Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Measureless ❯ Masqerade ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any shape, form, or idea. XD

 

Chapter 2

 

Masquerade

 

Sakura stood against the open gates with arms crossed over her chest. Her black backpack was on the ground, packed with a week's worth of provisions. She had been waiting since before seven for Kakashi to show up. It was now eight fifty and he still hadn't shown. She just had to be saddled with someone who was eternally late, didn't she?

 

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed in agitation. The sun was just now breaking free from the angry clouds that had gathered that morning. No rain had yet to come and for that Sakura was glad. She didn't want to be drenching wet before they even started their mission.

 

The previous night Sakura had gotten her things packed and picked out the clothing she was going to be wearing today. She now wore a pair of white shorts that hugged her frame. She also wore a black and white blouse over her mesh shirt underneath. Black sandals finished the outfit. Kakashi had told her to dress in civilian clothes, but she didn't feel safe without a little ninja protection. Hidden in her blouse and hair were senbon and a few shurikan and kunai. In a hidden department in her sandals was some clear wire.

 

Just as she was beginning to think that Kakashi had decided to leave without her he suddenly materialized. She took a quick look at Kakashi, taking in his appearance. He wore black pants similar to the standard Jounin ones, a black shirt-sleeved shirt, and a pair of black sandals. Typical of Kakashi; wrapped around his left eye was a black strip of cloth.

 

Sakura reached down and shouldered her back before stepping through the gates. She didn't look back; knowing that Kakashi was behind her. It was only a few seconds before he was walking alongside her, his orange book held up to his face. Sakura ignored the book, focusing on the terrain ahead as they turned east.

 

Morning soon turned into midday as they continued traveling. They hadn't stopped yet. Sakura was a little fatigued, but she wanted to get this mission done with as soon as possible. Even though she wanted to get away from the village, Kakashi just got on her nerves. He had been reading his stupid book since leaving the village; he hadn't even said a word. Sakura had taken the lead; occasionally she could feel Kakashi's eye on her.

 

Sakura suddenly found herself once again beside Kakashi. She was surprised to see that his book actually wasn't in sight. She arched a thin brow. “Done already?”

 

Kakashi shrugged. “No.”

 

Sakura sighed as she continued walking. How she ever put up with this man, she didn't know.

 

Kakashi rubbed the back on his head. “We need to go over the mission…”

 

“Right.” Sakura stopped walking and moved off the road they had been traveling on. She dropped her pack to the forest floor. She followed, sitting on the hard ground.

 

Kakashi did the same. He pulled out a map from his bag, unrolling it and holding the ends down with rocks. He pointed to a section about twenty miles from Konoha. “This is Grass country,” he said. His finger moved a little to the left. “And here is Suya.”

 

Sakura nodded. She already knew all of this. She had gone over a map before she had gone to sleep the previous night.

 

Kakashi rolled the map back up before pocketing it. He then looked at Sakura.

 

Sakura squirmed as his eye pierced her own. She knew that he was going to discuss their roles on this mission. Sakura was shocked when Kakashi suddenly reached out and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She instinctively gasped and pulled away.

 

“We're going to have to work on that,” he said. “We have to act like we're in love. You cannot pull away when I touch you.”

 

Sakura nodded, swallowing her nervousness. This time when Kakashi lay his hand on her knee she didn't flinch, her eyes only widened slightly.

 

Kakashi nodded in approval. “Good. Now when we are in public we have to do things similar to that. Holding hands, touches, and maybe a few innocent kisses. You don't have a problem with that, do you?”

 

Sakura shook her head. She wondered once again what she had gotten herself into.

 

Kakashi stood up, holding out his hand for Sakura. Sakura took it, a tingling sensation running up her arm as she felt the warmth of the appendage. His hand was callused like all shinobi's. Even her own had a few. When she was on her feet Kakashi let go of her hand and reached into his pocket. Sakura's eyes widened once again when he brought out two rings, new by the looks of them. They were silver, one bigger than the other; wedding rings.

 

Sakura took her's with shaking hands. She studied it before slipping it on her ring finger, admiring it as it shone in the sun. Kakashi spoke up after he had put his own on. “This will make our status more believable. Keep it on until we're finished with the mission.”

 

Sakura nodded as she once more picked up her pack. They were soon on their way again, Kakashi leading this time. For once, Sakura was surprised at this, he didn't pull out his book again. He seemed to be in deep thought. She didn't blame him though; having act like fiancées must have been the last thing he wanted to do. That thought made her frown. Didn't Kakashi like being with her?

 

Her fears were forgotten when Kakashi turned around and smiled at her. He held out his hand. Sakura hesitated only a second before laying her's in his. Her stomach did a small flip when his larger hand enclosed around hers. They continued to walk that way for some time. Sakura had gotten used to the feel of his hand, but as soon as she did Kakashi went and did something else. He gently took his hand back before he draped his arm across her shoulders. Sakura looked up at his face, but it was concealed from her view.

 

Night soon fell as they stopped to make camp. They had chosen a secluded glade a little ways off the road. Kakashi and Sakura separated to begin preparations for dinner and such. Kakashi left to find their supper from the nearby river they had heard upon arriving. Sakura gathered wood and started a fire as she thought about the day's events.

 

It had mostly went uneventful. Sakura could still feel the weight of Kakashi's arm around her. It wasn't exactly an unpleasant feeling, except for the thoughts it provoked her into. Since the return of Sasuke, she had never taken anymore interest in boys. Her job was her number one priority at the moment. She didn't want to get hurt again as Sasuke had nearly shattered any emotions she had left. But when she was with Kakashi she sometimes felt as if she were needed. She felt as if Kakashi understood her plight and wanted to help her, but he didn't know how.

 

Sakura banished her thoughts when Kakashi returned with two large trout. He had already scaled and cleaned them at the river. The fish were soon skewered on sticks as they sat around the campfire.

 

Sakura looked up at the full moon, wondering not for the first time if she could ever love again. Kakashi must of read some of her feelings for he cleared his throat. “I heard you moved out of your parent's home.”

 

Sakura nodded as she brought her gaze back down to Kakashi across the fire. “I did, over a year ago. How could you not know that?”

 

Kakashi shrugged. “I've been on missions constantly that I haven't stayed in Konoha for more than two days. Has anything else interesting happened to my favorite student since I've been gone?” Kakashi asked as his eyes crinkled into a smile.

 

Sakura snorted. “Favorite? Since when was I your favorite?”

 

Kakashi coughed. “Since I first met you.”

 

Sakura arched a brow. “Really? Well, how kind of you. And no, not much has happened since Sasuke's return.” At Sasuke's name Sakura shivered noticeably, something that Kakashi picked up on.

 

“Do you want to talk about it,” he asked softly as he poked the fire with a stick.

 

Sakura turned her head down; hiding her suddenly saddened expression. She whipped her head up, a fake smile plastered on her face. “No. I'm fine, it's nothing to worry about.”

 

Kakashi knew that she was acting, but decided to let her get away with it this time. The rest of the night was spent in silence expect when Kakashi awoke Sakura for her shift of night watch.

 

The morning came bright and early. The days were beginning to lengthen considerably. Sakura was still up from her night duty. She was supposed to wake Kakashi for a second shift, but her mind was in such turmoil that she decided to stay up the rest of the night. Kakashi didn't say anything about it, only giving her a worried glance.

 

They were soon on their journey again. They had already passed a couple of merchants on their way into Grass. But Sakura had refused to get a ride, saying she needed the exercise. When they did pass those few people on the road Kakashi would usually take her hand and talk to her like a lover would. She didn't have to fake her blushes because they were the real things. She had even lost her balance once when he had teased her about her wanted to wait after marriage to consummate their love. But Kakashi had said it in completely different words. She still couldn't get the blush to leave her cheeks, and she was even more fidgety than usual.

 

After another uneventful day and they arrived in Suya. After showing their passports, they had been admitted into the village. It wasn't a large village, nearly half the size of Konoha. There were more shops than anything else besides the restaurants and various pleasure places. Kakashi had kept her hand through their touring of the village. A few citizens of Suya had whispered about Kakashi taking advantage of a young girl. But the ones that got Sakura laughing were when people thought they were father and daughter.

 

Evening was approaching as they entered a large hotel where they would be residing during their stay. The women at the front desk had also believed that Kakashi and Sakura were father and daughter. Kakashi had quickly corrected the situation by unexpectantly, on Sakura's part, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. The blush on Sakura's face only intensified when Kakashi led her from the front desk by calling her beautiful.

 

They went up a flight of steps and walked down a short hallway until they came to their room. When they walked in Sakura studied her surroundings. It wasn't a large hotel room, but big enough for two people to stay comfortably. The living room, which was connected to the medium sized kitchen, had a large soft. The floor was covered with a dark green carpet as the walls were painted white with leaf designs on them. There was only one bedroom, meaning they would have to share. It would have been odd to get two rooms when they were fiancées.

 

It shouldn't have been a problem for Sakura because they had shared a bed on occasion in previous missions. But what had her nervous and blushing like an innocent was the fact that the hotel management might think something is odd if something didn't happen while they were there. Sakura knew for a fact that in this day and age it didn't matter if you had sex before marriage. So many things had been neglected in recent years due to missions and such.

 

Kakashi came into the bedroom and nonchalantly tossed his bag onto the floor. He retrieved a set of clean clothes from his bag. He turned to Sakura. “I'm going to take a shower. If you want one then we'll leave to see our client afterward.”

 

Sakura nodded before she watched Kakashi shut the bathroom door behind him. A small blush surfaced to her face when she thought about what he would be doing in the bathroom.

 

A few minutes later she was astonished to find that Kakashi had dressed in something besides black. He wore pair of jeans that hugged his figure very well, a fact that caused Sakura to immediately divert her attention from said regions. He wore a blue striped unbuttoned shirt overtop a white tank top. His silver hair was more messy than usual, making he look all the more handsome. His mask was still in black though, as well as his makeshift eye-patch.

 

Kakashi smirked behind his mask when he noticed Sakura ogling him. “The shower's free now.”

Sakura hastily scrambled to get a clean pair of clothes before she quickly shut the bathroom door. Kakashi chuckled from the other side of the door, making Sakura's blush brighten.

 

Thirty minutes later and they were standing in front of a middle-aged woman, wringing her hands nervously. “Mrs. Shina. Can you tell us about your daughter's disappearance?” Kakashi asked tonelessly.

 

Mrs. Shina nodded, her face turning pale. “Misaki had went to do some errands for me. I began to get worried when she hadn't come back in over thirty minutes. I went into the village in search of her. It was horrible when I found her. She had been dragged into an ally. Three men, all of who I've recognized as Tsuque's men surrounded her. She was tied up. But I couldn't do anything to help her.” Tears began to leak from the woman's eyes. “I couldn't even save my own daughter. Will you please get her back for me? She's worth more to me than anything!”

 

Sakura consoled the woman as she brought her into a hug. Once the woman had stopped crying Sakura pulled back. “Do you have a picture of her?”

 

Tsuki nodded. She fumbled in a pocket in her kimono before she produced a photo. Sakura took the picture. Misaki was a little younger than she was. She had light brown hair that curled at the tips and rested at her lower back. She had a heart-shaped face with large brown eyes. Sakura handed the picture to Kakashi.

 

Sakura turned back to Mrs. Shina. “Thank you. We'll return your daughter, I promised.”

 

Mrs. Shina continued to thank the two ninja as they left her kimono shop. When they were outside Kakashi looked over at Sakura. “That wasn't very wise.”

 

Sakura furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”

 

“You shouldn't have promised our client anything. Anything can happen in a mission. I thought you knew that Sakura.”

 

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you trying to say Kakashi? That woman was worried to death. I couldn't just tell her that her daughter may already dead.”

 

Kakashi sighed as he rubbed the back on his neck. “Come on, darling. There are some things we need to do.” He pulled Sakura close to him, wrapping his arm around her waist. Sakura struggled in his grip without any success. She growled and continued to walk as they went to their apartment.

When they entered the room Kakashi turned to Sakura with crossed arms. “You should know by now that shinobi shouldn't make promises they might no be able to keep. I thought you had learned that in the academy.”

 

Sakura scowled. “You never told Naruto that. So don't lecture me about shinobi conduct. I was only trying to help. I'm not heartless like some people in this world.”

 

Kakashi sighed. “I know that Sakura. Just next time, think before you say anything.”

 

Sakura turned away from Kakashi. “Fine. I'll meet you back here at eight.” Sakura walked into their bedroom and slammed the door before Kakashi could say anything.

Kakashi just sighed and closed his eyes. After a moment of complete silence he could hear Sakura cursing him from the other side of the door. He grinned beneath his mask before taking a place on the couch in the living room. He whipped out his trusty book as he sat. This was going to be a long mission.

 

 

This chapter was actually going to be split into two, but I figured that it would just be too short. I'm mostly trying to work with Sakura's pov at this moment. But in the coming chapters I'm going to be getting into Kakashi's mind. I don't want to rush their relationship too fast, or make it too slow. I hope I'm doing a good job so far. Please comment! :D

 

 

 

 

16

 

 

16