Title: In Place of Comfort

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Summary: They're both hurting inside. Who else should they turn to, but each other?

A/N: Most of the credit for this fic goes to E3-FantasyandReality and Boredom-Take Over for the story idea. E3-FantasyandReality practically wrote half the story, so I'm going to go ahead and call this a story collaboration; this fic would simply not be possible if it weren't for these two, so a big thanks to these two amazing author's also. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this fic. And Boredom and E3FantasyandReality, I hope you guys won't think it sucks. I did my best. This story is set after Jiraiya had just died.

-McDiggin'It



...

Sometimes, your best just isn't enough.

As the blonde Hokage of the Hidden leaf village stared down at all the names of the fallen shinobi's who had given their lives to protect their home, she feels that pang of guilt and grief eating away at her, and she realizes now more than ever that her best can never be enough. She holds back her tears because crying won't change anything. Instead she clenches her fist and bites her quivering lip hard enough to draw blood. The pain that comes from her lip is nothing compared to what she feels inside. It's a scratch compared to a gaping hole in your chest. She closes her eyes for a few moments, her mind's eye flashing back to the face of the latest fallen warrior.

Silver mane. Two thin red lines on either side of his face. His cheeky smile and seductive his undying mission to get her in bed.

"…Baka…" she curses harshly with a desperate attempt to suppress any unwanted tears. It's nearly futile when all she wants to do is break down. She wants to yell and curse at him for leaving her so soon, but she can't… because he's gone. He's gone and she can't tell him how sorry she is. How she wishes she were there to save him. How she wishes she could've been there to hold him before he released his final breath into the emptiness of the air around him. She's especially sorry that he had to be alone when he finally went down. There was no one there to listen to him ramble aimlessly about his latest conquest, or about his ridiculous books.

Her arms encase her shivering body in search of comfort within herself, but it finds nothing but cold and bitterness, pain and sadness, heartache and despair. All things that she can't afford to fall into.

A soft rustling of cool grass under light footfalls greets her ears and she doesn't have to turn around to know who it is. He's silent as he halts beside her. From her peripherals she watches him. Notes the bouquet of flowers wrapped in his clenched hand, while the other hand stays inside the pocket of his pants. As always, the majority of his face is concealed behind his navy blue mask. His head band is wrapped tightly around his forehead, covering his borrowed eye, and his silver hair sticks up in odd angles as if he had been in a hurry to get here. As they continue to stand side by side in silence, staring at the names of their fallen comrades, she finally realizes why he wears the mask. Against her will, she tears her eyes away from the names to look up at his tall, masculine frame. Her eyes travel higher until they meet his face. His unhidden eye stares blankly at the names. He doesn't look at her though she knows that he knows she's looking at him. "You're hurting more than most do." She murmurs under her breath in answer to why he wears the mask.

He looks at her then, eye still holding no emotion. He blinks once, as if realizing that she's just spoken. "You do too."

She doesn't know if he realizes that she's talking about the reason why he wears a mask. For some unknown reason, she wants him to know that she knows. "Should I wear a mask too?"

He looks away again, this time moving forward a little and stooping down to place the bouquet in his hand at the foot of the memorial stone. He rises back to his full height and takes a step back so that he's standing directly beside her, his shoulder lightly brushing against hers. He sighs heavily, stuffing his now free hand inside his other pocket. "You don't need one." He tells her honestly. She's already good at hiding emotion. He's not so good at that.

She quirks an eyebrow at him in uncertainty. "Really?"

He finally looks at her again, but his eye doesn't exactly connect with hers, instead roaming over her body. He shrugs. "You've been through enough to know that showing weakness is pointless. I'm too lazy to work at hiding emotions as well as weakness."

She doesn't know what makes her do it. She's never one to show affection, but in this moment, she wants to, now more than ever. Perhaps she does it because she needs the distraction. Something different that would draw out her attention completely. Her hand comes up to rest under his chin for a short moment before she slowly pulls his face up so he has no choice but to look right at her. She offers him a smile. It's a pained one, but it's the best she can manage for now. "You're not weak, Kakashi… In fact, you're one of the strongest shinobi's I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." Her fingers trace a line from his chin, his jaw, and finally resting on his cheek, caressing the skin there. His face is smooth, and his cheekbones are showing more than the last time she saw him, but she doesn't see that. She sees a strong man who has seen way too much pain and suffering. A man who hides his pain in order to ensure the happiness of others. It's no wonder he hasn't found a partner in life. He's afraid that he'll drag people down with him to whatever level of hell he's been forced to live in.

He returns the pained smile, his eyes flashing a different emotion than sadness for a brief second before its gone again. "Perhaps you don't really know many shinobi's."

"And perhaps you know too many." She says in reply. "You're suffering because you think you deserve it. You think you deserve the pain that you're going through, so you constantly wear the mask to cover that pain." When he doesn't say anything, she continues, "No one else suffers more than you do because they eventually let go and move on."

He knows where she's headed with this, and he wishes it was enough for him. But nothing can ever be enough. She steps forward then, her face a lot closer than it has ever been, and then her lips are gently pressing against his masked cheek. It's soft, feather-light to the point where he almost doesn't feel it. It's meant to comfort him, but it's not enough. She pulls away, and her hand leaves his other cheek to rest on his shoulder as her other arm wraps around his body and pulls him in slowly. She hugs him tightly, resting her cheek against his shoulder. "Let it go." She whispers so softly, he's not sure if she had been the one to say it, or if it was simply something that carried through the wind from another village.

His eyes flicker with more pain. "I can't." Everyone in the world is hurting in some way. His pain is the last thing he's holding onto. He has no family. No real friends he could confide in. No one who understands him. If he let's go of the last thing he has left, he's afraid he'll drown and never surface again. He'll only be an empty husk of muscle and bones, walking, breathing, and seeing, but not living.

Her fingers slowly run through the hair in the back of his head as she pulls away to look him in the eye. He gives her an intense look that makes a shiver run up her spine. He's looking right at her, and she can't bring herself to look away; to avoid his stare. She can't hide her emotions from him when he's looking at her like that, and she doesn't want to either. For the first time in a very long time, she lets herself be vulnerable.

"You're hurting too." He notes. "You've just recently lost one of your closest friends, and it's taking a huge toll on you."

She's tempted to close herself off again. He's too good at reading her in the one time she has let him. But she can't. He's already seen her, and for better or worse, she's glad. She smiles softly at him. "Everyone loses something when they lose someone dear to them."

He stares curiously at her. "What do you feel?"

She looks away then. She may be able to let him read her, but she's not about to voice it as well. That task is much harder than it seems. "I have to get back." She says quickly, turning away and beginning towards the Hokage tower. However, he stops her again, practically pulling her back. She's taken aback by his audacity to man-handle her as if she were his. She whirls around, prepared to bring down the full force of her wrath, but then she finds herself falling into a pool of black and red as she stares into the rapidly swirling three-wheel –tomoe of his sharingan. She was livid now, seething with rage at his unwise boldness to use his sharingan on her, the Hokage of the hidden leaf village and last remaining Sannin in all the Nations. She felt childish and useless as she was forced to let go of her chakra. Probably a smart move on Kakashi's part because she's prepared to raise hell the moment he lets her go from his genjutsu.

He takes a step closer to her, bringing them face to face. "Forgive me, Lady Tsunade. I just… need to say something."

She nods her head at him as she takes a deep calming breath in hopes that she'll calm down enough not to murder him once he lets her free. She feels him slowly release her from his holds and her chakra flows right back into her body. She glares at him and waits silently for him to speak.

"I want to help you."

She blinks at him. "With what?"

He gives her a look she doesn't recognize. "In place of comfort, I'll give you something else."

She narrows her eyes skeptically at him, "And what will you gain from whatever it is you'll be giving me?"

He reaches a hand up, his knuckles softly caressing her cheek. "The exact same thing I'll be giving you."

Her eyebrows furrow at him in confusion. "What are you—,"

He cuts her off, quickly leaning forward and pressing his cloth-clad lips fiercely against hers. He's risking his very life here, but he doesn't really have anything to lose.

Her initial thought was to pull away and hurl him across the village, but something inside her clicked the moment his lips touched hers. Her arms rise subconsciously and wrap itself around his neck, pulling him closer to close the gap between them. She gasps at the pressure of Kakashi's groin against her own body, and she realizes what he's offering her.

She needs this- he needs this - they both need this.

It isn't pleasure. It's comfort.

...


The sound of the door closing ensured the blonde Hokage there wasn't any more space for regrets. Then, at the small click of the lock, Kakashi crept up behind her with both of his hands clutching her frail shoulders. His breath titillating her senses, prickling against her skin and seducing her mind out of her moral senses.

"Hokage-sama," he dryly whispered, parted lips leaning against her ear. "If you want, you can storm out right now."

Tsunade's painted lips curved into a seductive smile filled with mirth. "Back out now? Won't that make me a fool?"

"What we're about to do might be foolish."

Turning on her heels she spun around to fully face the maskless jounin, "Then we'll be fools." Her small hands clasped his cheeks, eyes sharp as a hawk glared into his mismatched orbs. "What difference will it make now, Hatake?"

Kakashi's hands strode up her naked arms before it momentarily rested on her hips. "Nothing, I guess." he shallowly answered, pulling the blonde closer to his body. In response Tsunade tiptoed to grant her better access to his lips - the full blow.

Enclosed lips molded, hands clutched and gripped onto the material of their clothes as their frame of mind disintegrated into tiny fragments, ignoring every single common sense they had left. The masked jounin's calloused hands gripped Tsunade tightly by the waist and roughly pushed her backwards in the direction to his room.

Despite the fact that her clothed back grazed and slammed against several objects along the way to another enclosed room, she kept her lips attached to his. "Kakas-" she merely hissed before she was softly pushed and pressured against the stone cold wall.

Kakashi removed his gloves from his hands and disposed them immediately out of the way. Tsunade tried to help by fumbling through the zipper of his jounin vest; her hands pushed his vest over his shoulders and watched as it hugged around his feet on the ground. Her eyes tentatively watched his hands slide down to the hem of his shirt, pulling it up over his head and tossing it across the room into a pool of crumpled fabric, no longer needed.

With her blood red polished nails she ran her trembling fingertips down over his chiseled stomach and traced the outline across his defined abs. The slow rise and fall of his bare chest was metronomic in their shadowed seclusion; her hands stilled on his chest, feeling his breathing become as erratic and wild as hers. He grabbed her thigh and hoisted it upwards, her leg wrapping around him, his hand stroked her thigh in slow, torturous motions.

Mismatched eyes fluttered closed before his moist lips harshly pressed against her own smeared painted lips and his masculine body collided with her feminine frame, pinning her on the wall. "Are you having second thoughts?" a tangible whispered tingled against her plump lips, enticing her further.

"...No." Tsunade answered back, wrapping her arms lazily around his neck to pull him closer to her. Mouths reciprocated against each other with their tongues dancing together in slow motion, both treasuring the moment in the other's warmth.

Time seemed to have disintegrated into tiny silver fragments as the heated embrace consumed them both. He was dominant, and full of fire. He manipulated her body as if it were his own. He had pulled all the right strings to keep her captivated under his darting gaze. Each stroke of his touch, each kiss, each word he spoke: was poison to her body.

Kakashi's eyes burned with an intangible fire which tightened her stomach, and did little to comfort her rapidly fluttering pulse. Pale hands moved upwards to the straps resting on her shoulders. He pushed his lips with hers again, devouring her moans, gasps and soft lips. In a smooth motion he lowered the straps of her grey kimono-shirt off her pale shoulders, and sensually dragged it down to her arms.

Tsunade buried her face at the crook of his shoulder, clinging onto her ever so miniscule pride. The jounin's deft hands removed her kimono and quickly threw it across the room, away from their intimate circle.

Not a single word was uttered from the two ninjas, their actions filled the empty void in the shadowed room. Kakashi, at a rough pace, pushed Tsunade to the wall and prominently hooked her legs around his hips. He paused to meet pure golden eyes glancing back at him, "Don't let go," he whispered, clutching onto her bare skin.

She merely nodded, arms still loosely wrapped around his neck. At a slow pace her body was carried to the middle of the room, and was carefully placed down on soft, white sheets.

Tsunade's eyes drifted away as she indulged in the sweet scent of fresh lavenders that lingered above them, momentarily feigning her peripherals of Kakashi undoing her button and zipper of her navy pants. In a seductive manner his hands gripped the hem of her pants and sensually dragged it down past her heels and onto the floor.

Exposed beneath her subordinate in an unlawful situation caused her cheeks to be tainted with a deep red streak of blushes. Tsunade hid her burning cheeks underneath her arm as she shyly looked away from Kakashi who, in her mind, was cheekily grinning at her.

Languidly the silver-haired ninja undid the black straps of Tsunade's heels, tracing his half open mouth on her pristine, smooth flesh, as his hands pulled off her heels. The echo of her thick heels impacting on the polished, wooden floor shattered the blonde Godaime from her idle musings and back into reality.

A small gasp escaped her lips when her whisky orbs witnessed Kakashi hovering above her with his hands clenching the sheets at each side of her head. Eyes stared at each other, not wavering. Tsunade reached up, pulled Kakashi down to her, and captured a passionate kiss. Kakashi reached down to her right leg, hoisting it up to wrap around his body again. Both legs wrapped around his waist, bruising his sides, before it pulled his lower body down to hers - connecting their bodies together, no gaps.

"I never do this," Tsunade clarified, pushing Kakashi's face away from her with both hands placed on each of his pale cheeks. "This..."

"I know." Kakashi lowly interjected, placing his index finger on her plump lips, sealing her words. "I don't perceive you to be a woman who sleeps with just any man." he continued with his thumb feeling her moist lips tingling with sensations from their kiss.

Although he would never say it out loud, not even in this secluded space around them, he had always observed Tsunade to be a woman who exuded with contemporary class and sophistication. A woman who, in her strides, was filled with pride and confidence. A woman who was strong enough to burden the village's sins and troubles.

"What are you thinking about?" she whispered, gliding her painted fingertips on his muscular back. It had been years since she had started working with Kakashi, yet she still couldn't work him out. He was erratic, fathomless, dominant, and mysterious. Even with deeper inspection her eyes couldn't penetrate the shields in his heart. However, in this moment of intimacy she began to read him clearly - his broken life, dark secrets, and the painful life he lived.

"...Nothing important." the response was reluctant which caused several stutters, but Tsunade shrugged off his response with a small smile.

Deft fingers followed the natural contours of her body, each swell and valley of flesh receiving his gentle touch. Every inch of flesh he stroked brought fire to her quivering body; burning a permanent scar of pleasure into her brain. Kakashi dove back down and placed a soft, lingering kiss on her cheek. The heat of her flushed, blushing skin against his lips was the only tell of her tumescent glow hidden by the darkness filling his bedroom.

He kept his lips on her cheek as his hands worked to arouse her breast that were still deep in their confines. Before he moved down he kissed her cheek tenderly, deliberately moving down to her near-aroused breasts. His slender fingertips slipped underneath her lace bra strap and with deliberate laziness, he lowered it off her right shoulder. His spare hand repeated the same process with quicker succession.

Kakashi's hands pulled down her bra with synchronized motion, exposing her aroused breasts that had puckered from their early sexual advances. Surreptitiously, Kakashi glanced back up as if to ask for permission. He felt Tsunade's fragile hand stroke his nape, with subtle movements to push him closer to her breast. Coming to his decision he fully dipped down to devour her aroused nipple with his hot mouth.

Tsunade felt a burning warmth as he took her rigid nipple into his mouth. Every lash of his tongue, each circle around the firm little nub caused her to whimper softly. As if knowing the exact boundary between pain and pleasure, Kakashi bit down firmly into her tingling, crinkled flesh. Tsunade's skin quivered with ambrosial agony as she arched her back, her fingers travelling up the back of his neck and stroking through his soft, silver hair.

He ran his hand up her inner thigh and stroked her aroused core through its laced boundary. Despite the sexual tension which was creeping through her body, twisting every muscle tight across every single nerve ending, she found herself at ease into his arms. She felt safe under his darting gaze and, even though they had agreed this was nothing but comfort, desired. His hand smoothly slipped in her matching lace panties, leaving Tsunade speechless and startled.

"Please, Tsunade, don't get wary." Kakashi clearly responded to her action. Sensually his fingers grazed against her clit, keeping the pressure constant and firm. The Hokage's fingers laced with his silver strands; her lips parted to release titillating moans that expressed her pleasure heightening; eyes squeezed shut.

"K-Kakashi," a promiscuous whisper; a desperate plea quietly escaped her mouth. Tsunade's eyes were half-lidded as pleasure overwhelmed her senses and threw her in the throes of passion. His name fell from her lips as she felt two digits enter her hot core, teasing the bundle of nerves inside her, causing her to moan freely.

His fingers dipped deeper and rhythmically pulled in and out of her deeply aroused core, coating his slender fingers with her essence. He felt her inner muscles clamp around his fingers, almost in vain, when he began to pull out.

Kakashi brought his fingers coated in her essence to his mouth, sucking and licking all of the juices off his fingers. He merely smirked back at the red-hot-flushed Hokage who heaved uncontrollably under his gaze. Delving deeper down, Kakashi's teeth clamped around the hem of her lace underwear before he languidly dragged it down through her smooth, pristine legs. He knelt down on the wooden floor and pulled her panties off her feet.

Quietly he gripped both of her thighs and parted them to allow him to access her womanhood with his mouth. This time he didn't raise his head up to ask for reassurance to see if what he was about to commit was allowed, he simply moved to his own accord without consulting the blonde.

Tsunade had already read Kakashi's intentions before he decided to do it. However, she didn't anticipate for Kakashi to be skillful with his tongue - having her whole sex engulfed by his sultry mouth was almost more than she could bear. She wove her fingers through his soft, silver hair and gripped it tightly, her hips bucking and rolling against his face. The incessant lashing of his hot tongue drove her to a fathomless world of pleasure, as he devoured her hungrily. Each time his tongue parted her swollen lips and plunged into her depths, she involuntarily rolled her hips forward to urge his intrusion to explore deeper.

Kakashi withdrew slowly from Tsunade's wet womanhood, licking his lips seductively to clean off her excess.

Tsunade sat up with her elbows supporting her body from behind, her honey eyes tentatively watched Kakashi unzip his pants before he kicked it off his feet. His hard contours became more defined with the glimmer of light penetrating through the crack of his curtains: lithe stomach muscles, fine collar bones, lean waist, accentuated hip bones and a sharply refined V line going down his chiseled body.

Kakashi was silent in his spot, fully captivated by Tsunade's body basking under scarce light source seeping through the window. A fractured beam of light lay over her abdomen as she remained lied on the crumpled, white sheets. The liquid ray of light ran over her body, accentuating her feminine contours, highlighting her succulent swells and masking the forbidden valleys. With a cheesy grin, he sprawled onto the bed and watched her swallow his weight with her legs bruising against him.

Kakashi took his time searing his hot tongue along the soft curves of her torso. With every inch he travelled lower down her body, the more her chest heaved with anticipation. Smiling lightly, he hovered above her, boring his mismatched eyes into golden pools of desire accumulating before him.

Tsunade's hand sheepishly ran through his hard contours whilst their lips met before their tongues danced with one another. Kakashi took this silent opportunity to lower his boxers, freeing his aching member.

Breaking the kiss, the jounin surprised the Hokage by fully penetrating her wet core with his hardened member. The dark, empty room became filled with untamed moans and husky grunts with the bed creaking rhythmically with their movements.

Tsunade's knuckles turned paler than Kakashi when her hands curled into a ball, mercilessly gripping the sheets below her. Her half-lidded eyes took in the expression of Kakashi thrusting forward towards her, with her mouth releasing untamed, hitched moans against his thrusts. Despite Kakashi warming her womanhood up his member inside her still caused her to spiral into series of pain.

The jounin's hand curled behind her buttocks and gave it a powerful squeeze as he penetrated inside Tsunade relentlessly with strong strokes. His spare hand rested on her right shoulder to give him support with his thrusts.

The Hokage's body writhed below his muscular built frame, in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Her womanhood still hadn't adjusted to his length and girth size. Her hands shakily gripped onto his forearms with force beyond measure, her nail then dug into his flesh at her whimsical attempts to suppress the growing pain. However, with the constant full penetration Kakashi kept thrusting into her, the pain had started to outweigh the pleasure.

Her nimble hands moved to his back, repeating the same process with hope to prevail this time - no success availed. Tsunade's neck arched as she gave a cry of both pain and pleasure.

Kakashi's movements rapidly decreased at her cry, eyes wide with concern and bewilderment. With his feather-like touch Kakashi took Tsunade's right hand and placed it back on the bed, entwining his fingers with hers. Slowly his movements resumed again, in a slow pace to settle Tsunade in.

The Hokage felt his entwined fingers subtly giving her reassurance per thrust he made. Their eyes locked with intimacy, lips lightly grazing, breast and chest sliding against each other, all outweighed the searing pain she had previously felt.

"Ready?" Kakashi asked, receiving a quiet nod from his dear Hokage. Before penetrating into her core once more his hand gripped hers whilst his lips fully moulded with her swollen lips. In soft motions his member began to sink in deeper. Then, slowly, his pace began to heighten once more, and his grip with her hand tightened. "Relax, Tsunade-sama." he dryly whispered.

The kiss was unbridled, a amorous mess of gorgeous chaos. He nipped at her lips and leaned his lips on her collarbone. Tsunade's body was no longer her own. She bucked and moaned wildly with and she in turn retaliated with hers, consuming as much of him as she could.

With each second that passed her body began to become consumed by Kakashi's overwhelming heat. Edging closer and closer to that moment when the inevitable, would become the unstoppable. Her body tautened as euphoria saturated her senses. Her body shook with madness and ecstasy, disrupting her senses to feel or see anything else but Kakashi.

With a final flurry of powerful thrusts signalling the end of the line, Kakashi's body became as limp as hers, crying for release. His fingers that wove with her slender digits clasped together as their bodies felt their apex coming nearer. Their faces glided against one another before, eventually, meeting each other's parted lips.

As she began to receive spasms between her legs, her fingers dug in and raked across his muscled back. Her escape into blissful sexual oblivion began as his thick member pulsed deep within her body. There was no line now between pleasure and pain, just the feeling. Kakashi's hips gave its final thrust forward, drawing him closer to her sweating forehead before he placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

Upon release Tsunade nuzzled on the crook of his shoulder, suppressing her guttural moan. With a final ragged sigh of exertion, Kakashi's sweat-covered torso collapsed heavily onto her delicate frame. Tsunade's hands quietly ran her fingers on his sweat-soaked sculpted back. The silver-haired man lifted his body up to meet Tsunade's hazy eyes staring back into his mismatched eyes.

"Stay with me here tonight, Tsunade," his voice low and weak.

The Hokage's nude lips curved into a gentle smile before she drew him in for a final kiss. "I can't stay here long, Kakashi. If I don't come back by sunrise they'll send ANBU platoons to find me," she whispered back against his lips.

"I'll take care of them if they come looking for you here."

Kakashi pushed himself off the exhausted Hokage and laid on his back, completely satisfied with his quenched passionate desire. He felt Tsunade roll beside him, lazily throwing her arm to encase around his body. He gazed down at her but, for the first time in their moment of intimacy, her whisky eyes failed to meet his - they were fully closed.

Secretly the jounin laced his fingers once again with hers, before blissfully falling deep into his idle slumber.

This wasn't an act of love

This wasn't for lust.

This was for comfort that would aid both of their hearts.

...

The flow of Kakashi's sleep was ultimately disrupted when he felt pale, moist lips lightly hover on his collarbone. He silently peered down and saw Tsunade shifting her head against his flesh as she started to feign from her own slumber.

Golden rays from the sun penetrated through the covered windows, lightly accentuating Tsunade's half exposed body. Her back and a portion of her buttocks basked underneath the shimmer of light, captivating Kakashi's scarlet eye.

"Is it morning already?" she mumbled, subconsciously snuggling closer to Kakashi's body.

"Around five o'clock in the morning, Tsunade-sama." he answered back, running his fingers through her silky, golden tresses.

Tsunade pushed her body upwards to give her enough ground to stare straight into Kakashi's weary eyes. "About last night, no one must know about this. You know that don't you, Kakashi?"

Her subordinate merely nodded back and gave a prolonged sigh. "No one shall know, Tsunade-sama. Whatever transpires outside of the Hokage Tower between us shall be unheard off."

"Thank you, Kakashi," Tsunade spoke once again as she caressed his cheek, running her thumb to feel the expanse of his cheek. "And... Th-Thank you for not d-discarding me as an object." eyes casted down, afraid to meet his face that contorted to bewilderment.

"Tsunade-sama," he bruised her lips when he plunged forward, pushing her on the bed with his body straddling hers, lips still molded together as tongues clashed. "I'm not like other men who would mistreat a woman in bed."

The blonde Godaime merely smiled before she gently pushed Kakashi off her body. "By the time my foot sets out of your apartment, Kakashi, we're back to being subordinates." she avoided his gaze and rolled off bed to collect her clothes. "Also, continuing this charade might spiral into something we don't desire." she continued as she strapped her heels back on.

As she took long strides towards Kakashi's bedroom door she was still by his iron grip around her wrist. He pulled her back to his chiseled body, lacing his fingers with hers once more. Tsunade's hand felt his navy pants, slowly her fist curled around the fabric, dreading what he was about to say.

"This isn't love." he spoke firmly. "This isn't lust."

The blonde leaned her head back and looked up, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Then what is this?"

"Like we said before, this was just for comfort."

Her fingers tightly laced with his as she nodded in agreement, "A place of comfort. Just us behind closed doors."

"Exactly."

The Hokage took a step forward from Kakashi, breaking their connection. She observed him from head to toe, he was half dressed with his pants still unbuttoned and his hair lost its gravity-defying effect from his sweat. He looked as pale as ever with a small choppy grin glued firmly on his face as he also observed her.

"Remember you have an S class mission to go to," Tsunade reminded, breaking the tension between them. "Don't be late, Kakashi,"

"I have a mission today?" he questioned back with his head cocked to the side and his hand firmly on his hip. "How come you're only telling me this?"

"I told you about this two days ago, Hatake," her voice became stern again, fueled with power. "How can you not remember?!"

The lazy maskless man simply shrugged off her complaint with a cheesy smile, "You can't exactly blame me for forgetting. I had my hands full last night and, oh, I lost my way of life. It's complicated, Hokage-sama."

A small laugh escaped from Tsunade's pursed lips before it was reinforced by Kakashi's soft chuckle. With fast paced footsteps her arms wrapped around his neck before she tiptoed to meet his lips. Soft bliss radiated around the two as they shared their last moments of intimacy. Kakashi's hand firmly clutched around the thin fabricated kimono shirt she had on, whilst his other hand rested on her back.

"I expect you in my office 0900, understood?" she ordered between their kisses, and his thin lips.

"Hai. I shall be there if I don't lose my path of life." his lips separated from hers as they pulled away from each other. "Hokage-sama."

Tsunade shredded a small smile coated with sadness at Kakashi before she turned on her heels and proceeded to walk out of his apartment. "I'll see you around, Kakashi." she waved at him without looking back, her strides were long and paced as if she was desperate to escape the secluded room.

"You bet, Tsunade-sama," He lowly replied, casting his glance away from her. Neither uttered another word, they just continued to watch the gap between them lengthen.

Per stride she took, Kakashi counted the seconds that passed.

This isn't love...

Tsunade's hand clasped around the brass door knob and carefully twisted it clockwise. She stood stagnant for a few seconds before she pushed the door open to the village that was coming back to life.

This isn't lust...

Kakashi watched her close his door, shutting away the blinding light that momentarily intruded his dark, private space.

This is an act of comfort to ease away the pain...

Things will go back to normal as far as normal goes. But on the days when they need it, they'll always rush to find each other. In the safe confines of their bed, they'll find relief, warmth, love, and hope… but mostly they'll find each other.

In Place Of Comfort...


A/N: Again, a huge thanks to E3-FantasyandReality, without whom this fic would not be possible. Half the story was written by him, so remember that fact when you're reviewing this story. Also a big thanks to Boredom-Take Over for the prompt. Without you, I wouldn't have bothered to write something like this, so thanks for that. I loved writing this, and it was a great challenge for me. Anyway, I hope you both liked it. And now, to all the readers out there, THANK YOU for reading this collab-fic. We did our best, and I really hope you all liked it. If you'd like to read more fics like this one, leave a review aye? Requests are welcome as well. So thank you for reading, and please leave a review!

-McDiggin'It