Chapter Four: Happy Birthday!
Sakura wondered belatedly, as she paused by the entrance of the local pub, if they would notice just how late she really was, when she was rudely shoved completely through the door.
“C’mon Sakura! We’re late!” Her blonde friend snapped irritably. “We could have gotten here on time if you hadn’t kicked up such a fuss over something as silly as a wardrobe change.”
The blonde turned to eye the pink haired girl irritably. She didn’t see anything wrong with the clothes she had brought for the medic nin. Well, maybe the skirt was a little on the short side for one without shorts underneath, and Sakura wasn’t exactly known for wearing back and shoulder bearing, cleavage enhancing strappy tops… On the whole those sorts of clothes were highly impractical for her line of work and over the past few years Sakura had become nothing if not practical about her wardrobe. A girl could only ruin so many trendy feminine outfits with irremovable blood and gore stains or irreparable rips before learning the lesson of practical fabrics and clothing styles.
“I can’t believe it was so difficult to get you into something girly for the evening!”
The look the pink haired kunoichi shot the blonde spoke volumes of thinly veiled violence.
She huffed and rolled her eyes, giving this one up as a lost cause as she grabbed her friend’s arm. “Come on, we’ve reserved the room out back for your birthday bash and I’m sure you’ve kept everyone waiting long enough.”
Sakura sighed and allowed her friend to pull her further into the pub, ignoring the stares she knew she was gathering. Ino’s idea of appropriate evening apparel did not quite match the medic’s, and as a consequence even Ino’s idea of conservative was a far cry from anything Sakura would have ever considered wearing on her own even at her most provocative. Inner Sakura though was doing a very loud happy dance and thoroughly enjoying the extra attention. It had been quite a while since she had donned anything sexy and reveled in the male attention she generated. Between her work schedule and her boys, she was rarely ever presented with an opportunity to do so without someone getting hurt – whether an admirer from afar or up close, it never mattered to her boys.
She didn’t have long to contemplate the extra attention she seemed to be gathering as Ino promptly pulled her through the crowded pub and into the back room. She was met with a rousing chorus of ‘Happy Birthday.’ The more than a few appreciative looks, cat calls and wolf whistles as she entered the room were due to the fact that Sasuke and Naruto were away on an unexpectedly extended mission and had not been able to return in time for their pink haired friend’s birthday.
Doing her best to control the blush currently trying to match her skin to her hair, she smiled and thanked the boisterous roomful of shinobi. Ino happily led her to a table in the center of the room where she could be surrounded by her friends. As she took her place her happy eyes scanned the crowd; she wasn’t really sure who she was looking for, but for some reason she felt that someone was missing. After a moment she realized that as late as she was, he was not about to be out done in his own area of expertise.
~*~*~*~
As always he was late, though he had been early enough to see her make her entrance into the pub being pulled along by her blonde bombshell of a friend. Not for the first time he was thankful for his mask, it disguised the fact that his jaw had actually dropped for a second before he was able to gather his wits. He smiled to himself for a moment, realizing that for as long as he had known her she could still surprise him. A small part of him had to admit that though he had long ago acknowledged she had grown up, he had never really allowed himself to realize how attractive she had become in the process. The larger part of him that usually censored such thoughts hefted a large two by four and pointed to the closet in the darkest corner of his mind where he felt such inappropriate and morally wrong thoughts rightfully belonged. She was his former student and fourteen years his junior, he would never allow himself forget those vital factors, even if she did happen to look as though she may have stepped from the pages of a future volume of Icha Icha.
Watching from one of the darker corners of the pub Kakashi noted the other appreciative and appraising stares she gathered as she was pulled across the room. His faint feeling of pleasant surprise faded quickly. Feeling annoyed and not quite sure why, the elite jonin decided to wait a bit longer before heading to the back room for the party.
A couple cups of sake later he decided he had waited long enough. Casually he stood, left a couple bills on his table and made his way to the back room. Upon entering, Kakashi found the scene was exactly as he had expected to see. Sakura was surrounded by her friends, currently Ino and Hinata to one side and Tenten and Shizune to her other with an ever growing stack of presents accumulating on the table next to her. She also seemed to have an impressive collection of sake bottles in various states of being emptied in front of her. Almost absently he noted that one of the tiny straps valiantly holding the bit of fabric masquerading as a top in place had slipped a bit down her shoulder onto her upper arm. His eye narrowed a little seeing several of the calculating looks she seemed to be so blithely unaware of and irrationally he decided to do something about them.
Nonchalantly he made his way over to the table to add his small brightly colored package to the stack at her side. Placing a hand on her shoulder to move the strap that had slipped back into place he casually leaned over to wish her a happy birthday. To his surprise she flushed faintly as she turned to look up at him and smile genuinely as she thanked him.
“Aw, Kakashi you really didn’t have to get me anything you know.”
“Nonsense, you always manage to find something thoughtful for me, the least I can do is get something nice in return for my favorite female student.” He lifted his hand from her shoulder, where it had unintentionally lingered, and was only just barely able to prevent himself from ruffling her hair as he had when she was younger. The older man had to admit to himself that he had probably leaned in just a little closer than was strictly necessary to speak to her, but he used the noise level of the room to justify his invasion of her space to himself. And, as for adjusting the strap of her top, well that was easily explained by the fact that he wouldn’t want her, no matter how skilled a shinobi, to find herself in an awkward situation caused by her clothing.
She beamed at him happily and giggled a little as the sake she was drinking slowly started to take effect. “Kakashi I was your only female student.”
He raised an eyebrow in feigned surprise. “Hmm, imagine that. Guess that means you’re definitely my favorite then doesn’t it?” He winked and was unable to stop his hand from ruffling her more than likely carefully coifed hair.
She playfully swatted his hand away. “Kakashi!”
Feeling satisfied with the results of his greeting he found a chair at one of the adjoining tables with Guy and Iruka. Pointedly he arranged the chair in a seemingly offhand manner to allow himself a clear view of the birthday kunoichi and those milling around her. Kakashi had always known of his effect on her social life, although he surmised she had forgiven him for it long ago, otherwise he reasoned he would have received some sort of angry lecture from the fiercely independent medic nin.
Despite the fact he had never shown his actions in any way, shape, or form to be particularly protective of her, no one dared approach her in anything more than a strictly platonic manner when he was around. It was the same effect Naruto and Sasuke tended to have, but without any actual effort on his part.
All the Copy Ninja had to do was to make his presence known in the same room as her and the offending man would recoil back from her, suddenly remembering something urgent he had to do on the other side of town. He had found it vaguely amusing when she was younger and had continued to do it until he was sure she was old enough and could handle herself, but now… Kakashi wasn’t quite sure why he had just done it again since he knew and acknowledged that she had long since outgrown the need for his protective assistance. All he could offer up in his defense was that it seemed to be necessary at the time.
Once he was seated he poured himself another cup of the potent rice wine from the communal bottle at the table.
The academy teacher next to him cleared his throat almost hesitantly. “Er Kakashi?”
“Hmm?” he responded noncommittally; he figured he knew what would be coming and wanted to be sure to play what he had just done off correctly. With a practiced motion he pulled out the latest volume of Icha Icha to put the mostly mild mannered academy teacher ill at ease.
He had perhaps overdone his banter with the birthday kunoichi. Now if he wasn’t careful some of the less drunk shinobi may mistake his conversation with her as flirting.
The younger shinobi chuckled nervously bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his head. “Kakashi… um, you weren’t just…”
He silver haired man lowered his book to shoot Iruka an inquisitive glance. “I wasn’t just what?” He kept his voice completely flat and unemotional, managing to pull off mild disinterest.
Feeling as though he may have inadvertently wandered into a mine field the academy teacher sighed. “Never mind. Must have been imagining things that’s all…”
The green spandexed shinobi to his other side discretely leaned a little closer to him to speak in what he thought was barely above a whisper but was in fact still loud enough for those at the adjoining tables to hear. “You do know she is a grown woman who can take care of herself now, right?”
The elite jonin, feeling sorely put upon for his tiny public display, didn’t bother looking up from his book when he responded. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
The bushy browed shinobi and the academy teacher exchanged glances and mutually decided to let the matter go as it was clearly a lost cause.
~*~*~*~
She noticed almost immediately the effect her former sensei had on the sort of attention she was receiving that evening. She had to admit though that while his actions were completely within normal for him, they seemed slightly off for the setting. On occasion he would do little things for her, things a father, brother, close friend or lover may do – quickly adjust some askew article of her clothing after a particularly vigorous spar or help her to hide when Rock Lee became a little over persistent – but never in a highly public place where people may actually see him. Sakura knew he had kept a watchful eye on her while she was younger, and had at the time bitterly resented it, but he had stopped years ago. She now had the wisdom of hindsight to appreciate what he had done for her.
Inwardly she had to shudder at some of the guys she had thought to take up with when she was younger. Drunk with the freedom of not having Naruto and Sasuke around to chase away any potential date material, the medic had not thought too much about the types of guys she dated. Unfortunately, for the most part the only ones willing to try and pick her up by that point were of the sleazy, up-to-no-good variety.
She’d been absolutely livid upon finding that one by one they had suddenly lost interest, inauspiciously after an assignment or ‘training session’ with her former sensei. It had taken her a couple years to finally work up the courage to ask him to stop when without warning he finally did so of his own accord. She had to wonder if he may be feeling a little nostalgic or if he could perhaps have had other motives – though what those motives could possibly be she couldn’t imagine.
The blonde woman sitting next to her sighed audibly and shot a dirty look at the completely unruffled Copy Ninja as she huffed to her friend. “Well there goes all the effort I put into making you look good.”
“Huh?” the pink haired birthday kunoichi asked her friend absently toying with her sake cup. Secretly she was reveling in feeling that, for the first time that evening since she had donned her friend’s ridiculous clothes, she was not some sort of rare oddity on display.
“Aw, c’mon! Don’t act dumb about this with me! I know you know that your perverted ex-sensei just about killed all chances of you going home with someone tonight.” The blonde angrily retorted.
“Ah, that…” she paused in apparent thought for a moment. “Actually it’s probably a good idea.”
“What?! You’ve got to be joking!” the blue eyed woman tried in vain to keep her calm. “When the hell was the last time you actually allowed yourself to have a little fun? You’ve kept yourself cooped up in that miserable hospital building far too long! This is too good of a chance to pass up!! Both Naruto and Sasuke are out of town for the first time in months!”
The pink haired kunoichi shrugged, sending a covert glance over to the silver haired shinobi in question. He appeared to be only partially involved in a series of games of janken with an increasingly annoyed Guy. She hid her smile behind her sake cup as she realized that Guy must have challenged Kakashi to an undetermined number of games over the years and was still unaware of one the less honorable uses of the Sharingan and the fact that currently Kakashi’s forehead protector was just askew enough to allow its use. Sakura had seen Naruto lose to Sasuke similarly on many occasions. Sadly the blonde shinobi never seemed to either catch on to what Sasuke was doing or learn that he literally could never win.
She was startled from her reverie as Ino angrily snapped her fingers in front of her eyes.
“You’re not even paying attention to what I’m saying!”
“Oh, er, sorry. Just thinking…”
“Well, as I was saying you can’t let that old pervert dictate your life!”
“He’s not old,” she uttered the almost automatic response to any reference as her former sensei’s age. “I’ll remind you that a certain lecherous senbon wielding shinobi, one you yourself fooled around with for a while, is older than my former sensei.”
Her friend’s eyes widened. “No way! I don’t believe it.” She grasped at straws, “I mean look at his hair. It’s totally gray.”
“Hmm, yes way. He’s either a couple months or three years older… I forget exactly. But, that’s beside the point, which is that he actually is older. And, as far as I can tell Kakashi’s hair was always that color.” Sakura laughed mostly to herself. “Something I can certainly relate to.”
“Well that still doesn’t excuse his behavior.” The annoyed blue eyed kunoichi crossed her arms across her chest, sulking about her friend’s startling revelation. The shaggy brown haired man certainly didn’t act older than her friend’s former sensei.
The birthday kunoichi sighed and gestured at the various sake bottles in front of her. “Well judging from all these and the ones that will probably be coming all evening…” she let it hang suggestively hoping she wouldn’t have to spell it out to her friend.
Ino rolled her eyes. “You’ll probably be a bit smashed by the end of the evening, so what?”
It was Sakura’s turn to roll her eyes. “So I probably won’t be in any kind of a state to make any sort of clear decisions. I was wondering how I was going to make sure I didn’t do something I may regret. I don’t feel like being taken advantage of while I’m not thinking clearly tonight.” She shrugged. “Now I don’t have to. Problem solved.”
The blonde woman continued to stare at her in utter incomprehension.
Sakura felt the need to justify herself a little more. “It’s just what Naruto and Sasuke would have done. No harm no foul, I’m used to it.” The green eyed kunoichi figured that if a guy wouldn’t approach her around Kakashi, then he would certainly fail her boys test and confirm her recent decision that dating wasn’t worth the trouble. Though she definitely did not need to let this information slip to Ino, one of the largest cogs in the Konoha gossip mill.
“But that’s just the point!”
“Eh?”
“Those two overprotective idiots are out of town. Tonight’s a chance to cut loose, have a little fun and maybe even meet someone to date a little before those two former teammates of yours return. Why the hell do you think I spent so much time making you look drop dead gorgeous?!”
“Oh, um…” Sakura paused in thought for a moment before continuing. “Hadn’t really thought if it like that.” She sighed to herself; the medic didn’t want to think about it like that.
“Damn right you didn’t!” the blonde huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.
The birthday kunoichi shrugged again. “It still doesn’t make much difference now, does it?”
“Huh?”
“Well, what’s done is done and I’m still not particularly all that upset about it. Though if you had maybe mentioned your intentions before we arrived I may have done something about it… But, to be honest it’s kinda nice to know someone is looking out for me.”
The blue eyed kunoichi rolled her eyes. “Yeah a lazy, perverted, battle scared, emotionally challenged, older man who happens to be your former teacher – great catch Sakura.”
“Ino, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Kakashi is only two of those things, my former teacher and a man. And what’s this about a catch? Where did you get that from? He was only looking out for me as he has done on occasion in the past, nothing more.”
Sighing audibly the blonde kunoichi threw her hands up in the air dramatically. “You’re absolutely hopeless. I don’t know why I even try sometimes.” Washing her hands of the birthday girl she rose to find her own sake bottle and someone to share it with.
~*~*~*~
He didn’t have to be a lip reader to know what Sakura’s blonde friend was arguing with her over. But he was surprised at Sakura’s apparent appreciation for what he had done. Fondly he remembered how worked up his former student used to get when he had pulled a similar stunt when she was younger. The Copy Ninja had to admit that he had found it quite amusing to watch her color slowly change from pale to flushed and then her eyebrow twitch and on rare occasions her fingers clench into fists before she started yelling and occasionally hitting. Granted, she had never done so directed at him. It had taken a few years for her to work up the courage to demand that he stop. Of course he had just been waiting for her to work herself up to it; once she had done so he had stopped – probably irritating her to no end.
Turning his mind back to the present he figured that she either didn’t think to question his motives or trusted him enough not to need to know why he had just ensured no male in the room would go near her for the rest of the night with less than honorable intentions. Either way he thought it was a good thing since he honestly couldn’t say why he had done it in the first place. Mentally he shrugged; the more he thought about it the more he was making something of nothing, especially since she apparently didn’t think anything of it.
~*~*~*~
Taking stock of the room she realized that perhaps they should have decided to open presents before most of the shinobi in attendance had either passed out or discretely made their exit with a companion for the evening. The only ones still in attendance, both physically and mentally, were: Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Choji, Rock Lee, Neji, Genma, Kurenai and Kakashi. Oh well, that wasn’t going to stop her from enjoying the gifts she had received. Shaking her head she reached for the first present on the stack.
It was cylindrical package, inwardly she sighed. Sakura had hoped that this birthday would be different from her last few when she had received more medical scrolls and various sorts of weapons than she knew what to do with, and now feared that she may be in for a repetition of gifts from different givers. Cautiously she pulled the, of course most of them were wrapped in pink, paper from the scroll. At first glance it appeared to be an average scroll of the blank variety, feeling puzzled she broke the seal and unraveled it a bit to see what it was. As she unrolled a beautiful watercolor of a well known hot spring resort appeared. Knitting her brow in puzzlement she continued to unroll the scroll until some writing finally appeared and gasped at what it said.
Hastily she looked up in amazement to see if her three closest kunoichi friends were still in the room. While she had been opening her present they had made their way to her side, grinning like the cats that had just gotten into the cream, so they could catch her immediate reaction.
“Happy birthday Forehead! That’s for the four of us girls.” The blonde woman managed to only slightly slur her words. “You’ve been working too hard at the hospital so we decided you needed a break.”
“And, since you wouldn’t take a vacation on your own we decided to give you one instead!” the dark haired weapons mistress interrupted her blonde friend.
“Yes, h-happy birthday Sakura. W-we thought it m-may be fun to go away for a girls only w-weekend.” The shy woman stammered only slightly, due mostly to the alcohol in her system. Hinata had at some point overcome the worst of her social shyness, her stammer only returning when she had had a little too much to drink or when Naruto had paid her more attention than usual.
Smiling she rose to hug all three of her friends. “Thank you!! This is going to be so much fun, I can’t wait to go!”
“Everything is all set; we’ve cleared the time with Tsunade and made all the reservations. All you have to do is pack and come.” Her longtime blonde friend patted her shoulder affectionately.
“Oh wow, I can’t believe it! I want to say it’s too much…” Sakura paused flushing slightly at the admission she was about to make. “But, I’m already looking forward to going too much to try and refuse! Thank you, all of you!”
The three kunoichi hugged her again and resumed their positions around the table to observe the birthday girl open the rest of her presents.
The pink haired woman reached for another gift. This one had a card attached and was, of course, also wrapped in pink paper and about the right size for clothing. Curiously she opened the card to find out who the gift was from and she felt the color drain from her face a little as she read the name. With a slight feeling of unease she pulled the paper from the box only to tint a shade of pink to match that of the pale pink paper in which it had been wrapped. Seeing the name ‘Kunoichi’s Secret’ printed across the box and knowing who it was from she really didn’t want to open it in public but knew it would be rude not to. Images of completely inappropriate items of the intimate nature flashed before her eyes filling her stomach with dread. Sakura looked up to find him grinning at her and her blush intensified. He would have to get her something from ‘Kunoichi’s Secret,’ though she doubted he would have had the guts to give it to her if her boys had been in town.
Cautiously, as if it were filled with explosive tags, she opened the box and closed her eyes as she brushed the tissue paper aside. Taking a deep breath the wary kunoichi opened her eyes, hoping against hope that it wouldn’t be too humiliating. The name on the box practically guaranteed it would be embarrassing, the only question would be just how long she’d have to go into hiding after opening it.
Nestled inside the box was something matte black and silky. Unable to bring herself to pull it completely from the box and hold it up for everyone to see, Sakura settled on lifting it partially from the box. As she did so she found that it was of more substantial construction than she had first assumed. It was definitely not sleepwear, something for which she was eternally grateful. However the birthday girl still earned a few wolf whistles and inappropriate comments as she examined the silky piece of clothing, which only served to resurrect the blush that had faded once she realized it was not night apparel.
The giver rose and made his way to her side to claim his hug and thanks from the pink haired medic. “It’s a little black dress. I was told no kunoichi should be without at least three or four of them.” He winked, switching his senbon from one side of his mouth to the other. “You can wear it when we go out.”
“Uh, Genma?”
“Yes my cherry blossom?”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Not that I can think of…Oh!” He leaned in close enough so that she would be the only one to hear his comment. “Should I have gotten you a bra and panties to go under it?” Instinct told him to duck before he completed the question.
Her hand visibly twitched, but remained motionless as she watched him duck the anticipated blow. Instead she decided to pretend she hadn’t heard his comment and raised an eyebrow. “Well don’t you think the fact that I’ve never agreed to go anywhere with you and I’m disinclined to change my mind about that might pose just a little problem to your plan?”
“Oh that.” Genma grinned as widely as the senbon in his mouth would allow and gestured vaguely. “Not a problem. I know you will eventually say yes, and when you do I’d like for you to wear the dress.”
Sakura stared at him for a moment, completely dumbstruck by his utter confidence in his skills of persuasion. Shaking her head the young woman smiled. “What the heck, I’ll wear it. But, I can tell you right now I don’t have any intentions of ever going out with you.”
“No worries my little blossom. Just you wait, you will. And, when you do, you’ll wear that sexy little dress.” He paused for a moment before adding with a touch of concern, “It’s not to be worn before we go out please. I wouldn’t want some other man having the chance to see you wearing it before I do.”
Feeling uncertain all of a sudden she gave him a quick hug and ignored his turned cheek waiting for a kiss.
Sakura swatted the letch away and he resignedly made his way back to his seat with thoughts of maybe finding someone else to spend the night with once the obviously reticent kunoichi had finished opening her presents. Genma hadn’t given up on her, oh no; it would take more than her flat out refusal to persuade him to give up on the idea of pursuing her. He was absolutely positive that he would eventually win her over, given enough time and the right circumstances. Unfortunately he would have to bide his time until the right opportunity presented itself and it didn’t seem likely to be that evening since for some strange reason her former teacher appeared to be keeping a watchful eye on both her and those interested in her company.
The birthday kunoichi pulled the next present from the slowly diminishing pile. It was a small brightly colored package; she smiled as she remembered the shinobi who had deposited it in the pile. Sakura was grateful that not only had the paper not been pink but the shape and size of it had indicated it couldn’t be any sort of weapon she was familiar with. Besides, she knew that he was hardly likely to give her something that would require him to actually teach her again.
With a slight start she realized she had been staring at the package for a couple moments and quickly pulled herself into action, carefully removing the paper to reveal a plain cardboard gift box. Upon opening the box she found a smaller beautifully carved and inlaid box. Carefully she extracted it from the packaging; it was done all in natural wood tones depicting a still pond with a pair of raised water lilies floating peacefully in the center. She raised it to catch the light and almost dropped it at the chorus of ‘oooos’ and ‘ahhhhs’ from the remaining somewhat sober women in the room.
“Oh wow…” she trailed off, stunned. She would never have thought that Kakashi of all people could find her such a thoughtful and beautiful gift. She would definitely have to put some real effort into finding him the perfect gift for his next birthday.
More surprised than she ever thought she could be over a gift she carefully opened the lid to find a simply finished interior without dividers. As she was about to close it she noticed something on the inside of the lid. Sakura opened it again to find what appeared to be wooden teeth. Curiously the medic touched the teeth to find that they moved at her touch and the weight of the lid shifted a little. Carefully the pink haired woman moved a hand to the flowers standing out in relief on the lid of the box and found they came off in her hand revealing them as combs for her hair. She stared at them for a moment the pale wood had a faint tinge of pink, just the right shade so as not to clash with her hair.
“Aw, way to go Hatake, you’ve just raised the bar for the rest of us now!” a voice that sounded suspiciously like Genma’s came from somewhere within the crowd.
The half annoyed, half teasing comment snapped her from her reverie. Tearing her eyes from the gorgeous gift she scanned the room for the silver haired jonin. True to character he was not too far away with his nose casually stuck into one of his ever present orange books.
She smiled at the group of shinobi, those few who were still upright and gathered around to watch her open her presents. “Please excuse me for a moment.” Unsteadily she stood, remembering she had had quite a few cups of sake herself. Gaining her balance she made her way over to the seemingly disinterested Copy Ninja.
When he didn’t respond to her presence she placed one of her hands in front of the little orange book he was trying to read, holding one of the combs. Faintly surprised at her invasion of his space he looked up at her. She grinned, and ran the comb through and then back to secure it in her hair. “Thank you.” She hesitated for a moment before throwing her arms around him to give him a quick hug. “It’s absolutely lovely.”
To an accompaniment of half-hearted catcalls and wolf whistles she made her way back to her seat to finish opening her presents.
~*~*~*~
Once Sakura finished opening her presents and thanking everyone she was unable to stop herself from yawning. Time had definitely gotten away from her and it was well after closing time, though the owner of the pub had wisely allowed them to stay and had continued to serve them since their patronage added generously to his pockets. Gratefully she noticed that she was not the only one who was exhausted. She decided it would be a good time to take her leave and glancing at her pile of presents she was inordinately pleased to see that either Ino or Hinata had been kind enough to consolidate everything into a couple of the larger gift bags. She would probably still need a little help getting everything all the way to her apartment. Even with the gifts consolidated the sheer bulk of the bags would make an awkward load for someone with her short arms and stature. Because it was her birthday she didn’t think she would have to ask for help.
Besides one of the last lingering shreds of chivalry beat into male shinobi from a young age was to treat kunoichi as ladies outside of missions. Even though they were just as deadly and occasionally crude as their male counterparts they still deserved to be respected just as much as any other civilian woman when not on a mission. It was a very small concession to their gender, but it made a huge difference in helping kunoichi maintain their sense of femininity in a job that often required them to check their gender at the door. It wasn’t a rule so to speak, and it definitely didn’t seem to apply to everyone – Anko being a notable exception – but Sakura usually found someone either asking or volunteering to take her home after an evening at the pub. She knew that for the most part it was either a gesture of respect or on occasion a way to spend some alone time with her. Regardless of their motives, she knew that someone was bound to volunteer. The birthday girl just hoped it wouldn’t be a certain senbon wielding or younger green spandex wearing shinobi.
Slowly rising to her feet she smiled at the remaining partygoers. Apparently they had been watching her for some sort of signal to end the evening so when she stood most of the chatter died down. “Thank you everyone for coming! This has been a great evening. Alas, I’m exhausted and perhaps a bit tipsy. I think it is time for me to go home.” She raised a hand to wave at the group before her. “G’night everyone and thank you again!”
Sakura reached for as many of her bags as she could carry to find they had already been taken by someone. Looking up she realized they had been taken by two someones. Mentally she cursed; Rock Lee had half of the bags and Genma the other. For a moment she stood looking at the two shinobi who seemed to be settled in for a long staring contest, unsure what to do. She really didn’t want to be escorted home by either of the two men, but she did know she needed someone to help carry her bags at least to her apartment building. Weight-wise the bags were not a problem with her chakra enhanced strength, but bulk-wise they were.
She needn’t have worried as a moment later the bags were nimbly taken from both staring shinobi, transferred to one hand or rather arm, while the other was offered to her. Gladly she took his offered arm, happy not to have to deal with the two annoyed shinobi who had just attempted to take her home.
~*~*~*~
“Thanks guys, but I’ll just escort the birthday kunoichi home. It seems the two of you may have something to discuss. We’ll just leave you to it then. Good night.”
Deftly Kakashi steered her out of the room before either of the two foiled men or any of the other remaining shinobi in the room could react. Silently he laughed at the huge sigh of relief she heaved once they exited the pub and faintly wondered at the fact that she hadn’t relinquished his arm or made as if to take some of the awkwardly bulky bags from him. Instead she actually seemed be to clutching it tighter. Clearly the prospect of either Genma or Lee walking her home had not particularly pleased her.
Kakashi honestly couldn’t say just what had motivated him to ‘rescue’ her. He knew he would be in for an earful the next day from both the lecherous senbon wielding man as well as his ‘eternal rival’ on behalf of the ever romantically foiled younger bushy browed man.
He mused to himself. Perhaps it may have been a delayed reaction to Genma’s inappropriate gift and the implications behind it. The Copy Ninja had waged a difficult battle with himself upon seeing what the lecherous shinobi had chosen to give his former student and the man’s comments about it afterward had nearly pushed him over the edge. Fortunately his rational side had remained in control; after all he had no real reason to be angry at his friend for his perfectly normal actions. Genma was only doing what he usually did around the ladies, flirt. And, there was nothing wrong with the brown haired jonin flirting with the pink haired medic.
As for his ‘eternal rival’s’ protégé, well he had to admit that the way the bowl cut shinobi had kept stealing lingering glances at her all evening had disturbed him just a bit. And, if it had gotten to him he couldn’t imagine her not feeling the same. In short, ‘rescuing’ her from the two had really only seemed to be the kind thing to do at the time.
~*~*~*~
They walked on in a companionable silence, drawing to a halt just outside her apartment building. Somewhat reluctantly Sakura withdrew her arm from his and stepped away from him awkwardly taking the bags he had been carrying for her. Suddenly feeling shy, the alcohol slowly making its way from her system, the medic paused not sure what she wanted to say.
“G’night Kakashi … and thanks for walking me home and that gorgeous box and hair combs.” She paused before continuing wonderingly. “Where on earth did you find such a beautiful thing? I just can’t seem to wrap my mind around the thought of you shopping, never mind gift shopping!”
Feeling profoundly embarrassed he raised one of his hands to the back of his head. “Eh, no problem Sakura… Just stepping in for Naruto and Sasuke for the evening I guess. I didn’t want to see my favorite student taken advantage of on her birthday.” His eye betrayed the smile that was hidden beneath his mask. “Um and the box… well, do you remember that I mentioned taking a couple hits for a fellow inmate on my last mission?” He chuckled. “You actually seemed quite upset about it.”
“Of course I was! You could have had some serious internal injuries!” She exclaimed before the implication hit her. Wide eyed she nodded.
“In talking to him while I was waiting to get close to my target, his skills as a former Master Carver came out along with his fears of the other inmates damaging his hands and his chances of making a life for himself if he were to live long enough to be released. Since I knew I was going to be there a while I offered my help in keeping him safe from the other inmates… er, he insisted in ‘repaying’ me by giving me something he had made for his estranged daughter.” Kakashi hoped she would buy the half truth he had just told her. In fact the old man had insisted on making something for him to send to his ‘special’ girl back home. Despite his protests, the old man had remained steadfast in holding up his end of the deal and claiming Sakura meant more to the silver haired man than he was willing to admit to anyone, even himself. And, that she deserved such a lovely and thoughtful gift for her next birthday.
“Oh Kakashi! How very thoughtful of you!” She carefully shifted her bags down to place them on the ground and edged up to the silver haired man. Before he could react she embraced him for the second time that evening. Pulling herself slightly away from him one of her hands stealthily made its way to the left side of his face and rested lightly at the edge of his mask, just under his forehead protector.
“Sakura,” his voice held a fine edge of warning. Drunk birthday girl or no, he was not about to let her see his face.
Her finger twitched but stayed put for the moment as she tilted her head to take in his annoyed expression. “I’d like to kiss the man, Kakashi, not the mask.” Quickly, before he could react she pulled a tiny corner of his mask down, just enough to expose a pale patch of his cheek, and kissed him. Pulling away from him entirely she smiled at his dumbfounded expression. “Thank you again and g’night!” Tipsily she grabbed her bags and awkwardly made her way into the building.
