Stripped Bare

Hey everyone. I know it’s a little late but at least I’m managing to post this now in my free time before work. The next chapter is bound to be even later considering I have 5 pages written as of today. Despite my struggle to juggle this and school work, I hope you will continue to read and enjoy. Thank you!

I do not own Naruto and this fic is rated M for good reason.

XXXXX

Stripped bare-Chapter 4

It would just figure that the rain would let up when they finally got to a town, but by then they were already so soaked it didn’t even matter.

The town they arrived at was nothing like the quaint little settlement from the night before. The place seemed darker, sinister even, and the people they passed on the dimly lit streets hurried along as if they had somewhere to be, casting sidelong glances at the two shinobi. Sakura supposed it had something to do with the fact they were both muddy and drenched and that Kakashi’s shirt was sporting a large and obviously fresh bloodstain. If any of the inhabitants were shocked, they didn’t show it and hurried on their way, none of them showing even the smallest shred of hospitality.

The inn was as dark and grimy as the rest of the place and the woman behind the desk looked like she had see a thing or two in her life. She was older and heavyset with thick dark hair and a silver ring through her right nostril. She eyed the two suspiciously as they entered but didn’t say a word, not even when her eyes rested for a moment on the muddied crimson stain on Kakashi’s clothes.

Her actions actually weren’t that surprising. This was rogue territory after all and people here viewed government and order as more of an option than a necessity. It wasn’t surprising that violence and conflict ran rampant in these parts and the innkeeper had probably seen far worse than a dirty stab wound.

“Here,” she rasped, her voice low and gravelly as she tossed Sakura a tarnished key after having paid for the room in advance. “It’s the second floor, last door on the right.”

The inn wasn’t the dirtiest she had ever stayed in. It wasn’t the cleanest either, but Sakura tried not to think about it as she walked into their small room and unshouldered her pack. She noticed a full length mirror on the wall across from the bed and could only imagine why anyone would put a mirror there. Well, at least it wasn’t on the ceiling.

Kakashi was taking off his pack and sandals as well, trying not to move his arm too much. She knew she would have to inspect his wound but it would be a whole lot easier if he wasn’t covered in mud. Fortunately, a glance into the bathroom revealed that the room actually had an old fashioned clawfoot tub.

“Kakashi, get cleaned up,” she commanded, slipping into the role of a medic easily. “If you don’t think you can move your arm enough, I’ll help you bathe.”

“I’m perfectly capable, thank you,” Kakashi said a little too quickly. It was bad enough that he had let himself get injured in the first place by a low level shinobi. He intended to hang on to the last shreds of his dignity by at least washing the dirt from his own body.

His bath was actually more of him scrubbing himself clean rather than a long soak. He was grateful he had saved the soap and washcloth from the last inn because this place provided nothing of the sort. He was able to scrub nearly his whole back with his good arm and carefully wiped around the tender edges of his wound. Clean at last, he slipped into a fresh set of pants and his trusty tank with attached mask and went out to the main room where Sakura was perched patiently on the edge of the bed, waiting for him.

“Lie down,” she instructed, pointing to the sheets.

Her clothes were still wet and she was still covered in mud, except for her hands which she had washed when inspecting the bathroom.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to clean up first?”

She shook her head stubbornly, refusing to budge when someone was in need of her medical skills.

“This won’t take long.”

Too tired to argue, he did as he was told, laying on his back while Sakura sat next to him and began poking and prodding around the cut gently, asking if certain things hurt. When she was finally satisfied with her cursory exam, she let a glowing palm hover over the gash right above his ANBU tattoo, sending in green chakra to draw out any impurities before she mended the skin. She noticed a slight catch in Kakashi’s breathing as her energy made contact with his skin but when she glanced at his face, he was staring at the ceiling, his face giving nothing away.

She could feel it, that weird, unsettling silence start to creep between them again but she wouldn’t let it, not when they finally had the chance to talk it out.

“I’m sorry I got mad at you earlier,” she said softly, her eyes focusing on the dirt particles she was removing from the tender tissue. “I just can’t handle things being so strange between us, especially since I’m depending on you to teach me what I need for this mission.”

Her words made Kakashi shift eyes of both red and black to her, regarding her for a second before he spoke.

“It’s alright. I’m sorry I made you feel uncomfortable.”

Sakura managed a small smile as she began to knit the fibers of his severed tendon back together.

“I guess it was inevitable huh? There’s no way you would teach me to be a stripper without things getting a little weird, no matter how professional we try and be about it.”

Kakashi’s masked lips curved upwards as well.

“No, I suppose not.”

Sakura shut her eyes in concentration as she let her chakra delve deep into the musculature of her sensei’s shoulder, repairing whatever damage had been done.

“I don’t want it to get that way again,” she said. “And I don’t want what happened to deter you from giving me the training I need. Promise me that the next time things get weird, we’ll fix it and not let it turn into an ugly mess like this.”

“Fair enough,” Kakashi said, closing his eyes as well as the strangely pleasant tingle of her chakra resonated throughout his shoulder joint. “I suppose I was just caught off guard by the whole situation. I’ve always seen you as a girl and last night forced me to look at you as a woman. I guess I was unprepared for that.”

Sakura finished mending his would, leaving unflawed skin in her wake and let out a soft sigh.

“Yeah, I guess it’s a little strange for me too. I’ve never had to be in touch with my womanly, seductive side before.”

Kakashi fixed her with his mismatched gaze, sincerity brimming in his onyx eye.

“You’ll be fine. You already did surprisingly well and I think we both saw proof of that.”

Sakura fought the urge to look away in embarrassment. She hadn’t exactly seen the proof or even felt it for that matter but she was ok with that. She would take his word for it.

“Once you relax and gain some confidence, you will be much better off.”

Sakura nodded and smiled a little, wishing his advice could be so easily taken.

Suddenly, she realized she was still damp and muddy and pushed herself off the bed wearily.

“I’m going to go clean up,” she announced, going to her pack to pull out the T-shirt and shorts she had worn to bed the night before.

Kakashi followed her movements, head turning to watch her walk across the room until she was closing the bathroom door.

“Sakura,” he called, causing her to pause.

He flexed his arm experimentally to find it was in perfect working order.

“Thank you.”

She simply nodded and closed the door behind her and a few moments later, he could hear the sound of running water as she began to fill the tub.

XXXXX

The hot water felt wonderful a she eased herself into the steaming bath. Her own apartment lacked a bathtub and it had been a while since she had been granted such a luxury, especially on a mission.

The talk with Kakashi had left her steeped in relief. In a way she was oddly thankful for the dangerous encounter today because it had force the ice between them to break and the awkwardness to dissipate. What Tsunade was asking them to do was a challenge for them both but as she sat in the bath, letting the hot water ease the weariness from her body, she vowed all over again that she would not fail.

Kakashi had said scumbags like the ones that had attacked them today would more than likely frequent the club, and Sakura knew she wasn’t ready for something like that. She needed more training and she needed it fast considering they were scheduled to arrive at Fuzen Machi the day after tomorrow.

With a sigh she slid underneath the water, wetting her hair completely and set about washing the last of the mud from the pink strands before draining the tub and stepping out and drying off.

Once dressed, she slipped out into the main room to find Kakashi already in bed and sound asleep and a plate of food on the small dresser waiting for her. He must have gone out for food while she was in the bath.

It was actually a bowl of stew, still warm despite being left out and it was thick and hearty enough to satisfy her even after traveling all day.

She ate in silence near the cracked bathroom door, using the light sliver of light so she wouldn’t have to turn on another lamp and possibly disturb her partner.

More training, she needed more training and soon.

Her mind kept running in that particular circle and she knew it was all too true, even if her last training session had been something of a disaster. As she chewed a beefy chunk of meat, her eyes drifted to the mirror on the wall and she recalled how Ino said she had practiced her sexiest dance moves alone in her bedroom.

The thought was ridiculous but it was high time she took a little initiative on this mission.

Finishing the last of her meal, she silently padded over to stand in front of her own reflection, sizing herself up in the dim light.

Honestly, she didn’t think she had much to work with. Her breasts were practically non existent under her T-shirt and her hips, while slightly flaring from her waist, weren’t anything special. Every other kunoichi seemed to have blossomed but her curves were quite a bit more modest. There were times when Sakura longed for a shapely figure like Hinata’s, but lush, rounded breasts didn’t appear to be in her future.

Kakashi had told her she needed confidence above all else. Well, she was confident she was a walking stick person that was for certain. And yet, even that same stick had managed to arouse the great Kakashi Hatake so perhaps someone shapeless like her could still be sensual after all.

Confidence. Confidence. You are a sexy woman.

She chanted the mantra to herself as she began to sway her hips as Kakashi had instructed, watching the action as it was reflected back to her. She remembered how his large hands had felt as he had held her and guided her and tried to recreate those large swishing movements on her own.

She began to run her hands up and down her sides, trying to move slowly and make it look like touching her skin was the most wonderful feeling she had ever had. Unfortunately, all she saw was a girl clumsily pawing at her own body, hips moving in awkward figure eights.

Little did she know, she was performing for someone other than herself and he certainly didn’t agree with her opinion.

He had been sleeping on his side facing the mirror, alert the second she had opened the bathroom door. He had expected her to come to bed once she was finished eating but she hadn’t even though he could sense her presence just a few feet away from him. When he opened his dark eye, he had been surprised to see her standing with her back to him, hips swaying gently as her hands rubbed provocatively over her sides. The sight had claimed his full attention quite quickly.

It was obvious she was no expert by the unsure way she was dancing, but her movements were graceful, no doubt aided by the natural poise she possessed as a kunoichi.

Sakura, on the other hand was trying not to get discouraged with her own performance. She turned to the side and began to undulate in a slow body ripple letting her head, then chest, then stomach, then finally her pelvis move in a wave-like motion. She let her fingers sink into her damp pink hair and pile it on top of her head as danced, unaware that the simple motion had Kakashi running his tongue over suddenly dry lips. Her movements were still small and restrained but if she really let go and went for it, she would be quite an enticing sight indeed.

Sakura turned again, presenting her back the mirror and looked over her should as she watched her own rear sway to and fro in a motion she hoped was appealing.

This view allowed Kakashi not only to see what was facing him, but the reflection in the mirror as well and as her ass swayed, clothed only in those tight little shorts while one hand moved absently up and down her thigh, he would have attested that she was more than just a little appealing.

Appealing or not, Sakura was feeling utterly ridiculous. She tried to give her reflection her best “come hither” look, pouting her lips and gazing out from underneath sooty lashes but only succeeded in feeling even more foolish. With a barely audible groan, she turned back around and sat on the floor with a plop, wondering how the hell she was going to pull this off.

Kakashi in the other hand didn’t see a reason why she should be disheartened over her performance. She was actually doing quite well for someone as inexperienced as she was but apparently she didn’t share his opinion.

Sakura sat cross-legged on the floor, taking a deep breath to keep herself from punching the floor in frustration. Why was being sexy so hard for her? Was she just unfit for it, destined to be as boring and straight laced as ever?

She took a deep calming breath and focused her eyes on the deep green ones looking back at her. No, she could do this. She would do this and show Sasuke that not only was she a capable kunoichi, but she was a woman worth having. She wasn’t useless and she wasn’t easily replaced but she was sexy.

Slowly, she rose up on her knees and spread them slightly before beginning the body ripple she had previously practiced.

Kakashi’s breath caught as she tipped her head back and let her hands trail over her stomach tentatively before playing along the hem of her shorts as if debating whether she should take them off.

‘She’d better not!’ Kakashi though fervently even though deep down, he knew even if she had, he wouldn’t have been able to look away.

The Copy nin was spared, for instead, she sank down to all fours while swaying her rear side to side. Kakashi’s dark eye widened as she dipped her front half to let her chest brush over the floor while her back half remained high in the air. Just where the hell had that come from? He clearly recalled seeing dancers at clubs perform that same move and if Sakura just put a little more faith in her dancing she could work the stage just as well as the rest of them. The thought gave him hope, but it also made him a little uncomfortable for some reason. Innocent little Sakura was actually good at dancing dirty.

Sakura sat back up on her knees again, pausing in her motions to study herself in the mirror as she wondered what other moves she could try. Her mind went back to their previous session together and she remembered straddling his lap, their bodies pressed together as she ground against him. Her cheeks flushed at the memory but she continued to replay the scene anyways. Moving like that had gotten him hot and bothered so she must have done something right. Maybe she could move like she had on his lap while sitting on the floor.

Unbeknown to her, a second pair of eyes was watching her as she began to move her hips again, her abdominals flexing with her writhing snake-like movements as she ground against the floor. The odd position tired her thighs quickly and she braced herself with her hands, letting them rest on the carpet as her hips continued their pumping motion.

Kakashi was inadvertently hypnotized as he watched her, the thought suddenly entering his head that he very much wanted to be under that undulating pelvis and feel her rub against him. He tried to cast the thought away but it refused to leave, returning quickly as he watched her. He felt like a peeping tom for looking, knowing she wouldn’t be doing this if she knew he was awake, but he couldn’t help it. It was such a shock to see the pink haired medic move like this, even if her face gave away the fact that she felt uncomfortable doing so.

As he watched her, he could tell his pulse was beginning to race but he fought to keep his breathing even to keep up the façade of being sleep. But when a familiar tightness began to appear in his groin, he knew he was in trouble. He tried to banish it and make his body relax but it only persisted as he continued to watch his student, unable to tear his eyes away.

Suddenly, Sakura stopped, dropping the act entirely and stood up with an exasperated sigh. Kakashi was both grateful and very disappointed as she disappeared into the bathroom to brush her teeth, leaving him to will his half formed erection away.

A moment later, she reappeared, switching off the light and leaving the room in total darkness.

He felt the bed dip as she climbed in on her side and pulled the covers around her. As she got settled, he heard a half muffled murmur filled with sleepy frustration.

“I’m so stupid. I’ll never get this right.”

Kakashi let her drift off to sleep instead of rolling over to tell her that she was in fact, very, very wrong about that.

XXXXX

The next day was much less eventful. They continued their walk through Rain territory without incidence, hardly passing another soul on the muddy dirt roads, let alone being attacked by them. The tall grasses and rolling hills gave way to towns and villages a little more frequently now, proof that they would soon come upon the bustling city they were headed for.

Both shinobi were relieved when conversation between them seemed easy and natural today, lacking any of the uneasy silences and tense conversation from the day before. Sakura secretly thought it was ironic that a stab wound would actually heal the damage done by their training session but didn’t bring it up as they talked.

For the most part their conversations focused on lackluster, everyday topics, especially with there being more towns which meant more people to possibly overhear them. Now that they were closing in on their destination, it was even more crucial that their identities remain hidden.

As they trudged on, Sakura’s mind went back to her own image dancing in front of the mirror in the dim light. That experience alone made it clear she wasn’t ready for the real thing. She was too awkward, too self conscious, and she knew performing in front of a bunch of slobbering men would only make it worse. If she couldn’t perform for Kakashi, someone she trusted completely, how did she expect to face a throng of shady and dangerous men, any one of which could be the potential kidnapper of the club’s dancers?

She said nothing about her own doubts to her partner, not even when they stopped in a larger town to buy lunch from the least suspicious looking street vendor they could find. While Kakashi was her support on this mission, he couldn’t hold her up completely. She would just have to make the best of the situation, no matter how terrible it may be, and keep her mind on the objective.

As they got back on the road, yakitori sticks in hand, they continued to chat amiably and Sakura found she was actually enjoying his company. They hardly ever got the chance to talk when she was working in the hospital, considering he did everything in his power to stay away from the place and she hadn’t realized just how much she had missed being his pupil.

“You know,” she said with a smile as it began to drizzle again, making her braided hair frizz slightly. “I’m glad it was you who came with me on this mission. I think I feel more comfortable with you than I would Naruto or Sai…”

“Or Sasuke?” Kakashi finished for her, knowing full well how she felt about Konoha’s other Sharingan master.

She hadn’t expected Kakashi to read her so easily and turned to look at him in surprise as she walked.

He chuckled at her shocked stare from beneath his gray scarf and returned it with his own one eyed glance.

“Don’t act so surprised Sakura. Everyone knows how you feel about him”

Sakura’s cheeks were tinged with pink at his remark but at least she hadn’t flushed crimson, which so often was the case as of late. She turned back to look at the road ahead and sighed.

“Yeah I know. Even he knows.”

One didn’t have to be all that perceptive to hear the bitterness in her voice and it was obvious that she was hurt by the fact that while her crush was fully aware of her feelings, he not only refused to reciprocate them, but was hardly sensitive to her emotions at all.

Kakashi wasn’t exactly comfortable with counseling her when it came to Sasuke, especially since he was hardly one for monogamous relationships himself. He personally thought Sasuke was all wrong for her but that’s not what she would want to hear so he did his best to change the subject.


“Well, I supposed I am more knowledgeable than any of them on this particular subject,” he said mirthfully, suspecting that the other three men on his team were just as virginal as Sakura herself. “I can’t exactly see any of them being able to carry out this mission as Tsunade instructed.”

“Yeah, that and you didn’t laugh in my face at the thought of me actually being sexy,” she said dejectedly, casting her eyes downwards to the murky puddles in the road.

“They laughed at you?” Kakashi asked, genuinely surprised that any of the boys, even the Uchiha could be so cruel.

“Well, not exactly,” Sakura admitted. “Naruto was excited, Sai was indifferent and Sasuke looked at me as if I had grown another head. It was obvious by his expression that he thinks I’m going to fail.”

He could hear the hurt in her voice and realized that while she had become one tough cookie in terms of strength and skill, she still wasn’t so thick skinned when it came to matters of the heart; especially where Sasuke was concerned.

“Don’t worry about what he thinks,” Kakashi said. “He’s been gone for years and doesn’t know the real you anymore.”

Sakura was a little taken back by his words but the more she thought about them, the more they rung true.

After a moment she tilted her head to look at him, noticing he had somehow finished his yakitori and she hadn’t once seen him pull down his scarf, the sneaky bastard.

“Maybe he doesn’t know me, but what makes you think that you do Kakashi-sensei.”

Kakashi chuckled at her valid retort and gave her a happy eye crease in return.

“I never said I did Sakura-chan, but at least I am willing try.”

XXXXX

It drizzled off and on all day but nothing came close to the storm they had suffered through last night. They had made better time than expected and Kakashi figured that they would reach their destination around noon if they pushed a little harder tonight.

They passed town after town, each one looking more modern and industrial than the last and Sakura was beginning to feel a little like a bumpkin. Konoha was filled with skilled warriors but it wasn’t exactly the epicenter for technological developments. The streets here were lit with electric lights instead of simple lanterns and the further west they traveled, the flashier the cities became. She could only imagine what Fuzen Machi would be like.

By the time finally had finally decided to call it a night, Sakura was trying to hide a large yawn behind her hand. Finding an inn was no longer difficult considering most of the settlements were now large enough to have two or three inns apiece.

Upon reaching the next town, Sakura discovered with relief that the road here turned from dirt to stone, allowing her to walk without having mud squish between her toes with every step.

They ordered take out at the first place they saw and headed for the inn next, figuring the fewer people who saw them, the better. They didn’t want to raise any suspicions, even if they were in disguise.

The inn was still rough around the edges as the last one had been but offered modern conveniences that more than made up for it as far as Sakura was concerned. Their room had a dimmer switch and a shower and even a heating and air conditioning unit. Kakashi wasn’t quite so impressed considering he had traveled out this way before and had already seen these modern marvels. However, he was pleased with the fact that they had a shower and they wouldn’t have to make a trip to the town’s bathhouse at this hour.

As hungry as she was, Sakura wanted to shower before anything else and ten minutes later, she emerged from the steam filled bathroom feeling clean and refreshed, wet hair done up in a loose ponytail.

Kakashi had already eaten his share and left her to eat hers as he took his turn in the shower. He returned even sooner than she had, needing no more than five minutes to wash himself clean.

She watched him towel his hair dry as he sat on the bed in his usual pants and tank with attached mask as she finished the last of her meal. His eye patch was gone as it so often was when they were alone but he still refused to go without covering his face.

She stood up and went to the bathroom, throwing the empty food container in the trash as she went. She picked up her toothbrush and squeezed a liberal amount of toothpaste on it before putting it in her mouth. The food she had just eaten had contained garlic and she didn’t want any reason to feel self conscious while in close proximity with Kakashi, and if she was going to get the training she needed, chances are she would be very close.

She turned around to lean against the counter as she brushed and noticed on the outside of the bathroom door was a long, narrow mirror. She hadn’t seen it when the bathroom door was closed but now that it had swung inward, she could see that even though it was scuffed in places and had a crack beginning to spider web across it, it was still a mirror. From her position it reflected Kakashi’s sitting form perfectly and she looked at him thoughtfully as he ground the heels of his hands tiredly against his eyes until she had to turn and spit out the excess toothpaste foam.

She knew he was tired and they both wanted to sleep but this was something she had to do.

“Hey Kakashi-sensei,” she said, stepping out of the bathroom after rinsing her mouth and placing her toothbrush back on the counter. “Since we’ll arrive at Fuzen Machi tomorrow, don’t you think it would be a good idea to…you know…train me some more?”

Kakashi sighed from where he was drying his hair and stood. The normally tousled silver strands looked even more unruly after being rubbed with the towel and Sakura wondered how he managed to look good even when disheveled…wait…since when did she think he looked good period?

Sakura banished the thought as he silently brushed by her to drape the damp towel over the shower rail. The soapy clean scent of his shower fresh skin mingled with his natural scent and she inhaled the pleasant aroma as he walked by without making it obvious that she was doing so. She was sure Kakashi would give her something to be mortified about soon enough and she didn’t need to add to it by letting him catch her smelling him…although he did smell rather nice.

“I thought you might say that,” Kakashi said, walking back past her and out into the main room. “Although I must say, you’re better at this than I thought you would be…”

The way he trailed off made it clear that although she wasn’t quite as terrible as everyone predicted, the fact didn’t mean that she was good at any of it yet.

“But I’m still not ready,” Sakura finished aloud, walking away from the bathroom and shutting the door behind her gently.

“No, you’re not.”

“So, what should I do?” Sakura asked evenly, preparing herself for an answer she was sure not to like.

“Well, you seem to be rather good at dancing in front of a mirror when you think nobody is looking,” Kakashi said as he pulled over the room’s only chair and flipped it around so he could straddle it backwards and watch her. “But can you dance that way for an audience?”

Sakura’s eyes went wide, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she could finally make the words come out.

“Y-you saw that?”

“You should know by now that I’m not a heavy sleeper Sakura-chan.”

There was a hint of amusement in his voice and it was obvious he found the situation rather humorous. Sakura however, didn’t exactly agree. She remembered the way she had awkwardly felt up her own body and writhed on the floor like an idiot. A hot flush burned in her cheeks once more but she refused to cover her face in shame. She would probably have to endure far worse. He had said that her performance had been rather good and he wasn’t one for flattery so he must of meant it, but then why did she feel so foolish every time she tried to explore her more erotic side?

“You’re such a jerk,” she hissed angrily, wanting very much to hit him over the head like she usually did to poor Naruto but she couldn’t bring herself to pummel her teacher. He’d probably dodge the attack anyways.

“Don’t be angry Sakura-chan,” he said, giving her a cheerful eye crease. “I’m glad you were willing to practice on your own. You’re not as bad as you think.”

Kakashi noticed the change in the kunoichi’s coloring immediately but didn’t say anything about it. Instead he cocked his head to the side and looked at her thoughtfully.

“With a little confidence, I believe you’d be more than ready, but you don’t believe what you’re trying to convey and it shows.”

While she was still a little angry for him peeping at her, she’d have to put those feels aside and focus on his lesson if she wanted to get anything out of it.

“What do you mean I don’t believe it?” Sakura said, crossing her hands over her chest in a subconscious defensive gesture.

“You don’t believe that you’re the sexiest thing that ever walked the earth.” Kakashi said, his eyes looking straight into hers.

“Well, I’m not!” Sakura exclaimed, finding the notion absolutely preposterous.

The Copy nin chuckled softly and shook his head.

“And there lies your problem. You need to believe that you are, to know that you are, just for those moments you are performing. If you can’t even convince yourself you’re beautiful, how do you expect others to find you attractive?”

“Well…I…” Sakura began, suddenly fidgeting a little from where she stood. She had to admit he had stumped her there.

“What I propose you do is perform a striptease for me and make me believe you’re a sexy goddess while doing it. You do have something under that right?” he said, nodding to her T-shirt and shorts.

Sakura nodded miserably. She had left her panties on under her shorts and had worn a bra on impulse beneath her shirt, something she hardly ever did but both were white and plain and not at all attractive. She didn’t know what would be worse, the act of stripping off her outer clothes or letting Kakashi see her in undergarments usually reserved for grandmas.

“At the club you will obviously have music to dance to so that will make it a little easier but for now you’ll have to use your imagination,” Kakashi said, resting crossed forearms on the back of the chair and propping his chin on them. “But no matter what, you have to make me believe in you.”

Sakura took a deep breath and tugged the hair tie from her hair, letting the long pink strands fall around her. As much as she wanted to hate him for making her do this, she knew he was only doing her job and they agreed they would each do their best not to let things get awkward and she intended to keep her half of the bargain.

She timidly began to let her hips sway, trying to remember some of the moves she had come up with last night. She could feel Kakashi watching her intently but didn’t have the courage to meet his gaze. It was just too embarrassing.

Kakashi sat scrutinizing her movements noticing that they were for the most part, a tamer version of everything he had already taught her. He wanted to see her improvise the way she had last night without holding anything back and he particularly wanted her to stop staring at the floor.

“Sakura, look at the man you are dancing for,” he said and Sakura shyly lifted her eyes from the dirty carpet to meet his gaze. He had to admit, there was something appealing about her bashful demeanor, especially since she was usually strong and powerful and threatening her male team mates with her fists but there needed to be a careful mix of confidence and timidness and right now Sakura was far too reserved.

“You look uncomfortable,” he noted, observing that once again she looked like a stranger in her own skin, awkward and unsure.

“I am,” she said with a sigh, dropping her hands to her sides in frustration. “I feel so stupid.”

“You’d feel less stupid if you just relax a little. It’s just the two of us here so you don’t need to be shy.”

Sakura was considering telling him that being alone in a room with her ex sensei and being instructed to strip was plenty enough reason to be withdrawn, but she swallowed her complaints and tried again, trying to tell herself this wasn’t a big deal and he was only trying to help.

She twined a lock of bubblegum pink around her finger and bit her lip self consciously as she brought her feet together and began to move her hips in small circles. While her gestures were simply nervous habits, they boosted her sex appeal exponentially.

“Much better,” he said, shifting a little in his chair. “Now make your movements bigger. Remember, you’ll be on a stage with a lot of people in the room. You want to make sure that even the people in the back will be able to see what you are doing.”

Sakura wordlessly obeyed, moving her hips in larger circles while undulating her upper body in the ripple he had seen her practicing last night. The movements sent every visible muscle in her body rippling and flexing and Kakashi’s mouth suddenly felt a little dry as he wondered just what the muscles hidden beneath her clothes looked like.

“When should I start to…take off my clothes?” she asked softly as she widened her stance and began swishing her hips from side to side while her hands came down to fumble with the edges of her T-shirt.”

“Anytime is good,” Kakashi said, now shifting in his chair a little more frequently.

Sakura nodded and crossed her arms over her chest while grabbing the hem, preparing to pull the whole shirt off all at once but Kakashi stopped her.

“Don’t make it about simply removing your clothes. Make it about the process of reaching point B from point A. Take your time and tease your audience, give them little glimpses before revealing everything.”

The kunoichi bit back a groan, wanting this session to be over and done with but she released her T-shirt and went back to circling her hips before grabbed the hem and inching it up her stomach slightly to expose her toned abdomen.

The overall effect would have been perfect if she hadn't had her eyes fixed to the floor again.

“Don’t forget about what your face is doing,” Kakashi cautioned, hoping the raspy tone his voice had taken on was just his imagination. “A major part of seduction is using your expressions, not just your body.”

Sakura paused in her actions as she thought over his words.

“Then…how should I look?” she asked innocently.

“Like you want me.”

Sakura’s blush flared at his words. Though his command did wonders for embarrassing her, it did little for helping her grasp the concept he was trying to convey. She wasn’t exactly a creature of lust, not even when it came to Sasuke and she didn’t quite know what he was talking about.

“Kakashi, I…”

There she went, looking at the floor again, not only immensely flustered but still clueless about what to do. Perhaps sitting in a chair barking orders at her wasn’t the most effective way to teach.

“Sakura, turn around.”

She did what he asked and found herself looking at the mirror on the back of the bathroom door and watched her instructor stand from his seat and move behind her until she could feel his body heat against her back. Just what was he planning on doing exactly?

In all honesty, Kakashi wasn't sure himself. He just knew that it would take more than general guidelines to help her along, even if she seemed to have a natural aptitude for this kind of thing.

“Now,” Kakashi said as he bent to place his head next to hers, meeting her gaze in the mirror. “I’m going to help you get a feel for how to perform a striptease by touching you a little bit. Feel free to keep dancing as the impulse hits you but see if you can begin to imitate some of the things I make you do on your own.”

“O-ok…” Sakura stammered chewing on her full bottom lip again.

“This is probably going to extend way beyond the borders of your comfort zone but bear with it,” he said, his breath blowing warm over her neck and Sakura fought the impulse to shiver in response.

Kakashi’s hands went to her hips once more and gently coaxed them into swaying in a familiar rhythm. Sakura let her body yield to his touches as he moved to her ribcage and encouraged her to move it in correlation with her pelvis. His eyes were fixed on hers in the mirror and Sakura couldn’t help but feel a little unnerved by his intense red and black gaze.

“Now, touch your body the way you did last night,” he whispered against her ear, his voice suddenly lower and rougher than it had been when he was simply sitting and watching.

Her hands came up to smooth up and down her sides and tangle in her own long hair and Kakashi nodded slightly in approval.

“Good, now change up the way you move every now and then so it doesn’t get monotonous. Always keep your audience guessing.”

Sakura’s quizzical stare clearly said she had no idea how else to move so he nudged her feet into a wider stance and pressed his front to her back, eliciting a soft gasp of surprise from his student.

“You could move like this every now and then,” he said wrapping an arm around her stomach to hold her to him as he undulated her body much the way she had earlier only in a far more exaggerated move, his motion forcing her body to move along with him.

Sakura wasn’t sure how to react to Kakashi’s sculpted body pressing against hers. The way he was moving against her stirred something deep and primal within her and the way his hips ground against her rear made her think of other activities that would require him to move against her the same way.

She squashed the thought before it could progress, face burning as she realized just what she had been imagining but before she could dwell on it, Kakashi whispered to her.

“Keep moving on your own.”

She was relieved when he stepped back a little and released his arm from around her stomach to give her some room to move so she could integrate other moves into her rippling movement. While these movements still felt strange and new, they weren’t quite so awkward anymore, at least with Kakashi helping her along.

Little did she know that he was just as happy to but some distance between them as she was. Her toned cheeks and felt firm and yet pleasantly yielding against him and the friction of their slow grind promised to awake something that he would rather have lie dormant. He was doubting the validity of his own plan, wondering if it would only spell disaster for both of them but she already seemed so much more confident in her dancing that he decided to stick with it.

His large hands closed over the top of her smaller ones and gently moved them to her shirt hem.

“Now tease me,” he said, sounding a little breathless.

He hadn’t meant for the statement to come out sounding so…wrong, but it had. However, if Sakura picked up on all the potential innuendo his sentence held, she didn’t react. Instead, she continued to sway sexily giving him tantalizing peeks at her firm stomach as her fingers hesitantly edged her shirt up and let it fall again, each time straying higher than the last.

Kakashi had seen her midriff on several occasions but never had it looked as good as it did now, all toned and flat, devoid of most of the scars that kunoichi usually had thanks to her superior healing skills. He tried to keep his touch minimal as he guided her movements until she was giving him a decent show all on her own.

“Excellent,” he rasped against her ear. “Now take it off.”

He watched her finally lift the shirt over her head and discard it with a flick of her wrist, shaking her head to smooth out and hair that had been mussed in the process, but as soon as her eyes focused on her form in the mirror, she tensed up again, suddenly shy that her top half was covered with nothing but a bra.

The modest white garment was nothing spectacular, especially compared to what Kakashi had seen in his time. It offered full coverage, more than most swimsuits in his opinion and was lacked any fancy embellishments like lace or ruffles. Even so, he couldn’t help but think she looked damn good in it anyways. The curves he had felt beneath her shirt were now before him in all their glory, well, almost, and Kakashi could clearly see the proof that she no longer had the body of the twelve-year-old girl he had trained. She was a full fledged woman.

Sakura’s hands came up to cross over her breasts defensively to hide herself but Kakashi stopped her, taking each wrist in his gentle grip once more.

“None of that,” he chided against her ear. “You’re supposed to be a sex kitten remember?”

Sakura nodded mutely even though her face was the same color as her hair but the face that his mismatched eyes were fixed on, her own in the mirror and not on her chest, let her relax a little.

“Now, keep making me believe that touching you is the most wonderful thing in the world,” he rasped as guided her hands to her own stomach and encouraged her to run them over the smooth, tight skin.

Sakura watched their hands moving together and couldn’t help it as her abdominals flexed under her own fingers. She had touched her own skin thousands of times, washing in the shower, getting dressed, healing wounds, but it had never felt like this. Even though Kakashi wasn’t actually touching her, a strange heat was beginning to well up in the pit of her stomach as he showed her how to touch her own body.

His drew hers up over her ribs and fleetingly over her collarbone before coming back down to the swell of her breasts.

“Kakashi?” she asked softly, her voice unsure as her hands tensed in opposition to his movements.

“Shh, just trust me on this. A lot of men will greatly appreciate this move,” he said as he positioned her hands over her own breasts, letting her palms cup the clothed mounds gently.

Sakura let out another gasp but this one was not purely of surprise and Kakashi knew it. He tried to fight down the feeling that perhaps that last move had been more for his own benefit than hers, considering the sight of her hands over her own breasts had sent a wave of pleasurable heat straight to his core, but judging by the sound she had just made, he wasn’t the only one feeling good.

This could get very dangerous very quickly and Kakashi decided it was best to just move on and get this over with.

“Alright, now let’s work on the shorts,” he said, his voice raspier than he would have preferred. “Be a tease with the bottom half the same way you were with the top.”

While Sakura was still a little uncomfortable with this situation, she had become quite curious as well. The heat inside her was burning hotter by the minute and although it was a new sensation that scared her a little, she wanted to continue exploring her sensuality alongside the man she trusted.

Without much prompting from him, she let her thumbs dip into the waistband of her shorts and pulled them down to offer glimpses of her hipbones and more creamy pale skin.

“Good, now take them off as gracefully as possible.”

Sakura watched her own hands as if they were foreign objects tug at the tight black garment until it slipped down her thighs and pooled on the floor. She stepped out of them and kicked them aside, letting her eyes take in her own semi-naked form as Kakashi did the same over her shoulder.

She wanted to shield herself from his eyes but knew he wouldn’t allow it so she tried to calm her raging blush and get used to the feeling of having someone besides herself see her so exposed.

“You did well,” Kakashi nodded, his pulse starting to race at the sight of her. Her white cotton panties were simple and built for comfort as opposed to looks, but there was something about those bikini cut panties on her slender frame that was just as alluring as a lacy little thong in its own way. It’s like she was being sexy without even trying and that made her even hotter. However, now was not the time to be pondering such things considering he shouldn’t be ogling her panties at all. This was strictly for the sake of the mission dammit! He didn’t want to sit here and stare at her beautiful body all day…no, not at all.

Instead of voicing any of his thoughts, he forced his eyes back to her face and noticed she was once again worrying her lip between her teeth.

“You’re still not comfortable being exposed so let’s work on that,” he said, running his hands up and down her upper arms in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. “Just keep dancing and try to remain confident.”

Sakura nodded and continued the sensual sway of her body, letting her hands move in whatever way felt natural. She must have been doing something right because she felt Kakashi’s breath along the nape of her neck as he uttered phrases of praise and encouragement through his mask.

She had become acutely aware of her sensei’s body behind hers, feeling his head and the brush of his clothes against her naked skin. It was as if her body had become highly sensitized during her lesson and the way his mismatched eyes were watching her body sway was only adding to that hot, liquid feeling low in her belly.

She let her eyes drift shut to block out the sight of him and instead tried to lose herself in the sound of her own slightly labored breath, letting it be the music to which she danced. She knew this should probably feel a whole lot more wrong than it did, but for some odd reason, she was finally beginning to feel comfortable with bearing herself for the viewing pleasure of men. Kakashi was enjoying watching her, that much was for certain, and she couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of empowerment at the fact that he found her appealing, even if the thought was awkward and weird and probably should have made her want to stop. She had great respect for the Copy nin and admired him greatly but had never thought of anything more than a teacher and a mentor. Even saying he was her friend was pushing it. So why did the feel of his calloused fingers suddenly fluttering up and down her hips and thighs feel so…natural?

Kakashi should have called it quits the second she shut her eyes and tipped her head back against his chest, continuing to gyrate her hips as her hands skimmed her body. However, he had one more objective to fill for the evening before letting her go and that pertained to the matter of her knowing how to use facial expressions as tools of seduction. Considering her reaction to his command to act like she wanted him, he was fairly certain Sakura had never experienced a deep consuming lust and thus couldn’t really relate to the concept at all. He was both terrified to do this and strangely excited which scared him even more, and Kakashi didn’t scare easily.

His previous perception of Sakura as a girl had already been smashed into teeny tiny pieces and what he was about to do would blur the boundaries even more, but he honestly believed it was for her benefit.

He let his fingers trail over her jutting hip bones and down her silken thighs, feeling the muscles just beneath the skin flex and quiver as she moved. He noted that her eyes opened at his first caress and was watching him in the mirror as he touched her and while she looked a little uncertain, she didn’t do anything to stop him.

His hands smoothed over her stomach and up to the white material of her bra and while he didn’t cup her breasts in his hands like he had encouraged her to do, he trailed a single finger from her collarbone to her navel, right through the valley between the soft mounds. The motion forced her to inhale sharply rather than push him away, she just leaned back against him more fully, her firm ass rubbing over him again and again as she danced.

However, the feel of her soft skin beneath his fingers once again got the best of his self control. He could feel his member which had been twitching for some time now, finally harden in his pants, creating a bulge that would be impossible to hide or explain away, but if Sakura minded, she didn’t show it and continued to dance without inhibitions.

Sakura normally would have questioned this strangely intimate behavior and probably would have punched the offender through the wall had it been anyone else, but she was enjoying her new found confidence and the way he was looking at her, the way he was touching her, and she couldn’t recall anyone ever doing either of those things to her the way Kakashi was now. She was finally feeling sexy for the first time in her life and it felt damn good, not to mention the way his hands were rubbing over her skin was only adding to that delicious heat inside her.

Kakashi had been with enough women to know that each one had particular places that were more sensitive than others, but in Sakura’s case, it seemed her whole body was responsive for every touch seemed to drive her on until he was supporting the majority of her weight and she was grinding against him fervently.

And that’s when he smelt it.

His sensitized nose picked up the subtle, spicy scent of feminine arousal and that meant his task was complete, although by the hazy look in her jade eyes, he guessed that she had been aroused for some time now, he just hadn’t wanted to stop.

“Sakura, take a look at yourself,” he instructed, stopping his hands on her hips and holding them still to cease her maddening movements. “Look at your expression and burn it into your mind.”

The kunoichi had been so caught up in his hands and her hands and the wonderful friction of their bodies that it took her a moment to focus, but what she saw shocked her. She hardly recognized the woman staring back at her. She was flushed, but for once not from embarrassment. Her long hair was mussed but not in an unattractive way and her green eyes were darkened and cloudy; and on her face was the perfect come hither expression she had been trying so hard to master the night before.

Her eyes widened at the realization, dispelling the look from her features but it remained clear in her memory and would for some time.

“What you just experienced was raw desire, although only you can say how intense it was,” Kakashi whispered against the shell of her ear. “Every time you are dancing, recall this moment and how you felt because if you can dance on stage the way you were just now, you will undoubtedly be the sexiest thing in the room. You had me convinced Sakura. Congratulations.”

At first, Sakura didn’t know what to say. Her mind was still a little clouded by the haze and the heat that Kakashi had effectively surrounded her with, not to mention the wonderful, tingling sensation in some of her naughtier parts. But gradually she came to the realization that her sensei had managed to turn her on, to get her sexually aroused, and she was hit by a wave of conflicting emotions as she brought her hand to cover her mouth as she turned around to face him.

On one hand, what he had been doing to her had felt good, incredibly good, the way their bodies had moved together made her feel sexy, womanly, something she didn’t often get to feel while working at the hospital. However, he was her teacher for fucks sake! Even if this experience was to help her with a mission, how could she justify enjoying grinding against her teacher, a man fourteen years older than her, while she danced half naked?

Sure she had known he was getting her hot and bothered as she danced, but she hadn’t really thought about it. Now that he wasn’t so close to her and wasn’t touching her in that fantastic way, she could look at things with a clear head, and wasn’t sure what to make of the situation.

Kakashi could see the shock in her eyes and sensed she was on the verge of a major freak out now that she realized just what she had been feeling inside of her and just what had been rubbing against her. Rather than let her launch a panic attack, he dropped to one knee in front of her just as she finally found words to speak.

“Kakashi…I…you…”

“It’s ok Sakura, what you experienced was perfectly normal. Your body reacted and so did mine.”

“B-but…you’re my sensei,” she said in a scandalized voice before jabbing him in the chest with a finger. “How the hell could you do something like that?”

“Look, it’s not like I wanted to,” Kakashi said, grabbing the wrist of the hand poking him hard enough to leave a bruise. “But you were lacking in that particular area of life experience and I feel it will benefit this mission for you to gain it.”

“Yeah, well…” Sakura grumbled as she averted her eyes and relaxed the hand that he held. “You didn’t have to like it so much.”

Kakashi was aware that he still had a raging hard on but there was little he could do about it at the moment.

“Sakura, you’re a medic. You should know how that particular piece of anatomy works. Sometimes it has a mind of its own.”

“You keep saying I should know but it’s pretty obvious by now that I’m not that well acquainted with…you know,” Sakura trailed off as she turned away from him, intending to grab her clothes and hide in the bathroom until the mortification dissipated since that was the only place she could get away from him.

She was surprise when instead of releasing her hand, she was jerked back to him with just enough force so as not to hurt her.

“Sakura,” he said, his dark eye lucid and sincere. “We agreed we wouldn’t let things get weird between us. Don’t go running off now instead of facing this because it won’t make it any better.”

The kunoichi let out a heavy sigh. He just knew her too well. It seemed unfair considering how little she actually knew about him.

“I know, I’m sorry. It’s just that…I never expected to be like that…with you.”

“I know,” Kakashi said meeting her emerald gaze evenly. “And I’m sorry the first time you experienced that had to be with me. You deserve to actually have it mean something but with mission circumstances being what they are, understand I had to take action.”

“I know,” Sakura said softly. “I don’t blame you.”

“Good,” Kakashi said, straightening to his full height and tousling her bangs like he had when she was younger. The gesture was strangely comforting, like it signified that despite what had just happened, nothing had really changed between them and she had to keep herself from wrapping her arms around him in a grateful hug.

The moment of comfort was brief and as he stepped away, Sakura looked away as she noticed there was still a prominent bulge in his pants.

“Well, I would suggest we um…get to sleep but maybe…you should…”

Kakashi looked down before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“Maybe I should take the floor again tonight,” he suggested.

“No, it’s ok,” Sakura said quickly, not wanting him to resign himself to the hard, cold, and possibly unsanitary carpet. “Just do whatever you need to do. I’ll leave room for you.”

Kakashi nodded as she picked up her clothes and pulled her shirt back over her head.

“I’ll just take a short shower then,” Kakashi said, edging off towards the bathroom as she stepped into her shorts and headed for bed.

Once inside the haven of the tiny room, still slightly steamy from Sakura’s previous shower, Kakashi rested his forehead against the closed door, wondering just how much more of this he could bear. On one hand he knew he had had good reason for his actions but on the other, a voice inside told him that he had no right to take that innocence from his former student. Lust was an emotion she would be dealing with regularly and she wouldn’t be able to act accordingly unless she had experienced it herself. However, there was a part of him that undeniably liked what they had done far too much and the proof was still there, hard and throbbing in his pants.

Wearily, he stripped off his clothes, feeling relief as his restrained member sprung free from its confines and bounced lightly against his stomach. He reached inside the shower, hand hovering over the cold water knob but after a moment’s hesitation, cranked on the hot before stepping into the spray.

As much as he knew it was wrong, he couldn’t handle another night of self deprivation while thoughts of their recent encounter danced in his head. The memory of her skin under his fingertips was still fresh in his mind and it only made him throb all the more painfully.

He would probably go to hell for this, even though he was probably destined to end up there anyways after living the life he had, but his conscious still warred inside his head even as he grabbed his manhood in one hand and began to pump his length in long hard strokes under the shower’s hot spray.

He tried to block her image from his mind as he neared release, focusing on lovers from the past or simply faceless women doing wonderful things to him. He felt his stomach muscles tense and spasm as blissful sensations rolled through him and began to move his hand faster as he felt his much needed orgasm building inside of him.

Because of a long dry spell and the recent visual stimulation provided by the woman in the other room, he could feel the immense intensity of his peak coiling in his stomach and braced his free hand against the tiled wall in preparation, letting the cool surface support him fully as his knees began to weaken. He grit his teeth against the searing pleasure and continued to stroke his swollen shaft as images of women that he insisted were definitely not Sakura flashed in his mind’s eye.

Yet when he finally reached his pinnacle, his hot, spurting seed carrying all the pent up frustration of the past few days, he realized that the faceless woman in his mind had long, beautiful pink hair.

XXXXX

I know that was surprisingly tame compared to the explicit things I’ve written in the past but it’s too soon for a full blown lemon. You’ll have to bare with me here. Reviews are welcome as always and I hope to post the next chapter relatively soon.

~J-Pop