Eye for an Eye

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters and make no money from this.

Chapter Three:

Sakura was amazed at how Kakashi could seemingly ignore what had happened during the night and act totally normal towards her. Okay, a little perverted, but normal. As dealt over breakfast, she washed the dishes and cleaned whatever mess she might have made. When he had been done eating, he had retreated to his bedroom, for some light reading he'd said. She yawned widely as she made her way to the bathroom, deciding that a bath would do her good.

While the hot water ran, she undressed and folded her pajamas before depositing them at the bottom of the hamper. She didn't feel quite right being naked in her teacher's home. It felt like when she'd pick up a newspaper, it would have a scandal on the first page involving her and Kakashi. She huffed at the thought and grinned. Nothing of the sort would happen. If he tried something on her, she would break both of his legs and let him crawl to the hospital by himself. Though, she had to admit that she entirely trusted him.

Once the bath was full, she stopped the water and slipped in, sighing at the soothing feeling of the water. She just sat in the bath for a few minutes to enjoy the hot water before she grabbed the bottle of shampoo she had brought with her. She had switched to the watermelon scent because the store had run out of the strawberry one. Hopefully Pakkun wouldnt be too disappointed, she joked to herself. She lathered it carefully over her hair, closing her eyes to make sure none would get in them.

"Sakura.", she heard Kakashi's voice, low and threatening, call out as the door burst open. She shrieked, eyes wide open and arms flying to her chest as she balled up in the tub.

"Kakashi-sensei! Out! OUT!", she shouted, throwing all of his personal care items at him. He ducked to avoid several of them and stepping out, closing the door quickly. His eye stayed wide for a little.

Okay. That had been very stupid. Of course she wouldn't be presentable while she was in the bathroom. Hm, he really needed to spend more time around people. Preferrably normal people.

"You placed the dishes wrong.", he scolded through the door. He waited patiently for her answer but she seemed to be ignoring him completely. He knocked a couple times on the door.

"If you don't answer me, I'm coming back in. It's not like I've never seen you like this when you were younger.", he threatened. It was true. What about their little vacation at the beach? Her swimsuit hadn't covered much. And he had been stuck to handling her this one time she passed out two years ago after a brutal fight. He'd had to change her out of blood-stained clothes so he could tend to her injuries. In his defense, he swore he had not actually taken a real look at her out of respect. It was true. He knew how sensitive she was on that subject, much more so than her other female friends, so he had been as innocent as possible about it as possible.

Either way, even just two years ago, she hadn't hadn't changed that much from her twelve years-old self. It was during the next two years that she seemed to have really matured. She was quite a bit taller, with slim legs, a flat stomach, and he had noticed a couple of times when she was in dresses, on outing that Ino seemed to drag her to, that her hips had now quite the nice curve. She was definitely nice on the eyes, but he had trouble seeing her as anything else than the child she had been when she had first been put in his care.

"That's not true!", she shouted back, though he could clearly hear the doubt in her mind. He grinned. If she was going to give him trouble on this, then he would make her suffer. He didn't have to stay innocent and spare her feelings forever now, did he?

"Oh, it's very true. Remember that mission two years ago? Where you passed out after punching the brains out of three ninja? Well, I obviously had to take care of you. I changed you and tended to your wounds as any good teammate would. I was even nice enough to not comment on...", he let his sentence hang there, because he knew the girl would react.

"No! You did not!", she lied. She knew it was true. She just hated the thought of being undressed in her sleep by someone else. She had been really glad that he'd never spoken of it, but now she was just extremely embarrassed.

"Hey, let me finish, on the fact that you had not changed at all since you were a kid. It was funny really, because I know your friend Ino had already changed quite a bit.", he added, holding in a snicker. She was also jealous of how much earlier Ino had grown bigger and more womanly. He heard some water slosh around, indicating that she was moving. He stepped back from the door, expecting her fist to break through. The door opened to show Sakura frowning and pouting, holding her towel tightly to herself.

"You're an asshole, Kakashi-sensei.", she ground out before moving past him and quickly hiding in her room. He hesitated for a second, wondering if he had gone too far. Kami, this girl's emotions were easy to push back and forth, but it was hard to know what crossed a line and what didn't with her. He leaned on the wall besides her door for a minute before speaking up.

"Sakura?", he called out, looking towards the door.

"What?", she replied several seconds later.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, if that's what I did.", he apologized, frowning as he waited for her answer.

"Yeah, right. You said I still looked like a child. No wonder no one's interested in me!", she spit back. He could tell she was closer to the door.

"I didn't say that. I said that's what you still looked like at fourteen. Now you're... different.", he let out, weighing his words carefully.

"...What do you mean?", she asked softly, not sure she wanted to hear about what a tomboy she had turned out to be and that boys her age would never consider anything else than one of them. The jonin's head fell a little at this. This was a trap. What could he say to make her feel better and not get her to hit him for checking her out? Heck, it was completely innocent. It's not like he replaced the Icha Icha heroines with her.

"Well, you've grown, to say the least.", he replied, purposely vague.

"Explain.", she ground out, obivously having none of that. He sighed. She wanted the crude truth? Fine.

"Alright then. You've grown noticably taller, which is pretty nice, you have slim, long legs, nice curves in your mid-section. You're still lacking in the top half section, but that has a charm of its own. Your lips have also filled out, it's cute.", he described how he saw her new appearance, though he surprised himself at the last detail. He hadn't even realized he'd noticed that one. The kunoichi on the other side of the wall quieted down. Good or bad, he wondered. She pulled the door open just a little and peeked at him, only poking her head out of her room.

"Have I?", she asked shyly, a bright blush on her cheeks.

"Yes.", he replied simply, his eyes crinkling. He wouldn't take too many risks with her in one day.

"Then why is no one attracted to me?", she let out softly, though she immediately retreated to her room to avoid his answer. He stared curiously at the door for a second. No one was? He hadn't seen her much lately, so he couldn't know. He would've bet his favorite kunai that she had quite a few pretendors though. Hm, beauty if in the eye of the beholder, he muttered to himself. Maybe he hadn't been around enough women lately to tell if she was really that good looking or if it was because she just fit his personal taste.

Either way, he just wanted to think about something else. This topic had gone a bit too far to his liking. He'd wait for her to dress, then change the subject to the one he had in mind when he interrupted her bath in the first place. At that very moment, he was thankful that he had no children. Boys he could deal with, you just had to rough them up a little and fight it out for it to be okay. Girls were too complicated. Plus, he didn't know if he'd be the overprotective father or the loose one. He couldn't imagine his reaction to a boy courting his daugther.

It wasn't long before Sakura came out of her room, hair still dripping wet. She was wearing a green summer dress. He guessed it fit the sunny day and warm temperature of today, but it was nonetheless unusual. What mess did he get himself into?

"Sakura, you misplaced the dishes.", he scolded quickly before she could say a word.

"What?", she let out, surprised. She looked up at him with a frown. She'd put them back where she'd picked them from. What was his problem?

"You have to-", he stopped as he opened the cupboard and pointing to the dishes. "placed them with the corner pointing at the walls, not the door.", he finished while replacing said dishes. Sakura stared at him like he had grown two heads.

"What?", he, in turn, asked.

"You're unbelievable. Wait until I tell Ino about this. Everyone will know the famous Copy Ninja is a neat freak!", she replied, not controlling her giggles.

"I am not a neat freak. It's my way of detecting intruders. Genma used to come in my appartment to check for spare condoms. I figured it out only because he didn't place things back the way I did.", he explained, frowning. Sakura was simply thrown in another fit of laughter. He sighed again. There went the last of his credibility and respect as a teacher.

The chuunin quieted down in a short amount of time, going to sit on one of his couches. She was a bit embarrassed by one thing he said. He kept condoms in his appartment? She had never thought about the man's sex life, that was just too weird, but she had always unconsciously assumed that he was asexual or something. Or book-sexual, if that existed. She felt like asking him the details, but refrained. That would just be creepy.

She stared at the wall for a little time, while he rearranged everything that she had touched. Now, she was bored. What could she do in his house? She could open the tv. Or get a book. It just felt like she needed to ask permission for everything. But Kakashi fixed the problem pretty quickly.

"You looked bored. How about we watch a movie?", he offered as he walked up behind her. He set his hands a distance away on each side of her head and looked down at her. She peeked up at him and gave him a smile.

"Yeah, I think that would be nice.", she replied. He gave a simple eye crinkle before moving to the tv. He pushed a movie he randomly picked in the player and sat casually on the same couch as her, though on the opposite end. He needed a little distraction himself, anyway.

"What did you pick?", she asked as she turned her head to him, ignoring the annoying introduction of every company that had worked on the movies.

"I didn't check. Surprise.", he let out, his usual aloof self back in place.

"Oh. What kind of movies do you like?", she questionned, tilting her head to the side curiously. She really didn't know much about the ninja's personnal life after all.

"Anything that piques my interest.", he replied cryptically. She punched his arm playfully, sitting next to him with her legs crossed, facing him.

"Answer me. Clearly. I want to know more about you, sensei.", she asked again, this time more serious. He looked at her. Why did she always have to be on his left side? Was it even on purpose? He rested his head on his fist, elbow comfortable on the arm rest.

"What does it matter? What movies do you like?", he continued, pushing the question on her instead. The truth was he just bought movies on a whim every now and then when a cover caught his attention. He hadn't watched more than half of them. He had to spend his money one way or another, there was already quite a bit just sitting around in his bank account.

"Me? Well, I like romantic comedies a lot.", she answered, eyes looking up in thought. She bit the bait so easily. Now the movie commercials were on. Why did they have to add so much useless content on the thing? It's not like it would push him to buy more. He didn't hear what Sakura said as she rambled on about whatever movie she had watched lately, instead he watched her.

She seemed quite into it, because she didn't comment on his eye roaming around. She mustn't have noticed. It quickly drifted to her crossed legs and slight peek he was getting at her pink underwear. She was clearly not used to wearing skirts or dresses, so much that she was forgetting to be careful. The dress fit her nicely, really. It hugged her everywhere it needed to. Red was also a good color for her, he noted.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you oggling me?", she finally asked, voice low in a threat.

"No, I was wondering how to tell you that you're giving me a private show of your panties.", he let out bluntly, eye moving back up to hers. She moved quickly, eyes wide in embarrassment as she straigthened her legs and moved back to her end of the couch. He crinkled his eye. What an effective way to get her out of his hair. They remained silent for the remainder of the movie. She was probably to shy to speak up now. It almost made him laugh.

She could be so harsh and domineering at times, but a well placed blow could immediately send her cowering and shut her up for a while. It was funny, really. The only drawback was that the opposite was also true. A misplaced word could get you in the hospital if she felt like it.

Sakura, on her side, was trying to focus on the movie, though her thoughts wandered a lot more towards her new roommate. It really interested her how he could be so blunt about sensitive topics and not react to inappropriate situations. Gai was right, she thought, he really is cool. It was hard to get along with him at times because she just wanted to punch him, but in the end, he was a steady person. She could always count on him, and he cheered her up as he could when he felt it as needed. Did he really think that she looked nice?

She took a second to admire him from the corner of her eyes. There wasn't much to be said about his appearance. He hadn't changed in the four years she'd known him. He was tall, always slouching and mysterious. She guessed that had to be attractive in some way, but she failed to see it. He was Kakashi-sensei. That was how she saw him. The rock that held her life together right now. A small, grateful smile touched her lips as she felt a rush of gratitude for the older nin. She scooted close to him and wrapped her arms around his, leaning her head on his shoulder.

He looked down at her in mild curiosity. Why was she cuddling him? He knew she frequently hugged Naruto in moments of happiness, even Sai every now and then, but never him. He liked to keep a distance between himself and people and she had always known it. He couldn't help a tiny smile from forming on his lips though. He knew that she wouldn't openly show his affection for him unless he had done something really nice to deserve it. Or to make her courageous enough to try to get past his barriers.

"What's up?", he asked, feeling a little daring today. She looked up at him slowly, as if trying to find the right words for what she wanted to say.

"I'm just glad that you're doing all of this for me.", she muttered quickly, looking down again in slight embarrassment. He chuckled and freed his arm from hers. She tried to flee but he held her shoulder and pulled her back to him, wrapping his arm comfortably around her shoulders. She turned a little towards him, leaning her head on his chest and letting on her legs lay on his slightly.

"Just watch the movie.", he said, not looking at her anymore. If she hadn't known him better, she would've thought he was just trying to shut her up so she wouldn't blabber anymore. She could tell it was his own way of saying it was alright, that he didn't mind and he'd be there for her. She was surprised he'd allowed her to so close to him, but she felt safe, in his arms. She knew for sure that he would protect her at any cost, and that was worth more than anything else in the world to her right at that moment.

Kakashi swallowed a little hard, uncomfortable to have her this close. To have anyone this close.

He'd felt it, too. That little rush of affection, this voice that whispered to never give up on her and always be there for her. He just never acted on it usually, unlike her. Today was a special day, he thought. It had to be. She seemed to have him at her beck and call with all her little fits and display of emotions. He guessed it must've been because they were all alone that he allowed himself to return her displays of affection. In front of the boys, he'd have pushed her back with an eye crinkle, nonetheless reassuring her with words instead.

He groaned as he noticed what movie he'd chosen. It was the one where a teacher and his student slept together while a sick serial killer went about killing children. The summary had seemed interesting, really, but the actual movie was awful. He'd just have to deal with it now.

At the end, as expected, Sakura slipped away from his arms and glared at him. He knew it would happen. Luck was rarely on his side. She'd interpret his getting closer to her and the choice of movie as a way to try to show her that student-teacher relations were possible.

"That was an awful movie, Kakashi-sensei. Pick a better one next time.", she ground out, biting her lip at the end. He could tell she was embarrassed by the the blurry sex scenes there had been.

"I swear I picked it randomly. It was not on purpose.", he replied, holding his hands up in defense. He saw her grin as she got on her knees, inching closer to him.

"What, you think I believe you're trying to seduce me?", she purred, a sweet smile on her face. Her eyes were playful. What was she up to? Was she going to punch him in the privates as soon as he let his defence down?

"Of course not. I am completely innocent. As innocent as a puppy.", he answered, crinkling his eye nervously. He could definitely beat her in a fight. It would take effort now, but he still could. In situations like this, he felt uneasy about not being able to defend himself with every technique in his arsenal.

"I know, sensei.", she breathed out, barely above a whisper as she set her hands on each side of him, leaning over his body so that their faces were a little distance apart. He had moved back against the arm rest in an attempt to escape her, but now she had him trapped. Damn.

"Didn't you learn something from the movie? It's...", she bit her lip like the student in the movie had when first trying to seduce her teacher. She leaned her head to the side a little and he peeked down at her cleavage. The dress was hanging low and he could see that wasn't wearing a bra. Too many details. "The student who seduces the teacher. Don't you find me attractive, sensei?", she purred again. He cursed at himself mentally as he felt a small rush of sensation to his groin. How could she get to him so easily?

"As attractive as a rock.", he replied casually, his eye crinkling. He preffered to have a broken jaw than face his body's current reaction to the girl above him. To his surprise, she laughed whole heartedly and move away from him, a wide smile in place.

"It's good to know that my teacher won't give in so easily. If you did, I'd be scared you'd be a psychopath too.", she let out confidently. In the end, the teacher had been to freak to call people, impersonating a guy who called everyone for stupid surveys, asking them weird questions to make his life seem worse.

"You should have known better.", he commented, letting out a breath he'd been holding. He got up to go close the tv before moving to the kitchen. "Do you want a snack?", he asked over his shoulder as he opened the fridge. Anything to change the subject. But he was really glad she hadn't reacted violently for once. He was getting the hang of this.

"Do you have strawberries?", she answered, a little excitement in her voice. He rummaged through his fridge for a few seconds before finding them. A full container, good.

"Yes, I do.", he replied enthusiastically as he joined in the living room again. She smiled widely, one arm reaching for the container but he lifted it out of her reach quickly.

"Say please.", he teased, eye crinkling.

"Please.", she growled, getting impatient. She was on her knees, leaning against the top of the couch and eyeing the strawberries dangerously.

"Pretty please, sensei.", he continued, testing his luck with her. Maybe she now liked him enough to let him get away with anything, who knew.

"Please, sensei. I want strawberries, I'll do anything you ask me.", she nearly whined, a pout and innocent look on her face. He could feel fakeness emanating from her.

"Well, if you ask so nicely.", he answered, picking a strawberry and bring it to her lips, nudging them. "Say 'ah'.", he teased, testing her limits. How far would she let him go? She obeyed again, letting out a cut 'aah' as she opened her mouth a little too wide. He put the tip of the strawberry against her bottom and let her take a bite of it. He cursed out loud when she didn't forget to bite his finger at the same time, devilish grin on her face and eyes full of mischief as she watched him shake his fingers.

"I see you've realized that subtlety suits a ninja better than rage fits. I'm proud of you, Sakura.", he teased again, hoping this wouldn't result in broken bones.

"I can be when I want to be. It's just more sastisfying to go and punch people who annoy me.", she replied, turning away from him.

"Hm, I see. Here, your strawberries. You earned them.", he let out, depositing the container on her lap before he returned to the kitchen to get his own snack. An orange. Mmm.

He sat on the couch with her again and they enjoyed their snacks in comfortable silence. For a second, he wondered what it woul be like to live with Naruto. The thought immediately made him shiver. He could already see his appartment upside down, the cupboards filled with ramen and a bunch of dirty dishes everywhere. No. Sakura was a better option. Not that he'd ever be forced to share an appartment with on of the boys, but Sakura was nonetheless the neatiest and least creepy, in the end. She just needed to change her gender and he'd have a decent roommate, he assumed.

"Do you have any missions soon?", she question half way through a bite of her fruit.

"No. Danzo cancelled my missions for the upcoming month. I'm on guard duty, afternoon shifts.", he replied casually while retrieving a slice of his orange.

"I see. I don't have any either. He even took me off hospital duty for a week. I don't know what to do.", she shot back, obviously wondering what the hell she would be doing. Ninja weren't good with vacations.

"I'm sure there's plenty of laundry left to do to keep you busy a whole week here.", he teased, chewing on his orange. He was able to slip them in his mouth from above his mask. He was so annoying.

"Why don't you just take it off?", she growled. It must've been a pain to him too. She was going to be around for too long for him to keep this up.

"Hm, I'll think about it tonight.", he said after he'd swallowed the last of his citrus. She nodded quietly, hoping for a yes, as she got up to put the remainder of the strawberries back in the fruit.

"I have many books. You should check them out, maybe you'll find something interesting.", he threw over his shoulder as he glanced at her.

"I'll check. I really need something to keep me busy.", she answered. He knew the feeling. Tsunade had forced him several times to bed rest for weeks on end when he was too gravely injured. He had really tried to convince her that he was okay, but his limping had convinced her otherwise it seemed.

He glared down at his once injuried leg, mentally calling it a traitor.
She walked past him and checked his bookcase, her finger trailing over every book, sometimes hovering over one for a little while. It finally stopped and grabbed one after a couple of minutes. It was his father's favorite novel. It was precious to him, but he was sure she would take good care of it.

"That's my favorite, other than Icha Icha.", he let out carefully. He didn't like sharing his past with people.

"Really? I honestly didn't think you read anything else.", she commented, while going through the book quickly.

"I think it's inappropriate to read fantasy in public.", he joked flatly. She chuckled.

"Of course.", came her simple reply. He was the only one who could come up with such silly things to say but they made her laugh. It was like his late excuses. She still screamed liar along with Naruto whenever they heard him say one, but on the inside she enjoyed them. It was the remants of inner Sakura manifesting themselves. "I'll borrow this one, then.", she said finally, closing the book with a
small noise and dropping in the couch besides him.

The rest of the day was rather long for both of the ninjas. Usually, they would relax in their own ways on days off, but the stress from all that was happening kept them from doing so, as well as their forced living state. Kakashi liked to take a bath, nap, and then find some comfortable tree to read Icha Icha in. Thing was, he didn't feel like leaving his precious appartment to Sakura yet. He didn't know what she could do while he wasn't there. What if she reorganized everything to her liking andd then he'd be completely lost in his own home? That would be awful, right?


Chapter Four: Click Here