There was a knock on Kakashi's door. 'Tsunade-sama probably sent a nurse after me again. I hope it's Sakura-chan.' Really, this time it was unnecessary. He only had a gash across his stomach and a sprained wrist. He answered the door to find a big pink and red fluff ball.
"Ka…kashi…sempai," Sakura shivered in her soft, woolen winter wears. Kakashi looked beyond her. It was indeed cold outside for a light snow was falling all around her. The scene was quite beautiful. The snowflakes flittered and light from the streetlamps played on them in a dazzling array of glitter and shine and at the very middle of it all stood Sakura's red form, pink hair swaying slightly in the wind and summer-green eyes burning brightly.
"Can I…come…in?" she asked hopefully and a little perturbed at not being shown in immediately. Her teeth were chattering, for Kami-sama's sake!
"Of course! Come in," he said, politely moving out of her way.
She entered the room, rubbing at her arms furiously and trying to warm up.
"Do you want anything to drink? Something hot maybe?" he offered hospitably.
"I'd like some tea, but I'll make it," she said, motioning for him to sit down on his couch. "You're injured after all."
She went to make the tea and he sighed as he sat down. Really, she always played the concerned housewife to him whenever she was over: cleaning his living room, organizing his bookshelf, cooking his food. She probably knew where things were better than he did. He smiled at the thought and sat back to relax. She shuffled back into the living room with her matching red overcoat, scarf, and hat. She placed all of them on the hangers beside the door. Like any good guest, she had taken her shoes off at the door, so he could see her pink Pakkun-print slipper socks.
"Sakura-chan, do you get cold easily?"
"Yes, I do. It's worse this year though. I don't know why. It's really weird. How'd you know?"
He just motioned at the clothes she had added to her very thick sweater. It was strange that the little girl would need so much warmth. Sakura gave a sound of understanding and blushed slightly.
"Well, let's take a look at those wounds."
She made her way over to him as he removed his shirt to allow her access to the gash. She made a slight hissing noise at the sight of blood starting to seep through, but praised him for his prowess with bandages. She moved them slowly, her hands still probably cold. Once the wound was open to the air, she began healing him with chakra. She only healed it enough to leave a long pink scar that would heal within a few days. She pulled a jar of salve out of her pocket and applied the sticky substance. Then she reapplied the bandages.
"Now, don't stress that too much," she ordered. "I only healed it to where it won't bleed anymore, but it's still likely to reopen. Now let me see your wrist."
He was wondering if he might get away with that one, but he could never seem to manage to get much past Sakura. At least in the way of injuries, that is. She gave a cursory glance, twisted it a little this way, and asked if it hurt. He responded in a simple yes or no. She put a little chakra in it to speed up the healing process, but mostly left it to heal on its own. She wrapped it tightly with a few bandages to prevent strain and then gave it a "get well" pat.
Kakashi ruffled her hair with his other hand and chuckled at the dirty look she gave him. He kept his hand on her hair though and she sulked as she settled herself down to sit beside his chair, feeling very much like one of his favorite dogs.
The tea kettle whistled and she shuffled off to prepare the long awaited hot drink. Kakashi glanced at the clock. It was midnight. He sighed. 'What is she doing awake at this time of night?'
'Oh, yes. Checking up on my sorry ass. In this weather, too,' he thought as he glanced out the frosted window and shaking his head. He got up and went to the kitchen for some tea.
"Jasmine okay?" she asked, automatically sensing him enter the room. Yes, she was turning into a fine shinobi.
"Perfect," he answered. She set two cups on the table and poured some for the both of them. Kakashi sat down and Sakura plopped down across from him. She rolled the cup between her hands before taking a sip, keeping her hands warm. She stared lazily out the window, looking very endearing and very tired. Kakashi knew she didn't want to go back into the snow.
"You know, Kaka-sempai…"
He smiled elatedly as she once more used her knick-name for him.
"I never did like winter. I tried to convince myself that I loved it, or that one day it would warm up and maybe become spring, but I was being foolish. Wasn't I?"
He could tell by her regretful tone that they were talking about more than just the season.
"I'm just so tired of trudging through the snow. I think…"
She paused for a long while. He didn't try to interrupt her thoughts or help her find the words. He knew she had to find this out on her own.
"I hate the cold," she finished, finally turning to look at him. Her eyes asked if he felt that was okay. He picked her hands up off her tea cup, brought them to his mouth and blew hot air on them.
"Then you'll simply have to stay where it's warm," he smiled, rubbing her hands in between his and keeping them quite well heated.
She gave him a brilliant smile that made him feel like he was flying. Or was he falling? He put the thought out of mind. He let go of one hand to let them both drink their tea, but kept her other hand in his, lazily rubbing circles with his thumb. They both sat and chatted friendly after that, falling into silences every now and then, but they were always comfortable and natural.
After they had drunken the whole pot, Sakura got up to leave, heading toward Kakashi's bedroom after grabbing her things. Kakashi was there before her, waiting. She held her things before her, looking doubtfully out the iced over window that held the shortest route to her apartment. Kakashi came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Stay."
Simple and to the point. Sakura turned her head back to look him in the eye, wondering if he was serious. Finding that he was, she turned to view his room in hesitancy.
"But where would I sleep?"
"In here," he smiled.
"But where would you sleep?" she fretted.
"In here," he smiled even wider.
"With you? Together? The two of us? Same bed?" she spluttered frantically, going positively swirly-eyed at the implication. Kakashi chuckled at her awkwardness.
"The bed's big enough for the two of us," he stated simply.
"But, but, but…"
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulled her to his chest, rested his chin on her head, and closed his eyes in bliss. He finally had someone he could hold onto now that she was on his side again.
"You won't be all cold and lonely in your own bed," he cajoled. "Keep me warm tonight, Sakura-chan?" he pleaded. "I know you don't want to go traipsing around out there in that weather."
She looked at the window at the pitch black with the occasional glitter of invisible snowflakes. A shiver ran up her spin at the thought of being out in that cold.
"Okay," she conceded. "And I don't traipse! I saunter."
Kakashi chuckled and pulled her in tighter.
"Do you have anything I can wear for a nightgown? I'd rather not sleep in my clothes.
Kakashi nodded and let go of her to find her an old shirt to wear.
Sakura wondered at the affection contact now. It didn't really bother her anymore. She had gotten used to his morning nuzzles that any physical contact with the "touch me and die" legendary Copy-nin didn't really phase her anymore. How their relationship had changed!
He handed her a pink shirt that like it would be enormous on her. It said "Must Love Dogs" on the front. She recalled something about this particular shirt. Oh, yes! Genma had told her this story. He had gotten the Copy-nin this shirt for his birthday. The Hatake had only worn it once, though. Genma had convinced him that it matched with his hair and that all ladies love a guy who is man enough to wear pink. That night out at the bar, Kakashi had been approached by three different men, each complimenting him on how well the shirt went with his coloring and each coping a feel of his ass. Kakashi was livid, promising to burn the shirt along with an effigy of Genma that would be wearing it. Sakura guessed that he never got around to the actual burning. Sakura giggled at the memory and went to change in his bathroom.
Kakashi sighed, also preparing for the night's sleep while Sakura was away. From her giggle he could tell that Genma had told her the story of that day. Of course, who hadn't Genma told that story to? Kakashi sighed again, deciding to put on some loose pants over his boxers because of the cold night. He decided to leave his mask on until Sakura fell asleep. There was no reason to blow the game because of a little sleep over. He turned down the covers just as Sakura came in and just stood at his doorway.
She looked good, way too good was his immediate thought. As he expected, the shirt only came to her mid-thigh, revealing a lot of her shapely cream legs. The shirt was baggy, so the rest of her form was roughly hidden. It was a shade darker than her hair and made her eyes look like they were on fire. He'd be damned if he ever let another male witness his Sakura in such a state, though. He walked over to her purposely with a serious expression on his face.
"What?" she asked insecurely, fiddling with the hem of the shirt and incidentally lifting it up to reveal more tantalizing leg. Yep, no other man would ever be aloud to lay his filthy eyes on her like this if he had anything to say about it. He moved closer, expression unchanging.
"Kaka…" She didn't get to finish the thought, hell his name, before he slung her over his shoulder and carried her over to the bed.
"You're supposed to keep me warm, Sakura-chan," he lectured, "not stand there all night being embarrassed."
He flopped her down on his bed, laid next to her, and pulled the covers up around the both of them.
"Um, Kakashi-sempai…"
"Hai, Sakura-chan?" he asked, already with his eyes closed.
"The light's still on," she pointed out.
He opened his eyes to glare at said light and then threw one of the kunai he kept under his pillow at the light switch. The kunai twirled through the air until the but end hit the light switch. The lights flipped off. Sakura was silently impressed.
She had no time to praise his, however, as he pulled her close to him and snuggled up with her. He had one arm around her waist, one hand in her hair, his nose at the base of her neck, and one of her legs in between his. She decided that he was way too quick with this snuggling thing. Must be that he was snuggle deprived when he was a kid, she decided.
She tried to push away from, at least for a little amount of personal space. Sadly, he didn't budge an inch, and as a consequence, neither did she. His eyes were closed and she couldn't tell if he was asleep or merely didn't want to let her go. Either way, it seemed that she was stuck, so she settled down. He had such a peaceful look on his face anyway. She couldn't bring herself to do anything to might take that peace away from him. She was soon fast asleep in his embrace.
Kakashi smirked at her even breathing. He pulled his hand out of her hair and pulled off his mask. He then wedged his arm around her waist and pulled her close for a warm embrace. He smiled when her arms went unconsciously around his neck, one hand fisting in his hair. He nuzzled his nose in at the base of her neck again and was soon sleeping just as soundly as Sakura.