Chapter Text
Sakura needed a break. She’d just finished her med school, but at the last minute decided her residency could wait a while. It was her mentor, Tsunade, who’d suggested she apply at Lazy Daze, but now that Sakura was standing in the strip mall parking lot, looking at the neon lit little shop she wasn’t sure.
Sure or not, she had rent to pay. Ino might be supportive of Sakura’s need to “find herself” but her support would come to a sudden stop if Sakura didn’t pull her weight. Holding her head high Sakura marched through the door hoping her hatred of the ungodly heels Ino had insisted were the perfect match to her interview suit wouldn’t show on her face.
Once she opened the door, the pointy heels dropped to the bottom of her worries. She’d never felt more overdressed in her life. After rounds of hospital interviews the black suit seemed like the obvious choice, now… she looked like a cop.
At least, that was the feeling she got as everyone seemed to slowly back away.
The guard by the door cleared his throat. “Can I help you ma’am?”
“I have an interview scheduled with Mr. Hatake.” Sakura replied.
“Kakashi, your interview’s here,” a familiar voice yelled behind her. Sakura turned to see Naruto beaming at her. He wrapped her in a bear hug lifting her feet off the ground.
“Put me down you idiot,” Sakura laughed. “I don’t want to look like a flake in front of Mr. Hatake.”
Naruto’s grimace told her all she needed to know.
“Too late for that.” Sakura glared at Naruto before spinning around toward the voice. “And call me Kakashi.”
Sakura followed him behind the counter and into a surprisingly roomy and comfortable office. Kakashi walked between the desk, and a rather ratty worn sofa to a small table taking a seat on one side and motioning for Sakura to take the other.
“I’m so sorry about that Mr,... Kakashi. Naruto and I are old friends. We haven’t seen each other in a while, and I had no idea he worked here. I hope that won’t be a problem.”
“Tsunade sent your right?”
“Yes. I still want to help people, but I’m not so sure I still want to be a surgeon. She thought this might be a good compromise.”
“Okay, then just fill out these forms, and let me know what your availability is. I’ll have you on the schedule next week.”
Sakura’s mouth had a habit of getting ahead of her brain sometimes, and in those moments anything could slip through. “What? Just like that? You didn’t even look at my resume?”
“Tsunade owns the place. If she sent you, you’re hired.”
Would have been nice of Tsunade to mention that. Thankfully, Kakashi left her to it, before she could do any more damage.
The papers were all fairly straightforward, and it only took reading the tax information three times before she was confident it was filled out correctly. Kakashi hadn’t returned, so Sakura poked her head out the door to find Naruto almost bouncing on the other side.
This time she was prepared for the bear hug. “Sakura! We’re going to work together! I’m so excited.”
“I can tell,” she laughed. “Where is Mr. Hat… um…. Kakashi?
“Oh he went to the bookstore—”
The clerk behind him interrupted, “Don’t you mean the porn store?”
“Sai!” Naruto scolded.
Sakura tried not to laugh, she really did. But the idea of Naruto admonishing anyone just tickled her, and the harder she tried not to laugh, the harder it was not to. Being around Naruto had always had that effect on her. He just radiated pure joy.
Once she regained herself, she dropped the papers atop the piles on Kakashi’s desk. Naruto introduced her properly to Sai. Sakura wasn’t quite sure what to think of him, his grin was both genuine and a little off putting, and Sasuke seemed even more aloof, if that were even possible. That was until Naruto told him to stop pouting and kissed him on the cheek.
Over the next few weeks, Sakura set to work. As she got to know the regulars, she learned they were all looking for different experiences, and the spectrum of things that cannabis could help with was opening up a whole new world of medicine she’d never considered. To help distract herself from the lack of direction her life had suddenly taken, she threw herself into research, learning everything she could about the products they carried. From there she naturally began to research the business side until she came across something rather alarming.
That’s how, after only a month at her new position, Sakura found herself knocking on Kakashi’s office door with two proposals. While she was confident in her work, she was also terrified.
She never could get a read on Kakashi. The store never opened on time because he was always late, but everyone seemed to accept it with only a moderate amount of teasing. Many of the regulars just let themselves into this office, and he would smoke with the guys. Sakura found it all a little unprofessional.
Despite all that, the store ran smoothly. They always had exactly what their clientele was looking for, and a steady stream of new products. The business was booming.
Sakura half expected a cloud of smoke to billow out when the door opened, but it didn’t. If Kakashi was surprised to see her, it didn’t show on his face. If anything he looked happy about it.
Sakura marched through the door, took a seat at the same small table, and placed the folders between her and Kakashi, “I’ve had some ideas, and I’d like to run them past you, if you have time.”
One silver eyebrow disappeared behind his unruly hair, but he didn’t interrupt. So Sakura opened her first folder. “I’ve been doing some research, honestly when I started I had no idea that money couldn’t be deposited into banks, but there is only so much we can safely keep here in the store, so I propose we invest it—”
“Please don’t say crypto.” Kakashi interrupted in the same lazy way he did everything else.
“God no,” Sakura laughed, handing the folder to him to review. “Real estate. There are several small undeveloped commercial plots for sale in the area. We could buy them, and sell as we need capital. Konoha is growing faster than it ever has so the return would most likely be higher than the standard interest rates.”
Kakashi flipped through the pages, reading them over carefully, but his face gave nothing away. “I thought you were an anatomy major, not an MBA.”
“I was,” Sakura said, not sure if it was an insult. “But I also took a lot of chemistry, and a lot of math. The numbers seem sound.”
“Why did you bring this to me, and not take it to Tsunade yourself? She obviously likes you.”
Sakura thought she was prepared. She had planned for every question he would ask her. This wasn’t on her list. “Well, she put you in charge. She must like you too.”
“And when I take this to her, what’s going to stop me from taking credit for all your hard work?”
Sakura smiled, “You can try, but I’m willing to bet Tsunade would know.”
Kakashi nodded, while still thumbing through the properties in her proposal. Then, for the second time his eyebrow disappeared behind his silver forelocks. “What’s with the greenhouses?”
“My roommate’s parents are florists, they have their own greenhouse to keep everything they need year round. It seemed like having our own strains would make us stand out, and have a better profit margin, eventually anyway.”
He studied her for a moment before getting up and grabbing a file from his desk, “What are you seeing here?” He asked, handing her the folder.
Sakura opened up the file, and blinked at it. She hadn’t been expected to have to review molecules, but that was what she was seeing. They were obviously from the THC, but she suspected Kakashi was looking for something more. “It’s an indica, looks like it would be great for relaxing, people with anxiety,...” Sakura suddenly stopped there, realizing she was thinking out loud.
“That’s from a grower I was thinking of hiring. We actually have been planning to put in a grow room, and the ramen shop next door is moving, so we could easily expand.”
“Naruto’s gonna be so disappointed. What would make that better than a greenhouse?” Sakura asked, both curious and a little defensive.
“Easier to keep an eye on the place. Less likely to bring down too much attention, because as you mentioned, we’re operating in a legally gray area.”
“So how do you know this is real?” Sakura asked, holding up his report.
Kakashi’s smile was positively evil as he pulled a blunt from behind his ear. “There’s really only one way to know.”
Despite taking this job, Sakura didn’t smoke. For the last eight years she’d been focused on nothing but school. Yes, she drank from time to time, but it was never more than a couple beers.
“Sakura, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” His gaze seemed to pierce right through her leaving Sakura feeling utterly exposed, but strangely, not in a bad way.
“Tsunade sent you here for a reason. You’re obviously more than capable, and you truly care about helping people, but maybe you need to take a step back and look at what help you need.”
With that, Kakashi pushed his chair back from the small table, then made his way over to the couch Sakura had learned was usually reserved from his naps. He didn’t wait for her to follow, before lighting up.
It was clear that Sakura could just leave, but maybe he was right. Yes, she was nervous, but more about making a fool of herself than trying something new. She followed him to the sofa, taking a seat on the opposite side leaving a more than professional distance between them. She watched carefully as Kakashi took a long drag from the blunt, then a shorter second puff, holding the smoke in his lungs before releasing it. Her eyes couldn’t help but follow its path upwards as it curled and disappeared.
He held it out for her, and she reached out, pinching it between her thumb and index finger, as she saw happen every day. Lifting it to her lips she took a small tentative puff. That seemed to go okay, but she didn’t feel anything so she took a bigger one, mimicking Kakashi. She suddenly noticed how dry her lips were, as they stuck to the paper a bit, and then she was coughing. And coughing. Then coughing some more. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was bending over trying to catch her breath when she finally stopped.
She wiped her face with her sleeve, her mascara was as waterproof as it claimed to be, and once she was sure she could breath she sat back up to find Kakashi laughing at her.
“Sorry,” he said, not looking a bit sorry. “It’s a right of passage, and don’t worry, that won’t be the last time it happens.”
Sakura scowled at him, ready to say it absolutely would be, but Kakahsi cut her off before she could. “Let’s try another way. Let me know when you’re ready.”
She nodded, and Kakashi took a long hit. Then he leaned over her, placing one hand on the armrest to brace himself, before he leaned down and slanted his mouth over hers. Sakura opened her mouth in shock, but before she could protest her mouth filled with smoke. She inhaled without even thinking about it.
Then Kakashi returned to his side of the sofa, sitting with his back against the arm, and his legs crossed in front of him so he was facing her with that aloof expression he always had as if nothing had just happened.
Sakura, however, knew something had happened, and she wasn’t entirely sure the weed was to blame for the fact she could feel her face burning.
“Wanna try again?” He asked before hitting the blunt. She wasn’t sure if he was going to hand her the blunt or do whatever that had been again, and she didn’t think she could take another surprise attack. So, taking matters into her own hands, she sat up on her knees, bracing her hands on his shoulders, and leaned over his mouth just as he exhaled.
She fell back against the arm, mirroring his posture, trying to pretend he was anyone other than her boss, or that his shoulders hadn’t felt so strong, or that his lips weren’t so soft. Her poor head was spinning with emotions when she realized Kakashi had actually been explaining why it was easier to learn to inhale from what was apparently called shotgunning. Somehow knowing it was fairly common left Sakura feeling a little disappointed, and this time when Kakashi hit the blunt then held it out to her. She was able to inhale, but still coughed, but at least this time it wasn’t uncontrollable.
Sakura was starting to get a little too comfortable, her legs were now stretched out, until they were just short of being in his lap, when there was a knock at the door that suddenly reminded Sakura of where she was. She jumped back as Naruto poked his head in, her brain panicking even though there was nothing to panic about.
“Um, it’s kinda getting busy out here guys.”
“Oh, sorry,” She yipped a little higher than normal, before jumping up scurrying to the door.
“Oh my god!” Naruto yelled, “I can’t believe you got high for the first time without me!”