Chapter 19 - Surprise Visit

Against his better judgment, or perhaps because of it, Kakashi decided to stay home that day. He woke up at some ungodly hour during the night, and it took forever to fall back asleep. When he finally woke up again, the sun was already high in the sky. The boys were probably furious. He wondered if he had come by to wake him up at some point. He always locked his doors and windows, but he knew a little broken glass never deterred Naruto. Kakashi slowly forced himself to sit up, and he rubbed his eyes blearily. Yep, definitely not a morning person. Not to mention his terrible night of sleep left him feeling like the living dead. He’d had awful nightmares- he couldn’t remember them now, but they were there, niggling at his subconscious.

Groaning, Kakashi pried himself out of bed and staggered to the bathroom, turning on the shower with a lazy smack of his hand. As he waited for the water to heat up, he stared bleakly at his reflection in the mirror. He looked like hell. He didn’t feel much better, either. When Kakashi heard a gentle tap on his bedroom window, he shrugged it off as a bout of wind. When it happened again, he decided it was too much effort to go investigate. When the knocking began a third time, his eyebrow twitched in annoyance. When it didn’t stop, but was followed by a continuous steady tapping, he sighed in annoyance and grabbed his headband, tying it awkwardly around his face- he wouldn’t realize til later that he had put it on upside down. That done, he padded over to the window.

Kakashi’s hand froze on the frame when he saw a very wet Sakura perched on the sill, looking at him expectantly. She motioned expressively for him to push up the window. When he just stared at her blankly, frozen in place, she pushed down the light yellow scarf that covered her mouth and pointedly frowned at him.

“Are you going to let me in, or should I just drown?” She mouthed through the glass, gesturing to the downpour.

“What are you doing here?” He mouthed back, forgetting that it was pretty impossible to read lips that were covered up by a mask.

She shook with silent laughter, and for a moment Kakashi thought she was crying. Then she looked up at him and motioned to her face, staring pointedly at him.

Oh. Well, he felt like an idiot. He gently pushed the window up but put his arm on the frame, blocking her from entering.

“I said,” Kakashi repeated in his usual deadpan, “ ‘what are you doing here?’ “

“I came to check on you, sensei,” she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. “Now will you let me in, please? It’s really cold out here, and I’m soaking wet.”

“Hmm,” Kakashi said, his gaze drifting upward in mock thought. “I’m not sure.”

“What’s there not to be sure of?” She asked incredulously, cupping her hand to catch some water, which she promptly flung at Kakashi’s bare chest. He flinched; that rain was cold as ice.

“That wasn’t what I was referring to.”

“Oh…” She looked confused for a moment, then realization, followed quickly by indignation flashed across her face. “What? Why not?”

Kakashi made a point of leaning out the window slightly and looking pointedly right and left, then drawing his head back in.

“Imagine what the neighbors would say.”

She stared at him, incredulity pooling in those jade green eyes, and dark humor dancing in his grey one. Was he really implying that she might compromise him? A slow blush crept to her already cold-nipped cheeks.

“I’m not the one who came to the window half-naked,” she snapped, and slipped under his arm with a flexibility that only a kunoichi could manage; a flexibility that made him shudder with the possibilities- there were so many things he could do to her with a flexibility like that. He felt a twitch in response below the waistline of his pants, and looked downward darkly.

Down, boy, Kakashi warned his manhood dryly. It would do no good to lose control and jump her bones right here and now. Well, it would do some good, just not the right kind.

Sakura turned around and as she peeled out of her raincoat, she regarded her sensei’s smooth, broad back. He had prominent shoulder blades that she could imagine beautiful angel wings unfolding from. Barely noticeable indents led to a point that met somewhere under the waist of his pants and next to them – dimples.

Oh, god. Dimples… on his back. Back dimples. Kakashi-sensei has back dimples! Her face turned a glorious red and she was glad, not for the first time, that he couldn’t read her mind. She wanted to reach out and traces those dimples with her fingertips so badly it hurt. Sakura cleared her throat awkwardly and he finally pivoted around to face her.

“You stood us up again…” She started, but her tone was a little harsh, so she started again. “You look like hell. What happened to you?” Well, that sounded even harsher.

“No need to hold back, Sakura,” he replied dryly. “Tell me how you really feel.” She shivered, but tossed him an exasperated smile. Kakashi frowned; she was cold. And wet. He leaned into the bathroom and grabbed a dry towel, throwing it over her head. She peered up at him, some of the droplets falling from her eyelashes and running down her cheeks. He leaned in involuntarily, his hands still on the ends of the towel. Sakura cleared her throat and Kakashi’s spell was broken; he quickly put two feet between them.

And was briskly whirled around by the shoulders and bodily thrown into the bathroom. “Sakura, what the-“ but his only response was having the door slammed in his face.


“I’m going downstairs to make coffee, and see if I can scrounge up some breakfast. You’ve got to have something cookable in this house,” she called through the door. “Take your time, sensei.”

He sighed as he heard her footsteps on the stairs. She was so pushy! Although, he had to admit, that was probably one of the reasons he was attracted to her. He liked a woman who could take charge in the bedroom. He heaved a sigh at that thought. He wasn’t going to let her take charge anywhere near the bedroom, as much as he’d like to. And, he admitted as he stepped into the already steaming shower, he’d like to a hell of a lot more than he should.

--

Sakura landed at the bottom of the stairs, and froze in place. Her eyes swept across the living/dining/kitchen area and she gasped. Had a bomb gone off in here? There was trash and mail scattered on every surface. Her OCD kicked in- she had some work to do.

First she cleared off his dining table, bagging up the trash and putting the mail in a pile on the couch. It took longer than she expected, but once the surface was actually visible, Sakura took a sponge to the laminated material and scrubbed. It felt like hours before the grime came off, but soon it was sparkling. She was not going to do this halfway. Sakura set the trashbags outside and quickly set about cleaning off the stove and scrubbing it, as well.

Just look at this place! It looks like he hasn’t cleaned in months. This is going to take a while.

It took almost an hour and a half to make the room look presentable. Sakura knew he was lazy, but how could he stand to live in such a dirty house? She put the coffee on and began to prepare breakfast, waiting for Kakashi to finally come downstairs.

--

Kakashi shut off the water, but he really didn’t feel like getting dressed. Instead of putting on the uniform he had thrown on the floor yesterday when he came home, he just put back on his white pajama pants and the smell of a very promising omelet had him heading downstairs.

When he hit the bottom step, he did a double take. It was… clean. He distinctly remembered this room being a mess yesterday. When he spied Sakura sitting on the clean island, minding the skillet, his eyes narrowed.

“What did you do?!” He cried, aghast. How had she possibly gotten all of this clean in just the time he was in the shower? Had she mastered some sort of time jutsu?

Sakura blinked at him and replied dryly, “I thought that would be obvious, Kaka-sensei.” To make matters worse, she seemed to be helping herself to his blueberry yogurt- that was his favorite flavor. The way her mouth closed over the spoon to make sure she didn’t let a single drop go to waste… His hands tightened into fists, and he felt a very strong twitch below his waistband.

“That’s my yogurt,” he told her, having to clear his throat to rid it of the raspy edge it had just acquired.

She paused, spoon half out of her mouth, to regard her teacher. He was as shirtless as before, not that she was complaining, but his hair hung around his face in damp lines, and a telltale drop of water would trace a path down his chest. Kakashi had a hungry look in his eye, but it didn’t seem to be craving food. Her cheeks warmed drastically, and she scooped out another spoonful and hastily put it in her mouth, drawing out the spoon from her closed lips with a resounding pop.

The skin around his eyes tightened and a pain look crossed his face- that was even evident while he was wearing the mask.

“Stop that,” he said hoarsely, his gaze boring into hers intensely.

“Stop what?” She asked, another spoonful of yogurt paused, perching on her bottom lip.

He cleared his throat again and took a step closer to her. “Eating your yogurt like that.”

“Like what?” She replied, confused. She at the spoonful of yogurt, and when some got on her lower lip she licked it off with a sweep of her tongue. The pained look intensified and he grabbed her wrist gently when she tried to go for another spoonful.

“Like that,” he croaked, his voice barely above a whisper. Sakura bit her lip as he leaned forward until their cheeks brushed. He put one palm on the counter next to each hip, close enough to graze the fabric of her skirt and tickle the skin underneath. A sharp pang of arousal shot through her veins. She drew a shaky breath, and when his masked lips touched her neck, she stopped breathing altogether. She floundered; she didn’t know what to do. Her hands hovered over the back of his neck for several agonizing moments before she tentatively placed them at his hairline. Kakashi leaned back far enough to fix her with a one-eyed gaze.

“Why do you let me…?” He murmured, his hands meandering up and down her back. When a shudder shook her from head to toe, and her lips parted to sigh breathily in his ear… He nearly lost whatever remained of his self control right then and there. As it was, he leaned back into her neck and dragged his mask down so he could press his lips to her flesh unhindered. A small gasp came from her as Kakashi’s warm lips planted kisses and bites along her jaw. Her pulse skittered as he brushed his lips down across her jugular, and she could feel those lips curve up in a smile. When his tongue darted out to trace the indent in her collarbone, Sakura gasped out loud and knotted her fingers in his hair, pressing herself to him. All of a sudden, the long-forgotten breakfast popped back into her head, and she knew that if she didn't say something now, it would go to waste.

“Um… the food’s about to burn…”

Sakura’s whispered words felt like a cold slap of water to the face for Kakashi. He pulled his mask up and stepped away from her in one fluid motion, not meeting her eyes. She slid off the counter and tended to breakfast while he padded over and began to play with the edge of the tablecloth fretfully. He couldn’t believe what he’d just done. If things had continued as they were, he would have taken her right there and then, in the middle of his kitchen.

They ate in silence, the air so tense it felt like a weight was pressing down on them. Kakashi’s back was turned to her, and he stared at the kitchen sink without really seeing it. Sakura stared at the floor, unsure what to say or do. She wished now she hadn’t said anything about the food, but it was probably better that she had, for both their sakes. If things could get any more awkward than this, it was definitely something to be avoided.

Sakura glanced out the window, wondering what Hisako would say to this situation while Kakashi glared at the faucet, wondering the same thing about Tenzo.

I could use some advice right about now.

--

Chapter 20: http://www.fanart-central.net/chapter-100808.html

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