Title: Synonym
Author: AishiteSubete
Rating: T+
Summary: One year after the war, life continues. For some, that means moving forwards. For Kakashi Hatake, that means mourning the six year anniversary of his wife and child's death. But will finding their killer bring him solace, or will a certain kunoichi? KakaSaku.
Warnings: In Synonym, you're going to find themes that can be intense or that you may be uncomfortable with, such as murder, death, violence, cursing, implied homosexual relationships, references to sex, arranged marriages, and psychosis. These topics may offend some readers. If you are offended by ANY of the aforementioned ideas, PLEASE hit the back button and DO NOT read this work. If these ideas do NOT bother you, then continue on.
ICHI
A candle flickered dimly inside a room that had been untouched for years. If anybody had to guess, they never would assume the great Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake, slept on his couch instead of in his apartment's master suite. Even more surprising was his apparent fear of the room-how it smelled like cherry blossoms and women's perfume, reeking of memories of late-night sex and deep, heart-to-heart conversations. It was just a room, for God's sake-so why did it scare him?
The room made him relive the past.
Kakashi sat at a dusty writing desk, staring at the lovely, feminine calligraphy that had address several letters to girls named Sakukumo and Sakura. "When they get older," Kakashi heard the phantom of Anji's voice as his mind replayed images of her sealing the envelopes, "I want them to see how much we love them." She grinned then, and Kakashi whined about how it was even possible to love Sakura, whom he had only met once in his life. "She's my goddaughter," Anji had explained simplistically, pinning up her hair. "You have to love her, too-it's the law, you know." She had turned to him with a wink and his uncovered face donned a smile.
The Copy Ninja blinked rapidly to keep the flashbacks at bay. He had a meeting with his squadron in a few moments. He shouldn't even bein this room, but tonight, the grief was unbearable: He needed to see the faces of Anji and Sakukumo, the wife and daughter he had lost six years ago to this day. His eyes raked over the framed picture on the desk; Sakukumo, with her mother's rosy hair and his obsidian eyes, was being held in Anji's arms. The latter's green eyes radiated with joy and her smile was infectious. It had been six years since he had gotten to reach out and hug his child or kiss his wife; they weren't there for him to touch anymore.
The knock at the door let Kakashi know that the three shinobi under his watch had arrived. He picked up the pictureframe, kissing it twice before setting it down and blowing out the candle. He didn't turn on any electric lights as he made his way to the door; if he did, he would have too clear a view of what he had lost.
Nobody ever understood why Kakashi slept on his couch. In the time he started holding meetings at his residence, there was always a pillow and a rumpled blanket on his couch, indicating he rested there. Sakura Haruno had asked him many times why he never slept in his master suite. Each time, Kakashi could come up with a new response, such as "cockroach infestation" or "the couch has better lumbar support." Sakura didn't believe his excuses for a second, but eventually decided to stop questioning him. It was his apartment; he could do what he wanted.
Like clockwork, Kakashi opened the apartment door after his usual thirty-seve seconds of waiting, then moved to get the pillow and blanket off his couch as the three shinobi walked in. The lone kunoichi noticed something different, though; it smelled like cherry blossoms. Had Kakashi had a lady over recently? Sakura shook her head. Kakashi never had women over at the apartment, and if he did, then surely the place would reek of sex as well-and it didn't. So the medic shrugged it off, blaming the smell on her too-potent shampoo, and sat down on a beanbag chair near Kakashi's TV. Naruto and Sai continued their time-honored tradition of wrestling in the floor to see who could stretch his legs out on the couch. Kakashi, though, was brewing tea in the kitchen.
The Haruno watched in vague amusement as Sai put Naruto in a headlock, shouting "cry uncle! cry uncle!" (which Naruto didn't do, by te way). However, she was paying more attention to the shinobi in the kitchen than the two wrestling in front of her. Kakashi Hatake looked so lonely. Sakura wasn't sure if he had ever been married, but companionship appeared to be something he needed at the moment. She had the urge to get up and help him with the tea, but rejected the notion when he began to pour the hot beverage into four cups and made his way to the sitting area.
As usual, he called out the winner of the wrestling match by the time he handed Sakura her tea. "Sai wins; better luck next time, Naruto." The blond shinobi grumbled as he sat upright on the couch, Sai plopping down seconds later, laying his head on the kitsune's lap. The latter's hands fell to pet Sai's hair, eliciting a contented sigh from the formerly emotionless male. Kakashi set the two boys' tea cups on the end table near the couch. The silverette paced, as usual, while he sipped his tea.
There was something different about the tea, though-well, so Sakura thought. When she took a sip, she tasted cinnamon and lemon. She grinned. The traditional Haruno tea was sweet and familiar on her tongue, reminding her of the estate that she hadn't seen in so long. Sakura sank back further into her beanbag chair, letting the sweet smell and taste of home overwhelm her.
"Kaka-sensei." After so many years, the jinchuuriki hadn't dropped the honorific. It had been four or five years since Kakashi served as the boy's actual sensei, but the continued respect made him smile all the same. The blond's fingers were buried in Sai's hair, and the former ROOT member appeared to be asleep.
Kakashi maneuvered to where he was sitting in a wooden rocking chair before responding to Naruto. "Yes, kit?" The blond grinned at the new pet name for him that was becoming oh-so-common with his inner circle.
"Why did you call a meeting?" Naruto's expression showed vauge signs of curiosity and even worry-knowing the kitsune, Kakashi was almost certain that the blond was afraid he hadn't gotten the memo on an important recon mission (it wouldn't be the first time). Naruto looked at Sakura, hoping she could mouth him the "answer" if he was forgetting something.
Kakashi laughed. "I just wanted to spend some time with my favorite shinobi," he said, causing the three teenagers to smile. "We haven't had any time to spend together since the end of the world war." The cheer mention of the war brought a pregnant silence to the room, so Kakashi decided to change the subject. "Has anybody visited Sasuke?" The obvious sighs from Naruto and Sakura were answer enough.
"He's still too vicious," Sakura said quietly. "All he talks about is destroying Konoha and avenging Itachi and his clan. The doctor's aren't sure he'll ever get out of the psych ward. You know Tenten? She's doing an internship there, but anyway, she overheard a few doctors discussing the pros and cons of killing Sasuke in the hospital. Apparently he's not a patient that the staff likes to be around." Kakashi made a face, expressing his deep discontent at the was Sasuke was being treated. The Uchiha was one of his pupils, too-therefore, Kakashi cared for him. "Tenten's keeping a log of his progress and the threats the doctors make," Sakura continued, fiddling with the edge of her skirt. "Once she has sufficient evidence about plots against him, she'll present it to Tsunade." Kakashi nodded while Naruto and Sai shook their heads sadly.
Naruto yawned, stretching his arms above his head. "It sucks," Naruto said bluntly. "I spent so much time-WE spent so much time-trying to find him and bring him back. Now the people who are supposed to take care of him want to kill him, and he might not be able to join society again. If he's going to spend the rest of his life locked away, why even bring him home?"
Sakura pursed her lips while Kakashi and Sai kept their silence. The kitsune made a very good point. After a moment's pause, the Haruno said, "I'll see if Tenten can be assigned as his private nurse." Naruto seemed to like that idea; his hands slipped into their earlier pattern of stroking Sai's ebony locks. "I'm sure that if she goes straight to Tsunade about it, she'll make no arguments against the idea." There was a resounding agreement in the room. Everybody knew that Tsunade would make arrangements for patients due to what the targets close friends and family believe is best for them.
After the discussion of Sasuke Uchiha, there was very little else to discuss. Naruto reported on his fuuinjutsu training with Tsunade, claiming that it was "easier than expeceted" and "wasn't that difficult after all." Kakashi said that it came as no surprise to him; he knew that Mito and Kushina, the two ladies who were the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki before Naruto, were excellent with sealing jutsu. Sakura discussed how busy the hospital had gotten, and how annoying it was that Ino was often away on recon missions. (In fact, it kind of made the pinkette a little jealous that Ino did more mission work than she did.) Sai's art career was brought up, and he spent a lot of time explaining the inner workings of his latest piece.
"Did you know that blood droplets and cherry blossoms used to be synonymous?" Sai looked over at Sakura, who paled a little bit. "That's right; during the feudal period, right before Konoha was formed, it was said that the cherry trees were where many shinobi were laid to rest. Legend has it that it was the blood of the dead shinobi that gave the originally-white cherry blossoms their pink color. Betcha didn't know that, Sakura!" He grinned at the look of shock and revulsion on her face. "Actually, it's kind of beautiful, really. Shinobi dying for what they thought in the world was beautiful and worth protecting. It's like their ninja way was so powerful that even nature itself wanted to have a part in it." Sai was really getting into the deeper meanings of his paintings.
The talk of cherry blossoms did Kakashi no good. The fragrant flowers reminded him of Anji and Sakukumo, the two important people he had lost so long ago. He had made Sakura a traditional Haruno tea-not entirely by accident-so he could remember Anji through it; he hoped that, perhaps, it would bring him some sort of solace. But watching Sakura's face as she drank it gave him no sense of closure at all-in fact, it just reminded him of his deceased wife even more. Resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands, Kakashi wondered if mourning would ever become an easier process.
A/N: This is chapter one of Synonym. Yes, the paragraph about Sai's painting is where the title comes from. Kakashi is the "dying" shinobi, mourning the loss of his beloved wife and child, and Sakura is the cherry tree. (Obviously).
Here is a bit of an introduction (a little late, I know) about this story: it's a timeskip. It has been one year since the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War. Madara Uchiha is dead (for good), the Akatsuki is eliminated, and Sasuke has been returned to Konoha as a psych ward patient. Everybody is moving forward, trying to improve their skills as shinobi and keep peace with surrounding lands. More information about the characters will be delved into in later chapters-so if you're wondering about your favorite shinobi, they'll probably pop up sooner or later.
Peace out! -Aishite-