"Ino don't you think you should slow down on the bubbly." TennTenn giggled as she curled Hinata's hair. All the girls had gathered at Ino's house in order to get ready for the festival tonight. Makeup, clothes and champagne littered the bedroom floor as the girls worried about getting their looks just right.
"Yeah, yeah." Ino replied shaking her hand in the air dismissively. "I'm not to worried, Sakura and I did learn a thing or two from Tsunade and her drinking habit is just as widely known as her healing abilities. I'll be fine." Ino laughed as she refilled Sakura glass for the fourth time. "Besides how else are we going to get Sakura to loosen up or for Hinata to have the courage to talk with Naruto tonight."
"Naruto-kun is going tonight right?" Hinata asked turning a slight shade of red.
"Yes. If you want to talk with him tonight Hinata I'm sure I can drag the other boys away long enough to give you too some privacy." Sakura smirked as she downed her drink. The champagne was finally making its way into her bloodstream and she was enjoying the slight buzz. She wanted nothing more than to enjoy the night with no problems. TennTenn eyed her through the mirror, a slight worried look in her eyes, but before she commented Sakura was laughing. "You know TennTenn I'm sure I could get you and Neji some time alone too. I swear even through he is a prodigy genius he is as clueless as Naruto when it comes to matters of the heart."
"I have no idea what you are taking about." Now it was TennTenn's turn to blush at all the added attention.
"Sure, you don't." Ino said rolling her eyes, refilling Sakura's drink for the fourth time. "What about you forehead? Who are you going to be flirting with tonight?"
"No one. I'm just going with my team is all." Sakura said toying with her glass. While she felt a little better about the whole Kakashi/Sasuke thing, it wasn't something she wanted to discuss. Not even Ino knew about what was going on between Kakashi and Sakura. Sakura hadn't told anyone about the nights they spent in each other arms, or the pillow talk they shared while he tried to clam her down. Sakura wanted to keep it a secret. She had given up so much for her village, had shared everything she had to offer to the people she served. She figured she was allowed this little secret.
"Aww come on Sakura-chan" TennTenn whined. "You have a list of fans a mile long. Why not chose one of them?"
"Between the hospital and active duty, I barely have time to see you guys. What makes you think I have any time for a boyfriend right now?"
"Who says you need to have a boyfriend? A friend with benefits might just do you some good. Might just help you relieve some of your built-up stress. You don't need to get into anything serious, just something fun and enjoyable." Ino smiled at her best friend, moving closer to sit next to her on the bed.
"I'll think about it." Sakura's answer seemed to satisfy them enough because they dropped it and moved on to laugh about what TennTenn had catch Guy-sensei and Lee doing a few days ago.
Sakura smiled and nodded every so often as she listen to the three other girls talk. She had missed them. When she returned home with Sasuke she had pulled back from everyone but Kakashi. There had been times when the girls had come to her apartment to check on her, but she couldn't bring herself to get out of bed to go open the door. She had wanted to be alone. But that hadn't stopped them from trying. Ino had visited her at least once a week in her office at the hospital. TennTenn invited her a least once every two weeks to go on her morning run with her. On the rare occasion Neji managed to drag Sakura out of her house and to the Hyuga compound to train, Hinata would sit with her afterwards and they would enjoy tea and sweets while they talked. They had all been there, supporting her whether she like it or not.
Sakura's smile widened.
TennTenn had just finished Hinata's hair when there was a knock on Ino's bedroom window. All four girls jumped at the sound, and Sakura was quick to reach for the kunai Ino had hidden under her pillow, but when a whimper was heard she dropped it. She knew what that sound was.
"What in the world?" Ino asked following behind Sakura to the window. They couldn't see anything outside the window, but that didn't mean someone, or something wasn't there.
Sakura opened the window and stepped back, making room for someone to come in. But to the other three girls surprise it wasn't a person that came in but a dog wearing a blue vest and Leaf headband, holding a flower in his mouth. "Biscuit what are you doing here? Is everything all right?" Sakura asked with a slight concern in her voice.
The medium size dog just shock his head slightly, an amused look in his eyes. He stopped in front of Sakura and motioned for her to take the flower out of his mouth. The flower was a beautiful purple hyacinth. Sakura lifted it to her nose and breathed in the wonderful light floral aroma. "Boss wanted me to give this to you."
Sakura bent down and scratched the sweet spot behind his right ear. His tail wagged approvingly. "Thank you for bringing this to me." She smiled and stood up, and just as quickly the little dog came, he was gone, his mission complete.
"Kakashi-senesi gave you a flower?" Hinata asked confused stepping closer to get a better look.
Sakura went to hide the flower behind her back but Ino was already taking it out of her hands. "Not just any flower. A purple hyacinth which means 'I'm sorry please forgive me.' Okay forehead spill." Ino said getting a look in her eye that she only saved for the rare occasion when she was about to get unbelievable gossip.
"It's nothing." Sakura said grabbing the flower back and already looking at making her escape.
"Oh no you're not going anywhere before explaining." Ino laughed as she went to snatch Sakura. But she was to quick, she had already disappeared in a cloud of cherry blossoms.
Sakura hadn't even made it three houses away from Ino's when she heard her name being called again. She turned expecting to find another dog, but instead it was Raido and Asuma walking out of the weapon shop. Sakura stopped walking and waited until the two veteran shinobi catch up with her. She giggled slightly when she saw the big bundle of red roses in Asuma's hand.
Raido was quick to throw his arms around her. He had been worried about their favorite pink hair trouble maker. Ever since the meeting he had been hoping to run into her, but she was never around. Genma had told him if he wanted to see her so bad that all he had to do was go visit her in her office, but Raido didn't want to be a bother.
"It's good to see you too." Sakura said as Raido released her from the hug, she sent a smile to the breaded man and then chuckled. "Those flowers for Kurenai-sensei," she laughed harder at the blush creeping across Asuma's checks.
"Ah well you see tonight is an important night." He said using his free hand to rub the back of his head. Sakura turned to Raido and saw him sporting a shit eating gin. It seems Asuma has already told Raido the good news.
"You two going to inform your teams tonight?"
"Is there anything going on in this village you do not know about? You might be spending a little too much time with Ibiki in T&I." Asuma smiled and elbow Raido in the side when his grin became to bright. His genin teammate was beyond happy with the news. Asuma was glad he had taken him out to train out toward the wall, or else everyone in the village would have heard his screams of joy and the surprise would have been ruined.
"Congratulations" Sakura said as she trapped Asuma in a tight hug. "You two deserve a little piece of happiness after everything that's happened." Sakura stepped back before Asuma could respond to the hug, she rarely hugged him, but today she just couldn't help herself.
"Sakura," Raido spoke his voice suddenly low, the happy, bubbly atmosphere now replaced with seriousness. "How are you doing?" His hands grabbed hers.
She glanced at Asuma and could see the understanding in his eyes. She wasn't sure who had told Asuma, but he hadn't been in the meeting when it was stated. Radio probably told him. "I'm okay." She smiled and then gripped his hands tighter "I'm ready."
Raido saw the look in her eye and decided for now he would let the matter drop. He had been on enough missions with Sakura to know that when she said she was ready she normally was. Raido went to ask her about the festival tonight when Asuma placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Isn't that one of Kakashi's" Asuma said looking over Sakura into the crowd market. The other two ninja turned and quickly let go of their hands. There was Shiba walking toward them another flower in his mouth.
His light grey fur with a white underside and a black crest on his head that reminiscent a mohawk made his easy enough to spot. Through in blue vest and headband only a blind person would have missed furry missile approaching. The three shinobi stood in silence until Shiba sat in front of Sakura and pawed at her to take the flower. The flower was a yellow gladiolus. There was about seven narrow yellow sword-shaped leaves and at the center of each flower was had a spot of red. It was beautiful, maybe even prettier than the hyacinth that she had already sealed into a scroll. As soon as Sakura took the flower out of the dog's mouth, he poofed away.
"The warrior flower?" Asuma asked clearly assumed. When both Raido and Sakura gave him a raised eyebrow he explained. "The Gladiolus is called the warrior flower because many people thought they looked like swords old samurai used to use. Samurai use to wear them braided into their hair or attached to their clothing, it was thought to offer protection and bring them luck."
"Why on Earth is Hatake giving you a warrior flower? Raido asked leaning in to get a better look at the flower in Sakura's hand. Sakura just shrugged not really knowing why. The first flower meant he was sorry, but she wasn't sure what the second one meant.
"Sakura it also stands for strength of character, faithfulness and honor, and depending on who gives it to you, infatuation. Though I am sure if Kakashi is behind it, it's probably the first three."
"Why the hell do you know so much about flowers Asuma? Is there something Kurenai needs to be informed about?" Radio joked but all Asuma did was roll his eyes.
"You forget who my female student is. Ino hasn't shut up about flowers since the moment she was assigned to my team. There is only so much flower talk you can tune out before you learn it anyways."
Sakura sealed the second flower into her seal and hugged Radio once more. When they let go Radio patted her head playfully, but carefully enough not to mess up the beautiful curls Ino had created. "Hopefully I see you guys tonight, but unfortunately there are still a few errands I need to run before the festival begins. Congratulations again Asuma." She gave the two veteran men a smile and then disappeared into the same weapons shop they had just existed.
The two men watched Sakura until the door closed behind her. "Why do you think Kakashi sent her that flower?" Asuma asked, his eyes already trained back on the road in front of them.
Radio just slightly shock his head, running a hand through his messy locks. "I have no idea. But whatever he is planning he better not hurt her" and with that they started back toward their apartments.
If Sakura thought she was confused before, she was at a complete lost for words now. Complicated didn't even begin to describe her feeling toward her former genin sensei anymore. Sakura wasn't even sure there had been a word invented yet to describe the storm of emotions that were forming in her chest.
She hadn't even left the weapons shop when she received another flower. When she reached the counter to pay there was Urushi with a white calla lily meaning magnificence, beauty and purity. Just like with Shiba once she took the flower the ninken disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The shop owner had given her a slight smirk as he bagged up her items, but otherwise didn't comment.
That patterned repeated everywhere she went. Her next stop had been her office at the hospital. When she opened her door there was Akino sleeping on her desk chair with a white heather on top of her desk. Sakura had turned to ask the dog what Kakashi was doing, but he was already gone. It took Sakura a few moments to place the meaning of the flower, when finally, it came to her, white heather stood for protection.
The next place Sakura had visited was the Hokage Monument, she wanted to check on her fail safe. She had placed seals on top of the Third Hokage's head and wanted to ensure they would work if need be. On her way back down there was Uhei sitting on one of the steps, his tail waging quickly. A sunflower was placed before her feet, before he too poofed away. Sakura pick up the flower, her fingers touching the soft petals. Adoration and dedication? What is he trying to say?
Her last stop before going home had been T&I. Sakura knew Kakashi wouldn't risk sending in one of his dogs, in fear of pissing off Ibiki, and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. If the ninken where popping up everywhere she was going, it meant Kakashi had to be near by and there was some things she wanted-no needed to do without watchful eyes following her every move. Sakura spent over an hour inside the base, but when she exited there was Guruko holding a red aster in his mouth, the flower for patience.
By the time Sakura reached her apartment she had wanted nothing more than to lock her door, climb into her bed, pull her pillow to her face and scream. But of course, that wasn't an option. Beside the fact she was supposed to meet her team in an hour in front of Naruto's favorite restaurant, there were two more ninja hounds waiting for her outside her front door. Kakashi had saved the big guns for the final attack. There was Bull sitting and soaking up the last of the sunlight, while Pakkun rested on Bull's head.
When the two dogs spotted Sakura, Pakkun jumped off Bull's head and picked up one of the flowers that had been discharged off to the side of them, while Bull pick up the other. Sakura knelt down so she was eye level with Bull and held out her hand. Bull placed the brightest daffodil she had ever seen. A smile pulled at her lips as she gave a silent thank you to her early flower arrangement class for finally being useful. Daffodil, the flower for rebirth ad new beginnings. Pakkun then placed a white gardenia in her hand and she was confused if she had remembered the wrong definition for the plant, because there was no justifiable explanation for why Pakkun had just handed her a flower for secret love.
"Pakkun I don't understand." Sakura said, her eyes locking with the two dogs in front of her, hoping she'd finally have some answers.
"Something has happened between boss and you." Pakkun paused for a moment to see if Sakura would try to argue, but she didn't. The comment was too loaded. Yes, something had happened between the two of them, but what or when, Sakura wasn't sure anymore. "Boss said a big mistake required an even bigger apology. He said you would know what the flowers meant, and after seeing you look at the one, I gave you as if I handed you an active explosive tag, I'm sure you do."
"Thank you for delivering me these flowers. Please let the others know I send my thanks as well." Sakura scratched the two dogs for a few minutes before she finally stood and shoved her key into the door.
"Things between you guys going to be okay?"
"I don't know" she answered quietly, and the sad whine Bull made before she shut her door broke her heart. She had come to love these dogs. If she didn't work with Kakashi anymore there was no guarantee she would see them again, but she couldn't focus on that now. Bull and Pakkun had left the moment she shut the door; she couldn't do anything about it even if she wanted to.
She quickly made her way into the bedroom to changed when she spotted one last flower laying neatly on top of her pillow, with a little white box next to it. Her breath catch in her thought when she saw what flower it was. A single pink tulip stood out against her light grey sheets. With a shaky hand she picked it up and smiled. Tulips signifies a declaration of love. Was that what Kakashi was trying to tell her all day? That he cared or her, that her wanted her, that he loved her?
Even after the last few hours she wasn't prepared to find what was in the little box after she finally stopped staring at the flower and put in down. Her fingers touched cold smooth melt as she held up the neckless so she could get a better view. There was the symbol of her clan, wrapped around the symbol for the Hatake clan. Her clan's symbol was simple, only comprising of a circle, but Kakashi's was different. The design in itself showed the clan's elegance. It was a rhombus, with nine smaller ones inside of it, showing that no shinobi is made of one part.
The neckless was gorgeous, flawless in design. Kakashi must have had it specially made with a well skilled jeweler.
Sakura careful set the neckless back into the box as a single tear ran down her check. The famous copy cat ninja had just confessed his love to her. A warm feeling was spreading throughout her, but that sinking feeling was still there. Another tear escaped as her turned and threw the pillow off the bed hoping to rid some of her frustration.
Because no matter how bad she wanted this she couldn't have it. Not until her mission was done, and there was no promise she would survive it. "Duty really is the killer of love." She muttered to herself as she sealed the flower and box away…
The whole village had come alive. Every shinobi and civilian alike laughed, played and ate together. Venders littered the street with either the promise of delicious food or a chance at winning a prize. Children's laughter filled the air, and Sasuke almost smirked as he followed Naruto down the crowded street. Sasuke could say he was almost excited about tonight. Every time he saw Sakura they talked more and more. Layers were being brought down, and Sasuke was finally getting a look at the real Sakura, and he was liking what he was seeing.
Tonight, wouldn't be intolerable, even if Naruto hadn't shut up since they left the apartment because he would get to see her. Team 7 was meeting outside Ichiraku's and then deciding what they wanted to do from there. They reached the stand to see Sai already there waiting, wearing a white button-down shirt and black pants, a fake smile on his lips.
"Hello traitor, dickless" Sai greeted, and it seems Naruto was in a really good mood tonight because the comment just rolled off his back.
"Hi Sai!" Naruto yelled loudly, and Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blonde's need to always be so extra. "No sign of the others yet huh?"
"Dickless and blind, how sad." Sai's smile grew, and Sasuke closed his eyes and took a breath waiting for the fight to begin.
"Why you piece of-"
"Now, now boys." She laughed as she wrapped her arm around Naruto's shoulder, stopping his nasty retort. Sasuke eyes shot open, he hadn't sensed her approach, and judging the others' reactions neither did they. His eyes land of her and he could feel his heart literally skip a beat. There she was leaning against Naruto almost sparkling in the moonlight. The dress looked even better on her than he remembered. Her hair had been partly pulled back and done in a twist, while the rest of it followed in waterfall curls down her back. Sasuke briefly noted that she had indeed worn the earnings and necklace he had bought her. But what held his attention was her eyes. Bright green eyes looked even brighter than usual thanks to the soft pink and grey smoke eye shadow she wore.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto was quick to turn and capture her in a bear hug. She giggled as she hugged back. "Tell Sai to stop being an ass."
"I'll stop being an ass when you grow a dick." Sai shoot back and Naruto's face grew red.
"Why are you always obsessed with my dick? You saw me naked once and now won't shut up about it!" Naruto yelled causing a few passer byers to send them dirty looks. Sasuke just shook his head, but Sakura just stood there quietly smiling. From the stories Naruto had told about Sakura, Sasuke had expected her to have already lost her temper and beat the two irritating shinobi up, but she hadn't. She was just standing there, watching her two teammates, smiling.
"Tonight's going to be a long night isn't it?" Sasuke asked catching Sakura's eye, she nodded and then giggled some more. Then for some reason Sasuke decided the two idiots' comments didn't seem so irritating as long as she kept laughing at them.
"What do you mean you told Sakura-chan that you loved her?" Yamato's eyes widened as he entered Kakashi's apartment. "What did she say?"
"I don't know." He confessed as he checked to make sure he had his weapons pouch. Kakashi was never one to really dress up, he figure a black version of his jounin's uniform without the vest would do.
"What the hell do you mean you don't know? Did she run when you told her?"
"No, it's nothing like that. I left her a gift on her bed with a clear message." Kakashi let out a breath and tightened his headband around his eye. "I didn't want her to be pressured into giving a response."
"And if she can't forgive you?"
"Then I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to her."
Kakashi couldn't remember the last time he felt anxious. In battle, feeling nervous or worried always got in the way. You do not enter a battle believing you will fail; you enter knowing you will make your opponent sorry they ever crossed your path. He was the great copycat ninja, master of over a thousand justus, feared throughout the seven great nations, but when it came to his former pink haired student none of that mattered. One look from her made all his power vanish in a blink of an eye. All the walls he had put up throughout the years came crashing down the moment she walked into the same room.
He cursed himself for not noticing it sooner. What kind of genius couldn't even recognize when they were starting to fall in love? It didn't happen all at once. Kakashi knew he had always treated his female student differently from the others. When they were kids, he would set up his sleeping mat by hers. When on guard, he was always stationed closer to her than the others. Call it chivalry or sexism, he felt he had to protect her more than the others. He step in and helped her more than he should have, and yet when it came to training her, he hesitated to shape her into the same shinobi he was molding the boys into. When she was a child, he still held out for hope that she would realize that this lifestyle wasn't for her and quit and become a civilian. But she had surprised him, she had surprised everyone. Even when he had failed her, she sought other teachers to help her make up for what she was lacking.
Then when Sasuke left the village, Naruto wasn't the only one who couldn't look her in the eye. He had watched her on that hospital rooftop. He saw the tears streaming down her face as she ran to get in-between her two teammates, knowing taking a hit like that would probably kill her. Kakashi's heart clenched painfully in his chest, as Rin's face flashed before him. Kakashi had been the one to tell her everything was going to be okay. He had given her a smile and then left to give Sasuke a lecture. But she had known it wasn't going to be. It should have been him that discovered Sasuke trying to leave the village that night. If it had been, he would have never left. How could Kakashi look her in the eye after that? When Naruto left, Team 7 was disbanded. Kakashi had figured Sakura was in better hands with Tsunade than himself and took the next long-term mission offered.
He remember when he returned from that mission and Tsunade informed him Sakura's parents had been killed. When Sakura needed him the most, he vanished, to busy running away from his own problems to help her with hers. He had tried to find her. He wanted to talk with her, and make sure she was okay, but she was already out of the village Tsunade said the moment her parents were laid to rest, Sakura wanted to be sent out on missions, and she had been on back to back missions ever since. Almost a year went by where whenever Kakashi was in the village she was not. By the time they were both in the village at the same time, too much time had passed. Kakashi didn't know what to say to her, so he simply didn't.
By the time Naruto came back to the village it had already been almost four years since the three of them saw each other. Kakashi still remembers seeing Sakura in the Hokage's office for the first time after all that time apart. She was no longer the little girl he had been entrusted to teach. She had grown out her hair. It had been pulled back into a beautiful fishtail braid. Her new uniformed showed that her arms and legs had become toned through her years of training, and there was now confidence behind those green eyes. When they fought, her new experience showed. She didn't second think herself in battle, and Kakashi would've been severely injured on more than one occasion if he hadn't been using the sharingan to dodge.
Yet even after all those years she welcomed both Naruto and Kakashi back with opened arms. She never once brought up that they had both left her behind for years. She never once held anything against them. All she did was smile, and said it was nice to finally have her boys' home. Kakashi was happy to have another chance to be a mentor to Sakura, and he had promised this time he wouldn't fail her. After the mission to Suna, and Kakashi had fully recovered, Kakashi and Sakura had found themselves sparing one on one everyday whenever they were in the village. He would teach her a new jutsu and she would heal him after they were done.
Those spars should have been his first clue that something had changed between them. The first time he pinned her to the ground, holding her arms above her head, straddling her waist, their faces mere inches from one another should have been a giant red flag. Kakashi felt her pulse quicken when she realized what position they were in. He saw the look in her eyes, as she parted her lips slightly. She didn't try and push him off, all she did was stare into his eyes, unwilling to look away even when her checks changed pink.
When Kakashi finally came to his senses and climbed off of her, he had to dismissed himself, saying he had a meeting, and then proceeded to take a very, very cold shower once he got home. At that point Kakashi couldn't even lie to himself that he found himself slightly irritated when she was out of the village and they couldn't have their daily spars. Team seven might have lost a member, but it had gained two new ones, and for the first time in years the team felt whole, felt like a family.
But like most things in Kakashi's life, just as things were going good, everything came crashing down around him. Kakashi still doesn't remember what the gate guard had told him when he got home from his mission to the waterfall village. All he heard was Uchiha's home, Haruno badly hurt and he was already sprinting toward the tower. He had found Sakura on the old training field team seven used to use, and it had been completely destroyed. In the middle of the field was Sakura. Her normal uniform replaced with a black tank top, black leggings and her boots. Her right arm was bandaged up to her bicep and when Kakashi finally appeared in front of her, he saw how hurt she was. Her left eye was black and blue, her upper lip had stiches but what catch his attention was the lighting blot marks that were across her chest, neck and shoulder.
"Sakura are you alright?" Kakashi asked moving closer to her. Her eyes wouldn't lock with his, and blood dripped from both of her hands. The white gauze around her knuckles were stained red. When she didn't answer he placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Sakura, its okay" he whispered quietly as he wrapped his arms around her.
Sakura stood as still as a statue; her arms remained glued to her sides. They stood like that for almost twenty minutes before she started to talk. "I almost killed him," she said angerly. "I almost fucking killed him!" She yelled before pushing Kakashi off of her. "I won! We fought one on one and I won! I walked away from our battle while they had to carry him! Yet he is still fucking with me!"
"Sakura you're okay. He is under-surveillance at the hospital. He's not coming after you." Kakashi knew that this wasn't going to be easy. Tsunade had briefly explained what had happened before he was sent out to check on his student. He knew Sasuke had used a form of Tsukuyomi on her even though he hadn't developed his Mangekyō Sharingan. Kakashi wasn't even sure how it was possible, but seeing the state Sakura was in now, whatever jutsu Sasuke had used was a powerful one.
"I'm not okay" she said dropping to her knees, bring her hands to her face. "He would have killed me." Her bandaged hand lightly traced the lighting blots on her chest. "He shoved his choroid through my chest." Kakashi flinched at her words. "He kept pushing his hand even after my paper tag stopped his charka flow."
"Sakura…" Kakashi dropped to his knees in front of her unsure of what to do. When the tears started his heart broke. He was so sick of seeing her cry.
Kakashi shook his head as they got closer to the ramen shop. There had been plenty of warning signs, but he had ignored every single one of them. He really was a fool if it took him bleeding out to realize how badly he wanted to kiss and hold her and promise everything was going to be okay.
"Are you sure they won't be mad we left the ramen shop?" A female's voice giggled in the crowded street. Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks, his advanced hearing zeroing in on the voice.
"Come on Sakura-chan, they were already half an hour late, Kakashi-sensei and Captain Yamato will find us when they get here." Both Kakashi and Yamato zeroed in on their students. They were several booths to the left of them waiting in line to play a game.
"Fine, fine but after this we are getting some food." She giggled again but Kakashi couldn't see her, she was surrounded by her male teammates.
But she had just given him an idea, so he turned on his heels and headed into the other direction.
"Hey Kakashi where are you going?"
"Just come on Yamato." Kakashi called back into the crowd not even bothering to stop to see if he was being followed.