A/N: Episode 469 was the real kick in the pants I needed to get back on fanfics I mean, WOW. I saw the drawings but in animation it was almost tooo much for me to handle. So I'm taking out all this pent up sexual frustration on writing this fanfic and I'll be getting back to my other one this week! This will be a short one, probably only 3 or 4 chapters long? I hope you enjoy!
"You know what we haven't tried in a while?" Naruto asked Sakura and Sasuke at Ichiraku ramen. The pair shook their heads. "Tried to peek under Kakashi's mask!"
"Naruto… We're not 12 year olds anymore! It was fun when we were kids but c'mon!" Sakura replied.
"I think it sounds like a good way to measure our abilities. We couldn't do it as kids but surely we can do it easily now." Sasuke said in agreement with Naruto. "Yeah, yeah! But we gotta be sneaky. Brute force is no fun," Naruto said. Sasuke agreed. "You two… Okay… Fine. I'm in.," Sakura sighed, feeling inwardly excited that the chances of seeing his face this time around were exponentially higher than when they were children.
After Naruto and Sasuke emptied several bowls of ramen out of competition with each other and Sakura emptied her wallet for their meals they left Ichiraku's still discussing clever plots to see their former teacher's face.
"I think I can help you three…" said a voice a few feet before them. The team stopped in their tracks to see a tall man they had never seen before. Tall, brown wavy hair, striking grey eyes made more pronounced purple markings, and a small mole on the left side of his chin.
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked defensively. "Yeah, I've never seen you around here before…" Naruto chimed in with an air of suspicion.
"My name is Sukea. I'm former ANBU, current photographer… I've been traveling for a while and decided maybe the best scoop might be right here in my own hometown. And after hearing you three talking about Kakashi Hatake I figured this might be it," he said.
"I guess there really hasn't been much hard hitting news since the war ended, huh?" Sakura said.
"It's true. There's not much out there for a guy like me in my profession. Our peaceful country has truly brought me to financial ruin." he said bashfully. Sakura laughed but the Naruto and Sasuke remained suspicious.
"What makes you think we need a fourth man on our team?" Sasuke asked.
Sukea shrugged, "I just thought it would be nice to help each other out. This could really bring in a sizable amount of money and lord knows I need it. Plus, I was in ANBU so I do have a background in infiltrating."
Naruto thought for a moment, "Ok! You're in!"
Sukea smiled gratefully. "Thank you. Now let me tell you my first plan…"
Sasuke was struggling with the lock of Konoha's vault of sensitive documents. Having been a rogue ninja for so long he didn't fuss around with locks when breaking and entering, instead opting for flashy displays of strength and power. But here he had to be more careful, after all he was a good guy now. Naruto pushed Sasuke over, "Lemme give it a try!" Sasuke glared at him, forever in competition with his friend. After a few moments of struggle with lock picking Sukea spoke up.
"Cant we switch?"
Nartuo got up and left him to it but not before bumbling something about how well made locks are nowadays. Sakura watched Sukea pick the lock with great finesse and great speed and they were finally in.
It took them a while but Sukea finally found it: Kakashi's registration photo which by law required to show the face in it's entirety. And just as the face was about to be revealed, the guards came rushing in.
"Sukea-san, that was probably the closest we got to seeing his face so maybe you should stick around." said Sakura.
"Yeah! We need you now!" said Naruto.
"He didn't even complete the mission. We probably would've been fine on our own," said Sasuke in a smug tone.
Sukea smiled shyly, "Well, how about I treat you three to some dumplings then. I feel pretty bad that this plan didn't work…"
"Nonsense," Sakura said, "You were the one who had the plan in the first place! And even if it was our idea, you found the file faster than any of us could. And the way you picked that lock so quickly! It almost went super well because of you" she paused,"Plus, you said yesterday you were having financial troubles so let me treat you to dumplings instead," she offered.
Sukea smiled, "A starving artist can't say no to free food!"
Over dumplings the four talked, going over the details of Sukea's background. "So you're originally from Konoha? Why haven't I seen you around at all?" Sakura asked.
"Well, after I retired from ANBU I chose to follow my passion so I went around and followed the news. Mostly documenting the effects the war was having on smaller countries. Just trying to get the word out, I guess…" he replied.
"That's very admirable, Sukea-san," Sakura said.
Sukea laughed shyly, "I'm embarrassed to say but I'm already quite aware of who you three are. You, Sakura-san, who's a renowned medic and probably one of the physically strongest people alive… Haha… Calling what I do admirable…" he smiled softly.
"Well, I think it is," she said with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"So why did you retire?" Naruto asked intrusively.
"Naruto! You can't just ask someone something like that!" Sakura protested.
"Why not?" he whined. "Because its rude, idiot," replied Sasuke, then taking a bite of his last dumpling.
"Ahh… Don't worry about it. That's a story for another time…" Sukea replied cooly. Sakura was intrigued, but didn't push further.
"Oh! I almost forgot! Me and Sasuke…uh… we have to meet with some people…and um… You're not allowed to come Sakura!" Naruto blurted out.
"Idiot. You're terrible at keeping secrets," Sasuke said in a disgruntled tone.
"Well… uh… we'll see you tomorrow Sakura…Sukea-san…" and the pair ran off, with Sasuke mumbling complaints about Naruto's bumbling attempts at secrecy.
Sukea's eyes widened slightly in curiosity, "What was that about?"
"My birthday is coming up in a couple days and my roommate Ino is throwing me a surprise party… They've been running off to plan it with Ino and whoever else is involved in that mess." Sakura replied.
"Doesn't sound like much of a surprise," Sukea said with a smile.
Sakura beamed back at him, "Well you see how well Naruto is at keeping secrets!" Sukea laughed.
"Say, I know we've really only known each other for a few days but I think we get along pretty well, don't you?" Sakura asked. Sukea nodded. "Would you maybe like to come to my surprise party? We could introduce you to some other new potential friends. Being a traveling photographer sounds like a pretty lonely lifestyle and it sounds like you can use some friends…"
"I think it may be illegal to invite people to your own surprise party. But I'd love to come," he replied.
Sakura smiled and wrote something down on the receipt she received for the dumplings, "This is my address. It starts at 7pm."
"You know the time when it starts? This really is a terrible surprise party," he said taking the piece of paper.
"Well, when Naruto comes up and asks you 'HEY! You don't have anything planned for Friday? At around 7pm maybe?' then you kinda get the gist," she said with a girlish giggle at the end.
On her way home Sakura felt strange. She felt butterflies in her stomach earlier that week when she found out Sasuke was having some involvement with her birthday party. But now the feeling returned after Sukea said yes to her invitation. Maybe she had always just been shy around men she thought were attractive.
And then a sudden interruption in the form of slamming into her former teacher shook her out of those thoughts.
"Kakashi-sensei!" she shrieked. He grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her after having almost fallen backwards.
"Sakura," he said curtly, "What are you doing out so late?"
"Its not that late, sensei. And I'm adult. Old enough to stay out late if I want to," she said, steadying her breath after the shock of running directly into him. "Well you almost knocked the air right out of me at the speed you were running. Hmm… Isn't your birthday coming up? I guess perhaps you are getting old, hm…?" he said with a smile beneath his mask. "Don't be rude, sensei! As of right now, I'm still not old enough to buy a beer," she scoffed. "Ahh, yes. 'The Springtime of Youth'," he said pondering the favorite phrase of his rival Guy. "Well, I better get going because it is too late for someone as young as me to be running around at night. I'll see you around, sensei!" and with that she ran off.
Kakashi watched her run off wondering with a heavy heart why his former student hadn't invited him to her so-called surprise birthday party.