Kakashi Hatake was a strong man, a good husband, a good leader and a good comrade to have in battle. There were little things that could snap him out of his calm demeanor, facade or not, that he kept up. Life hadn't been very forgiving to him, however, his ability to work with what he had been given was admirable, something against the odds. He didn't see many things that broke him because it only took a while until he became desensitized to emotion.
However, in rare moments like these, when he didn't feel obstructed by the weight of his responsibilities as the former Hokage, or a Hokage advisor, or a leader, he let himself crack.
Within the secluded rooms of his apartment where no one could see him collapse due to the physical and mental exhaustion of bearing the responsibility that no one else seemed to take up. Missions were usually smooth, but sometimes, there would be one which got in the way of his logical thinking. Prioritizing his teammates over the mission was something he always followed to a fault. But there were situations which made it hard to look at it as just one mission, for it brought back memories from all the others.
He reported to the Hokage's office as soon as he got back. In spite of Naruto insisting that he get himself checked for injuries before going home, Kakashi had brushed him aside and replied that it wasn't anything of concern. He told himself and Naruto that it was just a few scratches that would heal on its own. Besides, the only thing he wanted to do right now was pass out on his bed, and hope that she wouldn't be too mad at him for returning two days after the actual end date of the mission.
"Sensei, I really think you could do with a small checkup. You've returned two days after your actual mission and that ambush that you faced doesn't seem too good for you. After all, the hospital is only two blocks away from here and I can take you there if you want. Sakura can che-"
"I'm fine, Naruto." Kakashi replied, cutting him off. Surprisingly, he was the older person. He was the one that needed to be doing this.
Kakashi looked at Naruto, noting the weary eyes and the few strands of grey that were beginning to appear in his hair. He could relate with the struggle of handling the constant worry when he sent his close ones on a mission.
"Kakashi Hatake." Naruto seemed firmer and lost all in the same way that he said his name. "I know you said that you retired but then, I should admit that it is probably my fault that you're in this state. I should have assigned someone else but then you were the only one who I could trust to handle this one. With all that is coming at the village, I should have known better."
Kakashi was surprised. "I may be older than you Naruto but I don't think I'm ancient quite yet. Are you implying that this was more than I could handle?"
He knew that wasn't what Naruto was saying, but the boy was just holding him up from going home. He just wanted to leave the stuffy, too bright for any day office that seemed to be closing on him which being too big at the same time.
"No! That's not what I meant. It's just...I wanted to say that I'm sorry. For all that you had to go through in that mission. A genjutsu ambush wouldn't have been too pleasant."
"And the genjutsu is over and the ambush has been dealt with. I don't see any cause for worry." Kakashi had intoned, in his usual bored voice. He let out a silent breath, his mask collecting the warm air, something that he found made him wearier.
In a few minutes, he was walking back home, his mind numb to all that was happening around him. Spring was here and the streets were filled with people who had come out to enjoy the weather. He usually got back in a few minutes but today, the walk seemed heavier and longer than he had anticipated.
Maybe he should have taken Naruto's advice and gone to the hospital.
"No. I can't do that. The last thing she needs is to worry herself more after how I've returned two days later," he thought, trudging along the final street to his apartment.
Honestly, he wasn't sure if she would be happy that he was alive so that she could kill him or if she would be worried to no bounds. Maybe she could be both at the same time. She did always surprise him.
He closed the door behind him with a definitive click. It was going to be a long night with her at the hospital but then, he would be fine. Sakura didn't have to always take care of him. He had done this a few times before. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
Which was exactly why he was surprised to hear a soft melody playing through the kitchen with the lights on. The smell of ramen floated through the house, along with the breeze that blew in through the window. He didn't make much sound as he walked towards the kitchen to see her with her hair clipped back stirring the soup.
She looked like she had absolutely no care in the world in her soft cotton shorts, his navy shirt and black apron, humming along to the song playing on the radio.
"Naruto called. He told me that you got back from your mission only two hours ago and that you refused to come to the hospital." He could see her cutting up the french onions for the garnish on the ramen.
That explained why she was home so early. Maybe she wasn't actually mad at him that's why she was cooking. The rhythm of the knife on the cutting board seemed too loud for it to be normal. Each snap seemed to hit him a bit too hard.
"He also told me that you were dead on your feet, and knowing you, you would probably crash in the bed and sleep without dinner. As pissed off as I am at you, I don't want that happening."
So he was wrong and she was mad at him. Kakashi could only lean on the doorway as he listened to her. She was right, after all. His body was killing him with the overuse of chakra and his sight was starting to become hazy. Maybe he should sit down.
"Just get cleaned up. I'll get this done in a while so that I can check on your wounds before you go to bed." Sakura hadn't turned from her soup just yet and she had good reason not to. If she did, she wasn't sure if she would be happy to see him come back or she would scream at the fact that he refused to come to the hospital for a check.
He headed into the bedroom to do exactly as she had asked him. He slipped the headband and his mask off, along with his vest to sit down on the bed. A shower would help. But then, he just needed to sit down for a minute and get rid of his clothes. He slipped his head out of his Jounin shirt and slowly pulled his arms out of the sleeves. The cuffs were dry and cakey and they came off, scraping against his palms. His hands still had the scratches and blood from getting thrown to the ground. It hadn't been much of an issue then but the more he looked at it, the deeper they seemed to get, pain searing along with it.
He continued staring at it as his heartbeat sped up. The room that was so cold to enter only seemed to get more stuffy and closed up. His throat was closing up and almost each breath he took seemed more laborious than the last. He didn't have his mask on, but it seemed as though his face was only getting hotter and beads of perspiration broke out. His vision began tunneling and he felt that each time he opened them, the dim lights flashed like they were too bright. Before he knew it, he was kneeling on the ground, bent over from the reaction in his body.
That was when his mind started racing and it took him back to the scene that he had watched unfold for the two days.
It was a regular mission which had been dealt with a few minor complications. The rogue ninjas were nothing more than what he could handle. He had been proficient, tackling the base and handling the two targets he found.
The mission wasn't supposed to last more than three days and he had been sent alone so as to not raise much concern or suspicion. Naruto had emphasized that it had to be kept quiet because the two rogues were from the Sand Village and Gaara didn't want the word getting out, considering how well the relations between them had been progressing. The Kazekage couldn't assign a shinobi from his own village to take care of it so he had asked Naruto to handle it with a person who he could trust.
Kakashi had scoured the perimeter to be safe and found not much cause for concern so he began heading back to the village. He still had a day to travel to the village and he considered it successful enough that he finished it a day early.
After over two hours of walking, he seemed to realize that there wasn't much that he had hacked through. It felt like he was back in the same place that he had been a few minutes ago. Either he was walking in a circle or there was something wrong.
Logically, according to the report, he had to take out the two ninjas and leave as soon as possible. It was a simple in and out mission. But the hair that stood on his neck told him otherwise and Kakashi felt that there was more to this mission than what he thought was over.
"If Naruto had been here, he would be throwing kunai knives at rabbits." mused Kakashi. The blond had never gotten over his hyperactive tendencies and he always got too excited on missions. However, he supposed that Naruto had come a long way from the screaming kid that he was. It was rather bittersweet. He had been working in teams for so long that he missed their constant bickering and nagging, while he could read a book and pretend not to hear them.
But then, he wouldn't be able to read for long, for Sakura would pluck it out of his hands, something he let only her do. Sakura was more distracting than any Icha Icha novel anyway. With her perfect smile and smart mind. If she knew that he was walking through the forest, thinking about such things, she would probably laugh at him for being such a sap.
Shaking his head clear of errant thoughts, Kakashi waited to sense anything out of the ordinary.
The birds in the forest were chirping in a pattern, one that was way too timed for it to be natural. The wind was too perfect in its temperature and the place had gotten extremely silent. Turning around, he saw something that made him stay rooted to his spot and something that filled him with dread.
Four feet from where he stood, Sakura was on the ground, her skin a pallid colour, supported by her arms that looked too thin to be healthy, coughing out blood. Her pink hair didn't look as lustrous with patches of dried blood from her forehead making it stick to her face. She had cuts on her arms that were bleeding, sapping her strength from her already too frail body. The dress that she wore had numerous tears as if someone had taken a kunai knife to slowly drag it over her skin. Her shoulders rocked with the sobs and whimpers she was letting out from the pain.
"Ka...ka...shi," her voice barely came out as a whisper but he could hear her loud and clear in the too silent forest. She reached her arm out to him, but dropped it to the ground again, barely being able to muster the strength to keep it up. She whimpered again, her teeth biting her cracked lips in an attempt to keep in the pain. She had a high tolerance for pain and to think that someone had been able to do this to her was alarming.
When he didn't reply to her cry for help, she coughed again, fading into a sob.
He wasn't sure why he couldn't move when his wife lay there, almost dead.
And then his senses came back to him. He rushed over to her form, kneeling down her left side, his arm automatically going around her shoulders to support her. She hissed in pain when his hand grazed over her shoulder, nevertheless leaning into him to lay her head over his shoulder.
Kakashi didn't know if his chest was feeling uncomfortably tight because of her being in pain, or how he couldn't feel her body on top of him. He couldn't heal her to make an impact, he would just have to get her home.
When he looked up, he realized that he wasn't the only one watching her suffer.
About 10 feet away, stood a man in a cloak that reached his knees, with a headband of the sand village. That was when it struck him. There had been a third rogue ninja waiting for him away from the base, and he hadn't noticed, walking right into a trap.
"Too bad that she's almost going to die. It didn't take much to get her. I guess the Sannin Reborn isn't all as powerful as word got around. I wasn't very surprised when I saw you in the base but to see her keep an eye on you to protect you, was just too good to resist playing around. It's a bad thing that she doesn't tell you that she came as backup but then, you do need the help if you barely know who you're fighting." The rogue ninja laughed as Sakura coughed against him, getting blood on his vest.
He was mad that she didn't tell him that she was following him, but he was more angry with himself. She was smart so she had kept her distance, making sure that he wouldn't detect her chakra signature. He hadn't known until it was too late and he was in too much hurry to believe that he finished the mission that he hadn't bothered.
"She was feisty, I'll admit. It took a bit of my chakra to get her to stand down, but watching her cry was beautiful. And to think that it was all because of you that you gave me her pain...My, my Kakashi, you must be special." The rogue ninja began walking closer to him, nonchalant at the aghast look in his eyes and her dull ones.
"It should have been you, in her place. But I guess we can do that next time."
The realisation hit him like a thousand needles piercing into his body.
"Ka...kashi. Pl-please. You...you have to end...this." the voice next to him was feeble and her hand went up on clutch his. Her breaths were becoming weaker against his neck and he couldn't think through it.
Gritting his teeth, pulled the arm away from her shoulder, his entire body screaming at him to not let go of her frame. He had to get out of this, shocking his own senses and the rogue ninjas.
Something unpredictable and something that was quick. He could feel his chakra depleting when his suspicions were confirmed.
He took a kunai from his pouch and in a flash, stabbed it into her left hand, into his own that she still had in her clasp, the blade going through her hand and into his.
He was in a Genjutsu and he had walked right into it all because he hadn't cared too much.
Her scream shattered his heart and it never seemed to end. That was when he realized that the screams weren't hers, but his own.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in his room, on the floor, panting with one of his arms up for support on his bed and another to the ground. Sakura had her hands framing his damp face. She was kneeling next to him, confusion and worry apparent in her green eyes. She was trying to get him to look at her, but Kakashi only felt worse with each second that he felt her hands on him, trying to comfort him.
Sakura. Of course, she would still try to comfort him if she was in pain. He dared to look at her and the contrast between the Sakura he had seen a minute ago, weak and bloodied, and the Sakura he was seeing now, flawless and soft was extremely disorienting. But the pain in her eyes looked the same.
He had hurt her, genjutsu or not, which he wasn't sure if this wasn't one, her pain was because of him. With all the strength he could muster, he pushed her shoulder away and dragged himself farther away from her. He couldn't be close to her, especially when he was the reason she was in pain.
He was a mess with his wild eyes and hair, that he clutched in an attempt to stop his mind from screaming. His chest was still heaving with sobs and he could hear Sakura surprised at the push before she shook her head and came back to his side.
"This could easily not be real, Kakashi." She seemed perfectly fine, as far as he had seen her. But so had the visions before they got gruesome and horrific.
By the First, he had stabbed the blade through her hand. Her small hands that always seemed way too small in his. Her hands that held his face to stroke thoughtfully at his cheekbone. Her hands that seemed to take away anyone's pain in Konoha when they came running to her with some injury. She was the one who healed people when they were in pain to give them relief and he had thrown all of that out of the window and run the blade right through her palm.
"Kakashi. Hey, look at me, sweetheart." Her voice was gentle, quiet against the one screaming in his head. She was still here, talking to him, whispering in the voice that made him think everything was more than okay, when it wasn't.
"Sweetheart, you're breathing too fast, okay? Let's go over that again. Turn to me and breathe with me. A slow breath in and a slow breath out." Her voice continued, only a whisper, yet one that quieted the cacaphony in his head. She tried to put herself in his line of vision but he was determined to not look at her because he was sure that it would only serve as a reminder of the way he hurt her.
He flinched when she placed her hand on the bare skin of his shoulder, forcing him to snap his eyes at her. Her other hand had been reaching out to his face, in an attempt to make him look at her. But he didn't want to look at her. He couldn't. Not after what he did. Rather than letting her hand touch his face, he only managed to pull it down to his lap, curling in on himself to stare at her left palm.
It was smooth as ever, unblemished even without the callouses from training that only she never got. He couldn't help but let out a choked sound on finding that her hand wasn't damaged, and if it wasn't damaged then he hadn't stabbed her, and this was really happening. His mind had quieted a decibel as he drank in the fact and he lifted his helpless eyes at her, his breath still harsh, looking for a ray of hope that he was scared would be taken away from him again.
Sakura seemed to understand him almost immediately. She flipped her hand over in Kakashi, in an attempt to try and tell him at she was completely all right. Kakashi reacted instantaneously, his eyes slipping shut in relief.
"Her hand doesn't have any semblance of any damage at all." Kakashi could only swallow the coppery taste in his mouth as he finally dared to look at her.
Sakura looked worried and tense but other than that, she didn't have any injuries. Kakashi noticed that her eyes looked cloudy with the confusion but a quick sweep of his eyes over her frame, grounded him more to reality than anything else.
His shoulders remained hunched over and Sakura sat there with her hand between Kakashi's, which he held on to, opening his eyes every few seconds reaffirming that it was real.
She is here.
She was always here.
She is safe.
Kakashi repeated the sentences like mantra in his head as many times as he could, until the voices decreased another decibel.
He had no idea how long they sat there, with her hand clasped reverently in his grip, crouched over it, while she waited for him to come back to her. After what seemed like hours, his breathing had calmed down to shallow breaths, and the ironish taste in his mouth subsided.
He just needed to hear her but she was probably waiting for him to speak, let her know that it was okay before she spoke to him again. He had to tell her that he wasn't sure what was happening to him. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry for returning home late and not telling her. He wanted to tell her that he was a wreck and he wasn't worth all that effort and concern. He wanted to tell her that he didn't deserve her but he wanted to covet her all the same. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry that he was a monster who fed off the pain of those closest to him.
But that didn't come out of his mouth. Instead, all that he cracked out from his throat was a feeble and breathy response with her name.
"Sakura..."
And there she was.
In an instant, she had her hands cradling his face before she raised herself to pull him into her shoulder for comfort. Kakashi knew it had to be uncomfortable for her, with the way that he placed his forehead on her collarbone and held on to her like she would disappear any moment. They were sprawled out on the floor, her limbs folded neatly under her and his legs sprawled and bent out in front of him. If Sakura had been in a lighter mood, she would have called it something akin to a pretzel.
"You're alright, sweetheart. I'm here. Just breathe with me, okay. We'll do it at the same time." her voice broke through again, reaching out to comfort him. He closed his eyes and began focusing on her heartbeat and breath in a way to mimic it with his own, too short at first, but with time, they began to even out.
He couldn't bear to let himself relax his grip on her in fear that she might disappear if he let her go.
Her hands held him and comforted him in a way that he never thought was possible. She had one arm, wrapped around him with which she held him close and rubbed slow circles with her fingers on his shoulder blade, and another at the back of his head, gently running her nails along the hairline. His breathing calmed down along with the shouting in his head and Kakashi wasn't sure if she was using chakra to calm him down so that he would feel better.
But this time, Kakashi was sure that it was just her being there. Sakura had pressed her lips into his hair multiple times as she held him and waited for his heartbeat to slow down. And with each press, he could feel his heartbeat stutter into a different erratic rhythm, one that wasn't induced by panic rather than affection and comfort.
The roaring wouldn't subside as he held still, caged within her arms. It felt like she had sensed it without Kakashi saying anything, but Sakura pulled away for a moment, with him making a strangled noise in his throat. Her hands were back on his neck in an instant, the blade of her thumbs skating across his sharp jaw as she let him focus on her.
"I'll be right back, sweetheart. I'm just going to run you a bath. I think that will help you more than I can." Kakashi knew that he would have vehemently disagreed if he had been in full control of his faculties. However, she didn't just stop there.
"I'll be right there with you." She promised, her green eyes earnest and piercing in the dim light. He wasn't sure what to think, but before he could reply, she slipped out of his hold and walked into the bathroom door. Maybe the grip he had on her wasn't as strong as he thought.
He felt the sounds in his head beginning to mount as she filled the tub with water. It took her another few seconds to check the temperature but for Kakashi, it felt like hours dragging along. He couldn't escape the silent sigh that left his mouth when she walked out, wiping her hands on a towel, smiling at him.
"I think, you'll like this bath. It is hot and scalding, however terrifying it may be, but just the way you like your showers in the morning." That distracted him. They were always fighting about the varying degrees at which they took a shower, which made it impossible for them to be together in it. Kakashi enjoyed hot and quick showers, which he found more practical and relaxing to his muscles after the missions but Sakura only wanted the cold splash of water against her heated skin, from running around the hospital all day. Nevertheless, they made it work with one person or the other compromising on the temperature to have fool around.
She slipped an arm around his waist, prompting him to try and get to his feet. She slowly led him to the bathroom where she stood, back facing the counter to look at him in the light. She must have seen something that concerned her, because the small line of worry appeared on her forehead, the one which precedes her wringing her hands. Kakashi couldn't help but lean forward to pitch his forehead on her shoulder, their stark height differences, making him bow down and get her on her tiptoes to let him do the action. His arms wound at her waist, pulling her petite frame against himself while hers found their way to his shoulders, a hand stroking the back of his neck to calm down.
She smelled like lavender, chamomile and tea, probably because of her perfume and what she had been making in the kitchen before he interrupted her day. Sakura sighed against him, her own tension bleeding out of her body, and Kakashi could swear that the sound silenced the buzzing in his head for a moment before it was back again.
She moved her mouth to quietly whisper into his ear. "I'm going to take your clothes off now. Stay with me, Kakashi."
Had it been another day, Kakashi would have laughed with his eyes darkening at the prospect of her stripping him of clothes. He wouldn't have resisted, probably competed with her to get her out of her own before she could rid him of his. But today was different.
"Just relax, sweetheart. I'm going to take care of you, okay?" Instantly, he knew that he was going to be okay. The roaring dropped further as she helped him out of his undershirt and eased his pants off him. She helped him into the tub as she tossed the clothes aside. Kakashi sunk into the bath with a soft moan.
He heard Sakura light a match, with which she lit one of the candles that she had placed on the counter. She smiled, blushing at the action explaining, "It's just lavender and eucalyptus. It helps me calm down after a long day when you're out on missions."
Kakashi could only close his eyes and breathe as she reached over to cup some water next to his arm to say, "Tip your head back, sweetheart. I don't want to get water all over your face when I'm washing your hair."
She began wetting his head with gentle trickles of water from her palms, a soothing lull against his cranium. Soon, she had some shampoo in her hair, as she assuaged her fingers into his silver hair, making his eyes flutter closed. There wasn't much sound as she went on to condition his hair too, with only small sounds of pleasure that he couldn't seem to keep back when her fingers stroked the hollow where his jaw met his ear. Kakashi could feel himself sag against the tub as she continued with her deft and sure fingers. She made quick work of his body too, with gentle and nimble fingers running over him with a washcloth.
Once she was done, she helped him back out, wrapping him in one of the softest towels she had. They stood there for a moment, with Sakura's eyes meeting his as she gently pushed the wet fringe of hair that had begun to fall on his forehead.
"Feel any better, sweetheart?" Her voice was a little more than a breath as she waited for an answer. Kakashi couldn't find his voice within himself as he hummed, making her draw him close. The roaring had faded into an inconsequential buzz now.
After he brushed his teeth, she took his wrist and pulled him back into the room where she headed over to one of the cupboards, grabbing a pair of black cotton boxers and a comfortable pair of nightpants. Better in control than before, Kakashi took them from her, slipping them on to find Sakura on their bed, kneeling at the centre. She had a hand reaching out to him and Kakashi could help but lift his to grasp her fingers.
"I think you could do better with a massage, sweetheart."
Kakashi found himself climbing onto the bed while bringing her hand up to lips to place a kiss, oh so gently, on her knuckles. With a sigh he turned, laying on his stomach as she smiled wider. She placed her knees on either side of his waist as she got her hands ready and warmed up with chakra. He let out a breath that he hadn't realized that he was holding when she pressed the thumb of her hands and the knuckles of another two fingers on the sides of neck pushing when he let out a groan. She worked her capable hands onto the planes of his back with almost gentle and fleeting touches against his spine. Her palms pressed against the base of his spine that narrowed into his pants and her fingers stroked the knobs right below his neck.
Honestly, he could die, with her hands on him and he would never regret a thing.
He didn't know how long she kept it up for. By the end of it, Kakashi knew that he was probably reduced to a pile of mush, with all the pampering that she had indulged him on.
Her hands must have hurt for she eased off him in a moment to say, "I'm the not the best at that, I'll admit."
His body was thrumming with the soft comfort that she had so carefully crafted for him that it broke his heart that she thought it wasn't enough.
Kakashi couldn't bring himself to let her do all this for him as reached for out and his hands met hers before getting his knees on the bed. They weren't eye-to-eye at the moment with his position giving him several inches over her. They were kneeling on the bed, a hair's breadth of distance between them, and Kakashi felt his heart pounding through his chest. When she placed her hands on her neck to sweep the pad of her thumb over his jaw, he was pretty sure that she could feel it too.
He reached for the hand on his face, his fingers closing around her wrist to bring her palm to his mouth. A small kiss seemed barely enough for all that she had done for him today while he had been an incomprehensible mess. When he let go of her hand, it landed softs on his chest as he focused his eyes on her again. Light or not, he could make out small speckles of brown in her jade green eyes and the twitch of her lip for his own.
He leaned in to close that final bit of distance between them, placing his mouth over hers. The roaring in his head finally stopped as their lips moved against each other with practiced ease. Sliding a hand into her bubblegum locks, he angled her head better to taste her mouth.
He would have laughed at Sakura for picking a chapstick that matched the colour of her hair but he wasn't complaining now. The mint from his toothpaste and her strawberry chapstick was a heady concoction that he couldn't get enough of. Her tongue traced the bow of his upper lip and he could only sigh, letting her taste him too.
Sakura's kisses always took him to another world, one that only had peace, serenity and passion. All of those things that he never thought he would harbor with any person.
Kakashi slipped his hands underneath her soft cotton shirt to glide over her ribs, running over each indentation that had her sucking in a breath. He could easily place his fingers in the hollows between each rib, to only pull her closer than she already was.
Sakura was the first to break away from the kiss, but Kakashi followed with pressing his lips to the corner of her mouth and more to the edge of her jaw. He continued placing kisses down the expanse of her neck, sucking on the sweet spot when she moaned softly.
Kakashi loved making her know that she wanted him but he knew that he didn't want to leave a mark. The last time that she had asked him why he never gave her hickeys, blushing rather furiously that her cheeks were the colour of her hair, he had replied, "I don't need to mark you to know that you want me. As long as you're here, in my arms, I know that you want me."
He snapped back to the present when he felt one of her hands trailing over his chest. Rising, he met her lips again, but this time, his hands picked at the hem of her shirt. Without much said, Sakura lifted it over her head, as Kakashi traced the underside of her breast. His hand rose to cup her gently in his hands as he slid a finger over the tip, making her nipple harden and pebble on his touch. He could hear her suck in a soft breath as he took the bud gently between his fingertips as he bent to map her collarbone with his mouth. Sakura's hands were in his hair, running over his scalp and through the wet strands as he heard her gasps when he repeated the actions with his hand.
Twisting her enough to lay her down on the bed, Kakashi quickly bracketed the sides of her head, holding himself up on his arms as she rose up to meet his lips. Kakashi met hers with equal fervor as he reached down, smoothing the waistline of her shorts, asking for permission, like every other time.
Sakura's face was tinted with a faint blush, that innocently splayed out over her cheeks.
"Yes."
With that, he slipped a hand into her shorts, past her panties as gently used a finger to trace the lips of her opening. Her skin was flawlessly soft, just like every other part of her body and Kakashi wondered what he had done do deserve her in his bed. He noted with a smile that she had been ready for him, her clit soaking with her juices, but he knew that she was only slightly aroused. He used his middle finger to ghost over her mound, down to the lips of her opening. They parted gently, allowing him to ease the tip of his finger inside the wet folds as she sighed, one that had caught between a gasp and a whimper.
Kakashi used his other hand to hold himself up as she wound hers around his neck, her fingernails scratching the base of his skull, eliciting pleasant tingles down his spine. She met his mouth, making her arch her back off the bed, something that Kakashi loved to see her do. Positioning the hand perfectly over her opening, he eased his finger inside her clit, swallowing her gasp into his mouth. His tongue gently massaged hers as he pushed his digit into her, sliding over her walls just right to make her legs tremble a little. As he continued stroking that point inside her, Sakura let out a whimper to let him know that she wanted more.
For fuck's sake, he hadn't even gotten her clothes off her yet. Kakashi considered it a victory that he could still get her to the most pliable states with just a few strategically placed hand maneuvers.
But tonight would be about her. With all that she had done for him, to make him feel better, he had to tell her what that meant. She had to know that what she had done for him tonight had left his body thrumming with care. It was only fair, in his head, that she be subjected to the same careful attention that she had lavished upon him.
"Kakashi...please."
That made him snap out of his reverie as his finger slipped out of her again. Before she could react to the loss of his finger, he slowly tugged up her shirt, his fingers sliding over the smooth skin and toned muscle before he eased it over her head. He quickly got to work, with one hand finding its way to a breast to cup it gently within his palm and his mouth dipping to capture the other rosy bud within his mouth. He felt Sakura throw her head back and moan, a low and throat sound that sent a delicious response to his own legs. He sucked on the tender flesh, taking her bud between his teeth and he could swear that she let out a gasp.
His other hand had slipped beneath her hips, to hold her more securely to him as his fingernails drew gentle lines over the small of her back. She had reached around his shoulders to scrape her blunt nails along the upper part of his back while the other ran through the strands of his silver hair to hold his head against her chest.
Kakashi pulled away from her breast to only switch over and continue his ministrations on the other, to only leave her wanton and gasping for more. When he pulled her waist closer that her legs wrapped around his waist to press against him, he found that he could almost feel the heat between her legs against his skin. Judging by the way she was lifting her hips off the bed to touch his body, he could only guess that she had soaked through the shorts, ready for him.
But it wasn't going to be all that simple just yet. Kakashi could bear to push her more, before she came undone.
He lifted his head up to let her align herself against his hardening length as he met her soft, kiss bruised lips as encouragement before he got along to other things. He let her slide her cotton clad legs against him.
Once.
Twice.
Before reaching behind him to unlock the ankles she had clasped behind him.
If he let her do it a few more times, he wouldn't be able to focus and he couldn't take care of her the same way she had him. She was touching him too much and he needed control.
He could see Sakura swallow and blink at him in confusion, although her hands dropped away from him. He turned away to get off the bed, to make his way to the small nightstand next to their bed. He could feel Sakura's burning gaze on the side of his head as he reached for the contents in the drawer.
"Kakashi-kun...Is...is everything okay?"
It had been quite sometime that she called him that.
Her voice seemed small and so soft in the quiet of the night and he was surprised that he only noticed now. He glanced a look at her flushed form, sprawled out in his bed, looking ethereal with the way her skin looked pale and porcelain and her hair almost a shade of lavender in the moonlight that filtered through the room. He understood how it must look for him to suddenly walk away from her, as he pulled out the thick strips of velvet from the drawer. Once he stood up and turned to face her, with his hand visible to her, understanding dawned in her eyes and her blush only travelled through her body, visible almost upto her collarbone.
She let him coax her left wrist into the velvet, securing it to the bedpost over her head. She didn't say much until he had walked around, kneeled on the other side of the bed to take her wrist that she reached up to his face, gently taking the side of his jaw into her hand, her thumb skimming over his cheekbone.
"Thank you, sweetheart."
Her eyes sparkled even with the dim light and Kakashi lowered his gaze to turn to place a kiss to her palm, before dragging his lips over to the pulse point over her wrist. After that, he secured her other hand to the opposite bedpost in a similar manner as he placed himself back into the hovering position over her arched body.
He kissed her, his body warmer than before as she responded with equal fervor. His hand reached to cup her breasts and to his amusement, his sudden departure hadn't gotten her down from her high at all. In fact, her nipples seemed to have hardened and Kakashi was deaf if he didn't hear her make that low throaty moan again. He gently slipped his fingers into the belt loops of her shorts as he kissed the side of her left ribs, to ease it down her long legs. Not making too much of a fuss, he dragged her panties down too, tossing them aside to reach and cup her mound like he had done a few minutes ago.
Sakura was letting out gasps as he pushed his middle finger in again but this time, he reached to fill her in deep for he knew she was aching for something. After a few teasing pumps of his finger, Sakura whimpered and he smiled. Quickly, he angled his wrist to stroke over her glistening pearl and Sakura caught her breath. With his grin growing wider, he eased his index finger in to flick her clit and he was rewarded with another moan.
Kakashi placed small, fluttering kisses over the curve of her hip bone from one end to the other as she squirmed against her restraints. They both knew that it was something she could break out of, but the need for him to have control at the moment probably left her willing to comply to his request.
Kakashi slid over to kiss her again, while he pumped the two fingers inside her at a slow and rhythmic pace. And when he reached up with his middle to flick her bud and crook the other to scratch along her walls, she cried out into his mouth.
He repeated it a couple of times and Sakura gasped each time.
He waited a few seconds for her to calm down and choke out a breathless "What...was? What was...that?"
He chuckled, to crook his finger again and he saw her close her eyes at the sensation. Her body was heating up with goosebumps trailing over her arms and Kakashi knew that his pants were getting rather tight around him.
Sakura realized it the same time he did too, for she looked at him with hooded eyes and then proceeded to bite the corner of her mouth.
He pulled the drawstring out and pushed the pants to his ankles, kicking it down to get rid of it, and his member stood ready for attention.
"Kakashi...let me..." Sakura said, and he nodded reaching to untie her left hand.
Free, she trailed the arm over his neck, gliding south along his chest and abdomen to wrap around his length. Kakashi let out a breath as her fingers worked and tugged his cock, making it harder if possible. He had no idea how he had been able to not think about himself all this time, but with someone like her writhing and gasping his name could do that to his head.
Sakura knew exactly what she was doing to him as he pressed his mouth to a neck and sucked on a spot indulgently. Within a few minutes, she had him breathing heavy with his cock straining painfully against his stomach and tight with her vice-like grip. He thought he saw stars when she swiped a finger over the tip to get his precome out of the way and he bit back the moan he felt in his throat.
If she kept this up, he would definitely fall. Placing a hand over her wrist, he pushed her hand away from himself and reached to stroke her a few more times before he let their hips align right and he pushed the tip of his cock into her velvety folds.
Sakura's eyes were scrunched together but he saw the contortions in her face slacken as he pushed inside her slowly until he was buried till the hilt. The feeling was indescribable. Sakura was always so responsive and wet and tight around him that when he felt her move her legs to accommodate him better, he felt that he would cry out.
He had to physically hold her hips down from bucking into his so that she wouldn't rush into it and actually take the time to take in the pleasure.
He stayed like that for a moment, until she whispered, "I need more, Kakashi...I want you to move deeper inside me."
Kakashi began moving, rhythmically and slowly, pushing into her and pulling almost all the way out. Their skin took on a light sheen of sweat as they both rode through the sensations filling their bodies.
He began picking up the pace only when he felt her whimpering again and he could swore that he almost wanted to do the same. He pushed his length into her, harder, faster and deeper as she moaned his name, louder than the last, hitting her right where she loved.
He had his hands clasped around her hips tight and she held on to his shoulder as she bucked her hips in coordination with his. He could feel the pressure coiling in his groin as she gasped out, "I'm very...close!"
Kakashi could feel his own release coming with hers and when she arched her body with a low guttural moan, crying out in her orgasm. He bit into the soft skin of her neck as his resolve crumbled too and he came, spilling his seed inside her, in a gasp, almost indecipherable with their breaths.
He waited for the clouds to clear from his head as Sakura lay beneath him, her eyes closed and head lolled back. He could breathe easy at last, tension released from both their limbs and lost to the pleasing reactions that both their bodies were having.
He placed his slackened mouth over the corner of her lips, he felt her smile. When she opened her eyes, he could swore that he saw stars again.
She moved under him, reminding him that they were still connected and Kakashi slipped out of her, dripping with their release. He quickly got up and walked into the small bathroom to come back with a warm washcloth as he wiped down the fluids between her legs to discard the cloth promptly. He came back and Sakura watched him, as he untied her other hand, which now had a pink marking over her wrist with the struggling.
Kakashi traced a finger over the marks before massaging her hand gently to allow blood to flow into them, when Sakura began sitting up to lift his chin up to meet her eyes, halting him of his actions.
She kissed him gently, easing him into the bed as she cuddled up against his chest. He was fairly sure that they looked like a human pretzel. She had tangled his legs with hers, an arm swung over his chest, and one of her hands had been intertwined with his.
"I missed you."
Kakashi didn't say anything into the silent night for a long time until he found his voice, finally in all the time they had been together and said the first word he had said to her all night.
"Sakura..."
He was sure that she had fallen asleep but he heard her faint hum.
"I love you."