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Lucid	By : Rashaka Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1318 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Comments: You probably thought this would never happen, huh? Well here you go! I had to go on a trip to save the world for a year, but I'm back now and able to catch up on some fic (though I'm behind in the Naruto manga, just so you know, and certain people are alive here that might have died in canon). This chapter is again from Sakura’s POV, which means its pretty soft rating. I think I’ll stick with her a little longer but I’ll eventually switch back to our favorite perv.

Soundtrack for this chapter: Blink 182 – “Feeling This”, Tears For Fears – “Head Over Heels”

Lucid

7 – And if that’s wrong, it doesn’t matter

"My money's on Gai," a tall brunette stated, calmly sipping her rum and coke and speaking loudly over the music.

Next to her, Sakura felt a surge of unexpected loyalty. "I'm sure Kakashi-sensei can hold his own."

"Gai's got twenty pounds on him," Kurenai replied with a shake of her head, "and a lot more enthusiasm for drinking games." Before their eyes a circle had formed in the patio crowd, and in the middle were two jounins, known to be eternal rivals. The men were alternating with shots of very cheap vodka, pausing after every four drinks to wait a pre-determined recess of five minutes. They were on their third recess, and the crowd—a collection of young and old villagers that Sakura knew from her genin years and her current hospital work—was furiously laying bets on who would forfeit, vomit, or collapse first.

"Kakashi must have been drunk plenty of times before." The young medic was still finding it difficult to think of her former instructor as being bad at something, even drinking, which hardly counted as a ‘skill' in the first place.

Kurenai laughed like she had the most fascinating secret. "Oh yeah, he's been drunk before. He certainly has been that." As the woman’s mirth settled they heard a sharp whistle, and turned their heads to see Gai and Kakashi slam another four drinks faster than the eye could see.

An hour later, the citrus lay before her in bright clusters: oranges, lemons, limes, waiting to be sliced for shots or garnish. Off to the side there were other fruit: kiwis, peaches, and apples already sliced and ready to be carried out to the waiting masses, with the strawberries on the cutting board before her, lush and red. Cooking relaxed Sakura, and she didn’t mind covering the duties of hostess for her birthday party. Periodic trips to the kitchen, which was partially walled off from the rest of the party with a large bookcase, allowed her the chance to take a breath.

She glanced over her shoulder, saw a man through the pink strands of her hair, and did a double take. A smile bubbled up, and Sakura quirked her head at him as she resumed chopping fruit. He appeared at her side seemingly without having traversed the distance; it was an impressive feat with so many people in the kitchen hallway, and most of them shinobi. Now he was safe in the respite of her parent’s immaculately neat kitchen. "You made it," she grinned, and elbowed him playfully. "It's not so boring, is it?"

Kakashi held his novel up to his nose. "I hadn't noticed."

Sakura laughed, and said, "I'm sure Gai would protest."

Kakashi tucked the book away and leaned his lower back against the counter. Amongst all the partiers in their off-duty clothing, he reminded Sakura of a heavily armed cat: slippery, with hidden claws. "Caught that, did you?" he murmured. Sakura popped a slice of kiwi between her teeth, and raised her eyebrows. He certainly was chatty since they’d started this tentative friendship. Chatty for Hatake Kakashi, at least, though his was hardly a meter for normal people.

"He is hard to miss, especially when he's challenging you," she replied, and noticed the way his eyes tracked the food she brought to her mouth. His gaze skipped from the knife-tip to various parts of her face. "Thanks, by the way. You won me ten easy ones and senbon needle."

"Happy to help," he deadpanned, still intently staring at her face. The scrutiny was a little unsettling, but then again just being around Kakashi could be unsettlingly. Her former sensei didn't pay much attention to people unless there was a reason to do so. If he looked at you for too long without making a dead-pan comment you'd start to wonder if you had royally messed up some inane little aspect of the training he'd instructed you to perform and he was subsequently going to kill you as punishment, or if he was just plain going to kill you. After their conversation the other night and the awkward moment in her office she had hoped she’d be more comfortable around him, but she felt nearly as peculiar talking to him now as she had before.

Sakura ate another strawberry slice off the tip of her kitchen knife. "How much did you drink?"

"Hmm?"

"Kakashi, how much did you have to drink to get Gai to collapse?"

He waved at the air dismissively. To the young surgeon's sharp eyes the gesture didn't appear as wobbly as she’d expected. "Not the most I've ever had in a sitting. Gai's tolerance is surprisingly low."

However much it was, it had done the job. Sakura cut more strawberries, musing at the inebriated man before her. He didn't display many of the physical tell-tales; it was primarily from his language that she could tell. For one thing, he was talking about something that might have occurred before she'd known him—Kakashi did not normally talk about any personal topics older than last month—alluding to the fact that he'd been drunk before, multiple times, and to a worse degree. The detail was meticulously filed away for her subconscious to pore over later.

“Well, he is Lee’s idol,” she pointed out, as everyone knew the boy’s history with alcoholic reaction. “Maybe Gai just—ow, damn.” The cutting board was coated with juice, and her hand slipped, nicking her palm with the tip of the knife. She held up the appendage and examined a dot of blood beading below her middle finger’s knuckle joint. Although Sakura could have healed the shallow wound with two thoughts, she instead did a thing she hadn’t indulged in since childhood: she brought the tiny cut to her mouth and sucked it, tasting a drop of her blood mixed with fresh fruit juice.

“That’s unsanitary,” Kakashi said, and she looked up at him guiltily. His eyes glazed from alcohol, he reached out and pulled her hand from her mouth, turning it over until it rested in his own, between them. Sakura watched this happen, a little too startled to pull away or question it. His large fingers, more rough even than her own (and she was no rookie when it came to calluses), cradled her hand and his thumbs gently moved over her palm, rubbing away the drops of blood that persistently welled there.

“Can’t you heal this?” he asked, the pads of his thumbs touching every centimeter of the surface of her hand, as if she were a tool and he wanted to test her for polished smoothness. The sensation sent ticklish tingles up Sakura’s arm, despite Kakashi’s detached and clinical tone.

“Watch,” she answered, smiling slightly. He obediently leaned forward, examining her flesh as she sent chakra coursing through her capillaries to the spot on her palm where a tiny hole leaked her strength. She focused the energy, weaving it into tissue until the cut disappeared in a little arc of blue light. Kakashi rubbed the place where it had been, wiping away a streak of red to reveal flawless seventeen-year-old skin. Sakura watched his expression carefully. She had assumed his fascination with the cut came because the alcohol was making him feel morbid and bitter, a temporary funk that more experienced ninja sometimes slipped into, not uncommonly at large, high-attendance parties where things were intended to be cheerful and hopeful.

Calculating the rate at which his pupils continued to expand and contract, the delicate way his hands still caressed her now perfectly healthy appendage, something different altogether crept into Sakura’s mind. She said, “All better,” and had a warm smile prepared when Kakashi met her gaze. He folded her hand on itself and let go.

“Appalling,” he said, putting his fists back into his jacket pockets. He gave her a moon-eyed smile, edges visible behind the mask. “In my day, a decent medic would have grown a new finger.”

Sakura laughed out loud, pushing away from the counter and handing him the bowls of lemons and limes to carry out into the party. “You must be drunk, Kakashi, because I already have the traditional number.” She grabbed two more bowls and shuffled him toward the kitchen door. Her moments of taking Hatake Kakashi seriously were constantly sabotaged by the man himself. What went on in his head from moment to moment, Haruno Sakura had no idea, and he was too tipsy tonight to make a reliable study.

“One could always use a sixth finger,” the Copy-Nin argued as they pressed into the crowd of the living room. “The benefits to one’s partner alone are worth a purchase.”

“Pervert!” Sakura laughed again, and handed him her party food. “Leave these on the snack table, and go do something fun before you’re too far gone to remember.” With her mood brightened and a relaxed smile on her face, she left her enigmatic former teammate standing next to the hors d’oeuvres, the crowd swelling to fill her path until he disappeared completely behind her.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Lucid