What the New Year Brings

Just a warning that this is a short chapter. It's transitioning into something bigger and I want to be able to take my time with that, so...enjoy?

And I admit that the first two sentences are a variation of what Locke says about Ben on "LOST," but everything else is all me. =)

Chapter 31-The First Time Kakashi Promises To Make A House A Home With Her

"You're on time?! But you're never on time! What happened to you?!" Naruto asks in a voice way too loud and way too obnoxious for first thing in the morning.

"She did." Kakashi answers simply, pointing an accusing finger at me.

Naruto and Yamato turn their heads to look at me in shock.

"What?" I ask.

"It's just that no one has ever succeeded in getting Kakashi-sempai to show up for anything on time. What exactly did you do?" Yamato asks bewildered.

I immediately feel my face heat up.

"Nothing! I just made him get up earlier is all."

"Ah, but you didn't say how." Kakashi interjects with a happy eye crease and what I'm sure is a wide grin beneath his mask.

I look at him horrified and catch an equally shocked look of understanding on Yamato's face, but Naruto-

"No, how?" the oblivious idiot asks cheekily.

Before I can answer, Kakashi covers his mouth with his hand and starts whispering into Naruto's ear.

"Ew! I didn't need to know that you perv!" Naruto shouts, jumping away from Kakashi and giving him a dirty look.

"You asked." Kakashi says with another happy eye crease and an innocent shrug of his shoulders.

"I thought you were going to teach me when to shut up!" Naruto shouts accusingly at Yamato.

"Yes, when we get back to Konoha. But if you insist, I'll teach you now...Think before you speak."

"If he did that, I think his head would explode." I reply sarcastically.

For a moment Naruto forgets that I'm neither Sai nor Sasuke and glares angrily at me.

So I glare right back at him.

Naruto immediately remembers who he's up against, says "Hahaha! Good one, Sakura-chan!" with a nervous laugh, then quickly turns around to run the hell away from me.

It takes all of my self-control to keep from yelling "You better run!" at him.

Don't get me wrong, I love Naruto, I really do. After all, he's the brother - whose ass I can kick - that I never had. He just needs to be reminded every now and then who's boss.

I'm still wearing a smug smile on my face when I catch Kakashi and Yamato looking at me wide-eyed.

"What?" I ask again.

"Honestly, Sakura, you scare me sometimes." Kakashi says quietly while behind him Yamato merely nods his head in agreement.

I march up to Kakashi and I see his one exposed eye widen even more, probably trying to decide whether to run away from me just like Naruto. When I'm inches from his face, I ask "Are you really scared of me, sensei?" in a lighthearted tone, playfully pushing on his chest.

Kakashi's only reply is "Ahahaha!," a happy eye crease, and nervous scratching of the back of his neck.

Pleased by his reaction, I quickly grab him by the vest, bring him down to my height, and whisper "Good," the warmth of my breath hot against his masked nose and lips. Then I release him, slowly back away, and smile brightly and innocently up at him once more.

Kakashi swallows hard while sweating profusely and Yamato pretty much does the same thing behind him.

"Right...Anyway..." Yamato clears his throat, "I'd better put things back the way we found them so that we can get a move on."

To both Kakashi's and my disappointment, we watch as Yamato claps his hands together and makes the first house we ever shared together disappear back into the ground as quickly as it had sprouted out from it.

I let out a sad sigh.

I feel Kakashi move near me, take my hand into his, and say "Don't worry...Someday we'll have one that's ours permanently."

I turn around to look up at him in shock, the weight of what he's saying hitting me all at once.

"You heard me." He says, his eye creasing down at me once more. Then his hand is on my back as he leads me away so that Yamato can finish "putting things away."

I don't see where I'm going and don't really feel my feet on the ground because Kakashi all but said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.

Sure I can walk on water, but now I'm walking on...well, you know, something cheesy like that.

To be continued...