A/N: Well, kiddies! I've moved, gotten a new job, and apparently Texas has forgotten it's supposed to be… well, Texas… because it's well below freezing here. That must mean hell's officially frozen over and it's time for me to update again! Short, sweet, and I hope you enjoy. We're working up to some seriously bad, bad, good stuff. *evil laugh* But for now, a little fluff!

Reviews make me a happy panda. Almost as happy as I'd be to own Naruto. Since I can have only one of those things, leave reviews! ^_^

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By the time Tsunade finally let Kakashi leave Hokage Tower, the stars were fading almost as fast as his patience. Damn it all, he understood her need for a full report of how the rogue Uchiha had finally been captured, but was it really necessary for her to keep him all night? His shoulder ached, his muscles were all but cramped with the tight control he'd been forced to impose to stop himself from escaping out the nearest window, and his head throbbed with a volatile combination of temper, fatigue, and that damnably vague sense of impending danger he still couldn't pin down.

He was almost out the door when Tsunade suddenly yelled for him… again. "Kakashi, your shoulder!" she shouted, and he ground his teeth and seriously considered pretending he hadn't heard her.

But her temper rivaled his own, and was much easier to rouse. "Hai, Hokage-sama," he sighed, turning his back on rest and freedom to trudge back to Tsunade's side.

"Don't use that tone on me, brat," she growled. Weariness rode her voice, too. "I almost forgot that Sakura told me you were wounded. Drop the shirt, let me see it."

"It's fine," Kakashi replied, but he was already obeying. "She already tended it."

"And you made her stop before she was done. Shut up and strip."

Kakashi dropped his flack vest–it hit the floor with a thump more suited to a huge sack of rocks than a garment–and pulled off his uniform shirt. The sleeveless undershirt, however, he didn't completely discard. He slid his left arm from it and pulled it aside so his wound was exposed, but his face wasn't. Tsunade rolled her eyes. "I've seen you."

He shrugged at the confirmation of what he'd always suspected–unconscious patients had no privacy. "Then you have no need to see me again."

She snorted, then turned her too-sharp gaze to his shoulder. "No wonder Sakura was pissed off at you. This isn't a good spot to get stabbed, Kakashi. I expected better from you," she said, prodding the half-healed injury none too gently. He winced, which she ignored as she continued her examination. "Your pectoral muscle is nearly bisected. You'll have to wear a sling for a while until it heals."

He managed not to make a face–barely. He hated things like slings and casts and braces. Like all shinobi, anything that impaired his mobility made him antsy. "Hai, Hokage-sama," he said though, knowing he couldn't argue with her and conceding that it was probably for the best, anyway. He couldn't risk the muscle healing poorly. Weaknesses weren't acceptable.

She continued her examination, occasionally touching the area with chakra, then poking with her fingertips. Finally she seemed satisfied and replaced his bandages. "You'll live," she said unnecessarily, and he again barely succeeded in keeping from rolling his eyes. If he was going to keel over, he'd have done it already. "Just don't do it again."

Kakashi righted his clothes and bit back a sarcastic reply. Did she think he'd done it on purpose? But since healing jutsu hurt–he knew that better than most–and he didn't want to piss her off and tempt her to finish the healing Sakura had started, just to punish him–he didn't comment. He grunted a little when he shrugged the flack vest back on, though. Its considerable weight settling atop the rebandaged wound wasn't exactly pleasant, even though he just slung it over his injured shoulder instead of putting his arm through it again. "Do you require more of me, Godaime-sama?" he asked as she tied a sling around his arm and knotted it behind his neck, sincerely dreading the answer.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You sound impatient. Am I keeping you from a hot date?"

"Yes."

She laughed even though for once, Kakashi hadn't been kidding. "One of these days you'll stop lying and no one will know what to do with you," she said, and he had to smile. More like he'd stop lying and no one would even notice if this was any indication. "Fine, get out of here. You're on recuperative leave for 72 hours–no missions, no training, and be glad I'm not slapping your ass in the hospital for that shoulder. Go before I change my mind."

"Hai, Hokage-sama, I'm glad for every moment you're not slapping my ass," Kakashi replied, and Body-Flickered away before she could reply.

He didn't go far, though–his chakra was low yet again and he didn't want to waste it. He reappeared only a block away, deciding to cover the remaining distance on foot. God, he wanted to be home so bad he could taste it.

And home was no longer the empty little flat where he'd lived for almost two decades. Home was a woman whose softness and gentle spirit were a balm to what was left of his barren soul.

The sky was definitely lightening with the approach of dawn when he reached Suyo's building. He spared enough chakra to leap up to her landing rather than climbing the stairs. He raised a fist to knock, but before his knuckles could touch the wood, the door swung open to reveal Suyo standing there with Bull by her side.

She looked so good, it almost stole his breath. "Hi," he said, just staring at her, drinking in the fact that she was here, safe, alive and far from Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Kabuto.

Bull barked a happy greeting as Suyo pulled him into a tight hug. "I was getting worried," she whispered against his chest. "I waited up for you, and when you didn't come…"

"Hush, Bull," Kakashi said as his unencumbered arm came around her to hold her tight. The ninken gave him a reproachful look but stopped his ear-splitting barks. "I'm sorry I worried you," he murmured, nudging the door closed behind him and feeling an immense weight fall from his shoulders. Here, he didn't have to be a ninja, didn't have to be perfect and silent and always ready to fight. It was a gift he treasured all the more because he'd never known it was even possible before Suyo. "I had to report to Tsunade-sama, and it took… well, about this long, actually."

She raised her head and ran her hands over him, his bound arm and shoulder, his face and back, before pushing aside his unfastened flack vest and doing the same to his chest. Warmth spilled through his tired body. "I like it when you strip me as soon as I walk through the door," he teased as he let her pull the vest off and drop it.

Suyo blushed but didn't smile. "Naruto said you got hurt. Are you okay?"

Naruto… now he noticed the throbbing chakra barely contained in the spare room. He must be sleeping over again. "That punk. He's not supposed to tell you things like that." The words lacked venom, though. It wasn't the kind of information the teen would've volunteered–Suyo would've had to have asked, and asked persistently, to get Naruto to admit that, and that meant she'd truly worried for him. "Remind me to hit him next time I see him."

Her blush turned into a scowl. "I will not. You're not supposed to get hurt, or did I forget to tell you that?"

"I'm fine, I promise you," he said, and her glare softened a little. "I didn't even feel it when it happened."

That brought the glare back. "Because you were fighting and the adrenaline masked it," she said with perfect accuracy. "Don't lie, Kakashi. You really aren't very good at it."

Kakashi crinkled his eye in his trademark smile. Her concern simply melted him. "Would it help if I begged for your forgiveness?"

Suyo tugged his mask down and Kakashi kissed her before she could scold him again. Her searching hands turned into caresses as he deepened the kiss, drawing her back into his embrace. A long minute passed before he pulled away. "Take me to your bed and I promise to beg very nicely," he whispered, and he savored the shiver his breath on her ear provoked.

Or perhaps it was from what his hand was doing beneath her shirt. After all, the angle offered by the sling was too sweet for him to resist.

She kissed him once more–far too short, in his opinion–and smilingly turned toward her bedroom. He snagged his vest with his free hand as he followed her, though. Now that there was such a tangible threat to her, he wasn't going to let his weapons out of his sight. She didn't seem to notice as she led him to her bedroom and let him collapse gratefully onto her bed.

To his dismay, however, Suyo didn't join him there. "I have to go to work," she said regretfully.

He pushed himself up on his elbow with a frown. "The tea shop doesn't even open until ten," he protested, well aware that a hint of a whine had entered his tone. The thought of holding Suyo close was all that had sustained him during this endless night. "It's barely six now."

"I know," she said, and he belatedly realized that she wasn't wearing a nightgown at all. She was fully dressed in her tunic and pants. "I don't work there anymore."

That got him off the bed entirely despite his tired body's protests. Her tone didn't imply a voluntary change of careers. "What happened?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even.

Apparently he failed because she shook her head with a little smile. "You don't have to sound so homicidal. Nothing bad happened. Namae-san didn't appreciate having Bull around, that's all, so I found a different job."

A stab of guilt pierced his chest. Kakashi had only wanted to ensure she had protection and company by leaving Bull with her, not cost her her job. He had a feeling there was a little more to it than she was telling, but he'd get Pakkun to find out the rest of the story. He didn't want to upset Suyo by interrogating her. "Where are you working now? What job could possibly require you to abandon me at such an ungodly hour?"

Suyo laughed at him and cupped his cheek in one soft hand. He covered it with his own. "At the Yamanaka flower shop," she told him, and now Kakashi definitely knew there was more to it than Suyo was telling. Yamanaka Inoichi would've recognized Bull, would've known what the ninken's presence at Suyo's side meant, and shinobi protected their own. The flower shop run by the Yamanaka clan was only vaguely concerned with selling flowers, after all.

What happened to make the Yamanakas take Suyo under their protection by giving her a job?

He had every intention of finding out. "I'll come with you."

"No, you won't," she told him firmly, bracing her hands on her hips. "You're exhausted and Bull can come with me again if you're worried, which you shouldn't be. Besides," she added, eyes twinkling as she pushed him firmly back onto the bed, "I want you well rested and energetic by the time I get back."

He gave her a stern look even though he allowed her to make him tumble onto the bed again. "People have lost limbs for doing less than that to me," he growled.

Suyo's stance softened. She leaned over him on the bed, one hand on either side of his head. "I'm not afraid of you," she murmured, holding his grey gaze with her own green eyes, and they were clear and honest. "Now rest. You need it. I'll be back in a few hours, all right?"

Before he could reply, there was a knock at her door. He was off the bed, kunai in hand and Suyo behind him, in a heartbeat. Bull reacted to his quick alertness by bounding to the door and growling with a sound like an avalanche.

Her exasperated sigh met his ears even as he identified the chakra outside the door as Yamanaka Ino's. "God, you two," Suyo sighed, gently slipping past him to answer the door. "Rest," she scolded Kakashi with a glare over her shoulder as she reached for the doorknob and Kakashi tried to make himself relax. After all, if the Sound came for her, they'd hardly knock on the door, especially with his and Naruto's chakra both so clearly present.

Ino's blonde hair and bright smile met her when she opened the door. "Good morning, Suyo-san!" she said cheerfully. "Father sent me over to tell you he's giving you the weekend off. Mother woke up with a ton of ideas for redecorating and there will be no peace until she's had her way."

Kakashi saw Suyo's surprise in the angle of her shoulders, but he wasn't the slightest bit surprised himself. Inoichi definitely knew Suyo was Kakashi's. He'd have to find out more about this later, but the prospect of having Suyo all to himself (after he found a way to get rid of Naruto, which shouldn't be hard–a few snuggles with Suyo ought to drive the teen away, howling in disgust, pretty effectively) for the next 48 of his 72 hours of leave was downright heavenly.

"I'll come in and help–" Suyo was saying, but Ino shook her head.

"Don't worry about it," Ino said, waving the offer away. "Mother's impossible. You'd better let us handle her. Father said don't worry about the hours. He said it wouldn't be fair to penalize you for Mother's insanity, so consider it a paid holiday and enjoy it, okay? Bye!"

Suyo shut the door, shaking her head. She shot a look over her shoulder at Kakashi. "Sure you didn't have anything to do with that?" she asked, suspicion in every line of her body.

He gave her his most innocent look–one of the few times he'd used it and truly been innocent. "Not a thing," he said honestly. "But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pretty damn happy about it. Now get back over here, woman." This last was accompanied by a definite leer.

Suyo laughed and shook her head, but she crossed the room to his side again. "You'd better watch your tone if you don't want to end up on the couch," she growled, poking him in the chest–but carefully, avoiding his bandages.

He mock-glared at her. "You would dare defy Sharingan no Kakashi?"

She laughed, then looked around the entire room. "Hmm, I don't see Sharingan no Kakashi here," she said. Then those soft green eyes focused on him. "All I see is my Kashi."

And that was it. Kakashi pulled her into his embrace, kicked the door closed, and fell onto the bed with her, ignoring the painful protest of his pectoral muscle at the impact of her atop him. Any pain was far, far outweighed by pleasure. "I will never let you go," he swore, pressing his forehead to hers.

Her hands cupped his face. "So who's asking you to?"

He wasn't sure which one of them moved first, but then her mouth was on his, tongue sweetly teasing, yielding for his exploration, and it didn't matter. One kiss led to the next, increasingly hungry, but when she tried to roll off him, he didn't let her. "Kashi, your shoulder," she protested against his mouth. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Trust me," he whispered. He liked her far too much right where she was to allow any change of position. Then he gave her a wicked look. "Besides, like a civilian like you could ever hurt me."

She laughed at him. "What am I going to do with you?" she sighed.

He moved his hand just long enough to whip out a certain orange-covered book. "Oh, you know what to do with me. You're the one who put in the bookmarks."

She blushed crimson and he had to kiss her again. Every time she blushed, he got a twinge just there, below his breastbone–a kind of thrill, a little stab of excitement and fear. Shinobi didn't blush. They were too jaded, too hardened. And he lo… liked that Suyo could be brazen enough to write notes in his x-rated book, and still be soft enough to blush when he called her out on it. "I missed you," he said softly, as close as he could come to saying that other thing.

Her eyes twinkled with mischief. She knew what he meant, he was sure of it. "That's nice."

Oh, so that's how it was going to be. He pulled away just a little. "Say it," he growled, letting his lips brush hers with each word.

"Say what?" she asked, all innocence, and squeaked when he tickled her ribs for it.

He glared a little, well aware that she would never buy it as a threat. "You know what. Say it."

For a moment, he thought she'd torture him some more, but then she just smiled and caressed his face. "I love you."

That thrill came back, stronger this time, making him catch his breath, making his heart race. "Again," he breathed.

"I love you."

Repetition didn't lessen the impact–it still hit him just as hard. "One more time," he murmured, seeing the laughter in her eyes and wanting to hear it, too.

She laughed and rolled her eyes at his silliness, but then cupped his face in her hands and held his gaze. "Hatake Kakashi, I," she kissed him, "love," another kiss, ghostly soft and too brief, "you." One more kiss, a little longer. "You say you'll never let me go?" she whispered against his mouth. "I say you'll never get the chance."

He was terribly afraid then that the smile he felt growing on his face crossed the border to goofy by a considerable degree, but Suyo didn't seem to mind. He rolled with her, trapped her beneath him and flung off the annoying sling. "Your shoulder!" she protested once more, but his shirts followed and her misgivings melted from her eyes as she ran her hands over his bared skin. "Just be careful," she murmured, accepting defeat, as he went to work on her clothes and she surrendered to him entirely.