Kiss Me Goodnight
KakaSaku
Chapter 21: Tsunade's Decision
"We could always not tell her!"
Yamato groaned. Naruto had been popping up that suggestion for the better part of the travel. It was unnerving, to say the least. Not that Yamato didn't want the blonde to be right, but they had discussed this over and over again, always coming to the same conclusion. Yet, the team's young wanna-be Hokage wouldn't stop. Whenever he guessed them far enough away to be out of ear-shot, he would start at the beginning. Again.
As if their handholding wasn't bad enough...
Kakashi and Sakura were about ten metres ahead of them- the silver-haired man probably able to hear their every breath- hands molded to each other, fingers enterwined. Being the naturally faster one, and unable to time his steps with the pink-haired medic, the Copy Nin had resorted to snaking an arm around Sakura's waist, and help her keep his pace. As much as he wanted to frag this out, he couldn't step out of his skin of being exceptionally fast. Sakura's feets were barely touching the ground, or rather branches.
His other hand was linked with her's.
To their team, it was agonizing!
Here were their teammates, both having lived through a rough past, finally getting a chance at happiness, and they were going to probably destroy it. Maybe Naruto was right. Maybe they really shouldn't tell Tsunade! Then again, the Hokage would find out, sooner or later, and then there would be hell to pay. She would most likely look more kindly on their situation, if told sooner. Not to mention that it would be better than trying to sneak around, and conceal everything. That just wouldn't be a live!
Their friends deserved better!
"Yamato-taichou?" Naruto inquired.
Yamato sighed.
"We've discussed this, Naruto. We can't not tell her."
"I agree with dobe," came a voice from his right side.
"Not you too, Sasuke." Yamato was tired of arguing. It made his own inner war only worse.
"No, think about it. He does have a point. I mean, if we just leave out that particular part of the story, the only one saying different would be the 'package'. And Tsunade is more likely to believe us than him," Sasuke reasoned.
"Plus, Sai-bastard over there was giggling. That's a bad omen!" Naruto whined. "What if Tsunade-baa-chan decides against them?! She could get them separated forever!"
"It's worse than that, dobe. By law, she could get him executed!" Sasuke warned, chancing a sideways-glance at the man in question.
"What?!"
"He's right. The old laws state that if ever a teacher touches his student, he or she is to be openly beheadded."
"WHAT?!"
"Relax. It's an old law, and I doubt Hokage-sama will abide by it. For once, Kakashi-sempai is one of our top-ranking jounin, and she can't afford to lose him over a silly law made in times much different from nowadays. However, the law is still there, and might just use it to her own advantage."
"Then why are we planning on telling her?" Naruto argued.
"Because she will find out regardless. And I'm sure you agree with me, when I say it's better she finds out by someone she trusts, instead of on her own, in which case her wrath will be unforgiving. This way we'll be able to influence her. It is true that we might get them separated, but if she hears this from anyone else, or stubles upon it on her own, they will be separated for sure."
At that the others stayed silent.
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Ahead of them, Kakashi's grip on Sakura's waist tightened. He had been able to listen in on every word with his enhanced hearing. Sometimes he cursed that ability, especially when Naruto was all cheerful, and shouting "BELIEVE IT!" into his ear, but right now, he was very thankful for it. He had heard everything, and agreed with Yamato that in their situation it was the best course of action. That didn't mean he liked it, but he would probably do the same thing, if he were them.
"Something wrong, Kakashi?" Sakura's voice drifted to his ear, her breath brushing against his mask-covered neck. Her hand squeezed his gently.
"No, no. Just…thinking."
"You mean worrying."
"Yes, that too."
"It will be alright."
"How can you be so sure?" he asked. He didn't understand. She had fretted over this most, but now she seemed so calm. So confident.
"I don't know. I just am," she answered cheekily. "I believe in us, and I believe that everything is going to turn out good, I guess."
"I wish I had your confidence," the Copy Nin whispered, pecking the top of her pink locks.
Sakura smiled. She disentangled her hand from his, and he would've almost whined at the loss, but she just slipped her arm around his back, and pressed her face into his vest, successfully chasing away the disappointment. He smiled back at her with his usual eye-crinkling, but he still didn't feel so sure about Tsunade's reaction. She might be happy for them, and wish them good luck, only mildly threatening him not to hurt her precious apprentice.
But fate never gave people the best-case scenario.
He dragged his hand along the medic's side in a lazy caress, delighted as she gasped a little, and pulled her into him some more. He could feel the fingers of her free hand fisting into his vest, her head tucked against his ribcage, and another pressing against the underside of his chin.
Chihiro had taken a liking to the pockets of his jounin vest…
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(A few hours later)
To say Tsunadee was surprised when she saw Team Kakashi enter in a depressive state with their team leader, and medic holding hands would have been the understatement of the year. Raising an eyebrow, she wondered for a second if something bad had happened. Then, her eyes snapped back to the enterwined state of Kakashi's, and Sakura's fingers, and started staring. Her first thought was that he was squeezing her apprentice's hand in comfort over whatever had the team so depressed. But it wasn't that kind of handholding. Kakashi grip on Sakura's hand wasn't tight, on the contrary, it was gentle, soft. His thumb was lazily drawing circles on her skin.
Tsunade blinked.
And continued to stare.
Obviously noticing her gaze, Sakura stepped closer to Kakashi as if to make a point. The Copy Nin then squeezed her hand for a second, before starting to caress it again. Tsunade's jaw dropped. She hadn't taken her eyes of her shinobi's hands, but she's witnessed everything about that little exchance, and it had gotten realization to hit her. Hit her hard. Anger was about to override the surprise, and shock, but just as she raised herself, about to yell, Yamato slammed something onto her desk.
Something that groaned at the pain…
Tsunade snapped back to attention.
Looking down onto the wooden desk, she felt a sadistic smirk tug on the corner of her lips. She gave in without putting up a fight. Her ANBU Team had returned just an hour prior. Apparently, they had run in some rouge Ninja, and not been able to complete the mission they were assigned. She had yelled at them for a good hour, and then send them over to ANBU's medical facility with the strict order for her medics to heal only, what had to be. She would overthink that now.
"Welcome back, Haruno-san," she greeted the tied-up male. "We missed you terribly. Don't ever scare us like that again. We were really worried…"
The man glared.
"Worried you might not make it back for your execution."
The man panicked, and tried to wriggle free.
Tsunade's smirk grew. Then she saw Sakura tense out of the corner of her eye. A scowl appeared on her face, when Kakashi slid his arm around her shoulder, and continued to caress her hand with the other one, now.
"Sasuke, Sai, Naruto. Get Haruno-san to the dungeons. I think, Ibiki, and some of the others haven't been able to finish their discussion with them, and seeing as they only have a day's time, I'm sure they would like to continue as soon as possible," the blonde Hokage ordered icily, before turning to Shizune, who had been silently witnessing the whole scene from the sidelines. "Shizune, accompany Hatake, and Sakura out the door, and seat them in the hallway. Make sure an approriate distance is kept."
"Wha- uh, yes!" the brown-haired woman replied, glancing apologetically at the two as she stepped in between them.
Once they were out the door, Yamato wished he could go as well.
"Okay, five seconds, Yamato!" Tsunade barked. "What's going on here?"
Yes, he definitely wished he could just leave.
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"Close the door behind you."
Sakura did. She hadn't looked at her shishou as she entered the office, and she gladly used that order to avoid having to look at her for another few seconds. Therefore, she turned around, until she was facing the door, and slowly pushed it. Once it was shut, she stood there for another few moments, trying to gather her wits. She would not let her shishou take this- take Kakashi from her without a fight!
"Sakura…" Tsunade began, but her apprentice spun around the second she heard her name being called. Stunned by the fire in the young girl's beryl orbs, the blonde Sannin couldn't say anything for a breath.
That was all it took Sakura to spill her guts.
"Kakashi didn't take advantage of me, shishou. He would never do that! Nothing happened-"
"Kakashi admitted to having kissed several parts of your body, including the valley between your breasts," Tsunade deadpanned.
Sakura blushed at the memory, but quickly caught herself.
"My bosom was covered," she mubmled.
"By a bikini." Tsunade could've laughed at her apprentice's face, had the situation been deifferent.
"He didn't kiss- or touch- me in any place, or way I didn't want him to, shishou." Her voice was small, but firm. She had promised herself to put up a fight, until she convinced her shishou to just let them be. What was so bad about it, anyway? She didn't understand. They were in love. Wasn't that supposed to be something your friends should congratulate you? Couldn't they just be happy for them? Why did they have to make everything so compicated? It was the simplest thing, really.
He was male, and she was female. Together, that made, attraction, love even.
It really was a simple equation!
"When did this start, Sakura?" Tsunade asked. "And be aware that I asked Kakashi the same question." Lie.
"I…" Sakura started, but fell silent. When had this started? That was a question she'd been trying to answer herself in the past few days. Their relationship as it was now had started on that fateful evening in Suna, but was that really what her shishou meant? And her feelings? When had her feelings turned from a friendly adoration to the heart-warming glow she felt now, whenever she thought about Kakashi? When? "I… I don't know, shishou… I'm sorry… But nothing happened until Suna, I swear."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"It's true! That night was the first time he… he k-kissed me." Her hand came up on it's own accord to touch her lips at the memory. It had been her first kiss- on the lips. And she was happy it had been Kakashi. At least that hadn't been taken by her father! At the thought of that man, she shivered involuntarily, encircling herself with her arms. Tsunade seemed to notice what she was thinking about, because she cleared her throat to get her out of her darkening thoughts.
"Do you love him?"
"Yes!" Sakura replied without a second's hesitation.
'Well, that was an easy one,' the blonde thought. 'Now, let's try something harder.'
"And you believe that he loves you back?"
"Yes." Again, no second's hesitation.
Tsunade's eyebrow rose another inch.
"Has he told you so?"
Sakura hesitated.
"That's all the answer I nee-"
"Maybe not with words," the pink-haired girl blurted out. "But actions always do speak louder anyway."
Her confidence had obviously returned.
"Please, shishou," she continued. "Please. He did nothing wrong. Since when is it a crime to fall in love? Please, he didn't do anything. Don't… don't… hurt him. Just… I love him, please, I love him…"
Tsunade was shocked for a moment, then gritted her teeth.
"You may call the others in now. I have decided."
Long before Sakura had even reached the door, Tsunade's mind was back wondering over the discussion she had with Kakashi.
Flashback
"Why?" the Hokage asked. "Why? Tell me one good reason not to have you beheadded along with Haruno!"
"I'm offended. If you have to behead me, at least do it somewhere far away from that bastard," Kakashi growled out.
"You're not in the position to demand anything, so just answer me, Hatake!" Tsunade shouted.
"For once, because you'd lose a valuable shinobi, and with the upcoming war with Mist that wouldn't be a good idea. Secondly, I- on the contary of Haruno- did not abuse of Sakura. I do care about-"
"Care? Kakashi, you're supposed to care about her. She's your student!"
"Haruno was supposed to care about her as well, he was her father. And she's not my student. She's a jounin now, my equal. Besides, if anyone's, she's your student- since she was thirteen."
Tsunade's fist slammed into the desk at his calm, yet somewhat cocky reply. He could lose his head over this, and he was completely calm- or at least appeared to be- and it ifuriated her further. Then again, he probably knew that she would never behead him. The law was too old for these modern days, and she had wanted to ab-
"Plus, you have wanted to abolish all those old laws anyway, so it would make a hypocrite of you, if you applied that one on me now just because Sakura is your apprentice. Especially when you know I'm not cuprit of the crime put under severe punishment by it," the Sharingan Warrior stated.
"Not?" Tsunade ground out. "Are you, or are you not in a relationship with my apprentice?"
"I am, but as I explained before, and as you confirmed just now, she's your student, not mine. Furthermore, that specific law puts abuse of a teacher's power of his student in order to have the children perform sexual actions on them under punishment. I'm not taking advantage of Sakura in any way. I would never do that."
"Don't beat around the bush. Don't come talking about laws, and paragraphs, Kakashi, tell me why! Why should I allow this to go any further?" the Slug Sannin asked.The Copy Nin had the distinct feeling that she wanted him to come up with a good reason. And he was right. Tsunade had tried to abolish that law for quite a while, but she could never convince the Elders, and though she was the supreme leader of the Leaf, sometimes even she had to make a compromise. Now she had the chance to create a precedent!
Kakashi sighed.
"I'm not one to marry, and settle down," he started, "- so I'll probably never fall down onto my knees infront of Sakura, and restore her honor, and purity. I'm not very good at expressing my feelings, so she will probably not get to hear 'I love you' as much as she would deserve to. Many things I'll say will sound harsh, when I mean well, so I'll probably hurt her more often then most men she could choose would-"
"Is there any good news, there?" Tsunade asked, impatiently, but Kakashi ignored her.
"She's not alone in my heart as my duty to Konoha will always be one of my strongest bonds."
"Hatake…"
"But," he said. "No one could ever, or will ever love her the way I do. She's not my world, but she is the sun that brings light into it."
"…Kakashi." The Hokage could nothing but whisper. The look in his eye, the tone of his voice, the way he held himself- the usual slouch nowhere to be seen, his hand clenched at his sides… She'd never heard him speak with such sincerity. Heck, she'd never heard anyone speak with such sincerity in her lifetime. He was not lying. This wasn't a pedophile that was taking advantage of his student. This was a man fighting for, and desperately clinging to the love he had just found.
"Is she pregnant?" That question needed to be answered. Maybe he just felt responsible after abusing her.
"She couldn't be," Kakashi said after regaining his composure. "Not with my child anyway."
Tsunade decided not to comment on it.
"You mean you never…" She cleared her throat.
"No."
"How far did you go?"
Kakashi hesitated for just a split-second, but it didn't go unnoticed by the blonde Sannin.
"Kissing," he finally answered.
"Where?"
The Copy Nin bit his lip, before telling her everything. Tsunade fell from one feeling to another. Surprise, anger, shock, fury, mirth, wrath… Instead of saying anything thatg would inevitably let to her punching him, she decided to get back to what he said earlier.
"You think she could be pregnant from Haruno? Were there an signs?"
"No. It's been over a month, and no signs, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. For once, not every woman get's morning sickness and such, but aside from that… The human mind is a powerful weapon. If her subconcious decided that the trauma was too great, he'd shoot down most of her natural reactions. Anything that could remind her…"
"You gave her birth control. Yamato told me."
"It doesn't always work, you know that. You'll have to test her."
"Wouldn't it be better if she just…lost it silently… if it's there at all?"
"That would have to be her decision, don't you think?"
"She could never make that decision. She's too kind. She would force herself to…bear that bastard's child," Tsunade grunted, falling back into her seat.
"I don't like to have to say that, but, however conceived, the child- if there is one- would be innocent. It would have the right to get a chance at living, and if Sakura decides that it is to be given that chance, then there's little we can do."
"…I'll test her as soon as possible. Call her in. I have to talk to her, too."
And she waved him off.
End of Flashback
"I've decided that you'll live separate lives from now on until I say something else," Tsunade announced, turning to look pointedly at Kakashi then. "You wont touch her, you won't talk to her. Hell, you won't even so much as look at her, unless I specificly order you to, and if you see her coming towards you on the street, you'll change the side. I'll have you under surveillance, Hatake, so don't think you can sneak away now and then. I'll-"
"Shishou, I have a request," Sakura suddenly spoke up. Tsunade nodded at her to tell her, she was listening. "My birthday is next week, and I would like Kakashi to be there… I won't talk to him, or look at him, if you don't want me to, but I just… I just want him to be present. Please."
"… I'll think about it. Yamato, take Hatake back home."
"Uhm…"
"What else, Sakura?" Tsunade snapped a little at her. She hated to be like that towards them, but their pain had to be real. If she wanted to convince the Elders of abolishing that stupid law- and this would be her only chance in a while, that was for sure- it needed to be realistic. She needed a precedent!
"Could we… have a moment?" Kakashi asked instead.
Tsunade glared daggers at him, but nodded once.
In a second, Sakura was in his arms, gripping onto his vest tightly. She sniffled a little, and she felt tears prick at her eyes, but she refused to cry infront of the Hokage. Instead, she opted to press herself closer to the silver-haired man, until not even a piece of paper would've found space between their bodies. Stepping onto her tip-toes she placed her lips over his masked ones in an urgent kiss. Surprised, and well aware that they were being watched by six pairs of eyes- the rest of Team Kakashi, and Shizune had come in with them- he lifted his cherry blossom a little, so that her pink locks would fall over his face, slid down his mask, and kissed her back. He poured all of his emotion into that one kiss, urgent, and passionate, but also tender, and loving.
Then he set her back down, his mask back in place, and let himself be led to the door…
End of chapter 21!
A/N: I know it's pretty much devoid of any romance, but that would just not have suited the theme. It will get a more romantic again. Maybe on Sakura's birthday... What do you say? Tsunade should allow Kakashi to be present, right? Or maybe not? You decide!