Title: Seeking Solace
Rating: T
"What do you want?" Her question was vacant; the annoyance obvious in her tone as she spoke.
"Nothing." Kakashi shrugged, maintaining his stance behind her kitchen counter.
"Did you bring food too—like everyone else? Because somehow people think I've miraculously forgotten how to cook and feed myself,"
Sakura rarely took to acerbic sarcasm, but whenever she did, it had always proven to be extremely satisfying. This moment wasn't an exception.
She had been up to her neck with the impromptu visits. The needless scrutiny, the worried looks, the incessant are you okay's, and i'm here for you's.
She was about to shatter in pieces, burst in agony at the very seams, to be perfectly honest. That much should have been obvious. Tsunade-sama was her shisou—an irreplaceable mentor. But she was the Hokage too. When the village was at the brink of annihilation, she had been their very life source, figuratively and literally. This was the loss of everyone. Not just her own. And yet Tsunade's death caused people dote on her like an orphaned child. It unnerved her.
"No, I didn't bring anything," He said, tilting his head low, as if to inspect her eyes.
"But you can't be so harsh on your friends, Sakura. You were her prized apprentice, it's perfectly normal for them to gravitate to you. They mean well, as overbearing as they are."
She fell silent for awhile, shifting her weight as she stood bare-foot on her cold kitchen floor.
The muffled I know, that came out of her eventually, was barely audible, followed by the sigh that left her heavy chest. She managed a weak smile at him when he started to walk towards her from where he stood behind the counter.
"You're gonna hate me," Kakashi warned, his voice teasing as his other hand lifted up to reveal a small paper bag. "but I actually did bring food."