Chapter 10 - Way Too Good at Pretending

Kakashi’s one-eyed gaze swept over the training field. Naruto and Sasuke were sparring and he devoted part of his attention to making sure they didn’t go overboard. The majority of his attention was focused on the fact that Sakura was late. Not five or ten minutes late, which was the maximum for her. Half an hour late. Should I try to go find her? Is she sick? Did something happen? Is she hurt? I’ll wait another fifteen minutes. If I don’t get word by then, I’ll go check her house.

Naruto chucked some Kunai at Sasuke, who defleced them with his own. He charged Naruto, forcing him on the defensive. Naruto made the handsign and yelled, “Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!” About thirty Narutos appeared in a complete circle around Sasuke, and he cursed under his breath. Sasuke jumped high into the air and rapidly made the handsigns for his fire jutsu, sucked in a huge gulp of air, and released it, an enormous cloud of fire engulfing the shadow clones. They all disappeared with a “poof,” and the real Naruto was standing in a tree, swearing.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” He called out again, distracting Sasuke. Caught off guard, Sasuke was punched and kicked in the gut, each blow followed by a syllable of Naruto’s name. He knew what was coming next. “U-zu-ma-ki… NARUTO BARRAGE!” The real Naruto landed a direct hit on Sasuke’s back, sending him shooting towards the ground headfirst.

At the last second, Sasuke righted himself and landed on his feet at a dead run towards the real Naruto. Naruto swore internally, seeing that Sasuke had activated his Sharingan at some point during his barrage. Summoning was out of the question, but he did have one last trick up his sleeve…

“Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!” he cried out once more, and seventy Narutos appeared in a circle around Sasuke again.

“C’mon, don’t you have any new tricks? This is getting old, Naruto!” Sasuke scoffed, clearly unimpressed.

Ignoring him, Naruto continued. All seventy of him raised their hands, put their fingers together, and shouted, “Sexy Jutsu- Ninja Harem! Sakura style!” Each and every one of him poofed, and in his place was seventy Sakuras, with short towels barely covering them. They all crowded around Sasuke, grabbing at his shirtsleeves, his arms, his torso, and his legs, crying out, “Sasuke-kun,” in an annoyingly sensual voice. Sasuke saw red. They didn’t have the desired effect on him- no, they just made him angrier. He yelled out, “NARUTOOOOOOO!” And jumped into the air, tossing kunai into the crowd of underdressed Sakuras.

Unbeknownst to the sparring pair, Kakashi had just collapsed, a massive nosebleed staining his entire mask a dark red.

“Damn… that… Naruto….” Kakashi managed to choke out, crawling away to the bushes to plug his nose and replace his mask. He reached inside one of the pockets of his vest and pulled out a rag, reached in another and pulled out a spare mask. After wiping his face thoroughly, he replaced the now soggy mask and put it in an empty pocket. Following that, he created a shadow clone. “Stay here and watch those two. Make sure they don’t kill each other. I’m going to try to find Sakura.” His clone nodded and stepped out from behind the bushes. The real Kakashi, however, had to go find his student.

--

He flew into town, his feet hardly even touching the rooftops beneath him. Rather than go tearing through the town raising a fuss, he decided to take the faster, less-noticed route. When he finally got to Sakura’s window, he was actually winded. It had felt like an eternity, but it was really only a few short minutes. He peeked inside carefully, ready to shut close his eye at a moment’s notice. She was in her bed. Sound asleep. What…? Averting his face so he didn’t have a repeat of last time, Kakashi knocked on Sakura’s window.

--

Sakura’s eyes slowly drifted open, fighting to push back the comfortable darkness that blanketed her. Her face was turned toward the window, and as the room slowly came into focus, she saw her sensei wrapping on her window pane with the back of his index finger, his face turned to the side. “Ka…Kakashi-sensei… What are you…?” She rubbed her eyes blearily, trying to eradicate the foggy haze that still clouded her mind. She looked out the window and saw how sunny it was, and her head popped off the pillow. “OH MY GODDDDD! How could I oversleep?!” Sakura scrambled out of bed, wrapping the sheet around herself. She slid the window open and looked up at her teacher’s face, horrified. “I am so, so, so, so, SO sorry, sensei!” She apologized loudly. He turned to look at her, and when their eyes met, Sakura was caught in the torrent of conflicted emotions and overruling passion that swirled in his grey eye. Her head started spinning, but she was quickly grounded when his gaze turned flat and dark, like a switch had been turned off inside him. “Sensei?” She held his gaze, her big green eyes full of concern.

“You were late for training today, which wasn’t like you, so I thought I’d come check on you. But it looks like you just overslept. Stayed out late last night, eh?” Kakashi smiled his usual crinkled-eye smile, and Sakura wondered for a moment if she just imagined the whole thing.

“Ah- Not out, sensei. I was just, um, reading. Couldn’t put it down. I ended up falling asleep while reading.” As she spoke, Sakura tried to shift stuff around her nightstand so the book was covered up. Naturally, this piqued Kakashi’s interest, and he jumped through the window, materializing behind her. “S-sensei, don’t-“ Too late. Kakashi had the book in his hands, and his eye widened for a moment when he read the cover. He quickly recovered himself and dangled the book over Sakura’s head teasingly.

“I didn’t know you read Icha Icha, Sakura! How interesting… I wonder if your parents know you read such things…” A mischevious tone crept into his voice, and Sakura flushed, embarrassed. She hastily snatched the book back from him and turned up her nose at him, looking the other way.

“I can read whatever I please, sensei,” was her automatic response to his teasing. He ruffled her hair and tossed the book back to her on his way back to the window.

“Of course you can, Sakura. Shall I expect you at the training field soon? I’ve got to get back to Sasuke and Naruto,” Kakashi raised two fingers in farewell, and he flickered out of sight. Sakura’s knees finally gave out, and she plopped onto the bed.

“Kakashi-sensei, no fair…” Her heart was racing. What were these feelings that were stirring around inside her? Her breath was short, her pulse racing, and she couldn’t get Kakashi’s face out of her head. Sakura replayed the first few moments of his visit in her head. She didn’t just imagine that emotion coming from him, or its absence. “Could it be…?” No, no, don’t be stupid. He’s your teacher, remember? Your teacher. But if there was one thing she had learned from her all-nighter with Icha Icha, Kakashi wasn’t as aloof and cold-hearted as he seemed.

--

Kakashi could have killed himself for what he just did. Damn it, he hadn’t been prepared for that. She saw the emotional hurricane within him, even if it was only for a fraction of a second. She’d also seen him shut down. He saw the response in her eyes to his passion, and the concern that filled its place when he shut himself down. Now that he was away from her, he could admit to himself that when he saw the book she had stayed up all night reading… He had wanted to say so many things, do so many things. The book-lover part of him wanted to sit down and talk about his favorite parts, ask her what parts she liked. The teacher part wanted to scold her for reading such mature material. The dominant part, the part he was desperately trying to suppress… That part of him wanted to kiss her and hold her, among other things. Damn, another reason to like her. Another thing in common. Damn it! She was not making this easy. But if there was one thing Kakashi was good at, it was pretending. Too good. He’d kept everyone at arm’s length by pretending. He couldn’t allow her to keep catching him off guard like that. No, that wouldn’t do at all.

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Chapter 11: http://www.fanart-central.net/chapter-100598.html

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