Chapter Five

The Little Bastard Backup Brigade

I shiver when I hear your name, think about you but it's not the same.

I won't be satisfied 'til I'm under your skin.

Shiver by Maroon 5

"Do you see anything?" Mamoru's voice was strained a bit under the weight on his shoulders.

"No, there's too many damn people!" Mimi answered, serving as the weight atop Mamoru's shoulders.

He'd hoisted her up there so that she could peer into the very small, very high, very dirty window that served as the only portal of outside light into the club. It was so caked with grime on both sides that she could barely make out the back of the bartender's head that the window stood over. She had had a semi-clear view of Kiba and Sakura when they had been at the bar drinking, but once Kiba had hoisted Sakura up and carried her to the dance floor she'd lost sight of them.

"I can't believe they wouldn't let us in." Mamoru sighed. "I could pass for twenty-one easy."

"No matter how tall you get Mamoru, until you start growing some hair on that chin, you're still gonna look thirteen." Mimi scoffed, unable to see Mamoru's pout.

"Well then put some hair on my chin Mimi." He said, tickling his fingers suggestively up the side of her leg toward her thigh. "Make a man out of me."

"I'll make a corpse out of you!" She jerked her leg and sent the back of her heel painfully into his chest. A pained "ooph" followed by a yelp leaving his lips as she sent her fist down into the side of his cheek. She kicked and punched a few more times as he ran around flailing and apologizing in the alley they occupied behind the club.

"What are you morons doing?" Kouki's dull drawl asked from the mouth of the alley.

Mimi's head shot up and her eyes glared accusingly. "Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be here an hour ago!"

"I was home, reading. You two idiots should try it sometime." He bit back in that flat tone of his that sent Mimi's nerves flaring.

"We agreed to meet up when Mamoru saw Kiba leave his apartment!" She continued loudly and Kouki just rolled his eyes.

"Now now Mimi, we've had a good time spying on our own haven't we?" Mamoru cut in sweetly, receiving another smack to the face from above.

"No we have not! You've been trying to molest me all night!"

Mamoru grinned sheepishly. "Molest is kind of a strong word to describe hand holding don't you think?:

"No I do not!" Mimi growled.

"You guys do know that while you two were humping back here, they left like five minutes ago, right?" Kouki sighed. Mimi ripped off one of her sandals and sent it whizzing toward his head. He caught it easily.

She dismounted Mamoru in a hurry and ran at the other boy, skirting around him with Mamoru right on her tail. Mimi grabbed Kouki by the collar, dragging him along as she wrenched her sandal back from him and hopped along to return it to her foot.

"You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?" She spat as the dark haired boy lagged behind shrugging his shoulders.

"You two looked busy."

"We were so not humping." She huffed, her sandal securely back on her foot.

"We could have been though, that music was the perfect stuff to get freaky to." Mamoru laughed as he jerked his hips and pumped his fists goofily.

"Like you know anything about that sort of thing." Kouki snorted and Mamoru grinned.

"Reiko let me touch her boobs once." He declared proudly and Kouki just laughed.

"What boobs?"

"You lecherous bastards done?" Mimi hissed, bristling as she shot an angry look back at them. Mamoru clamped his lips together and Kouki smirked. "Which way did they go?"

Kouki pointed in the direction and Mimi led the way. "I'd bet money that he took her to the park. So cliché." He said.

"I think it's cute." Mamoru smiled wistfully, breaking into an easy jog to catch up to Mimi who was sprinting in front.

"Tell me again why we're doing this?" Kouki complained as he power-walked, barely able to keep up, but not really trying anyway.

"To make sure he doesn't do anything to blow his chances." Mamoru called back.

"And to use as blackmail if he does anything stupid!" Mimi laughed almost giddily.

"And because we have nothing better to do." Kouki confirmed.

They cut around the street that led to the park, making their way into the woods that lined the edge of the playground. All their stealth training was put to use as they stalked silently through the woods, coming up on the other side of the park until they spotted their target on the swing set. They hung back, unable to hear anything that was being said as they crouched behind the trees and brush.

"We're down wind right?" Mamoru asked and Kouki nodded a confirmation. No way Kiba would smell them from their chosen post.

All three drew in a pitied breath as they watched their targets fall off the swing and Mamoru pumped a triumphant fist for Kiba when he drew Sakura in close as they laughed. Then Sakura began to cry and the three kids looked at each other dumbfounded.

"It's like watching one of my Mom's soap operas." Kouki whispered in disgust and Mimi nodded her agreement.

"Adults are weird."

"It's probably because they're so drunk. Adults are always stupid when they're drunk. My mother always holds me and cries and calls me Motoki when she's drunk." Mamoru mumbled wisely.

"Who's Motoki?" Kouki asked.

"I have no idea. But my dad always gets real mad and makes me stand in the yard when she does it." Kouki and Mimi shared a knowing look in the darkness behind Mamoru's back. Out of fifteen kids, Mamoru was the only one who did not possess his dad's buck teeth and freckled face.

"Ooooh go sensei!" Mamoru's quiet exclamation drew Kouki and Mimi's attention back to the scene in front of them. All of a sudden Kiba and Sakura were all over each other.

Mimi's face turned a fierce scarlet almost identical to her hair, and Kouki gaped as Mamoru bobbed his head like the excited schoolboy he was.

"Wait they're not gonna..." Kouki trailed off as the petting grew more intense.

"We have to stop them!" Mimi looked around her frantically for something to throw.

"Why?" Mamoru asked with a grin, never tearing his eyes away. "It's getting really good!"

"Because idiot!" She hissed, smacking the back of his head. "He can't do her in the middle of a park. That's not how you romance a girl, if they go down this road they'll be nothing more than booty calls!"

"Like you know anything about sex." Kouki snorted and Mimi glared through the darkness.

"I know more about it than you ever will little boy." She shot back, hitting him right where she knew it would hurt, figuratively speaking.

"Who'd want to see your chubby ass naked?" He grumbled and Mimi shot for him. Mamoru caught her though, planting his palm right over her mouth to keep her quiet. He peeked around the trees just in time to see Kiba's hands up Sakura's skirt. That was when Mimi bit him.

"Get a room you sick assholes! Children play out here!" She cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered, dropping her voice as many octaves as she could to disguise it. Her shout masked Mamoru's yelp as he wagged his hand through the air.

Kouki dove on top of Mimi, smacking her into Mamoru who fell unceremoniously into the dirt just as Kiba looked up. The three lay there, none daring to even take a breath as they perked their ears to listen for coming footsteps. Kouki's face was right at level with Mimi's, so close that their noses touched and their staring eyes were out of focus as they gazed at each other. Mimi's breath fogged Kouki's glasses. Blurry as it was, both could still see how red the others face was. Mamoru had his arms wrapped around them both, locking their body's together in a way that made both Mimi and Kouki's pubescent bodies feel more than a little flush. No one dared to move though.

"They're leaving." Mamoru's breath of a whisper was barely audible over the synchronized hammering of their hearts. He could just barely make out Kiba and Sakura's figures from a small clearing at the bottom of the bush his head lay in front of. "They're gone." He sighed loudly after a few more agonizing moments, his arms going slack at his sides.

Mimi shoved Kouki so hard off of her that she sent him flying into a tree. He hit with so much force that some of it's leaves came scattering down around him. Cursing angrily the boy pushed himself back to his feet, rubbing the back of his head, but he had nothing smart to say to Mimi. In fact he wouldn't even look at her. Not that she noticed. She had put as much distance between them as possible as she did her best to fix her skirt and pull twigs out of her braids. Her face was still so red she looked like she was running a fever.

Mamoru stood staring after Kiba and Sakura, his arms crossed over his chest and his face wearing a pout. "It really was getting good." He sighed, following Mimi as she pushed through the shrubbery and walked toward the playground.

"You kids really shouldn't be out so late at night." A voice called in the darkness, prompting Mimi to shriek.

With cat-like reflexes she retrieved a throwing star from the pouch strapped to her right thigh, sending it flying through the air. Kouki and Mamoru ran to her side, tensed and ready as they stared in the direction of the voice. They squinted through the darkness; twenty feet away toward the top of the large metal slide they saw it, a figure in the darkness sitting casually at the top. An orange book with a throwing star sticking out of it's back was up in front of his face. He pulled it away, examining the back of the book, and Mimi could clearly see the crinkle of his one exposed eye that showed that he was smiling approvingly.

"Nice throw." He commended and Mimi's jaw went slack.

"Ho-Ho-Ho-Ho..." Mamoru began but the word never managed to make it up from his throat.

"Holy shit..." Mimi whispered instead.

Hatake Kakashi laughed and with a push came sliding down from his perch to land gracefully on his feet. He approached the kids, all three immediately bowing as he came into the light cast upon them from the road. He pulled Mimi's throwing star from the back of his book—which he returned to his pocket—and held it out to her, but she made no move to take it. Instead she bowed lower and her entire body began to tremble.

"I'm so sorry I threw that at you!" Her voice cracked as she groveled, something completely out of character for the vivacious young girl.

"Please sir, don't put her in jail!" Mamoru begged, bowing even lower than Mimi as he pleaded for her freedom.

"She doesn't mean any harm, she's just stupid, a real idiot." Kouki added, pressing his hands together and bringing them up in front of his head imploringly. "Please don't punish her Hokage-sama."

Kakashi sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, still holding out the star. He never had managed to get used to the title of the rank he never really wanted. When he'd first been forced into the job he had assumed that the title would be revoked once Tsunade had been cleared to resume her duties to the village. Unfortunately for him, the woman liked the idea of having another leader to dump most of the work on top of. So the "honor" of being the Sixth Hokage was his to keep. Naruto had been pissed when he found out.

It wasn't all bad; every eligible (and some who weren't so eligible) woman in the village threw themselves at him whenever he went out. It was like living in his favorite novel. He got free drinks wherever her went and the best cuts of meat at any restaurant he went to. It was awesome. Or at least it sounded awesome to anyone who didn't have to live it. For a solitary man like Kakashi, the limelight was just too blinding.

"No one is going to jail. It's alright kid, just take the star back." He sighed, but chuckled a bit to try and ease their frightened minds.

Mimi reached out a shaking hand and carefully took the star, returning it to her pocket and prostrating herself further. "Thank you so much."

She stood upright slowly—cautiously—peeking up to assure it was alright to find Kakashi still smiling at her. Kouki and Mamoru stood straight as well. The three stared up at the man as silence stretched through the darkness between them. They were mesmerized by him and completely confused by his presence. Kakashi was becoming increasingly uncomfortable and it showed in the way his eye cast down toward his slacks as he brushed away some dirt that wasn't there in the first place. No one dared ask the obvious question though: what the hell was he doing there?

"So..." Kakashi broke the silence, clearing his throat and bobbing his head nonchalantly. "Kiba and Sakura, have they been dating long?" He inquired casually. He locked eyes with each of them before settling on Mamoru, because unlike Mimi (who pursed her lips suspiciously) and Kouki (who glared calculatingly), he was the only one who still looked confused.

"No, this was their first date actually." He answered without giving it a second thought. Kakashi nodded again, looking toward Mimi then Kouki.

"You three are his students, correct? Team Aoi was it?"

"Yes, Team Midori actually." Again only Mamoru answered.

"I'll remember that for next time." The smile was back beneath Kakashi's mask, crinkling his one good eye. "We'll keep this meeting between us; wouldn't want you kids getting into trouble with the higher ups you know?" Kakashi went on, pointing his gaze toward Mimi and Kouki. "Being out past curfew and throwing weapons at the heads of village leaders is kind of frowned upon." He chuckled and both Mimi and Kouki nodded with understanding. Mamoru looked as if he was trying hard to wrap his thoughts around an idea slowly coming to terms in his mind.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Kouki answered stiffly and bowed, Mimi followed suit and Mamoru soon after.

"Alright then, you kids get on home." Kakashi called briskly as he turned and gave a wave of his hand before walking off.

As Kakashi's form receded from the light on the road, one by one the kids straightened their backs. First Kouki, then Mimi, and finally Mamoru. "Did he..." Mamoru crinkled his brow. "Did the Hokage just-just threaten us?"

"You're an idiot Mamoru." Mimi heaved a mentally exhausted sigh and rolled her eyes to the heavens.

"Why the hell does the Hokage care who Sensei dates?" Kouki asked the question, more to himself than to his comrades.

"I don't think it's Sensei he cares about." Mimi answered anyway. "How long do you think he was watching them?"

"Do you think he followed them here?" Kouki moved to her side and the two began to walk out of the park, Mamoru lagging behind. Still trying to work out the finer details of what had happened.

"Definitely. Why though? You think he's a peeping tom?"

"I don't know. I heard those books he reads are all erotic novels, so maybe he's just a raging pervert."

"That's sick. Who would stalk couples just to watch them get busy? There's no way they'd let a guy like that be Hokage, that can't be it. "

"That's what we were doing." Mamoru commented, having finally caught himself up to his comrades level of thinking.

Mimi scoffed. "Yeah but our intentions were totally pure!"

"Mine weren't." Mamoru laughed, earning a swift punch to the arm for his troubles.

"You know Mamoru, I think this is why Reiko only let you touch her boobs once." Kouki commented with a chuckle as Mamoru massaged the soreness out of his arm.

"You guys do realize what this means right?" Mimi asked in a foreboding tone as they stopped at the crossing in the road where they would part ways.

Mamoru nodded wisely. "Love triangle."

"Shit we really are in a Soap Opera." Kouki sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "Sensei is a good guy and all, but standing next to the Hokage... He hasn't got a prayer." Mimi nodded her agreement.

"Hey now! Hatake-sama might have the title, but Kiba's got one major thing over him." Mamoru chimed in optimistically. Mimi and Kouki just stared. "Duh!" He gestured towards the three of them as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Mimi smirked. "We've always got our sensei's back!" She announced triumphantly as she swung her arms around Kouki's shoulders and then Mamoru's, who had to crouch down to let her do it.

Kouki laughed. "Especially when there's kunai involved."

The cool summer breeze felt amazing on Sakura's overheated flesh and her alcohol basted mind basked in the tingle that the cool air elicited over the bare skin it touched. One arm held firmly to Kiba's as the man acted as her pillar that kept her upright, the other outstretched to her side, dangling the heels she'd been wearing by her index finger. She had pulled them off soon after they'd left the park, with Kiba's assistance of course. Normal every-day Sakura would have stuck up her nose at any girl she'd witnessed in such a state: scantily clad, no shoes, runny make-up, obviously drunk, and clinging onto their date for the night. Normal Sakura would have deemed such a girl trash, and would have thanked her lucky stars that she had enough sense not to act in such a way.

'Clearly that's not true.' Sakura thought to herself with a private, snorting giggle.

"I had so much fun tonight Kiba." She said out loud, forgetting her manners, but Kiba only looked at her with a smile.

"So did I." She tilted her head onto his shoulder, clinging harder to his arm as she leaned heavily against him. "I think you like drinking more than you thought you would." He chuckled and Sakura nodded with a lopsided smile in return.

"My mother always said that girls who drank liquor and wore dark lipstick where whores." Sakura snorted again. "I guess that means I'm a whore." She laughed carelessly at the thought.

"I think that's just something people tell girls to discourage them from having a good time." Kiba stated in a matter-of-fact way. "Girls are supposed to live quietly until they find a man and become a mom. Then they devote their lives to their kids. Then they die. My sister says that's why so many girls nowadays aspire to be kunoichi.; it helps them break free from that cycle. Kind of like telling society to fuck off."

Sakura titled her head, casting her green eyes up to observe the side profile of his face as he spoke. When they were younger Sakura had always pegged Kiba as an idiot. He'd been rowdy and loud and his jacket was always covered in dirt from rolling around with Akamaru. She would never have guessed that she would one day walk arm and arm with him down the village streets, completely wrapped up in his views on how the world worked. She smiled absentmindedly at his handsome face when he turned to look down at her as he guided them to a stop.

"So I say, if drinking liquor and painting your face, and just having a good time makes you a whore, well you be the best damn whore out there." He grinned broadly and tapped the tip of her nose with his free index finger. Sakura laughed, throwing her head back as she shot her arms over her head triumphantly.

"I'll be the biggest, funnest whore this village has ever had!" She called enthusiastically into the night, still laughing when Kiba grabbed her and pushed her face into his chest. She clung to him, not noticing the few people who had occupied the road on their way home from their own night of fun. All of whom were staring at her.

"You're crazy Sakura." Kiba bemused as he pulled her face free of his chest once all prying eyes had left them. He smiled and stroked her face with his fingers, using his thumb to brush away some of the mascara that had stained her cheek.

"You smell nice." She answered with a dreamy smile, reaching her arms up to wrap around his neck.

She pushed up onto her bare toes and easily found his lips with her own. They'd kissed so many times that night that it just felt natural, comfortable. Kiba cradled her face in his hands as Sakura brushed the fingers of her one hand through the back of his hair. She pushed further into the kiss and Kiba pulled her closer in turn, prodding her sweet mouth with his tongue.

Crack

Kiba suddenly released Sakura, pulling back from her as his hand flew to his head. The sudden loss of his support caused Sakura to stumble and her knees to give way. She sat in the dirt, confused as she stared up at Kiba, realization only registering when her eyes slipped down to her knees. There before her in the dirt around Kiba's feet were a few of the tiles that covered the roof of Sakura's apartment building.

"You okay Sakura-chan?" Kiba asked, rubbing the top of his head with one hand as he offered her the other. "I'm sorry, those things hit me on the head."

Sakura nodded, pursing her lips and trying very hard not to laugh as Kiba helped her up. Her gaze shifted up over Kiba's head to the top of the building curiously. Her vision was blurry and she'd had a hard time focusing ever since leaving the darkness of the park. For a moment she thought she saw something, a figure perhaps, but it was gone almost as soon as she had noticed it. Her inebriation caused her to be very unconcerned with whatever shadow she had seen, instead she turned her attention back to Kiba.

"You're so accident-prone Kiba, you know that?" Sakura asked, finally letting out the string of laughter she'd been holding in. Kiba grimaced for a moment but it soon turned into a smile as he nodded his agreement and began to laugh as well.

Their laughter danced melodically through the night air even after they said their goodbyes and Sakura went inside. Their joyous sounds still rang through the darkness even as Kiba headed down the street toward his own apartment. Or at least they did for the lone figure that lay across the tiles of the roof. Those happy sounds echoed annoyingly in his ears, grating his teeth as he lay there and stared up at the stars, his arms folded behind his head in support.

"The biggest whore Konoha has ever had." Kakashi chuckled quietly to himself. "Over my dead body."

Author's Notes

So far the inspiration for this story has been free flowing. I hope it lasts. Most of the story I've got worked out in my head, some of it just comes to me as I'm writing.

And so Kakashi muscles his way onto the scene. Tsk Tsk. Sakura's in for it now... or maybe she's not a weak-willed as she seems. You'll have to wait to find out. And hopefully you all like the Little Bastards, because they've become quite important side characters to my story. What can I say? They're just so much fun to write.

Reviews are appreciated. As is patience. ;* Let me know what'cha think~