There were many things that Hatake Kakashi was ready for.
With her cradled in his arms, his fingers wandering over her pale, perspiring skin and lips seeking out hers – they made love with such passion; with a tenderness that he himself couldn't believe. Every inch he had already explored with his eager fingers; his lips – drank in the breathtaking sight who lay writhing and panting beneath him. She was perfect.
She got out her arrow and her bow, Her arrow and her string, And with it she went down to the forest deep, And sweetly she did sing sing, And sweetly she did sing, But up spoke a Mockingjay, Up from a willow tree.He was ready to face the day knowing she would be gone for a week with no contact. He looked forward to her return.
He'd been standing by the gate when they brought her home. Kakashi had expected a tired smile; a chaste kiss on the lips, and a feeble punch after he had prodded fun at the 'long mission perfume' she had acquired through lack of washing facilities. Instead, he'd been faced with sullen faces. A single stretcher was being carried behind the group of shinobi.A fatality? Sakura won't be happy about that. Yet he could not ignore the fear that twisted in his gut.
A solitary charcoal eye tried to search out the mess of pink hair that he'd grown to love. Brown, black, blonde – not pink. Each of the ANBU walked past, their heads hung low, and their eyes dull. The stretcher rolled past, and finally he saw it. She was sleeping, surely! He elbowed past, but strong arms grabbed him around the waist. They held him back. He struggled. They would not let him even close.
He needed to touch her – she'd be scared. Frightened. He needed to be with her. Desperation sunk in, but a hand rested against his shoulder and his protests were stilled. It hit him like a blade to the stomach; his guts spilled to the floor, yet… his eyes could not leave her body. Tsunade nodded to allow the other two shinobi to let him go. They obliged, and he was by her side in a flash.
I'll send an arrow through your heart, For you to bring such news to me, me, To bring such news to me, But spoke up, spoke that Mockingjay Don't waste your time with me, Go home and mind that pretty little girl,Sakura's skin was ashen, and her lips blue. The two carrying the stretcher stopped, and their eyes closed. Kakashi's bare fingers touched against her forehead, and soon cupped his cheeks. His fallen love did not respond with a weak smile – what had he expected? For her to just sit up, smile, and console his aching heart? Impossible. His thumb traced the contours of her cheeks. There was blood on her lips; burgundy in age – she'd been dead for at least a day, his forehead rested against hers. He would not cry.
It was one of the rules in the Shinobi Guide – one that Sakura had fucked and bastardised on more than one occasion.
One that he would abide.
But there was a single thing he wouldn't be ready for.
This was a sight he had expected to see for Sasuke. Naruto, or even Sai. Never before did he think that the pink haired, green eyed girl would fall in battle. She'd always been a constant in his life – always there in the shadows, until she'd reached out, and filled his dark world with a light he could never have imagined.
How many times had she told him the same thing:
Stay alive. Stay alive, for me.
Yet here she lay – cold.
This was something… he hadn't been ready for.
If she went home to her house that night, a house so cold and mean, she held her lover so close to her, and nevermore did she sing, sing.—-*—-
He had decided not to attend her funeral. If he could pretend that she wasn't gone… it would be easier to deny the fact that the light had faded from his life.
It had taken him a month to get up the courage to visit her stone. Sakura's parents had ensured that she had her own, and the flowers were fresh – yet not her favourites. Sakura loved lillies; water lillies, pink lillies especially. But as he did when speaking to his former team mates, he couldn't think of anything to say.
After all, he had never lost a lover before.
After a few moments of silence, a single phrase sprung to mind. Kakashi laid the flowers in front of her headstone.
"Sorry I'm late, Sakura."
And never more did she sing.