Chapter Text
The mission goes without a hitch. Sakura laughs at what he says and all it takes is a few lingering touches before he’s putty in her hands. She knows who’s been hiring the missing nin and where their hideout is.
Apparently, she’s better at this than she thought. Talks of an overnight situation don’t even come up, she just smiles at him, offers a kiss to his cheek before she makes up her believable excuse and exits.
When she’s out on the street in the cool evening air, relief washes over her. She didn’t have to do anything, the mission was already complete, all she had to do now was go back to Kakashi.
Where the thought should have been comforting, it's terrifying.
Dread swirls in her stomach as she nears the inn they’re staying at. She doesn’t know how to face him after last night. She hadn’t been able to sleep at all, and her brain wouldn’t shut off, constantly going in circles of Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi . She curses her lack of experience, wishing she had something to compare it to. Does every kiss feel like that? From what she's heard from Ino, the answer is no.
She knows that not all first kisses are that intimate.
She knows that most first kisses aren’t with your sensei. Or any kisses.
And she knows that hers shouldn’t have been with her sensei, especially after he explained… that .
But it was, and it was so good. She hesitates at the foot of the stairs, wondering if she can put the conversation off. They have to talk about it eventually. This isn’t something they can just ignore and pretend never happened... is it?
She opens the door silently, finding Kakashi in the middle of meditation. His eyes are closed, his fists pressed together, back pin straight. It's almost odd to see. She's grown used to his slouch, the curve of his shoulder and neck as he makes himself smaller. She watches him for a moment, mentally debating with herself if she should make her presence known, and then he speaks.
“How’d it go?”
She jumps when his eye meets hers, and she pushes the door open the rest of the way. She nods, her throat going dry as she stares at him, “Fine. I know where the missing nin meet. And who’s been hiring them.”
He smiles, obviously better at keeping things casual than she is, “That’s good. Almost record time too. So, where are we headed?”
Her stomach drops, “What?”
He stands up, stretching his arms as he does, “Where’s the hideout?”
She shakes her head adamantly as she steps back from him, determined to keep distance between them. “No, that’s not part of our mission. Ours was just to get the information and send it back to Lady Tsunade.”
Kakashi sighs, “If it turned into an overnight mission, yes. Tsunade was worried about you and didn’t want you pushing it. Clearly it didn’t come to that,” he gestures to her, “so where are we going?”
Sakura feels her cheeks ignite in fire as he explains. She really, really doesn’t want to have to go on another mission, especially not one all the way to Kiri with Kakashi as her only company. She doesn’t think she can handle that.
And as her heartbeat doubles its pace under his gaze, she knows she can’t.
She shakes her head, desperate for a good reason as to why they shouldn’t travel, “We don’t have any of the supplies we need for the mission.” Kakashi takes a step towards her and her back hits the wall instantly, her subconscious trying to keep her away from him. That doesn’t stop his slow walk. She’s grasping at straws, “It’ll be better if we go home and regroup with a team for this. It’ll be safer with a team too, we’re going against some pretty…” her words fail as he comes to a stop, his gaze silencing her.
“Sakura, if this is about--”
“It’s not,” she assures, even though it definitely, definitely is . And she’s doing everything in her power to ignore the memory of his lips against hers, and the way his hand had gripped her waist, and just how much she wants to do it again.
He stands straight, nodding, “Then you should know. We can grab supplies as we go, our weapons of choice are already here, and there isn’t a better team for this than us. We’re the only two who know the full extent of this, why else do you think Lady Tsunade sent me along?”
She thinks her heart might beat straight out of her chest. Kakashi at his full height forces her to lift her chin to meet his gaze, and the sheer intensity of his stare makes it impossible to breathe , much less come up with a logical argument of why it shouldn’t be just them.
But Kakashi’s points are valid, and if Tsunade sent him for this reason--how could she say no? That would be going against the Hokage, and Sakura, no matter how desperately she wanted to, couldn’t do that.
She forces her voice to come out as even as possible as she slips past him, finally able to breathe since he’s no longer towering over her, “I didn’t know Lady Tsunade told you.” It’s a pathetic excuse and she knows he can see through it, but it’s the only one she has.
She grabs her pack off the floor, rifling through it to find her mission clothes so she can change out of the ridiculous party outfit she’d been given. She calls over her shoulder, “We can head out once I’m changed.”
Before he can protest she closes the door behind her, slamming it a little louder than she intended, but she’s just glad she managed to walk across the room without stumbling. Her knees are shaking from being under his gaze and she grabs her head in her hands. How on earth is she supposed to survive a mission to Kiri with him?
She makes herself a quick set of rules.
- No more cave cuddling
- Avoid eye contact at all costs
- Don’t kiss Kakashi
She changes quickly, feeling much more at ease in her usual training gear as she runs through the rules. The first will be hard to pull off, especially with their travelling to Kiri, but she’s desperate enough to keep distance between them that she’ll take the cold. The second one shouldn’t be too much of an issue, as long as she keeps her head down. And the third, it shouldn’t be a problem at all. Though the fact that she added it to the list proves that it likely will be.
She stares herself down in the mirror, rallying the last of her courage, squares her shoulders and then steps back into their room. If Kakashi can do this, so can she.
Kakashi leans against the wall, looking as unbothered as usual. He glances up at her, “You sure you want to head out now? We can stay the night here and leave in the morning?”
She shakes her head adamantly, “No, I think it’s better if we leave now. Easier to travel during the night.” He nods once, pushing himself off the wall and jamming his hands into his pockets. She shoulders her pack, noticing his is already on, and they depart in silence. She lets him take the lead, the two of them stepping onto the street.
The late hour doesn’t seem to bother the many patrons still milling about, many of which seem to have drunk plenty of sake. Sakura is struggling to keep up the second rule as they walk, finding it easiest if her gaze is on her shoes.
With her gaze firmly locked on her sandals, she doesn’t see him. Kakashi turns on her suddenly, pushing her back by her waist until she’s against the wall of the nearest building, and she’s grasping at his shirt to keep from falling, the whole time her mind and heart racing to catch up. His hand rests beside her head and he leans in, his nose only a few inches from hers.
She manages to gasp out, “Kakashi, what are--”
He cuts her off, his voice low, “Your target is right there. If he sees you leaving he’ll get suspicious.” He tilts his head towards the right, and she realises her view is blocked by his arm. “Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable." Yes, yes they do. "Hopefully he’ll ignore us.”
Her heart is pounding so fast she feels like she’s run a marathon. She realises the intensity of his gaze matches the suddenly charged air between them, and she hasn’t blinked since he pushed her against the wall. So much for rule #2 . His dark eyes burn against hers, a thousand words passing between their glances, but she can’t understand any of them.
She swallows harshly, slowly releasing her fingers from where they’re curled in his shirt and tries to ignore the hard muscles she feels underneath it, waiting for Kakashi’s arm to drop. The moment it does it feels like she can breathe again. He steps back and she sighs, trying to ignore the annoying thrum of her heart.
She knows why the air shifted. She just doesn’t like that it did.
They start down the street again, both of their eyes scanning every person they pass, making sure to not run into him again. Sakura is glad to let her eyes wander everywhere but towards Kakashi. She’s painfully aware of how close they are, their knuckles keep brushing as they go and every time it feels like there’s a spark between their fingers.
The touch is harmless, most likely an accident, but Sakura can’t help but jump every time.
Kakashi speaks once they’ve left the small village behind them, “So, want to tell me where we’re going?”
She glances up at him, trying to figure out why it’s so easy for him. He doesn’t seem to struggle to speak when they’re in the same room, and he was all too happy to provide a distraction that put them as close as physically possible . Was this all in her head? Was she fixating on a moment that didn’t matter to him at all?
He’s waiting for her reply, so she sighs, diving into the explanation from her target and it’s surprisingly easy. She’s glad to fill the silence with something, and as they talk through each of the missing nin and the best way to deal with them, it feels soothingly familiar.
This is how she and Kakashi always talk. This is normal .
And as they travel, maybe things are returning to normal. Their blip from sanity is forgotten, and they’re back in the real world. But as the night drags on and exhaustion pulls at her eyelids, she refuses to listen to it. Even though things seem normal between them, she’s putting off their camping for as long as she can.
Her blinks are getting longer, and she barely catches herself on the next branch before launching off. She hopes Kakashi doesn’t notice. Obviously, he does.
And thank god, because her jump was off and she misses the next branch, only saved by an arm catching her around the waist. He pulls her back to safety, asking if she’s okay, but all she can focus on is his secure hand on her, and thanks to the cropped shirt, it’s skin to skin.
And it's electric .
Her heart is pounding in her ears at the contact and she can’t make her feet cooperate to step away. She knows he’s waiting for a response, for her to say something, but she can’t. She can’t make a coherent thought.
“Sakura,” his other hand reaches up, like he’s going to cradle her face but he falters.
“I’m fine,” she manages to breathe out, finally stepping back from him. His fingers graze her skin as she does, and it takes every ounce of Sakura’s self control to not shiver at the contact.
What is happening to her ? Sure, she’s had a little crush on her sensei, who wouldn’t, with his lean figure, low voice and surprisingly kind heart, but she’s never been like this around him. Reasonably, she knows why.
Because there had been a moment, a l ong moment , where it felt he might feel the same.
She can’t ignore the replay of their kiss that floats behind her eyelids as she tries to move away from him. His hand wrapped around her waist, lifting her body to meet his, the arch of her back completely off the ground. The toned muscles that her hand maps out across his back, every dip and valley memorised by her fingers.
A voice snaps her from her reverie, pulling her back to the present where she’s only a few feet away from him. “Sakura,” his voice is steady, and Sakura feels the urge to hit him. How is he so calm? All. The. Time.
“I’m fine, Kakashi. Just tired. We should probably make camp soon.”
He’s watching her closely, her shifting weight from foot to foot, the way she’s playing with her hands and looking anywhere but at him. He knows what’s on her mind, and he wants to avoid the seemingly inevitable conversation ahead of them. He tried to by acting normal, but clearly, Sakura couldn’t manage that. Yet.
He sighs, “Sakura, if this is about--”
“It’s not. I’m just tired.” But it is . He wants to argue, wants to correct it, but she’s shaking her head again, determined to keep the conversation at that. He knows they won’t return to normal until they talk about it though.
So he tries a different approach this time, the one that always manages to bring out the best in Sakura. When he speaks, his voice is teasing, “What, so you weren’t completely blown away by my kissing abilities? It’s called Make-out Tactics , for a reason, Sakura.”
She blushes, an adorable sight that Kakashi shakes his head at for noticing, but she rolls her eyes at him. “Oh please. That book is ridiculous.” There’s a little more confidence in her voice now.
Kakashi grins. Maybe they can't talk about it yet, but they can joke about it until it's comfortable again. “So you don’t deny that I’m a good kisser?” He keeps the teasing tone, waiting for the rest of Sakura to come back to him, but maybe he’s slightly, just the tiniest bit curious about what she thought.
She gawks at him, shaking her head, “I didn’t say that.” She crosses her arms as she does, finally meeting his eyes again.
“That’s not a no,” he points out. She pushes him then, the shove familiar, and when he looks at her she’s smiling again. A genuine, Sakura smile. He nods towards the forest floor, “Want to try camping in the woods tonight?”
The relief that flickers across her face has him raising an eyebrow, but she nods, “Sounds good.”
Before they jump from the tree, Kakashi speaks, “Just so you know, you were pretty good too.” Pretty good doesn’t cover it, but he jumps down before he can say anything else.
Pretty good doesn’t explain the way he’s found her lips suddenly very interesting to watch while she speaks, or the way he’s itching to brush his fingers against her skin again--but it’s close enough to the truth.