Atonement
by: buriiana sakurai
"He's not coming back," her voice is matter of fact and void of emotion. She turns to him, staring at him with unreadable eyes.
He remembers the irresponsible promise he made to her years ago when she was still just a child, promising her that Sasuke would come back to Konoha, and that Team 7 would slip back into normality once again. He wants to atone, he wants to ask her for forgiveness, but he doesn't know how.
He trembles, gloved hands balling into tight fists in his lap, and freezes when she not-so-innocently presses a kiss to his masked lips. Maybe because he knows this is wrong and doesn't want this. Or maybe because this is the very moment he has patiently been awaiting.
She pulls away, aquamarine eyes glimmering, wild and knowing. Her flower petal lips curve into a smirk that is dripping with mirth and longing. She is no longer the naïve, little Sakura-chan who wore her heart on her sleeve and blindly chased impossible dreams. Little Sakura-chan who cowered and cried rivers in the face of danger, defeat, and disappointment. Kakashi's visible eye stares into her green-blue ocean orbs, framed with those lovely and long, fair lashes—he sees only traces of the little girl from his memories.
Sakura is a woman now. A woman hardened by unrequited love. A woman who mends countless broken bodies in times of war and peace. A woman who is so completely devoted to Konoha and her comrades. A woman who has honed her strength and intellect, an exceptional kunoichi. The Fifth's most treasured former student.
This woman…there is nothing girlish about this woman. What used to be a waif-like body had bloomed into something so tantalizingly beautiful. Kakashi wants to trace the luscious curve of her hips and delicate breasts and kiss every faint freckle on her cheeks. He wants to wrap his fingers in the cascading strawberry wisps of hair that just graze the small of her back and frame her angular face. He wants her badly, but the guilt, the wrongness of it all is crippling.
"Kakashi-sensei…?" she is nervous now, an undeniable blush staining her porcelain cheeks pink.
"Sakura-chan…" he begins coolly. "This isn't right," but Sakura takes solace in the fact that her former sensei doesn't sound very sure of himself. He moves to gently push her away but Sakura quickly seizes his hands in hers, pointedly pressing them against each of her hips. Kakashi closes his eyes, tries to block out the feeling of warm, soft skin humming beneath his fingertips, begging to be explored and claimed.
"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan; about the promise I made before," he breathes.
A small, sad smile tugs at her Sakura's lips, and Kakashi does not stop his former student when she begins to peel off his mask and untie his hitai-ate.
She hungrily drinks in his face with star-struck eyes and parted lips as if he is the most beautiful being she has ever seen. His eyes flutter shut as she traces his high cheekbones, the plane of his jaw, and the sensual fullness of his bottom lip with her dainty fingertips.
When Sakura kisses him again, he gives in, moving his lips in sync with hers, letting one hand firmly hold her close to him by the hip while the other winds and curls into her strawberry hair and cradles her head. He will kiss away the demons of her past, he decides. No words will suffice. He will love her unconditionally, and he will be forgiven and loved back in return.