Awkward

Chapter 2

Some people learned how to forgive. Others learned how to forget. Fewer people – those with hearts crafted of the finest glitter and gold – learned how to forgive and forget.

Sakura, unfortunately, was none of the above.

She was a short-tempered, vindictive, and not to mention violent little thing and unfortunately, Kakashi was on the receiving end of her physical tirade this time. Although to be fair, he held no misconception that his instigation had caused this violent transgression in the first place.

Still, it resulted in him feeling —

"—A bit battered there, Se~nsei. "

— mildly dazed. It again occurred to him that none of this really needed to happen . If he had stuck with something more traditional in a gift - a card, a kunai, a hair-tie, something - this much energy needn't have been spent, and he could've very well been enjoying the fresh air without an elbow jammed up in his ribs. Maybe he was subconsciously a masochist.

It was common knowledge that daily life had calmed for those who lived in Konoha. It was also common knowledge that though this was the case, the internal state of mind was too familiar with the stress, depression, and anxiety that accompanied being a ninja. So was it so abnormal that seeing a comrade, who had suffered so much so fast, full of fire and life made him happy? It was of miniscule importance that it was directed toward him. Pain was unpleasant, but a familiar entity to the job.

He was definitely an M.

"Aha…yeah. I'm a little bruised up, I guess," Kakashi said.

The girl standing in front of him snorted. "You have bruises all over your face and your ribs are out of place, sensei. Sorry about that, by the way."

"I can't really move…" He dramatically sighed, smiling slightly when his student stifled a laugh. He blinked hard as a jolt of fiery pain shot up his arm, and subsequently took a short breath in an attempt to ease his mind from the discomfort.

Mind roaming, Kakashi couldn't help but come across a moment of self reflection. How bittersweet was it that it had taken two wars for him to understand what it meant to look forward? Like a mantra the statement was repeated throughout his life, but it had fallen onto stubborn ears. Because even though he could comprehend the words others threw at him, he couldn't understand the meaning, or rather the feeling, that correlated with them.

And, it was still difficult. Breaking old habits was uncomfortable; the idea of investing into relationships that ran deeper than occasional hello's and goodbye's still appeared impractical to him. The result of a defense mechanism, he had long concluded, but with good initial reason. To invest was to show vulnerability, and to show vulnerability was to invite loss.

Though even if his relationships resulted in suffering, the ties that were built had shaped him to perceive the world as a better place. Life was not a happy thing, but the obstacles he had faced with both sets of teammates taught him to hope again, to believe again, and to live again. He'd learned to acknowledge life and love over duty, because although both spectrums were important, the former was what made life worth living.

In other words, to avoid connection was to be a coward. And to wallow in self-guilt was to desecrate the memories of his loved ones.

A bored whistle rang through Kakashi's ears, tearing him from his introspection as he shifted his gaze toward the slightly perturbed, feminine face. A pink brow lifted expectantly.

"Ryo for your thoughts, sensei?" Sakura asked as she bent down and scooped him into her arms.

(Gai would cry over how uncool he looked.)

Kakashi smiled inwardly, jumping on the chance to rile her up. "Just wondering when my bones became this brittle. Actually, my skin sort of feels like paper now. And one day," he continued, deliberately pausing for a dramatic effect, "one day, Sakura-chan, you'll have to care for me, feed me, bathe me—"

Sakura groaned, "Sensei. You are impossible. " She jostled him a bit, adjusting her hold more comfortably. "But anyway, I'm surprised you even lasted that long." Kakashi frowned indignantly. "After that spontaneous duel with Gai—"

"Ah, would you look at that! I seem to have sprouted legs, so if you'd please set me down…"

"After that duel with Gai," she continued, holding tighter onto his person, "you know, when he drunkenly cried and tried to smother you with all of that love and affection in the finale, I would've thought you'd have exhausted the rest of your chakra trying to fend him off."

"Hm…against that tree over there, if you will."

Sakura giggled and continued walking. "It's a good thing though." Kakashi held in a grunt from her particularly hard bounce. "It just means you're not as old as you look. In fact, you're not even that old at all! It's just with that slouch and white hair and all—"

"Sakura."

Her body shook with repressed laughter, lips melding into a tight line. "I'm kidding, sorry!"

"I guess I have to impart another lesson on you, Sakura-chan," he sighed.

"And what might that be, sensei?"

"That you should never speak to your elders that way. Not unless you want to get your ass kicked later." Sakura smirked as she glanced at him, eyes glimmering with challenge.

"Okay! You're on. But," Sakura agreed, glancing downward toward his noodle-like arms, "maybe after your chakra's replenished."

Despite her general ferocity, Kakashi noticed that his former student still possessed a soft heart. His injuries weren't particularly terrible, but for her to gently set him down against the nearest tree trunk to heal him first incited a warm feeling in his chest. And then when her palms shone as bright as her smiling eyes, Kakashi couldn't help but smile back.

"We're here."

Kakashi stretched his arms upward, slowly ambling toward the opened gates. Sakura stole a glance at the man, briefly noting that the red-pink tint in his hair from the approaching dusk. "You know," she began, "a thank you would be nice, sensei."

A long pause. "Thank you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura laughed, finding it amusing to watch her former sensei swallow his pride. "No problem, but don't think you're off the hook yet. You didn't come to my inauguration, and I haven't really seen you in a while. So why don't we get some food?" she asked, like she didn't just beat him for vengeance earlier. "I think we can agree on no Ichiraku though." An immediate after-thought.

Sakura stared at Kakashi questioningly, gaze becoming more agitated as she realized he had completely ignored her request. The bastard was still walking.

(A simple no would've sufficed.)

Amused by her flaring chakra, Kakashi stopped in his tracks - gradually turning to face his seething companion.

"Sure thing," he drawled, watching idly as her shoulders relaxed. "But if you weren't constantly slamming grown men into bar tables, you would have noticed me around by the first night."

"Wait what?"

A loud yelp sliced through the area before Sakura could question him further, and the two instinctively turned to face the sound. The Nanadaime swiftly leaped in front of them, cloak flowing from the sudden impact.

"Kakashi-sensei! Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning enthusiastically and apparently not winded at all. "It's been so long since I've seen you two, what's up?!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Naruto, I saw you yesterday, remember? When you gave me the files…?"

"Oh yeah!" A bark of laughter escaped the young man. He smoothed his hair back, hitai-ate glinting from the orange glow of the sun. "Of course I do! Have you met up with them yet?" He asked, head tilting to the side. Sakura couldn't help but snicker at how expressive her former teammate was. The blond main grinned in return, oblivious to the fact that he was the butt of her private joke.

Kakashi chuckled quietly.

"Baka," Sakura started as she finished laughing, "as I'm sure you know, that they don't officially graduate until tomorrow."

Blond eyebrows knitted together, confused. "So?"

"So Sakura-chan won't be meeting them until then," Kakashi answered. Sakura let out a sigh, exasperated by Naruto's lack of critical thinking.

"Oh, heheh," the blond chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry. I've been doing stupid paperwork all day so I'm totally drained. And then me and Hinata were gonna get some dinner but she had to bail out to fix Hanabi. Something about her eye getting stuck closed, or whatever." Naruto paused and clasped his hands together. "Do you guys want to grab some dinner? Let's get Ichiraku!" It was so endearing how unfiltered his thoughts were.

"Sure, we were actually going to grab dinner before you showed up. But no Ichiraku, I'm sick of it," she replied. Jogging toward the street of restaurants, Sakura gestured toward the two men to start walking as well.

"What, that's not fair!"

Sakura pointedly ignored his reply. "Let's start moving," she called out. "I'm hungry!"

Naruto jogged toward her in an attempt to keep pace. Kakashi continued to stroll toward the two teammates, blissfully ignoring the scathing look Sakura shot at him.

"What?" he asked innocently. "I was injured today, you know."

Sakura snorted.

"Lazy bastard. "

They ended up at Ichiraku's.

"Naruto, do you really have to slurp your noodles like that?" Sakura asked, as the sound of noodles sliding between moist lips invaded her eardrums.

A mixture between a laugh and a slurp was her response.

"Sakura-chan," Kakashi began, "slurping is a sign of gratitude and enjoyment. Frankly, it would be rude not to slurp."

"Hell yeah!" Naruto chimed in, noodles forgotten for a brief moment. "I'm just showing old man Teuchi how much I enjoy his ramen!"

The ramen cook grinned and flashed his long time customer a thumbs up behind the stove.

Sakura pouted, slightly bummed at the fact that Kakashi took Naruto's side over hers. The man had even brought this observation to her concern once, but apparently he'd changed his mind since then. Sakura darted her eyes left to steal a glance at the man, and subsequently noticed that he was looking at her with a much too vapid smile.

Bastard.

"Well," Sakura sighed as she pushed her empty bowl away, "I think I better get going. I still need to read more about my new team and it's getting late."

"Stay a little longer, surprises are always fun," Kakashi said. "I didn't read anything beyond the first sheet of your files, and it ended up being okay," he added.

Sakura snorted, turning around and sliding off her seat. "Please, sensei. I actually want to these kids to know that I care about them."

"Hey, I cared about you guys," Kakashi replied, expression turning into one of mild hurt.

"Yeah," Sakura smiled warmly, "but if I remember correctly, you told us that you hated us at first. You know, after that whole eraser ordeal. And you didn't even know our names at first! Did you even read the first sheet?"

Naruto laughed, spurting a family of noodles all of the counter at the recollection. Kakashi just pouted. "I did. I just wanted you guys to introduce yourselves as human beings instead of basing you off of data on a sheet of paper."

Sakura looked up at the man. "Wow. Actually, that's kind of sweet," she confessed.

"Thank you. I suppose you thinking so is enough to heal my hurt feelings," Kakashi replied solemnly.

"Sens-"

"Kakashi."

Oh. " Kakashi, stop being a drama queen." Sakura grumbled, leaning on the counter. It baffled her how this man could hold her back for so long.

"But Sakura, how could I after all those mean things you've said?"

Sakura opened her mouth to retort as Naruto slammed his bowl down, mouth and chin drenched with soup. "Sakura-chan stop flirting with our weirdo sensei! It's so gross!"

" W-what?!" Sakura spluttered, "I wasn't, you idiot!"

Kakashi watched the two, amused - and slightly embarrassed. His eyes darted onto Naruto as the blond stacked his newly empty bowl on top of the others, rolling his eyes.

"Then what's with the dropped honorif-"

"I've gotta go, it's getting seriously late, look at the time!" Sakura interrupted. "Bye!" Winding pink petals fluttered to the ground where she had once stood.

It was clear that their exchange did not hold much significance in anything more than a platonic sense, but Sakura's uncharacteristic behavior perplexed Kakashi. He hadn't remembered her being that flustered since her genin years. Maybe, the alcohol damaged her brain to the point where she regressed to being her twelve year old self again? Or maybe she just couldn't stomach the thought of flirting with him.

Kakashi pouted. He knew he was old - felt the weariness in his bones. But a man had his pride.

"Sakura really didn't like that joke, ne Kakashi-sensei? Hahaha!" Naruto laughed, rubbing both hands on his engorged stomach.

Shrugging, Kakashi replied, "I guess not, Naruto."

"Maybe she really does have a crush on you, and that's why she reacted so weird," Naruto waggled his eyebrows. "Eheh. Just kidding! She was probably just grossed out 'cause you're so old, sensei!"

Kakashi felt his eyebrow tick. "Ahaha, you're probably right. Let's have another bowl to that." Or several bowls. And then he was going to stick the kid with the bill for good measure.