#sakura haruno is the best wingwoman

[sunstaar]

Hello,

I love your writing style, and I would like to propose a writing idea of Kakashi x civilian reader. I dont know how requests work but here we go. :)

The civilian is a doctor in psychology, specialised in childhood traumas. She is a foreigner, came in to practice in Konoha, and opened her own practice. She is beautiful and intelligent, and would make any men fall in love with her,including our beloved Kashi. However,he was sooo shy to talk with her and would get nervous in her presence. He might experience love, a feeling strange to him. Sakura, works as her assistant and is fascinated by her knowledge and she sensed that Kashi is interested in her so she acted as the cupid to get them together👀💃🏼

My inspiration for the reader comes from 'Dr. Shanon Curry from Johnny Depps trial lol :))'

Thank youu🙇🏼‍♀️🙇🏼‍♀️🙏

Thank you so much for requesting! You are my first request, so I hope that I am doing this right :) I tried to make the reader as close to Dr. Curry as I could, based on the snippets I watched of her during the trial (Honestly, I'm not sure though if I got her personality down). I hope that's still okay! Since you didn't specify a time period, I just assumed that this takes place after the war. Enjoy!

Cupid's Arrow

Hatake Kakashi x fem&civilian!Reader

Word Count: 6,6k

Ao3

Summary: Kakashi can’t help but fall for Konoha’s new childhood trauma specialist and lucky for him, Sakura decides that it is time to play cupid for her sensei and new mentor.

Haruno Sakura was not stupid. No matter how often Ino-pig may have jokingly said that in the pinkette’s presence (and never meant it seriously, she knew as much about their ‘rivalry’), Sakura harbored more intelligence than the majority her peers did. Ever since she began her training under the Godaime Hokage and one of the Legendary Sannin, Senju Tsunade, she had become even more aware that her intelligence was not to be looked down upon. However, that aspect of herself was not what she was the proudest of, rather, it was the emotional intelligence she possessed that brought her the most pride.

While Haruno Sakura was undeniably brilliant, she was also very intuitive for her age. If she had to speculate now where her understanding of others and their feelings had come from, Sakura would first think back to when she had begun working in the Konoha hospital. Within the building with blindingly white walls, understanding how her patients felt was one of her priorities. While they sometimes wouldn’t speak, if they were especially proud and defiant, Sakura always had to know how she should treat the person who saught her out. That meant analyzing everyone down to their tiniest reactions and movement of a muscle.

It had come as no surprise to her that she had the one to been the first to notice their sensei’s unusual behavior. After seven years (and counting) of knowing Hatake Kakashi, Sakura liked to believe that she knew a lot about the man, or at least more than many others did. A majority of the time, he was a walking enigma. With his aloof personality and admirable intellect, the black piece of fabric that kept the lower half of his face hidden from the world, and his drive to succeed, Kakashi was sometimes unreadable, a blank piece of paper per se. Sakura assumed this stemmed from his time in the Anbu, one he had only talked about on the rarest of occasions.

When you had come along, her sensei’s behavior changed drastically. Suddenly, he became readable. Of all things happening, Sakura had not seen such a change coming along. Finding the source of the change had been easy enough as she only had to look for the center of Kakashi’s change in behavior, you.

(To say that a woman of all reasons caused his sudden change surprised Sakura deeply. Besides Hanare, she was pretty sure that she had never seen her sensei talk to a woman if it wasn’t for the sake of the mission.)

That meant in short: her sensei was inexperienced and based on his behavior around you, also both emotionally and socially constipated.

To get him to talk to you for more than a few meek minutes and without stumbling over every other word would be a challenge, so Sakura knew from the moment she saw her sensei practically drool at the sight of you. How he could aid in the winning of a war against a revived man but not talk to a woman, she did not know. Luckily for him, Sakura had assigned herself the position of the cupid that would bring two of her mentors together and hopefully, have them dating in at least a few weeks.

Sakura could understand why her sensei had fallen for you of all people. Undeniably, you, her current mentor and the new psychologist in Konoha were a true sight to behold. Standing at (height), one would think that you would blend in with the civilian population. Yet, with your (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes, you instead stood out in the crowds of many. Beautiful and intelligent, that was how Sakura would describe you. It was no wonder her sensei metaphorically lay at your feet, as other men also did.

That gave Sakura more the reason to get you together with Kakashi.

In your life, you needed someone genuine and someone who supported you and your career. From the many talks the two of you had shared during lunch break over a cup of coffee, Sakura was well aware of the fact that finding a suitable partner did not come easy to you. One would think that with men at your feet, you had free choice.

You were a brilliant woman who was in search of a just as brilliant man. She knew that you were looking for someone who matched your intellect, someone with whom you could talk about just anything and could hold intelligent conversations. At the same time, you were also quite the hopeless romantic she noticed. You wanted someone who would love you for who you were, not merely and primarily for your appearance. Luckily for you, Sakura would (again) assign herself to be the cupid that would bring you into a relationship that will make you happy.

Undoubtedly, in Sakura’s mind the two of you, Kakashi and (Name) would be a perfect match. That was if her plan succeeded.

Kakashi felt weird. Unlike when he got sick (a number of times he could count on both of his hands) or got injured on a mission and received a countless amount of wounds all over his body, the feeling he felt now was not unpleasant. Rather, it was the complete opposite of the word. For reasons unknown to him, it felt like there were butterflies roaming around in his stomach.

Despite combing through an obscene amount of medical books, Kakashi could not figure out on his own what exactly was wrong with him. Kakashi would consider himself to be well-versed in many subjects, but medicine was not one he could consider being on that list. There were reasons why Sakura was the one to patch him up after rough missions.

The easiest solution to his persistent problem was to book an appointment with the doctor and explain his problem to a medical professional who would most likely know what to do. Alternatively, he could also ask for Sakura to listen to him and have his overly intuitive students help him. For a few minutes when he felt especially desperate, he had considered both options. In the end, he ended up dropping both of them, considering the prospect to be too mortifying for him.

That meant that now Kakashi was stuck with his stomach feeling weird every time he saw you. It must be a freaky coincidence, of that he was sure. When he was around you, his heartbeat suddenly spiked and his cheeks became warmer, turning a shade of pink underneath the mask he always wore. His most mortifying case of whatever sickness he suffered from had been during a coincidental meeting. You had stepped closer to him, your breath fanning over his mask as you reached out with your hand to rest it over his forehead, staring at him with furrowed brows.

With the most melodic voice, he had ever speak to him you asked, “Are you sick, Kakashi-san?” Your voice sounded like the lullaby he had always yearned to her and one he could hear forever without getting sick of it. Merely the way you stood in front of him had him breathless.

Frantically, Kakashi shook his head. He could not find it within himself to reply verbally, his tongue feeling tied.

You hummed in response, lifting your hand from his forehead to feel your own before returning to rest on his again. “Are you sure that you are okay, you feel a little warm. Maybe you should get that checked out?”

Undeniably, you were a very intelligent woman with an intuition that could barely be matched (according to Sakura’s tellings), but were somehow oblivious to how his thought circuited in your presence. Wasn’t it obvious that he did not feel well? When you touched him, his hands felt sweatier than they did before and his mind turned dizzy.

Most likely due to some illness I caught, Kakashi mused in his thoughts. On the last mission, Tsunade-sama sent me on I must have caught something, probably. That must be it. Maybe body heat triggers it?

If Kakashi’s last assumption was correct (spoiler: it was not), then removing himself from your presence would be the only solution to his problem. Maybe then his body would calm down from the sudden increase in temperature and as a result, he would feel much better again.

To him, it sounded completely plausible in the literal heat of the moment.

Kakashi cleared his throat, taking a step backward from your prying hands. “I-I must apol-logize, (Name)-san. But I still ha-have business elsewhere for t-the day.”

You made him so nervous that he began stuttering and Kakashi could confidently say that he never stuttered … unless he spoke around you. In your presence, it felt like every nerve in his body was lit ablaze, making his skin tingle with your every delicate touch. The effect you had on him undeniable and at the same time, one he had to get away from to keep his dignity.

When you lowered your hand, you almost looked disappointed, but Kakashi was sure that he was imagining that. You had no reason to be disappointed, right?

“Oh, I didn’t mean to take up your time. I’ll get out of your way then.” You said, your voice now missing its previous lull. With your head held high, you rushed past the silver-haired man and disappeared into the growing crowd, nowhere to be found.

Kakashi looked after your retreating figure and held his hand as though to reach for you. Though, when he realized what he was doing, he quickly lowered it again. For an, to him, unexplicable reason, the funny feeling in his stomach subdued once he completely lost sight of your figure. More so, his stomach felt uncomfortably empty and not at all as it did before he saw you. At the same time, he felt bad for lying to you to end the conversation between the two of you. You had looked so excited to talk to him, after all.

With his head hung lower than it did before your coincidental meeting, Kakashi continued his way into the opposite direction of where you went, his mind completely occupied by thoughts of only you.

Sakura had a clear mission and it was not given to her by the Hokage. It felt a little wrong to consider her doings a ‘mission’, but there was not a better word for her current doings: playing cupid. In her mind, she even had already begun to hatch out a mission plan, consisting of a total of four steps that had to be completed as smoothly as possible.

Mission Cupid’s Arrow (to be completed)

Figure out how Kakashi-sensei feels for (Name)-san.(Note: he won’t say it outright, read his body language).

Talk about Kakashi-sensei with (Name)-san, if needed, read her body language.

Following the completion of the previous steps, make plans to set them up on a date.

Kiss kiss kiss!!!

Not that she would ever reveal the existence of the plan to anyone or ever mention it, but Sakura felt quite proud of how she put her mind to the problem she presented herself with.

Luckily for her, completing the first of the four steps had not been easy. It came without much thought that Kakashi-sensei was a difficult target when it came to topics such as feelings, relationships, and similar. Already when she was a Genin, he had been clueless about what to tell her when it came to her crush on Sasuke and preferred to stay out of her love life. It was no wonder to Sakura that he didn’t have an idea of how to lead his own.

Sakura began her mission by inviting her sensei out for a bowl of ramen, ‘to celebrate’, that was how she had put it when he asked her why.

“Celebrate what?” Kakashi had asked, his growing confusion evident.

She let out a faux thoughtful noise, leaning back on her heels as she spoke, “Oh, you know. A lot has happened since the war ended. You are going to be Hokage soon, I’m an assistant now. It would be nice to celebrate that.”

Sadly enough, Kakashi did not buy her explanation that easily. With a raised eyebrow he asked, “Why didn’t you ask Naruto or Sai to come along?”

Bingo. The man just played himself, she thought.

“Because Naruto eats my earned money faster out of my pocket than I earned it.”

The excuse was believable since it really was true. Faintly, she could remember the last time Team Seven had gone out to eat some ramen and how Kakashi had convinced poor Yamato to pay for all of them. While Sai held himself back and eased Yamato’s incoming pain, Naruto meanwhile had taken it as a chance to go all out. Out of Yamato’s mistake, they had all learned.

Kakashi chuckled. “Fair enough.”

That was not when her first step had ended, however. Next, she needed to figure out as much about her sensei’s state of mind toward you as she possibly could, preferably without sending him running before she got enough information.

(Quite frankly, Kakashi was the master in disappearing without a trace. One moment he would be sitting beside her, somehow making his ramen magically vanish without her seeing, and the next the chair beside her would be empty as would be the bowl. By then, he would also have paid for his and her meal, which she always found quite thoughtful.)

If necessary, Sakura was ready to trap the man somewhere to have her mission succeed. She only had his happiness (and also yours) in mind, both of you deserved it in her opinion. Sakura hoped that with each other, you two could find it.

Sakura stirred her chopsticks mindlessly in her ramen, putting on a thoughtful expression before letting out a loud sigh. It immediately caught Kakashi’s attention, who gave her a questioning look. 

“Say, sensei, what do you think is the most important thing in a relationship?” As soon as she saw the silver-haired man startle, she backtracked a little. “I mean, with everyone beginning to date, I’ve just been wondering what I am looking for and … I don’t know.”

Kakashi hesitated in his reply, “Are you talking about Sasuke?”

The topic of Sasuke was a delicate one to breach, especially for Sakura. It was why she sucked in a breath at the mere mention of the last Uchiha’s name. While that reaction came in subconsciously and not on purpose at all, it brought the conversation along.

Her sensei cleared his throat, the discomfort between them slowly growing. “I don’t know what to tell you Sakura …” He easily trailed off, pinching his nose.

His frustration was rolling off of him in waves and that was the moment Sakura had to strike. “Sensei, just be honest with me. Please.”

“Trust. I think that trust is an important thing. You have to be there for the other person and believe in them unconditionally. Trust them to …” ‘not leave you’. The words hung in the air, he did not even need to speak them. “You have to be honest with each other, about what you want and who you are, communicate. To be in a relationship means to be able to rely on each other and be there for one another. That is what matters.”

Time to be honest, Sakura did not think that her sensei had it in him to speak such words. In a sense, they did not only aid her with her secret mission but also struck a certain chord within her, so she wouldn’t forget what he said. Unsurprisingly, he was right with what he was saying.

(At the same time, Sakura couldn’t help but wonder if his addiction of Icha Icha influenced his ideals. It was a possibility.)

Sakura smiled at the man, knowing what it took for him to actually talk about his feelings, especially when it came to things like romance. “Thank you, sensei. This means a lot to me.”

Awkwardly, he rubbed the back of his head and smiled with his eyes closed.

For a moment, Sakura smiled brightly at her sensei, delighted that her mission was going well. That was at least until her green eyes fixated on the now-empty bowl that sat in front of her sensei. “You finished eating already?!” She screeched out.

“I did,” Kakashi confirmed with a regained nonchalance. “Why do you look so surprised, Sakura?”

No matter how much she planned ahead and thought that she was ahead of him, Kakashi always beat her by several steps.

“Huh?!”

Sakura couldn’t believe it! Underneath the table, she clenched her fists together to keep the quiet ‘Cha!’ from pushing past her lips. The pinkette would not give in that easily, she would not be defeated by a man over a decade her senior, who was so socially inept. It’d be ridiculous if he could just-

-with a poof, Kakashi disappeared from right beside her and Sakura could only stare in disbelief, her mouth falling open in shock.

“That bastard!” And with that, Sakura slammed her hand onto the table.

Little did Sakura know that the real challenge was yet to come.

You in comparison to her sensei were an absolute nightmare to figure out. Sakura should have expected it (really, she should have) that a psychologist was not an easy person to either read or figure out without the person willingly revealing information about themselves. Your profession was literally focused on knowing others' emotions and controlling your own, so it was no wonder that the questions Sakura thought were sly weren’t so sly at all.

She should have seen it coming, but stupidly enough, she didn’t. When she had asked you more non-work-related questions, it should have been obvious to her that you would become suspicious at the sudden onslaught.

“What’s this about all of a sudden?” You laughed, practically looking right into Sakura's soul. She knew that she was being watched carefully. “What’s with all the questions?”

Sakura had been able to shake you off of her trail, somehow. She herself was rather unsure of how she had managed to stop the reverse psychology and your onslaught of questions, but somehow she did. However, it was more likely that you let her off of the hook.

Unfortunately for you, that made Sakura even more determined to find a crack in your professional mindset, no matter how long it would take for her plan to succeed. She was not one to give up easily, after all.

Something was on Sakura’s mind, that much was obvious to you. Throughout the few hours that the two of you had been working together, it was obvious that the girl’s thoughts were somewhere beyond work. If she had a pencil in her hand, she would mindlessly drum it against the clipboard that she held in her other hand. When you asked her to write something down for you, whether it was reminders of lessons you two had to go over again or appointments you had to check, Sakura would make more spelling mistakes than she ever did before.

For some reason, your favorite (and only) assistant was distracted and you were determined to get to the bottom of it. The right time to do so would be the upcoming lunch break for the two of you, something you had been looking forward to since your third appointment of the day.

Your last patient before lunch break was a young boy of ten years. It broke your heart time and time again to see the young children come to your, to have their parent(s) or caretakers drop them off at your practice, and pick them up again later. No child of any age should be recquired to see a trauma specialist.

When the Fourth Shinobi War rolled around, everything had changed from one to another. Back in your homeland in Sunagakure, you did not have many patients to attend to. Due to the vast population of the smallest of the five Kage villages, your amount of patients was minuscule in comparison to the influx you were experiencing in Konoha. Save for the attack of Akatsuki years back and the murder of your Kazekage, there had not been much that drove patients into your practice, especially not young ones.

Following the end of the war, you had decided to take your practice elsewhere. It had been a suggestion of your young Kazekage, a charming boy by the name of Gaara, whose psychologist you had been for a short duration of his childhood. To strengthen the connection between the two villages, medical professionals of all kinds were sent to different villages to keep the exchange of information constant.

Whether it was a stroke of luck or else for you to be chosen, you could not exactly tell. The whispers following the selection had not been hushed. Conversations of nepotism and favoritism had reached your ears before you left, making you even more eager for your departure.

And now, now you were here in Konoha with an assistant who was obviously distracted. You could understand why that was the case. The profession of your and now also Sakura’s choosing carried many burdens with it, but you chose to bear the weight on your shoulders for the sake of others. No matter how heavy, you couldn’t just give in to it. The children needed you, after all. You couldn’t let them down, that wouldn’t align with your conscious. That was also why you needed Sakura at her full concentration, to avoid you in your mission to hopefully help these children.

Since lunch break rolled around, you decided that it would be the perfect time to have a conversation about what was bothering the pinkette.

Watching your assistant, you let out a small sigh and leaned back in your chair, crossing your arms over your chest. “What’s on your mind, Sakura-chan?”

She did not answer immediately and instead bit her lip, falling into deeper thought. You were pretty sure that she did not even hear you speak, never mind asking her a question.

“Sakura?”

In her seat, Sakura was visibly startled by your voice. “Oh! Sorry (Name)-san, I didn’t mean to get distracted.”

Another thing you liked about her was her good manners. She was always one to apologize for something that could happen to anyone, you found that to be quite endearing.

You let out a laugh, shaking your head at the dazzled expression your assistant wore. “Don’t worry too much about it, Sakura-chan. We all get a little distracted sometimes. Now tell me, what’s on your mind that bugs you so much?”

Sakura let out a groan, tilting her head back in a gesture of annoyance. “Was I that noticeable?”

You pretended to think about it before replying, “Yes. Couldn’t even not see that if I tried.”

She let out yet another groan and buried her face in her hands, obviously embarrassed.

You went to comfort her by placing a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it once softly with a reassuring smile. “It happens to the best of us,” You laughed, faintly remembering doing the same as her. “but seriously, what’s got you so unfocused? This isn’t like you.”

Sakura took a deep breath and removed her face from her hand, sitting up straight in her seat again. It was now or never. She did not even have to will a flush to her cheeks as it came along with her embarrassment about being caught slacking.

“Well, (Name)-san, I was just, uh, thinking about … whatitwouldbeliketobeinarelationship.”

Confused, you blinked at her. “Can you repeat that? I don’t think I understood.”

“I said that I was thinking about whatitwouldbeliketobeinarelationship.”

Now it was getting a tad bit ridiculous.

“Sakura. Focus.”

“Right, sorry,” Again, Sakura straightened in her seat. She rubbed her neck, obviously embaressed. “It’s a bit embarrassing … during work, I know I shouldn’t think about non-work-related things, but (Name)-san, I just- I couldn’t help but think about what it would be like to be in a relationship.”

That was random, you thought.

“Oh?” You were unsure of what to say. “Is it about that boy … what was his name again? Sasuke, right?”

You could see Sakura visibly cringe at the name and draw in a sharp breath before nodding. “Yes.”

There wasn’t a lot that you knew about the last of the Uchiha, Sasuke, but what you knew was enough. He was a boy your young assistant had a crush on since an early age (the academy, you believe) and someone she held close to her heart. About him, she had told you a few things and hesitated time and time again to speak his name aloud, only referring to him by his pronouns. It was evident that she had a difficult time dealing with his departure.

“I was just thinking about if one day, I might find someone to love, someone who loves me and be in a relationship. It’s a silly thought, I should focus on other things but I just can’t help it,” Sakura let out a laugh, one that sounded more self-loathing than anything else. Then, she looked straight at you. “What about you (Name)-san, do you have someone?”

“No,” You told her. “I don’t.”

“No offense, (Name)-san. But why is that?” Sakura asked, brows furrowed. “You are very beautiful and many others would agree with that. You must have many men practically laying at your feet.”

You found the fact that you had no significant life partner to be rather disappointing, maddening even. It wasn’t that you weren’t aware of the fact that there was an effect you had on men, because you were. You knew that you were a desirable woman, based on the fact that countless men had asked you out on dates already.

“I haven’t found the one for me yet.” You answered truthfully as you found no need to lie to her.

“‘The one’, who would be that for you?”

“A genuine man,” That is who you were looking for, your ideal partner. “Someone who looks past my appearance and puts in some effort to go on a date with me and that not to brag about it later to his friends. Someone trustworthy, someone honest, and someone I could talk to freely, without having to dumb myself done as we talk.”

The minuscule smirk tugging at Sakura’s lips confused you greatly, yet you let it slide, thinking that maybe you confused it with a smile. “You will find someone like that, don’t worry too much, (Name)-san.” Confidence in her words practically oozed off of them.

She made you wonder … “And how can you be so sure of that, Sakura-chan?”

Sakura grinned at you. “There are plenty of men that fit your description!”

“Such as …?” Admittedly, during your description, there was one man you could think of who matched it, who was a carbon copy of it, and yet you would not dare to utter his name in her presence. It was like wishful thinking to fantasize about a man such as him, to think of him as a suitor while he was practically untouchable for someone like you. A war hero and a psychologist were not on the same level, not even in the same field, and yet …

“My sensei Kakashi, for example!”

Your eyes widened drastically to resemble the ones of a doe. How did she hit the nail right on the head?

“Excuse me?!” You blurted out, panic invading your way of speaking. Your cheeks took on a light dusting of color, feeling warmer than they did before your conversation.

“You look flustered, (Name)-san,” Sakura leaned closer to you with a teasing smirk playing on her lips. “Is something the matter?”

You swallowed harshly to control your emotions. She was right, you really were flustered and you had to get yourself back under your own control. A few breaths later and you did not feel as light-headed anymore and leaned back in your chair to distance yourself from the noise pinkette.

Now was your time to strike back against her. “The thing that is the matter is that my lovely assistant is spending her time finding potential suitors for me instead of learning.”

That seemed to do the job as Sakura froze in her position, the smirk falling off of her pretty lips.

It was your time to be the one smirking. Quickly, you glanced over at the clock hanging in the doorway, almost signaling the end of your shared lunch break. “I liked the talk we had, really, I did, Sakura-chan. Now, however, it is time for us to resume our work.” You stood up and packed your bento lunch up, making sure not to leave anything behind.

With a heavy sigh and growling stomach, Sakura hurried after you.

Despite the horrendous turns her conversations with the two of you took, Sakura’s plan was perfectly set into motion. Not only did she manage to gather information about the two of you, but was now also able to judge whether you two would fit together or not. Intuitively, she came to the conclusion that her two mentors would do another well and be a good match, they just hadn’t realized that yet. That was what she was there for.

It was time to initiate step three of her ultra-secret mission.

“Come on, (Name)-san!” Sakura practically whined as she stood before you. “How can you just say ‘no’ to me?”

You had crossed your arms over your chest and looked at your assistant with a raised brow. “Easy as that: no.”

Sakura’s whining came to a sudden stop and she deadpanned, “Really?”

Admittedly, she had underestimated not only you but also your iron will deeply. Because of her miscalculation when it came to you, her plan was about to crumble right before her eyes if she could not stop that from happening.

“Listen, Sakura-chan, I appreciate the invite to go out to dinner together, but I must decline. How are you so sure that I do not have plans for myself this evening?”

The only thing that saved her right now was her crystal clear of a conversation you two had last week. “Because last week you said that this week you don’t have any plans and will only relax during your free time.”

Your mouth opened and your lips formed to imitate the letter o as you stared at her, saying nothing. A few times, you blinked, as though you were remembering the same thing she was remembering. Then, you lifted your hands in mock defeat.

“Alright, you got me,” You sighed and admitted with reluctance, “I’m not busy tonight.”

Excitedly, Sakura clapped her hands together. “Great! Congratulations, (Name)-san, I’ll make sure you are busy tonight, then.”

While trying to convince you, Sakura came to realize that you and her sensei had a few similar mannerisms, such as persistent doubt when it came to her intent.

“Again? But you have just invited me to dinner last week?” Kakashi asked, standing before her almost as a mirror image as you did an hour before.

If everything worked as intended, Sakura either created the best match ever (take that, Ino-pig!) or a double-edged sword.

“And?”

“And what?”

“What’s so bad about that?”

“You cannot buy me dinner every week, Sakura. It’s a bit much.”

“Can’t I spend some time with my sensei?” Sakura could see that he was becoming suspicious of her and that was not a good sign, not at all.

Kakashi appeared to be thinking carefully about his next words and that made her quite nervous. The feeling that welled up in Sakura was beyond nerve-wrecking.

“Sakura, I appreciate your kindness, but-”

She would not let him ruin her plans. “-What’s keeping you from just agreeing?”

He made an unintelligible sound from the back of his throat.

“Seriously, sensei, I know you aren’t required to do so, but when do you ever spend time with us? In a few months, you are going to be Hokage and then probably too busy to see anyone of us …” While on one hand Sakura really did want to spend some time with her old team again, almost all of them together if possible, on the other hand, she also wanted for both of you to be happy. So, she had to bare out her feelings and push them aside all at once.

“Sakura …” He was at a loss for words.

“Please?”

Underneath his mask, Kakashi bit his lip in thought before letting out a sigh. “Alright, but just this once.”

Sakura could not be happier.

Guilt was gnawing at Kakashi. His student’s words rang true because he did indeed not spend much time with them, especially following the end of the war. There had simply been too much for all of them to do, individual missions, the occasional life-threatening occurrence, and his training to become the next Hokage of Konohagakure.

There was no better time than now, he supposed.

Sakura had told him to meet her at seven pm at Ichiraku and for the first time in forever, Kakashi put in an effort to only be fashionably late instead of leaving his students to wait for over an hour. Just this once, he could do them the favor (but only once, they should not get their hopes up, it will not happen another time).

Up ahead illuminated the lights of Ichiraku ramen a figure, one who was tapping her foot against the ground and stood with her hands on her hips, appearing angered even from a distance. Upon coming closer, Kakashi could make out more of the woman’s features, among which were a familiar combination of bubblegum pink hair and green eyes and the angry scowl Sakura wore time and time again when he had been late. With an angry finger, she pointed at him and beckoned over.

(He would never say it aloud, but sometimes his only female student scared him to death. Sakura had an aura similar to that of her mentor, Tsunade, and one that had him internally cowering in fear. That was exactly why he quickened his pace to an extent that it would not be too noticeable.)

“You’re late,” This Was the first thing that Sakura said to him when he stopped before her. Her anger was obvious and so was the tension in her jaw. “but lucky for you, I expected you to be, so our guest did not have to wait for long.”

Our guest? Kakashi could only tilt his head in confusion, the gears in his mind turning in search for a detail he might have missed. Yet, he could not remember the information that seemed to have gone past his head.

The curtain protecting the privacy of those who dined in Ichirakus was pulled open and Kakashi swore that he could hear his heart stop. There was you, in person, sharing the same air as him.

In the most melodic voice, you addressed your assistant. “Sakura, who are you talking to- oh.” Then, you spotted him and your eyes widened. 

Kakashi was pretty sure that time seemed to slow down to almost no movement in your presence. In the light of the streetlamps, you looked like an angel sent from the heavens above, an ethereal figure stemming from the myths of the gods. You were the most beautiful woman to have walked earth, he decided right then and there. Only his mask could hide his dazzled expression and the rising flush of his cheeks.

When you stepped closer, his last brain cell evaporated. “Kakashi-san? Are you alright? You look a bit pale.” The way you titled your head to look at him had him fixated and stole away his breath.

“I-I’m f-fine.” He managed to stutter out, too lost in your e/c staring at him to focus properly. Inwardly, he let out a groan at how the situation was turning out for him.

Immediately upon hearing that, a smile graced your angelic features as you looked at him. “I’m glad to hear that, Kakashi-san,” Then you turned on your heel with a glare sitting on your face to scold a certain pinkette. “Now let’s get to you, Sakura-chan. What do you think are you doing?”

At the tone, you used with her (reminiscent of the one of a scolding mother), Kakashi would have thought that by now your shared student would cower away in fear or at least show some regret, but instead, Sakura smirked of all things.

“Quite frankly, both of you are helpless when it comes to love and kami, I can’t keep watching you squirm around. It’s so obvious that the two of you are made for each other and fit well together and what do you do? You squirm around one another, seriously? I refuse to let this go on any longer and watch you two waste the opportunities you can have now! So stop acting like love-sick teenagers and man up and go on a date!”

Both Kakashi and yourself suddenly felt as though you were ablaze at the mention of the last word, both of you unsure of what to say.

Sakura decided to deliever the last blow she had in her arsenal. “No offence, Kakashi-sensei, (Name)-san, but it was getting really sad watching you two. I just had to do something. I hope neither of you will haunt me forever for this. See you tomorrow! Enjoy your date!” Before either of you could get a word in, the pinkette sprinted for her life as for away from you as she could, not even stopping once.

Between the two of you reigned a comfortable silence, one that you decided to break by clearing your throat. “Well, Kakashi-san, that just leaves the two of us,” You turned to face the flustered silver-haired, smiling at him so brightly. “How about we eat some ramen together since we are already here. What do you say?”

Kakashi swallowed harshly. “L-like on a d-date?”

To be reduced to such a stuttering idiot in front of you of all people was absolutely mortifying for the silver-haired Shinobi. For Kami’s sake, he was a war hero, the warrior of the Sharingan and the Copy-Cat-Nin, and yet, in front of you, he was merely Kakashi, a man who had to grow too fast. Nobody had ever made him feel like he did when with you.

While he didn’t enjoy sweets that much, your smile was the only thing sweet he would want forever in his life. “Yes. ‘Like on a date’, if that is alright with you, Kakashi-san.”

The silver-haired cleared his throat to regain his composure. “You c-can drop t-the honorific, (Name)-s-s-an.”

The giggle you let out was beyond adorable and sent a cupid’s arrow straight to his heart. “Alright then. I will, Kakashi. But I must ask of you to do the same.”

“Yes.”

With a teasing smirk, you leaned closer to him so your breath was almost fanning over his mask. “Yes, who?”

He swallowed thickly. “Yes, (Name).”

“We’re on the same page then,” With a click of your tongue, you again turned on your heel but this time not without taking the silver-haired with you. Your hand felt delicate wrapped around his as you pulled him along, right into the tranquil ramen shop. “Come on, pretty boy, let’s not waste any more time of our date.” Without a moment of hesitation, said pretty boy followed along in your steps, allowing himself to be pulled right into the shop.

(Secretly, Kakashi had always known that there was a reason why out of all of his twerps, Sakura and her metaphorical cupid’s arrow was his favorite.)