Chapter Twenty-One
Upon entering the clearing, Shikamaru instantly noticed its two occupants, and especially noted their joined hands.
Kakashi sat beside his wife, his usual face mask removed, baring his face to the world. That was surprising. His hitai-ate was in its usual place, covering the Uchiha dojutsu. The jounin was watching him as he walked up and joined them upon the grass.
He looked to Naruko, expectantly. He had a feeling that this would happen soon, and could only watch as his wife had fallen in love with this other man. It had been a hard pill to swallow, but, he was also smart enough to see that it had never affected her feelings for him or their son. It was just how it had to be. The damn CRA demanded it.
"Shika," his wife started. "We wanted to talk to you..." she trailed off, gesturing mutely to the hand that held Kakashi's.
He nodded, not trusting himself yet to speak.
"I haven't been... I didn't..." she fumbled for words, glancing up at him and looking away.
"Not intimate," Kakashi supplied. His wife blushed.
"Right... I wouldn't do that, before talking to you." She finished.
"I see," he reached forward, taking her other hand. He studied the ring she wore on her finger. The ring he had given her at their wedding. Today was the day their life would change. Her happiness was his happiness most of the time. This time would be something else entirely.
"You want this?" he asked.
She squeezed his hand comfortingly. "Yes," she whispered honestly. He looked into her usually clear blue eyes and saw a storm of emotions warring within. He saw her sadness and guilt for hurting him. He saw her frustration with the situation in general. He saw all of her feelings laid bare and he saw her love shining through them all.
He could not verbally respond, but nodded his head. He knew she wasn't truly asking for permission, but she wanted it all the same. And he loved her all the more for that. For not keeping him in the dark and going behind his back. Their relationship had always been an honest one, he was glad that wouldn't change.
He left the clearing a while later, and knew that his wife wouldn't be coming home that night. His shoulders slumped as he continued on. They would take this one day at a time. He sighed.
Naruko remained quiet after the Nara had left them to themselves. Kakashi had instantly wanted to take her into his arms, but knew that it was too soon. She needed to work out her feelings before he butt in.
They sat in silence for a while, and then she squeezed his hand and he looked up to see her dazzling smile. He grinned in return, feeling the wind caress his face.
Feeling that this was his chance he pulled her into his lap, tasting her lips once more.
It was many years ago that Kakashi had brought a little girl here to pick up his extra ANBU mask, he never would have thought that he would lead her back here as a grown woman.
She entered his small apartment, looking around curiously at the surroundings, taking note of the potted plants on the windowsill. She took a closer look at the photographs as gasped in delight. "My genin team," he informed her. "Minato-sensei, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin."
"Uchiha... your eye..." she looked up at him.
"From Obito," he swallowed thickly. Talking about his teammates was still painful for him. She must have sensed his sadness, for she let the matter drop.
Getting comfortable, he removed his jounin flak jacket, tossing it onto its usual chair and removed his mask. He sat on the couch, pulling Naruko with him. She straddled his lap, huffing at his abrupt tug.
She was beautiful. Bright, yellow blonde hair, that looked as if it were stolen from the sun. Smooth, tanned skin, bright ocean colored eyes. Her body was extremely well proportioned, fit for a goddess. Her inner strength was amazing, her will and way of the ninja inherited from her father, mother, Jiraiya and the Sandaime.
He was brought out of his thoughts by soft hands, tugging at his hitai-ate. She untied the cloth, removing it. He kept the left eye closed. She traced the scar once again, cupping his cheek.
"Are you sure this is what you want, Kakashi?"
He kissed her, long and deep. "You have to ask?" he leaned in again, trailing feather light kisses along her jawline, down her neck. He suckled softly at her pulse point, one arm wrapped around her waist.
He pulled back pulling the ties from her hair, letting down her long tresses and running his fingers through them. "Beautiful," he breathed.
Laying with a man that was not her husband was a surreal experience. She had never been with anyone other than Shikamaru. Kakashi's body was finely built as was Shikamaru's, but there were still differences. Naruko thoroughly enjoyed exploring the differences.
Author's Note: Not a very long chapter for such a long wait, I know. Anticlimactic and all... I posted this chapter because this is all that I had wrote so far..
I still love the Naruto series, and I still read various stories.. But, I'm just not in the mood to write. Sorry.
I wanted to know if anyone would like to adopt my story and build on what I have started. Please let me know!