Foolish Decision
Why did she choose him?
The question replayed the ten thousands time in his mind and he still could not pin-point the reason even when his genius mind had always succeeded in running an extremely sophisticated program to solve riddles with hundreds of unknown variables. His logic was never failed to serve him well when he needed it the most but this time, it really failed to give him the answer for his own "math of life".
He looked at her with the mild one-month-long incredulity still written palpably all over his face. He had no idea, absolutely no idea why he was chosen to become the husband of this gorgeous woman who could have opted anybody in this whole village, even the golden boys like Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuga Neji, Uzumaki Naruto, and Rock Lee to be her legal husband and sure they were all happy with this choice. But she chose him and that's the matter - a man who was 14 her senior, lazy, nonchalant, obsessed with porn and who totally overlooked her potential when she was small and made almost no contribution to the greatness she had today.
And now, she stayed here in his kitchen, cooked food for him in such an unmistakable manner of a loving wife, totally at ease, seemingly adding more jigsaw puzzles to his largely unfinished painting.
Painstakingly, she pruned the carrots, kohlrabis, potatoes, pumpkins into beautiful and deliciously-looking flowers and put it in the pot. She knew he loved vegetable and since their wedding, she always cooked him all kinds of great dishes with vegetables.
A breeze flew through the window in the kitchen and playfully ruffled her rosy hair, making her gently tug those silken strands behind her ear. Totally oblivious to the surroundings, she quietly looked through the window, admired the crystal clear blue-sky of early autumn. Her gaze was so far-away with a bit of vagueness that he could never know why it was able to create so many tender feelings in his heart every time he saw her in this stance. Everything, everything about her emitted a warm and loving aura of feminity, which could melt a man's heart without trying and which constantly reminded him that he was one of the luckiest man in this world.
But like no other, who could easily enjoy his luck, Kakashi had a bad habit of always wondering where the source of his happiness would come from and what he did to deserve this happiness.
"Kakashi, breakfast is ready"
Her lovely voice pulled him out of his stupor as she stood there with the food tray on her hand and the happy smile on her face. He couldn't resist it. The gentle smile tugged the corner of her lips so charmingly and adorably that he had to restrain the urge to kiss it and felt it on his own.
Laying the table with dishes and bowls, she then sat down to his left and gave him a bowl of rice. The food's smell was alluring, making his stomach growl cheerfully. She giggled mischievously to his confusion, which was truly like music to his ears:
"Eat as much as you can, honey"
"Yeah, right" – at a loss for words, he just quietly received the bowl from her dainty fingers. Being a real strong man, Kakashi was in nowhere to have red shade on his cheeks like girls but it did not mean he got less confused and embarrassment than them.
"Gosh, does she know that she's just made me more perplexed when she calls me like that, well, even when being called like that is not entirely unpleasant"
The perplexity seemed to increase his usual lightning-speed eating manner and knowing her both chewing her food slowly and looking at him with mild amusement in her deep sea green eyes made the matter worse. As a result, a few cooked seed of rice stuck to his left cheek.
Then when he finished his first bowl and raised it toward her to have another one:
"More, please"
She just smiled playfully and lowered her own bowl on the table and leaned towards him, insidiously and tenderly, her balmy soft lips met his bare skin, her tongue stuck out a little, and she licked away the rice on his cheek. The act only lasted for 3 or 4 seconds but it immediately sent thousands of electric shivers running up and down along his tender spine. The point of contact burned. His brain promptly mesmerized the reaction and transfers what so-called "rousing" to his entire body. He could not even realize that he had held his breath the whole time. The lingering sensation directed his eyes dazedly to meet her when she resumed her position and looked at him like nothing was big deal at all:
"Don't eat too fast; you still have plenty of time, Kakashi"
Then she raised her hand to receive the bowl he unconsciously kept in mid-air the whole time, her fingers brushed off his…
Maybe the empty bowl had dropped on the mattress floor, he did not really know. But one thing for sure, he had caught her small wrist when their fingers met and pulled her flat towards him to plant a mad kiss on her lips. Certainly, he completely missed the slightly shocked look on her face when her whole body was shoved down on the floor with his muscular one effectively trapped hers under. The kiss soon turned fervent as she shyly opened her mouth to get his tongue better access after lapping sensually over her lower lips, which proved to be nowhere near "enough" for him right at this moment. The hungrier he became when he invaded her wet and velvety oral cave, the rougher his tongue assaulted hers. His hand moved boldly on her side and promptly went under her shirt to stroke her bare silky-smooth skin then as quick as possible it met her soft, full, round breast. And it felt so right to be there.
Well, he's probably late again, the only thing he did not change after getting married, however, the reason somewhat changed…
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"I don't give a damned care for whatever lame excuses or complaints you freaking try to give me, all of you must be get married by the end of next month, that's all!!"
The maddening, infuriated and fierce fire in her amber-now-reddened-because-of-anger eyes at last put finality to the just-now-still-very-noisy-group of Konoha's ninja. No one had dared to challenge the fifth's temper and authority before and especially not in this case when she wore the look which has the same ferocity to a nine-tailed-monster on the days of its infamous massacre. And the entire group of Ninja, though reluctant and very, very pissed-off, silently left the sacred hall and went on the way to carry out or complete or find a way to accomplish the hardest mission in their life.
"Getting married in just two month, dammit, how can she do that to us?" – Naruto screamed in utmost anger, which he could not even reveal a bit when he still confronted Tsunade in the Hokage's tower just now. Who say: "one can always earn the honest reaction from Naruto all the time" or "he's never afraid of anything"? Well, he's probably wrong and the fact Naruto zipped his mouth in front of a furious Tsunade served Einstein's theory just right: "nothing is absolute".
"She did that for Konoha's sake, you should know how terrible she felt when she had to make this final decision" – Shizune reasoned with her right and justified mind although she, like the other, really did not feel comfortable with the Hokage's order.
"We all know it Shizune-san, well, except Naruto, of course" – Genma spoke amusingly – "but she must know that for us, ninja to settle down, it was so frustrating"
The group already took in the innuendo of Genma's reasons – although many Ninja's family had formed inside Konoha from generations to generations but the bachelor ninjas still accounted for lager proportion.
"It's more like privacy violation" – Kakashi voiced his thought out for the first time and everyone knew what he truly meant. They almost had to stifle their laughter when imagining a Copy Nin in his groom's attire but let the scene go away. You could easily name two most precious things Hatake Kakashi treasured with his dear life: first is his Icha Icha's series and second is his privacy.
"How troublesome" – Shikamaru grunted, making Naruto halt his trudge immediately to turn around and pointed an accusing finger at the genius and shouted with no restraint:
"Shut up, Shika, you're in no position to say that when you've already had a very beautiful and clever girlfriend for 3 years and as we know, she constantly pushed you to marry her"
"You, idiot, now I'm in this position I can't postpone the marriage anymore, then I can't delay going to Suna to betroth to her in front of her scary brothers and her relatives, then we have to plan where we will live, in Suna or Konoha, and Temari, being her perfect and bothersome self, will force me to plan in detail which house we should buy, which scene we should have around the house and which brands of furniture and which color of curtains we need for our house and even which environment will be the best for our kids. Do you know how utterly, frighteningly troublesome would it be if I marry her? You, fucking loud-mouthed moron."
"No way"
There was a silent agreement and a heavy atmosphere ranging over the Konoha's ninja. Shikamaru's words hit them full force or at least beat them black and blue. The words even went further as materialized the ambiguous fright they tried to evade. After all, they really had to face the fact that whether they liked it or not, they just had two months to find a suitable partner to get married. If they were lucky enough they might fall in love but even they weren't, they still had to get married. Even Shika's words hit some of them harder than the others; they all had to face up to the chances that changed their life forever.
As excruciating and disappointing they are, the group departed in silence, each one was busy with his or her own thoughts.
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Tsunade had her own very rational reasons to do so, which clearly did not require a gifted brain to understand. After the two last attacks of Akatsuki and Orochimaru, the release of Kyubi, the Konoha's population was now halved. Two many people died, threatening the development, the prosperity and most importantly, the security of the village. And the solutions were not much or actually only one: encouraging marriages amongst Konoha's remained residents and encouraging civilians to get married was not enough since they were not as resourceful as the ninjas in term of reproducing next skilled generations of shinobi. Furthermore, if the Hokage issued a marital law which did not force the ninjas who were occupying for a very large proportion of the village to do so, the civilians would feel unfair and they did not obey it. As she had enough troubles when recovering and reestablishing Konoha, Tsunade did not want to go against her people because of a bunch of stubborn ninjas who just employed one-night stand and bar hanging-out as their sub-culture. And she knew her ninjas, whom she always considered as her beloved but stupid children. Almost all of them had someone in their mind but because of fear, because of misunderstanding, because of cowardice, because of embarrassment, because of hesitance when they thought that they were not suitable for having a family, they decided to hide their true feelings away. She made a mistake when rejected Jiraiya time after time. She was so afraid that he would share the same ill-fate with Dan and her younger brother as she was a cursed woman. And now, she still so regretted that she not once told him what she really felt about him, and he died, like a hero but Konoha had lost part of its vibrant light. She did not want this happen again with her children and she knew, they just needed a little push.
However, not that she could anticipate all the cases.
"Are you sure about it? Hokage-Sama" – reiterated incredulously with wide-eye-shock was really a one-in-a-lifetime scene one could dream to draw from the silver-haired Ninja, which Tsunade also never thought that she would have a chance to witness. Hence, although she was still very pissed off with the news she had to inform him, she felt much relieved when he did not take it for granted and underwent the same shock she had day ago. Sighing heavily, the blond Hokage went on:
"I'm absolutely sure about it Kakashi even up to now, I also cannot believe it"
"And you agreed with her?" – He asked with a little amount of annoyance in his deep voice.
Of course, this little amount could not go undetected through Tsunade's ears, as she frowned and slightly glared at him:
"Don't talk to me with that tone Kakashi, what do you think Sakura is to me? She's my surrogate daughter if you still wonder"
Still unfazed by the bothered Hokage, Kakashi retained his casual indifferent aura and continued with a little amount of accusation:
"You've always been soft on her, Hokage-sama. And I'm afraid that you don't really tell her all she needed to hear"
"I told her all I can Kakashi" – Tsunade retorted heatedly, a furious look fleeted over her amber eyes – "But it's her own choice, her own life, I can't force her to do what she doesn't want, and her demand is not against the rules"
"Did you tell her I'm her sensei?"
"I did"
"Did you tell her I'm 14 years her senior?"
"I did"
"Did you tell her I'm no good for her and she can have any other younger and better men than me?"
"I DID, KAKASHI, for your information, I had three hours talking with her about this matter and at last, she still insisted on doing so" – Tsunade cut short the going-no-where conversation with the Copy Ninja with a very infuriated tone – "You know her just as much as I do, Kakashi, She's Sakura, and once she decided something, no one can have a second word about it"
"So that means I am forced to?" – Kakashi slowly stated though his imperceptible façade still gave nothing away but there was a tiny defeated tone in his voice.
Tsunade heaved another long sigh to contain her bubbling mood and she moved one:
"She said that she did not want to force you in any cases but she wanted me to hand over her proposal to you and she wanted to meet you in person. And Kakashi, the decision is still all up to you and You're still the last one to decide"
"I know" – answered a rather curt silvery jonin – "Where is she now?"
"She sent this to you from yesterday" – Tsunade withdrew a neatly folded white paper from under her desk and handed it over to Kakashi. Opening the paper and quickly scanning the hand writing under the suspicious gaze of the Hokage, Kakashi folded the paper back and bowed his head, said quickly and procedurally:
"I have to go now, goodbye, Hokage-sama"
And "puff" he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving a fuming Hokage: "As a Hokage, I really failed to teach these kids some manners"
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"Sakura"
He softly called her but with the clear deal of tiredness which had no relation with his physical conditions. She did not turn back to regard him as usual, just answered shortly:
"Kakashi-sensei"
Her slender shoulders seemed to be totally relaxed as she put her hands leisurely at two sides of her thighs on the big tree-trunk she was now seating on. Just the sight of figure brought a strange flow of comfort to his mind these days. It started when only God knew. And now he was actually not in the right mind to think about it.
With lissome movement, the jounin teacher jumped from the tree-trunk he was standing to her trunk and slightly slid down to the place on her right. His stomach suddenly churning with the proximity. He had to play a long with this discomfort for months up to now, and at this time, he had no choice but did the same thing: ignored his painful awareness of the exquisite student.
He did not like this one bit. A suddenly-good-mood god just threw a golden chance right on his lap and he had to turn it down for the sake of a girl he held very complicated emotions to, irritating him to no end. And then the lovely spaghetti-strap light pink dress with full-bloomed sakura flowers freckling on it was not helping any better. And lastly spending an indescribably beautiful spring's afternoon sitting on a sakura tree's trunk ( and beside a real sakura) overlooking the large Konoha village under the mountain's foot with hundreds of pink petals dancing in the cool wind was adding the worst part to what he had to do now.
Letting out a sigh, Kakashi did not have a chance to voice his own painful rejection before his beloved Sakura interrupted:
"Do you have anybody in mind you would like to choose as your legal wife, sensei?"
Slightly surprised by Sakura's question, but hidden it quickly, Kakashi turned to look at the girl in the eyes:
"No, I don't"
The girl looked unfazed but her eyes were soft and gentle as she continued:
"Do I not have enough good qualities that you can choose to spend your life with?"
Well, he knew her plan right now, she intended to attack him with hard and "can't-say-no questions", anyway, at some point he needed to play total impersonal with his answer, since it proved that he was older and wiser:
"For all I know about you Sakura, you're a dream girl of many men but that's not the matter here" – his tone was usually high and annoying
However, instead of showing any negative emotion, a knowing smile touched Sakura's lips as the bright eyes still held the bizarre confidence he hated to admit that it was very very suggestive. He always preferred confident girls since he was much younger.
"Really?"
"Really What?" – Kakashi responded as being little taken back
"I'm a dream girl of many men this means including…"
She cliff-hung the not-very-well-hidden innuendo with another knowing and down-to-earth smile that made Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. But Kakashi was never someone to be easily toyed with. Looking at her firmly, the silver-haired man continued to play "professionally":
"Sakura, I'm here to tell you that you made an impetuous and irrational decision and I would like you to take it back"
A dull light fleeted over the green eyes as the eyelashes quickly pulled down to hid them from Kakashi's stare. Turning her head to face the blue sky and bit back a deep sigh, the pink-haired kunoichi talked in a much quieter voice:
"Do you really think my decision that impetuous and irrational? Sensei, this is a decision of my life, do you really think I don't go over it hundreds of time?
Yeah, she's right
For all the years Kakashi knew about Sakura, she was not Naruto to begin with and would never be. She did not decide things based on sense and impulsiveness without any root of reality or sagacity or rationality. The more she grew up, the shrewder and wiser she became, surprising him numerous of time. And she became a great deal calmer woman in comparison with the 12-year-old girl. Of the three team 7's members, she the most mature one.
Her charm was so natural and cool that it gave off around her like a consistent aura that made her the most noticeable girl in the Konoha's village full of beautiful lasses. When Sasuke returned, Kakashi did not surprise when he soon felt for her hard after witnessing a mature Sakura. She turned him down politely, of course, amazing the whole village and giving golden chance for a lot of candidates. It was not a bombshell when no matter how much guys she turned down, other suitors would appear and tried their luck. No one succeeded yet and here he had, without even trying. God was quite unfair (or so fair) sometimes, wasn't him?
He noticed her for a while, oh, scratch that, for a very long time that he did not even remember – 2 or may be 3 years. But the feeling was not clear by any means. It was rather a jumble of emotions that he was himself so puzzled and did not know what to do with or how to deal with it. He just let it go and let it be: enjoying time to be with her and enjoying the tenderness she created in his heart.
"Do you remember last Christmas when I gave you, Naruto, Sasuke three sweaters that I knitted?"
"Hn"
Side-glancing at the girl whose cheeks were already colored by a touch of pink, Kakashi found it more puzzled: "Why does she mention those three exact sweaters with only different colors anyway?" It was a very nice gift indeed and Kakashi had not received a hand-made present for year and he generously wore it under his jacket almost the winter that just passed by.
The girl was not making any attempts to covering her perplexity as she touched the tip of her right index finger by the tip of its left partner:
"I gave Naruto the orange sweater and Sasuke the black one as they are both their favorite color and you..."
"Dark purple"
Kakashi finished her words and turned his full attention to the girl – "You knew that my favourite color is green, right?"
"Yeah, but… dark purple is my favorite color"
That did explain something.
For real Kakashi was not that indifferent and insensitive to not notice the lingering look when he informed her he had to carry out a dangerous mission for a few months and the flash of happiness lighting up her eyes when he turned back. The girl just held back her emotions and did not wear it on her sleeve like she was 7 years ago.
For a moment, both of them stayed in the utmost silence, only the whizzing sound of the wind threading through spaces between leaves surrounded them.
"Tomorrow is the last day, you really don't choose to disobey Shishou's order, do you, sensei?" – She finally broke the silence.
"You know me too well, right? I never disobeyed any Hokage's reasonable order in my life"
"Sensei" – she bit her lips and got rid of the last vestige of hesitance in her emotionally mingling mind. Boring into his lone eye, she said with care and a mixture of so much scare and hope as well in her deep emerald eyes: "Be it a chance for me or whatever, I really want you to pick me to be your wife"
Her look really put him off guard. He could not hide it – the deep and uncommon confusion he hardly spent time to have been through if not thanks to his mask. He knew that look. That's look of great and final determination on Lee and Naruto's face since they were only 12 and it developed later on Sakura's face after Sasuke's depart. And that's the look that shook him to his core. It was pure sincere and unyielding but in an especially sentimental, loving way which he had long forgotten since when there was one person would look at him like that.
"Sakura" – he did not know that he was whispering – "I mean reasonable orders, this order may not if one has to jump to the conclusion that her whole life depends on, you may be better off with…"
He never had the chance to finish his sentence as three dainty fingers went up to his mouth and stopped it mid-way.
"Kakashi" (gosh, she's just dropped the honorific) – still gazed at him and unconsciously shortened their distance that made him more aware of her in his every senses – "Please, don't say that, I really know what and who I want. For all of these years, I had struggled for you to notice and acknowledge me, and you once said, you believed me, right? Please, trust me this one more time"
If they were playing a game, Kakashi was sure he was on the losing end. He couldn't imagine that she was getting this good at the "it is easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar" tactic. She was all that gentle and resilient at the same time as if she knew like her own hand that he was a master at dealing with frustrated, angry, infuriated, nervous brats but never with a wise and calm and gentle and disarmingly fair lady. He was not immune to this kind of girl as he may think. Taking his silence as a prompt, Sakura whispered, never took her eyes off his.
"Kakashi, kiss me"
"What?" – Kakashi's eye widened, well, that's it, too much shock for him in 1 hour more than all of other moments in his life combined together.
And a shiver quietly ran straight from his hands (when they were grasped by a far softer and smaller fingers) to his spine, the feminine warmth of her hands and body added to the drama – at that, she could not bring herself to look at him any more as the long eyelashes once again obscured her eyes, yeah, as long as they were, they could not hide the pink shade on her cheeks that was a heck deal of attractiveness to him:
"If you feel nothing, you don't have to do what I'm forcing you into, Kakashi"
Right, it did not take much to know whether you feel something for someone: just one kiss, old trick but always useful…
And even a person in his most desperate plight could not decline this so tempting offer. Kissing a girl that stunning and that emotionally available to you and you may be already emotionally overwhelming to her was something he could not stop himself from wanting it way too much.
His desire to kiss her had never been fueled this unbearable and he did not deny that he had secretly wanted it several times before.
Right here, right now
Her eyelashes were winked several times and he knew it was sign of uncertainties and nervousness, may be he silenced for too long and she would mistake it as a sign of rejection:
"Oh, right, you don't have…"
The kiss crushed her lips. Full and warm – they were supposed to be the first things she felt after her inner, silent surprise if she was not melting right now. The second his lips touched her, her eyelids were defeated instantly as they lay down willingly and happily to set their owner's heart totally free to be awash by the soul-searching, melting and saccharine kiss. It was not long before he nipped her lower lip and used his soft, sensual tongue to lick it and lubricate it with his saliva by quick and gentle strokes as if it was the most natural thing to do. And in this way, never asking for permission, his tongue meandered into her oral cavern to found its eager, passionate partner as if the only right thing to do now was wrestling each other in a slow, juicy rhythm. For the first time, Sakura felt Kakashi this close and this real that she could not stop a fresh tear gradually rolled down her cheek, unaware of the same utmost bliss her sensei's heart was pouring out. Truth to be told, the overwhelming emotions even raced quicker than his light-speed mind and his Chidori. And his tongue and his lips already do the most appropriate things they could without waiting to receive order from his brain like they used to when he wanted to showcase his kissing skills. Her velvet lips and tongues was putting him on fire and the heartfelt, fiery way she responded to him was quaking his whole body from inside out.
But this was not enough for both of them.
She wanted more
And He hungered much more
Enclosing her shoulder and her curvaceous waist in his strong embrace, Kakashi deepened the kiss as if he could not wait for one more tic-tac to not drink her soul through that kiss while her one hand tangled his silver hair strands and the other pulled his nape closer. The kiss turned pressing, urgent as their lips and mouths and tongues move in twisted tune with the rapid rising and falling of each other's chest to pump the so-needed air into their lungs to supply the energy which was soon consumed thirstily each second passed by.
But somehow, there was always a small voice of reason arise in a chaotic sea of passion and lust and something deeper than the other two.
They needed to stop before everything got beyond anyone's control…
They parted their lips while their foreheads were still leant on each other. The warm breath of their grasps fanned out on their noses. Mis-matched eyes usually looked scary since the holder only used them in serious combat now looked meaningful and tender. Deep green eyes were sparkling with tears which were threatening to gush down her cheeks.
He pulled her right in a tight but so gentle hug, letting her chin comfortably lay on his shoulder as he whispered to her ear:
"There's no need to say anymore, right"
And she smiled big and sunny while the truly, dearly happy tears continued to run down on her glowing face…
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She was the most beautiful bride in Konoha's social wedding that day. It was not because she was his bride, which made he thought so but the stunned look on everybody's face and the sudden complete silence when she appeared at the huge flower-decorated gate of the Konoha's park, which was specially designed for the biggest common wedding that had ever been thrown in the village, confirmed his idea. Kakashi had seen her elegance in coloured yukata in summer's festivals but had no idea that she would look this breathtaking in a snow-white, swinging wedding dress. A small sparkling crown was place upon her roseate hair which was neatly done high up to make smooth, curvy and shiny circles. Her face was just lightly made up to show off her natural beauty at its best. Ino, Hinata, Shizune, Temari, Tenten, and many other kunoichi and civilian girls also looked stunning in their own ways but not one had the vibrant pink hair that made them stand out of the crowd. like his bride. And her manner of walking just exuded a delightful air of grace and elegance. All eyes were on his girl that day and she seemed to not notice that obvious fact at all since right at the moment she appeared at the gate, her eyes found his and they never left that spot during her entire ascending toward him. This was exact the right time the whole crowd's second shock turned up even though they weren't recovered from the first shock. As silence once again ruled them for a few seconds when Kakashi stepped forward from the groom's line to hold Sakura's offering hand.
Apparently, the second silence did not turn out to be pleasant like the first as a lot of people broke out in awed and angered groans. For some reasons, Tsunade kept secret about every imminent couple that day. Like she said: "The surprise is more fun" and given Kakashi and Sakura's personalities, they had no trouble in keeping it. Well, of course, there were always exceptions, Naruto and Rock Lee and the obvious couple Shikamaru and Temari had nothing to hide the villagers of their wife-to-be. But Kakashi and Sakura were still the biggest shock of all since they had never given off any indicator of their bizarre relationship to even their friends. Grudgingly, their marriage was fast-as-light suspected as an arranged one, since the Hokage did not want a good gene as the Hatake was lost forever. More malicious rumors such as the perverted teacher abused his rank and his proximity to coax the innocent and beautiful female student into his bed and now had to deal with the consequences were no later embellished. Mostly the rumors came out from the suitors that were once rejected by Sakura and other nosy villagers who could not believe that such a young and beautiful girl like Sakura would choose an old man (with grey-hair for god's sake) like Kakashi as her husband.
However, like Kakashi ever cared about what other people might think or might say, right now, he just deeply understood how life could turn out to be so good and how a woman could turn him into the luckiest and happiest man in the world. The delight and happiness shone in her deep eyes just re-confirmed his own bliss and her sunny smile was definitely conveyed the meaning that she had nothing to regret about this decision.
Naruto was the first to break the silence as he jabbed an accusing finger at Kakashi and shouted with quivers in his voice
"Sakura, you, you, you chose Kakashi-sensei?"
Sakura turned to look at the blonde without any anger like she usually projected towards him, probadly she did not want anger to mar her perfect facial feature and her light-hearted mood today at all, still with the same sunny smile, Sakura responded with ease:
"Is there any problem, Naruto? He's a bachelor and I'm unmarried, and…" – she paused for a second as she slowly turned to look lovingly at the silver-haired man – "I love him, is it enough for me to choose him?"
Sakura firm and natural answer signaled to put an end to any disapproval attitudes from her friends and shut up malicious whispers of outsiders. And Kakashi couldn't be more proud of this girl, this only-female student of his and this sure-to-be only wife he would have in life. At this an idea just flashed through Kakashi's mind, at least he should do something for her too, do something to remind the Konoha's people that Sakura did not waste her life with an old man that did not deserve her in any ways.
Due to the number of the couples, Tsunade just read a common blessing for all of them, then each couple came to the altar to listen to the blond Hokage say the vow and responded to it, after that, they kissed each other. Talking about favoritism, when Kakashi and Sakura appeared at the altar, Tsunade just read a longer blessing for them with not-well-hidden messages pointing sharply at Kakashi about treating Sakura well and don't-ever-dare-to-hurt-her-or-I-will-make-you-wish-that-you-were-never-born-in-this-life kinds.
This was when Kakashi carried out his own plan: hooking a finger at the rim of his mask and slowly pulled it down to reveal his face before the eyes of hundreds of people and Sakura's own amazed look (she had thought that her wedding kiss would be through that mask), he tilted his face, smiled a contented smile, coddled her visage on his warm, large palms and kissed her deeply, completely ignorant of the third silence stretching among the villagers and long signs filled with regret of other girls who looked at him with dreamy hearts (even the guys had to zip their mouth) followed after that. Kakashi was a very confident man for sure and he was awfully aware of others' reaction to his appearance since he was very young but he did not like to take advantage of it much. He carried a mask to avoid trouble and with a façade like this, he was sure not suitable to be a ninja when it was too easily to be burned into any one's mind.
The kiss ended but he did not replace the mask over his face, instead, he smiled tenderly to his just-married wife and turned to smile coolly to the crowd which was now turn into a big commotion as the women were scolded by their men for looking at the Copy Ninja with "that" look.
The wedding was an unforgettable event as more surprises were revealed later apart from the Kakashi-Sakura event such as: fat boy Chouji now replaced Kakashi as the luckiest man in Konoha (of course, after the Copy Nin removed his mask) since he was the husband of the sexiest girl in Konoha – Ino; Genma had succeeded in persuading the fair assistant of the Hokage to become his bride; Rock Lee got married to a rich lord's pretty and smart hime – named Sakiko; his master- Guy surprisingly put the ring on Ayame's hand – the nice girl of Ichiraku ramen shop; Tenten and Neji never acknowledged their relationship before but they also did not hide it well; Shino got married to one of his pretty but mysterious distant cousin who also had a gruesome bug-controlling ability (making Naruto and several others wondered unremittingly that how this couple spent their honeymoon with all those bugs, ), Kiba's ear seemed to be pinched a bit too many times when he wandered his gaze to the pink-haired kunoichi by his exquisite but intimidating Anbu wife – Satsuki, Sai and Hanabi were another craziest thing reminding people of how a ninja's life was always crammed with wonderment (judging by the contorted face on Hyuga leader's face – he was sure not contented with this suspicious-as-hell son-in-law), Izumo and Kotetsu shocked every one that they were not gay and then once again they assaulted people's weak mentality after so much shock that day by getting married to a twin who were not just exactly the same but act absolutely the same), Yamato had the scariest woman in the village after Tsunade – Anko, the guy seemed happy but tensed all the wedding and Sasuke got married to a beautiful but normal civilian girl whose name Hanayuki and whose eyes were deep green. (Kakashi noticed that Sasuke was the only person who showed no surprise at all when his teacher took Sakura's hand; he also noticed that the boy had asked Sakura out one evening a fortnight ago, probably to reiterate his proposal, well, he already knew her answer, right?)
People sang and danced the whole day, showing no sign of tiredness or boredom. Kakashi sudden found out that he was far more popular than he could imagine as he could only afford to have one dance with Sakura as they were interrupted by at least 10 other girls including the brides and the female participants and he felt so worried when Sakura had no less dancing-partners than him the whole time. If she did not show that bright and heartfelt smile, he would take her home right now. Ridiculously, Naruto and Rock Lee cried like old daddy who had to marry off their daughters to very bad guys when they hugged Sakura in choking embrace. Fortunately, both Hinata and Sakiko were too nice girls to mind their act, they just giggled cheerfully to their husbands' volatile sentiment.
Kakashi's heart skipped a beat when Sasuke politely asked Sakura for a slow dance with their body too close to Kakashi's likings, and their mild and quiet expression was too much to Kakashi's taste. He felt not quite well when he clandestinely read their lips since the music was too loud and they were too far away for him to hear them clearly, but couldn't fight the curiosity anyway:
"Are you really happy now, Sakura?" – Sasuke asked as he looked deep into her eyes
"Yes, I am" – Sakura replied with a smile, totally took up his insinuation – "and I really hope, with all my heart, you are, too, Sasuke"
The raven hair boy did not express the same happy smile as the roseate-locked girl, instead, it was a sad smile:
"I'll try my best"
"It'll be easy, I guess, my cousin is a very nice and kind-hearted girl, if you hurt her, I'll never be friend with you again" –she said with half-joke and half-truth tone which made Sasuke chuckled lightly:
"I'm not Naruto who love to test your temper, Sakura. I won't hurt her, I promise"
"Don't promise me, say that to her Sasuke" – Sakura slightly reprimanded her old-flame. Her words and manner showed off nothing apart from friendliness, familiarity and family-like love, which lift a heck a lot of burden off Kakashi's chest.
"Can I ask you a question, Sakura?" – Sasuke whispered when he raised Sakura's hand above her head to spin her around, and she slightly nodded. He continued when they once again faced up to each other: "Why him?"
Never losing the smile on her graceful lips, Sakura answered:
"Whenever I look at him, I just know that I could be happy, always"
That was when the music stopped and Sakura talked in a smaller voice:
"Go for her Sasuke, she's waiting for you and please, make her happy"
"I will" – The last Uchiha's eyes never left her as he slightly squeezed her hand, resisted the urge to hug her or plant a kiss on her forehead like Naruto and Rock Lee since he knew, his act could never be that innocent compared to the other two. Then with the last wistful look, the handsome younger man parted Sakura's hand and strode towards his wife…
The pink-haired girl looked at the last Uchiha reuniting with his newly-wedded wife with a contented smile on her lips till she felt his presence near her:
"Hey" – he talked in an easy and relaxed tone:
She turned to him and her smile turned into a grin:
"Hi, As, I see, you're not busy now, are you?"
"You, too, not so busy now, am I wrong?"- he smiled back at her, without that mask, he was startlingly charming and fabulous, no doubt, women flocked to him like ants flocked to a honey dish. Taking her hand and looking at her dearly, he spoke just loud enough for her to hear:
"Actually, I had to use one of my lamest excuses to be here with you"
Raising her eyebrow, she giggled softly when remembered his notorious excuses:
"Really? And It is…"
"I've got a headache when I have to dance so much"
"Is it really that simple?" – she asked with amusement in her voice while her stare followed attentively to the movement of his hand leading her right hand to rest on his left shoulder and her left hand to be high on his upper arm while he silently enclosed her petite body in his warm embrace with his right hand lay flat on the bare skin of her back as if it had every right to be there. And she liked it. She liked it even more when he gently guided her in the slow music and his lips touched the shell of her ear and his hot breath fanning on it, which made her knee felt so weak suddenly:
"No, indeed I told them that If I didn't hurry to see my wife, she will change her mind and marry another guy"
"Uhm, in my opinion, it's not that lame, you know, in fact, it's really convincing"
"Sakura" – Kakashi raised his voice in somewhat disbelief and looked at the girl but his face looked bizarrely proud and excited: "Hell, since when you become such an unpredictable, and so cheeky that you can even get under my skin?"- thought Kakashi as he watched her giggled:
"Sorry, just kidding, I would never ruin it, our marriage" – she leaned in and snugged her face into his chest, deeply inhaled his so-Kakashi -ish smell: "Since this is the chance I've been hoping so long for"
That was it. The way she talked was so strange to a man like him. For his whole life, he was far too unfamiliar with emotional attachment and any women came to his life had to play his game and his rules. He was a gentleman who understood women and respected them with all he had. And as a gentleman he was, he'd never be crude or vulgar to them or gave them a cold shoulder when their passion-filled night came to an end. But not that he would show them anything to hope for. Still, he could not always get rid of trouble as he wanted since a few women seemed to fall into his charm completely and they didn't mind a secretive relationship if he agreed. He evaded the suggestion skillfully, of course as with a mind like his, everything seemed to be so easy. But still, the way Kakashi was made every woman in his life say things indirectly to him. They were too afraid of his flat rejection or knew about his consistent nonchalance so they were just brave enough to suggest things to him, never did they try to confess him frankly and truthfully. Sakura was, however, different. She seemed to keep up so well with his "seeing underneath the underneath" manner (which left people to think and to reason rather than to say stuffs out loud) that she quietly kept her feelings toward him discreetly under the teacher-student innocent shell while sometimes, radiated some gestures, some actions, some words that told a different story and just ran deeper than those seemingly-harmless behavior. And that left him to think. And then she unexpectedly went straightforward, surprising him to no end. But never did she say: "I love you" or something that made him perplexed or troubled. As if she really knew him. As if she really knew how to touch him deeply.
Just like this moment
"This is the chance I've been hoping for so long"
Why wait longer?
Kakashi smiled contentedly with his chin resting on her soft tress:
"If it's that long, why we need to waste our time anymore, don't you think"
Sakura's eyes just widened in a fraction before she and Kakashi disappeared in a smoke.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
It had been a long time, so long…
Since he actually made love to not fucked a woman…
Since he actually cared to make somebody happy just because she was now holding every piece of happiness he had…
Since he actually cared about a partner's feeling more than anything he could care of, more than his own lust
Since he actually made love because of love but not lust
Since he realized love was different from lust as it was madder, sexier and more passionate
Since he was so painful to acknowledge that he was blinder than he thought. Not just he could not see her great potential of becoming the best kunoichi but of turning into the most passionate and fervent woman-in-love
Since he actually felt this satisfied, this satiated (or insatiate as well) and this happy
So happy that the next morning when he woke up in the bed with a nude pink-hair woman curled up to his torso to seek more warmth, he still thought that he was in a wonderful dream…
And this feeling followed him the whole month as he felt like he was a walking-dreamer.
Happiness – thing that seemed to be so estranged to him now followed him everywhere like a warm but thin blanket that lighted up his mood for no reason.
Gentleness – thing that he seemed to forget since the only woman who could give him gentleness died 32 years ago of difficult delivery and since he was only surrounded by tough and rough kunoichi or self-interested sex partners for his whole life.
The gentleness came from a pure heart, a pure attention and a pure care of a young woman who thought of nothing but her husband's comfort.
The gentleness that was so addictive that it invaded his body and soul like a strongest painkiller.
Each second he entered his house and saw her, or accidentally meet her on the Hokage's building the gentleness instantly beleaguered him with a safe, warm and sweet feeling that he was grateful that he still survived after hundreds of battles and had a chance to enjoy it.
And Madness
The stupid madness came from his silent bewilderment since the day she proposed him and from the need to re-confirm it over and over again that he did not dream, did not invent things in his mind. The madness that guided him to do things that he'd never done to a woman before. He just so sudden kidnapped her to some where during her working-day to take her with sheer passion. Whether a closet, a vacant hospital room, an empty lift or her office, he always knew exactly what to execute to make her floated with the cloud of ecstasy. And he did not even remember how many times he could not wait to have her in the bedroom but in the corridor and how many times he gently half stripped her down to nothing while she was cooking and made her moan in erotic delight while tasting her nipples with white, sugary cream he coated over her breast.
Living with her, he understood what peace was and this feeling was far more precious than anything he ever knew and ever wanted.
He found himself did thing that he could never think he could
He found himself now not staying silently and meditatively in front of the cenotaph for hours to continue his sad talk with Obito, instead he found him smiling lightly when he traced his friend's name etched upon the granite surface:
"I'm truly happy now Obito, I never thought that there could be such a girl in this world who could make me decide thing without thinking and analyzing too hard, who could prompt me to do thing that my reason continued to rant "NO" while my heart and my body do the total opposite thing until my reason – thing that I've been so proud for ages – was just a meaningless echo from somewhere else every time she's around me. But there's such girl, Obito and I knew that my life is new from now on. I love her, now and forever"
Then he found himself the need to say something that he knew he had to say so long ago, something that he felt his mind was struggling time after time to put it down, but not until now did he have the courage to do that:
"I think now I could leave the past behind, Obito, hereafter, I will less visit you. She gives me everything she has and it's time for me to give my everything to her – thing that she deserves" – nostalgia suddenly tugged his heart down for a second then the silver-haired chuckled lightly: "The good new is you don't have to bear my mind-rambling anymore. Good bye my best friend"
A breeze unexpectedly appeared and gently ruffled Kakashi's hair and from nowhere a black with scarlet dots butterfly wavered in the wind and hovered about Kakashi for a moment before landing on his shoulder. Kakashi looked at the butterfly with affection then the butterfly just merrily flied away before Kakashi's relieved smile:
"Thank you, Obito"
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Well. This short fic has a second chapter but I just want to upload it right now since it has sat in my PC for two long to remember. Hope you like it and as usual
I love comment!!
I just come up with many wonderful ideas for my next fics, I will upload it soon!! And "Secret" will be completed next week!!