Kakashi walked leisurely through the streets of the crowded marketplace, enjoying the bright sunshine and cool breeze that wafted in from the harbor. He and his team were returning home from a complicated and bloody mission in Water, and so he had said nothing when it became apparent his subordinates wished to indulge in a little sightseeing.
The port city was massive, easily holding seven or eight Konoha's in its gargantuan sprawl. It was easy to see why it had caught the interest of Naruto and Sakura and even Sai. Kakashi, who considered himself jaded to all things new and exciting, just enjoyed watching the three shinobi, cataloguing how they had changed since the last time he had seen them.
They had not all been teamed up together for quite a while. He reminisced for a bit, recalling the missions they had been assigned in the aftermath of Pain's destruction. Those had been bitter and gruesome and soul-sucking missions. But, Konoha had needed rebuilding, and rebuilding an entire Village was not cheap. So, they had taken whatever missions they could get.
Somehow, they had all made it through relatively intact to enjoy a cheerful day of browsing through market stalls and marveling at the strange and grotesque things they found therein.
The only one missing today was Yamato, but he had other duties to attend to – namely his own batch of genin. Kakashi did not envy the man.
It had been difficult enough putting up with the three before him. At least he had not had to deal with a twelve-year-old Sai. The boy had been bad enough at fifteen. He had reminded Kakashi too much of himself – like Sasuke had only in a more deeply disturbing way. Over time, his fake-smiles and ill-concealed sense of superiority had given way to a vicious sense of humor and what some might have termed a slightly unhealthy appetite for the pleasures of the flesh. Kakashi wouldn't condemn the boy. You did what you had to do to stay sane, and at least when he smiled now, it usually reached his eyes.
If Sai had become a man of lascivious gazes and infrequent grins, Sakura had become a woman of quiet smiles and knowing glances. The anger and excitability of her youth had refined itself into a poised stillness, a confident grace. An aura of peace and tranquility surrounded her. It would be difficult to mark her as shinobi. She seemed more a rich man's genteel wife or a shrine's pious maiden.
In contrast, Naruto was still his overwhelmingly obnoxious self.
"Whatcha lookin' at, Sakura-chan?" he asked, trying to get a look over her shoulder. The boy still chased after Sakura like a lost dog.
"A bracelet." She showed him the golden bangle she had been studying under a shopkeeper's watchful gaze. It was of a fine quality, if Kakashi was any judge of these things, and he was. But, it was plain and unadorned, not something most kunoichi would look twice at.
"Are you gonna buy it?" Naruto piped excitedly. His voice still rose several octaves when he was being over-eager, like now. It made Kakashi smirk under his mask.
"Most likely." She gave the shopkeeper a reassuring smile.
"Why do you buy jewelry everywhere we go, Old Hag? You never wear it. And if you did, it wouldn't suit you," Sai queried not unkindly. He seemed to be genuinely curious. In all honesty, Kakashi was a bit curious himself.
"Perhaps I am building myself a dowry," she answered simply, a teasing lilt to her voice.
"What's a dowry?" Naruto questioned loudly. It was easy to forget that the boy had largely raised himself and so still knew little of custom and tradition and things that everyone took for granted.
"A dowry," Sakura patiently explained, "is a display of a family's wealth, often used to entice an even wealthier man to marry one of their daughters."
"So, you'd have to pay someone to marry you?" Naruto asked confusedly. "That's crazy, Sakura-chan. Guys should have to pay you, not the other way around."
"That would be prostitution," Kakashi couldn't help but add.
Sakura colored slightly while Naruto gaped and Sai snickered under his breath.
"Kakashi-sensei, you have become worse than Jiraiya-sama could ever have hoped to be, I fear," Sakura rebuked playfully. She was the last of his three students to call him sensei. At times, it made him feel old that such an accomplished young woman called him sensei. At other times, he felt a wealth of pride that she would still acknowledge him as her teacher. And at still other times, the sensei tacked on to the end of his name, spoken by a beautiful girl nearly half his age, made him feel things better left unexamined.
Sakura paid for her bauble after debating its value for some minutes with the shop's owner. The poor merchant never even stood a chance. She was a ruthless bargainer, using the full force of her feminine wiles to drive the price lower and lower. With a few batted eyelashes, a bottom lip nibbled in pained indecision, and artfully misted eyes, she walked away having paid two-thirds the price even Kakashi would have had he been interested in purchasing the piece in the usual fashion.
It became plain that they were approaching the harbor as they began to pass fish hawkers and some of the more exotic seafood vendors with ever increasing frequency. As they turned a corner, a vast fleet of ships came into view. Anything from tiny fishing trawlers to ocean-going super tankers sat docked in the murky green waters of the port.
With a jubilant cry, Naruto began to rush toward the docks, only pausing when he realized that no one was following him. "Can we go see the ships, Kakashi-sempai? Can we, can we, can we?"
Kakashi raised a hand to the back of his neck, scratching absently, "Didn't we just spend three days on a boat?"
"Yes, but it wasn't those boats," Naruto wheedlingly pointed out.
"I'll go with him," Sakura offered good-naturedly.
Kakashi nodded, "We'll meet back up at that jewelry stand around three. Alright?"
"That's fine, Sensei," Sakura smiled, "I'll drag him back by his ear if I have to."
"Don't pull too hard. He already looks enough like a monkey," Sai quipped cheerfully.
"Hey, you two aren't very nice," Naruto said sulkily, though he was still smiling. "Can we go now, Sakura-chan?"
"Yes, Naruto. Let's go." She took his hand and led him toward the harbor, nodding and listening attentively to his childish chatter. To a casual observer, they would appear to be young lovers out for a stroll along the docks, not two trained killers on their way back from assassinating an entire clan of rival ninja.
Kakashi grinned, shaking his head at their retreating forms. He had enjoyed spending time with his team, but he was also grateful for the alone-time Sakura had afforded him. He needed a chance to unwind a little before slogging back to Konoha. From the looks Sai had been shooting toward some of the more disreputable back alleys, Kakashi was sure he was grateful as well.