Shino just as he’d been wondering what to do for dinner. Even though someone had been around to keep his place decent (as well as pay the rent so that he still had a place) they hadn’t kept it stocked with food. He had enough money to buy himself dinner, thanks to Sakura picking up the lunch tab as her way of welcoming him home, but not nearly enough for Korean barbeque.

Maybe he could talk one of them into spotting him some money until his next mission. He was way above doing all that kid stuff; he was ready for the big leagues, A-ranked only! Why, with one paycheck from an A-rank, he could pay off whatever he owed them plus his rent, plus Ichiraku Ramen for at least a couple weeks.

Naruto had just opened his mouth to ask, when Kiba gave his side a nudge and jerked his thumb at a trio entering the barbeque house. “See that?” he asked, grinning wide enough to flash his pointed eyeteeth.

“Um… You mean Shikamaru, Ino, and Lard Ass?” Naruto asked tentatively.

“Yeah, Team Ten. Otherwise known to us as Team Meal Ticket. Get ready to eat real good tonight, fellas!”

Shino grunted quietly and said, “It’s not gonna happen tonight, not with Shikamaru and Ino there.”

Kiba flashed him a wicked smile and winked. “Leave the blonde to me.”

“Yeah, good luck handling Ino,” Naruto laughed as they walked through the doors of the restaurant. “Next to Sakura, I’d say she’s the scariest kunoichi in the village!”

“Didn’t that Sannin teach you anything about women? All they need is a little petting and they’re all yours. Like dogs.”

Well, he didn’t really know what Kiba was getting at, but he did know girls didn’t like being called dogs. Or fat. Or anything, actually. A guy couldn’t even tell them they were pretty without being called a liar. Still though, it’d been over two years since he’d last hung out with Kiba. Maybe he’d developed some crazy lady-taming talent or something.

Trusting that everything would work out like Kiba planned (whatever the plan might be), Naruto followed the other two to the table that their friends had just claimed. Ino yelped in surprise as Kiba slid into the booth next to her, causing her to scoot all the way into the corner so that Naruto could fit next to him. Shino opted for snagging a chair from a nearby table.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Ino snapped, jamming her elbow into Kiba’s side in an effort to shove him out. “This is a Team Ten dinner, not Morons Anonymous.”

“Hey, is that anyway to welcome home a friend?” Kiba replied, looping his arm around Naruto’s neck to drag him forward in a headlock. “Look who we found roaming around the streets!”

“Gah … get offa me, Kiba!” Naruto growled, tugging at the other boy’s arm. Not only was his breathing be cut off, but with his nose practically buried in Kiba’s armpit it felt like his nose was gonna rot off.

“Wha … is that Naruto?” the blonde girl asked incredulously, bending lower to peer at his face. “Oh, wow! You’ve gotten really tall. Does Sakura know you’re back yet?”

“She knows,” Shikamaru drawled as he continued weaving straw wrappers into some weird shape. “They were together when I was escorting Temari to the gates.”

Immediately, Ino turned to flash a mischievous look to her teammate. “Oooo, seeing your girlfriend off, were you?” she teased. “Did you kiss her goodbye? Whisper sweet-nothings?”

Shikamaru scowled and muttered, “You got the ‘nothing’ part right, Ino. Everything else was way off.”

“Oh, you are in such denial!” she scoffed dismissively before leaning around Kiba to smile at Naruto. “So, were you training yesterday with Forehead and Kakashi-sensei?”

“Yeah,” he replied distractedly, his eyes following a tray of freshly cooked ribs going by their table. His stomach gurgled hungrily as the smell of charred meat and dripping fat filtered through his nose, and he pressed a hand to his gut to stifle it. Sighing wistfully, he turned back to Ino and added, “Sakura’s gotten strong. Like, scary strong. She busted up the ground like it was nothin’!”

Ino snorted and rolled her eyes. “I swear, Forehead gets more manly by the day. She’s never going to find a man if she keeps this up!”

Shikamaru shot her a glance that for some reason made her blush hotly. Naruto’s brow furrowed at the exchange, but he shrugged it off as being something weird between them. The waitress came out with a basket of rolls for their table and he immediately dove at them. He yelped when Chouji got his hands in there first and grabbed the two biggest rolls in the basket. Damn, was that lard ass fast!

“So, Shino, where’s Hinata?” Ino asked after the waitress had taken their order and left. “I haven’t seen her around the last couple of days. Is everything okay?”

Kiba snorted loudly and glared at his chopsticks like he wanted to stab someone with them and Shino’s hand tightened around his water. “She’s been holed up in the Hyuuga compound,” the bug user replied, and the hardness in his voice caught Naruto’s attention. “Her dad’s trying to get the Kazekage to marry her.”

All eyes turned to Naruto as he choked hard on his soda and came pretty freakin’ close to spraying it across the table. Kiba gave his back a couple of solid whacks to try and help him as he leaned against the table and coughed fitfully. “Wha?” he gasped, blinking in surprise at Shino. “Wha’d you just say?”

“I said Hyuuga Hiashi is trying to arrange a marriage between the Kazekage and Hinata,” Shino repeated calmly.

“But… But that’s Gaara! Since when does Hinata love Gaara?”

“It’s not a love thing, Naruto,” Shikamaru explained, acting as if what he was saying should have been obvious. “Hyuuga Hiashi is looking to expand on the clan’s connections, and he’s using Hinata to do that. She’s the Hyuuga clan’s heir, after all. A marriage to the Kazekage of Suna would be a big freakin’ deal.”

“But he can’t do that!” Naruto exploded, causing the diners around them to turn curious eyes toward their table. “She’s not a piece of furniture he can just sell off! She’s a person – a ninja! You guys can’t seriously be okay with this!”

Chouji shrugged indifferently and said, “He’s been doin’ it for a couple years now. And my mom’s been trying to introduce me to girls, too. It’s just how it’s done in the major clans.”

“It’s not right! Hinata shouldn’t have to marry someone she doesn’t love just ‘cause her dad wants her to! No one should!”

“Relax, Naruto,” Shino interjected. “It’s not gonna happen.”

Naruto blinked slowly and some of the outrage he’d felt began to fade away. “Huh? Why not?”

Kiba and Shino shot each other glances before the former snickered wickedly. “The last guy Hiashi tried to arrange for her to marry mysteriously backed out the day before he was supposed to sign the contract.”

“No one knows why,” Shino continued when his teammate broke off in quiet laughter. “But Neji was smirking for a good week afterward, so we think he had something to do with that.”

Wow… Naruto sank slowly into his seat again as his mind rushed to process what he was hearing. Neji was scaring off the people Hinata was supposed to marry? The last he knew, Neji didn’t even like Hinata, and now he was looking out for her? Crazy – but in a really good way.

“Yeah, but I don’t think it’ll work with Gaara,” Shikamaru interjected, leaning back from the table as two waitresses came over with heavily loaded trays. “Gaara’s not exactly scared of Neji.”

“That’s assuming he agrees to the arrangement to begin with,” Ino cut in. She cast a disapproving look at the heaping helping of ribs in front of Chouji. “Shouldn’t you be dieting?”

“Shouldn’t you?” the larger boy replied as he dove into his ribs. Naruto knew better than to get between Akimichi Chouji and barbequed meat, so instead he decided to mooch off of Kiba’s plate. Kiba was too distracted peering down the front of Ino’s dress to notice anyway.

Ino scowled darkly at her teammate before pointedly turning back to Shikamaru. “Anyway, Gaara’s not exactly Mr. Touchy-Feely. I don’t see him wanting to be married.”

Shikamaru sucked a bit of sauce from his finger and said, “Again, doesn’t really matter what they want. It’s what’s best for their people. Gaara marrying and making ties to the Hyuuga clan would be in Suna’s best interest. That would mean Suna has access to the byakugan.”

“I doubt Tsunade-sama would ever let that happen,” she argued back. “We need to keep the byakugan more than ever, especially since the—”

She cut herself off quickly and slid a worried look Naruto’s way. He knew what she’d been about to say: Konoha needed the byakugan now more than ever since there wasn’t an Uchiha in the village. Sadness panged sharply through him at the reminder that not everything was the same. Sasuke wasn’t here to celebrate with them. Well… celebrate as much as his uptight ass would allow, that is. Even though he would have rolled his eyes and sneered the entire time, it just didn’t feel complete without Sasuke.

Aware that everyone was watching him intently, Naruto quickly forced a laugh and took a huge bite of meat from the bone. “What’re you all lookin’ sad about?” he joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Better eat up before Fat Ass over there scarfs it all!”

Chouji paused with his mouth open to bite into his ribs. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he said in a cool, icy tone, “What did you just say?”

“He said nothing!” Ino interrupted as Kiba dug an elbow into Naruto’s side. “Absolutely nothing, now eat your ribs.”

With one final, suspicious glare, the larger boy returned to his food. Naruto glanced at Kiba and both of them grinned. Okay, so maybe some things never changed. He snagged another roll from the basket and took a huge bite from it, enjoying the warm, buttery taste. Sure, it wasn’t ramen, but it was still pretty good.

“Anyway,” he said, speaking around the bread in his mouth. “What’re we gonna do if Hiashi does sell Hinata off, huh?”

Kiba’s brow creased as he shook his head. “Whaddya mean what are we gonna do? There’s not much we can do if that happens.”

“Huh? Are you crazy?! You’re just gonna let her get shipped off to Suna without at least puttin’ up a fight?! Geeze… Some teammates you guys are. Remind me never to go on missions with you.”

“Hey, now, that’s not fair,” Shino said sharply, and even though no one could see his eyes behind the dark tinted glasses, there was no doubt he was glaring. “Me and Kiba would do anything for Hinata if we could. We don’t like it, but neither of us are in a position to object. This is between her, her dad, and whoever’s supposed to marry her.”

“That’s right,” Ino agreed. “Hinata needs to stand up for herself on this one. Me personally, if my dad tried to pull this kind of outdated crap on me, I’d kill him and find my mom a new husband.”

Naruto frowned and slouched further in his seat. He didn’t like to say it, but they had a point. It didn’t really matter what they said; it mattered what Hinata said. She was the only one who could put a stop to this, but he knew she wouldn’t. Hinata was all kinds of responsible and always putting her family first. He supposed if he had a family of his own he’d do the same, too. It just made him sick to think this was how marriage was for rich people. Marriage was supposed to be because two people loved each other, not because it made them more powerful.

He tucked those thoughts away for later and leaned forward to peer at Ino. “Hey, hey, why isn’t Sakura-chan here, huh? Don’t you guys live together now or something?”

“O-Oh,” Ino stammered, dabbing her napkin daintily across her lips. “Yeah, um ... we do. And she, ah … she had plans tonight.”

“Really? What’s she doin’?”

“She’s um … she’s…”

“She’s studying, isn’t she, Ino?” Shikamaru asked idly. “Doesn’t she have some medic exam thing coming up?”

“Yes! Yes, she does,” the blonde girl exclaimed with a breezy laugh. “God, I can’t believe I forgot about that. Yeah, she’s studying right now, Naruto. She’s really nervous, you know.”

He couldn’t possibly begin to understand why Sakura would be nervous about a test. She was one of the smartest people he knew. Plus, she was an ace medic as well. There was no doubt in his mind she’d pass whatever the test was perfectly. Shrugging indifferently, he took the small plate of meat Shikamaru pushed across to him and said, “Okay. I thought maybe she had a date with Thick Brows or somethin’.”

Kiba spluttered and hacked loudly as he choked on his drink. “What?” he gasped, his face reddening from the lack of oxygen as well as laughter. “You think … Sakura’s datin’ Lee?”

Naruto’s brow pinched as he gave the boy next to him a shove. “Well, who else would she be datin’? Iruka-sensei?”

For some reason, this only made Kiba laugh louder. Naruto growled irritably when a flailing arm almost caught him in the stomach. “You’re still … so dead … last,” the dark haired boy managed to squeeze out as tears brightened his eyes. “Sakura … not datin’ Lee. She’s – OOF!” Kiba suddenly disappeared beneath the table as if someone had given his foot a hard pull.

Now it was Naruto’s turn to laugh as the bewildered dog lover squirmed his way back into the booth. “I’m dead last? You can’t even sit down without fallin’ on your ass!” he joked, earning a chuckle from Chouji and a smirk from Shikamaru. Stupid Kiba… That’s what he got for being a jerk!

“Kiba, you okay?” Shino asked as his teammate peered beneath the shadowy underside of the table cautiously.

“Yeah,” he mumbled distractedly. “Just felt like somethin’ grabbed my leg, that’s all…” No one noticed Shikamaru wink at Ino, or her mouthing ‘thank you’ back to him.

“So, anyway,” Ino interrupted pleasantly, flashing a friendly smile toward Naruto. “I bet you saw a lot of really interesting places, Naruto. Why don’t you tell us about it?”

Shrugging as if it wasn’t that big a deal (although secretly he liked the attention), he rubbed a hand across his nose and said, “It’s kinda hard to pick a good starting point. That pervy sage dragged me – I mean, me and him went to all kinds of places. Like, this one time we went to Wave Country and—”

“Here ya go, kids! Have a great evening.” The waitress smiled as she left the bill, which was three handwritten pages long (did they really eat that much food?), on the table for them to tally up.

Ino made to grab it, but at that exact moment, Kiba’s hand knocked into his soda pop. The blonde girl gasped and leapt to her feet as dark cola stained across her pale blue dress. “Kiba! Look what you’ve done!” she yelped, quickly snatching napkins from the table to wipe at the liquid. “Damn it, this is silk! D’you have any idea how easily that stains?!”

“Gee, I’m sorry, Ino,” Kiba replied, managing a very convincing grimace. “Here, lemme help with—”

She slapped his hands away with a ferocious scowl and gave his leg a kick under the table. “Get outta the way! I’ve gotta get home and get this thing soaking before it sets.”

Naruto squawked as he was all but shoved out of the booth. He was about to tell Kiba off for pushing him like that, but then Shino stood up and clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go,” he murmured, nodding toward the door.

That was the moment where it all clicked for him. Kiba had purposely spilled the drink on Ino to distract her from the bill. While Kiba continued to apologize, even going so far as to say he’d walk her home, it provided enough distraction for him and Shino to slip out. The only person who would’ve noticed this was Shikamaru, but he was too busy nudging at Chouji to say anything about it.

Snickering and secretly applauding Kiba’s cleverness, Naruto quickly headed for the door. Maybe he wasn’t such a jerk after all, seeing as he was willing to brave it out with a pissed off Ino just to let his friends escape. That was pretty cool of him.

As soon as all the dashers were gone (and if it wouldn’t be such a pain in the ass he’d go after them for the money), Shikamaru elbowed his best friend roughly and hissed, “What’re you doing, Chouji? You’re just gonna let Ino go off with Kiba like that?”

Chouji paused in sucking on a bone and gave him a confused look. “Um… yeah?” he replied, as if it should have been very obvious.

Shikamaru slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned. “Man, don’t tell me you didn’t notice!”

“Notice what?”

Okay, so he wasn’t really surprised Chouji’d missed the clues with food on the table, but still… “Kiba’s into Ino. He’s probably gonna ask her out tonight if you don’t do something!”

There was a moment of silence before the larger boy shrugged and grunted, “Not my problem.” He began licking his fingers clean of sticky barbeque sauce, unaware that his friend was gaping at him in disbelief.

“Not your … Chouji! You’re seriously gonna sit here and just let him take her from you? I thought you liked her!”

“I do,” Chouji explained as he reached for the bill. “But she’d be a real bossy girlfriend. And she’d have me on a constant diet. So … I thought it’d be better if I went out with someone who likes to cook and won’t give me a hard time about eating.”

Shikamaru couldn’t believe he was hearing this. After how many weeks of pining and strategizing and arranging things so that Chouji could have the advantage when it came to Ino’s time … and he didn’t want her anymore? Slouching in his seat and suppressing another groan, he asked weakly, “Who is it now?”

The waitress came up then to collect the bill and smiled sweetly at them. “Nice seeing you boys again. Have a good evening!”

“You too, and tell your dad the ribs were awesome,” Chouji replied, blushing as he avoided making direct eye contact.

When he turned toward his friend, it was to discover Shikamaru slouched so far down that he was almost hidden by the table – and he was looking more irritated than usual.


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“So, are you two coming with us?”

Sakura blinked at Genma’s question and looked from him to Shizune in confusion. “Where are you going?” she asked, noting that everyone else was standing as well.

Dinner had been a lot of fun, once the initial awkwardness of meeting new people was done and over with. Everyone had been really friendly and welcoming to her, the food was fantastic, and afterward she’d had a chance to mingle with the other women for a bit. She’d been a little nervous coming in that she, being much younger than everyone else, would be completely out of place. But that hadn’t been the case at all. In fact, she’d somehow gotten herself invited to go shopping for baby stuff with Kurenai and Shizune – and she hadn’t even known the former was pregnant!

“Kuroran,” Shizune replied as she gathered the last of the champagne glasses to take to the kitchen. “It’s a dance club just a couple blocks away from here. You like dancing, don’t you, Sakura-chan?”

She did, very much so, and she was surprised her superior remembered that. Everyone else was already heading for the door, obviously having discussed this before she and Kakashi had arrived. Her eyes followed Aki as Gai spun her into a deft turn, causing the redhead to giggle in delight as they started the dancing early.

It’d been a long time since she’d gone out to a club, and the idea was really appealing – especially the part her imagination filled in of Kakashi holding her close as they swayed to a nice, slow, romantic number. But … she knew without asking that he wasn’t the dancing type, and even if he was they were on a deadline. It was already half past nine and Ino would be home by midnight. She had to talk to him tonight.

Letting out a soft breath, Sakura shook her head. “Not this time, thanks. And thank you for a wonderful dinner, Shizune-san. It was a lot of fun,” she said.

Shizune laughed, her head inclining in a partial bow for the compliment. “Well, thank you! I’m glad you had fun. And maybe we’ll see more of you at these thing, hm?”

Sakura blushed at the implication but nodded as she and Kakashi exited the apartment. Genma clapped him on the back and said, “Hatake, I’ll probably see you tomorrow, too.”

“I hope not,” Kakashi replied before slipping an arm over Sakura’s shoulders and pretending he didn’t see the finger extended in his direction as they followed the rest of the couples out of the apartment complex. Once outside, more goodbyes were said, a few taunts were leveled at the man walking with her, and then it was just the two of them walking back toward her place.

Once they were alone and out of ear shot, Kakashi said, “We could have gone, if you’d wanted.” He slipped an arm across her shoulders, his fingers rubbing slow circles across her shoulder.

She tipped her head back to smile at him as she wrapped an arm around his waist. “I know, but I didn’t feel like it either. Besides, what’s the point of going to a dance club when you’re not going to dance?”

“Are you talking about me specifically, or is the ‘you’ more in general?”

Laughing as she leaned into him further, she said, “Both, I guess. The only way I’d be able to dance is if someone else danced with me and … and I don’t think I’d like that.”

She felt more than heard him chuckle and her eyes closed briefly when he brushed a kiss against the top of her head. “That’s a very good answer.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Hm?”

“It means that you’ll have to take dance lessons, because I like dancing.” She giggled as he slapped a hand to his face and groaned.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Kakashi remarked dryly. “Me skipping about in one of those frilly shirt and sequins—”

“Stop, you’re making me drool,” Sakura deadpanned before jumping sharply as he gave her arm a pinch.

“You are a strange, strange girl, Haruno Sakura.”

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep, contented breath, one that carried his scent and made her stomach flutter. “You’re in no position to call anyone strange, Kakashi-sensei.”

Her eyes opened as she felt him stiffen a little against her, prompting her to lean away with a frown. When she looked at him, he was busy watching the sidewalk and there was absolutely no emotion to his features. She came to a halt, causing him to glance at her questioningly.

She rose on tiptoe and placed a gentle kiss to his cloth covered lips. Her mouth lingered on his a little longer than she’d intended, but the feel of his lips moving against hers was mesmerizing. The only reason she drew back at all as because her feet were beginning to ache from the strain.

For a moment, it felt as if nothing existed but them. They were standing in the middle of the sidewalk with a scattering of people walking around, probably staring at them, but it was all peripheral to the way he was looking at her. Her eyes slid closed and her breath escaped in shuddering puffs as he gently traced his fingers along the curve of her cheek.

The intention had been to show rather than tell him that ‘sensei’ was only a title, a word. It didn’t mean anything to her where they were concerned. Sakura felt his forehead meet hers, their noses pressing together as his breath warmed her lips. She knew then that he’d understood what she’d been trying to convey, and he was thanking her in the same manner.

Kakashi pulled away and her eyes blinked open dazedly as she looked up at him. The streetlight caught in his dark eye, illuminating the heated, hungry spark that never failed to make her shiver. He caught her hand and motioned with his head in the direction they had been walking. Sakura, her cheeks flushed as the slow, warm feeling continued to curl about in her lower stomach, nodded and fell into step with him.

The rest of the walk back to her apartment was silent but full of small, gentle touches: his thumb across her knuckles, her cheek rubbing against his arm, the barest impression of a kiss to her head or his shoulder. In a way, just walking with him like this was more arousing and endearing than any of the more passionate moments between them. Kakashi wasn’t the sort of man who expressed himself emotionally, so it was doubly precious to her that he was comfortable enough to allow for a public display, however slight it might be. In a way, it almost answered the question of how he felt about her.

Almost.

And with that, some of the pleasant heat died away as a colder sensation began to encroach. It reminded her that they still needed to talk and that every step closer to her apartment was making it more and more real. What if he didn’t want to tell Naruto about their relationship? What if she was reading into things more than she should?

They entered her apartment building without a word and ascended the stairs in the same fashion. She could feel Kakashi watching her surreptitiously as she unlocked the door. He followed after her, shutting the door as she flicked on the living room light.

She shrugged out of her sweater and tossed it as well as her purse into the nearby chair before crouching down to undo her strappy shoes. “Do you want some tea?” she asked as she heard him move further into room.

“No, thank you,” he replied as he made himself at home on the couch.

The only reason she’d even asked was because she was trying to stall. Sakura took her time setting her shoes just so by the door before heading over to the couch as well. Her stomach was fluttering wildly and it felt like her heart was trying to climb up her throat. She sat down next to him, ignoring the voice that was prompting her to lean in closer, snuggle in to his side. This was a serious discussion and she couldn’t do it while enjoying the warm feel of him against her.

For several seconds, they just sat there, hardly even looking at each other. It was Kakashi who finally broke the tension, despite the fact she had been the one to initiate this talk. “Okay,” he began softly as he shifted around to face her. “What did you want to talk about?”

Sakura took a deep, shaky breath and picked at a crease in her skirt nervously. “I just … well, now that Naruto’s back, I was wondering … what do you want to do?”

If he was surprised by the question, it didn’t show. Instead, he nodded slowly, his face completely unreadable. “Mine is not the only opinion that matters here, Sakura,” he replied, his gaze falling to where her fingers were now twisting a knot in her skirt.

Her nose wrinkled as she said, “You’re evading the question.”

“Maybe a little bit, but so are you.”

She stopped worrying at her dress and closed her eyes. “Can’t you just tell me this once what you’re thinking?” she pleaded, an edge of frustration creeping into her voice.

Kakashi sighed heavily and raked a hand back through his disheveled hair. As if the room had become unbearably hot all of a sudden, he tugged his mask down to bunch around his neck. “I think,” he said slowly, as if still trying to formulate what he was trying to say. “That it’s going to hurt Naruto if he finds out about us.”

Sakura’s heart plummeted sharply at that.

“But, I also think it’ll hurt him a hell of a lot more if we don’t tell him and he finds out from someone else.”

And just like that, the stupid organ was back where it had been. “So… So you think we should tell him?”

He looked at her then and she was surprised to note a bit of sadness in his eye. When his fingers brushed across her cheek before sliding back into her hair, she couldn’t help but to lean into the touch.

“I’ve told you my thoughts. Now what are yours?”

Sakura’s eyes opened slowly, but she didn’t pull away from the delicious feel of his palm curving to her cheek. “I think we should tell him,” she whispered. “It’s important and he deserves to hear it from one of us.”

Kakashi arched a brow. “One of us?”

She nodded. “Yes. I’ll tell him. I think it’ll be easier coming from me than you. No offence, Kakashi, but sometimes you’re not the most sympathetic person out there.”

His lips quirked in a brief smile, which she answered with one of her own. “Okay. If you’re sure about this—”

“I’m sure.”

“—Then you can tell him. The sooner, the better though. You do know this might affect the team dynamics a bit, right?”

It was now her turn to arch a brow at him. “As if our dating each other doesn’t do that already?”

Kakashi shrugged to concede the point before leveling a hard, indiscernible look at her. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

Sakura hesitated for a moment, debating about whether or not to even mention the bet. It was obvious, both from his response concerning Naruto as well as his actions all night, that he cared about her and was serious about their relationship. But she didn’t want to mention the bet until after she’d talked to Tsunade – which wouldn’t be until tomorrow.

Ignoring the little voice protesting in the back of her consciousness, Sakura shook her head and said, “No.”

His fingers paused briefly as they combed through her hair. “No?”

“No,” she repeated, smiling as she rubbed her lips across his wrist. “But there is something else I’d like to do now.”

Heat flickered through his dark eye as she moved in closer to him, his hand slipping around to the back of her neck to draw her in. “Oh, yeah?” he murmured, tilting his head slightly to better receive her lips.

“Yeah,” she breathed back as she placed a hand to his chest for balance. The first brush of his lips against hers caused her to suck in a sharp breath and moan. On the second, that wonderful lightheaded feeling came over her, and by the third her hand was stroking up his chest to circle his neck.

This was what she’d wanted all evening, she realized as his tongue tapped gently at her lips. She opened for him, and all at once the kiss became much more. His tongue swept inside her mouth, curled and stroked around her own as the hand on the back of her neck became tangled in her hair. Sakura shifted to her knees on the sofa, lifting her dress out of the way as she pressed herself eagerly to his chest.

Kakashi groaned into her mouth, his teeth nipping at her lower lip as his free hand traced tentative circles along her bare knee. When she took hold of his wrist and guided his hand further up her leg, his touch became firmer, more confident, until his fingers were gripping her thigh in such a way that she pulled away from the kiss with a gasp.

Their eyes met briefly before he was suddenly guiding her down onto the cushions. He followed her down and she was equal parts excited and nervous about what was more than likely to come. Some of it must have shown in her face, because Kakashi paused, bracing himself on one forearm as his hand smoothed more gently along her thigh.

“Is this okay?” he asked, his voice a little huskier than she was used to hearing.

Not trusting herself to speak, she hesitated a moment before nodding. Yes, this was okay. She wanted this. Even through the uncertainty, she knew that for a fact. She wanted Kakashi in everyway possible. She wanted the promise of pleasure that burned in his eyes – both of them – as he looked down at her.

She wanted Kakashi to be her first lover. And, maybe, her only lover.

When he slipped a thigh between her legs, she didn’t hesitate in spreading them wide enough to accommodate his hips. A startled gasp tore from her throat and her hips gave a sudden arch at the feel of his erection pressing just where her body ached. Even through the layers of clothing, she could feel how hot he was, how hard and eager to take things further. She felt him shudder and watched as his eyes squeezed tightly shut, as if even this limited contact was almost too much for him.

Sakura smoothed her hand up the front of his itchy sweater until she was cupping his cheek, running her thumb over his lower lip tenderly. She waited until his eyes opened before arching up to kiss him chastely … and roll her hips in the barest of movements.

Kakashi gasped and she used it as an excuse to touch her tongue to his, to circle her arm around his back and pull him down completely against her. Another deep, needy groan left him as he returned the kiss, one hand tangling in her hair again as the other gripped her hip and guided the slow, circular grind. Every time they came together, his body rubbed against hers, sparking her passion higher and sending pleasant tingles racing all through her nerves. Every time they drew apart, she moaned at the loss and immediately sought him out again.

Things became blurry as the movement of their hips increased. She was vaguely aware of jerking his sweater up and off and of how much better it felt to run her hands along the smooth, hard muscles of his arms. His undershirt was thin, clinging to him like a second skin so that she could feel the firmness of his chest against her, could feel the shifting of muscles in his abdomen with every back and forth thrust. She didn’t realize until a sharp jolt of pleasure shot through her that he’d slipped a hand down the front of her dress and was now exploring her bare breast, kneading and massaging the soft flesh while his fingers rubbed over the stiffened peak. It felt amazing, left her breathless and aching for more.

It occurred to her as his mouth descended upon her throat to cover it with scorching kisses that they essentially were having sex, albeit completely dressed. She should have been embarrassed or at the very least feel some kind of maidenly shyness. Either she didn’t possess any or else it was being buried beneath the onslaught of skin and friction.

Sakura arched her back and threaded her fingers through his hair as his mouth began to move lower. She lifted her leg higher across his hip at the tugging of his hand, moaned as his callused fingertips began to slide higher along her skin. Her breath came in ragged pants, her hair clung to the sweat beading her brow and cheeks. She pulled at his undershirt until she could slip her hands beneath the fabric to explore the broad expanse of his back with fingers and nails. His skin was damp and every time her nails pressed into his shoulders his breathing hitched.

Her panting breaths blew across his temple as she nuzzled his cheek, trying to draw him into another kiss. Kakashi obliged her immediately, his tongue plunging into her mouth. She wanted to kiss him back, to caress his tongue with hers, but the intensity of his mouth on hers was too much to reciprocate. So instead, she let him lead and responded by following his cues. She hooked her foot around his thigh, let her hands run down to grope the tight firmness of his ass through his pants, and let the pleasure crash through her unrestrained.

Then he was touching her and she suddenly forgot about everything: modesty, her name, breathing … all of it completely blown from her mind by the slow, hesitant touch of his fingers between her legs. He pressed against her core again, drawing back to watch her shiver and grind herself into his touch. Again, this time following the seam of her panties lower to tease her entrance.

His mouth was on hers again as he kept working his fingers against her, causing heat and dampness to pool between her legs at his ministrations. She moaned and gasped and panted as she arched her back, rolled her body into his, rubbed herself against him. There was no thinking behind the act, only instinctive movement.

Something was building inside her, something raw and primal. She could feel it coiling hotly in her stomach, winding tighter with each circular rub of his thumb against a particularly sensitive spot – the clitoris, her memory supplied helpfully. Not that she really cared as long as he didn’t stop touching it.

The heat of his erection pressing into her thigh made her eyes open hazily as he continued nipping and sucking at her neck and shoulder. She debated a moment, torn between inexperience and wanting to give him pleasure as well, before sliding her hand along the narrow curve of his hip and between his legs.

As soon as her hand came into contact with his length, Kakashi cried out sharply. His body went tense and for the longest time he remained utterly still against her, the only movement coming from the ragged, panting breaths that were smothered against her shoulder. And then he was covering her hand with his so that he could show her how he liked to be touched.

She wasn’t certain at first that she was doing it right. He was much larger than she’d thought and surely such a firm grip couldn’t be pleasant. But the more she stroked him through his pants, the sharper his breaths until they were tinged with gasps and grunts and little moans of pleasure. Kakashi released her hand and returned to pleasuring her as well, pressing the heel of his palm against her and rubbing until her hips picked up the rhythm and began to move in time.

The tingling sensation started once more, easing through her until all that mattered was the next press of his hand to her core, the heavy, hot weight of him between her fingers. For all she knew, the village could be burning down around them and she wouldn’t care because it felt so good and god she could feel herself drawing closer and closer to that nameless something, and instinct told her it would be wondrous when it happened. Just a little closer … a little more…

“Ino.”

It was groaned against her lips and she was so caught up in the passion that for a second she didn’t hear what he’d said. “What?” she gasped, angling her hips a little so that his fingers pressed almost exactly where she wanted them.

Kakashi groaned and shook his head even as he continued to kiss her. “Wait … stop. Ino—”

That time, however, she heard clear as day what he’d said. Sakura froze beneath him before letting out an angry growl and shoving him none too gently to the floor. “You pervert!” she railed, her cheeks burning in a mixture of rage and embarrassment as she quickly fixed her clothing. “You have some gall moaning her name while—”

Her tirade died quickly when she heard the sound of someone opening the door. Sakura’s eyes widened in horrified shock as it suddenly dawned on her that the reason he’d said Ino’s name was because she was coming through the door right that very minute. But… But she wasn’t supposed to be home until midnight! What the hell was that Pig doing home early?!

By the time Ino pushed the door open, Kakashi was just getting to his feet and Sakura was still smoothing out her skirt. The blonde stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the two of them – or, rather, when she saw Kakashi, who was still in the process of pulling his mask in place. Round blue eyes blinked in stunned surprise and her mouth moved but all that came out were choked little sounds of wonder.

It occurred to her that until that moment Ino had never seen Kakashi's face and was probably just as surprised as she had been to discover just how very handsome he was. Scowling at her roommate, Sakura quickly put herself between the two of them and placed her hands on her hips. “Do you mind, Pig?” she snapped.

All Ino did was point at Kakashi and continue to make those odd noises as she struggled to find her vocabulary.

Sakura rolled her eyes impatiently and grabbed Kakashi’s hand. “I guess you’d better go now,” she grumbled irritably. Desire was still pounding through her veins, throbbing warmly between her legs, and because that stupid Pig had to come home early, nothing was going to be done about it. He didn’t protest as she pulled him toward the door and passed Ino, who was still too busy being weird to do anything about it.

Once they were in the hallway with the door shut behind them, Sakura leaned back and sighed unhappily. “I’m sorry,” she said, staring at her bare toes. “She wasn’t supposed to be home so early.”

“It’s … okay,” he muttered back, tucking his hands into his pockets. The movement drew her eye to his crotch and the rather noticeable bulge that remained. Kakashi cleared her throat pointedly, letting her know he’d noticed where her gaze had wandered.

She blushed darkly and somehow managed to lift her eyes to meet his again. Some of the heat still sparked in his eye as he looked at her, causing the ache between her legs to pulse hard. If only Ino had stayed out like she’d asked her to…

Kakashi cleared his throat again and fidgeted uncomfortably. “Well,” he said at last. “I should probably get going.”

Sakura nodded glumly. “Yeah.”

“You, ah … don’t have any plans tomorrow, do you?”

Her mood perked up instantly at the implication behind his question. Fighting back a smile, she shook her head and said, “No. I mean, I’ll be at the hospital until five, but after that I don’t have anything.”

He nodded thoughtfully and stared with narrow eyes at a spot on the wall behind her. “Would you want to … maybe come over to my place?”

An excited thrill moved through her and her heart sped up considerably at the prospect. She’d be seeing his apartment, the place where he lived – alone. They could pick up where they’d left of and maybe…

Oh.

Sakura felt a flutter of anticipation in her stomach as she whispered, “I’d like that very much.”

Nodding again, Kakashi leaned in stiffly and placed an awkward kiss to her cheek. “Okay. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, tomorrow. Um … bye.”

He waved over his shoulder was he quickly descended the stairs.

She waited until she couldn’t hear his footsteps any longer before closing her eyes and releasing her pent up breath. Wow. Tomorrow, she’d be going over to Kakashi’s apartment. Was he expecting her to sleep with him tomorrow night? Was she expecting that same thing?

No, she couldn’t go in thinking like that. For all she knew, he was just asking her over to hang out, maybe have dinner. She couldn’t walk in with any preconceptions for how the evening would progress.

But … what if it was to sleep with him? When he’d been on top of her and touching her so intimately, she’d been absolutely positive that was what she’d wanted. Now that it was over though … she wasn’t so sure. After all, she still had to tell him about the bet. It didn’t seem right taking things further when she still had that looming over her head.

Letting out a low breath, Sakura entered the apartment again and was relieved to note that Ino wasn’t anywhere to be seen. She could hear water running in the bathroom and knew her roommate was probably getting ready for bed. Good. She didn’t much feel like talking about what had just happened.

She quickly escaped into her room, carefully shutting the door behind her so as not to attract Ino’s attention, and began undressing in the dark. Her body was still wound up from Kakashi and she was having a hard time keeping her mind from wandering down that same path. The dress was laid out across the back of her vanity chair along with her bra. She groped blindly across the floor for the oversized t-shirt she’d slept in the night before and drew it on over her head. In the process, the back of her hand accidentally brushed across a nipple … and the pleasure that action produced made her pause.

Very slowly, her lower lip caught between her teeth and the voice of propriety reminding her that this wasn’t something good girls did, she cupped her breast with one hand and ran her thumb across her nipple. A soft, breathless sigh escaped her as the pleasant sensations returned. Another brush, this time more firmly – more like how Kakashi had touched her – and the tip became firm beneath the pad of her thumb. The next time she did it, she rolled it between her fingers and gasped at the throbbing need it created between her les.

Sakura glanced at the door, her entire body quivering with desire, and debated the situation. On the one hand, her door was closed and so long as she stayed quiet no one would ever know. On the other hand … Ino was just down the hall and had almost no qualms about just letting herself in.

She crawled into bed, her heart hammering and her fingers shaking nervously as she slipped beneath the covers. Once the blankets were pulled up beneath her chin, she closed her eyes and let her hands slide under her shirt. When her fingers came into contact with her bare breasts, she had to bite her lower lip to hold back on the moan. Her eyes remained closed as curious fingers traced and explored her flesh, drawing closer to the tightened peaks demanding attention. She thought about Kakashi: how he’d looked at her, kissed her – touched her. How the calluses on her own fingers were only a rough imitation of his and marvelous it’d felt to have him stretched out over her.

Her hips shifted beneath the covers, restless as she continued rolling her nipples between her fingers, kept kneading the soft mounds just as he’d done. Sakura’s head rolled across her pillow and her lips parted on a breathy sigh as she remembered the hot feel of his lips on her neck, the sharper counterpoint of his teeth followed by the soft, slick slide of his tongue across her pulse. She remembered the touch of his fingers on her thigh, strong and insistent but never unpleasant.

And then her memory conjured up the sensation of him touching her through her panties and how much she’d wanted him to move beyond the fabric, to actually touch her.

Without more hesitation than it took to fumble with the hem of her panties, Sakura let one hand glide between her legs. Her finger combed through the curls covering her sex and moved lower. She felt dampness there and it took her an embarrassing amount of time before her memory kicked in again and reminded her that it was a normal part of sexual arousal. Her legs spread a little further, one knee lifting to tent the covers and disguise the movement of her hand should an uninvited visitor happen to pop in.

She hesitated, her fingers poised just above the narrow slit of her sex. Common sense warred with her moral upbringing. She knew medically that masturbation was perfectly normal and, in fact, encouraged, but … her sense of decency kept arguing that it wasn’t okay to do this. Touching herself while thinking about a man wasn’t what nice, respectable girls did.

Maybe she wasn’t as nice and respectable as she’d thought because suddenly two inquisitive fingers were slipping easily through the slickness of her labia until they came to a tight little nub of flesh – her clitoris. Instantly, her back arched and her mouth opened in a silent gasp as lightning seemed to sear through her. Wonderful, delicious lightning that had her fingers dipping further into the thick fluid of her sex before returning to press against that small button for more. It was appropriate, really, that it felt like electricity was running through her veins, considering whose face she saw behind her closed eyes.

Sakura took the time to explore the various ways of stimulating her clitoris, alternating between a quick up and down motion and tight, circular movements. It all felt so good, reminded her intensely of how it’d felt to have Kakashi’s fingers there while his erection rubbed and pressed against her thigh. The winding sensation was back again, the one that had heralded something much grander than the pleasure she was already feeling. There wouldn’t be any interruptions this time and the knowledge that she’d finally experience what it was filled her with excitement, adding to the sensations coursing through her body.

She was aware of her hips rocking into her touch, of her body writhing in shallow, careful movements that didn’t do more than cause the bed to creak the barest amount. Her head rolled across the pillow again, sweat coated her skin thinly and her free hand continued to fondle her breast.

Her fingers were moving faster now and she could just make out the wet sound of her digits stroking across slick flesh. Soft pants and choked off moans fell steadily from her lips as all the sensation in her entire body slimmed down to what was happening between her legs. Behind her closed eyes, the image she had of Kakashi’s face – of the way he’d looked when she’d touched him – began to blur and give way to tiny white lights. She could feel the invisible coil in her stomach wind tighter and tighter … and then it released.

Sakura’s eyes flew open in shock as an as yet unimaginable flood of pleasure overcame her. Her fingers stilled, unable to move under the overwhelming amount of sensation, and suddenly things like breathing became secondary to the tightening of muscles between her legs. Everything was hazy, disconnected, as if she’d been flung from her body and was now a non-corporeal being lost to the headiness of orgasm.

It took several long minutes for her to come down from that high, but even when she did she was still dazed by how amazing that had felt. Panting lightly, her body still trembling from the experience of her first orgasm, Sakura relaxed against her sheets in bliss. She felt boneless, as if the heat had melted her completely. Tiny tingles of pleasure still pulsed through her sex as she withdrew her hand from both her panties and the covers. She studied the slick fluid coating her digits in the filtered moonlight coming through her curtain curiously before reaching out with her other to grab some tissue off the nightstand.

She wiped her hand clean, though it was almost too much physical effort to do right then, and tossed the soiled tissue into the waste paper basket near her vanity. There was nothing she could do about the faint scent that lingered, which smelled oddly like one of the storage closets at the hospital now that she was able to think once again. Hopefully, Ino wouldn’t come bursting in first thing in the morning, at least not until she’d had a chance to do something about it.

Sakura flopped back against the pillows again and stared up at the ceiling of her room, a strange mixture of satisfaction and longing still lingering in her system. It had felt fantastic, but something told her it could be more than that. She knew instinctively that it could be more earth shattering than it already was, and while part of her was undeniably excited about that prospect the other was afraid that it would be too much for her to take.

Disappointed that the orgasmic high was already beginning to ebb away, Sakura rolled over onto her stomach and closed her eyes.


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The minute Kakashi was outside her apartment, he didn’t waste time in performing a transportation jutsu, one that carried him directly into his apartment.

“Hey, you’re back early,” Pakkun called from the couch as he immediately made his way for the bathroom, stripping as he went. “Did somethin’ happen?”

The pug never got an answer as he shut the bathroom door in his face. It wasn’t until he twisted one of the spigots of his shower and received a dull groaning sound of pipes in return that he belatedly remembered the pipes were frozen.

“Damn it,” he hissed irritably as he leaned back against the door and closed his eyes. All he’d wanted was a nice, hot shower to jerk off in, and he couldn’t even have that. His cock was all but begging for attention. And he couldn’t wait any longer.

Kakashi palmed the head of his prick, smearing the fluid pearling at the end across his fingers before taking hold of his hot, hard flesh and fisting it. His hand moved in quick, hard strokes, fueled by his denied release earlier as well as the scent of Sakura that clung strongly to his fingers. The musky smell of her desire, of the fluid that had long dried in the whorls of his fingertips mingled with his own and was enough to send him sliding to the floor with his knees raised and his eyes tightly closed.

He recalled everything about their interrupted encounter and his imagination filled in the rest. He imagined her spread out beneath him, her pale flesh bare and slick with perspiration as her firm breasts rose and fell with each panting breath. She would look at him with hungry, needing eyes, lick her lips invitingly as she pulled him to her. He could almost feel the puff of her breath against his cheek as she gasped at the feel of him parting her folds. And when he pushed into that tight, wet pussy of hers, she would cling to him, her nails pressing into his shoulders.

His balls were tight and the throbbing was beginning to extend to his lower back, signaling how close he was to coming. Kakashi’s hand moved quicker, squeezed tighter, and drove himself closer to the edge. In his mind, much slimmer fingers were stroking his cock, working him effortlessly toward orgasm. His legs shifted, spreading further as if she really was there watching him. Each upstroke was met with a swipe to his head, a quick press of his thumb to the thin slit, and every downward motion was given a little extra pressure.

And then the pressure inside him burst. His back arched sharply from the door as his hips gave a hard, spastic jerk and ground against his fist. Fluid spurted hotly across his fist, splattered across his thigh and smeared along the muscles of his abdomen. Pleasure slashed through him hard, drowning his senses to all but the intensity of his release. His hand continued to move, though slowly now in order to draw out the sensation.

Kakashi sighed and sagged back against the hard wooden door, let his semen coated fingers fall away languidly. Vaguely, he had the thought that at least he hadn’t made a mess on the tiles, but that was tempered with the knowledge that it wasn’t any better since he didn’t have a shower to clean up with. He’d have to spend some money tomorrow morning at one of the bathhouses to get cleaned up.

It was worth it though. There was no way he could have gone to sleep with such a raging hard on and no relief.

Sighing again as he slowly pushed to his feet and reached for a towel to wipe himself off with, Kakashi silently berated himself once again for inviting her over the next evening. He’d acted on impulse and hormones – not good. That sort of brash action was exactly why this relationship was a bad idea to pursue. If he reacted like that on a mission…

He shook his head, too tired and too sated to want to think about that right now. There were much bigger concerns at present – such as making his apartment presentable for company. He had no idea what he was expecting from tomorrow night. Really, what the hell had he been thinking by inviting Sakura over?

Kakashi glanced at the fluid smeared across the towel and arched a wry brow. Okay, so he knew what he’d been thinking at the time. But what was he really supposed to do with her tomorrow night?

His brain was just as helpful now as it had when he’d asked her; all he got in response was Sakura in various positions, most of which were far too slutty to ever be expected from her. Then again, he hadn’t expected her to actually jerk him off through his pants either … so maybe there was a chance she would pose like that for him.

He scowled when his cock gave an interested twitch. “None of that now,” he muttered in annoyance as he grabbed another towel to wrap around his hips. Even though he lived alone, he still didn’t like walking completely naked around the place.

When he left the bathroom, Pakkun jumped down from the couch and came trotting after him, his flat nose sniffing the air curiously. “So I take it th’ date didn’t go well, huh?” the dog commented.

“No, it was fine,” Kakashi replied as he dropped both towels into the laundry basket of dirty clothes. “She’s actually coming over tomorrow night.”

Pakkun’s ears perked at that and his round little head cocked at a sharp angle. “Really? Want I should tell everybody ta stay away?”

He hesitated in pulling up the loose pants he wore for bed before muttering, “Yeah, better do that.” He wasn’t planning to have sex with her … but he also hadn’t planned on feeling her up tonight either. And if sex was an option tomorrow, the last thing he wanted was a pack of dogs sniffing at the door. It was his experience that tended to creep out potential lovers.

Kakashi dropped down onto his narrow bed and made the necessary adjustments to keep the loose spring from digging into his side. He patted the space next to his chest and Pakkun immediately jumped up to claim it, grunting as he stretched out next to his summoner.

“Might wanna consider getting’ a new mattress, too,” the pug mumbled drowsily.

“You’ve been saying that for years,” he replied before yawning as he looped an arm around the small dog.

“Suite yourself. But it’s mighty lumpy, don’t ya think?”

Kakashi scowled and thumped Pakkun’s chest in sleepy reprimand. Despite the fact that the pug had a point, a new mattress wasn't necessary yet. Because he wasn't planning to sleep with Sakura tomorrow night. Not at all.

He cracked an eye open and stared at the back of Pakkun's furry head. "We can look tomorrow, but no promises."

The dog grunted happily and snuggled closer. "Knew there was a reason I liked you."