Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.
Chapter 10: Starting over.
Kakashi left the bathroom wearing the same clothes he had worn the day before, walking lazily toward the kitchen while wiping the hair with a soft towel he found in Sakura's bathroom. "I wonder why you never comb your hair." Sakura's amused voice graced him the moment he entered the kitchen.
"Kashi." Sarada greeted him, with the mouth full of food and he could not contain the smile that adorned his lips beneath the mask as he stroked her hair.
"You take care of it." Sakura pointed to the table with food. "And that." She pointed with a thumb over her shoulder and he knew she was talking about the sink with dishes. "I hate to be late." She kissed Sarada on the forehead and kissed his cheek over the mask and before he could say anything she disappeared, leaving flower petals that disappeared soon after as well.
"She should enjoy life more." Kakashi said looking at the beautiful three-year-old girl who nodded cheerfully and he knew she understood nothing of what he meant. "We're both going to eat lazily, play a little and I'll leave you in the nursery five minutes before the gates close."
When she nodded again and smiled happily with her mouth full, Kakashi held out a hand to her, where she rapped cheerfully. "That's right, we both know how to live, Sara-chan, we need to teach Mommy soon."
"Hai." Sarada nodded, knowing that if Kakashi said something, was true and she just nodded.
Sakura finished filling in the inpatient files and walked toward her office, freezing with the hand on the door handle as she felt a chakra signature inside the room. She opened the door slowly. "Hey." She greeted with a smile. "What brings you here?" She asked genuinely curious.
"A date." She heard the beautiful blond woman say and narrowed the eyes, knowing that she would not like what would come next. "I got you a date tonight." Ino smiled happily. "Am I the best friend you could ask, yes or for sure?"
Sakura walked over to the table and placed the briefcases on it, taking a deep breath before thinking of something useful to say. "Today is Wednesday." She decided to follow the most obvious way.
"And?" Ino snapped. "He is shinobi, Jounin, handsome and intelligent." She sat in the chair in front of Sakura's desk. "He works on Intelligence with me. You'll like him. When I told him about you he was in the clouds."
"Ino." Sakura bit the lip nervously, knowing that what she was going to say would trigger the Fifth Shinobi War. "I can't go on a date today." She stated, hoping to be vague enough to discourage her friend matchmaker.
"I'll take care of Sarada for you." Ino declared with conviction. "And Kakashi can make his own dinner." She said with a bit of obvious irritation in the voice, narrowing her eyes at Sakura as if she was crazy for feeding the man every day.
When Sakura did not say anything for a few minutes and Ino saw the gears on her pink head spinning around, she knew exactly what was happening and she tried to keep her temper in check. She loved Sakura but over the years she realized that her friend had an almost cruel tendency to choose wrong paths in love. "Tell me nothing happened between you." She begged.
"It's not like we planned-" Ino heard Sakura mutter but decided she did not want to hear the things she had to say. She remembered how Sakura had entered the flower shop years ago saying that she would be leaving with Sasuke on a mission for a year and Ino was completely confused about it because she thought Sakura was involved with an old friend who might as well be Kankuro or Shino, but she was only speculating. When she questioned about the mysterious man and Sakura started to cry about how she had been pushed and because of that drank into oblivion and sleeping with Sasuke even thinking of this other man, Ino felt all the pain of her best friend.
She heard Sakura say details about the relationship that had been abruptly ended and seemingly against Sakura's will. She listened intently and turned on the points a little later, and even though Sakura had not said the name, Ino found out who the mysterious man was. When Sakura left, she thought about the conversation all day and when night fell she hurried toward the Hokage's apartment to give him a talk about how he was a bastard for breaking the heart of the only woman who was worth in his life. Even if she could be executed the next day, all she wanted was for him to know he did not deserve Sakura.
That's why she decided she would not participate if Sakura decided to choose that path again. She did not want to see Sakura hurt again, much less with Sarada included in the sum, and soon after that Sasuke left them. "I don't want to hear." Ino interrupted, rising from the chair and staring at Sakura seriously. "I love you, you know I do." She tossed her hair over the shoulder. "But I don't approve, not after what he has done to you." She said seriously and walked to the door. "You don't need my approval for anything anyway." She left, ignoring the desperate way Sakura called her name.
"Good luck, Sakura." She whispered to herself as she left the hospital to tell the handsome boy his date had given up.
Sakura took off the sandals and walked into the house silently, walking toward the kitchen from where she was listening to Sarada's laughter. She smiled unconsciously, seeing the two people she loved most, grateful for relief after a terrible day. "I'm at home." She stated while walking until the little girl sat in a high chair.
"Welcome back." Kakashi's husky voice spoke too close to her ear, sending shivers down her skin.
She turned the face to face him and saw that he was wearing an apron and realized that a delicious smell was permeating the air. She walked to the stove and opened the pan lid. "It's been so long since I eat your food." She said with a nostalgic tone and a smile on face, happy to not have to cook after a tiring day.
Kakashi walked over to her and hugged her from behind, becoming surprised when she turned and buried the face in his chest. "Sakura?" He asked a little uncertainly.
"I'm fine." She said with a little smile as she pulled away from him. "Thank you for taking Sarada in the nursery again." She pointed to the stove. "And for making dinner."
"What happened?" He insisted, knowing something was upsetting her, but she would not talk about it unless he pushed enough. He took her hand and made her sit in the chair in front of Sarada. "You can tell me." He sat down beside her, not letting go of her hand, hoping the gesture was enough.
"I guess ..." She sighed and pushed back the tears, deciding not to ruin their night. "I don't think people will approve our relationship easily."
Kakashi blinked a few times and thought of the people he really cared about, whether they would approve or not, which were not many anyway. Naruto would be shocked for sure, he would probably throw a tantrum and ask a thousand questions in addition to talking about Sasuke more than Kakashi would be willing to listen. Tenzo would approve of that, Kakashi was sure. Gai would be ecstatic to know that he had finally found love and would live through the best spring years of youth with the most beautiful flower that graced the Konoha garden. Iruka and Genma would ask indecent questions, sneakily, but they would be happy for him. Kakashi did not give a shit about the rest of the people besides them, Sarada and of course, Sakura's parents that he would eventually have to conquer.
"Does that bother you?" He asked after his brief reflection.
She looked at him and after a few seconds and intense scrutiny, she smiled. The most brilliant and beatiful smile that made Kakashi out of breath for a brief moment. She shook the head in denial and cupped his face affectionately. "If I have you." She held Sarada's hand with the hand that was not clutching his face. "I'll be happy."
He smiled and took the other hand of Sarada, who looked at them curiously. "I promise I'm not going anywhere." He kissed Sarada's hand that smiled at him, so he kissed Sakura on the lips briefly when Sarada was not looking. "Not without you two." He added.
Sakura laughed genuinely, completely losing the dismay that had taken hold of her after Ino left. "People will accept over time." She declared to herself and got up from the table, serving the dinner while Kakashi played with Sarada.
She looked at the distracted pair and felt her heart warm. She thought of what Ino had said and knew that most of her close friends would do the same, not knowing what Ino knew about the past. The difference in age, Sarada, Sasuke, Kakashi's position, any of these things, or all of them, would be reasons for judgment and she decided she would not mind, because she wanted it, she wanted a chance to be happy. Sarada and kakashi also deserved it and she would do the impossible to give them, a family.
"I don't think she would have the guts." Sakura stopped before entering the Hospital Cafeteria when she heard the voices of some nurses. She remembered Tsunade telling her to always be sneaky and take those moments to find out what was going on in the hospital and maybe in the village, so she decided to stop and listen to the gossip of the day.
"I heard her daughter's father left her because he found out about the affair." Another voice added.
"How horrible." One of the nurses Sakura recognized the voice, exclaimed in perplexity.
"What I heard was that he left her and only then did she start meeting the other."
"But he's a lot older." A voice that Sakura recognized as a medic-nin she had trained, declared. "He's the Hokage and he was her teacher, was not he?"
Sakura felt her heart skip a beat faster and she leaned against the wall. She imagined the gossip would start sometime. It had been two months since the relationship with Kakashi became serious again. They both decided not to tell anyone, because the unpleasant repercussions, mainly because of Sarada. His visits became much more frequent and he rarely slept in his apartment, meaning that the ANBU and shinobi who came to deliver scrolls and call him to the Hokage Tower saw where he was most of the time and it was obvious that in some time, one of them would spread the rumor.
"Is he the real father of her daughter?" Sakura decided it was time to make her presence known, there was only a little that her temper could tolerate.
She walked to the Cafeteria with her head up, completely ignoring the glances that turned to her. She smiled politely at everyone who crossed her path, as usual, and stared at the particular group that was talking about her earlier, while she grabbed a sandwich and a cup of coffee. She took one last look with narrowed eyes, deciding that it would be best to let them know that she had heard every word, before leaving the Cafeteria leaving some employees trembling and frightened behind.
"Bull is tired today, Sara-chan." Kakashi said with a serious tone, but he laughed at the adorable pout she gave him after that statement.
"So I want to see." Sarada said with a giggle as she stood before him.
"See what?" Sakura asked curiously as she watched their interaction.
"Okay, but this is going to be your birthday gift." Kakashi answered Sarada with a smile, remembering that she would be four years old the following week.
"Yeah." Sarada clapped the hands.
"What are you talking abo-" Sakura stopped talking and was completely puzzled to see Sarada's little hands pull Kakashi's mask down in a quick gesture. She kept the eyes wide, staring at the scene before her and almost laughed at Sarada's frustrated face when another mask appeared beneath the first. "He'll never let you see what's under-" She found herself speechless once more as the second mask disappeared, exposing Kakashi's face.
"Mommy, I saw." Sarada looked between Kakashi and Sakura and laughed happily. "See, Mom. There's a face under the mask."
Sakura blinked a few times and nodded to the euphoric little girl. "Sakura, you're drooling." Kakashi's amused voice brought her back to reality. "I'm not." She screamed indignantly and ran a hand over her chin to check, making Kakashi laugh out loud. She put a hand on her chest to calm the beats. Seeing him laughing was almost surreal. When he stopped laughing and kept smiling, she sighed, beautiful sharp canines and white teeth, formed a beautiful smile.
He crawled slowly down the carpet until he was in front of her, while Sarada decided that his face without the mask was no more interesting than the riding toy she was playing with now. "Yo." He said in a low voice as he hovered over a petrified Sakura.
Sakura reached out unconsciously, running her fingers over the features of his face that was too close. "Hey." She whispered weakly, staring. "It's a great birthday gift." She said in a low voice after a few seconds examining every inch of his face. Without trying to resist, she ran the thumb over his full lower lip, making him sigh at the touch. "Why now?" She asked in a whisper.
He shrugged trying to seem casual, when in fact he was trying to control his heartbeat by having her so close to him. Looking at Sarada and then at Sakura again, he sighed. "I don't want to hide from you both." He stroked her cheek. "I don't want there to be secrets between us." He said weakly and Sakura knew he was trying very hard to be so honest with her at that moment.
"I'm happy." She said with a sincere smile. Kissing him quickly while Sarada was distracted, making him smile to her.
Sakura left the bathroom, closing the door behind her and looked at the bed where Kakashi was lying with both arms behind the head, shirtless and for the first time, unmasked. Walking to him, she sat on the bed and placed a hand on his chest as he sat up to bring the body closer to hers. When his warm, uncovered lips met hers, she closed the eyes and enjoyed the sensation of having him.
They separate to breathe and she ran the fingers over his face, admiring once more what she had been deprived of seeing for so many years. "I guess I'll never get tired of looking at you." She said with a silly grin.
"That's good, because I'm not going anywhere, Sakura." He said in a hoarse voice and in a lower tone than it usually was. He pushed her slowly over the mattress and looked at her affectionately.
Sakura recognized that look, was hungry and demanding. That dark look made her feel warm and wanted and she decided it was time to take a step in their relationship. Since he decided to show his face to her, she would give everything from her to him in return. "Kakashi." She whispered as she allowed her fingers to run through his abdomen. "I want you."
Kakashi closed the eyes tightly and felt his own breathing become more breathless. He has not had many women in his life since he always kept a barrier around himself, unwilling to maintain serious relationships. The few women he had were to meet fleeting needs, and none of them were from Konoha and they did not see his face. At that moment he felt completely exposed, physically and emotionally, but he did not feel fear, instead he felt a pleasant yearning for the anticipation.
He placed his forehead over hers and slid the thin strap of the black nightdress she wore, kissing her shoulder as the strap slid through the creamy skin. "I want you so badly." He said earnestly in a voice laden with desire, remembering that he had waited for it for years. "I didn't touch another woman after you." He stated wanting with all his strength that she knew there would never be another after her, as he spread open-mouthed kisses down her collarbone, descending further and further.
Sakura sighed and smiled unconsciously at that statement, sliding her fingertips down his scalp, satisfied as he groaned. "Kakashi." She whispered almost breathless and closed the eyes as she felt her skin burning in every place he touched.
Kakashi suppressed a grunt when he heard her make sounds that sounded like the most beautiful melody, echoing through the room, dimly lit by lamp on bedside table. With each kiss and touch, she squirmed under him and all he wanted was to make her feel more, until all she could see and want was him. Cleverly pulling off the last piece of offensive clothing that was in the way of what he wanted to do with her, Kakashi positioned himself over her and looked into her eyes. "I wasn't your first." He whispered over her lips as he placed his forehead over hers. "I regret it bitterly." He said with a pang of pain in his almost desperate tone. "But I'll be your last, Sakura." He stated with conviction.
She nodded as she stared into those dark eyes replete of emotions, but there was something there that she could not immediately identify. She saw fire, desire and a little regret for the past, shining in his eyes and she felt trapped, almost hypnotized, as if caught in a genjutsu, impossible to break free and she discovered that she did not want such freedom, she wanted to stay captive in that gaze for all eternity. "You're mine, Sakura." She heard his husky voice whisper in her ear as he bound their bodies together so slowly it was almost torturous. She discovered at that moment that the last thing in his eyes, the only thing she could not identify, was love.
"Kakashi." She stammered as she felt every muscle in his back on the palms of her hands. "I love you." She managed to catch her breath long enough to say how she felt at that moment. "You're the only one I want." She said in muffled whispers and moans almost supplicants. "Always been you." She grunted as she felt his sharp teeth biting the skin of her neck in an almost painful way and she had to quell the urge to ask for more. "Always will be you."
Kakashi took one last kiss on her neck, ignoring her protest groan. Taking her face in one hand while his other hand was supporting the weight not to fall on her, he looked into her eyes and got lost in that green that always called him. He remembered all the times that she had saved him, physically and emotionally, and for the first time in his life he felt complete. Sealing their lips together, he swallowed every sound she uttered, wanting more than anything that moment never to end. He would love her every day as long as he was allowed to.
The End.
Note: It's not the end, I was joking. There are still a few chapters ahead.