To Catch a Shooting Star
Naruto: Kakashi / Sakura
Rating: M
As always, characters are lovingly borrowed for a short time and returned to Kishimoto-sama. Kakashi and Sakura are not my creation, sadly.
This fic was written for Denilmo as part of the KakaSaku Holiday Exchange on Livejournal. She wanted something with Kakash and Sakura celebrating the holidays together... this is what came of that little prompt. Enjoy!
PART I of II -
"We prepare our minds so that we can face the most terrible conditions in the world. Without preparation, my friend, we cannot go into battle without hesitation. Self doubt ensures defeat before the first punch is ever thrown." The memory of Chiriku's words echoed in Kakashi's mind. As he meditated, he turned them over and over, examining each one, then keeping it or rejecting it as too attractive to negative energies. The late afternoon sun warmed the Copy Ninja as he sat cross-legged on the tatami mat. The sliding panels of his guest house room lay open before and behind him. A gentle breeze stirred his wild silver hair, grown longer during his convalescence. The serene bubbling of water from the Fire Temple rock garden reached his ears. Still, he moved not a muscle, one with the meditation, life, the breeze, the water and the sun. Chiriku believed that meditation, when achieved correctly, made one whole and complete. Why then did he have a nagging sense that something very important was missing from his life?
Kakashi's mind touched on Bansai, the Fire Temple's oldest monk, now in retirement. When the monk heard Kakashi was brought to Fire Temple half dead and his mind nearly severed from reality, he came out of retirement to supervise Kakashi's healing. It was Bansai who bullied Kakashi into learning the higher arts of meditation known only to the Fire Temple monks, meditation that itself made his mind whole again. Kakashi grew to like the old monk, taciturn though he was.
Kakashi stood at the edge of the clearing looking back at the Fire Temple. He had a clean bill of mental and physical health and clearance from the Hokage to travel back to Konoha in time for the holidays. While he would welcome being in Konoha and especially in his own apartment, he really had no reason to savor the holidays since he didn't have any close friends or family. Well, there was his team, but as with everyone, eventually they went home to their own people. Kakashi sighed. He might just stop by the hot spring and spend some time there, skipping all of the holiday hype. Yep, he thought to himself, the hot spring and some Icha Icha sounded like a much-needed vacation. He would send a note to Tsunade-sama; he was sure she would understand. Cheered, his slouchy walk was almost jaunty as he headed for the hot spring.
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Kakashi hated wrinkled skin, which is why his first visit to the onsen was the longest. He intended to make his visits much shorter, and wander in the meadows and forests surrounding the town while he was there, perhaps doing a little light reading. For now, he would enjoy the quiet. While the cuts and bruises he'd received during his disastrous mission had largely healed, his body needed the downtime away from the Fire Temple, Konoha, and curious friends with too many questions. Since he was alone, he stretched forward in the water and slowly swam to the opposite side, enjoying the heat on his sore muscles. This onsen had been left in its natural hot spring formation rather than being enclosed or having a bath house built over it, as some did. He thought the beauty of the hot spring did as much to help people as the minerals in the water, not that he would confess that to anyone.
As Kakashi relaxed in the pool, his thoughts turned to the holiday season. The new year celebration was coming up, but before that, there was Christmas, which he didn't really have an opinion on, and something Tsunade told him Sakura's friend Ino had suggested, a "Forget the Year" party. Tsunade wrote that she was instituting this as a new tradition in Konoha. Kakashi doubted anyone else but shinobi would really get into it. Shinobi definitely had reasons to enjoy putting the past year behind them.
His eye half closed as he remembered getting caught between two Rock shinobi and two missing nin on his last mission as the four cast their jutsus simultaneously. His overloaded Sharingan could still have taken them out, but for the poisoned senbon to the back of his neck. Then the lone kunoichi of the group cast a genjutsu that had him moving in super slow motion while everything around him was sped up. Still, he had managed to kill three of the four and activate an emergency tag before blackness overtook him. It was a good thing he gave the scroll and key to Pakkun to deliver to Tsunade, just as he was fortunate that the tag he left on a tree outside the Fire Temple years ago was still active and hadn't gotten destroyed.
After Kakashi showered and put on comfortable clothes, he went in search of dinner. When he returned, a satisfied smile could be seen through the mask, as he set a very nice bottle of sake on the table. The shopkeeper was really most accommodating, and the broiled saury was some of the best he'd had. Too bad Sakura wasn't here to see the store; she would have drooled over the fresh vegetables and Kakashi would have carried home three paper sacks instead of the one.
Wait. Kakashi shook his head. What was he thinking of? No doubt Sakura would have liked that shop, but it was strange for her to drop into his mind like that. He poured a glass of sake and moved to sit on the comfortable couch provided in his hotel room.
Kakashi woke up with his head on his chest, Icha Icha open on his lap and a fierce crick in his neck. Rubbing his neck ruefully, he made a mental note not to fall asleep again like that. Unbidden, images of pink hair and mesmerizing green eyes came to mind. As Kakashi cleaned up, a ghostly touch played on his memory, making his whole body shiver. He stared at his uncovered face in the bathroom mirror, both eyes shocked open. In his dream, her slender hand had caressed his hair, sliding down to his uncovered face, and her lips, so warm and inviting, had dipped close to his as his he held her, his hands sliding down the smooth contours of her body, to caress her hips and draw her closer to him…
Kakashi leaned on the sink, his ragged breathing startling him. Some fresh air, he thought. That's the ticket.
Armed with a worn out copy of Lord Jiraiya's Make Out Paradise, a bento box he picked up the night before and some cold tea, Kakashi headed out to the edge of the forest. He knew where some boulders were that would be in the sunlight this time of day. The warmed boulders would feel so
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He'd drunk some of his tea, read not two pages in his trusty book, and found himself nodding off again. Comfortable and warm, he decided to completely relax. He was on vacation, after all.
The scent of strawberries invaded his dream, as a slender hand gently caressed his hair. Faint but familiar chakra was right in front of him. He opened his eyes to find Sakura kneeling next to him, her green eyes dancing and a genuine smile upon her lips. "How did I not sense you until now?" Kakashi asked, a little perturbed that she snuck up on him.
"I dampened my chakra because you looked so peaceful and I didn't want to startle you," Sakura said.
Kakashi just looked at her, emotions warring inside of him. He really didn't want to think about how talented she'd become and how he failed to sense her. Or conversely, how much rest he still needed.
"So what brings you way out here?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm harvesting herbs. We're almost out of the hips and this is the time of year a certain plant produces them, so Tsunade gave me leave to come," Sakura explained. "I didn't expect to find you here though. How are you feeling?"
"Thanks to the monks at the Fire Temple, I'm almost 100 percent," Kakashi replied. "The onsen is helping too."
"This is such a beautiful place," Sakura said. "I haven't really been here except to gather herbs."
"Would you like to see the town?" Kakashi asked. "I think there are some places you would enjoy."
"I would love it, especially since I couldn't help looking at all the beauty on the way here," Sakura exclaimed.
As he led the way to the town, he was astonished to find himself making small talk with Sakura. Well, she was talking and he was answering, but he was answering in more detail than he ever had. How did this happen?
He took her to the restaurant where he had the amazing broiled saury and Sakura found to her delight that they made a variety of delicate tempura; vegetables and tender sweetfish, shrimp and scallops. She even enticed him to try some of the sweetfish. He made a fishface (just for show, causing her to almost spew her water because all she could see through the mask was the outline of his lips looking weird), but he actually admitted to liking it. As they talked and laughed, Kakashi couldn't help but notice that the warmth he was feeling did not come from the sake.
Afterwards they went to the little grocery; Kakashi's excuse was he didn't have any food in the efficiency hotel room he rented. When they returned to the hotel room, they sat on the balcony overlooking the hot springs, silently enjoying the night with a drink of sake. Later, Sakura left to get them some hot tea since the night was beginning to turn chilly. When she returned, she handed his cup to him, and began to knead his shoulders.
"You'd better take my cup too, Sakura," Kakashi murmured. "I don't think I'm going to be good for much else."
Sakura giggled. "You always were a sucker for my shoulder rubs, Kakashi-s.."
An iron grip stalled her ministering hands. "Don't say it," he growled. "I am not that to you anymore, neither are you a student to me." Kakashi paused, and whispered, "Don't ruin this."
She crouched down next to his chair and looked over at him seriously. "Don't… ruin… what?" she asked softly.
Kakashi turned his head. Her eyes were level with his, green pools of inviting warmth. Lost in them, Kakashi gave in and pressed his masked lips to her full ones in a slow, tender kiss.
"That," he said, pulling back to see the effect on Sakura's face.
Sakura's eyes became more luminescent, and the color grew deeper, if that were possible. Kakashi waited for her response, his heartbeat growing louder in his ears by the moment.
As she gazed at him after the kiss, Sakura realized she'd never really studied Kakashi up close before. His skin was smooth, although she knew he had quite a few scars. He smelled wonderful, like sandalwood and pine, earthy and fresh. He made her feel whole, and free. She smiled at him, a slow smile at first, then with a warm chuckle reached out to smooth the unruly silver locks.
At the same time, Kakashi couldn't help but reach his hand out to touch the soft pink tresses with a look of wonder on his face. Her throaty chuckle had stopped his hand in mid-air, but it was soon captured by her other one and pressed against her cheek. Eyes wide, Kakashi sat still, waiting for Sakura's next move.
"Who would have thought it, huh, Kakashi?" Sakura asked in wonder. "That both of us…that our feelings would come out at the same time."
"How long have you felt, something, for me?" Kakashi asked softly.
"I think I first became aware of it about two years ago," Sakura said. "I realized I couldn't stand the thought of losing you, of not seeing your face, of not enjoying your presence and of not waiting to be with you again. I had no idea, and no hope, really, that anything would come of it. How about you, Kakashi?"
"It's hard to say, but it probably started when you became a jonin."
"That was three years ago!" Sakura exclaimed. "How …"
"What can I say, Sakura? Confidence – and amazing power – are sexy." Kakashi smirked, knowing what was likely to come next.
"You pervert!" Sakura laughed, play hitting him on the shoulder. "What were you thinking when you were watching those exams? Wait, I'm not sure I want to know."
"I could give you a demonstration," Kakashi suggested, voice low and eye dancing.
"Ah, well, maybe later," Sakura hedged. At Kakashi's playful woebegone face, she plopped herself in his lap, put both hands on either side of his face, and gave him another kiss. Kakashi's body went rigid and he hardly dared breathe, then his arms crept around Sakura, pulling her more firmly against his torso and adjusting her so she was more comfortable in his lap. Sakura cuddled into his arms and sighed long, which was echoed by Kakashi. They sat like that for a long time, silent, feeling each other's body heat and heartbeat.
By an unspoken agreement, when they turned in, Sakura slept in her shorts and a tank top and Kakashi slept in his boxers. Sakura reached for Kakashi's arm and pulled it towards her so she was nestling with her back against him. His only comment was, "If we wake up like this in the morning, you're likely to be surprised."
"I can deal," Sakura said. "You've dealt with my snoring long enough on missions." So saying, they fell asleep, each of them sleeping more soundly than they could remember.