Stripped Bare

Hey everyone! I bring you another chapter! I start school a week from today so my updating might become a little more erratic so enjoy this while you can!

I don’t own Naruto and this story contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.

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Stripped Bare-Chapter3

He took a deep breath and said, “Sakura, you are going to give me a lap dance.”

He was expecting an infuriated outburst, and maybe for her to even throw something at him, but she just sat there unmoving, looking at him evenly.

Finally she said, “You’re not serious.”

“Yes Sakura, I am.”

More silence.

Kakashi was a patient man, but he couldn’t wait for her all night.

“Sakura, you ne—”

“There is no fucking way I’m giving you a lap dance,” she said, her voice holding more conviction than Kakashi had heard her use before.

The Jounin sighed. It figured nothing would be easy, oh no. That wouldn’t be in keeping with the theme of this whole damn mission.

“Sakura, would you rather practice on a perfect stranger? Because I’m pretty sure I can find someone willing, although I’m not sure they’ll be a gentleman about it.”

“I’m not giving you a lap dance Kakashi,” she repeated.

“I’m in charge of your training and you’ll do as I say,” he said firmly, tired of arguing with her but still trying to be gentle. He didn’t want her to resent him for this.

“Kakashi…” she started, but then didn’t know what to say. Every fiber of her being rebelled against this, and yet, she knew she would just have to do it.

“You don’t have to take anything off,” he assured. “I’m just going to coach you through some basic things you can do and let you get used to being this close to me, ok?”

It was a blow to both her pride and her modesty, but Sakura finally consented, groaning aloud as she got off the bed. She walked in front of him and stood awkwardly, not meeting his gaze.

“Now what?”

“A big part of seduction is making the man believe you like what you are doing to them. Even if you hate every moment of it, you can’t let them know, ok?”

“Ok,” Sakura said, still looking at the floor.

“Now sway your hips a little.”

Sakura bit her lip, certain she was going to die of embarrassment, but let her hips move side to side minutely.

“Good, now a little bigger.”

Sakura increased her movement only slightly and Kakashi knew she was going to need a little help.

Without warning, he placed his hands on her hips and began to guide her in slow, sumptuous sways. He was surprised to find that the curve of her hip was actually quite prominent against his palm but he hadn’t noticed it in her baggy T-shirt.

Sakura gasped as he touched her, face reddening drastically as he showed her how to move. The movement felt ridiculously huge but she allowed him to control her, knowing he was far more knowledgeable in this area than she was.

“Good, Sakura, now try doing this on your own,” he said as he let go, releasing her hips and sitting back in his chair to watch her.

She kept up the slow swivel of her hips but her arms remained stiff and unmoving.

“Do something with your arms,” he commanded gently. “Try playing with your hair.”

Sakura hesitantly let her fingers sweep over her scalp, combing through her pink tresses.

“Do it again,” he said. “Tip your head back like you would in the shower.”

Sakura gave him a strange glance but did as she was told, keeping up the steady sway of her hips and letting her head fall back as if she were washing shampoo from her hair as she ran her fingers through it.

She was unaware that the action put an arch in her back and pushed her chest forward, and Kakashi was surprised at the appetizing picture she suddenly made. Maybe she wasn’t as bad at this as they both thought.

“That’s very good Sakura,” he said sincerely. “Now run your hands down your sides.”

She did, but it was a fleeting impersonal touch, as if she were uncomfortable touching her own body and Kakashi shook his head.

“Do it again, but slower this time. Act like you love the feel of your own skin and this action will make the man you’re dancing for imagine it’s his hands on you instead. If you act like you’re enjoying it, then he’s going to picture himself liking the way you feel as well.”

“You want me to…touch myself?” Sakura asked, her hips stilling as she looked at him uncertainly.

It sounded so wrong when she put it that way but it was what it was.

“Yes,” Kakashi answered calmly. “And I want you to like it.”

“You’re such a pervert,” Sakura growled as she brought her hands to her shoulders and smoothed them down her sides.

“That’s why I got this mission,” he said with a smile as he watched her.

Kakashi noticed her hands flared out at her bust and he realized she must have some other curves he previously hadn’t taken the time to notice. Then again, if she wore bindings all the time, she could probably manage to appear nearly flat.

Her hands moved slowly and she seemed to really be feeling the curves of her own body as opposed to before when it was just an empty movement.

“Better,” he said. “Now do it again with the same arch in your back you had before.”

Sakura complied and the effects were immediate, her pink hair cascading down her back as she ached into her own hands.

“I feel stupid,” she replied meekly, feeling a little like a stranger in her own skin.

“You don’t look stupid,” Kakashi replied honestly. “You’re doing fine.”

Sakura sighed dejectedly despite his assurances. She still felt awkward as all hell trying to be sexy but hoped that, like all other things, she would improve with practice

“Do the same thing again, but add your hips back into it.”

The kunoichi began to move her pelvis again, and though her movements weren’t as big as when Kakashi had guided her, the action coupled with her wandering hands and arched back was enough to send a stab of heat through his gut, a very unwelcomed heat.

“Excellent,” Kakashi said. “That was actually rather sexy.”

Sakura turned absolutely scarlet and looked away.

She couldn’t remember anybody ever telling her she was sexy, and she wasn’t quite sure how to react.

“All right, lets move on,” Kakashi said before patting his thigh. “Have a seat.”

Sakura just looked at him as if he had lost his mind and so the masked man helped her along by leaning forward and pulling her hips towards him, causing her to straddle his lap as she faced him.

“Kakashi!” she squealed as she fell against him, finding herself looking directly into his mismatched eyes and her body molded to his.

“This is what we have to get you comfortable with,” he said, keeping a firm hold on the back of her thighs just in case she should decide to bolt.

“This is so weird,” Sakura said, turning away and wishing her cheeks would just stop burning already.

“Just relax,” Kakashi commanded. “We’ll take this slow. We can just stay like this until you’re ready for more.”

The second the words were out of his mouth he felt his own face grow a little warm, for he distinctly remembered saying those exact words to a woman in bed. For a moment, Kakashi’s mind played a horrible trick and replaced that woman’s face with Sakura’s, her big green eyes clouded with lust as she felt him penetrate her body. Kakashi clenched his jaw and banished the thought immediately. It was completely unprofessional to think of his student that way. She was trusting him and he would not betray her, determined to act every bit the gentleman he said he would be.

At first she just sat stiffly against him until he gradually felt a little of the tension drain out of her. He could feel her heart beating madly against his own chest and was tempted to run a soothing hand over her back but refrained. The movement might make things worse instead of better.

“Sakura, I want you to put your hands on my shoulders,” he said gently and she did so without a word, although it was clear she had no intention of turning her face back towards him.

“Look at me,” he said. “You’re face is very pretty and most men will want to see it.”

Her cheeks were already so red that she doubted he could see the effects of his compliment on her, but her stomach fluttered a little at his words. She had never thought of herself as all that pretty since her big forehead had been her defining feature, but if Kakashi, who had seen numerous beautiful girls, thought she was pretty, then maybe she wasn’t all that bad looking after all.

Sakura shyly turned to face him, flicking downcast eyes from his lap to his face.

“Good girl,” Kakashi said, his lips smiling gently under his mask. “Now, I’m going to ask you to do some things that you probably won’t like, but it’s pretty much standard when giving a lap dance. Just do your best, ok?”

“Ok,” she said, her voice practically a whisper as she tried to distract herself by looking into his inactive Sharingan which she hardly ever got to see.

“I want you to rub your body against me,” he said calmly, even though on the inside he was indeed feeling like the pervert Sakura had accused him of being. “Do it slowly and gently for now.”

At his command, she was suddenly aware of how close their bodies were, how warm their bodies were and how intimate their position was. It made her want to push him away and get the hell out of there but at the same time, she was a tiny bit curious as she what it would feel like to touch a man like this. She would just have to try and forget the fact that it was Kakashi.

Hesitantly, she slid up against him, letting her breasts rub over the hard plane of his chest. Kakashi released her thighs and allowed her to move as she wanted, no longer worried about her trying to run.

As she continued to rub up and down, her movements got a little bolder. She was pressing down on his shoulders for leverage as she used her hips to grind up and down, concentrating more on the movement of her torso than the more embarrassing possibilities of her hips. She was looking to the side again since there was no way she could do something this intimate while looking him in the eye. It was just too weird.

Her movements were a little awkward at first but he let her continue and she gradually found a rhythm, rubbing against him like an overgrown cat. He was quite aware that she was not wearing anything under her T-shirt and could feel the soft flesh of her breasts press against him through the thin fabric. Her hips were moving in a subtle grind and though her ministrations were soft, they were succeeding in stirring a heat within him.

“You’re doing good,” he complimented, his voice a little huskier than before. “If you wanted information from the man you were dancing for, now would be a good time to ask him questions while he’s distracted. Whisper them against his ear so he can feel your breath. Go ahead and try it on me.”

Sakura faltered in her grinding for a moment, but picked it up again as she leaned forward, her mouth close to his ear.

“Like this?” she murmured and Kakashi had to suppress a shiver as her warm breath washed over him.

“Yeah, like that,” he ground out. “Keep going.”

“So I can ask you anything I want?” she said, her voice surprisingly low, the perfect tone for seduction.

“Sure,” Kakashi said, his bare toes curling into the carpet and his hands balling into fists at his side.

“Why do you always wear that mask?”

Kakashi smirked at her question. He should have known he would ask him that since all three of his students had been curious about it for years.

“I think it looks rather fashionable, don’t you?” he chuckled softly, refusing to give her a straight answer.

“You’re lying,” she murmured, her voice dropping even lower and Kakashi could have sworn he felt her lips brush teasingly over the shell of his ear, whether by accident or mistake. Well, it looks like she didn’t need anymore help with that.

Kakashi placed his own hands on her shoulders and pushed her back so she could look at him, his fingers gripping her a little tighter than necessary. He didn’t want to admit it, but she had managed to get him a little more worked up than he had expected and he supposed it was a good thing, although it made him feel a bit guilty.

“That was very good for a first try Sakura. Did you notice the pitch of your voice when you asked your questions? That’s exactly how you want to speak during the real thing, low and sultry.”

Actually, Sakura had not been aware of her voice, she had just lowered it because there was no need to shout in his ear.

“I-I was sultry?” she asked in amazement, hardly able to believe she was capable of such a thing.

“Yes,” Kakashi answered, chuckling at her amazement. “I’m impressed. Since you’re doing so well, I’m going to have you do one more thing.”

“What?” Sakura asked, momentarily forgetting she was straddling her sensei and practicing for her role as a stripper with him.

“You are going to…rub your breasts against my face.”

Sakura’s face fell and her mouth pressed into a grim line. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she said, “Kakashi, that’s not funny.”

He held up his hands in defense, a little afraid he was going to get punched.

“I know it’s not, but it’s what women do when performing a lap dance.”

Sakura just continued to stare at him and if looks could kill, he would be a corpse by now.

“I’m serious about this,” he said evenly. “I wouldn’t do this just to humiliate or take advantage of you. If the man you are interrogating has tight lips, doing this to him just might loosen him up, and almost all club’s rules state that the man cannot touch you while you are dancing for him. The same will apply with me.”

Sakura looked him over for a moment longer. She knew what he was saying was true because she trusted he wouldn’t lie to her, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready for this. If arching her back and shaking her hips had made her feel awkward and stupid, she didn’t even want to know what this was going to feel like.

Finally, she pushed down on his shoulders and lifted her hips off his lap so his chest was level with his face.

“If you tell a soul about this, you are going to die,” she threatened before pressing against him.

“On, my honor as a ninja,” came his muffled reply as he suddenly found himself buried in the softness of Sakura’s breasts.

At first, she wasn’t exactly sure what do, so she drew back slightly and pressed forward again.

“Don’t be so aggressive unless you’re sure your customer likes it that way,” Kakashi said, pushing her back slightly. “You don’t want to suffocate them.”

‘That would require bigger boobs than what I have.’ Sakura thought with a degree of annoyance but instead of verbalizing her thoughts, she shifted so her right breast could rub against his left cheek.

“Better?” she asked as she began to slide up and down.

“Yes,” was all Kakashi could say, because in fact, she was doing a little too well in his personal opinion and his body was becoming increasingly hotter with her every move.

He imagined how silky her breasts would be under that dark T-shirt, and how they would actually look. The second those treacherous thoughts crossed his mind, he drove them away, only to have them persistently return as she continued to press her chest to his cheek.

“So, why was it you wore that mask again?” she said, her voice once again taking on that sexy tone and this time, it sent a flare of heat directly to his loins.

“I have a skin condition,” he panted out, realizing he was no longer able to control his breathing as much as he would have liked.

Sakura was perfectly knowledgeable in the side effects of arousal. She was a medic after all, and though she knew on some level that she was indeed turning him on, she was more concerned with getting the answer she had wanted the entire time she had been with Team Seven.

“How about you try telling me the truth this time,” she persisted, the angle of her body causing her breast to stray dangerously close to Kakashi’s mouth.

“If you are too relentless in your…uh…questioning, they will know something is up and become suspicious, especially if they are indeed guilty,” the Copy Nin said, finding it a little more difficult to keep his thoughts gathered considering he could feel his pulse in his crotch and he was doing his best to keep the blood out of that particular area.

Sakura grumbled, annoyed that he was still all business instead of relenting and giving her the answer she wanted.

“Then what do I do then, say ‘pretty please’?” she asked.

Kakashi felt something small and hard brush the corner of his mouth and it took him a second to realize that it was in fact, her hardened nipple! Apparently all that rubbing had caused her body to react as well and her T-shirt did little to conceal the effects. The thought of her hardened nipples rubbing along his face, especially so close to his mouth where a simple turn of his head would allow him to open up and flick it with his tongue and suck on it through the fabric of her shirt, was too much. He lost his grip on his carefully monitored self control and could feel his pants instantly become too tight as an erection began to swell in his lap.

“Sakura…uh…that’s enough,” he panted, trying to push her away.

She mistook his intentions and sat down on his lap again, only to be practically thrown off of him and onto the floor as Kakashi jumped up from the chair and turned around quickly.

“W-what’s the matter?” she asked quizzically. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” Kakashi growled as he faced away from her, running fingers through his hair in frustration. “You did everything right…a little too right actually and uh…my body reacted without my permission.”

Sakura’s eyes widened in realization and she whipped around to face the other way, giving him as much privacy as possible.

“Oh…” was all she could manage.

“I’m sorry, Sakura. I thought I could control it. I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but just know that when you do this for real, the men will have no qualms about things like that, and you will have to proceed as if nothing were wrong.”

“I-I know,” she said softly, incredibly unnerved by the whole situation.

A moment of suffocating silence passed between them.

“All right,” Kakashi finally said. “You should get to sleep. I’ll sleep on the floor tonight. It will make things easier.”

“No, it’s all right. We can share the bed,” she said, the words out of her mouth before she even had a chance to stop herself. No, it was not all right that he get into bed with her while he was in…that sort of condition.

But luckily for her, Kakashi simply told her he would go to bed when he was “finished” and disappeared into the bathroom.

Sakura was left feeling a little lost as she climbed into bed, scooting as close to one side as possible to give Kakashi plenty of room.

Yes, the lap dance had been awkward and embarrassing, but not as bad as she had thought it would be. This however, was much, much worse. She didn’t even want to think about what Kakashi was doing behind that door right now to fix his little…“problem”, nor what he was thinking about while he did so. Kakashi was more of a mentor to her and imagining him masturbating was just too much bare. She didn’t want to think about the muscles of his chest under that tight black tank, or the way his hands had gripped her thighs. She was her teacher and it was so wrong to be doing any of this with him!

She groaned softly and slipped under the covers, sitting up to plait her hair in a messy braid before clicking off the lamp and lying down.

However, Kakashi said she had done well, although she wasn’t sure whether he was just saying that to make her feel better or if there was some truth to it. Well…she had produced arousal in him, that much was for certain, so she supposed she had to have done at least a half decent job. Unfortunately, the elation she should have felt was overpowered by the uncomfortable feeling she got from knowing she would know have to spend all night in the same bed with the man she had just turned on.

She buried her face in her pillow, willing her mind to stop running in circles so she could sleep because all she wanted to do was forget this day ever happened.

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Kakashi gripped the edges of the sink until his knuckles were white.

What the hell was wrong with him? Was he really that sad and depraved that a little girl fourteen years his junior wiggling awkwardly in his lap was enough to turn him on?

Even as he thought the words, he knew they weren’t true, for Sakura was no longer a little girl in body or mind and the curve of her breasts and hips proved it…well, at least the body part.

Even so, he was a little bit disgusted at himself for letting his body get the best of him. What she had been doing was better than he had expected but she was by no means an expert yet. She was still self-conscious and unsure and that would have to change before they got to the club, meaning they would have to do this again, and if she was going to get better at this, it meant it would probably be harder for him to keep his body in check as well.

Kakashi turned on the cold water and pulled down his mask to splash the liquid over his face, hoping it would clear his head a little. It didn’t help his thoughts and it certainly didn’t help the monster throbbing in his pants.

Taking care of it with his hand was out of the question, not with Sakura in the other room. He would just have to take another shower and hope that would calm him down.

He turned off the faucet and went instead for the shower knob, cranking it on without adding a drop of hot water before stepping out of his clothes.

His body protested strongly at the cold droplets, piercing him like needles but he grit his teeth and endured it, feeling his erection starting to wane under the frigid onslaught. He rested his forehead against the cool shower tiles and groaned softly.

‘Tsunade,’ he thought to himself as the cold drops began to sting. ‘You are quite possibly the cruelest woman on the planet for making me take this mission, because no man should be made to endure this.’

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Sakura cracked an eye open as the morning’s first rays filtered into the room. The curtains weren’t thick enough to keep out all the light and she could tell by its pinkish gray hue that the sun was just starting to rise. She was surprised Kakashi hadn’t woken her already.

Speaking of Kakashi, where was he anyways?

She rolled over expecting to bump into his warm body in the tiny bed but to her surprise, she found it was empty. The Copy nin had instead taken up residence on the floor with nothing but a spare pillow. He didn’t even have a blanket.

Ordinarily she would have found this strange, but as images of last night’s events came trickling back to her, it was only too clear why he had chosen to let her sleep alone.

She had managed to arouse her sensei somehow. Kakashi, the connoisseur of dirty books and erotica, had sprung an erection while she was performing her very first lap dance.

Honestly, she didn’t know whether to be pleased or horrified. It meant she had indeed managed to pull off being sexy, something she was still in disbelief about, but on the other hand, Kakashi had been aroused…because of her.

Did that mean he had wanted to touch her as she had been touching him? She recalled his hands gripping her shoulders hard. Was that to keep them from wandering to who knows where? Assuming he had had these desires and he had given in, what would he have done to her exactly? How would he have touched her? She had no doubts that whatever he did, he would probably be very, very good at it.

Sakura realized that not only her cheeks, but her whole body had grown flushed and warm at the thought of her teacher reciprocating her touches and she looked away from his peaceful sleeping form in shame. She shouldn’t be thinking about him like that. It wasn’t his fault his body had acted naturally to what she had been doing. It was obvious he had been fighting against it with all he had and hadn’t wanted her to know what she was doing to him.

Kakashi was a professional and would never allow himself to touch her that way. She should grant him the same courtesy and purge those thoughts from her mind.

She pulled back the covers and padded soundlessly into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, but as she turned on the faucet and smeared toothpaste on her pink handled toothbrush while waiting for the water to get hot, she realized getting rid of her unclean thoughts was easier said then done. Memories of his abnormally husky voice against her skin kept drifting back to her, making her skin flush against her will. For a medic, she sure didn’t have a very good grip on her own body functions. She should start worrying about getting herself together instead of about Kakashi.

She spit and rinsed her mouth before splashing some warm water onto her face and lathering up the bar of soap the inn provided, proceeding to wash up while enjoying the heat of the water and subtle lavender scent of the bubbles.

Suddenly, she stilled as she felt a familiar presence behind her and washed away the soap from around her eyes just as Kakashi reached around her to grab the toothbrush he had left on the sink.

Apparently, the sounds of her getting ready for the day had been enough to wake him.

For some reason, she was quite aware of the body heat he was radiating onto her back and of the brush of his arm against his shoulder as he leaned over to wet his toothbrush under the facet.

Hesitantly, she lifted her eyes to meet his in the mirror and was surprised to find he was looking rather haggard. It looked like there were dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept much and his face looked gaunt and drawn, but she couldn’t be quite sure with that damn mask obscuring everything. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him like this. There were missions she had gone on with him when he had kept watch the entire night and hadn’t looked this bad in the morning. However, she had a feeling it all related to her little performance last night.

“Good morning,” she said quietly as she turned to grab the towel that was hanging over the shower to dry her face.

“Morning,” Kakashi replied groggily as he turned his back to her while brushing his teeth, much to her disappointment. She had hoped that today might be the day he would let her see his uncovered face.

As soon as she buried her face in the fluffy material, she realized it was obviously Kakashi’s. It smelled like him, a woodsy, spicy, masculine scent that had always lingered around him, but she had never paid much attention to until now. She jerked away from the offending cloth as if she had been burned, knowing it was bad enough that she actually kind of wanted to enjoy that scent a little longer, but the fact that Kakashi was in the room this very moment was even worse. She frantically hoped he hadn’t noticed her strange behavior.

“Everything all right over there?” he asked through a mouthful of toothpaste.

Damn.

“Uh…yeah. I just thought I saw a bug on the towel,” she lied, knowing damn well that it was a stupid excuse.

“Hmm,” he simply grumbled in response.

She took the chance to slip out of the tiny bathroom, flattening herself against the wall in an unusual attempt at avoiding body contact with him. She heard him spit into the sink and then begin to wash his face now that she was out of the room, making her wonder all over again why he was so secretive about what was under that mask.

She dug her hairbrush out of her pack and sat cross legged on the bed, her back to the bathroom door. As she began to comb through tangled pink strands, she wondered if the awkwardness she was feeling develop between them was merely her imagination or if Kakashi was feeling as uncomfortable as she was.

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Oh Kakashi was uncomfortable all right. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before as a result. After shivering under the showers frigid spray for as long as he could stand, he had redressed and emerged from the bathroom to find Sakura sound asleep, huddled on one side of the bed to no doubt make room for him.

The way she had shrunk into such a tiny little ball made it obvious she really didn’t want any contact with him at all and he had no problem with obliging her, especially since the way the faint bathroom light was shining on her was softening her features and making her look even more appealing. He had lost his control once and couldn’t chance that again, especially in a bed.

He had plucked the pillow from his side of the bed and had lain on the floor, unconcerned with the lack of blanket. He had slept in much worse conditions. Yet for some reason, despite a pillow and a roof over his head, sleep eluded him until the wee hours of the morning as he listened to Sakura breathe evenly, remembering how her breaths had been slightly erratic as she had rubbed against him. Whether it was nervousness or arousal that had done that to her, Kakashi didn’t know and he kept telling himself it was a moot point anyway. So what if she had gotten herself a bit worked up in spite of herself? The things he had asked her to do would probably have that effect on her, especially since her body was untouched and probably highly sensitive. All sorts of things would turn her on…in fact, it would probably be quite easy to—

Kakashi slammed the door on that thought angrily. Earlier that day he had been worried about making her do something she was uncomfortable with and now he was thinking about corrupting her innocence? All it had taken was one little lap dance to completely change his view of her and personally, Kakashi had preferred looking at her like a child, because now there was a warm blooded woman in the bed next to him that had left a spot for him to sleep, and he wasn’t at all comfortable with this sudden revelation.

It had taken hours of battling with his own mind before he finally slipped into a fitful sleep out of mental exhaustion. He was so fatigued that he hadn’t awoken when he had planned and now he was here, trying desperately to wake up as he scrubbed his face with his hands when he had wanted to be on the road by now.

The vibe between the two of them was undoubtedly different. Sakura was jumpy and nervous around him, something he couldn’t recall her being…well, ever. He knew once this morning grogginess wore off, he would be even more aware of the tension between them and they wouldn’t have the option of focusing their attention on bounding through trees instead of each other.

Today was going to be a very long day.

XXXXX

This was miserable, utterly, completely miserable. She would have preferred talking about her sexual history (or lack thereof) to this, this awkward, stifling tension that hung in the air so thickly that it was nearly tangible.

At first she had wondered if Kakashi’s disinterest in socializing was simply caused by the fact he was still half asleep. However, even after they had dressed in civilian clothes, eaten breakfast and walked a good forty five minutes, he still didn’t seem any more talkative than when they had been in the bathroom. Any questions she asked were answered with single words or grunts, making conversation increasingly difficult and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was upset with her after last night, although she couldn’t understand why that would be the case. She had simply been following his instructions and had suddenly been unceremoniously dumped on the floor. If anything, she should be mad at him!

They had been walking side by side, looking to any innocent onlooker to be a happy couple, but upon closer inspection, it would become clear that they were anything but happy. They weren’t even looking at each other, eyes locked straight ahead.

Kakashi had foregone the ninja regulation pants today and gone with brown pants and drab camel colored shirt and instead of the mask which might look a little suspicious, he wore a thick gray scarf that covered his mouth and nose, as if he were just protecting himself from the slight chill in the air. Sakura wondered if she was ever going to see his face because he seemed to be quite good at keeping it hidden, but right now the bigger problem was were they ever going to have a normal conversation again.

Even though Kakashi had always been fairly easy to talk to, she found herself reluctant to ask him what his problem was. Perhaps that was because she would in turn have to admit what her problem was and she wasn’t quite sure what that was exactly.

She didn’t want to go pointing fingers and making accusations until she had her own thoughts sorted out, and considering he probably wasn’t going to start any conversations to distract her, she would have plenty of time for thinking.

By now they were into former Rain territory, the weather alone making that much obvious, and Sakura was thankful for the heavy shawl wrapped tightly around herself. The sky was angry and overcast as if the swollen clouds would burst any minute and the gloom did nothing to help the mood that had settled around herself and her seemingly crabby partner.

The scenery, though painted gray by the shadowing clouds, was actually quite pretty. The constant rain produced lush green vegetation as far as the eye could see and villages were few and far between. They seldom passed other travelers on the road and she could see why. The heavy rains had turned the majority of the worn dirt paths to mud which didn’t exactly pair well with sandals.

Because of their late start, Kakashi had said, in a rare instance of stringing several sentences together, that they would just eat whatever they had with them for lunch without stopping. That was fine with Sakura because it let her pretend, at least momentarily, that perhaps the lack of conversation was because they had their mouths full of food.

Kakashi wasn’t trying to be short with his female partner as they walked along the soggy road, mud so thick in places that it was tugged at their shoes. He too was aware of the tension looming over them just like the dark clouds in the sky but he was unsure of how to fix it. He wondered if discussing the issue just might make it worse, but then, what was there to discuss. This training was required since they both knew she needed it and his body had done what it did because he was a healthy, normal male. End of story.

But it wasn’t that simple, for added to that equation was the matter of a teacher and a student, of having to work together, of her never having done something like this before and him having done it quite a few times. And then on top of that was the fact that this was all part of a mission and they were supposed to be professional. Kakashi didn’t think he could calmly ask Sakura to professionally grind herself against the erection in his lap as he professionally enjoyed her feminine body on top of his.

What’s worse was that he would have to continue her training somehow because she was by no means ready for the real thing. She hadn’t performed nude, or at least in just her underwear, and she hadn’t practiced on a pole, although Kakashi wasn’t sure were he was going to find one of those lying around. He had a lot of problems to solve in a very short amount of time considering they would most likely reach Fuzen Machi the day after next. With all this to occupy his mind, he couldn’t help it if he wasn’t exactly the chattiest person to be traveling with.

They trudged on through the mud in uncomfortable silence as the sun traveled in its daily arc above the clouds and soon even fewer rays were making it through to light their way.

“We’ll stop at the next inn we see,” Kakashi suddenly said, his voice shattering the silence that had been stretching between them for hours and in all honesty, it was beginning to wear on her nerves a little. She was tired of wondering what he was thinking and if he was mad at her or not and she was in no mood to brush it off any longer.

“Kakashi, what is your deal,” she said tersely, stopping in her tracks and refusing to go another step until he answered her question.

The Copy nin turned his head to look at her with the eye that wasn’t covered with a simple black eye patch when he could no longer hear her footsteps following after him. They were on an abandoned piece of road in rogue territory at dusk under the guise of civilians and that really wasn’t a good situation to be in if they didn’t want trouble. His voice was slightly muffled by his thick scarf, but Sakura could hear what he said just fine.

“Do we really have to do this right now?” he said evenly, making it clear that he certainly didn’t think it was urgent enough to stop in the mud to talk it out.

“Yes we do,” Sakura answered, annoyed that he didn’t think the conflict between them was all that important. “I’m sick of feeling like you’re mad at me.”

“What? Why would I be mad at you?” Kakashi asked, exasperated that she was making something out of nothing.

“I don’t know. You tell me!” Sakura said angrily. It seemed he was oblivious to it all or he was at least pretending that he was. Either way that made him insensitive to the fact she had been worrying about the status between them all day.

The older shinobi didn’t understand why she was getting so upset. She had been acting just as strange and Kakashi didn’t think she had even wanted to talk much and now she was getting angry at him over it.

He was just about to open his mouth to say that she could have asked him straight out instead of worrying about it all day when something else caught his attention and he stilled entirely. What Sakura began to speak, he held up a hand to silence her and she instantly understood that something was wrong.

“Someone is coming,” he said in a soft voice. “And they’re close.”

Kakashi concentrated on the chakra signatures he felt approaching and was able to discern that there were two of them and that, although they were close, he had a harder time pinpointing their location that he should have. The strangers were moving the same direction they were and would catch up soon if they didn’t get moving.

“I think they’re low level shinobi,” he whispered to Sakura. “They’re masking their chakra although not completely and I can’t tell exactly how close they are but we should get out of here. I can’t guarantee that they will be friendly.”

Sakura nodded in understanding, argument completely forgotten as she could feel them as well.

“Should we get off the road?”

“No. Chances are they have already sensed us,” Kakashi said as they continued down the path at a quicker pace. “Doing something like would be suspicious. Just keep alert and remember, no fighting. Leave it to me.”

Sakura huffed as they continued to walk in the fading light. She didn’t like having to be protected by someone else since she could clearly take care of herself, but using her inhuman strength would blow her cover in an instant.

They walked as fast as they could without making it look like they were running from something, which wasn’t very fast considering the thick mud slowed them down.

“They’re closing in,” Sakura hissed, her body tensing in preparation for the imminent confrontation.

“I know,” Kakashi growled back. “Just stay calm and pretend you’re defenseless.”

Sakura rolled her eyes.

“Easy for you to say,” she said under her breath. At least he had the option of fighting back.

Just then, they felt one of the two presences break apart and begin to loop around in front of them, moving through the tall grass that grew alongside the road and if Sakura looked carefully, she thought she could see where the swaying reeds parted in the distance to accommodate him.

“They’re trapping us in,” she said, easily recognizing a flanking maneuver when she saw one.

“I know,” he said through his scarf. “Just act normal.”

Ordinarily, “normal” for Sakura would be summoning a mass amount of chakra to her fist in preparation for demolishing her foe’s face, but this time it meant cowering in feigned fear, something she clearly found detestable, but then, this mission was full of activities she wasn’t exactly keen on.

The road was on a flat expanse of land, broken only by a gentle hill here and there but the grass offered plenty of cover and the attackers used it well. Sakura couldn’t see them until one purposely stepped out onto the road about fifteen feet ahead. She looked over her shoulder, pretending to be nervous and saw that the man she had sensed was now walking on the road behind them, giving them no place to run.

“Well, look what we have here,” the first man sneered as he approached.

He was on the smaller side, but lean and probably fast too. His dark eyes were sharp and cunning and Sakura didn’t like the way he was looking at her at all. Instead of wiping the smirk off his face herself, she grasped Kakashi’s hand in hers and huddled against him as if seeking his protection.

“Aw, it looks like a couple of love birds,” the one behind them mocked as he came closer.

He was quite bit bigger than his friend, all hulking muscle, but his lumbering gait made Sakura think that while he was strong, he wasn’t very fast. One thing was for sure though. They were both ugly.

“What do you want?” Kakashi asked, making his voice sound slightly panicked although he could probably take on these men while blindfolded.

“We are but humble travelers,” the first man continued, ambling closer still. “Who are simply looking for any charitable contributions to our cause.”

“And what’s your cause?” Sakura asked, hating this villain’s carefree demeanor.

By now the man was only a few feet away and he stopped and looked at her carefully, a cruel smile appearing on his face.

“Oh, you know, looting, pillaging, raping. The usual.”

He gave her a wink as he said the last thing on his list, making Sakura’s blood boil at the mere thought of him touching her while his partner behind him began to guffaw is if he had said something terribly funny.

“Look, we don’t have much money so we’re hardly worth your time,” Kakashi said, pulling Sakura closer to him. “We’re just trying to get to our destination so please let us pass.”

“Well, I’ll let you pass, sure,” the man in front of them said, having to look up to meet his one eyed gaze since he wasn’t much taller than Sakura. “On the provision that you give us a little time with your lovely companion.”

Kakashi could feel Sakura’s grip on his hand tighten almost painfully and knew it wasn’t because she was scared, but because she was trying to keep herself from knocking these scumbags into next week.

“Leave her alone,” he ordered gruffly, his voice now tinged with anger. Apparently he didn’t like what these mean were planning either. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, she has everything to do with this with a sweet little body like that,” he sneered, his eyes seeming to look right through the faded layers of her light brown shirt, making Sakura want to wrap her arms around herself and hide her body from his prying eyes, either that or slam his face into the ground.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” she said tightly, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be quaking with fear.

“So you’re feisty? I like that,” the first man chuckled before jerking his head at his friend. “Hey, make her a little more comfortable will you?”

Sakura felt herself being roughly pulled away from Kakashi’s side, her shawl falling from around her shoulders to land in the dirt. Although she fought against him with carefully monitored strength, it did little to break from the massive tree trunks this man called arms. They encircled her and pressed her back to his chest and she was momentarily repulsed by his stench as it washed over her. These men clearly didn’t believe in showers.

“Stop it! Let me go!” she cried, putting on a decent show so they would believe she was as weak as she pretended while Kakashi stripped off his pack and squared off with the second bandit scarf still in place.

“Are you sure this is wise old man?” the smaller man asked, mistaking his silver hair to mean he was quite a bit older than his actual age. “You could just run now and you wouldn’t get hurt.”

Kakashi mentally noted that if he ran now and left them at Sakura’s mercy, they would both be dead in no more than three minutes. Fighting them like this was actually sparing their lives.

“You’re making a mistake,” Kakashi cautioned as they circled each other like a couple of wolves.

“No, I’m pretty sure this is exactly what we want to do. Pinkie over there looks like a lot of fun!”

Kakashi’s eyes flicked over to his partner who was wriggling in the larger man’s grip, acting for all the world like she was trying her hardest to escape. She was playing her part well, but Kakashi knew there was only so much she could take and if she should snap, there would be a crater the size of a small city where this path used to be.

Fat rain drops began to fall, slowly at first and then faster as the pregnant clouds above finally split, pouring down on the four figures below. Sakura was secretly grateful because this was probably the first shower these men had had in a while.

The sound of thunder in the distance spooked the less experienced ninja and he raced forward into an attack that Kakashi easily dodged. He was about to jab his elbow into his assailant’s exposed back when the man dropped into a tight roll and sprang up on Kakashi’s other size, forcing him to pivot in the mud.

Sakura watched the two of them fight and knew Kakashi would be fine as long as they stuck to taijutsu, but Kakashi could not use his Sharingan or any hand signs in this battle if he wanted to conceal his identity. If his opponent were to start using jutsu, Kakashi would be at a severe disadvantage.

The smaller man launched himself at Kakashi again, sending a right hook towards his face that Kakashi blocked with his forearm. Without being able to summon chakra to aid the block, Sakura knew that blow must have hurt like a bitch.

The Copy nin hooked his own ankle around his attacker’s and pulled sharply to knock him off his feet and send him tumbling into the mud. On the way down, the man’s hands fisted in the front of Kakashi’s shirt and pulled him down with him.

Sakura cheered her partner on, careful to not say his actual name as she continued to fight feebly against her captor. Even with the rain, he stunk to the high heavens and she was growing tired of the disgusting comments he was muttering against her wet hair.

“Think your man is going to save you? You’re wrong honey, but don’t worry. We’ll take real good care of you.”

She wanted to roast him like the pig he was but she refrained. As long as Kakashi had everything under control, she wouldn’t fight back.

The two men grappled in the mud, coating their clothes and skin with the stuff and Kakashi found himself on his back with the bandit hovering over him menacingly. The silvery glint of metal caught his eye and Kakashi’s hand closed around the wrist of his attacker and halted his actions mere centimeters before the point of his kunai was driven into his cheek.

The man was clearly surprised Kakashi had been able to stop him and was even more surprised when the grip on his hand tightened so much he was forced to drop the weapon. Unfortunately, Kakashi’s attention had been fixed on what only one hand was doing. He was unprepared when a similar blade in the man’s second hand sunk several inches into his shoulder.

He cried out in pain as the enemy shinobi laughed darkly.

“You see old man? You should have run while you had the chance.”

Sakura gasped as she saw the enemy produce another kunai from an unknown pouch and watched in horror as it drove through his clothes and into his skin. A crimson stain formed around the lodged weapon seconds later and mixed with the mud and rain covering both men.

“No! Stop it! You’re hurting him!” she screamed, fighting with renewed vigor to get away.

The ugly thug holding her just laughed cruelly and she decided she had had just about enough of him. She raised her foot and brought it down hard on his instep, extracting a grunt of pain and surprising him just enough that his grip on her loosened. She twisted away and spun around to deliver a hard, swift kick, directly to his groin. Although she hadn’t used any chakra to enhance her strength, the man instantly crumpled to the ground with a howl of pain.

His partner’s cry distracted the man long enough to enable Kakashi to kick him off of him and both were now standing again. Sakura was tempted to rush in and assist but knew she would be more of a hindrance than any help considering she couldn’t use her true strength. The man had grown cocky, overconfident that he had won now that the handle of his weapon was jutting out of his enemy’s shoulder and Kakashi was clearly having a hard time moving that arm.

He attacked head on, intending to deliver a finishing blow but Kakashi was still agile enough to sidestep and as his attacker’s punch connected with nothing but air, he landed a hit directly on the back of his neck, dropping him instantly into a puddle of dirty water, completely unconscious.

Sakura raced to his side, eager to take a look at his wound but he held a hand up, signaling he was fine and that there were literally bigger things to worry about considering the larger man was just now picking himself up from the ground. He staggered a little, still clearly in pain and Kakashi wasted no time in racing towards him to punch him hard in the stomach, causing him to double over and followed up with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head, sending the big brute into the mud alongside his partner, out cold.

“Bastards,” Sakura hissed venomously, nudging the large one’s body with her sandal distastefully.

“Get used to people like them,” Kakashi said a little breathlessly after his fight. “Chances are the club will be full of people like them.”

Sakura shuddered once again at the thought of dancing nude for a crowd of sweaty, ugly thugs but her attention was quickly diverted as she saw Kakashi’s fingers wrap around the handle of the kunai in his shoulder and tug it out in one swift movement.

“Kakashi, wait!” she cried over the sound of falling rain. “Let me heal that before you bleed all over the place!”

“It’s not serious,” he replied gruffly, shrugging her off when she tried to inspect the wound. “I was just careless and underestimated them. Besides, healing me here might blow our cover.”

Sakura growled in exasperation, brushing away the wet hair that was plastered to her face. Kakashi was stubborn but so was she and she wasn’t going to have her sensei develop an infection on her watch.

“Who’s going to know? These guys?” she said, pointing at the motionless bodies in the mud. “Let me see it.”

“I can hold out until we get to an inn,” he said, still being difficult.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at his muddy form. She didn’t care that he was technically her superior on this mission. She had had enough of his “tough guy” routine. Without warning she grabbed his sleeve and jerked him after her forcefully as she marched into the tall grass. Kakashi grunted in surprise but didn’t fight her when it was obvious she wasn’t going to stop until she got her way.

She sat him down with a plop, not caring it was muddy considering he was covered in it after the fight anyway. The tall grass around them ensured they wouldn’t be seen from the road and she knelt next to him and began to examine the gash carefully, having a slightly difficult time sine the rain kept running down her face and into her eyes.

“It looks like he may have cut through a ligament,” Sakura said. “And that’s why you’re having trouble moving your arm. I can’t tell for sure without having you take off your shirt. I do some basic healing to stop the bleeding and reduce the pain but you’ll have to take it easy until I can get a better look.”

Kakashi nodded as she pressed a palm softly to the wound, watching as her hand began to glow green. He could feel the icy cool sensation of her chakra seeping into his skin, closing blood vessels and draining away the discomfort until the pain was nearly gone. He pulled his scarf away from his face now that he couldn’t breathe through the soaked and muddy material and Sakura’s eyes momentarily shifted from her task to study him. However, his actions revealed nothing because his newly exposed face was just as muddy as the rest of him and even the falling rain couldn’t wash him clean.

Kakashi had been healed by her before but he had forgotten what a calming and surprisingly intimate experience it was. Her chakra was inside his body, mending him, from the inside out and once again he found awe and respect swelling inside him for her remarkable skills.

“Alright, that’s all I can do for now,” she said, removing her hand and standing up. “Just don’t strain it or you’ll start bleeding again.”

Kakashi nodded before giving a soft “Thanks,” in reply.

When they emerged the thugs were still knocked out on the road and there was no one else in sight.

“We need to get rid of these bodies,” Kakashi said. “If somebody finds them before they wake up, there’s bound to be questions.”

He grabbed the arm of the larger man with both hands and was about to pull him into the tall reeds when Sakura slapped his hands away.

“What did I just tell you?” she asked with obvious annoyance. “You’re supposed to take it easy.”

“But—”

“I’ll take care of it,” she said in a no nonsense voice. “Go grab your pack.”

He knew better than to argue and let her have her way, picking his pack up out of the mud as Sakura grabbed the large brute and effortlessly dragged him into the grass and then the smaller one.

After arranging the flattened grass so it looked like nothing had happened, she turned back to him while stooping to pick her muddied shawl up from the ground.

“Ok, let’s go.”

Kakashi nodded wordlessly and the two of them continued on down the road, hoping that the next inn was close and that the downpour chilling them to the bone would soon stop. The adrenaline was still pumping strong in their veins and it seemed, at least for the moment, the cloud of tension around them had momentarily lifted.

They had only traveled another fifteen minutes when they reached the crest of another gently sloping hill to discover a town in the distance, made hazy by the falling rain. It looked larger than the last they had stayed at and Sakura could only hope that there was a place for them to stay the night. Considering Kakashi’s condition, she imagined he felt the same.

The flat landscape made it difficult to judge just how far away the town was without any landmarks to measure against. They had been walking for some time and the town was only gradually getting closer but they would be there soon and it wasn’t so late that they were in danger of arriving when everything was closed.

The fat drops pelting them gradually began to shrink in size and frequency until the torrential downpour had become more of a drizzle, but by then, they were too soaked for it to matter.

Kakashi went to adjust his pack and Sakura noticed he winced slightly as the strap brushed over his wound.

“How’s your shoulder?” she asked softly, her words being the first thing spoken since their departure after the battle.

“Fine,” he said simply. “It’s a little tender but I’ll be alright.”

Sakura smiled a little, thankful that he had actually spoken more than a few words to her and could feel the knot that had been twisting in her stomach finally uncoil a little as a comfortable silence settled around them.

As they reached the edge of the town at last, Sakura wondered if perhaps they could make this awkward partnership work after all.

XXXXX

I have been so flattered with the reviews I have been receiving. Many are thoughtful and truthful critiques of this story and I like that, even if they aren’t always positive. I really appreciate those of you who took the time to drop me a line. You guys are the ones that keep me going!

~J-Pop