11 Ways

Six: Flirt

The first time Sakura
flirted with Kakashi he was amused.

It is known throughout the
entire village that shinobi children grow up early. Some of that is just a
side-effect from the job while another portion is because it is strictly
necessary to get the job done and live through it.

Flirting was certainly no
different and could actually be seen as a more essential component of any ninja’s
life. Any shinobi, and more importantly any kunoichi, would be expected to take
advantage of a situation by any means necessary (especially in any mission that
would specifically call for that particular type of…expertise). There would
also often be times where one of them from leaf would be in a dangerous
situation and the only way out would be through words. These certain forms of
persuasion came most in handy.

Not only that, but a shinobi
life is hard. Sometimes it would seem almost too much, but that was why the
shinobi didn’t live separately from the village. Not only did they depend on
the village for livelihood such as shop-keepers and restaurant-runners, but
just seeing the normalcy of daily life that they helped to protect was all that
kept some shinobi sane. Other than that there were friends, companions, a bit
of levity to come home to.

A little innocuous flirting went a long way toward lightening the mood at the
end of a dark day.

And here she was, his ‘little
girl’ (she got so mad when he called her that, which is of course why he said
it all the more often) making innuendo with him as though it were the most
natural thing in the world.

At this point in life
someone Sakura’s age would flirt (intentionally or not) with anyone of the
opposite gender not considered too old or disfigured to engender such a
response (i.e. disgust). Kakashi was greatly gratified to know he was not
considered to be in that latter category in her young mind.

Over the years he’d seen
Sakura joking with her male counterparts and new that what she was directing at
him wasn’t any attempt at a serious come on. He only had to see that she spoke
in the same double entrendre with Naruto to see that – and the heavens only
knew but there was nothing going to occur between those two.

So he’d take it for what it
was meant to be – joking between friends. Besides, he mused, she was doing it
so subtly and casually that she probably wasn’t even aware of her actions. If
he were to point it out to her or she became otherwise aware she’d probably be
mortified.

Kakashi grinned beneath his
mask. It might just make good for an embarrassing story to shut her up at some
later point in the future.