Little Black Book

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Chapter 1: A Small Discovery

Sakura sat quietly near the edge of the training grounds against a large oak tree. It swayed gently in the summer breeze, giving off faint creaks from its intertwined branches. A few leaves occasionally scattered across the book she was reading. There was no official training meet today, but Sakura still wanted a little practice in, at least by herself. It was high noon, so she figured she would take a lunch break. She slowly chewed the sandwich she packed earlier as she read a couple of pages in her new novel. She hadn't expected to be so engrossed in it. Some of the pages made her blush, but it was so entertaining! Plus... it wasn't like she'd had any experience with men. A quick kiss here and there maybe, but never anything more... so, it was quite fascinating.

After finally realizing a few years earlier that her crush with Sasuke would never amount to anything, she was fine just seeing him as a good friend and a fellow teammate. She had been approached a few times over the years to go out on dates, (more times than she could count by Naruto – whom she would forever reject) but she usually said no to most guys. Rarely, she'd give a guy a chance if she didn't know them very well, but somehow they all ended up being either creepy or extremely boring. Now at the age of eighteen, she started to notice all the couples throughout the village more often then she would like. It was a bit depressing. Training and missions helped keep her mind focused and away from her pathetic love life.

Since she was about sixteen, she started reading books to pass time. It was great to just forget everything around her for a moment and get sucked into another world. However, Sakura would always look past the 18+ books section when she went book shopping. For one thing, she wasn't old enough until only recently. Secondly, only perverts looked at that stuff (-Ahem- Kakashi-sensei). Thirdly, it was embarrassing to be even seen reading them unless you had no concept of modesty (-Ahem- Kakashi-sensei).

But one day, as she was passing through the rows of books, she noticed one that just had a plain, black hardback cover - it was probably supposed to have a paper sleeve over it, but that was missing. Picking it up and scanning both sides, she had discovered its fifty percent discount . She flipped inside the first few pages and found the title.

'Clash of Hearts'

Curiosity had gotten the better of her.

She quickly glanced around her to see if anyone was watching. Flicking through, she noticed some rather interesting words that made her blush. Although from reading the first paragraph, she felt like it wasn't really smut, but a real story that had a lot of depth… and some fascinating adult content. The summary inside said it was about two ninjas from different enemy lands who were at war with each other. It was a love that was never meant to be. She figured it was probably a bit cheesy, but she knew all too well of loves that are never meant to be.

She had felt her cheeks grow hot when she went to purchase the book. Throwing in a few other books from different sections she previously was looking at, she hoped the clerk wouldn't notice or make a big deal out of her buying an adult rated book. Then her heart sank when the cashier asked for her I.D. She wanted to die, but quickly flashed it for him. Feeling a little relieved when she finally left the store, she vowed she'd never buy an adult book again. The stress and embarrassment that ensued was overwhelming

For the past week she had been reading her new book and was currently about halfway through. She had quickly gotten attached to the main characters and absorbed in the plot; what would the ending be? She would be devastated if they died.

Munching on her sandwich in one hand, she turned a page with the other.

"Yo, Sakura!"

She flinched and jumped at the sudden call of her name. Kakashi snuck up behind her. Closing her book shut, she placed it on her lap. She smiled and waved meekly to him, trying not to look panicked.

"Ugh, Kakashi-sensei you scared me," she muttered.

"A ninja should never have their guard down."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks for that tip."

"What you up to?" he asked while leaning against the tree beside her. Kakashi had a crinkle in his eye, which meant he was smiling under his usual mask. She smiled back, thinking how cute he always was when he did that.

Sakura took another bite of her sandwich to stall for time; she didn't think it would be a good idea to talk about what she was reading. She would really kill herself if he knew what kind of content it contained. She called him a pervert every chance she got when he brought out one of his Icha Icha books during missions or training; she would forever be labeled a hypocrite.

"Oh, nothing much. Just taking a lunch break. I felt like practicing a little bit today. How about you?"

"Was just passing through. What you reading?" He looked down at her book in her lap, intrigued.

"Oh, nothing special. Just a book I found that was on sale," Sakura replied nonchalantly, hoping he'd just leave it at that.

"Ooh... What about?"

Feeling her gut drop, she unconsciously blushed. "Um..."

Much to her horror, he picked up the book from her lap. Before he had a chance to look inside, she snatched it back. "It's nothing! Pretty boring, really."

"Oh, really?" he said while narrowing his visible eye at her. "Let me see."

"It's really nothing great. Anyway, I'm going to-"

In a blink of an eye, her book disappeared from her hands. Kakashi stood sideways on the tree trunk using chakra infused feet. He had her book in one hand and raised it closer to his face to inspect. "Let's see..." he said, slowly motioning that he was about to open the book.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI! GIVE IT BACK!" She yelled, flustered. Now she really wanted to die. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if he found out what she had been reading.

Kakashi was clearly amused at her reaction. He opened the cover of the book and pretended to lick the tip of his index finger to turn the next page. "Hum..."

Quickly sitting up, she charged up the tree and made a beeline to grab the book. He darted away up towards a branch.

"You're going to have to catch me," he said with a smirk. "But if you're going to be really slow I might as well start reading wha-"

Sakura didn't let him finish his sentence as she charged swiftly making a swipe towards the book. Her fingers touched the very edge of it, but not enough to knock it out of his hands. She thought to herself angrily how this was turning into the bell test. She sighed and pulled a few messy strands of pink hair from her face. She'd gotten stronger and faster over the years and had become a Jounin, but Kakashi was still tricky.

He was amused. Why exactly was Sakura getting so flustered? From the way she was acting you'd think it must be some kind of diary, but clearly this was a novel. He slowly peeled back the cover again. Another close miss by Sakura as he dodged her attack. He was sad. How was he going to read it? He needed to put more distance between them.

At that thought, he began to sprint from branch to branch heading deeper into the forest leading away from the training grounds. Sakura followed behind keeping up with his pace, easily making chakra infused swipes at him every chance she got.

"Kakashi-sensei, it's not funny! It's mine so give it back. You have no right!" she yelled out after him, throwing a couple of kunai.

Kakashi smiled under his mask pretending not to hear and continued to dodge her advances. Over the past few years, he had grown to be more fascinated by Sakura for some reason. It had to have been because of all the time they'd spent together through missions and regular training sessions. He couldn't place when he first noticed, but he started to admire how elegantly she moved when they trained together. The way her green eyes lit up into a paler shade in the sunlight. How when she was angry, her brows furrowed in a cute way like they were right now. Their friendship had grown as well through the years as she grew older. She wasn't technically his student anymore, but they were always at an arms length of each other so to speak. Close enough like any teammate would be, but not too close.

What he really didn't want to admit for the longest time was that he had grown attracted to her. When he realized it, he decided it was best just to ignore it and enjoy what friendship they did have. He didn't think it was really right to develop feelings for someone he'd known since she was twelve. If their age difference wasn't a sufficient issue, changing the dynamics of their team certainly was. It just couldn't happen. It was better if things remained the same between them. No matter how he felt.

"CHAAAAA-NAAA-RA!"

Sakura pounded into one of the trees making them topple over like a domino effect. A loud crunch and thud erupted all around them as birds shot out from the trees in fear. Kakashi felt the tree he had his footing on give way. Jumping into the air, he felt a tug at his vest and was slammed down into the ground.

Dust billowed around where he had fallen. As it cleared, Sakura stood with a smug smile staring down at him with crossed arms. She bent over to reach for the book that was still clutched in his hand.

-Poof-

"A substitution…" Sakura groaned. She hated him. So much.

Kakashi stepped out on the side of the clearing with a small grin and cleared his throat. "I just wanted to help your training is all…"

He threw her book at her. She grabbed it and arched a brow at him in surprise.

"I've read that one. It's pretty good, but doesn't hold close to the Icha Icha series. So… does this mean you're a pervert as much as you say I am now?"

Sakura's face went from surprised to horror.

"See you later." Kakashi poofed.

"Damn it," she muttered to herself while trying to fight back a blush. It shouldn't matter what she cared to read, but him knowing of all people made her feel so embarrassed. What if he told her teammates tomorrow during practice? They would tease her relentlessly about it. She sighed. She was not looking forward to it. That was for sure.

Walking back to the oak tree she was under earlier, she sat down to finish the rest of her lunch. She froze mid bite and looked at an orange book lying next to her bag. It was Icha Icha Paradise. Slowly, she picked it up. The edges were well worn. Clearly this was Kakashi's. Had he really left it here for her on purpose? She was stunned that he would ever let anyone touch it; she figured his books were more valuable to him than gold. Flipping through the pages, a note fell into her lap.

'You should read a real book. The smut is much better, too. ^_^'

Sakura sighed. Somehow the smiley face he drew seemed rather menacing. Now she was expected to read one of his prized dirty novels - though she wasn't sure if he really meant for her to read it or was just teasing her. Stuffing it into her pack, she figured she would deal with it later. Maybe she could just give it back tomorrow? She wasn't looking forward to that conversation though… or any conversation after what happened today, for that matter.

TBC

[ Author Note: I'm sure its an overused plot, but wanted to write something anyway to get it out of my system. Re-edited what I originally wrote for this chapter. Hoping to just make this a very small multi-chap story, so things will progress rather quickly.

I'm going to pretend that Sasuke never left Konoha and that they've all remained a team for sake of non-dramas in that area.

This story is meant to be silly in a lot of ways, so please keep that in mind to whatever changes or ridiculous circumstances I'm inputting into this story.

Appreciate any reviews! Tell me if this story is the equivalent of having your eyes burned out from the sun or not.

Ooh - and I don't own the series, but I own this computer. Isn't that fascinating?

Chapter edited by: Starcup665 ]