a/n: Hey guys! Haha Yeah it was a fun filler chapter. Now the 2nd arc starts officially. Hope you all enjoy it!
Chapter 29: The Party
Needless to say, the 6 days leading up to Sakura's birthday were filled with events. Kakashi had rounded up 6 people to aid him in the final preparations of the kunoichi's 18 birthday party. On Sunday, he stood on top of Mount Hokage, in a huddle with Sasuke, Naruto, Lee, Genma, Asuma, and Gai. They all looked anxiously at their team leader. "Alright team," he began, "this is a standard A-Rank mission. We have to make sure that Sakura's birthday goes perfectly as planned." The team nodded in unison. "Sasuke. You will purchase mass decorations for the party hall. Naruto. You will decorate the party hall. Lee. You will go to the Yamanaka flower shop and order 8-dozen pink roses. Genma. Go to the restaurants on this list and check on my order for the catering. Asuma. Collect RSVP from the guest list. Gai. Create an ultra hip party music mix. Use all resources necessary! Understood?" They all bowed.
"Hai!" they said together. Kakashi sighed.
"Good. I'll go and make that birthday cake." Their eyes bulged from their sockets.
"Make the birthday cake?" They said together. The Copy Nin smiled and put his hand behind his head.
"Yeah. Think she'll like it?" They all sighed.
"I'm not eating it." Genma said. Kakashi scowled.
"Alright troops," he said, "Go!" They all disappeared, darting off into different directions.
Sakura walked inside the house to find it empty. "Kakashi?" She called, dropping her bag on the counter. She glanced into the living room and then into both bedrooms. Where could he be?
Kakashi stood in the kitchen of his apartment looking at a recipe book, wearing a white apron and a goofy chef's hat. "Hmm." He said scratching his head. "Eggs, flour, sugar, yeast, water." He looked over his book to the counter where all of the ingredients resided. "Check! Alright so…8 eggs…serves 15 people. Well that isn't enough; there's like 90 people coming. So that means…48 eggs???" He sighed heavily. "What the hell did I get myself into?"
Sasuke was going from shop to shop, purchasing pink, red, and blue party decorations. He had three bags full of the items when he noticed Shizune and 3 medic nins looking frantically in the streets. "Oh shit," he thought aloud, "they must've known it was a clone." He poofed out of the market area just missing Shizune's gaze.
"Where is that Uchiha??" Shizune screamed frantically.
Genma, Lee, Asuma, and Gai went on the same day to complete their tasks. Ino was suspicious with Lee when he ordered so many roses. Asuma had all of the RSVPs and Genma had all of the caterers checked on. Gai's task, however, was prving to be worse than they thought. After hearing his music selection (mainly country hits, polka, and opera) the team began to make their own mega mix. Genma had thrown in plenty of club beats as well as some hip-hop favorites. Asuma tossed in some a few slow songs from the 70's and 80's. "You Sap!" Genma chided.
"Hey, it's good stuff!" He said crossing his arms. Naruto added in some contemporary rock while Sasuke put in some old rock n roll classics that were easy to dance to. Lee had added Michael Bolton when they all took it out and screamed "HELL NO!" With the mix created, the tasks were completed.
"Come on let's check on Cyclops and see how his cake is coming along." Genma said with a smirk. They all showed up at Sakura's door and knocked. The pink haired kunoichi opened up and smiled.
"Hey guys!" She greeted.
"Yo!" Genma greeted, "is one eyed home?" Sakura shook her head.
"No. I was wondering if you guys knew." They all looked at each other. "Why are you all together anyway?" They paniced.
"Gotta run!" Genma said and the team disappeared. Sakura shook her head.
"Crazy idiots." Genma and the rest of the team appeared outside of Kakashi's apartment.
"Maybe he's in here." Asuma said. He tried the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. He pushed the door open to a white haze that filled the apartment.
"What the hell?" Sasuke exclaimed. They saw a figure with a shock of hair standing in the kitchen.
"Kakashi?" Genma asked, "What the hell happened here?" The Copy Nin grinned.
"Aha…I think I might've screwed up." Their faces fell.
"Let's see the damage." Naruto said in a low voice. Kakashi looked to the table, and their eyes followed. All of their mouths dropped open and their eyes widened. Sitting on the table was a huge pink cake. It had 6 tiers, the base being 36 inches in diameter, and the others getting smaller as the cake went up. Along the edges was white cream with blue and yellow flowers alternating all around. On top was a Konoha insignia cookie that was perched in the center.
"How did you screw up?" Asuma asked.
"The symbol's backwards." Kakashi said nervously. The team fell anime-style with their left leg's in the air. "So how did you guys do?" The team stood up immediately and gave a detailed report.
"Great! How's the hall coming?"
"The manager said I can start setting up tomorrow." Naruto added. Kakashi nodded his head in approval.
"Great work team! Now all we have to do is wait till Friday."
The next day, Naruto went to the hall to begin setting up decorations. When he walked into the giant room with the bags, he looked around then at the bags.
"Ah…I'm supposed to do this myself??" He screamed into the hall. He grumbled. An idea struck him. "Of course!" He dropped the bags and performed a seal. "Tajuu: Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" 60 shadow clones appeared, picked out decorations, and began to set up the hall accordingly.
Thursday night, Kakashi walked into the house his eye dropping. Sakura ran into the room and sighed heavily. She ran up to the Copy Nin and hit him on the chest.
"Where the Hell were you??" She demanded, hands on her hips.
"Mission." He said feeling tired.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Urgent." He said again. Sakura sighed and gave him a hug.
"At least you're alright." Kakashi put his arms around her.
"I'm really tired Sakura." He said, yawning loudly. She pulled away and nodded. He walked into the bedroom and pulled off his shirt. The silver haired jounin plopped into bed and instantly fell asleep. Sakura quietly walked in and watched, as her lover was fast asleep, breathing in and out softly. She walked over and got into bed next to him. She snuggled up next to him and his arms instinctively wrapped around her. "Sakura…" he whispered, eyes still closed.
"Hn?" She aseked.
"…Tomorrow's your birthday…" Sakura smiled and kissed him lightly on his masked lips, before falling asleep.
The next day, Sakura woke up to an empty bed. She could smell food in the kitchen. Quickly she swung her slender legs out from under the covers and made her way to the kitchen. On the table was a stack of pancakes with a single candle in the center. Kakashi sat across from her spot and smiled.
"Happy 18th birthday Sakura!" He said. The pink haired girl squealed and ran to her seat. "Make a wish." Kakashi said. Sakura closed her eyes and thought hard. I wish that Kakashi and I would be together forever. Kakashi lowered his hita-ate and smiled. Your wish is Kami's command Sakura he thought to himself. She blew out the candle and grinned up at her lover. She poured the thick syrup on the golden brown pancakes and began to eat them, savoring the fluffy taste in her mouth.
"Delish!" She exclaimed. Kakashi's eye curved in a smile.
"I have to go see Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said, "I'm no longer your legal guardian, which means…" Sakura looked up with concern in her eye. "I won't be living here anymore." Sakura lowered her utensils.
"But aren't we going to tell people about us?"
"We have to wait a bit. I mean come on if I tell Tsunade-sama that I've been seeing you this whole time, and I bring it up now I will be thrown in prison. Don't worry Sakura. It will only be for a week, maybe two." Sakura didn't like the idea. Why did they have to care so much about what other people thought? But then again he had a point. Now it was more or less a legal point of view.
"Ok." She responded simply. The Copy Nin stood up and gave his lover a kiss on the forehead.
"Be back soon." He said. He walked over to the door, put on his sandals and poofed out of the house.
"Ah Kakashi. Have a seat." The 5th greeted. The silver haired shinobi took a seat in front of the blonde Hokage. "Today marks the end of your 8 month assignment."
"That is right, Hokage-sama."
"Any progress." Kakashi nodded.
"It seems as if she has moved on with her parents' death. Now she has higher ambitions with the hospital. Her parents' death does not plague her anymore." Tsunade smiled.
"That's good to hear. Now two things must be dealt with. One, I am aware of tonight's party for Sakura, and will be attending." Kakashi smiled and nodded. "The second is you're new long term assignment." Kakashi sighed.
"Another?" Tsunade nodded. "What are the details." The honey-eyed woman leaned in and rested her chin on her hands.
"Rokudaime Hokage." Kakashi gasped slightly.
"Hokage-sama, we discussed this!" She slammed her hands down.
"Dammit Hatake! Don't you see that you have no choice in this matter?" Kakashi lowered his head. She sighed. "Look. Right now, we need you to run this village. Once you believe that the time is right you can step down and appoint somebody else. But for now, you have to hold the reins." Kakashi sighed.
"Naruto is going to hate me."
"I will deal with Naruto. If anything, you can appoint him after you feel that he has come of age." Kakashi nodded.
"Anything else?" He asked.
"That's it for now. Dismissed." The jounin stood up and poofed out of the office.
Sakura was at the hospital working fervently in the OR. "Quick hurry up with that transplant organ!" The nurses brough over the donated kidney and handed it to Sakura who then proceeded to transplant the organ with the damaged kidney. Once all was mended, she sighed and closed up the incision. "Job well done people." She said walking out of the room. She disposed of the her scrubs and walked into her office. The moment she sat at her desk, Shizune had barged into her office.
"Sakura! There is an emergency at the Akebeko Hall!" Sakura disappeared in a whirl of petals and appeared outside the hall. She ran inside and down the hallway. There was one pair of double doors on the left hand side. She swung the doors open and was taken aback by the amount of people in the room.
"SURPRISE!!!" They all cried and clapped. Sakura's face filled with joy as she ran to the center man who was Kakashi and embraced him hard.
"Thank you." She whispered into his ear. The entire party went just as planned. There was plenty of food to go around for everybody. There was even enough for Chouji to have multiple helpings of Korean Barbeque. Music played and people danced as Sakura sat around a table of her close friends and laughed with every story and every joke. Halfway into the night, Sakura was guided to her giant birthday cake. She was lost in the colors that it let off. There were 18 candles positioned in front of Sakura. Sasuke performed a few seals and blew 18 tiny fireballs lighting them all. Everybody engaged in a giant Happy Birthday song for their favorite pink haired kunoichi. After they finished the song, she cut the first slice. Kakashi picked up the plate and fed her a rather larger piece, getting pink frosting on her nose. Everyone laughed and had tons of fun enjoying the blaring music and company. By the end of the night, there were only the close friends left huddled around the head table.
"So did you enjoy your birthday Sakura?" Kakashi asked.
"Mhmm!" She nodded with enthusiasm.
"Well you can thank all these guys here. They made this night possible." She thanked all of her friends at the table one by one.
"Hey Sakura-chan," Naruto said, "now you can legally do it." Sakura bopped him on the head, and the others laughed.
At 2 o'clock in the morning, Kakashi walked Sakura backed to her house.
"I have to start packing tomorrow morning." Kakashi said. Sakura looked at the ground.
"I understand." She said. The Copy Nin stopped her and raised her chin. He leaned forward and gave her one of the most passionate kisses he could through a mask. Sakura returned the kiss and grabbed fists of his hair to help her get a deeper sensation. They broke off for air and Kakashi spoke first.
"Are you ready for tonight's final present?" He asked. Sakura blushed furiously then closed her eyes. I've waiting for this for so long. She nodded and looked up at her lover with a sparkle in her eye. Kakashi smiled and picked her up bridal style. They reached the house and unlocked the door. Kakashi made their way to the bedroom and laid her down on the bed, his lips locking with hers. He shifted himself onto the bed and began to caress his hand on her thigh. Sakura let a groan escape her throat. Kakashi pulled off his hita-ate and looked at the beautiful girl underneath him with love in his eyes.
"I want you Sakura." He said.
"I want you more Kakashi." She responded.
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A/N: Yes I'm evil! I'm letting it hang there. Next chapter is the lemon you've all been waiting for. Maybe it'll be all lemon maybe not. But yes lemon in the next chapter. Full blown no holds barred. It'll be dedicated to all those who requested it!
