Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Icha Icha Sakura ❯ Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sakura spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon waiting for Kakashi at the shrine. Perched comfortably in a tree, hidden by the leaves, she watched the dark grey clouds move across the sky. It looked like it would rain, but hadn't started yet. Hopefully it would hold off until Kakashi came back. From years of routine, she knew that after reporting in at jounin headquarters, he would come directly to the shrine even before going home. She wanted to see him as soon as he was back in town, but there was no set time for Kakashi to be due back, as if he would make it to an appointed time anyway. She contented herself with waiting for him and watching the dark clouds.

It was no wonder Shikamaru liked watching them. In the stormy sky, some moved faster than others. The lower clouds raced across the sky while the higher ones hung there with no particular rush to be anywhere. Some clouds looked like harmless marshmallow fluff and others looked downright menacing. Once or twice she even saw lightning flash off in the distance and heard a very faint rumble of thunder. The storm, when it came, was certain to send down torrential rain. She was starting to get impatient, annoyed at the thought of getting wet. It wasn't like she wasn't used to working and training in the rain. She just didn't want to be in a rain shower if she could at all avoid it.

What would his reaction be? Would he be happy she loved him or would he deny everything he'd said to Jiraiya? Had she really heard right? Could he love her as a woman and think of her as something other than just a friend and former student? Sure, she had heard him say he cared for her, but could she get him to overcome his reservations about having a relationship with her? Just thinking these thoughts made her nervous. When she was younger, everyone she met knew she was in love with Sasuke or at least she had thought she was in love with him. It had really turned out to be an obsession with the reclusive boy. A love for a person she had created in her mind and not for the boy who really existed, something she didn't understand until they had tried dating.

This felt different. She knew Kakashi. She knew and accepted his faults. There was just something about being around him that she enjoyed. The man could drive her crazy one minute and have her giggling the next. And when he looked at her, really looked at her with that single dark eye, she could feel her heart move. Not to mention he had the nicest body she had ever seen - well, okay, the nicest body she had imagined. She'd never actually seen his entire body naked, or for that matter, any large portions of his body naked, but if her imagination was anywhere near reality, she couldn't wait to rub her hands all over him, explore his body with her fingers and her mouth.  And imagine his hands on her.

With a small shake of her head, she pulled herself from her fantasy, thanking god she hadn't let it get too far.  They had never even kissed, but somehow she was fairly sure she loved him. Could he possibly love her?

She took another look at the shrine and suddenly he was there, laying a gloved hand on the cool smooth surface of the name-carved stone face. Sakura was careful to keep her charka levels low so he couldn't feel her until she wanted him to. She just watched him, his fingers outlining the names of all the people he'd known and lost. Then she really took a good look at him, studying his familiar figure. His unruly silver hair, held in place with the hitai-ate used to hide his eye with the Sharingan. The cloth mask that covered his nose and mouth, leaving only a small section for his left eye to be seen. When they'd first met, she believed he was so engrossed in his books that he didn't even have emotions. Now that she knew him, his droopy eye could express more emotions than most people even knew existed and she was one of the few that knew him well enough to read many of them.

His shoulders were slumped and his head bowed, giving an air of carelessness that she knew belied his true awareness of everything around him, including (hopefully) herself. She was pleased to see no rents or spots of blood on his clothing. He always scared her when he refused to go to the hospital for treatment, no matter how severe. At least he would come to her now. And if she was going to make her move, it was now or never.

When he finally raised his head, she stood behind him, slowly allowing him to feel her charka before she spoke.

"I finished the book."

"Oh?" He paused, still not turning to look at her or appearing to be surprised by her presence. "Jiraiya can spin quite a story, can't he?"

"Not really." She replied frankly. "Saruka? Jemna? Takashi?"

"Ah." So she really had read the entire book. He sighed softly, now unwilling to turn and face her.

"So is it true?"

"Sakura," his voice held a warning tone as he turned and stepped around her, completely avoiding looking into her eyes. Seeing her question in those bright green depths would make him crumble. "It's only a book."

"Tell me, is it true? Is that what you want?" She spun to watch his retreating form. He barely hesitated as he continued on his path home, not responding to her question.

"Kakashi, get back here and answer my question!" She cried, losing control of her temper and seconds away from crying. She needed to know. She had to have an answer. This was what she had waited all night for. "Answer me, you coward!" In the blink of an eye, he had returned and was standing inches in front of her.

"I don't want to talk about this, Sakura." he said, his eye focused on something over her head, avoiding eye contact with her.

"But I do. I need to know. Is that how you think of me? Do you…do you care for me like that?" her words were soft but held an inner strength that told him she could not be put off.

She reached up for his mask, only to have her wrist stopped and held in his hand. "Please, tell me Kakashi. Do you… Could you ever…?" Her voice was now a harsh whisper and she found herself unable to complete her question. Her voice wavered too much and her strength was suddenly gone. Her eyes searched the small portion of his face that she could see for emotions.

With a soft sigh, he released her arm and allowed her to reach up and remove his hitai-ate, his scarred eye remaining closed. Her other hand moved to slowly pull down his mask and trace the complete length of his scar with her thumb, her fingers brushing against his cheek, leaving a burning path where she touched him. His other eye closed from the sweet feeling of her hand against his bare face. With both eyes now tightly closed, he had a slightly pained expression on his face. His breath hitched and caught in his chest.

He was gorgeous. Other than the scar, his features were flawless and the scar had its own beauty, making him who he was - Kakashi. The Kakashi who'd been her teacher, then her friend and now… just a man. A man standing before the woman who loved him.

They stood in silence for a few moments, motionless, with her lower lip caught between her teeth. She waited. She slowly felt her heart sink and recognized the burn from the tears starting to well in her eyes. She had been wrong. She had heard wrong. She had been so sure he felt something for her, that he might just love her, that he might just have feelings that matched her own. Feelings strong enough to make him overcome all those barriers between them, but she had been so very wrong. It wasn't enough. She wasn't enough. Once again she'd chosen a man who didn't love her back.

She bowed her head and slowly pulled her hand away, but he reached up and caught it with his own. Holding it ever so gently, he drew it down to his lips and kissed her open palm tenderly. His silver head nodded ever so slightly. "Yes." he breathed softly into her hand.

The burning of the tears in her eyes faded as she looked up at him, her heart racing and a smile spreading across her face. "Good," she whispered softly, pleased when his head jerked up, both eyes opening wide in surprise. "Then you won't mind if I do this." She said softly as her other hand came up to grip the back of his head and pull him down to meet her lips.

It was a soft, tender, and chaste kiss. His mouth was unresponsive to hers, unmoving and refusing to open for her tongue as it ran over his tender lips.

He broke away only to find her pulling him down again for another kiss. "A real one this time." she whispered softly, her breath hot against his cheek. "No holding back. Please." she begged. This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. She had wanted to blow him away with their first kiss, to show him she wanted to be with him, to make him lose complete control and give her a sign he could think of her as something other than his 12 year old student. And this time she was determined to get it.

Pulling her closer, he finally relaxed, understanding she wanted this, too. He allowed their lips to barely touch, ever so softly brushing his against hers and letting their breath mingle. With a little more effort, he pressed their lips together and opened his mouth just the slightest, allowing his tongue to glide over her lips, enjoying the sweet taste of her lip-gloss. She tasted like strawberries. He didn't know what he expected her to taste like, but apparently, it hadn't been strawberries, although he found he rather enjoyed it.

This kiss was different, very different from their first. It burned with a heat he thought would burn them. Their bodies no longer had any space between them, only their clothing separated them. He could feel her soft breasts pressed against his chest, his flack jacket having been unzipped and pushed aside. Her nipples were hard points he could easily feel when her body moved against his.

And he felt right. Finally, she felt good, felt this is where she belonged and who she belonged with. Pressed up against this man, her body molded so closely to his, the pounding of his heart easily felt by her hand resting along the side of his neck. She felt comfortable, and safe, and unbelievably turned on.

He pulled away and she looked up at him. "Wow." she said softly, just staring at his face. She'd memorized it quickly, trying to figure out the undecipherable look on his face. Whatever it meant, whatever he wanted, she at least wanted to remember the way his entire face looked. If he wouldn't give them a chance, this might be the last time she saw his bare face for a while.

"Sakura…why?"

"Because I love you, too."

"You can't. It's not right. I shouldn't... Sakura." He absolutely loved the way her name felt on his tongue and how her mouth had felt against his but it was wrong. So very, very wrong. No matter what, he just couldn't forget that fact. She had been placed in his care and he had been trusted to protect her from all danger. Trusted not to take advantage of her, but here they were, holding each other like this. She was just so young and innocent. "Doesn't it bother you that I'm so much older? That I was your teacher? That I'm a dirty old man who reads porn and lusts after his student."

"Former student. We've been teammates and friends 4 times as long as I was ever your student. And if you can't think of it in that way, and insist you're a dirty old man then I'm nothing but a student with a crush on her teacher. But I know it's more than that." With a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder, the rain started to fall in cold and hard drops that stung when they hit bare skin. "Could we go somewhere and talk? Please?" she asked, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but no. You can't change my mind about this. It's wrong and something I just can't do. We're never going to speak of it again." In a second, he had pushed her away and had disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Why?" She cried out to the empty hilltop. "Damn him!" Sakura growled when she realized he had really left the shrine. Standing in the cold, hard rain, she stared out over Konoha, the lights from the village glimmering in the darkness. The rain was mixing with her tears, the water streaming down her face. If he was determined to do this the hard way, well then, she'd have to do it the hard way. She wiped the liquid from her face. The gleam that appeared in her eyes and bitter smile that spread across her face were eerily similar to the one she wore when first visiting Kakashi less than a week before. He'd admitted he cared for her now. There was no way she was going to give up without a fight. 

<<< >>> <<< >>> <<< >>>

She knew where to find him, other than the shrine. It wasn't as if there would be a lot of places he could go when faced with something so bothersome. After a few preparations were completed, she walked into the Corner Bar and sat on the stool next to Kakashi. Signaling for a drink, she turned to look at the masked man.

"Running away, hmmm? Not very mature." She sipped delicately from her sake cup. "And definitely not the way to deal with a woman. Especially me."

"Sakura, we are not going to talk about it. Ever. Not if we want to continue working together." He downed his glass without even looking at her.

"You're willing to give up a chance at happiness because it might affect the way we work together? Granted, Tsunade-shishou isn't fond of teammates having relationships, but it's not unheard of. She merely watches them a bit more carefully and evaluates their teamwork when working together."

"And if it doesn't work? What then? Team seven is finished. Things will be awkward and anything that disrupts our teamwork could put all our lives in danger."

"But it won't. We've worked together for 10 years. We know more about each other's quirks and habits than couples married for half their lives! I know you! I love you!" The tears were starting to well in her eyes again. Crap, why wouldn't he listen? She bowed her head and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down for what was coming next.

"It would never work, Sakura. I don't want you to get hurt."

After another deep breath, she looked back over at him, a regretful look in her eyes. "You really are determined to do this the hard way, aren't you? You know, we could have just done all this at the memorial, but you insisted. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Warn me about—" before he realized what she was doing, she subtly flashed a dozen hands signals and he slumped forward over the bar before he could finish his sentence. Laying a few bills on the bar, she wrapped her arms around him, performed a few more hand signals, and then they both disappeared in a swirl of flower petals. 

<<< >>> <<< >>> <<< >>>

Once everything was arranged according to her plan, Sakura sat in an armchair in his apartment watching the rope tied silver-haired shinobi lying on the couch, waiting for the telltale signs he was awake. Okay, she was willing to admit that kidnapping him had been a little extreme, especially something so underhanded as using a medical jutsu to knock him out to do so, but she felt it was called for. And he remained tied up because, if free, he was going to run away from her again. She knew him well and there was no doubt in her mind about that.

He had admitted he loved her. He even said it to her face, but when she told him she loved him, too, he ran from her and the emotions she confessed. She was willing to bet he had never been in love before, at least not like this. He was a man whose only weakness was his Icha Icha books and when faced with the possibility of being with her, experiencing love, and allowing himself to become close to her, he ran. He still believed that loving someone was more dangerous than it was worth.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized she had never seen Kakashi with a girlfriend. Sure, every blue moon he would leave the bar with a woman, but she would never see him with her again. He was consistently alone, a life he must have chosen for himself because, honestly, if he ever went out in public without his mask, he'd be fighting the women off. It must have been his choice because, even with the mask, women were always flirting with him and he almost always ignored them.

Which was what he'd wanted to do to her, ignore her and her feelings. But she wasn't going to let him. She would do whatever it took to get him to talk to her, even if it involved tying him up after knocking him out with a specialized jutsu. But it was okay, wasn't it? The kidnapping part? He couldn't seriously have believed that he could tell her he loved her, tell her he wanted her, give her a kiss like that, and expect them to go their separate ways never to speak of any of it ever again. She finally found a man who loved her. She wasn't going to let him get away without a fight.

It wasn't like she was going to rape him or anything, although she couldn't deny it was an appealing idea. It wasn't like he was exactly unwilling. She just needed a way to keep him still while she convinced him how stupid he was being. Although having him tied up brought up some interesting ideas. There had been one scene from the book that involved a tied up Jemna, but Kakashi would be much, much better. Just picturing the man currently lying on the couch, naked and tied up in bed, had her body reacting just imagining it. Maybe she shouldn't have bothered with this whole talking first thing. She could have just taken him directly to bed and let him wake up during sex.

She sighed and tried to wipe the image from her mind. No, that would have been an abuse of trust.

As if knocking him out and tying him up wasn't underhanded.

Oh, shut up. She felt guilty enough already, but it was the only thing she could think of.

If you just had patience, I'm sure he would have worn down over time.

But I can't wait! I don't want to wait! That was the whole reason she had considered a date with Genma.  Her feelings, and emotions, and needs were getting too much for her to take.  She just wanted to be with someone, preferably the man she loved. No, she sighed and rested her head in her hands, now it could only be the man she loved.  All the thoughts that she had previously had about Genma were still in her head, but they now only involved Kakashi.

Curled up in the chair, she wrapped her arms around herself and watched him sleep. He would be waking up anytime now. The jutsu was designed for a patient to lose complete consciousness for approximately two hours and it had been almost that long. Anytime now. She couldn't take her eyes off him. She had pulled his mask down around his neck, but she wasn't dumb enough to remove the hitai-ate and reveal his Sharingan. She had no doubt that he would use it in this sort of situation. She would never get tired of looking at him without his mask. He was just so perfect lying there. She had turned on a dim light in the corner, just enough to see part of the room in the fading daylight, just enough to see him.

What if he wouldn't break? Could he continue to refuse her? Could she stand to live without him? She sighed again. She hadn't let herself consider that once he'd left the shrine. Her heart ached just thinking about it. 

No. She wouldn't allow him to refuse. She was just as stubborn as he and there was no way she was going to lose this time. There was no way she was going to lose him.

In an unsuccessful attempt to make time pass more quickly, she started pacing.

 

TBC…