Swapped
The Bargain & the Benefit
Sakura could feel her face burning with shame. She hadn't even told Kakashi yet that she'd been accepted into black-ops, and now she was being blackmailed with it. Kakashi didn't seem particularly surprised, but she could feel his back going up. Perhaps he wasn't surprised that they'd accepted her, but he was certainly unhappy that she'd forgotten to tell him.
It's not forgetting when you actively chose not to tell me, he thought. She was feeling guilty and angry in equal parts, and it was difficult for her to differentiate her emotions from Kakashi's.
"This is Sakura's decision, then." Kakashi said with a shrug and a tone of finality. Tsunade quirked a dubious eyebrow up at him.
"Oh? This doesn't have any effect on you whatsoever, then?" She asked sarcastically.
"It's Sakura's career on the line; no one is threatening mine. The mental link is an invaluable asset to missions, I agree." Sakura didn't understand how he could be so calm about this. This mental link was eating away at her every single day; grating on her, weighing her down. She could hardly take it anymore, and he was opting to keep it?
"You agree?" Tsunade asked in deep scepticism.
"I would prefer to dissolve the link for my own personal reasons, but yes. I agree." He said again, his voice even and closed off. Sakura was gaping at him, seething with anger and disbelief. "I'll leave this to you," he said with a curt bow of his head before he disappeared. Sakura gaped, open-mouthed at the empty spot he had just been standing in.
"Trouble in paradise?" Tsunade asked.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?!" Sakura burst, loud and flailing, her amplified anger still buzzing inside her. With Kakashi gone, she was able to get more of a handle on herself. She dropped her arms and looked to Tsunade apologetically. "I can't believe that asshole just left."
"Seems pretty believable to me," Tsunade said with a shrug. "You should have told him about ANBU, Sakura."
"Are you trying to give me relationship advice?" Sakura asked doubtfully.
"Are you admitting you have a relationship with Hatake?" Tsunade asked with a smirk. Sakura felt her face heat uncontrollably.
"Shishou, you are so nosy," Sakura grumbled. "But…but would that be so bad?" She asked after a moment. She was feeling dizzy with all the blood rushing to her head. Tsunade sighed.
"The council won't like it."
"They don't have to know," Sakura said. Tsunade rolled her eyes.
"Have you met the shinobi in this village?" She asked. That was a good point. Not only were the Konoha nin particularly gossipy, but she and Kakashi had been horribly obvious, judging by the people who had stumbled onto them thus far, despite the fact that they'd really only been meandering the village together for about a week combined since they'd returned from their mission to Fang.
"You don't seem to care very much," Sakura said. Since learning about Tsunade and Kakashi's history, she thought that made sense. Tsunade cared about the both of them. Sakura wondered if Tsunade thought the same thing Pakkun did; that she was good for him.
"I'm not the problem, kid. The council is already trying to bully you into keeping the mental link by dangling ANBU in front of you. Horse shit. They know that mission went as well as it could have. They just want to impose themselves onto you and Kakashi. As if that man hasn't suffered enough." Tsunade was descending into a bitter rant against the council, and as much as Sakura agreed with the sentiments, she needed more action and less talk.
"So…you're saying if we keep the link, they won't have anything to say?" Sakura asked. She wasn't sure it was worth it. It had become abundantly clear in the last few days that any disagreement between them could very easily blow out of proportion. She was already explosive enough; she didn't really need the help.
"Oh, they'll have plenty to say. But they'll be more inclined to look the other way," Tsunade said.
"Keep the link, keep ANBU, keep working with Kakashi," Sakura mused aloud. "Break the link, lose ANBU, possibly lose working with Kakashi, too," she said. She looked to Tsunade for a contradiction, but her shishou had none for her. What a mess.
"Ah…I'm sorry, Sakura," Tsunade said with a shake of her head and sad eyes. "They're making an example of you." Sakura stared at her in surprise.
"There are worse things," she said with a shrug. Body swaps, mind reading, evil childhood girlfriends…with everything that had happened, the very last thing on Sakura's mind was resenting her shishou for making an enemy of the council.
"I'm sure their unfairness against you has something to do with their disdain for me." She sighed wearily.
"That's alright, shishou. It's worth the trade-off." Sakura said with complete honesty.
"Damn right, girl. Being my apprentice is far more important than being liked by those dusty crones." Tsunade said with an angry huff. Sakura smiled, feeling a little lighter. That was the shishou she knew and loved. They would figure this out, somehow. She wouldn't jeopardize things with Kakashi by keeping this horrible link, and she wouldn't be bullied into submission, either.
When she said as much to Tsunade, her shishou had thumped her fist on her desk and stared after Sakura with fire in her eyes. When a slow smile spread across Tsunade's face, Sakura was both excited and scared.
Leaving in the heat of the moment had probably not been the best move, Kakashi realized as he paced back and forth in Sakura's apartment. For one, he really, truly, absolutely did not want to keep this mental link. It was driving him completely fucking mad. He was already dealing with his own troublesome emotions, but dealing with Sakura's firsthand was damn near impossible.
Not to mention, he was constantly in fear of thinking something horrible. He figured it was only a matter of time before their frustrations got the best of them, and one of them had a thought that would deeply wound the other. He just hoped he wasn't the one to break first. He could handle hearing it from Sakura, but he wasn't so sure he could handle Sakura's reaction at being on the receiving end of it.
Shit, what was he thinking? He never agreed with anything the council ever said, why would he start now?
He had just been so frustrated. Between the news that the council was lauding Sakura's position in ANBU over her head, to the news that she was going to be in ANBU…
With a sigh, he flopped down onto the purple couch in her living room. That had been a tragically unwise move. He seemed to be making a lot of those lately. Stupid mental link. Hadn't he told her he would respect her wishes? He wasn't so sure storming off in a whirlwind of pettiness screamed "supportive".
And then, of course, the first place he had thought to go was to her apartment. He wondered if she was in Tsunade's office right now, agreeing to keep the link since, apparently, Kakashi was all for it.
It had its benefits, sure. There would definitely be a benefit to it for mission purposes, but they'd already seen firsthand the negative impacts. Sakura had been pummeled by an avalanche of boulders because she had been goaded into a premature attack against a cloud.
The personal benefits had proven to be quite interesting, too, he could admit. Having Sakura's thoughts and fantasies on display had brought him a singular sort of satisfaction. And as horrible as the lows were, the highs were unsurpassable. There was something so holy about the way it felt to feel her fall apart around him physically, and also feel it mentally.
A knock at the door jarred him from his thoughts. A good thing, too, because the last thing he needed was for Sakura to get home pissed off and see him sat on her sofa with a hard-on.
When he opened the door, he was met with three very confused faces. He understood the sentiment; he, too, was very confused.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Tenten asked. "Is Sakura here?"
"Not at the moment," he answered, blinking down at the little girl who stood between Tenten and Hanabi.
"Hey, you're Sakura-san's boyfriend!" The girl said in delight. "I remember you. You have talking dogs." Kakashi blinked a few more times, trying to determine if he'd been drugged at any point in the last twelve hours. For starters, this child looked strikingly similar to the little, pale-eyed girl who Sakura had been loath to leave behind after her ANBU mission. Logically, he knew it was her, Yuhi, but the difference a week had made was astonishing. Her hair was clean, for one, as was her face. Kakashi could make out that she had a smattering of freckles and a few scars along her cheekbones.
"Uh, yes?" He answered. Tenten's and Hanabi's eyebrows shot straight up behind their bangs. "Yes, I have talking dogs." He amended. He wasn't so sure about the other thing; he figured it was best to just pretend like he hadn't heard it.
"That's cool. So where's Sakura-san?" Yuhi asked, darting her head around him to peer into the apartment, as if Kakashi was hiding Sakura from her.
"She's with Tsunade-sama," he said, staring down at the girl with a raised brow.
"The Hokage! Cool!" Yuhi said, bouncing with excitement. "Hanabi-san, can we go see the Hokage?"
"Maybe later, kid," Hanabi said, patting her hand flat on Yuhi's head like she was an overexcited puppy. He could see the similarities. "Hatake-san, we were really hoping to find Sakura here, will she be back soon?" He had no idea.
"Probably," he said. It was the wrong thing to say.
"Great, I can wait with you until she gets back!" Yuhi exclaimed.
"Bye, Kakashi-sensei!" Tenten said hurriedly with a bright grin. He was about to protest, but Hanabi shoved Yuhi inside and the two of them took off, leaving him very much out of his depth with the girl who did not look impressed to have his company in place of Sakura's.
"Do you live here with Sakura-san?" Yuhi asked, her eyes exploring the apartment, wide and excited.
"Ah—no. We're just friends," he said. The girl turned her dubious, pale eyes to him for a moment before she returned to admiring the apartment.
"Hanabi-san said you're Sakura-san's boyfriend," Yuhi offered. "She said she saw you guys holding hands on Katsuyu-sama."
"Fuck," he whispered to himself.
"You said a bad word," Yuhi said with a giggle. He grinned sheepishly down at her and hoped dearly that Sakura would be home soon.
"Crazy-ass shishou, I swear to all the gods, I would rather cut off my left arm than ever go back into that office…" Sakura entered her apartment grumbling to herself. "She's senile if she thinks I would ever consider that…" She kicked her shoes off before stalking over to the kitchen table to plop her things down with a loud clatter.
"Honestly, who does she think I am?" She continued, unpacking the fresh fruits she had picked up on her way home. She scowled down at the green, sour apples she had picked up instead of the red, sweet ones she liked. They were Kakashi's favourite. "Stupid, infamous copy-ninja…as if…ugh!" She slapped her palms down onto the table and heaved a heavy sigh. And then she realized she wasn't alone.
She whirled around to see said stupid, infamous copy-ninja sitting on her couch, waving at her with a crinkly-eyed grin on his face. Her eyes dropped to the ground where she saw Guruko and Uhei gazing back up at her with interest. Between then sat a young girl with pale hair and paler eyes. She gasped.
"Yuhi-chan?!" She cried, and then grunted when Yuhi ran at her head-first and buried herself in Sakura's stomach while she wrapped her arms around her tightly. She had nearly had the wind knocked out of her with the force of that hug. Still, she returned it happily, if not a little confusedly. She looked over Yuhi's head to Kakashi, who apparently had little answers to offer her.
Don't look at me, I just made the mistake of opening your front door, he thought.
And the ninken? She asked. He shrugged carelessly, but she could feel the tiniest bit of embarrassment welling up in him.
They kept me entertained when I was a kid, and I turned out just fine, so I figured…
She had to look away from him to distract herself from how stupidly sweet that was, despite the inaccuracy of it. He had most certainly not turned out just fine. He was disgruntled to hear that, but she was moving on to younger pastures.
It's just one dig after another with you, isn't it? If thoughts could pout, she was certain his were doing just that. She gave him a little smile and a wink over Yuhi's head before she leaned back to get a good look at the girl.
"Yuhi-chan, what on earth are you doing here?" Sakura asked, grinning down as she looked over the girl. It had only been about a week since Sakura had seen her last, but it was amazing what a difference had taken place. She looked taller, though Sakura assumed it was just because she wasn't hunched over in pain or shame. Her cheeks were fuller, and her skin looked sun kissed, like she had spent the last seven days basking in the glow of it for every minute of everyday. Sakura wouldn't be surprised if she had done just that.
"Your boyfriend let me in," Yuhi said, grinning up at her, her teeth a little less yellow than the last time Sakura had seen her. Sakura's cheeks burned at the referral to Kakashi as her boyfriend. She avoided looking at him at all costs, and his thoughts betrayed little more than the fact that Yuhi had hit him with the same shock when she'd arrived. She found it mildly comforting that he had been flustered by it.
Masochist, he thought.
"Sorry," Yuhi said, rolling her eyes, "your friend." Sakura raised an eyebrow down at Yuhi and then finally over to Kakashi, who was dutifully scratching Uhei's ears and paying absolutely no attention to Sakura and Yuhi.
Smooth, Sakura thought. He spared her a very brief eye-crinkle.
"I guess friends do things like hold hands, and chase each other through the Fire country, and keep drawings of each other," Yuhi said, giggling into her hand.
"Drawings?"
"Hey, Yuhi-chan, how would you like to go see the Hokage monument?" Kakashi said, standing abruptly. Sakura eyed him suspiciously as he silently stood there, his hands deep in his pockets, and his eyes as crinkly as ever.
"What drawings?" Sakura demanded.
"The ones in—"
"Maybe you could even meet Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi offered, cutting her off pointedly. Yuhi narrowed her eyes at him and considered his proposition. Sakura was certain Yuhi would remain loyal to her in this.
You think that but…Kakashi thought, and just as he did Yuhi grinned up at him and nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright, not-boyfriend-san. Let's go!"
You are a petty old man, she thought haughtily.
As long as I'm your petty old man, he returned, pressing a kiss to her cheek before following Yuhi as she bound out the door.
"Way to be just friends, Kakashi-san," Sakura heard Yuhi say dryly before the door closed. Sakura stared at the closed door feel a mix of amusement and exasperation. It was amazing what that little bit of space had done for them. She hadn't even questioned that he had been waiting for her at her apartment—granted, there was a much more surprising guest present.
She smiled to herself as she washed off one of Kakashi's green apples and plopped herself onto her couch before digging into it. It was tart, but she found she didn't mind it so much. Maybe he really had rubbed off on her.
She considered the odd mess of events that had just taken place, and how perfectly normal it all felt. From shishou's bizarre and uncouth suggestion, to Yuhi sitting on the rug in her living room, chatting with Kakashi's ninken, and then to two of them abandoning her in her apartment while they wandered around Konoha, harbouring secrets.
Now she understood Kakashi's constant griping about betrayal.
She was going to find those damned drawings if it was the last thing she did.
Yuhi was an impressive little girl, Kakashi had to admit. The ninken immediately took a liking to her, which was always more telling to him than it probably should have been. He held their opinions in high regard, considering those opinions came from the same minds that decided things like let's chase stray cats and contract fleas once every six weeks.
Which reminded him, Sakura was going to be furious if he had tracked fleas into her home. And he was fairly certain he had done exactly that.
"Hey, Kakashi-san, will you show me the seals for another one?" Yuhi asked excitedly as she popped out another standard clone, cancelled it, and then did it again. She was an incredibly quick learner. Kakashi couldn't help but think Sakura had found herself a little protégée. She was older than the kids in the academy already, but he thought she would have no trouble catching up. She was definitely keen enough to apply herself.
"How about I show you how to channel chakra?" He asked, demonstrating by walking up the side of a tree slowly. It turned out that Yuhi was perfectly happy looking at the Hokage monument from afar, and really, there was only one Hokage she had been particularly interested in. He wondered if it had been a mistake to dangle an introduction over her head; Tsunade was far from pleased with him at the moment.
He had far fewer means of improving Tsunade's opinion of him than he did for improving Sakura's.
"Cool!" Yuhi cried before mimicking the hand sign and excitedly running at the tree, only to kick off of it and fall flat on her back and into a bout of giggles. "Okay, I might need more information."
Maybe she had a little Naruto in her too, now that he thought about it.
Still, she had concentrated and persevered until her feet stuck to that bark like glue. She flopped around on the side of the tree, muscles too weak to hold herself upright for very long, before she clumsily ran back down to the ground. At least she had landed on her feet this time.
She was all the more motivated when he explained that this method of channeling chakra was essentially how Sakura managed her incredible strength. With practice and precision, she could learn it the same way. Her eyes had doubled in size and she had shaken the leaves out of her hair, and gone straight back to it.
He was commending himself on how he was clearly not as terrible a teacher as he remembered being when he heard a sickening crack and pained yelp.
Sakura was despairingly staring into her failed pot of what was supposed to be pork bone soup, but was really just bones in salty water. Gods, how was she this inept in the kitchen? She'd moved out of her parents' house ages ago and she hadn't starved, so how was this possible? The bones in the pot did not answer her, but for a gurgling as one of them bobbed to the top.
Okay, new plan.
Sakura yanked out her stack of takeout menus and began perusing for something both she and Kakashi enjoyed, that she thought Yuhi might also like. She was still pouting down at her options when she felt Kakashi's nervous energy outside the door.
Slowly, they entered her apartment together, both of them looking horribly guilty.
"What did you do?" She accused, hands on her hips as she stared them down. Simultaneously, they grinned at her with pink cheeks and nervous laughter. Gods, what had she gotten herself into? Yuhi approached her while Kakashi maintained his stance by the door, looking like he was ready to bolt at any given moment.
"Kakashi-san was teaching me about channeling chakra," Yuhi said with a bright grin, "but…I may have been a little too ambitious."She presented her hand to Sakura, showing her the black and purple bruises, and the odd angles of her knuckles, which appeared to have been shattered. Sakura gawped down at it as she gingerly took it between her hands.
"How did you do this…?" She asked softly as she began with easing her pain. Kakashi moved incrementally toward the door and Sakura fixed him with a hard look. His grin was as sheepish as Yuhi's.
"Kakashi-san made it so it doesn't hurt!" Kita insisted. "But—um, well, you see, Kakashi-san said that you get your strength from channeling chakra, and I figured…"
"Kakashi!" Sakura cried, glaring at him. He scratched the back of his neck, his face completely pink above his mask. So annoying, she thought. She was made more annoyed with how cute she found him. Sakura sighed and went about mending all the bits and pieces of Yuhi's knuckles.
Once he was certain that she felt he was more endearing than annoying, he made his way over to them. I didn't think she would try to punch a tree, he thought miserably. It was pretty impressive, if you don't count the whole shattered knuckles thing. Unfortunately for him, Sakura very much did count it.
"You are as terrible a teacher as ever, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura teased.
"Kakashi-san was your teacher?" Yuhi asked with a dubiously raised brow. Sakura felt her cheeks go pink. "How did you manage to get so strong?" She continued, and Sakura burst out laughing. Kakashi's ears were bright red and his eyes betrayed as he stared down at Yuhi, who was happily watching her hand be mended under Sakura's chakra.
With a shake of his head, he moved toward the stove, where her sad bone-water was still bubbling away. Kakashi peered into the pot, and while she couldn't see his face, she could feel the amusement and disgust rolling off of him.
I'll fix your mess while you fix mine, he proposed, moving around the kitchen without a second thought. She couldn't help but smile to herself as she finished up with Yuhi's injured hand.
"Are you sure you guys aren't, like, married or something?" Yuhi asked, glancing between them with doubt written very expressly on her face.
It was all very domestic, Sakura had to admit. Kakashi had fixed her sad soup, Sakura had fixed his teaching blunder, and Yuhi had happily prodded them both with endless questions and quips all evening, until she was yawning uncontrollably. At the sixth wide yawn, Sakura demanded she go to sleep. She was certain Tsunade has arranged a permanent home to Yuhi—she wouldn't have had Hanabi and Tenten bring her to Konoha unless she had—but for now, Sakura was more than happy to have her in her home.
On the couch of sin? Kakashi wondered, looking over to the purple couch with pink ears. Sakura felt her cheeks go pink as she glared at him. Obviously not. She stripped down her bed and prepared her room for Yuhi to have for the night. Is that any better than the couch of sin? Kakashi asked. That thought had occurred to her, but she was certain Ino's bed was no better. With fresh linens and pillows, Sakura was feeling much better about Yuhi sleeping there.
It didn't take very long for Yuhi to conk right out. Not that Sakura could blame her; she had had quite a lot of excitement for one day. It made Sakura feel happy. Even if her ANBU status did end up in permanent limbo, she would be satisfied knowing that her one foray into black-ops had gone the way it had, and had resulted in Yuhi coming to Konoha to pursue life as a shinobi.
Kakashi was waiting for her in the kitchen when she came out of the bedroom, cleaning up whatever small mess remained on the table.
"I can take care of that," Sakura said, saddling up to him and slipping her arms around his waist. He welcomed her into the warmth of his body with ease, letting his arms heavily wrap around her back. He was feeling apprehensive, his mind turning over what she had thought about her standing in ANBU. He sighed, apprehension giving way to mild frustration.
"This mental link is a pain in the ass," he admitted. She smiled softly. She knew he was trying to broach the subject carefully, but it was impossible to take his time and consider it when she could hear his entire thought process. She tried to be forgiving of that, but sometimes it was difficult. Especially when their emotions would begin to bleed into each other; she wasn't sure she could handle that long-term.
"Why did you tell shishou that you want to keep it, then?" She asked, trying to keep her exasperation at bay, but failing spectacularly. His ears went pink.
"ANBU is important to you," he said, "I don't want to stand in the way of that."
"I hate to break it to you, Kakashi, but you are much more important to me than ANBU." She said with a roll of her eyes. What if she resents me for this? He wondered. Then, he groaned and pulled himself away from her. He hadn't meant for her to hear that. "That would never happen," she assured him. He had his doubts, but he didn't argue.
"Why didn't you tell me about your status?" He asked, eyeing her in confusion and hurt. She felt her heart squeeze.
"I didn't know how to. You were so unhappy with my decision, and then all this nonsense with Kita came up…" She looked up at him, watching his face remain neutral, even as his mind betrayed him. He didn't understand how she could have kept it from him after he'd opened up to her. After he'd told her he loved her.
"I'm sorry," she said with a sigh, looping her hands around his neck. "I should have told you. There's no excuse."
And there wasn't, not really. She had just been scared. Maybe he would decide it wasn't worth the risk; that he would rather keep his distance than be close to someone he might lose again. Maybe he would rather say goodbye to her on his own terms. She wasn't ready for that. It was selfish, and cowardly, and she had no excuse.
His hand reached out to brush against her furrowed brow as she frowned up at him. Just as she felt his hurt begin to ease, her guilt did too. He could forgive her so easily. It made her heart beat double time when she thought about what a wonderful man he was. How had it taken her so long to see that? It was amazing she hadn't fallen in love with him years ago.
"They won't just stop with ANBU," Kakashi warned. "They'll keep standing in your way until they get what they want." Sakura sighed. Tsunade had warned her just the same, and then she'd made that ludicrous suggestion and Sakura had stalked out of her office in a huff, leaving Tsunade barking out laughter behind her. Kakashi raised a quizzical brow at that. Sakura skirted past it.
"They can try and bully me all they want, but they aren't going to make my decisions for me," she insisted, glaring up at him. "And neither are you. Don't you dare try to remove yourself from the equation, thinking you're doing me some big favour." Kakashi swallowed under her reprimanding, his hands landing on her hips to cradle them even as he leaned away from her with uneasiness.
"Duly noted," he mumbled, eyeing her warily but she could feel his pulse had quickened.
"I mean it, Kakashi," she warned, enjoying the way his throat bobbed and his eyes darkened. "I would rather tell the council to fuck off than have you backing out of this in the name of some stupid crusade." I wouldn't call it stupid, he thought, frowning lightly behind his mask. She rolled her eyes but pressed a kiss to his masked lips. He returned it, pressing his mouth fully against hers through the fabric. She really didn't mind it, she thought, smiling against him.
"You are terrifying," he said once they parted, his hitai-ate pressing against her forehead. It wasn't a complaint so much as an observation.
"And you like that," she returned, smirking at him. He hummed in agreement, pulling his mask down to pool around his neck as he kissed her again, slowly but with purpose.
"We'll figure it out. Together," he promised, his lips slanting against hers, and the heat coiling sweetly in her belly. They were rapidly entering dangerous territory, she realized as his fingers flexed against her hips when she gave a little lick to his lips. When he deepened the kiss further and breathed her in, she finally pulled herself away. She didn't make it very far.
"I'm a little short on bedrooms," she said with a small laugh as he pressed his lips along her jaw. That's never stopped us before, he thought, not even pausing in spreading his open-mouthed kisses along her heated skin. As forgiving as she thought Ino might be about the rest of the apartment, she was certain her friend would draw the line at her bed. Sakura wasn't willing to try and find out.
"Worrywart," he teased. She swatted his shoulder lightly but giggled. I can set up privacy seals, he offered, returning to her lips while his hands slid down over her ass to grip her. She moaned quietly and completely against her will, but planted her palms against his chest and forced them apart.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that for your sake, because if you could setup privacy seals, I'm sure you would have done that during our night in the tent," she said with pointedly raised brows. The grin he fixed her with was the cheekiest thing she'd ever seen, and she had to resist yanking him down into another kiss. He was far too charming for her health.
She tried not to take tally of all the people who knew about them now, but the list was getting ridiculous. At this point, she was sure half of Konoha probably knew.
"Genma?" Kakashi asked in confusion. Sakura felt her ears burn. "If Genma knows, we're screwed," he said with an easy smile before leaning down to press his lips to her cheek.
"I guess it's inevitable. Ino will know soon enough." Sakura said with a sigh, leaning into his kiss. "Naruto will be pissed that Sasuke found out before him."
"Pretty sure Naruto will find other things to be upset about other than Sasuke knowing first," Kakashi said with a pointed pat on her bottom. He was probably right about that. With a resigned pout, she leaned up to place one last kiss to his lips as a goodbye. Instead, unsurprisingly, she found herself wrapping around him and kissing him for far longer than a "goodnight" warranted.
You sure you don't want to reconsider those privacy seals? He thought as he smirked against her mouth. She very much wanted to reconsider it, but with Yuhi asleep in the next room, she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Goodnight, Kakashi," she said forcefully, more for herself than him. He raised his mask and she was grateful that he was willing to reinforce her resolve rather than chip away at its frailty. His eyes creased happily above it.
"Goodnight, Sakura-chan," he said with one last peck to her cheek. His hands lingered softly on her waist; his fingers softly squeezing her as he considered her for a moment. With red ears, he ducked in for one last peck, with a quickly muttered "I love you."
He was gone before she even had a chance to reciprocate the sentiment. He had probably done that for her benefit, too, she realized. She wasn't sure she would be able to resist those privacy seals after that.
There was only about a week left until Ino was expected to be back in Konoha. Lately, her weeks had felt endless, but this one seemed to be flying by. She was back to her duties at the hospital, and as annoying as it was that someone had messed with her patient files, she was glad to be back in the fray. Still, she would have to talk to a secretary about how Shiranui Genma's file had happened to be moved to the jurisdiction of a doctor that had died two years ago.
She had checked in on Yamato once he'd been filled in on the whole mystic-gone-wild situation. He didn't seem terribly upset to have gotten stuck in the mix of things, but he did make Sakura promise not to flirt with him anymore.
"Taichou doesn't like me very much," she had said with a deep pout.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about, Sakura," he had said with bright pink cheeks and a deep frown. She thought that was fair, so she'd agreed to his terms.
Yuhi had been situated with a civilian family who had one other child, and had always wanted another. Sakura had been concerned about how she would adjust, having been held captive for gods-knew-how-long, but the parents who took her in were good people. Sakura knew the man from the hospital; he was a doctor, specializing in mental trauma. The woman was a homemaker, and had made it clear to Sakura that she was welcome to visit Yuhi, or have Yuhi visit her as often as they liked.
Their daughter was a little younger than Yuhi, but Yuhi had been excited to share a home with a new sister. She said she found herself missing the girls this past little while, as terrible as their circumstances had been.
Sakura had cried that night; she was not ashamed to admit. It broke her heart to think about the horrors those girls had been through, and then to see Yuhi come out, with no one in her corner to lift her back up…
"That's not true," Kakashi had said. "She has the fiercest kunoichi in Konoha in her corner," he said, kissing away the stray tear that rolled down her cheek. She had smiled at him, all tear stains and sniffles, and then he had fixed her with that shit-eating grin and told her, "Hanabi will look out for her." She had given him a whack befitting the fiercest kunoichi in Konoha, and he had just laughed through his pain. Eventually, she gave up on pouting and joined him in a giggling fit of her own.
She had insisted he was disgustingly annoying, but really, she was so happy to have him lay with her and wipe away her sad tears, only to them replace them with happy ones.
Kakashi had had a couple of missions that week; simple things that were definitely below his station. Sakura had a feeling Tsunade was giving him just a little bit of hell since they'd all but confirmed her suspicions that they were more than just outlandishly close-knit mission partners. Still, she wouldn't admit that she was glad he had been around enough to always help her commiserate another failed cooking endeavour.
Right, that's why, Kakashi had thought. It has nothing to do with the way I bent you over the washing machine?
Well, it was one of the many reasons, in any case. The washing machine had been very nice, but sitting atop the dryer while he devoured her had been her highlight, she thought. He had been so pleased to hear it that he gave her an encore performance.
After that, Sakura really tried to make it a point that they relocated to his apartment. He had agreed easily, but not without giving her one last hurrah on that purple couch. Or three more hurrahs, as it were.
They did their best to work around the mental link, and most of the time they could navigate it well enough. There were a couple of instances where she would be in a bad mood, and it would affect him, and then it would spiral out of control until one or both of them were so annoyed they could hardly stand to be in the same room together. Without fail, a little distance would help them come back to themselves. She figured if they could deal with that, the other stuff would be easy.
Following their final decision against keeping the mental link in favour of Sakura's ANBU status, things had gotten a little touch and go. Sakura had been frustrated that she was put in a position where she had to pick between her career and the man she loved, and that had sent Kakashi into a fit of irritability in which he had questioned her motives for joining ANBU.
That led to her thoughts taking her back down that winding road of insecurity; she spent the rest of her evening trying to avoid exposing those insecurities to Kakashi, which, of course, had only added to her frustrations. It had all been fruitless in the end, because the worry that she was not, and never would be good enough had tumbled out of her mind clumsily. It had stopped Kakashi dead in his tracks.
All her worrying and hiding had been pointless, because Kakashi happened to know just what to say to make her feel supported and secure, even when he absolutely despisedthe thought of her in black-ops. She was amazed that someone as emotionally inept as Kakashi could have such a handle on what she needed to hear. Inept is a little harsh, he'd thought.
She had simply laughed and kissed him. Inept was a little harsh, but completely accurate. This was the same man who responded to her confession of love with silence and avoidance. He couldn't argue with that.
So, overall, a week went by that felt both eventful, and yet completely in the norm. Naruto had come to see her before leaving for a three-day mission, and he had made her swear that she would join the real Team Seven reunion once he returned. She couldn't deny him—one, because she didn't want to, and two, because she was terrified what Sasuke might let slip in their absence.
Realistically, he wouldn't say anything willingly. However, she had seen him after a few sake bombs, and the man's lips were looser than Genma. Kakashi had been adamant that Sasuke was a problem she could handle on her own, and while he wasn't wrong, there was no Team Seven reunion without the leader of Team Seven present.
"Tenzou can be the leader for tonight," Kakashi said, leaning back with his nose buried in a book.
"At this point in time, I think Yamato-taichou would sell your soul for an order of dango," Sakura said with a happy smile, that she was certain said "get your ass off that old green couch and come with me to this bar". It's not old, he rebutted.
"Tenzou doesn't like dango," Kakashi said with a careless wave of his hand. Sakura pushed his book down and bent down so her face hovered right in front of his.
"Exactly," she said with a wicked little smile. I'm getting déjà vu, he thought as he reached behind her to rest his hand on the back of her bare thigh. "Unfortunately, my inventory needs have been completely met," she teased, leaning over a little further just to watch his throat bob.
"You could always use a second pair of eyes for quality assurance," he said, his hand boldly reaching beyond the hem of her skirt. Just as his palm rested on the lower curve of her ass, she snapped straight and stepped out of his reach. "You are the cruelest little kunoichi," he lamented, watching her back as she moved to peruse his book shelf.
"Hey," she reached for a book on the fourth shelf and felt nervousness spike in him, "I didn't know you were interested in botany," she finished, plucking the fifth book from the left off the shelf. He suddenly appeared at her side, pulling the book from her grasp and replacing it on the shelf.
"It was a gift from Tenzou. Shall we?" He asked, ushering her out away from the bookshelf and toward the door without another word.
"Wait—aren't those my books?" She asked as she craned her neck to look at the books on poisonous reptiles that had suddenly joined his collection. He didn't say a thing as he tugged her out into the night.
They hadn't lasted very long at the bar. After hardly half an hour, Sasuke and Naruto had gotten all up in arms about who had completed the most important missions in the last three months, and that had somehow devolved into all of them going to Training Grounds Three to see just who was more of an asset to Konoha.
"This is ridiculous," Sai said, his arm looped with Sakura's as they followed after a fuming Naruto and a smug Sasuke. "It's clear who amongst Team Seven is Konoha's best asset." Naruto whirled around to giggle and wink at Sai conspiratorially.
"Tell him, Sai. Go on, tell him!" Naruto whispered loudly. Sai gave him an easy, peaceful smile.
"Certainly," he began. Sakura opened her mouth to stop him, but it was too late. "Neither you nor Sasuke-kun is Konoha's most valued member of Team Seven."
Should have seen that one coming, Kakashi thought. Naruto was protesting loudly, while Sasuke simply scowled in silence. All the while, Sai was staring at them and then at Sakura in confusion.
"I do not understand. You asked me to tell him," Sai said, pouting in thought.
"I thought you were going to say I'm the strongest!" Naruto shouted angrily.
"Why would I say that?" Sai asked. Uh oh, Kakashi thought.
"Because it's the truth!" Naruto said, stalking up to Sai, not that Sai seemed to care very much. He simply continued to smile and hugged Sakura's arm a little tighter with his.
"Oh, you and Sasuke are certainly the strongest," Sai conceded. I disagree, Kakashi thought.
They're practically gods, Sakura rebutted, rolling her eyes just for him to see.
"Then why did you say it's neither of us?" Naruto asked, now too confused to continue yelling.
The way you cry my name sounds an awful lot like a prayer, Sakura-chan, Kakashi offered with a crease of his eye.
We are not going through this again, Sakura warned, mostly because her cheeks were already starting to feel warm with the thought.
"Because you asked who the greatest asset is. And it's neither of you," Sai said again, Naruto's face going bright red, though Sakura wasn't sure if it was from anger or if he been thinking a little too hard.
"I don't understand." Naruto grumbled, looking to Sasuke for help. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but his scowl remained in place. Sakura figured he didn't understand either. "So who is it? Kakashi-sensei?"
See? Kakashi thought.
"No, certainly not," Sai said with a shake of his head. Sakura didn't bother hiding her snort of laughter.
See, Sakura replied.
"This is a very tedious game, Sai. Can you just tell them who it is and we can move along?" Yamato said with a weary sigh.
"Is it taichou?" Naruto asked, squinting at Yamato in consideration.
"Hmm, Mokuton is certainly important, but I wouldn't say the most valued," Sai said, smiling at Yamato's very unimpressed glare. "It is clearly Sakura-chan, dickless." Sakura felt her cheeks ignite as all her boys turned to look at her.
"…Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked in disbelief. She glared at him before dropped her fist hard onto his head.
"Don't sound so surprised, stupid!" She berated, fuming at Sai's side while Naruto cowered behind Sasuke.
"Makes sense to me," Kakashi said with a shrug.
"Really?" Naruto asked, once again, in disbelief. He yelped and ducked behind Sasuke when Sakura glared at him again.
"Sure. She's a Sannin-level kunoichi, a heralded med-nin, and one of Konoha's top doctors. Not to mention, she has the Hokage's ear," Kakashi explained, shooting and eye-crease her way. She was stumped. She could feel that he genuinely believed what he was saying.
"And the ear of the next Hokage, too, in all likelihood," Yamato added, nodding in agreement.
"Hmm, I guess that's true…Sakura-chan is one of my best friends…" Naruto muttered, deep in thought. She almost whacked him again, just on principle.
"Not you, dobe," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes, even as he leaned into Naruto as the blond man clutched at his shoulders. Naruto blanched again. "They mean Kakashi."
"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto wailed. Now I kind of want to hit him, Kakashi thought glumly. Not a single morsel of respect between the lot of you.
Yamato-taichou respects you, Sakura offered.
Not since he found out I let you corrupt me, Kakashi replied. Sakura snorted again, this time in derision.
Sasuke proceeded to explain to Naruto that Kakashi would likely be the next Hokage, which upset Naruto and Kakashi to no end. At least it saved them the spar they'd been headed towards, because Naruto had been knocked way off course from his original mission. Instead, they were sat on the grass, passing around shots until Naruto forgot what he was complaining about, and the rest of them were good and drunk.
"If you were Hokage, what's the first rule you'd make or change?" Sakura asked from where she was lying with her head in Sai's lap, and her ankles crossed in Kakashi's lap. Sai frowned in thought around his small sip of whatever turpentine Naruto had brought for them to share.
"I would never be Hokage," Sai said, his thoughtful frown turning to a confused one. Sakura laughed.
Cute, Kakashi thought.
Shut up, she returned, feeling her cheeks go warm. Drunken Kakashi had an impressively focused mind, she learned. Right now, he was particularly focused on her.
As I should be. Have you seen you? He responded. She didn't bother biting back her stupidly giddy smile.
"It's a hypothetical, Sai," Yamato explained. "I would prohibit children in black-ops," he said, which Sakura thought was sweet on Sai's behalf. Kakashi's thoughts flashed with an image of a wide-eyed, long-haired little boy named Kinoe.
Whoops, he thought, pretend you didn't see that. As if that was ever going to happen. She lifted her head from Sai's thigh to regard Yamato with a newfound interest. He looked intensely uncomfortable under her scrutiny.
"Oh," Sai said softly, "yes, I agree," he said with a bright smile. Kakashi laughed; a hearty sound that made her heart soar and brought small, surprised smiles to the boys' faces. She knew he was more than a little drunk with that open laugh. It was also made obvious by his constant leering. Yamato frowned and shook his head.
"No, that's not the point—"
"What's a hypothetical?" Naruto interrupted, swiping the bottle from Sai and swigging it back. Sakura wasn't sure why he bothered when he couldn't get drunk. It wasn't like the stuff tasted good. Sasuke tried to explain it to him, but he was three gulps deep into the bottled battery acid and no longer paying attention.
Your hair is the same colour as your lips, Kakashi mused. Also the same colour as your nipples. Gods, he must have been hammered. I'm not hammered, he assured her, I'm just right.
"My first rule as Hokage will be that all orphans are cared for. No child lives alone," he said with a grin brighter than the full moon, and even though it was a reminder of his sad beginnings, Sakura couldn't help but grin back.
In her team of orphans, Sakura felt that Konoha had done them all quite the disservice. She was happy they had all found each other, and happier still that she could always make sure they were cared for the way they deserved to be.
You're drunk, Kakashi thought with a small, soft smile just for her. She definitely was, but that didn't change the way she felt, and had always felt.
"What will you do, senpai?" Yamato asked, taking the bottle Sasuke offered to him. Kakashi was filled with dread at Yamato's insinuation of the inevitability of it. His brow furrowed unhappily under his forehead protector.
"I guess you'll find out," he said, taking the bottle fright from Yamato's lips and splashing him without a care in the world. Yamato glared at him but dropped the subject.
"What about you, Sakura-chan?" Sai asked as he gently raked his fingers through her hair. She hummed happily and closed her eyes, enjoying the way his hands softly massaged her scalp. Sai was, by far, the gentlest of her boys and his touch was always so soothing. I'll remember that later, Kakashi warned.
"Mental health screenings and resources for children," Sakura said with a happy sigh as Sai's fingers gently tugged at her roots.
"And that's why Sakura is the most valuable Team Seven member," Sai said happily. Her eyes snapped up to look at him in surprise, but he was smiling serenely, same as ever. And the prettiest, Kakashi added. She nudged him with her foot, but he paid it no mind.
"Wait, wait, wait—so…if Kakashi-sensei will be the Rokudaime Hokage," the lot of them erupted into an exasperated groan, "then why isn't he the most valued?" Naruto continued, unperturbed.
"We're in peacetime," Yamato explained, laying back on the grass, face flushed from the drinks he'd consumed. "Kakashi-senpai's greatest strengths lie in combat."
"Exactly," Sai agreed, his smile immovable after two small shots of turpentine. "Not to mention, Sakura-chan is also in a position to restore one of Konoha's noble clans."
"What?" Sakura cried, staring up at Sai in shock. Uh oh, Kakashi thought again, his fingers tightening around her ankle.
"Sakura-chan already refused to help Sasuke rebuild the Uchiha clan," Naruto said with a giggle at Sasuke's expense. Sasuke rolled his eyes but remained mostly unbothered. The small scowl he spared Kakashi told her he was still harbouring some small bitterness about it.
"I'm not referring to the Uchiha clan, dickless," Sai said. "I'm talking about the Hatake clan."
a/n: WE ARE FAMILY~
at its core, this is a found-family fluff-fest and im not really sorry about it
there are only 2 chapters left lmfao CAN U BELIEVE
i kinda maybe definitely started cryng a lil bit when i started writing that last chapter WHAT A RIDE! thank y'all for sticking with me it's honestly so incredible and i can't believe anyone read this let alone ENJOYED IT and y'all r so amazing ;-; tysm