Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Crossing Rubicon's	By : Saphri Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1427 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters portrayed in this story. I make no money from writing this fanfiction. I write purely for my own amusement and the amusement of fellow fans.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Dreamer.
oOo
There hadn't been any kiss like Rin had originally hoped but Kakashi's reaction to the books had been something she definitely did not expect, if she was honest she wasn't sure what she had expected. She hoped that it had been the offering of the books that had made his voice quiver and forced that spontaneous chuckle that was almost a sigh to pass his lips and not the books themselves. It didn't really matter either way, the smile on her face was impossible to shake off even as she walked through the door and saw Sakura turn towards her and eye her over with a mischievous curiosity.
"Did he like them?" the young medic asked with a slight giggle in her voice. She was obviously talking about the books Rin had found in her pack. What a silly question...
"Put it this way, I thought he was going to cry," Rin replied with an equal amount of amusement as she made her way over to Sakura's side of the room. The best thing about that statement was it wasn't a lie. She was so sure she had seen his lower lip quiver when she had presented those books to him. The mask he wore made it difficult to see such an action but she was certain his emotions almost got the better of him. Kakashi was so cute sometimes it took all the effort she had not to just pinch his cheek and tell him so, the only thing stopping her being that he probably wouldn't appreciate the comment.
The young girl laughed at her response while turning her attention back to the large mirror standing on the end table at the side of her bed.
"I seriously don't know what you see him," she quipped running a brush roughly through her pink locks.
"There's a lot more to Hatake Kakashi than meets the eye, Sakura."
"Like what? All he thinks about is porn."
"Hey, now that's not true..." Rin felt herself getting defensive around the young girl who was basically accusing her man of being a pervert, something he was most certainly not even despite the fact that she had accused him of such things before but purely in jest. She was certain if Sakura had said such a thing to the copy nin himself he would just agree with her, but mainly for a quiet life. Confrontations like this just weren't his thing, but he wasn't here and Rin would defend him to the hills if she could.
"Well those books he reads..."
"... Are actually pretty good. Have you tried reading one?"
"You read them too?" Sakura squawked as she jolted from the bed like Rin had just asked if she could touch her boobs. What was the big deal with those books anyway? Kakashi wasn't the only one who read them, she remembered Yumi-chan being quite big fan of the Icha Icha series too hence how she had first heard of the Diversions box set she had found in the bookstore.
She pouted at the young medic disapprovingly for a moment before she grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down to the bed.
"Just try and act like an adult for a second, Sakura, please," Rin bit out which seemed to offend the young medic as her face crumpled dejectedly at the comment. The expression pulled at Rin's chest and it made her feel quite guilty for being so short with her but she wasn't a child and she had a boyfriend by all accounts. Something like an erotic novel shouldn't be approached with so much caution at her age. They were just stories after all.
"Just because he likes to read erotica doesn't make him a pervert, or a creep, they're not that sexually explicit anyway. I mean, how many times have you spotted him peeking through the gaps at the women's bath house?"
"Well... never..."
"Or roving his eye over girls in the street?"
"Only once..."
"O-oh?"
"Yeah, but it was you he was eyeing up so I suppose that doesn't really count does it?"
"Hm, I guess not."
The two girls regarded each other for a second as Sakura digested the information in her head until Rin hummed a chuckle at the young girl next to her, picked up her own brush from the end table in front and began running it through her long hair.
"Anyway, I'm in the right mind to ask you some questions of my own regarding a certain someone," Rin quipped flicking her sights towards Sakura who was now going a deep shade of crimson that could almost rival the colour of her top.
"What are you talking about?" the pink topped girl muttered the comment obviously hitting on a raw and very sensitive nerve.
"Oh come on, Sakura, I wasn't born yesterday," Rin teased as she nudged her new found friend with her knee.
"You and Yamato. You two have been pawing all over each other since we set off from Konoha. I have to admit he's a bit of a sweetheart, isn't he? I might have to steal him from you," she punctuated her statement with a coy laugh at the thought that she could be developing a small crush in the wood user herself. The idea was ludicrous, Yamato was a good year or so younger than her, and he wasn't really her type anyway despite how adorable he seemed but it only served to heighten her amusement that was until she felt Sakura take hold of her arm.
"Please don't tell Kakashi-sensei, please," She begged her face a picture of anxiety as she gazed up at Rin.
"Oh! So there is something going on!" Rin chirped gleefully clapping her hands together as she bounced herself on the bed. She was surprised that the young girl had admitted it so quickly but pleased she had done nonetheless. She had been dying to know for sure since she had started putting the pieces together.
"Yes, we've been seeing each other for a while now, it's really nothing serious, not yet anyway... but if Kakashi-sensei found out he'd go crazy."
"Kakashi? Go crazy? What makes you think that? He's your team leader, not your dad, Sakura."
The young girl huffed irritably as she plopped herself back on the bed next to Rin. What she said was true though, it really had nothing to do with anyone who Sakura or Yamato decided to date, and it baffled her as to why she thought Kakashi wouldn't be happy about it. If anything he found the whole situation as amusing and fascinating as she did. She doubted very much he would jump for joy over it, he would probably just shrug his shoulders, maybe even crack a smile and that would be that. Kakashi wasn't the sort to let such things get to him in an openly emotional way.
"It's just Yamato is our team leader too sometimes. And I'm worried Kakashi-sensei would see it like we were breaking up the team somehow..."
"Sakura, Kakashi was my team leader for the best part of five years before I left Konoha, don't you think it would be a bit hypocritical of him to disapprove of what you and Yamato decide to get up to? It's not like it's any of his business anyway," she soothed which seem to spark the young girl's interest.
"Oh, I thought you were just team mates..." she asked inquisitively as she seemed to relax a little on the bed.
Of course there was no reason why Sakura should think any different, Kakashi had introduced her to his squad as his 'Team mate' not his subordinate which she had been back then. She saw no reason why she shouldn't shed a bit more light on it.
"We were, but ... things ... happened and we ended up being a two man team for a while. Kakashi was already a Jounin by then so it was only natural that he was the head of the squad. We were often teamed up with others to make up the four man cell but ... the chemistry was never quite right, you know? It was never the same as before..." She sighed a little trying to dumb down the memories her mind wanted her to see before she carried on.
"And then Team Minato disbanded altogether when Kakashi got called up to serve for the ANBU. And all my time was taken up with hospital duties..." and then I ended up here for the next ten miserable years. Rin shrugged to end her side of the conversation. She'd been able to hear the hue of sadness in her own voice as she'd took to playing the hem of her long shirt in her fingers. It seemed that Sakura had noted her tone too as she glanced back towards the mirror with an awkward grimace.
The memories of her and Kakashi being part of a simple two man cell were fond ones and she knew they made a good team, they had always worked so well together, but she missed those days terribly. She missed Obito and Minato-sensei terribly. It wasn't often she went a whole day without one or the other or even both entering her head at some point. What she wouldn't give to be able to talk to them just one more time. She promised herself that she would visit the cenotaph when she returned to Konoha. It had been too long since she had last paid her respects to them. She wouldn't be around today if it wasn't for them...
"So, what do you think we should do, about Kakashi-sensei, I mean," Sakura asked sheepishly as she went back to brushing her hair as Rin collected a towel from her pack at the base of the bed and began to wander towards the tiny wet room on the far side feeling more than relieved that the previous conversation was over.
"Kakashi really cares about you, about all of you and he'd do anything he could to protect you. But I really don't think you and Yamato have anything to worry about. If you want to tell him, then tell him. If you don't then that's okay too. Kakashi won't be offended either way," Rin assured her as she leaned herself against the wet room door and swinging her towel over her shoulder.
"But, if you want my honest opinion, if I figured out something was happening between the two of you over such a short space of time then Kakashi has known about it for far longer than I have." With that she watched Sakura's spine snap straight seeming to freeze up on her bed as Rin stepped into the wet room and closed the door.
The poor girl, she was so easy to tease.

The four of them made their way down to the foyer of the hotel in the hopes of being able to fill their bellies and soon. It was an expansive clinical area decorated with ornate, crisp floor tiles and a large chandelier that hovered over the whole room, its jewel like beads threatening to drop like rain at any second. The copy nin surmised as he visually examined the cut glass rocks above him that if one was to fall and hit someone on the head it would at least give someone concussion if not knock them clean out altogether. It was at that point he decided he didn't want to stand directly beneath the huge light fixture anymore and cautiously manoeuvred himself around the other side of the room.
He continued to look around the large space with an inquisitive awe while the two girls worked on reserving tables in the restaurant. Kakashi hoped they would be eating soon, he hadn't had a proper meal in days and he could feel his stomach complaining about it which caused him to habitually run the flat of his hand across it in a soothing, sympathetic way.
It really was a nice place, this Machenich. It was a shame Rin hated it here so much, he would have liked to return here on more sociable terms when on leave even if the people didn't much like their kind, there would be no need to interact with them. It could just be him and her and their surroundings. He smiled grimly to himself knowing that such a thing was way out of his reach. She would never want to come back here after this, after being trapped here for so long and he couldn't really blame her. He imagined the feeling being similar to returning to a concentration camp you had once been a prisoner of. Not pleasant...
"We can go sit down now if we want, there's an empty booth at the back of the restaurant," Sakura chirped happily as she strolled back over to join the rest of the team.
"Ugh, I could eat a scabby horse, I'm so hungry!" Rin complained rubbing a hand on her flat stomach.
Kakashi eyed her over and silently scrutinised her outfit. He was mildly disappointed to discover that she had changed out of that long purple shirt in favour of a pair of black slacks and a simple white T-shirt. The purple shirt was obviously not the most appropriate thing to wear for dinner when staying in a posh hotel but he quite like the imagery of him picking her buttons off with his teeth. That would be a fantasy he would have to revisit later...
"Well, we'd better hope they have that on the menu, I could just go for some festering horse carcass right about now," Kakashi deadpanned as he leaned a little towards the pretty brunette and nudged her with his shoulder.
"Kakashi, you're disgusting! I can't take you anywhere," she grumbled with a soft smile betraying the tone of her voice as she followed the other two into the sitting room that led to the restaurant.
"I was only rephrasing what you already said, I hope I didn't put you off your scabby horse," he replied flatly which earned him a disapproving shake of her head.
The next room, the lounge area, was just as big as the foyer only darker in decor which made it seem warmer and more homely in contrast. A large corner style sofa dominated the centre of the room and an oversized television set hung on the wall opposite like a picture frame.
Kakashi had never been one for watching TV; there was never anything that really grabbed his interest long enough for him to warrant having a set of his own. He enjoyed watching the news at the Jounin headquarters on the small portable television sat on the coffee counter but that was as far as it went. Why bother paying out for a set and licence to own it when he could watch it for free? That and it was just something else he would have dust and keep clean. But Rin had left the set she had bought to watch her soap opera at his place and he had found himself abandoning his usual reading material in favour of a certain Baku's Farm.
He'd flick the remote (that had far too many buttons for his mind to even comprehend) at the TV in his apartment just for some background noise of an evening while he finished paper work or read a book or ironed his clothes or some other mundane task that really needed doing. But he'd find himself gawping open mouthed at the set while all the sordid yet delicious action spilled out of the screen. He'd even shouted at it a few times when he disagreed with some of the decisions the characters made which had surprised him a little, though not enough to make him want to stop watching.
Baku's Farm was actually pretty good and swimming with innuendo and he felt a bit gutted if he'd unfortunately missed an episode here and there due to working late amongst other things. He wondered if Rin was up to date with what was going on though he didn't think he would ask her after all the teasing he'd given her about it when he first discovered she liked soap operas.
As he meandered past the huge screen he gave it a habitual glance to see that Baku's Farm was now playing out on the screen and before he knew it his entire body was making a beeline towards the back of the sofa.
He vaguely noticed someone sitting on the sofa in front glance over their shoulder at him as he rested his forearms on the back of the large couch cushions but he didn't justify the glance with a response, his attention being squarely focused on the TV set on the wall.
"Oh cripes, I've missed so much! What's happened?" a sexy feminine voice whispered beside him. He flitted his eye in that general direction to see Rin in almost the exact same position as him, her eyes wide and locked with the television.
He leaned his body towards her as he focused his visual attention back to the screen so he could whisper in her ear and began to spill what he knew of the plot.
"I've missed a couple of episodes myself, but as far as I know the bi-sexual guy that's sleeping with the pretty bar maid has been found out by her father and he's blackmailing him into doing a drug run for him or he's going to inform his boyfriend exactly what he's been getting up to. It's all a bit farfetched and dramatic but he really wants to keep the affair a secret."
"Ooh, naughty boy."
"Heh, I know right? Also, that Kakashi guy, the old one that owns the wool factory, he's now been arrested for trying to poison the guy that owns the nightclub after he lost a lot of money to him during a game of poker. It seems Kakashi wants to own the club for some reason..."
"Oh he's been after the club since day one. Goodness knows why, it's a dive..."
"Tell me about it. But his girlfriend got took in by the police for questioning a few days ago because it turns out she may have had a hand in the attempted murder. But I think I missed the episode where you see her doing her bit, it all gets a bit confusing after that. What is it with older guys in these things? The woman is young enough to be his granddaughter..."
"Gift of the gab, I reckon. Not to mention he's loaded, money is always a turn on for the gold diggers. I'm surprised he's not dead yet, I read the producers were going to kill him off."
"Yeah, but he's a popular character so they have to tread carefully. I'm really taken with Mei though, the pretty one with the dark hair? She's adorable; I think she reminds me of you a little." Kakashi glanced at Rin to see her looking back at him with a small fond smile on her lips and the beginnings of a cute little flush over the bridge of her nose. It seemed she was taking his comparison of her and the character from the show as a compliment, which he supposed it was really though the actress that played her was not a patch on the kunoichi next to him.
His eyes moved to her lips then, he took in the detail of them as he had done numerous times, how supple, full and fresh they were, how he wanted to taste them on his tongue, just once more to get his fix, that would be enough. He could just lean over now to kiss her and the temptation was beginning to get the better of him just as his train of thought was derailed by one of the hotel guests in the room.
"Shush! We're trying to watch this!" came the harsh hiss of the older woman sitting below them. She shot Kakashi a look of total disdain, her mouth pulling downwards in a cod like scowl as both he and Rin lifted their hands defensively to her.
"Sorry," they both whispered in unison which seemed to be enough for the older woman to huff and slouch back into position.
The pair shot a glance between them grimacing at what had just transpired, their expressions said it all: "Well... that taught us" before they turned their attention back to the screen.
It seemed they had joined the viewing of the programme a good ten minutes into the second half of the thirty minutes the show ran for because before either of them really knew it the credits were rolling and the majority of those that were sat on the oversized sofa were removing themselves from the room.
"I guess we should join the other two..." Rin sighed dolefully pushing herself back from the back of the couch with her arms in order to spy where the other members of their squad had seated themselves.
"I doubt very much that we've been missed," Kakashi inputted as he stood straight planted both hands on his back and proceeded to stretch himself backwards relishing in the way his spine popped back into place in the most satisfying way.
"What do you mean?" the pretty brunette asked sounding more confused than she should have as they began traversing slowly through the lounge towards the dining area at the rear of the hotel.
"Well, knowing what's been going on with those two for the past few months my guess is that they've been sat at our table latched to each other like a couple of slugs."
"Ew, Kakashi, 'kissing' would have been a much nicer description," she scolded.
Kakashi just shrugged at her response. It didn't matter what he called it, it was all the same thing to him. Though he wouldn't mind being latched to Rin like a slug but kissing would only be one of the actions he would very much enjoy performing. It was at that point he decided to move the conversation forward before his rebellious imagination decided to get the better of him.
"I was actually wondering, seeing as you've had a fair bit of time to spend with her, if Sakura had mentioned anything about it?" he pressed feeling far more curious about the situation between his subordinates than he knew was actually good for him. Even he knew it wasn't like him to pry into the private lives of others but it was too difficult to resist. He wanted to know what was happening, wanted to be in on the loop and he was more than sure the pink topped kunoichi had said something to her roommate, even more so when he saw Rin's brow knit together and her shoulders stiffen as they walked.
"No, she hasn't said anything, why?" she stated hurriedly.
Kakashi felt the grin on his lips twitch upwards at her blatant lie. Of course they had talked about it, of course Sakura had said something to her. But instead of feeling hurt that Rin was keeping whatever information she had from him, he found it endearing that she was reluctant to breach the young girls trust. If it wasn't supposed to be a secret then Rin would have said something by now. It was nice to see that she was actually making an effort to bond with members of her team, of their team.
"Oh, no reason," he replied, giving her a shrug as if he couldn't really care less about the subject. He shouldn't care... but he did and he didn't quite know why. The thought perturbed him, if only a little but he was determined to get to the bottom of it even if it meant having his own teeth extracted by a certain candy frosted medic. He could cope with that, just to be in on it. He was the only one here now that had no solid proof that something was going on, and he didn't like it.
They made their way into the restaurant area littered with posh looking tables and chairs all decorated with a single red carnation in a small glass vase sat on an ivory white silken table cloth. The restaurant was quite busy, almost every table was taken up by families or couples and most if not all of them were very smartly dressed. He even noticed a few of the guests looking him over and clicking their tongues in distaste as he walked by which he found unusually unnerving.
He was beginning to wish he had worn something other than a pair of old work pants and his navy blue over-shirt but suits and ties weren't really his thing. He didn't even own a suit, just the odd pair of dress pants and a few button down shirts he only wore on special occasions which was very rare, dressing to impress was something he had never done.
After finally traversing through the masses of people that were currently dining here the pair seated themselves in the booth Rin and Sakura had booked only minutes ago. The table was dressed much the same as the others but the seats were long pews that sat either side of the table. The leather, padded almost to bursting was a rich burgundy and so clean it looked new. The copy nin almost didn't want to sit down with the fear that his own backside would ruin the upholstery.
"The waiter hasn't been yet has he?" Rin asked as she shuffled along the long padded seat to let Kakashi park himself next to her somewhat warily. Lucky for him it seemed the rest of the troupe didn't notice his apprehension.
"No not yet. Where'd you two get to? You guys seem to be disappearing an awful lot lately," Sakura asked with an unusually dark tone to her voice.
"Well, it's so busy in here we got a bit lost when you two ran off and left us in the lounge. Something tells me, Sakura, that you're trying to ditch us," Kakashi responded coolly as he folded his hands over the table.
Both Tenzou and Sakura gave each other a shifty glance before Sakura huffed and sat back in her seat. Maybe the assumption he had just made was actually true which would give both of them a perfect reason not to respond, or maybe Sakura just didn't have a comeback witty enough to counter his accusation. More than likely it was going to be the latter. Losing Sakura in a crowd was quite difficult given her unusual hair colour, one could spot her miles away.
"Anyway, I'm famished let's see what's on the menu," he commented casually as he plucked one of the many leather bound menu's from the wooden holder at the edge of the table. Yes, this place was far too sophisticated for a village bumpkin like him...

Everyone apart from an unusually indecisive Kakashi-sensei had picked out what they wanted for their evening meal and Sakura was finding it quite amusing watching Rin try and coax the copy nin into choosing something to eat.
"What about that? It has fish in it, you like fish."
"Yeah... but what's this tartare sauce they keep offering?"
"It's just a tangy sauce they put on fish here. It's nice, you'll like it."
"Yeah, but I might not and then I've wasted my meal."
"Just order it without the sauce then..."
"I could do that but then the fish will be all plain and boring, and I don't want that."
"Kakashi, for the love of the Gods just pick something! We're all waiting for you!"
"Patience is a virtue, Rin,"
"No, my patience with you is running dangerously thin."
With that Rin-sensei snatched the menu from him and laid it out on the table in front of them while she ran a finger down the long seemingly endless list of meals with a heavy and exasperated sigh. Kakashi-sensei leaned himself over the menu as she did so watching her hand move over the glossy sheets.
The sight made Sakura smile; even though the interaction between both of them was undeniably cute it made it look like a mother scolding her child for not making a decision. Maybe Kakashi needed a bit of dominance in his life, maybe he liked it... the latter thought made Sakura shudder in her seat, thinking of Kakashi-sensei in such a way was so not healthy. But Rin-sensei had a point. All four of them were ravenous and Sakura could spy the waiter getting closer to their table with his little ledger in hand.
She felt the warmth of soft fingertips on the back of her hand which caused her to shift her eyes to the man sitting next to her. Yamato was sitting with an elbow on the table resting his chin in the palm of his hand. When he noticed her looking at him he casually rotated his eyes towards her and allowed his mouth to curve upwards a little which sent an electric tremor to race up Sakura's backbone.
Had someone informed her when she had first met him that she would be dating him a mere two years later she would have laughed in their face. But here she was, grinning stupidly at him and blushing like a little girl would blush at her crush.
Their relationship was far from serious, they'd eaten out a couple of times and Yamato had kissed her on the cheek at least twice, but that was as far as it was going so far. But Sakura didn't mind. She didn't want a man that pawed at her constantly wanting something more than she was willing to give them. She'd had her fair share of assholes over the years and she was all set on giving up on men altogether so she could just concentrate on her career. That was until Yamato began stealing her heart piece by piece.
There was never any official asking out or date arranging, it had all started on the usual dinner the team had when returning from a successful mission. They always ate at Ichiraku's and Naruto would always join them at some point during the evening, they would sit and eat and reminisce and even Sasuke would find himself smiling or even laughing at some point. It was just like old times, except when Yamato was leading the team, Kakashi-sensei wasn't around and Naruto now dressed in his Hokage robe as opposed to the black and orange jump suit he used to prefer. But one particular night had been different with Yamato and Sakura being left at their table alone while the others had seemingly retired for the night. They'd got talking, they found common grounds and they liked each other. What else did there need to be?
If it all petered out and nothing came of it, then that was fine. They could still be team mates, they could still be friends. But if something did happen, if it became more than what it was already, well, that was nothing short of a bonus in her book. But even then she still couldn't be sure how her squad would react if they were to find out just how much time her and Yamato had been spending together, and how her feelings were evolving from an innocent fondness to something much more intense and electrifying. She didn't want to be a hindrance to her team... not again and it was that thought in the back of her mind that was preventing her from voicing how she really felt about him.
She sat and regarded him for what seemed like forever as they just smiled lamely at each other until her thoughts were interrupted by a shrill cry from the opposite side of the table.
"Ah! Look, they do salted saury here, now I know you like that," Rin chortled as she tapped an index finger over the glossy menu page.
"Hm... but I can have that any time. I wanted to try something different and exotic," Kakashi drawled letting his face slide deeper into the palm of his hand obviously feeling unimpressed by his dinner guests find.
"At this rate the only thing you'll be eating that's exotic is the leather off this menu."
"Just let me have another look at it myself, I'll pick something before the waiter gets here."
"You had better..."
Just as Rin handed the leather bound pages back to her squad leader the waiter had already turned up at the table.
"Hello, welcome to the Sunrise Valley hotel, I'm Xaki and I'll be your waiter this evening. Is everyone ready to order?"
Sakura was about to open her mouth to let the smartly dressed man (and quite cute too to boot with his jet black styled hair, startling wide blue eyes and chiselled boyish facial features) know that Kakashi was still deciding but was stopped in her tracks when the copy nin snapped his menu closed and turned towards the waiter with that trademark eye crease of his.
"Yes, I believe we are," he drawled.
"Hallelujah," Rin-sensei grumbled in her seat next to him before she emitted a series of small giggles when she noticed that Sakura was looking at her with an equal amount of amusement. She didn't believe she had found her former teacher this funny to watch before.
"Okay, great!" The waiter piped with a genuine smile as he flipped out his ledger to a clean page and poised his pen above it just as Rin-sensei began to speak.
"Yes, I will have the vegetable stir fry, Sakura will have the same, Yamato would like the sushi platter and Kakashi ..." she paused obviously not knowing what her last dinner partner wanted and offered a hand to him to tell the waiter himself.
"Oh, I want the salted saury, please and do you serve that tartare sauce stuff on its own?" he asked his question while demonstrating what he meant with curling the fingers of both hands into little O shapes which Sakura assumed described a pot of some sort.
"Yes, yes we do. Would you like to sample our tartar sauce, sir? It's very delicious on most of our fish dishes," Xaki asked seeming to be genuinely interested in fulfilling Kakashi's order.
"Yes, please," Kakashi answered somewhat dully as Xaki scribbled the order down on his ledger.
"Okay, I shall bring your chopsticks to you in a moment and your meals will be with you in about twenty minutes. Please help yourself to the condiments that you will find over at the bar and thank you again for choosing to stay at Sunrise Valley," the young man quipped just before he rushed off behind the bar to the right to get their orders ready.
"Phwaor! Did you get an eyeful of him? He was nice!" Rin boomed at Sakura who had noticed just how nice looking the waiter was.
"I know! I wouldn't kick him out of bed for anything!" Sakura squeaked back even despite the fact that she could feel Yamato's eyes burning into the back of her head. Hell, there was nothing wrong with looking as long as one knows not to touch. It was only a joke anyway even if the waiter was a little bit on the good looking side.
Kakashi flipped his eye between the two giggling girls until he eventually settled his sights on the woman next to him.
"Uhm ... hello? I am sat right here, Rin..." he muttered dejectedly as he pointed down at himself.
It actually surprised Sakura how open he was being in regards to his feelings towards the pretty brunette, but she surmised she should just learn to except that Kakashi was head over heels for this woman and she had changed him in more ways that she cared to imagine. That and it seemed the ever indifferent copy ninja was actually the jealous type.
"Oh be quiet, Mister-exotic-tartar-sauce, you're quite safe," Rin retorted with a wide toothy grin as she patted him lovingly on the shoulder much to Kakashi-sensei's displeasure.
He just shook his head and swilled his glass of water in his hand before muttering, "I swear I will never understand females, if I did that you'd have me castrated."
"Aw, you're not jealous are you, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura interjected with a giggle she couldn't contain. Little did she know it was a fleeting comment that she was about to regret.
He raised his head to look Sakura over with a dark expressionless eye before he answered flatly tilting his glass towards Yamato, "No, not at all, Sakura. But I don't know if the same can be said about lover-boy next to you."
The evil flush that erupted on her face all but burnt the skin right off the bone of her skull. She quickly spun her head from him, to Rin-sensei who was now sitting with her head in the palm of her hand, to Yamato who was staring wide eyed at Kakashi-sensei.
"B-but... how..." Sakura stuttered, not able to piece all of her words together. Surely Rin-sensei wouldn't have said anything, she almost certain she had asked her to keep it to herself. It wasn't that she didn't want Kakashi-sensei to know, but she was just so unsure how he would handle it... but he knew, he had probably known all this time. If that was the case the Rin-sensei had been right all along.
Kakashi didn't answer, he simply picked up his half full glass of water and took a sip closing his eye in the process.
"Real smooth, Kakashi, I mean, really..." Rin growled at him as she slowly turned her head towards him.
"Ka-Kakashi-senpai, please let us explain," Yamato interrupted, leaning himself over the table and sounding very apologetic.
Sakura just sat there with her hands between her legs staring at the table feeling hot, bothered and wishing the floor would just open up and swallow her whole. This could not get any more humiliating if she just stripped off her clothes and started dancing on the table.
Kakashi settled his glass of water on the table and raised his hands at both of them in a defensive manner.
"I don't want you to explain anything to me. As team leader all I ask is that your relationship doesn't interfere with our job. The completion of missions is vital, unfortunately the importance of your feelings for each other comes second. Other than that I really don't care what you two get up to behind closed doors. It's nothing to do with me, or anyone else for that matter."
Sakura was stunned to the core, she was so sure Kakashi-sensei would be annoyed with them both not only for sparking up the relationship to begin with but for keeping it to themselves for so long. But he wasn't, not at all which caused her to look up at him with expectant eyes.
"You're not angry with us, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked him meekly which earned her one of those genuine concealed smiles she had only been seeing since Rin-sensei came on the scene. It was the first time he had ever directed such an expression at her which caught her a little off guard. But the look in his lone onyx eye was so thoughtful and genuine, it was almost like she was looking at someone else other than the man who had been her teacher since she was twelve years old.
"I've got nothing to be angry about, Sakura. You've done nothing wrong and life is far too short and precious to be worrying about what other people think," he answered softly and winking at her as if to confirm this piece of information.
"But watching the pair of you dance circles around each other for the past few months has been very entertaining," he quipped with a slight chuckle to his tone that Sakura wasn't sure she liked but refused to acknowledge, the last thing Kakashi-sensei needed was any more encouragement. But even then she felt more than relieved that her former sensei and current team leader was accepting of what was happening between two members of his squad. He would have been on the sticky end of her retaliation if he had objected anyway.
Rin-sensei had not long become an active member of team Kakashi and Sakura had recently learned that she had once been one of his subordinates in a different squad. Yet he showed no shame or embarrassment around them even though it was more than obvious that those two were far more than just friends.

It had become apparent during their meal that Rin didn't have much of an appetite in spite of her earlier announcement of wanting to consume a scabby horse. She had picked and poked at her food and even pushed it around her plate with her chopsticks like a child who didn't want to eat their veggies. She took a couple of mouthfuls but not nearly enough to fill her stomach.
Kakashi had noticed this strange behaviour almost instantly though her continuing interest in the conversations at the table meant that the others didn't. When Sakura and Tenzou were talking amongst themselves he would strain his attention back to Rin hoping to judge her mood if only a little and he found her far too easy to read even for her.
She was hurting, possibly worrying herself about the following day and keeping a lid on her wandering emotions was becoming more difficult for her. The way she sighed and stared with a desirable interest at her uneaten dinner was a huge indication that she wasn't feeling herself. Rin loved her food, always had done so that fact that she wasn't eating what was in front of her was more than a little concerning.
He hadn't wanted to draw attention to it so he hadn't asked if everything was okay, despite him knowing full well it wasn't but he played her little game and acted as ignorant to her as the other two. It wasn't until everyone had finished eating that she excused herself from the table stating she had a headache and was going to have a lie down. Tenzou and Sakura didn't question her motives but Kakashi knew her supposed headache was a ruse just to get away from them and be by herself. He understood that, she felt she needed the space; there was nothing wrong with that.
It hadn't taken long for him to leave the table either mainly assuming that Sakura and Tenzou would appreciate the little snippet of privacy he could offer them, that and Kakashi had a new collection of books to read. Plus there was nothing worse than being the third wheel.
So now he found himself plodding up the stairs at a steady pace with the first of his two new prized possessions in hand his ultimate plan being to simply lie on his bed and just read until the sun came up. If he was completely honest with himself the story wasn't what he had expected. It wasn't about some sexy kunoichi wandering the world and bonking every man she sees in order to gain the information she wanted. It was a story about love, supposed unrequited love at that and it surprised him to find that the way Jiraiya had strung his words together pulled at his heart strings every now and again. He could relate to the poor girl in the story on more than one level and Kakashi never knew he could feel so strongly for a fictional character until now.
But there was something in the back of his mind that was preventing him from enjoying the story to its full potential and he paused as he reached for the handle on his room door. Habitually he turned to face the door next door but one to his. It was closed of course but behind it his closest friend was probably sat in there feeling alone and afraid. There was every chance that she was actually sleeping but somehow he doubted it. He thought at first that maybe Rin wanted to be on her own but something inside of him forced him to snap his book closed and saunter over to Rin and Sakura's door.
He stood there for a moment simply looking at the metallic digits displayed on the wooden panel before he raised a hand to knock and thought against the action. Instead he took a firm hold on the handle twisted, pushed and was mildly surprised to find that the door was actually open.
Allowing himself to enter Kakashi stepped carefully around the door into the artificial light of the room and was first greeted with an icy blast of air making him automatically raise an arm to defend his face against the chill. The huge window behind the two small beds was open and Rin was sat on the ledge, her back to the door with her legs dangling out over the street below. It took a few seconds for her to turn herself around and spot Kakashi stood in her doorway but when she did her eyes lit up as though she was genuinely pleased to see him.
"Yo," he greeted with a salute the relief swelling in his belly that her features were fresh and alert. He had prepared himself for an emotional outburst or at least see her crying but that genuine smile that crossed her lips told him he wouldn't be subjected to such a thing, at least not tonight.
"Are you trying to creep up on me again, Kakashi?" she giggled as she lolled her head back on her shoulders letting her long hair cascade down her back.
Her pose stirred something hot and piercing deep in Kakashi's gut and he silently wished she hadn't just done that. It was at that point that he realised that she had changed out of the clothes she had worn to dinner and was now back in that long purple shirt. She was so undeniably sexy and her suggestive posing and thin clothing wasn't doing him any favours, especially when he was here mainly to check up on her not check her out.
"I wouldn't dream of it," he responded coolly as he stepped further into the chilly room and closed the door behind him. "What are you doing with the window open? It's freezing in here, aren't you cold?" he mused as he meandered towards her squeezing his body past the tiny space between the two beds and leaned on the ledge next to her.
Rin's smile widened a little as she shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention to the world outside. "No, not really. I wanted some fresh air but I didn't feel like walking. Call me lazy if you want, I don't care," she said with a slight hue of amusement to her tone.
Kakashi just chuckled at her response as he took to admiring the view of the glittering window lights that surrounded them. It really was nice here even at night. The surrounding buildings let their lights flood onto the street below giving the strip a glow about it that reminded him a little of Konoha. It was warm, nostalgic and welcoming and it caused him to wonder again why Rin hated this place. She hadn't been herself since she'd stepped foot into the town, though the change in her attitude had been subtle it was still noticeable, to Kakashi anyway. The only thing that bothered him more than anything was her distance; she was usually so open about her feelings so why was she shutting him out?
He found himself wanting to know what had happened, why it affected her so much. Surely the disease she was sent to investigate wasn't enough to make her detest the place as a whole, not a place as beautiful as Machenich. There were far worse villages and cities out there, he should know.
"Is there something you wanted by the way?" Rin questioned eventually catching Kakashi ever so slightly off guard.
He turned towards her and blinked at her stupidly before he answered, "Hm?"
"Well you just came bursting into my room like you own the place. You know, I could have been naked or something," she scolded and Kakashi swore he could see the faint evidence of a flush beginning to dust over the bridge of her nose. Perhaps it was the idea of him walking in on her naked. Though the thought caused that piercing heat to tie tight knots in his lower region again he could see her point even if he didn't sympathise with it. He thought briefly of making her see that catching her with no clothes on would only have positive results but there was a time and a place for all of that, here and now wasn't it.
"Sorry, I was going to knock but I guess I didn't think," he muttered before he began to explain himself, "I came to see if you're okay, no other reason."
He saw her brow knit together before she turned towards him again and eyed him over with a dark shade of curiosity hanging in her eyes. "Why? I told you I had a headache," she retorted. Her tone was harsh and defensive which only served to prove that Kakashi's initial assumption of her reason to leave was actually correct.
"You don't have to lie to me, Rin," he replied softly earning him a dramatic widening of her dark eyes before she quickly spun her head on her shoulders to focus outside once more. Her fingers tightened on the window ledge and he saw her lips twitch as her eyes flitted about in their sockets. Kakashi had hit a raw nerve but by the way she had reacted to his claim it seemed that she didn't particularly want to expose what was troubling her.
"Am I really that easy to read?" she croaked bowing her head her head a little.
An unintentional sigh passed Kakashi's lips as he crossed his arms and turned around in favour of leaning his back against the window ledge. Closing his eyes he thought carefully about what he wanted to say next.
"I wouldn't say you're easy to read, no," he started, hesitating only a little to make sure she fully understood what he'd said. "But I know you, Rin. Maybe better than you know yourself. You didn't eat your meal; in fact you weren't interested in it at all and that's not like you. And you're distant like something's bothering you. You know you can tell me anything, right? That's what I'm here for."
Kakashi turned towards her when she didn't respond. She was just staring out into the night her face expressionless but her eyes were heavy and dull. The cold wind blew in through the window and played her long auburn hair at its whim but she seemed unaffected by the chill even though Kakashi could clearly see the goose-bumps prickling her skin.
Warily he placed a gloved hand over hers feeling her fingers twitch at the contact before he spoke again. "It's alright if you don't want to talk about it. I just wanted to understand, that's all," he said softly as he smoothed his hand over hers and straightened himself to leave. Kakashi didn't think she would open up but he couldn't shake that thick sensation of rejection as he stepped towards the door. That was until he was stopped in his tracks by Rin's voice.
"Do you believe in God, Kakashi?"
The question made him turn back towards her. It was strange question, strange and oddly personal. It seemed that she questioned his faith in a higher power, either that or she was questioning her own. Either way he wasn't sure how he was supposed answer but figured he should seeing as Rin was now wanting to talk.
"I sometimes visit the shrines I pass by to pay my respects but I can't say I'm a religious person," he replied as honestly as he could shoving his hands into his pockets and wondering what the point to this conversation was going to be.
He heard Rin hum as she lifted her head while drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She sighed as she lowered her head again before she began to speak.
"Me neither," she muttered. "But I used to believe in something, that there was something out there that created everything around us, paved out our futures and made us what we are... but this place made me question that." She sighed again before she continued. "It made me think that everything I ever believed in was wrong, that there is no God or Gods or whatever. No God would create something so beautiful and fragile just to destroy it in such an awful and meaningless way."
It was more than evident that Rin was referring to the Rot she had been sent here to investigate and the countless numbers of people that had died from it. Despite the fact that she hadn't gone into too much detail about what she had actually seen over her ten year stint in Machenich it was clear now that whatever she did see still bothered her greatly.
Kakashi strolled back over to the window and resumed his previous position against the ledge between the two beds. He didn't quite know what to say. It was sad to think that her experiences had caused her to question her faith be that in some deity or herself. Most people believed in something and used that something to guide them through life and force them to survive each passing day, but by what Rin was saying she had lost hers somewhere along the way. She was claiming she had lost it here in this pretty little town.
It was one of those typical questions people asked themselves when they were involved in or witnessed something that was totally out of their control. Even he had done the same in his youth, had found himself praying to these gods and asking them the same questions over and over again:
Why did you take my mother away from me?
Why didn't father love me enough to stay?
Why do you keep punishing me?
...Why me?
Although his questions didn't have the same tone to them as Rin's he could appreciate where she stood on the whole matter. He had long found a compromise as to why he was the man he was now and that things happen for a reason even if those reasons are vague and for the most part not understood or resented. As a result he had long given up asking those same questions. Some of them he had answers to others he just had to learn to accept. He thought that maybe sharing his own beliefs with her would help her regain her faith in whatever it was she used to hold so close to her heart.
"I believe we - as people - create our own fate. The decisions we make in life gives us the directions we need to travel and it's those decisions and experiences that mould us into the people we become," Kakashi inputted as he craned his neck to gaze outside. He sensed Rin looking at him which gave him the sizable hint that she was listening.
"I don't know if there's some higher power that created the world, I wasn't brought up to forcibly believe in such a thing and too much water has passed under the bridge now for me to want to think otherwise. But I do have faith in things," he explained somewhat wistfully.
"Like what?" Rin asked softly which forced a smile to tug at the corner of his mouth. He wasn't sure why but her interest made him happy. It was a strange feeling though pleasant, needless to say that he wasn't about to question it.
He sighed as he turned his body to face the window crossing his arms over the ledge he leaned against it and continued to gaze out into the night as he thought about his answer still aware that Rin was looking at him intently. Maybe there was something in particular that she wanted to hear, although he wasn't certain what that something was he would be honest with his answer, he owed her that much.
"I have faith in my village, the Hokage, my student - I mean - my team..." he hesitated again as he shifted his sights to the girl next to him. She was looking at him with a sparkle of interest in her eyes that he found mesmerising until he allowed his eye to drop to her mouth, an area of her face he just couldn't resist anymore. Her lips were parted ever so slightly and he was certain he could see them glistening in the artificial light of the room, inviting him in, begging him to touch them. What he wouldn't give just to touch his own lips on hers right now. Eventually he dragged his focus back to her eyes.
"...I have faith in you, Rin. You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for," he finished allowing that slight haze of a smile to twitch further upwards as he witnessed a slight flush of pink surface on her face. She looked away suddenly, seemingly embarrassed by his statement and tucked a stray strand of auburn behind her ear.
"Thank you," she whispered as she chose to look at him out of the corner of her eye and hunched her shoulders ever so slightly.
Kakashi hummed a chuckle at her reaction and nudged her thigh with his elbow. "The important thing is to have faith in yourself. Sometimes that's all you need," he reassured her prompting her to face him again.
"Do you have faith in yourself, Kakashi?"
The question caught him completely off guard. Kakashi hadn't asked her that question directly just merely advised that having faith in one's self could very well be a good thing. But Rin was asking him out right and he had no idea how he was supposed to answer but it seemed his mouth was working faster than his brain this time.
"I have confidence in my abilities," he droned flatly.
"That's not what I asked you..."
He knew the answer to her question but he wasn't certain if he wanted to voice it or whether she would want to hear it. But she was asking which meant she was interested how he viewed himself. He decided to answer eventually though he felt uneasy not knowing how she would react to it.
"It's difficult to hold yourself in such high regard when you've made so many mistakes," he answered dully not daring to make eye contact with her as he spoke. The room dropped colder all of a sudden as he just stood there looking out at the world in front of him thinking about what he'd just said and how stupid he must sound. The statement was shameful and he realised he had completely contradicted himself. Kakashi didn't like the idea of being a hypocrite; he just hoped Rin didn't see it that way. He felt his brow crease together as he felt the embarrassment begin to seep into his skin until the sensation of long slender fingers running though his hair forced him to gaze up at the woman sitting on the window ledge.
Rin looked down at him with a fond yet sympathetic smile her eyes warm and loving as she ran her thumb softly over his scalp.
"All those mistakes have made you the man you are today which means you've learned from them, that's what's important," she soothed before lowering her hand from his hair to his shoulder. "I'll be your faith if you want if you continue to be mine. We're stronger together than apart don't you think?"
They regarded each other for a moment before Kakashi hummed at her and patted the hand on his shoulder with his own. He appreciated her sentiment and he would take it to heart like he did most of the things she said to him recently but the conversation was steering away from its original purpose.
"That's nice, Rin. But this isn't about me. I'm a tough old stick, you know that. I'm more concerned about you."
"I'm okay, Kakashi. Honestly, I'm fine. I don't want you to worry about me," she said reassuringly with a warm smile and a small shake of her head.
It was another lie, but Kakashi let it slide. She wanted him to believe that she was okay and for now he was happy to let her think she had convinced him so he did nothing other than return the smile and nodded to show that he was taking her word for it.
"Okay, I'm actually quite cold now, I'm gonna shut this window," she stated in a voice that was a lot more confident than before as she slapped her hands on the ledge and swung her legs back into the room.

Rin had to admit that her little talk with Kakashi had made her feel mildly better. She was still apprehensive about the following day but she decided that she was going to face that when she came to it. There was no point in worrying herself over something that wasn't happening yet or she couldn't change. But talking about her lack of faith in herself and her beliefs actually helped even though she didn't think it would.
Kakashi was like her in this aspect, he placed his faith in others as opposed to himself. It was sad to think he didn't think very highly of himself due to past experiences, but she was one to talk on that score. Perhaps it was time to try and gain some of the confidence back that she had lost over the years. It was time to stop blaming themselves for something neither of them had any power over.
The copy ninja had surprised her again tonight; she knew his waters ran deep, deeper than most people thought. Kakashi only showed what he wanted people to see on the surface but he was different with her. He was different all around, if she really thought about it, than what he used to be. Tonight was another one of those instances where she felt he was a whole new person and the feelings she had for him weren't revived from past memories but were being formed from new ones.
He didn't seem to hold things back as much anymore although he had tried to during their last conversation it hadn't taken much to coax him into revealing his true thoughts on things. It made her happy that he felt comfortable revealing such personal truths about himself, it was nice to know that he trusted her with his feelings but it annoyed her that she felt she wasn't able to open up fully to him yet.
It wasn't that she didn't trust Kakashi; she did, with her life. But she was afraid of how he would react if she told him everything that had happened here. The last thing she wanted was for him to resent her for wanting to move on with her life despite how homesick she had been and despite how desperately she still loved and wanted him. Even if she had gone along with what Satoshi-san wanted, what he thought was best for her; she knew her feelings for Kakashi would always be there. That part of her was too old to change and she would have spent the remainder of her life burying her head in the sand pretending that he meant nothing to her.
But her need for routine and that sense of normality had very nearly gotten the better of her. Marrying Satoshi-san was the easy option out of the two that were placed before her at the time. If she had accepted Satoshi-sans proposal four years ago her life would have been very different. She would have made a home in a place she hated, could have had children she didn't truly want and she would now be a widow grieving for a man she didn't really love.
All these images and thoughts had decided to manifest in her mind over dinner and no matter how hard she'd tried to banish them they just wouldn't leave. They made her feel ill, the reason she had excused herself from the dinner table in the first place. Rin had originally thought she had gotten away with it; trust Kakashi to pick up on her mood.
What confused Rin the most, however, was how these images made her feel. She should be thanking her lucky stars that she'd had the strength at the time to turn Satoshi-san down, for following her heart instead of her head, for not settling for second best. If she hadn't she wouldn't even be in the same room as Kakashi right now and he would still be thinking she was lying dead in a ditch somewhere. That and she would still be trapped in this godforsaken town. But all she felt was guilt and remorse.
She felt she could have done something more but she didn't know what that something was. The truth was she wanted to love Satoshi-san; she wanted to believe that he could give her everything she ever wanted. But she just didn't, it was just that simple. She didn't love him, not the way he wanted her to and she didn't believe. She couldn't be the person he wanted her to be. Perhaps that was the source of her guilt... That she was right for him, but he was wrong for her.
Allowing her feet to drop to the carpeted floor Rin stood from the ledge just as Kakashi was now meandering towards the door and closed the huge window behind her. He was right, it was freezing but she needed the fresh air, needed that sensation of being able to breathe again, she just didn't want to go wandering the streets on her own. Not that it was particularly dangerous here in Machenich, she just didn't want to be on her own. At least staying in the hotel she knew the others were nearby if she needed them.
Rin continued to look into the night sky through the glass as she made her way down the narrow valley between hers and Sakura's beds when she collided with the large body stood at the foot of them causing her to gasp and reach out in front of her. The first things she managed to grab were either side of Kakashi's waist and she noticed the very obvious jerk in his spine and the little yelp he emitted as her fingers sank into him. It was a noise that she had never heard him make before and which caused her to just stay pressed up against him with her forehead against his collarbone while she tried to figure out if it was Kakashi that had just made that noise or whether it was actually her.
Before she even had the time to piece it all together in her head Kakashi was already wrenching her hands away from him and holding her almost at arm's length. An action that surprised her considering how close they'd become recently. He was acting like he didn't want her to touch him and she was unsure how she should feel about it.
"You really should watch where you're going," he said hurriedly which only served to confuse the matter further.
"Kakashi, what's wrong?" she asked genuinely concerned about his weird behaviour as she limply held up her wrists against his hands.
She watched him blink a couple of times before he looked down at his own hands. His eye widened a fraction as he seemed to realise what he was doing and snatched them away very quickly shoving one in his pocket and using the other to scratch the back of his head.
"Nothing's wrong. I just didn't want you to fall." He stated his voice much calmer and steady than before. Rin wasn't convinced however as she narrowed her eyes at him and looked him over. His stance was off, she couldn't quite put her finger on what was different about the way he stood, but it was different none the less and she had a pretty good idea why. Still she was going to pursue this until she got to the bottom of it because nothing amused her more than getting one up on Hatake Kakashi. He knew pretty much every one of her quirks and weaknesses so it was about time she found one of his.
"Then what was that noise?"
"What noise?"
"That noise you made when I grabbed you."
"I didn't make a noise. I think you're hearing things, Rin."
"So why are you getting all defensive, Kakashi?"
"I'm not."
Rin raised her chin and pouted her lips thoughtfully while she eyed him over curiously as she went to walk past him. She could sense him watching her as she purposely brushed her shoulder against his to get by and sauntered around the other side of her bed.
"Okay, I was hearing things then," she drawled as she waved a dismissive hand above her head and turned her back on him as reached the little wet room on the far side of the room. The further away she was from him the safer he would think he is. There was nothing finer in life than luring a man into a false sense of security.
"Well, if everything's okay I'm going to head off if that's alright with you," he droned his hand already on the handle of the door.
She looked over her shoulder, gave him a convincing smile and nodded once confirming that she was going to allow him to leave. Little did the poor copy ninja know that she had news for him. He opened the door and took a single step forward giving Rin her opportunity to strike now his attention was squared directly at the hallway and not at her due to the door being in the way. She lunged over the bed and jabbed him hard in the same spot on his waist that she had grabbed when she bumped into him.
That very same high pitched yelp erupted from Kakashi's throat as he all but threw his entire body to one side and plastered his back against the wall like someone had just tried to stick him with a sharp weapon. He stared back at her with a comically wide eye and she saw that telltale haze of pink peeking over the hem of his mask.
"Aha! I knew it!" Rin shouted jabbing an accusing finger towards him while pushing the door closed roughly with her other hand. "You're ticklish, aren't you?" She couldn't stop that manic triumphant grin from spreading across her face as Kakashi just gawked at her in horror.
Astonishingly he didn't even try to deny it, he quickly flicked his visible eye towards the door but upon noticing that Rin was blocking his only exit he decided to turn tail and run, not that there was anywhere he could actually go, the room was barely big enough to stand around in. He bolted around the other side of Sakura's bed possibly hoping that Rin would just follow so he could jump over it and make for the door.
Rin however just jumped into the valley between him and the bed to stop him from getting any further. She splayed her hands in front of her like a cat ready pounce on its favourite toy and wiggled her fingers in a tantalising manner.
"Rin, don't..." he growled, his menacing tone only serving to heighten Rin's amusement. As if he thought the tone of his voice would be enough to scare her off.
"You're only prolonging the inevitable, Kakashi. If you surrender now I promise not to torture you for too long," she chortled back as she stepped from side to side in time with the tall Jounin in front of her who looked ready to strike a blow any second.
"No deal," he muttered narrowing his eye at her as he tried again to shuffle to his left only to be followed by his new found enemy.
She figured if she could just jump her way across the bed to his left she would stand a good chance of catching him. She took the chance and jumped up on the soft mattress only to be countered by a much heavier and stronger Kakashi who did the same, grabbed her by the shoulders, spun her around himself and shoved her off the opposite side.
Rin growled in mild frustration as her back collided with the wall behind her and saw Kakashi look over his shoulder at her and wink as if to say "better luck next time".
The smug expression she was certain he was hiding behind that mask caused her to lunge for his leg just as he was about to lift it off the mattress. As she landed full force on the soft duvet she clawed at his ankle while she simultaneously battled with the thick sheet that magically wrapped itself around her and obscured her view. She felt her fingers unravel some of Kakashi's bindings until she managed to grab a firm hold on the cuff of his sandal. She managed to peer from beneath her cloth prison just in time to see his foot slip out of his shoe as he tried to twist his body in a bid to see what was stopping him from moving.
"Gotcha!" she cried as she grabbed the same ankle with her other hand and gave it a firm tug causing the copy nin to completely lose his balance and fall into a heap in the valley between the beds with a flailing of both arms, a pathetic cry of surprise and a loud thump.
"Ow..." he groaned as Rin released his foot untangling her legs from the duvet and pulled herself across the mattress so she was between Kakashi's feet that were both resting on the bed. She couldn't contain the loud snort as she tried to suppress the laugh which forced her to slap a hand over her mouth.
Kakashi was just laying there, both legs on the mattress Rin was lying on, his butt on the floor and his back resting against the other bed while he rubbed the back of his head. Somehow he had lost his hitai-ate in the fall which was now lying limply on the frame next to him and his mask had been pulled down to his chin at some point so she could clearly see the painful grimace that pulled at his mouth while he groaned under his breath.
"Are you alright?" she snickered between the gaps in her fingers. She didn't mean to laugh at his pain but just seeing him in a mess on the floor made it so hard to suppress the giggles.
"Yeah, but I whacked my head on the way down," he croaked as he winced up at her but there was the faint beginnings of a smile even as he lowered his hand from his head and checked it over possibly to see if he was bleeding. Thankfully he wasn't but chances were he might have a bit of a headache for a while.
After kicking the duvet from the bed Rin clambered carefully over the body on the floor and stood next to him. She leaned herself over and offered her hands to him to which Kakashi stared at them somewhat worriedly.
"I'm not going to tickle you, Kakashi. And I'm really sorry I made you bump your head. Let me help you up so I can take a look." She was still giggling a little, not just at the guy lying in a heap on the floor but at the situation as a whole. They were no better than children sometimes, it was a wonder the people in the next room weren't banging on the wall and telling them to keep the noise down. Maybe they were complaining about them to the receptionist down stairs. That wouldn't bode well if they were kicked out for being noisy. There were no other hotels in Machenich and sleeping rough wasn't exactly what Rin had in mind.
Kakashi grabbed one of her hands and readjusted himself on the floor so he was able to get to his feet. Rin needn't have bothered offering him the support, it wasn't like he really needed it but she was the one that made him almost split his head open so it was the least she could do.
As soon as he was on his feet Rin guided him to her bed and tugged at his hand to coax him into sitting which he did right way. Once he was seated Rin took hold of his head and pulled him into position while she felt around the back of his scalp for a bump which didn't take too long to find.
"I'm fine, Rin..." Kakashi started before he was interrupted.
"Yes, I know but I want to take away the swelling or it's going to be sore for longer than it needs to be," she droned back as she began to apply healing chakra to the duck egg that was now forming at the base of his skull. The healing took all of a matter of seconds and once she was confident there was no more bump she did one more final check by running her fingers along his scalp once more.
"How does that feel?" she asked allowing Kakashi to sit upright and test the area himself.
"Feels good. Thanks," he replied with one of his trademark eye crease type smiles until he winced at her again. "Please don't tell anyone about this, Rin, it's really embarrassing, you know," Kakashi muttered almost like he feared someone else could hear him speak such profanities about himself.
Rin just giggled at him and the thought of now holding a weapon so powerful that she could reduce the copy nin to nothing more than a messy puddle of giggles if she wanted to. Not that she had any intentions of ever breaching his trust and telling anyone about it. It could be their dirty little secret, but something she could use against him when the occasion called for it.
"Of course I won't tell anyone. But did you know that being ticklish is actually a sign of tension? A good massage can usually help with that," she responded with a warm smile. Though the act of tension relief did dim down the ticklish sensations it didn't get rid of them altogether. But Rin didn't see a point in informing him of that. She kind of liked the idea of Kakashi being a little out of control of his own skin. The thought amused her greatly.
"I don't feel tense," he drawled flatly while habitually rolling both shoulders around in the joints as if to prove it to her.
"Maybe you don't in yourself, but that doesn't mean there isn't some underlying physical stress you're not aware of," she explained before beckoning him towards her with a wave of her hand. "Come on, I'll give you a massage if you want and you'll see what I mean."
He looked at her sceptically his expression suggesting that he didn't quite trust her judgement on the situation as he turned his head slightly to let his one open eye rove over her.
"You can perform massages?" he asked curiously, that one dark eye narrowing a little as he spoke.
"Well, unless you're completely senile – and sometimes I do wonder - then you'll recall that I am a medic nin. I've been training in physiotherapy since I was five so I think I know what I'm doing." Her tone was purposely sarcastic as she shook her head disapprovingly at him but it seemed the spiel worked as he hutched towards her and turned his back on her as she used her hands on his shoulders to guide him into position.
"Whenever I think of the term massage I think of those sauna places you find in the middle of nowhere…" he commented casually as Rin pressed her fingers into his broad shoulders in search for knotted muscle.
"You mean those brothels, don't you," she grumbled flatly noting that Kakashi was indeed quite tense. His subscapularis were harder than they should be. Yes he was toned, muscle built up over time was going to be harder than someone with less physical training as him, he was a shinobi after all, but her fingers and a slight application of chakra revealed that if the tension in his back wasn't relieved soon he could start to have some problems later in his life. She wondered at that point if he suffered from the odd twinge here and there when physically active.
"They're not all brothels…" he muttered eventually in a frail attempt to defend his own dignity. It seemed he knew where this part of the conversation was heading and Rin's curiosity wasn't about to let this go.
"Ah, so you've been to one? How was it? Were the girls pretty?" she asked darkly hoping to make him squirm just a little. She was only playing, why should it bother her what he did in his youth? Most young shinobi liked to spend time in these places; usually it was their first taste of sex so she wouldn't be surprised if Kakashi had been to one of these parlours purely for that reason. It was just something that happened.
"Well, yes I have, but not for sex if that's what you're hinting at. I like the baths in those places. I didn't really take much notice of the staff."
"Yeah, I noticed a couple of them on the way back to Konoha. They're always near hot springs."
"Why pay for heat when you can get it for free?"
Rin hummed at his response. She had no reason not to believe what he said, but when she thought about it, she found she didn't really care about his past as much as she thought she would. Rin was a jealous person, even she knew this, but what was the point in tormenting herself over something that had already happened?
She disregarded the conversation as her focus was drawn back to Kakashi's shoulders as she mentally took note of the area's that needed the most attention. She smiled a little at the thought that she wasn't as gentle as the young girls that worked in the off road parlours. Physiotherapy was worlds apart from the services those places offered. Though it was going to hurt to begin with the long term effects were more than worth it.
She slid her hands down the valley of his spine and absently noticed him stiffen as she worked her way around to his hips. She grimaced when her fingers kept catching in the fabric of his shirt and disrupted her chakra flow making the task harder than it needed to be.
"I need you to take your shirt off," she ordered softly dropping her hands away from him and reaching behind her to a small bag she liked to keep her lady essentials in when she travelled. She sifted through the makeup and tiny perfume bottles hoping he had something greasy she could use on his skin to eliminate any friction and was very please to find a small plastic bottle of hand cream. It wasn't the correct gel she would usually use for such a task but it would provide enough lubricant for her hands to smooth over skin and stop Kakashi from suffering any friction.
"Sorry?" she heard him say as she pulled out the bottle and applied a small amount to her hands and rubbed vigorously to spread it evenly.
"Your shirt, take it off. And your tank as well."
"Why?"
"Because it's disrupting my chakra, I work better with bare skin. Oh, I might need to straddle you while I massage as well because the bed is quite low so you'll need to lie down."
He seemed to think about her last order, his one open eye flicking to the side momentarily before he flicked back to her face with an amused glint and a slight crooked grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"Can I lie on my back?"
"How will I massage your back if you're lying on it, stupid?"
"I might have other areas that need more attention than my shoulders."
She stared at him blankly, not wanting to justify his remark with the reaction he was trying to coax out of her as she watched that smirk pull his mouth a little more to one side.
"You're dirty, Kakashi," she responded coolly.
"I'm just saying I might need some physiotherapy elsewhere. I never instigated anything remotely rude. That was all you."
Choosing to stay quiet she merely arched a brow at him as he curled his fingers under the hem of his shirt and began to pull it upwards over his head.
"You can't blame me for trying…" he grumbled as he tossed his shirt to the opposite bed and repeated the action with his tank.
Rin tried her best to divert her eyes away from him as he began to rearrange himself on the bed and lie on his front with his arms folded under his chin and thankfully his actions were quite quick which meant she didn't get a good look at his naked front. It was disappointing but it was just as well. This wasn't for anything other than loosening knots in muscles not for adult situations.
"Okay, are you ready?" she chirped as she stood up at the side of the bed hands poised at the ready.
"Yeah, I'm ready," he drawled as he stared seemingly intently at the door in front of him.
"I'll warn you now, it's going to be a little bit painful to start with but that'll soon pass. I have to get the knots out first, but you might enjoy it after that part's done," she explained as she bent over and started to apply her hands to the skin of his waist and smearing the cream on her hands over his lower back. His skin was so warm under her hands and she could feel the muscles in his lower back twitching as she ran her fingers over them but she put it down to the fact that her hands were actually quite cold.
"I'm sure I can handle it," he chuckled turning his head so the side of his face rested against his arms.
Rin hummed at his response, or course he could handle it, he'd been through the wars more times than she could count, compared to some of the injuries he'd sustained in battle in his lifetime this should be nothing. After a few moments of making sure he was fully relaxed – by the way his eyes were closed she could only assume he was – and the cream was doing the job she had given it she began to apply more pressure, kneading the skin with her fingers over the hardened knots of muscle and pressing harder into Kakashi's back when she came across more stubborn areas.
She noticed the crosshatching of scars running along his back, she would know the stories behind most of them but some looked fresher than others which made her wonder how he got them and what truth lay behind them. Maybe she would ask him one day and they could compare war wounds. Rin had a few of her own that could rival his even as a highly skilled medic nin there were some wounds she just couldn't fully heal. The distinctive scar that ran through Kakashi's left eye was a prime example of that.
She performed her magic from his lower back and gradually worked her way up to his shoulders which was the point where she would have to sit on him to gain better access. That and her back was starting to ache because the bed was too low for this kind of work. She was impressed with her patient though. He didn't wince or complain once. The only movements he made was to move his head from one side to the other in fact by the way his breathing was so regulated Rin assumed he had actually fallen asleep.
"Are you awake?" she asked a little quieter than she intended but was relieved when he answered her straight away.
"Yes," he replied simply.
"Good because I need to sit on you now. I'm not heavy though..." she started to explain before Kakashi interrupted her in the same flat voice as before.
"Go for it."
Grabbing the cream from the end-table she lifted her shirt a little above the knee and stepped over the man on her bed before she carefully lowered herself so she was sat right at the base of his back. She felt herself blush at the thought that she was very nearly sat right on his butt and the only thing separating his flesh from hers were the black shorts she wore beneath her shirt but she shooed the idea away to the back of her mind with a stern shake of her head. She was sure it would be back to haunt her later.
"Behave yourself, Rin," she whispered to herself not that a self scolding was going to her any favours in the slightest, trying to act professional around this man was harder than she first thought it would be. Especially now her legs were all but wrapped around his midriff.
Rin applied more cream to her hands and began going through the same motions she had used for his lower back on the rounds of his shoulders and she was certain she heard him moan when she began to apply more pressure. Was he enjoying this that much? That noise did not sound like one of discomfort that was for certain. The sound made her pause if only for a second and thought that maybe an innocent conversation would help ease that boiling heat she could feel stirring in the pit of her stomach. She feared she might break if she heard him moan like that again.
"So, Kakashi, have you started reading those books I gave you yet?" she asked with a smile as she thought back to the way he had reacted when she handed the little blue novels to him.
"I'm about half way through the first one," he replied his voice more of a sigh than anything else.
"What, already?"
"I'm a quick reader."
"Well, I guess you've had plenty of practice, right?"
"Yeah, you could say that."
The room dropped silent again as Rin found a particularly hard spot in the centre of Kakashi's left shoulder and poured her concentration and chakra into pushing it out with both of her thumbs. Again, it was an action that would make even the strongest men wince but he didn't even move. He just lay there with his head resting on his folded arms seemingly contented with his eyes closed as she rotated her digits over the hard knot enough to make the skin beneath turn red. Either he didn't feel the pain at all or he was just really good at hiding it.
Once she was satisfied that the lump had been dealt with she resumed with the just rubbing the balls of her hands over his shoulder blades up towards his neck and then back again. If she was completely honest, she was quite enjoying this herself. Just spending time with Kakashi was enough on its own anyway but she quite liked the idea of making feel good with a simple massage even though she was more than aware of the many other ways she could make him feel good...
"What's the book about anyway?" she asked eventually not content with the silence and wanting to distract her mind from the erotic thoughts that were invading her brain and telling her to do things she knew she probably shouldn't.
"You had them all that time and you didn't read them?" he mused back sounding rather surprised at the fact that she was asking at all.
"Well, no. I've only read the first two of the main series and I wasn't sure if they carried on from those stories and I didn't want to ruin it for myself, you know?"
"This story is independent from the others. The only reason they're called Icha Icha is because the main character in Diversions makes an appearance in Icha Icha Violence a couple of times. Call them a spin off series, if you will."
"Oh, so what's it about?"
"A girl."
"Okay... and...?"
"Her name's Yuki. At the start of the book she's just waking up from a coma, I haven't gotten to the part that tells you why she was in the coma yet. But she's in love with a man who doesn't return her feelings."
"Oh, that sounds pretty sad."
"It is."
At that point Kakashi decided to prop himself up on his arms forcing Rin to stop her massage altogether and just sit there on the small of his back. She thought about moving but Kakashi was making no motions about wanting to turn over so she stayed put.
"It's actually a bit strange if I'm honest because the story describes how this girl feels like she's still in the dream she was having when she was in the coma. Sometimes it even suggests that she's still out cold so at this point I'm not sure if the character is still dreaming or not. But I can relate to what she's going through because I've had that feeling before," he explained with a hue to his voice that Rin wasn't sure she liked. It was difficult to recognise because he had never spoken to her like this before. That and he was being so open without being asked or coaxed into talking which was more than a little surprising, but she still found herself wanting him to continue.
"What do you mean? That you've felt like you're still dreaming when you're awake or you've been in a coma?"
"Both."
Rin was a little taken aback by his admission. She never knew he'd been in a coma for any length of time. The mere thought that Kakashi had been through something awful enough to place him in a state of prolonged unconsciousness made her chest ache. She'd seen plenty of patients in such a state and usually those people never woke up. But most of all she just felt guilty for not knowing and for not being there for him at the time.
"When was the last time you felt like this," She asked feeling more concerned that what he was telling her actually bothered him although she wasn't certain if it did or not.
"Well, when you came back to Konoha, if you must know." She heard him hum a chuckle before he continued. "Sometimes, when you were staying at my place I'd wake up on the sofa and not know where I was. Then after a few minutes I'd remember and I'd have to lie there awake for a while to try and make sure that I wasn't dreaming, although there were days when I wasn't too sure."
Rin didn't know what to say to that. Was he seriously suggesting that he'd dreamt about her and this situation when in this coma of his? Was he actually questioning if he was even awake now? She just sat there unsure of how she was supposed to respond to something so heartbreaking.
"But I guess that sounds dumb, ne?" he chuckled eventually when she didn't answer tensing his shoulders ready to drop him back to the bed but Rin prevented him from doing so as she leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck. She heard him grunt in surprise when she buried her face in his hair.
"No... no it's not dumb, Kakashi. It's not dumb."
He didn't respond but he craned his neck to try and look at her which prompted her to adjust herself to make his task easier.
When their eyes connected Rin was surprised to find that there was no lingering hue of sadness in his expression like she'd expected to see but he looked hopeful, like he was waiting for something so she took that as an opportunity to give him just a little confirmation.
"You're not dreaming, Kakashi. I can promise you that," she whispered giving him a small smile as she brushed a stray strand of silver out of his eye.
"Well, I can tell you now, that if I was dreaming..." he hesitated and he swallowed hard before he continued, "...If I was I don't think I'd want to wake up this time."
She shook her head at him before placing her forehead on his. "You shouldn't say things like that," she scolded lightly. But she understood what he meant, that he would rather stay in a dream with her than wake up and face the real world. Rin had lost count of the amount of times she wished she could just remain in a dream, to not wake up and face herself in the mirror, her reality and the crushing loneliness. Fortunately for both of them this was the real world and she'd never appreciated existing in it like she did right now.
They regarded each other for a few moments while Rin continued to brush the hair from Kakashi's face needlessly seeing as all it did was fall back into place each time.
"Kiss me?" he whispered suddenly turning himself slightly to one side which in turn caused Rin to slide off his back completely and onto the bed next to him.
She didn't hesitate and she certainly didn't need asking twice as she pulled herself closer lifting her chin so she could reach him before she kissed him softly on the mouth feeling his lips purse against hers. She allowed herself to linger just to enjoy his pressure against her before she began to pull away, that was until he raised his hand and used his fingers under her chin to bring her back to him.
"Kiss me again." His voice was merely a breath as he applied his lips to hers though a little firmer this time. She felt his mouth part slightly and the inquisitive tap of his tongue on her lips as though asking to be invited in. The heat in the pit of her stomach began to sink deeper and she felt it pool between her legs as she opened her mouth against his and relished the way his tongue tasted against hers. He tasted so damn good but it wasn't enough, she wanted more.
She shifted herself planting a hand on his shoulder and forced him to roll back and she could feel his other hand now fumbling with the top buttons of her shirt. The kiss was becoming more desperate as the already searing heat between them continued to get hotter. She heard him moan into her mouth a very similar sound to the one he made while she massaged his back. Hearing him moan in pleasure was just so damn sexy she couldn't contain herself for much longer if he carried on like that.
Kakashi had managed to undo the top two buttons of her shirt when they both heard an audible click and someone stepped into the room forcing them both to crane their eyes in that general direction though their mouths were still connected each one of them reluctant to let go until a familiar girl stepped into the light and looked straight at them as they lay there paused in shock.
"Ah! Oh my god!" came the shrill cry of Sakura who was now shielding her eyes from them as the pair tore away from each other while Kakashi jolted from the bed and made a desperate grab for his tank.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I... I didn't mean... I'm so sorry! J-just ... just let me get my things and I'll go," she stuttered just before she scrabbled to the floor to collect her pack from the foot of her bed.
"No, Sakura, listen it wasn't..." Rin started unable to finish as the young girl rushed past her and through the door. "Sakura, wait, just let me explain..."
The young and seemingly humiliated girl spun around in the doorway clutching her pack to her chest like her life depended on it. Her face was crimson probably from seeing her former sensei in a situation she had probably never seen him in before. "No, no, it's okay, Rin-sensei. I mean me and Yamato were going to ask if we could swap rooms anyway but you and Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura took one look at the silver haired Jounin - who was now stood in the doorway just looking back at her as expressionless as ever like nothing had happened - and dropped her gaze to her feet as her already red face seemed to take on a darker shade.
"I'm so sorry for interrupting," she muttered sounding more shameful this time.
Did Rin just hear her right? "What? What do you mean, swapping rooms?" she questioned hurriedly as she made for the door herself. By the time she had poked her head out of the doorway she could already see Yamato tossing a large green pack to Sakura who caught with the littlest of effort before handing it to Rin so briskly she had no choice but to reach up and catch it before the candy topped medic dropped it on the floor.
Rin just looked on bewildered and not quite understanding what was going on as Sakura mouthed the words 'Thank You' at her and quickly scurried off into the other room and both her and Yamato disappeared behind the door and slammed it behind them.
Both Rin and Kakashi stood there just gazing into the now empty hallway until Kakashi eventually broke the silence. "Well, that wasn't awkward at all," he drawled.
"What just happened?" Rin asked genuinely bewildered by the whole situation as she turned to face him still holding onto the green pack Sakura had handed her.
She saw Kakashi's eye's crease a little at the corners which suggested that he was grinning behind the mask he now wore as he reached out and grabbed the top handle of the pack and gently took it from her.
"It looks to me like I've just been evicted," he chuckled, turning into the room and tossing the pack onto the bed Rin had messed up earlier which had originally been Sakura's bed.
Rin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as the humiliation of what had just taken place began to sink in. It was just as well that the young girl had walked in on them when she did. Rin had promised herself not to get carried away while on this mission and were it not for her she could very well have ended up sleeping with Kakashi and regretting it later.
She loved him, and she wanted him more than anything but she wanted her first time to be special, not tainted by bad memories. So she guessed this was a blessing in disguise. Needless to say that their mood for something sensual had been thrown straight out of the window.
Kakashi strolled out of the door and into the hallway as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm going to get a drink from the bar. Do you want anything?" he asked as he shifted his weight onto one foot.
"Some cyanide pills if they've got them. If not then just a coffee, please," she responded with a slight giggle to her tone.
"Got it," he replied with that understanding yet hidden smile before he turned on his heel and navigated himself towards the stairs. It seemed that he felt the same way as she did. He knew she wasn't herself and she was pretty certain the last thing he would want to do was take advantage of that. Not that she would have held it against him if something did happen tonight. It did take two to tango after all.
Rin closed the door behind her as she re-entered the room and rested the back of her head against it. She felt more relived now that Sakura had interrupted them than embarrassed, but now she just worried what her perception of her old eccentric sensei was. She just hoped this wouldn't make things awkward for the next day. Rin was dreading it but she needed to remain focused on what she needed to do and a strained atmosphere was the last thing she needed. But for now she would settle with a cup of coffee and maybe one of the books she had brought along.
The less she thought about it all the better.
- 13
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- 15
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