II - He Desperately Wanted To Breathe
Word Count: 1,930 words
Rating: G
A/N: inspired by a recent uh... occurance. Enjoy!
Her delighted gasp, breathy and quiet like the cool fall night, and warm like the feeling of her body pressed to his side, ghosted across his ear. "Oh, there's another one!"
He couldn't figure out what possessed him to tug her close to his side and wrap an arm around her shoulder, but it happened, and he wasn't about to remove it because the feeling of her smaller body nestled into his side was doing stupid things to his heart. And goddamn, he knew it was okay because they were good friends (she was his best friend at least) but he just liked her too damn much.
He looked up just in time to see the fading shooting star she pointed out and smiled, letting his hand rub and down her arm when she shivered from the cold and tugged her even closer. "That's the third one."
She hummed, content and warm in his embrace, and he had to banish the thought track that was marvelling at how beautifully she fit his side— at how it felt like she was meant to be there. "I won't get tired of these anytime soon, it's the second time I've seen them in my life."
His eyebrows shot up, slightly incredulous. "Seriously now?"
She hummed again, curling closer to him. It didn't help that he could practically hear her heart racing in tandem with his, and feel her soft breath fan across her chest. Slightly embarrassed, he admitted to himself that he wouldn't have minded remaining like this forever.
Her scent dwarfed him, almost overwhelmed him —her sweet perfume, her familiar shampoo and body wash, her minty breath— surrounded him completely, coupled with the warmth of her body washing over his with intoxicating intensity, he was lost.
He let his head drop against hers and relished in the way she nuzzled her face into his neck, felt his heart skip a beat when her hand casually found his, her fingers tracing over his larger ones, twining and untwining them.
The kiss he pressed to her hair was completely involuntary, almost idiotic, but she didn't stir or pull away, merely shifted into a more comfortable position and relaxed into his embrace.
He turned his eyes back to the starry night, watching them glimmer with faint awe. Somewhere beyond the glass door of the balcony behind them slept Naruto and Sasuke, and he had to wonder if his chakra going crazy might wake one of them up.
He wasn't sure he wanted to be caught in an intimate position with the rosette just yet. Besides, they were on a mission and they should've been sleeping instead of watching shooting stars at four in the morning. But when he found her sitting there huddled in a comfortable jacket, he couldn't resist joining her in a rare chance of some alone time.
"I'm sorry for not talking to you much these past few months." Her murmur interrupted the quiet and he started at her admission. They had grown very close over the past year, but then the rosette got busy with her hospital promotion and he barely heard from her in the past three months.
"It's okay," he soothed, his hand moving over her arm again to offer her more heat, "you were busy. I understand."
He felt the ghost of her smile on his skin as she turned in his hold to completely bury her face in his neck. "I'm sorry anyway. I missed you."
When his heart skipped another beat, he sent a long suffering look to the skies. It was getting ridiculous really, he thought as he carded his fingers through her pink strands, enjoying the sensation of them slipping through his fingers. "I've missed you too," he finally admitted, and her fingers found his again, innocent, experimenting as they twined and curled with his.
He felt her breathy snort against his neck and without his permission, his head pressed down against hers, trapping her there. When she made no move to protest, he relaxed against her again, fingers flexing with hers to fill the stilled silence of the night.
"I just worry sometimes," he added after a minute of silence, unsure of why he was elaborating, but wanting to fill the silence just so he could hear the sound of her voice again, so he could feel it reverberate through him and feel that much closer to her just for a little while. "When you suddenly go all quiet and I have no way of finding out if you're okay because I'm away... it makes me wonder about your well being a lot."
She made a small embarrassed sound at the back of her throat, moving closer to him. "Dammit don't sound so sincere... I'm sorry, really, Kakashi."
He chuckled, his fingers letting go of hers to brush her hair away from her face. "I'm not saying that to guilt trip you, silly. Just... keep me in the loop, hmm? Just so I know you're okay. I'd sleep better."
She huffed but once again he felt her smile on his skin. "Fine. Will do," she mumbled rather sluggishly, in a way that made him want to tilt her chin up and kiss her breathless just so he could pull back and look at her hazy green eyes, see them for himself.
She shifted again and like a strange prayer answered, the new position brought her face into his cheek and he felt her lips burning into the skin there.
By now his heart was galloping and he knew she could hear it, but it was okay he decided since he could hear hers racing, too.
She held his hand on her shoulder again, and this time, she firmly intertwined their fingers and held it against her where his arm rested.
He leaned down—into her— even further, aware that he was moving but feeling as if in a daze and unable to stop when the corner of her mouth brushed across his chin, not a centimetre away from his lips, and he felt her hot breath fan his face.
He inhaled her scent again, mindlessly noting that he was torturing himself with the way he had her so close yet so far away.
The sound of crickets yet again filled the night and the flutter of her eyelashes against his skin slowed as her eyes finally shut. "Sleepy?"
She hummed and brought their hands closer to her face so that his thumb brushed her cheek.
He didn't know what to make of the situation anymore. They were close and occasionally touchy but that was just them. This, however... he couldn't deny the implications. She was practically in his lap, fingers twisted with his, lips nearly brushing his unmasked ones. He knew couples who weren't that close.
And he could've sworn, by the way she kept tilting and adjusting the position of her head, inevitably bringing their lips even closer together, that she wanted him to kiss her as badly as he wanted to.
And so, throwing caution to the wind he turned his face and pressed a small kiss to her cheek, close to her mouth, and when her head tilted in his direction, nearly aligning their mouths, he let his lips brush softly over the corner of hers in a peck, and then another before turning away, afraid he'd over stepped their boundaries beyond repair.
His skin burned, and her breathing was strangely loud in his ears, as fast as his, as anxious as his. He resumed brushing her hair as a distraction, as her taste was now branded into his memory, along with her smell. It was almost painful how much he ached for her.
But she was still relaxed in his hold and so he took it as a good sign— even when that discovery sent his cardiac muscle into another frenzy.
He abandoned his earlier search for shooting stars at that point, choosing instead to listen to the sound of her heart thudding in tandem with his; stuttering and racing every few seconds.
Her face was still pressed against his cheek and her lips were still there, calling to him invitingly, but he settled on letting his thumb brush at their corner instead of leaning in for another kiss like he wanted to do. She didn't stop him; the soft flesh of her lip parted softly with every brush of his thumb and it was pure torture, especially when she exhaled softly and he felt it against his digits, especially when her head kept slowly and strategically tilting back like she wanted him to kiss her again.
Kakashi was damned anyway, he decided, pulling back an inch to look at her. Her emerald eyes were open but half lidded, watching him, and suddenly the night grew even quieter as her eyes slid to his lips and back to his charcoal orbs.
A small shiver rattled her spine and he felt the corner of his mouth twitch up. "Cold?"
"No," she whispered, even when she buried her hand in his for warmth, letting his palm completely engulf hers.
"Comfortable?" He tried, smiling slightly when she snorted to hide her shyness, and the blush blooming in her cheeks was nearly his fall as she tilted her head back against his arm, using it as a headrest and regarded him with cloudy emerald eyes. "Yes."
He couldn't anymore, he just couldn't. He leaned in a mere centimetre and seeing her reciprocate, he took the plunge, slanting his mouth fully against hers in a proper kiss.
Her heartbeat was especially loud now; he was sure Naruto and Sasuke might wake up any second and come find them caught in a lip lock, but Kakashi decided he didn't care at all as his every cell shivered in delight at the feeling of her lips against his.
She made a small sound at the back of her throat as he caught her lower lip between his and kneaded softly, tilting his head back to let it go, only to engulf her mouth with his again.
She was so sweet against his tongue, so soft beneath his touch— he desperately wanted to breathe, to inhale her. He got a ridiculous vision of the fireworks books spoke about because the spark racing through his veins could only be described as that, if not solid electricity.
He lost count of how long they sat there kissing unhurriedly, hearts racing, her taste now imprinted into his senses, into his tongue and gods, he wanted her, wanted this every day, always.
"Sakura," he murmured against her lips, almost reluctantly, but he needed to address this before his heart sent itself into cardiac arrest.
"Hmm?" Her neck craned up in seek of another kiss and he obliged her, completely unable to resist her even for mere seconds.
"You won't regret this will you?" he whispered worriedly into the skin of her jaw, pressing soft kisses there even as he awaited her reply.
She snorted again, softly exhaling against his skin. "No."
"Are you sure—?"
"Shh," she intercepted with a touch of warning in her tone, her mouth finding his again, and he was already getting addicted to the feel of it. "Tomorrow we'll talk... for now..." their mouths locked again, gentle, experimenting, moulding together perfectly, "kiss me."
And so he did.