What the New Year Brings

Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto." If I did, everybody wouldn't be so damn platonic!

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Chapter 27-The First Time They Kiss On It

The thing about us hopeless romantics is that it doesn't take much to get our alarm bells ringing and our red flags waving around a potential couple. We smell romance the way a shark smells blood in the ocean - we don't need a lot to tip us off. All we need is a hint.

Sitting in a saddle on top of one of the regal white horses is Hiraku. After hours of being confined inside the royal carriage, she has decided to ride horseback for a change. It's risky because it puts her out in the open, making it harder for everyone to protect her, but Hiraku is a stubborn girl. In spite of everyone trying to reason with her (and her mother literally pleading for her to get back inside the carriage) she pretty much blew everyone off and did what she wanted anyway. But watching her now, sitting confident and proud on top of her high horse, I see it - a soft brush of the hand as the stable boy hands her her reins and a lingering look between the two.

"Oh my God." I whisper.

"What?" Kakashi whispers back to me.

"That's him!"

"Who?"

"Hiraku's mystery man!"

"Where?"

"There!"

Kakashi squints his eye in the direction I'm looking at.

"Him? Are you sure?"

"Kakashi, look at him! It's the same guy as the one who was in the gardens with Hiraku!"

"Sakura, we can't be sure of that. It was late and they were pretty far away..."

"Fine, Kakashi! But look at them now!"

We both turn our heads back to the couple and watch silently and intently the scene playing out before us.

As Hiraku smiles shyly down at the stable boy and nervously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, he smiles warmly back up at her and absentmindedly pets the neck of the horse. We notice how Hiraku's and the stable boy's smiles and eyes seem to linger upon each other and for that brief moment in time, all four of us are left hanging. The spell is only broken when the stable boy gives the horse one last pat and Hiraku a parting sad smile. We see her mouth "thank you," then gaze sadly at his back as he turns around and slowly makes his way back to the end of the convoy with the rest of the royal servants.

I turn to look at Kakashi and I can tell from his one lone eye drooping in sadness as well that he's thinking the same thing that I am.

"This isn't right." He says quietly. "We need to do something."

"I know, that's what I've been trying to do all along, but Hiraku has made it clear that she's going through with the wedding anyway."

"It's not too late, Sakura. She's not married yet."

"No, but she might as well be. We can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped, Kakashi."

"Too bad for her then because we're going to help her whether she likes it or not."

"Did you just say 'we'?"

"Yes, because this time I'm going to help you."

"Really? And how do you intend to do that?"

"You keep talking to Hiraku. I'll talk to the stable boy. Just because she doesn't want our help doesn't mean that he doesn't either."

"You think it'll work?"

"It's worth a try."

I smile up at Kakashi.

"I never thought I'd pin you as a meddling matchmaker, Kaka-sensei."

"I'm not, but I didn't give you up without a fight and I'm not going to let those two part without at least trying to do the same."

"You're as hopeless a romantic as I am."

"'Icha, Icha' should've tipped you off on that."

"'Icha, Icha'! You gotta be kidding me! Porn doesn't equate romance, Kakashi!"

"Depends on how it's written. It isn't all 'Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!' you know? Something's gotta lead up to the lovemaking."

"So you're reading epic romances then, not smut, huh?" I raise a skeptical eyebrow up at him.

"You didn't seem to have any objections when I was romancing you." He says with a happy eye crease.

"Please don't tell me the moves you used on me are the same ones in 'Icha, Icha'!" I say aghast.

"Geez, Sakura, don't sound so disgusted! Was it so disturbing that I danced with you under the stars on top of Hokage Monument? Or that I bought you that beautiful kimono? Or that I stood up for you, for us, in front of the hokage herself?"

"Well, no, of course not. That was all very romantic actually-"

"Exactly. I may be a perv, Sakura, but I'm a perv with substance."

"A perv with substance." I repeat, not knowing whether to laugh in his face or let him continue with this delusional description of himself. I opt for the latter.

"Well, yeah. See, if I was just a regular perv I would have noticed you only because of how your body filled out, which is really just...Wow."

I smile in appreciation at the compliment when I realize the reason he's taking so long to continue explaining is because he's got a glazed over look in his eye and is literally checking me out from head to toe.

"Kakashi!"

"Hmm..."

"You were saying?"

"Saying what?"

"Why you're not just a regular perv!"

"Oh, right! Sorry! Got a little distracted there for - ahem - a moment."

I roll my eyes at him when I notice something.

"Kakashi..."

"Yes, Sakura?"

"What's that seeping through your mask? Is your nose...bleeding?"

Kakashi quickly pinches the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, tilts his head back, and says in a now nasally voice:

"Uh, yeah. It happens sometimes. But like I was saying..."

"Please, Kakashi. I don't think you could convince me you're a perv with substance now even if Jiraiya, Naruto, and all of Naruto's Sexy Jutsus made an appearance right now and told me that you were!"

"Okay, Sakura! So I'm a perv, but you love me anyway, right?"

"I'm seriously reconsidering that fact." I mutter.

"And I love you, too, even before the-" He gesticulates in front of his chest to convey "boobs," "And the-" He just randomly waves his hands in my general direction.

"Gee, thanks." I say through gritted teeth. If he was Naruto or at least a few inches shorter, I would've already knocked him on top of the head with my fist and he'd be silent because the anthill-size lump on his head would've effectively shut him up already.

"But seriously, Sakura..." He says, releasing his nose and looking me straight in the eyes. "Hiraku and the stable boy - that's us. That's how things would be between us if I didn't fight for you - reduced to fleeting touches and longing looks. A regular perv would turn his back on a complicated relationship like ours and just find the next sexy piece of ass that came his way, but I fought for you. You're not just a pretty face to me or some young thing to sleep with and forget about in the morning. I've known you for far too long and respect you too much to do something like that to you. Not to mention how I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ever lost your respect because I...I'm just not a regular perv, okay Sakura? If I was, I wouldn't give a damn about your feelings, but the thing is, I do. I could never hurt you and would never want to hurt you because I'm the one who comforts you when you do get hurt. That's always the way it's been between us and I have no intention of ever changing that."

I smile and slowly shake my head at Kakashi.

"Well, you're either a perv with substance, like you say, or a regular perv who's just a real smooth talker, but seeing how you used to be my sensei and that you're my teammate and friend, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and go with the first one, nosebleed and all." I say, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face into his chest. "And thank you for fighting for me. I don't think I could live with just fleeting touches and longing looks. I prefer you like this - having all of you."

I feel Kakashi's arms wrap low around my own waist, embracing me tighter against him.

"So do I. And that's why I'll help you meddle with Hiraku and the stable boy's relationship. They're obviously in love and they deserve the same chance to have all of each other. We're shinobi, we know how to fight and stand up for ourselves. We just gotta teach them to do the same for themselves."

"This could all blow up in our faces, you do know that, right?"

"Maybe. But like I said in Tsunade's office, there are only a few things really worth fighting for in life, and love tops them all."

"You're such a perv with substance." I tease Kakashi.

"No, Sakura. I'm a hopeless romantic."

"Same difference."

And rather than continue to argue about it, we kiss on it instead.

To be continued...