Until You

The Scarecrow

From that day Kakashi left her at the food shop, Sakura refused to have lunch with him or at the Hokage tower or anywhere near him. Her paycheck wasn't generous, it only allowed her to get by. She had to pay rent, food, bills and other necessary items, so if she wasn't thrifty enough with her money, she would end up eating ramen for supper in the middle of every month.

During her time at the Hokage office, Sakura learned Kakashi had his own funny ways of doing things. For example, when the chunin brought them oranges, Sakura couldn't help but noticed how he patiently worked with orange peels. He took a good amount of time to peel the fruit's skin and gathered them neatly on the table before so carefully removing the white fuzz. She had never bothered with those white stuff or peels to eat an orange but she found it quite amusing to watch him do it. Moreover, when it comes to coffee, he waited until it was cold enough to down in 3 seconds. Everyone sipped their coffee to enjoy its fine taste and smell. Seriously, who the hell drinks coffee in one gulp? Well, Kakashi did and she assumed that was only because he didn't want her to see his face. The one thing Sakura was awed to find out about him was his organizing skill. The office was always full of papers but they were not jumbling whatsoever and always sorted in related categories. Kakashi had put an extra effort in keeping things neat and clean in his office which impressed Sakura on a large scale as she knew the room would be in complete opposite condition if she were in his place.

Today's morning was a dull one with raindrops lazily falling and Sakura had to drag her ass out of the bed pretty hardly. The rain made her want to curl up under the blankets for a few more minutes but she didn't because that a few minutes would lead to a few hours or even half a day. She had experienced it quite a lot of times. By the time she arrived at the Hokage tower, the rain was pouring a bit heavier and to her greatest mind-blowing surprise, Kakashi was already in the office, hair wet and in shriveled jounin shirt.

"Wow, the sun must be rising from the west today," she made a sarcasm. "So what makes our bone idle Lord sixth present himself early on a gray day like this?"

There was a towel in his hand which he was using to dry his hair and as Sakura made her way into the room, his eyes found hers for a few seconds before looking away. "Maa. Don't think so low of me, Sakura. I had a challenge with Gai."

"In this weather?" She asked with disbelief in her voice. "Are you two crazy?"

"Me, no. Him, yes." He sat down in the chair, still ruffling his strands with the towel.

Sakura knew too well Kakashi wouldn't trouble himself for some ridiculous challenges that wouldn't benefit him. Sitting in her usual spot on the sofa, she asked, "Well, seeing the effort you've made, I assume you beat Gai-sensei. What did this challenge serve you?"

"Free lunch," he said winking.
For a moment, Sakura wanted to give him a medal for his extraordinarily penny-pinching nature.

Kakashi had finally done with drying his hair and set the towel aside, neatly folded it on the desk. Sakura absentmindedly took a glance at him and for a split second, she forgot to breathe. His unruly hair was looking so soft and fluffy, reminded her of a kitten's. For a 34 years old man, he looked so much younger with that hair, although its colour was gray. But then, in the dim light of electric tube, she found out his hair wasn't exactly gray. In fact, it was a very peculiar shade of silver. Sakura had seen him without his headband for many times in her life, but she somehow failed to notice how gorgeous he looked with that wild silver hair and now, she realized what she had missed. Sitting uncomfortably, she swallowed the urge to reach out and feel between her fingers to see if his hair was as soft as they looked. Without much of her consent, her eyes traveled down and studied his body parts. His skin was still a bit wet and the shirt was sticking tightly to his body, depicting every toned muscles of his. She was having a great view of them as there was no flat jacket hiding them. That man was, needless to say, muscular but lean, even his bone structures were attractive, she remarked. There is no doubt his chest would be as hard as rock and under the shirt lies-
She forced herself to look away and shook her head exasperatedly. She came here to help, she was supposed to be doing her job, not undressing the Hokage who was once her sensei with her dirty mind. But the temptation was still there, fueling her curiosity and she peered at him again. This time, his facial features. Even with the mask, she could see the very well-defined jawline and straight nose, they were the kind of features you'd usually find in perfect male arts. The obsidian eyes were always so intense and even capable of intimidating a grown man, but she had often seen a hint of kindness in them as well. Wait, why are his eyelashes so long? That should be illegal. Her lips parted slightly, losing herself in Kakashi's charms. She dared say his skin was blemish-free and— Oh God, what if he had fish lips like Naruto said, or buck teeth? But if he did have them, his mask couldn't hide their shape completely, right? It seemed his lips were thin and —