Sakura almost jumped when the broom in the corner fell while they were eating breakfast. She stared at it, pausing in bringing her mug to her lips. "Company is coming."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her and asked her confused, "But the broom never falls when customers come by?"
Sakura stood up from her chair and looked out the window. "Humans aren't powerful enough to call for a warning. It's either a friend or…"
Kakashi waited, but when she didn't continue, he prompted, "Or…?"
She looked over at him and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. It's probably Naruto. He likes to come around the summer solstice."
Kakashi let it go and she returned back to the table to finish eating. But her eyes drifted to the window every few minutes.
Kakashi still didn't want the wolf domesticated, but he had taken to walking with him in the morning through the forest. It's what he had been doing when Sakura dragged out all the materials for a scarecrow. She had been stuffing onyx stones in the head when Kakashi came back. Sakura didn't look up from her work when he walked into the room, but when she felt the negative energy rolling off him, she looked up at him. "Something wrong?"
"What're you doing?" he asked her instead, his eyes falling on the scarecrow in her hands.
She glanced at it and back to him, understanding. She reached out a hand for him and he took it sitting next to her in the adjacent chair. She met his eyes strongly and assured him, "This one is just a scarecrow, Kakashi."
Kakashi relaxed but still seemed uncomfortable, so Sakura added, "I'll hang him up on a different stick."
He looked away from her with a chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know why I…"
She smiled at him and rubbed her thumb across his skin. "I would never replace you."
He nodded and she noticed with a smile the faint pink on his cheeks when he looked back to her. She let go of his hand and continued sewing the head up. He watched her silently and then mumbled, "I don't understand."
She glanced at him as she started stitching a smile on the scarecrow. "What?"
"When you brought me to life, you used an onyx stone for grounding, didn't you?"
Sakura shifted in her seat, but didn't look at him, knowing where this was going. "Yes."
"Then, shouldn't I be banning negative energy?" Sakura felt a pain in her chest, realizing he sounded guilty about it.
She put a hand on his knee, looking back up at him. "Not exactly. The spell could've been taken different ways. It was selfish, but my intent was for you to rid me of the negative energy I was feeling. So, that's probably how the Goddess took it, seeing that you have."
He smiled at her, placing his hand over hers and then asked her, "Sakura, who are you worried might come? It's been over a year and you haven't felt the need for a new scarecrow until now. You're even filling him with stones."
She sighed. "It never hurts to be careful, Kakashi. There's a lot of possibilities about who our company might be. Not all witches are good and actually a human having enough evil intent could also cause the broom to fall. I just want to put up precautions in case it's not a friend."
"Okay, I'll go find some wood to hang him up on." Kakashi told her softly and kissed her cheek before exiting the kitchen.
Sakura glanced out the window after he left, watching the wind gently shake the leaves on the trees. She really hoped it was a friend.
Sakura had been hanging clothes out to dry when she heard the bark. She looked over her shoulder to see Tsunade standing beside the wolf with her eyebrow cocked and a smirk on her lips. "I always thought your spirit animal was a slug like mine, but have you made a pact with the wolves while I've been away? This little guy walked me the whole way here when I stepped foot into the forest."
Sakura dropped the shirt from her hands and laughed as she ran over to her. Tsunade caught her and hugged her back. "Yeah, I missed you too."
Sakura pulled away from her as she heard the door swing open from the cottage. She looked over to see Kakashi standing there and watching Tsunade with curious eyes. "Is that your scarecrow?" Tsunade asked with an eager smile when she saw him.
Sakura nodded and led her over to him. When they reached him, she gestured between them. "Tsunade-shishou, this is Kakashi. Kakashi, this is my old master, Tsunade."
Kakashi barely had time to say hello, before Tsunade had grabbed his face in her hand and was moving his head around as she examined him. Kakashi met Sakura's eyes, but she simply shrugged. Tsunade tugged on his hair and even pulled on one of his arms. "Sakura, this is really good work," she complimented as she took a step back and looked Kakashi up and down appraisingly.
Kakashi looked like he felt awkward and chuckled nervously. Tsunade met his eyes like she almost forgot he could speak. "Oh, I'm sorry. Sometimes I get caught up in the work and forget my manners. It's nice to finally meet you, Kakashi."
He rubbed the back of his head. "You too."
Tsunade barked a laugh and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Well, now that that's over with, why don't you cook something for this old woman? I'm starving."
He chuckled as they walked inside. "Of course."
"I expected you'd be older from what Sakura's told me," Kakashi said conversationally as they ate.
"One of her skills is youth. She has spells and potions that make her look that way," Sakura answered, smirking when Tsunade narrowed her eyes at her.
"You better watch your mouth or I won't be passing on the secret in a couple hundred years," Tsunade threatened and Sakura laughed.
Tsunade turned back to Kakashi as she took a drink of her sake. "So, how do you spend your time, Kakashi?"
"I read a lot, spend time in the garden, take walks with the wolf, help Sakura around the house and with her magic."
Tsunade perked up at that and looked over at Sakura. "Magic, huh? Have you been able to teach him anything?"
"He knows what everything means for the most part." Sakura looked at Kakashi thoughtfully with a smile. "But I haven't seen if he has a knack for the craft yet."
Tsunade mulled it over. "He's a magical being already, so it wouldn't be surprising if he did. You know with enough dedication – "
"– even a human could become a witch," Sakura finished for her. It was something that Tsunade had drilled into her brain when she took her under her wing. She didn't want Sakura to develop a complex and think her bloodline meant she was inherently better than anyone else, including humans.
Tsunade rolled her eyes at her and asked Kakashi, "What do you say?"
Kakashi glanced between them and shrugged. "If Sakura wanted to teach me, I wouldn't be against it."
He met her eyes with a smile and Sakura couldn't help but return it, a warmth curling in her chest like it always did whenever she looked at him.
Tsunade snorted and gave Sakura a sly look. "You didn't tell me, Sakura. What kind of candles did you use?"
"Three purple and two red," Sakura answered her, tearing her eyes away from Kakashi.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her. "Two red? It would've been better to try and use another color as well."
Sakura blushed at the implication and took a drink from her sake cup. "I gave him an onyx stone for balance. Another red didn't hurt anything."
"I'm sure it didn't," Tsunade agreed with a smile and looked over at Kakashi apologetically. "I don't mean to talk about you like you're just a spell that worked well, Kakashi. But not many witches could pull that off. I don't even think I could."
"Sakura's a good witch," Kakashi summed up simply with a shrug.
Tsunade smiled at him with a nod. "She is."
They chatted for a while longer, before Tsunade stood up to leave with a bit of reluctance. She handed Sakura some torn pages from her spellbook. "I made you copies on my way here. I'd stay longer, but Jiraiya and I have some things to handle in the west."
Sakura nodded sadly, but took the pages carefully into her hands and tucked them away in her own book. Kakashi packed a small knap sack with fruits for her. Then, she walked Tsunade out and saw Kakashi's wolf lying nearby like he was waiting to guide Tsunade back out of the forest.
Tsunade hugged her close and told her, "I'm happy you've found someone, Sakura."
"I more made him than found him, Shishou," Sakura admitted with a bitter taste in her mouth.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "That boy loves you in a way that goes beyond magic. Don't think you forced him to. You know as well as I do that emotions from spells are toxic and unhealthy. That's not what's happening here."
Sakura nodded, feeling comforted. "Thank you."
Tsunade stepped away from her and like they both expected, the wolf stood and walked over to her. As she turned to walk away, she called over her shoulder, "Don't make me a grandma before I see you again!"
Sakura felt her skin redden. "Shishou!"
Kakashi could probably even hear her loud laughter from inside the cottage.
