Dreams
Sakura couldn't control the blush that rose to her face as Kakashi sat next to her under the tree by the river.
“Ah, it’s such a relief to have one person I can not wear this ridiculous thing around.”
Hearing the words sent Sakura into a frenzy. She peeked at the man's face out of the corner of her eye and sure enough he’d pulled the mask from around his nose, cheeks and mouth and it hung around his neck.
Strands of light shone down through the gaps in the leaves and seemed to cast a spotlight on the stunning ninja before her. The wind blew gently through his hair as he settled into a book, stopping only when he noticed Sakura’s gaze. He looked up at her apprehensively and cocked his head in confusion.
Shit.
Sakura’s heart started beating rapidly and she was sure Kakashi could hear it.
“Sakura?” Kakashi started with concern. Sakura shifted her eyes to the ground as she tried to maintain her composure. “Is there something in my teeth?” Then the silver-haired ninja started to laugh at himself.
This is bad. I can't even look up at him!
Suddenly Sakura felt the presence of Kakashi close in on her. When she looked up reactively, she found her own face hovering mere centimeters away from Kakashi’s, whose dark eyes held a lust that frightened Sakura to her core.
“What's wrong?” His voice was sultry and low. It suggested he already knew the answer to his question.
“Uh… U-um.. I… Uh--” Sakura stammered, red-faced.
Lips met.
This is bad. This is bad? Is this bad?
Lips parted.
“Sakura…” Kakashi leaned in again. “Sakura.”
Sakura sat up suddenly. Snapping her head all around, she could see she wasn't at a tree near the river Konoha at all but in a dark hotel room in Sunagakure. The memories of losing track of the acid-man and his ‘children’ and coming, instead, to Suna to tell Gaara that the culprit was in fact a sand-nin filled her brain. Right, we’re in the Sand Village. Glancing outside Sakura could see it was the early hours of the morning. Stars still dotted the sky but the moon had already begun its descent towards the horizon.
Sakura leaned backwards on the bed but she couldn't be more awake.
Did I seriously just have a romantic dream about Kakashi? Am I twisted?
Her psychological mind went to work calming her nerves.
No. This had nothing to do with Kakashi. I'm just feeling emotional about not being in a relationship and I imprinted those emotions onto Kakashi because he was at the forefront of my mind.
Not that he was there for any particular reason. We're traveling together and we are good friends, so I think about him often.
But not an abnormal amount. I mean people think about people they care about often.
Care about as friends… Not romantically.
Not romantically.
Good.
Sakura flipped over in her bed, but when her eyes landed on the door, realizing Kakashi was just on the other side, her heart began racing and she could feel her face burning. She quickly flipped to face the opposite direction but it didn't help the way Sakura needed it to.
Damn it. This is not good.
Sakura was sitting at her desk in Konoha rather suddenly.
Huh? I don't remember traveling back home.
There were a few light knocks at the door.
“Uh, come in!” Get it together, Sakura.
Silver hair cleared the doorway first before the rest of the tall, built, former copy ninja entered the room.
“K-Kakashi!” Damn it, could I sound more flustered?
The ninja smiled smugly. “Do you have any upcoming appointments?”
Sakura peeked over at where her schedule book usually sat, still extremely confused at what was happening, and noticed that the next appointment was written in a nine o’clock spot for the next day.
“Um, no.”
“Good.” The ninja turned and locked the door. “I told Ino to go grab the two of you lunch so we have about fifteen minutes.” His voice was quiet and seductive.
Fifteen minutes for what?
He quickly closed the distance between them, pulling his mask down to reveal his face as he did so.
“Um Kaka--” but before she could finish the sentence she was pulled into an impassioned kiss.
What's happening!?!?!?
As their kiss dragged on, the ninja effortlessly lifted the kunoichi from her chair and set her on her desk, positioning himself between her legs. Sakura moaned into the kiss, locking her arms behind his head.
Wha-- Sakura, stop that! Look who you're touching!!
She was suddenly having an out of body experience as she allowed her friend and ex-teacher unfasten her obi and open her dress.
HEY! STOP THAT YOU PERVERTS!!!
“Sakura.” Kakashi said with a hushed resonance that gave her chills. “Sakura…”
Sakura arched her back as the other kissed down her exposed stomach.
“Sakura… Sakura?”
What's shaking me?
“Sakura.”
Sakura’s eyes jolted open, and when she saw the exposed face of Kakashi floating above her, she swung on impulse, making hard contact with the unmasked beauty.
“Ah!” Kakashi stumbled a few steps backward gripping his face. “What the hell was that!?”
I was dreaming again… About him… About that…
Sakura looked at Kakashi rubbing his face as it slowly dawned on her that she'd impulsively punched him after being woken up.
“I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY! Here, let me heal it!”
“It's fine. You were still half asleep, so I was spared, mostly. Get dressed, we have to go.”
“... okay.” Sakura could hear Kakashi groaning in pain as he sauntered from the room, sliding the door shut behind him.
Sakura curled up her knees and placed her head in them.
What the hell is going on? Why did I have that kind of dream about Kakashi!?
Sakura knocked her head against her knees a couple times.
Get it together. I don't have those feelings for Kakashi, that's crazy...
…but her subconscious was out to prove otherwise.
For the next several nights, anytime Sakura closed her eyes, if even for just a moment or two, her mind dragged her to lewd places where she and Kakashi would engage in unsavory acts. Just as she started to get a grip on herself, the dreams started morphing into full experiences. Not just sex, but entire days with the silver ninja. Dinner, laughing, hand holding… and then sex.
The dreams were so vivid that it often took Sakura multiple minutes to realize where she was and remember that it wasn't real when she woke up. Of course it also made being around the real Kakashi extremely difficult. Every time she looked at him or he innocently called her name, she was consumed by memories of the dreams.
Sakura hated the way it was driving a stake in between her and her closest friend. She was even starting to avoid him, something she hadn't done once in the entire ten years she's known him. In an attempt to neutralize, Sakura started using her chakra to stay up as late as she could at night. When she couldn't take it anymore she would set her alarm for an hour away and power nap; that way she was never asleep long enough to dream.
It worked for a short while. She was happy to be able to spend unabashed time with Kakashi again. She didn't realize just how much she'd missed his warm smile or comforting laugh. She may have been tired but it evacuated some of the anguish just to be near him again. She watched him happily as he read one of his books in her office while waiting for her to be ready to go to lunch; a normal occurrence. It was the first time the thought snuck it's way into her brain.
I love you.
Fear wrought Sakura as she looked away.
Kakashi noticed that she’d stopped working. “Oh, are you ready? You could have interrupted me.” His voice traveled across the room and crashed into her skin like a wave, leaving behind a shore of goosebumps.
No… Why? Sakura became fearful of her relationship with Kakashi. Developing emotions like this could destroy their relationship. She knew Kakashi might think of her as a friend, but she knew he thought of her as a subordinate as well. He'd never have feelings for me that way.
“Sakura, are you okay?”
I can't go to lunch with him like this. “Y-yeah! I just happened to check my planner and realized there's a meeting I forgot about. I w-won’t be able to have lunch with you today. I'm sorry.”
Kakashi stood up and smiled tenderly through his mask, letting his eyes communicate the emotion. Sakura’s heart started racing. “It’s okay. Ever the busy therapist. Don't overwork yourself.”
“Y-yeah.”
“I'll be working all day tomorrow with Shikamaru and Naruto, but let's reschedule for the day after.”
Sakura did her best to remain even toned as she nodded. “Yeah, let's.”
“Okay. See ya, Sakura.” Kakashi waved a hand as he exited the office.
Sakura stared at the door longingly. What is this disappointment? She banged her head against the desk aggressively, and maybe it was a concussion or the exhaustion from her crazed sleep patterns but the papers that covered her desk suddenly felt soft like pillows.
She was fucking Kakashi before she could protest, this time with sweet ‘I love you’s sprinkled in. She was actually upset to be disturbed a bit later as someone nudged her awake.
“Honestly, you'll catch a cold this way.” The voice became a bit clearer. “Sakura.”
Sakura opened her eyes and looked up slowly, meeting one hazy grey eye beneath long black hair. “Sasuke?”
He slumped down into one of the chairs along the wall of her office. “Are you seriously so tired that you couldn't make it home to your bed?”
“I haven't slept properly in quite some time.” Sakura admitted with her face still flat on her desk.
“Why?”
Sakura’s cheeks flushed as she recalled her most recent dream. “Nothing in particular.”
“Then why are you blushing? Your heart rate has increased too.”
Stupid rinnegan user, thinks he knows everything.
“Can you keep a secret, even from Naruto?”
“I'll do my best. He has this way of seeing right through me. It pisses me off.”
Sakura snickered. Been there. With her new understanding of her feelings it was becoming more clear to her just how similar her situation was to Sasuke's, though she had more faith that Sasuke wasn't alone in his feelings.
“Just think of it like we're keeping each other's secrets.”
“Are you attempting to blackmail me?” Sasuke smiled deviously.
“I don't know, I'm so tired.”
“Just out with it.”
Something about the amount of embarrassing things Sakura and Sasuke had already shared with one another over the course of the time they’d known each other, made her feel like she could tell him anything without repercussions. “I've been having these… Dreams…” She began timidly.
“Dreams? What do you mean?”
“Like… Dreams.” She put heavy emphasis on the word and felt relieved when Sasuke nodded and closed his eyes in understanding.
“Are they involving, anyone in particular?”
Sakura peered at the words she could see on her papers nearest her eyes to try and distract herself. “Yes…”
Sasuke smirked. “Kakashi?”
Sakura’s nose turned red with embarrassment; a trait she inherited from her dad. “I think I…”
Sasuke’s face became serious. “Oh…”
Sakura looked over at Sasuke. “It’s hard being around him because all I can do is think about my dreams so I avoid him but then I end up missing him.” Being overly exhausted and having an oddly unyielding trust in Sasuke kept Sakura speaking earnestly.
She started to feel her eyelids weigh down on her eyes again so she started her, now regular, process of pushing all of her chakra around frantically, creating a light buzzing sensation that would keep her awake.
Sasuke stood up and walked over near Sakura. “What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“With your chakra; stop that.” He replied abruptly.
As a rinnegan user, Sasuke couldn't see chakra networks clearly like a byakugan user but he had an innate skill for sensing it. Sakura supposed that Sasuke could at least sense the influx in chakra, if not pinpoint the exact way it was corralling chaotically through her body.
“It keeps me awake. If I don't dream then I can control myself better and I don't have to avoid him.”
“That's moronic.” Blunt as ever eh Sasuke?
“What?” Sakura lifted her head from the desk for the first time since Sasuke had arrived.
“You know how you feel about him anyway, it's not going to stop it from getting worse, trust me, so you should just go home and get some sleep… Enjoy whatever sweet dreams come your way.”
Sakura blushed at the word ‘enjoy’ and the way Sasuke said it suggestively. He'd officially made the conversation weird.
“Yeah, maybe. I'll sleep here tonight. I'll collapse if I try and make it home.” Sakura said and laid her head back down on her desk.
“Come on, I'll walk you home; see to it that you don't collapse.” Sasuke offered, giving her a rare, sweet, smile.
The thought of sleeping in her bed did pique her interest and so she decided to comply. She nodded and stood up. I'll just ask Ino to take over the rest of my appointments.
They walked from Sakura’s office into the common area and Sakura’s heart dropped into her stomach. It was pitch black outside.
“WHAT TIME IS IT!?”
Sasuke glanced back at her. “Probably ten or later at night.”
I SLEPT FOR TEN HOURS!?
“I fell asleep around noon… I shouldn't still be so tired.”
“When I first came back after being gone for so long, and I finally saw Naruto, I slept for 12 hours a night for nearly two weeks.”
The comment made Sakura feel a little better as they walked from the building and Sakura used her key to lock the door; he's been through this all before. “Thanks for keeping my secret, Sasuke.”
Sasuke held his arm out gentlemen style. “Yeah.” Sakura linked arms with him happily; just talking about it some had improved her mood significantly.
They were chatting and walking towards Sakura’s house when Sasuke started to glance away over his left shoulder. Sakura could see in this corner of her eye that he'd opened his right eye, revealing his rinnegan.
“Sasuke, what is it?” She watched him carefully, mirroring his normal behavior by maintaining herself.
Finally Sasuke looked forward again. “Nothing. I thought I saw someone.”
Sakura knew he had, there was no room for error with the rinnegan. Even so, Sakura believed that if there were any real threats that he'd tell her, so she let it go.
“Hey Sasuke.”
“Hm?” They turned the corner into Sakura’s particularly scenic road, her home sitting at the far end.
“Really, thanks again. If there's anything I can do to repay you…”
“I thought you were blackmailing me?” He scoffed humorously.
Sakura smiled in response. “I don't want to blackmail you; I'd never tell your secret anyway so I'd rather pay you for it.”
Sasuke shrugged. “Don't worry about it. We're friends so…” The word shocked Sakura. She'd never heard Sasuke describe anyone as a friend before. She nodded in agreement. “Well anything I can do as a friend?”
Sasuke hesitated. “...well.”
Sakura unlocked arms with Sasuke as they reached her house and faced him. “There is isn't there? What is it?”
“It's just… This man--” Naruto. “--has seriously shitty eating patterns. I told him I want him to start eating one proper meal a week at my house, and he agreed, but…”
Sakura smirked. “You can't cook?”
“Well the basics but nothing… Impressive.”
Sakura’s cheeks brimmed pink. “I know all his favorites. I have the day off tomorrow so we can go shopping for the ingredients and I'll teach you how to make them!”
Sasuke looked marginally excited for a moment. “He’s supposed to be coming tomorrow so that would be really helpful.”
Sakura smiled. “Done. Let's get an early start so we have plenty of time.”
Sasuke nodded. “I'll pick you up at ten so you can get plenty of sleep.”
“Thanks Sasuke.”
“No, thank you.” She smiled one last time before unlocking her door and walking in. She caught a glimpse of Sasuke’s hand waving bye as she shut the door.
That night she dreamed of having a double date with Naruto and Sasuke before walking home hand-in-hand and having feverish sex with her own mate, Kakashi.