WELL MET

by Jasmin Kaiba

Part I

He'd left the village, his home, ten years ago, on the longest and hardest undercover mission of his carrier. Now he was finally back.

Looking at the imposing red and green gates of Konohagakure no Sato, Hatake Kakashi asked himself if the transition from civilian back to shinobi would be as hard as the opposite had been, a decade ago. Deciding that he could mull over it when he met the new Hokage and reported in the office, the Copy Ninja took a deep breath and crossed the threshold to the village.

The two chuunin at the gatehouse merely spared him a glance as he walked in, the hitai-ate sporting the leaf over his left eye identified him as one of them. A Konoha ninja, something he hadn't felt like in over eight years.

The hardest part of his mission had been seven years ago when his ninken had come back after delivering the monthly report with the black message about an attack and the death of the Sandaime. He'd wanted nothing more than to rush back to his home, help where he could, pledge his loyalty to the new Hokage. But he couldn't. The council of the elders had ordered him to stay and finish the mission, or at least till the Godaime was appointed and made the decision. Weeks later a bird had landed on his window, in the middle of the night, carrying a message from Princess Tsunade, Godaime Hokage of Konoha, telling him to stay put, and keep reporting as before, the mission was of very high importance.

And now it was over. He didn't want to think about it anymore.

He still knew the village like the back of his hand, that would never change. A Konoha ninja would always be a Konoha ninja, no matter what. Several missing nin throughout the history have proven that. Their sense of loyalty and duty may be gone, but they could never truly let go of Konoha. Oroshimaru too, in a twisted way. His desperate trying to destroy the village was enough proof.

The market place was bustling as he made his way through it, to the Hokage tower, it was the afternoon, but the vendors didn't even think about closing, with the gates wide open welcoming any visitor, the business was bound to be good. The whole village had a sense of peace to it. That was not something Kakashi had expected upon his return. The loss of the Sandaime still weighted heavily on him, but it seemed that the new Hokage was doing her job well. And that was all he could ask for.

He reached the tower in record time, being deep in thought while walking always made him reach his destination faster, since nothing came up to distract him, and that was, in a way, good. The winding staircase up the tower was as long as before, but he was far too happy to be home, for it to damper his mood at all.

A few shinobi passed by him every now and then, either coming down or up, doing their jobs with the ever-present efficiency.

Then two young men came down the stairs, walking past him, silently talking. One had his hands deep in his pockets and slouched his shoulders with a look of extreme boredom in his dark eyes; his hair was up in a spiky ponytail on top of his head. The son of the head of the Nara Clan, Kakashi recognized. He looked exactly like his father. But it was the other man that almost stopped him dead in his tracks. This one was much livelier, compared to his comrade, his sunshine colored hair and bright grin were blatantly attention grabbing, but it was his face that had Kakashi transfixed. Save for the whisker-like markings on his tanned cheeks, the boy looked exactly like the Yondaime Hokage, Kakashi's mentor and substitute father, Namikaze Minato. Only one person could bear such resemblance to the youngest Hokage ever, his son, the Kyuubi jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto.

Going up the stairs and doing the math silently, Kakashi decided that Naruto was 21 years old. How the young grow up. Faster and faster every day.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Kakashi entered the fore room to the Hokage's office and was greeted by a pretty dark-haired woman in a yukata and high heels. Kunoichi these days, Kakashi sighed, but crinkled his eye at the woman, smiling friendly. She returned his smile, pleasantly enough.

"May I help you?" she asked with a smile and he relaxed a little. Maybe the new Hokage isn't as bad as the rumors had said.

"Yes," he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, he wasn't used to introducing himself to his own comrades, and he was known enough to avoid that. "I'm Hatake Kakashi, just back from a mission. I think the Hokage is expecting me."

The kunoichi smiled wider and nodded. "Yes, Tsunade-sama is waiting for you. Go right in."

"Thanks," he smiled again, and moved to the double doors, opening the right one with a light knock.

That turned out to be a mistake as he came face to face with two scowling kunoichi, one sandy-blond, the other pink-haired. Kakashi laughed nervously and looked from one woman to the other before deciding to introduce himself.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi; you're expecting me, Hokage-sama."

That was a mistake as well, when the pink-haired woman's eyes narrowed even more and she snapped at him. "Expecting or not, it's impolite to enter without being called in! Show some respect to the Hokage!"

Kakashi shrank visibly back and wondered if his time as a civilian had killed some of the fearlessness, he had been famous for. It was, after all, unheard of for the Copy Ninja to be afraid of a girl almost two feet shorter and only half the age of himself. To his credit though, the girl was fierce and as intimidating as the Hokage who was a Legendary Sennin, maybe even more so, since Tsunade was the classic sort of woman, petite and voluptuous, and the younger one was exotic and displayed the deadly femininity of a kunoichi with toned, slightly muscled arms, and long graceful legs that could no doubt cost a man his head, figuratively and literary.

"Calm down, Sakura," the Hokage waved off. "Hatake was never known for his manners after all. To be honest I am surprised he managed to come on schedule. I almost bet Shizune he would turn up tomorrow at the earliest. That would've been one more loss."

"And possibly good news," the younger kunoichi sighed. "You just won a free pass for the new spa, shishou." She pulled out a colorful slip of paper and handed it to the Hokage. The blond woman scowled at the pass as her apprentice continued, "The last time you won something, Genma's team was almost killed and Neji-san stayed in the hospital for two months. After you lost that bet with me on Naruto, I killed an Akatsuki member and came back alive, Gaara-sama was brought back to life, and Naruto managed to defeat the mad bomber, Deidara."

Kakashi raised a brow at this. Tsunade was known for her bad luck in gambling, but that her winning somehow translated into something bad... well, that seemed a little over the top.

"What sorts of missions have been given out, Sakura?" Tsunade asked her apprentice, but waved Kakashi in, and he closed the door, softly before moving closer to the desk.

The pinkette shuffled through some papers before pulling out one and studying it. "Hmm... Three D-ranked for the genin teams, you remember, Konohamaru complained up a storm again."

The mentioned genin seemed to be a mutual source of annoyance, because both women scowled and Tsunade shook her head. Neither paid any attention to the masked man and he decided to remain invisible for the time being, his most important policy had been to keep his hide safe if he could. Pissing of two potentionaly dangerous kunoichi seemed rather counterproductive to that.

"I don't understand that brat," countered Tsunade, taking a look at the scroll Sakura presented her, the list of D-ranked missions and snorted when she realized that there were more missions than genin. Great, she'd have to give them to chuunin, and will never hear the end of it. "He's seventeen and still a genin," she continued, pushing the scroll away with a grimace. "Why doesn't he just work harder on the chuunin exams?"

"Because the only thing in his empty head is how to beat Naruto in that disastrous Sexy no Jutsu idiocy of theirs!" the young medic snapped, slamming another scroll on the table without care.

"Weren't you a little too rough on him during the last exam, Sakura?" the Hokage questioned with a sly look in her amber eyes. She averted her gaze when the younger woman scowled something fierce and leaned down further.

"I was too lenient on the pervert! I should have given him the Jiraiya treatment! The only thing I asked him was how he stood with illusions and he had the nerve to use the Sexy no Jutsu! That I sent him flying from the examination room is mild to what I would've done to Naruto for it!"

Tsunade nodded and leaned her chin on intertwined fingers and met Sakura's hard gaze head on. "It was the wrong thing to do, yes. But that was an illusion as well."

"It wasn't!" Sakura growled and straightened. "The Sexy no Jutsu is a disgustingly glorified Henge no Jutsu! It has nothing to do with genjutsu! The art of genjutsu would lose all its glory if things like that perverse idiocy spawned from it!"

"Yes, yes, I know," Tsunade waved her off. "Genjutsu is holy land for you, I get it. Just don't let your medic studies suffer under your passion for illusionary warfare."

The pinkette huffed and threw her hair over her shoulder with a twist of her wrist. A genjutsu user. Konoha hasn't seen any truly gifted ones since the Uchiha Clan, and Kakashi was truly curious about the girl. She, on the other hand seemed more interested in a staring match with the blonde Hokage.

"Now," the Hokage looked away from her apprentice and to the list of missions lying on the table. "About the mission roster. How many S and A class?"

Sakura picked up the list and her eyes flew over it. "No S. Two As. Nothing too major, just some good old spying. Most to the members of the Hyuuga Clan."

Tsunade gave her surrogate daughter a sour look before leaning her heavy head on her fist. "We all know how those spying missions can end up. Wasn't your team ambushed on one just last week?"

Sakura didn't appreciate being called out, not even by her shishou. "That was Naruto's entire fault. The idiot couldn't keep quiet long enough and we were discovered in the middle of enemy territory. We took them out fast enough and without any trouble, they weren't higher leveled than chuunin, if even that."

The blonde slowly nodded her head, but then seemed to remember something. "But Naruto came back here black and blue and bleeding, he spent three days in the hospital."

Her student grinned and Tsunade rolled her eyes, already knowing the answer. "That was me. One of the ambushers grabbed my butt; needless to say, I smashed his skull in. And since it was Naruto's fault we were attacked in the first place, well, it was punishment. And I begged you to just send Sai and me. I thought you knew how it ends up with Naruto on recon missions."

"Yes, yes, never again. Now," she turned to the masked Jounin waiting patiently in the corner. "Hatake, how long were you gone?"

Kakashi, startled, tore his eyes from Sakura's behind and forced his mind out of the gutter, thanking whatever power was up there that the object of his fantasies hadn't noticed his attention. Smiling sheepishly he met the Hokage's knowing gaze and felt heat rush up to his cheeks, fortunately it wasn't visible beneath his mask. "Ten years Hokage-sama."

Tsunade shook her head at the man's antics but dropped it for the moment; she was used to Sakura being a men-magnet. "Ten years, huh? Well, it's good to have you back, Hatake. The village has been feeling your absence gravely, especially during the Sound/Sand attack when the Sandaime died." All three of them dropped their eyes and prayed once more for the former Hokage's soul. "Anyway," the woman continued, "Your last report said that everything went according to plan and I received all the information we'd needed. As it is, your mission is over, you'll be given two weeks to settle in again, and rest, I guess. I'd give you more time, but we need you, I'm sure you understand. Now Sakura will accompany you to the hospital and see that you're given a physical check up as well as a conversation with the counselor, and then you're free to do as you wish. Sakura please do the physical yourself, I don't want him being uncomfortable with a male medic or a female giggling over him and not doing their job."

The pinkette nodded, "Yes, shishou," used to giving physicals to top-grade shinobi due to her position and the trust Tsunade put in her. Kakashi on the other hand blanched. While he certainly didn't want a man touching him anywhere below the waist and prior experience had him running from female medics as fast as his legs could carry him, he would put up with any of it if it meant that Sakura, who sparked an interest of sexual nature came nowhere near his unclothed body. He wasn't sure if he could control his body's reaction in such a position, and if anything happened... Both the cause of it and the Hokage would tear him apart.

But the young medic was already at the door, waiting for him. Asking the Hokage for another medic would probably insult the pinkette and he'd be beaten black and blue. Great. With a great sigh, he followed her out the door and missed the sly smirk forming on Tsunade's face.

Sakura needed to relax, only way to do it, make sure the girl got laid. Hatake was damn sexy, even she would admit it and if the way he was looking at Sakura was any indication, well he wouldn't have any qualms doing the honor. And Sakura was easy to seduce once a guy figured out how to do it. But if Inuzuka Kiba could do it, than Hatake Kakashi wouldn't have any trouble.

With a deep slouch and hands stuck in his pockets, Kakashi followed Sakura out of the Hokage tower and towards the hospital on the other side of the street. Walking behind her down the stairs of the tower, he'd nearly collided with her back as she'd stopped and he noticed almost too late due to trying not to look at her legs. She'd stopped at the approach of Hyuuga Hiashi, the head of the Clan, followed by his nephew, Neji. Sakura'd bowed to the elder shinobi respectfully, while he nodded his head, and the younger man bowed as deep as Sakura had. Kakashi hadn't missed how the young Hyuuga's milky eyes glued themselves to Sakura's face.

Then he'd almost fallen over as Hiashi, almost casually asked, "Have you thought about my proposition, Sakura-san? Neji is still waiting and I can promise you that you will become the wife of the future Clan Head. This is not something to refuse."

But the girl'd just giggled and brushed the older man off. "I'm sorry, Hiashi-sama, but my answer still stands. I'm not ready to marry yet, and I don't feel that way for Neji-san. But I'm sure some other girl will be thrilled to have the honor of becoming Neji-san's bride. Maybe Tenten-chan? Neji-san knows her well."

Hiashi'd scoffed at that. "That girl is not fit to lead our Clan. She might be a formidable kunoichi, but she lacks grace and good breeding. You, on the other hand, Sakura-san, are beautiful, intelligent, sophisticated, an excellent kunoichi and that the Hokage sees you as her own daughter doesn't hurt either. You'd be an asset to the Clan." Sakura had laughed and excused them, after saying that if she ever thought she could feel for Neji like that, she'd take them up on their offer.

"Hatake-san?" her voice shook his from his thoughts and he flinched before somewhat composing himself.

"Yes?" She somehow didn't strike him like a woman who would tolerate anything but actual words for answers.

"Is that slouching of yours a permanent health condition, or are you simply refusing to stand straight?"

Squirming a bit uncomfortably, he looked at her back and shrugged. "It's not permanent."

He saw her nod. "Good. But it will become permanent if you continue doing it. You're not all that tall, so stop it. Jiraiya-sama is much taller and he's always showing off his height. Such a posture is unbecoming of a shinobi of your status anyway, Hatake-san."

"I don't really care about such things." It sounded lame to his own ears.

"That's nice; at least I know you're not obsessed with your status like so many others. But it still doesn't mean you should walk around like that, you might give people the wrong impression. Oh, and you'll give me a wrong impression if you continue staring at my backside like that. It's rude."

That almost stopped him dead in his tracks and he tore his treacherous eye from the enticing sight of her swaying hips and focused them on his own shoes. Fighting down a blush while trying not to choke on his own tongue he somehow regained enough composure to attempt an apology. Attempt being the key word.

"I'm sorry... I didn't... I mean, I wouldn't... I-I-I... I'm sorry," he breathed out, ashamed of his own behavior.

She just giggled and turned a sparkling smile his way. This time he couldn't beat down the blush rising on his cheeks. "It's alright, Hatake-san, I'm just joking with you. But someone like Naruto might see it and then you'd be beaten without a warning. He's a bit overprotective."

For a moment, he just stared at her, uncomprehending, till he caught her words and cleared his throat, grasping the chance to change the subject. "Uh, you know Uzumaki Naruto?"

The pinkette nodded and continued on, with him a step behind her, still slouching casually. "Oh yeah. Do I know him. He was my teammate when we were fresh out of academy. He and Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto was the bane of my existence and I was the bane of Sasuke's. He's still my teammate. Now we have Sai, since Sasuke defected almost nine years ago. Naruto's my best friend now, my brother. We actually got along just fine when he finally gave up on that crush he had on me when we were twelve. He's a great guy, a stunning shinobi, one day he'll be the Hokage."

Kakashi took in the information without much of a reaction. The Hokage's apprentice teamed up with the Kyuubi Jinchuriki and the last Uchiha, very fitting. So the young Uchiha abandoned Konoha in the end. It didn't surprise Kakashi. He'd never met Uchiha Itachi's brother, but he'd heard enough to know that the boy was obsessed with revenge. He'd gotten it too. The news of Itachi's demise by the younger Uchiha's hands had even reached Kakashi. Maybe now Sasuke could be free of that burden. But he doubted it. He boy still hasn't returned after all. Sakura's voice broke through his thoughts.

"How do you know Naruto?"

Still lost in his musings, he didn't think about what he blurted out. "Oh, I don't know him. The Yondaime was my sensei."

When he realized what he'd just said, he lifted his head, but Sakura was walking in front of him calmly. "Yeah, Naruto's dad. Must have been great having someone like him as your sensei."

He stunned for the part of a second. "How do you know that?"

She turned to him with a sly smirk on her face and winked. "It just stares us in the face. When Naruto's up there," she pointed to the Hokage monument behind the tower, "they'll look like twins. And Tsunade-shishou told Naruto the truth years ago. He was really happy to finally know who his parents were. Even though he'd suspected it for a while. He might be slow and oblivious and sometimes more than dense, but he's not stupid."

"I see," was Kakashi's only answer as he trudged behind her and pondered how the hell it was possible that every knew generation got smarter and smarter. He loved the Yondaime, always had, like he'd loved his father for all his faults and mistakes, but Minato wasn't very sharp, despite being one of the best shinobi Kakashi had ever had the honor of meeting, himself and his father, the White Fang, included.

If Minato had been in his son's place, he wouldn't have put two and two together and come up with the most logical explanation. He probably would have wondered about someone he'd never met looking so much like him and chalked it up to the old saying that everyone has a doppelganger somewhere. That was one thing Kakashi still had some trouble believing in, mostly because he'd seen most of the world and its inhabitants and had never met someone who even looked remotely like him or anyone he knew, family members excluded, of course. Minato would have used his son's likeness to him to prove his theory. And that brought Kakashi back to the original problem, Naruto.

He wanted to meet the boy, to talk to him and maybe try to explain what Minato had done and why. Even if he himself didn't understand it.

The Yondaime had sacrificed his life and essentially his son's life as well to save Konoha. That was very noble and completely selfless of him. But he'd done it just as Kakashi had learned that the lives of comrades and loved ones are meant to be put above everything else, even the village itself. With his act, Minato had saved Konoha, but he'd also negated everything he'd tried so hard to teach Kakashi. He'd simply sacrificed his son's life and happiness for the village. It was the opposite of what he'd taught Kakashi after Obito's death.

Shaking his head, the Copy Ninja abandoned his depressing line of thought and concentrated on the alluring kunoichi in front of him. What an amazingly interesting woman. Maybe this check-up wouldn't be so bad after all; she's just made him interested in her personality just as much as her absolutely perfect body and he'd only seldom met a woman who could do that. Usually it was either one or the other, almost never both, but now...

Well, he now had something to look forward to the next two weeks.

"Say, Sakura-san," he started with more confidence than before, intent on making her interested in spending some time with him. "I've been absent for a whole decade and even though I still know this village like the back of my hand, I'm afraid that many things have changed and I was hoping, that you as the only person that I know right now would be kind enough to help me out in the days to come."

She turned around and smiled at him, obviously not displeased with his straightforward request. "Sure, Hatake-san. I'll be happy to help you out in any way I can." Then she smiled wilder and winked slyly at him. "That is if you can look me in the eye after the check-up we're heading to."

He laughed and shook his head, finally losing all the tension from his trip and the conversation in the Hokage's office. "Just call me Kakashi, I dislike such formal addressing. And as for the check up, you don't have to worry about it. I'm a grown man with many experiences, and as a shinobi, these come from every possible situation. I'm comfortable in my skin and confident in my sexual orientation. And I've had more of those check-ups than you in your entire life. But you'll have to excuse me and not hold it against me, if I'm suddenly standing at attention before you."

Her laugh was as beautiful as her smile and she graced him with a mischievous twinkle in her enchanting viridian eyes that would have brought a lesser man to his knees. "Okay, Kakashi-san. You're on! I promise to be completely professional about it and make it as painless as possible. And I won't hold it against you, don't worry. I've seen enough of it to understand that it's a reaction you can't always control. Besides, I'm a medic, I know enough about the human anatomy and how it works to look at all of it like a textbook example and not be phased by it."

"Good to know, " he laughed and prayed that he wouldn't sprout an erection in front of her no matter what. When he did, he wanted her to look at him like a man and be amazed and aroused, which wouldn't be the fact in this situation which they were about to encounter.

"Well here we are, please follow me," Sakura smiled at him again as she led through the double doors of the hospital's entrance and down the spacious lobby to the elevators.

It was going to be a long day, he just knew it.

The physical had gone off well, as well as an invasion of his utmost privacy by a stunning young woman could go, considering everything.

Sakura had in fact been completely professional and impersonal and had done her job quickly and efficiently without him feeling violated, much. He for his part had tried to meditate or numb his awareness somehow, but it hadn't worked for the most part. Despite that, he hadn't become aroused by her clinical professional touch and had successfully avoided thinking of her as anything but a medic doing her job. That at least had saved him some embarrassment and he'd probably see more of Sakura after behaving accordingly than in the case he hadn't.

Now they were sitting in a small, quaint teahouse with cups of steaming white ginger tea and some dango while she told him whatever he wanted to know about the village and the people he'd known before his decade long mission and he tried to drink tea without removing his mask.

At first she'd just laughed at his attempts, because he'd been forced to remove the mask during the physical and she'd seen his 'cute little face' together with his 'cute little butt' stark naked and in great detail, but he'd vehemently refused to remove it and she'd come to the conclusion that he disliked showing people his beyond handsome features.

She'd managed to school her face at the sight of his perfect body and chiseled face that rivaled a Grecian god, but she'd never forget those high cheekbones, perfectly straight Roman nose and those sinfully full lips and the little dimple in his chin that together with his droopy charcoal grey eye formed a face that oozed sexiness. If she'd thought he was attractive with the mask and fully clothed, now she thought of him as a walking, talking orgasm. The man didn't have to be good in bed, with his looks and voice he'd bring any woman to a climax in a matter of seconds.

"So," he started another conversation after he'd finally got her to stop nagging about his mask. Why women were so fascinated by a simple piece of dark cloth, he'd never understand. "At least I know that I'll sleep on a park bench tonight and am not imagining a bed waiting for me where there is none. And I really don't know what it more pathetic."

The beautiful medic heaved a slightly amused sigh as she shot him a semi dirty look. Before coming to the teahouse, they'd gone to his old apartment building in some hope that his one-room shed was waiting for him. But it'd been re-leased and all his things were stored somewhere in the Hokage Tower. Coincidentally enough, due to the Spring Festival that would begin in a few weeks the two Inns Konoha had to offer were booked out thanks to the merchants that were arriving for the festival. So Kakashi had nowhere to go. Or at least he thought he didn't have anywhere to go.

"You won't be sleeping on a park bench, baka. My parents are dead, the house they left is huge, there is more than enough room for you, don't worry."

For a moment, he looked at her with relief, but then a mischievous smirk broke out under that damned mask. "Well, sorry for imposing than. I'll be borrowing your couch tonight."

She laughed and shook her head before taking a bite of dango that he refused to even touch, claiming he hated sweets. His loss in her opinion. "You won't be imposing, like I said I'm alone in that huge house. And you won't be sleeping on the couch, though I can testify on how comfy it is. There are three spare rooms for you choose, and they all have nice big beds that are just waiting for someone to sleep in them. Tomorrow, we'll go and look for a new place for you. A one bedroom apartment in the house my friend Ino lives in has just gotten free and the prices there are reasonable, the rooms are nice and the land lady is sweet and loveable."

"Sounds perfect," he nodded, before raising his cup to clink it against hers. They both laughed and Sakura felt like she'd known this man her whole life and not just one day. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and if they didn't prove to both be total morons maybe something deeper and better still.

AN:/ The beginning of this was posted as number V in Tidbits, if some of you remember. It got some really positive feedback so I decided to continue with this. So this is the first chapter since it got away with me and became so long on its own.

Well either way I hope you like it and will at least give it a chance. Please do tell me what you think about it. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and encouraged.

Thank you for reading,

Jasmin Kaiba