One Day at a Time

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

Day Two: Unexpected Company

"What do you mean you're coming with me?" No. Sakura was not coming on this mission. She could not.

"The elders wouldn't let you go alone, they pushed Tsunade into adding me in. They said something about you being too precious to the village to not be accompanied by a medic, something like that. It's hard to understand what Tsunade-shishou is saying when she's pratically drowning in her sake." There was a soft frown on her face, her confusion clear to him. It made no sense to add her to this mission. He didn't need a medic. That wasn't the reason at all.

"Anyway, hey. Just be glad that we're spending more time together!" She beamed at him as they exited their village's gates. He didn't reply to her. He couldn't. God, why. Why did it have to be her? His mind was racing, trying to find a way out of this. There was nothing he could do. He was stuck with her. Fuck.

"Don't look so down. I don't bother you that much, do I?" He looked down at her, guilt nagging at him. That was so far from why he was pissed.

"No. Sakura, I love your company. Just... Don't ask, okay?" He half-pleaded, half ordered, his eye returning to the road ahead of them. The blush that had spread on her cheeks had him repressing a chuckle. Kakashi wasn't one to give compliments. She'd better enjoy it while she could.

"So... What's the mission?" He stopped dead in his tracks. They hadn't told her. They hadn't given her any information on it. No wonder Tsunade had kept her sake flowing. She couldn't have kept her mouth shut otherwise.

"You really accepted a mission you knew nothing about?" He said, his tone incredulous. This girl was too naìve for her own good. Her heard the way she swallowed hard, bringing his attention to her face. She was starting to be suspicious, some worry flashing in her eyes.

"I-It was with you so, I didn't think it could be so bad?" His shoulders slumped even more. How could she think that? He was a fucking jonin, he got the most dangerous missions. He'd been a fucking war prisonner, he'd been tortured, he'd... He'd seen so many things he wished he could forget. He remained silent and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him in a loose embrace. If he didn't know this would result as deserting from their duty, he'd drop this mission on the spot.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're scaring me." She mumbled into his chest, not returning his hug. She was thoroughly uncomfortable. Hm, she could take this as payback for suggesting he should kiss her. She was right to be scared though. But he couldn't bring himself to tell her that. What an asshole he was.

"It's okay, really. It's a reconnaissance mission. Just scout the terrain, blah blah blah. It's fine. I'm just messing with you." He let out, giving her a happy eye crease as he patted her back. He restarted walking, his strides a little too long for the young kunoichi to match comfortably.

"You're creepy." He simply shrugged his shoulders as an answer. He wasn't creepy. Okay, maybe he was a little. He must've spooked his students quite bad with their first test. Ah, good memories. Focus on good memories.

"Not as much as you are." He threw back casually, burying his hands in his pockets.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She growled back, arms crossed over her chest in mild defiance. He would've laughed at her if she was still twelve. Back when she couldn't break several bones of his body with a single punch. He really missed the times where even all three of his students at once weren't a hassle to handle. He was still able to take on the three of them, but only for so long. They'd become so strong. All they lacked was the decades of experience he had.

"I didn't ask my sensei to kiss me yesterday." He let out as if it was the most casual thing the world. Anything to make their conversation stray from their current mission. A quick glance her way showed him jade eyes wide open, beet red cheeks and a mouth shut tight with embarrassment. That ought to shut her up.

"You can't just say that like that!" She blurted and planted herself in front of him, refusing to go further. Good thing the village gates were already out of their view, or else she would've been about to get even more embarrassed. And people would really call him creepy. He quickly closed the distance between the two of them, his chest brushing against hers and his lips hovering close to her ear. He trailed his fingers up her arms slowly, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind them. Sakura's breath hitched when he reached her neck and rested his hand against it, bringing a satisfied smile to appear behind his mask.

"Maybe you should be more careful about which men you decide to try and coax a reaction out of." He whispered his warning, voice husky and low. Seductive. Her eyes fluttered close and she bit her lip. He didn't need to see her to know what her reaction was. He could guess it pretty easily from the faint smell of arousal that had started to fill the air. He'd since long gotten used to smelling such awkward things and given up on trying to curse his sensitive sense of smell to hell. He could only use it to his advantage and try to forget about the disadvantages.

"You don't know who you're up against." He added before ghosting clothed lips across her cheek until they met the corner of her mouth. He grinned when she turned to him, her lips searching for his impatiently. Much to her dismay, he chose this moment to suddenly put a good distance between their bodies. She just stood still for a few seconds, lost in the haze he had put her in. It wasn't long before she came back to her senses and looked away from him, a hand rubbing at the arm he had just touched, trying to erase the goosebumps he had created.

"Do you understand me?" He could tell she was thoroughly embarrassed, even a little bit ashamed of her actions. She would be out of his hair for now. Her answer was a slow nod and one more bite to her lower lip. He liked when she did that. But he should probably not think about that right now.

"Well, let's get going now, shall we?" He beamed at her, his eye forming another cheery crease. He didn't wait for her to get going. This had changed the train of his thoughts quite effectively. He couldn't admit it even to himself, but he had done this more to forget about where they were headed than to reprimand her for trying to turn him on. Poor girl probably did it unconsciously anyway. He'd done it often enough in his younger years. Back in the time when he wasn't sure what to do with his body with the other sex. He had collected mostly humiliation from this. Luckily, she seemed to do better than him in this department. She was much more subtle, though her choice of target was poor. She would grow out of it quickly enough. What had he been thinking about before this already?


Chapter Three: Click Here