GVT

by FicReader21

YO

She wakes up in a sweat, a scream on the tip of her tongue.

The rate of her heart is brutal, leaving her short of breath and staring mournfully at her dark ceiling.

I'm tired of this , she thinks, much like she does every day.

A glance at her clock confirms that she has been asleep for a measly couple of hours, and the shake in her fingers tells her it hadn't been enough.

It's never enough.

Flashes of Kaguya's face up close, of lava under her feet, still leaves her quaking as if the war is still happening right beyond her windows. Some days it feels so real, Sakura is afraid to crack open her curtains lest it proves the nightmares true, and she finds herself stuck back in that hellish reality.

The truth is Sakura never thought she'd make it out of the Fourth War alive. She remembers crouching over the bodies of broken, crying men and thinking: This will be me someday . This will be me and there won't be anyone to save me.

She was almost right; after all, she nearly met her death in that war more times than she had in her entire ninja career. From foe and friend alike, and it still burns that Sasuke nearly let her fall into molten fire—it burns more than it would have had she actually fallen into it.

She shakes the thoughts away. They serve nothing but to make her feel worse.

Her shift at the hospital doesn't begin for another two hours, but she figures she'd get an early start. Peeling away damp sheets, she crawls up to her feet feeling completely wrecked and nauseous.

Her head spins and spins and she has to steady herself against her dresser for a moment.

How much longer could she take this? How much more before her sanity gives?

She hopes she doesn't collapse at work.

Kakashi's foot repeatedly bounces on the floor.

He's been doing that a lot lately, he's noticed. It wasn't like him to exude nervous energy, but exhaustion and irritation grow inside him and this is his only available outlet these days.

Being Hokage is an endless nightmare—back to back meetings with stuck up ancient councilmen that treat him, a man who is thirty-four years old, like he is a child; and a growing pile of papers that's so persistent it's beginning to chase him into his dreams.

It seems silly to complain about it, because he is grateful for a chance to make a tangible difference in the system, and he has survived two wars and is now seeing the fruits of his labour. But despite all that ... Kakashi is exhausted in new and different ways he didn't even know existed.

Even amidst bloody wars he never felt headaches quite the way he did these days. And the councilmen ... Kakashi grit his teeth ... at least during the war no one dared condescend or belittle him. No one doubted his decisions or skills in the field.

Being Hokage feels like a constant struggle to prove himself worthy of that hat. Except Kakashi never really felt worthy for that hat.

A knock on his door pulls him out of his frustrated internal monologue.

"Come in," he calls, feeling the wash of Sakura's green chakra. It roils sickly, which worries him.

When the door opens and he sees her, his worry only intensifies.

She looks a little like death.

"Hokage-sama," she greets formally, earning a wince.

"Gods Sakura, I told you to drop the title," multiple times. And he will continue to ask her for it.

"Kakashi-senpai," she amends, not looking particularly remorseful. "I have the proposal you requested for the children's hospital wing."

He nods, receiving the papers. "Thank you, I'll bring it up in the next council meeting."

Sakura nods back, shifting her weight onto her other foot as she awaits his dismissal.

He takes a moment to glance down on the papers as he debates on what to do. She looks ready to keel over. She always looks ready to keel over.

"Will that be all?" She asks, noticing his hesitation.

"Say, Sakura," Kakashi looks up at her and steels himself for he was never a man to pry but it feels important that he tries. "How are you doing?"

She blinks at him. "Um. I'm okay ... how are you doing?"

He tries not to frown at her obvious lie and clear deflection, but he appeases her anyway. "I'm so ready to pass the hat and be done with this forever."

At least his answer makes her smile. "You know, you being Hokage makes so much sense and yet no sense at all."

"Do elaborate," he motions to the couch in his office as he gets up, inviting her for a small chat.

"Uh …" Sakura hesitates. "Kakashi-senpai I really can't stay long. I have to get back to the hospital."

"Just for a little bit then," Kakashi insists and goes to the corner station to brew them some tea. "You never make time for your old sensei anymore."

Sakura snorts. "I see you at least once a day."

"To hand me a report," Kakashi grumbles, heating the kettle. "Do you not appreciate my charming company?"

When he looks at her, she's trying hard to resist a tired smile and failing. "Of course I do," she says. "... fine I'll stay for a bit."

He beams in satisfaction and joins her on his couch with two steaming mugs. "Now tell me."

"Right," she chuckles, receiving her tea and taking a tentative sip. "The thing is, you're definitely a leader, it comes to you naturally, I think. But you also ... seem like you can't be bothered. And you clearly feel like this is an obligation. It would be like me being the best medic but hating my job."

Honestly, he doesn't know whether to be flattered or a little indignant. "You chose to be a medic. I didn't choose to be Hokage."

"That's fair," she agrees, rubbing at tired green eyes. "But like you, I never chose to be a medical director, it was just expected of me. So really, I get it."

He never quite thought of it that way. It's surprisingly enlightening. "That's ... fair," he finds himself nodding. "Is that why you look exhausted? The hospital too much for you?"

He nearly bites his own tongue. Zero tact, he thinks to himself in horror when Sakura jerks like he slapped her. "N-not that you're not absolutely capable, but perhaps we're overworking you." He hastens to add, anxious that he might have offended her.

Sakura sinks a little in her seat and turns to look away from him. He can't even begin to imagine what she's thinking but there's a look of rueful acceptance on her face.

"I'm not overworked," she says after a silence that lasts too long. Her voice cracks a little at the end, and it leaves him utterly unconvinced. "I'm not." She stresses. "Really, I'm just ..." she makes a vague motion with her hand and doesn't elaborate. "But anyway, you don't need to worry about it."

Shouldn't he? Sakura has become a friend in the last few years, easy companionship and their love for literature and dogs bringing them together. He can't help worrying about her when she looks like a veteran that never came home from war.

And perhaps he recognises that because once upon a time it was him in her shoes.

"Of course I worry," he tells her gently. "Sakura-chan, although I'm not the best person for this … you know you can talk to me about anything that bothers you, right?"

She stiffens slightly, and he sees her internal struggle right there on her face. Her fingers tense around her mug and she takes a wavering breath. "It's not a big deal. I just can't sleep."

That isn't the answer he was expecting. "Can't sleep?" He parrots, tilting his head questioningly.

"Yes," she utters, sounding a little hollow. "I can't sleep."

"Since when?" he asks, giving her his full attention.

She has an inward look on her face, like a woman slipping back into an old memory. "Since ... a very long time. From before the war."

Kakashi is astonished at her confession. The war passed four years ago. The worry inside him stirs again. "Have you ... seen someone about this?"

She snorts. "You mean therapy? My best friend is the head of Interrogation. Of course I've seen someone. But all they can do is prescribe pills and suggest meditation and 'talking about my feelings with a trusted friend'."

Kakashi sits back with a sigh. Yes, indeed. He remembers his own frustrations with this.

Sakura continues without prompting, as if all she needed was a nudge from someone for the dam to break loose. "The pills worked at first. For a while. But then they stopped working, and I know better than anyone the risk of addiction so I stopped. Meditation didn't do shit."

He tries to remember if he's ever heard Sakura swear. His memory offers nothing. "What about talking to a trusted friend?"

"I'm doing that now, aren't I?"

They stare at each other for a long beat.

She looks away first. "I'll be fine. Eventually."

It sounds like she's been telling herself that for a long time. It rolls unconvincingly off her tongue like she doesn't quite believe it herself.

"Sakura, lack of sleep is not a light matter," he begins, knowing he probably sounds like a hypocrite, and that he's absolutely the last person who should be advising her on this. "And it doesn't just randomly become better unless you do something about it."

She sets her mug down and turns to regard him seriously. "Okay," she agrees. "What should I do?"

Kakashi blanches a little. "Uh, well ..."

"You've been through this too, right? Surely you have. You fought in two wars."

He doesn't have it in him to tell her that his whole life has felt like an endless war, and that his nightmares were never limited to the battlefield and therefore never quite disappeared.

"I have," he confesses. "I, like many other ninja I believe, struggled to sleep at points in my life."

Yes, and who could sleep when the moment they closed their eyes they saw their fist ripping through the chest of their teammate?

"What did you do?" Sakura begins, tentatively hopeful.

He hates that it breaks his heart.

"I wish I had a proper answer," he begins regretfully, and nearly takes back his words at the way her eyes dim. "But Sakura-chan maybe ... maybe talking will help you."

She sighs, long and weary. And then she stands up. "Thank you for listening," she offers and he hates the formality of it. "It really does mean a lot. But I have to go."

He nods, feeling a little hollow in his chest. "Anytime Sakura-chan, don't be a stranger."

She nods and then makes her departure.

Kakashi groans as the door shut and he flops down on the couch. Why can't he ever get one thing right?

Sakura wakes up screaming. She knows because her throat feels raw.

Shame instantly fills her, wondering if someone heard. The great Haruno Sakura screaming from night terrors—what a joke.

She's so tired she spends minutes seriously contemplating the bottle of pills in her drawer.

But as always, rationality wins.

Sometimes she hates herself for that.

Sakura gets up, weary to her bones, and trudges to her bathroom. She doesn't look at the clock, the green-lit numbers usually offer their own sort of anxiety when they tell her she's been asleep less than an hour, and that's not nearly enough.

Instead, she takes a long shower.

She stands under the spray until the loud gush of water drowns out everything and leaves her skin red.

Maybe she could catch a nap this afternoon between her two big surgeries?

Funny how after their last meeting and little heart to heart, Sakura refuses to leave his thoughts. She hasn't stopped by his office in three long days, and he worries he drove her away with his words.

I'm really the worst person for this , he thinks.

While he internally despairs, he watches dispassionately as Shikamaru and Shizune bicker in his office. Something about budgets and jounin and Kakashi really can't be bothered.

He listens with half an ear as he contemplates a plan of action.

He doesn't want to pry, and he doesn't want to make Sakura uncomfortable, but he doesn't want her to think she has to go through this alone.

His team is his family, and it irks him that he can't help them when they struggle.

Shikamaru's loud grumbles before taking his leave pull him back to present.

Shizune is huffing, arms crossed and glaring after the Nara. It's strange because his assistant is usually a calm and rational woman—and come to think of it, even as she worked here she still made some time for the hospital. And she probably knows Sakura better than him.

"Say, Shizune," he begins, earning the woman's attention. "Do you know what Sakura's schedule is like these days?"

The question takes her by surprise and she levels Kakashi with a measuring look. "I know she works seven days a week," she says pointedly.

Kakashi holds her gaze. "That can't be healthy."

"Of course not," Shizune agrees. "Do you plan to do something about it?"

"Yes," Kakashi decides, spinning in his seat. It always makes Shizune smile. And surely, as his chair slows to face her again he sees a smile on her lips. "Still trying to decide how to go about it."

Shizune shrugs. "I'd start with forcing a mandatory lunchtime. One that's longer than twenty minutes."

That new piece of information leaves him a little horrified. It must've shown on his face because Shizune shakes her head despairingly. "Yes, she does that frequently. Shovels food down her throat and gets back to work right away."

"We can't have that," he says, already plotting a surprise visit. "We can't have that at all."

"No, we can't," Shizune readily agrees again. "And I feel a lot better knowing you're on it. Thank you, Kakashi-sama."

He waves her off distractedly. He doesn't deserve thanks—he can't believe he's only gotten the full scope of this after so long.

He really is the worst at this.

Sakura doesn't like sleeping during the daytime. Because usually whatever little rest she can manage is brutally interrupted by a nurse or an emergency, and leaves her feeling more exhausted than refreshed.

She still contemplates it as she sullenly munches on her meal, not really tasting it. She lost another patient yesterday—she wonders if it's her fault. Her mind feels laggy and slow most days now and could she have saved him otherwise?

It eats up at her until a knock at the door interrupts her.

"Yes?" she calls, confused to feel Kakashi's chakra on the other side.

He joins her in her office, bag in hand. "Hi, Sakura-chan," he says cheerfully. "A little birdie told me you take your lunch in your office?"

Sakura studies him, unsure. "Um, yes. How can I help you?"

"I'm glad you asked," he continues on the same cheerful note and sets a box on her table. "Because I have all those sweets and not enough room for them."

Sakura sends him an unimpressed look. "Senpai you don't even eat sweets."

"Says who?" Kakashi deflects. "Anyway, I know your infamous sweet tooth, so help an old man out."

"You're not even old," she grumbles, but something warm swells inside her and envelopes her whole chest. "... thank you, senpai."

Kakashi shakes his head with a smile and takes a seat in one of the chairs by her desk. "How's your day?"

Sakura stares down at her freshly acquired dango as she answers him. "It's ... been a little rough."

Kakashi's head tilts, awaiting her elaboration. Sakura doesn't know what to tell him. She settles for the blunt reality: "I lost a patient yesterday," she reveals.

He stills on the other side of her desk. Sakura can't bear to look at him when she feels so small and vulnerable—she wonders what he sees when he looks at her; an accomplished kunoichi or the little girl who always cries?

Sakura is completely surprised when he reaches across her desk and covers her hand with his, patting it comfortingly. "I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan, I know you did your best. It's not your fault—people just ... die. And sometimes there's no better explanation for it."

A lump forms in her throat. She wonders how he could've guessed exactly what she needs to hear.

She gives a shaky nod as he withdraws his hand. "I know ... thank you."

He shakes his head again. "Don't thank me. Eat."

And so she does.

Kakashi watches her silently, but his eyes look so kind it takes her breath away a little because she's never seen him like that before. Many find Kakashi an intimidating man—she herself was caught in the shadow of his greatness for a long time. Not that she finds him any less impressive now, but he feels more human than legend day by day. And yet, it's so rare to see him look … soft. Unguarded.

"How was your day?" she asks after a moment, chewing and swallowing lethargically. Gods, she feels so sleepy she worries she might doze off mid-bite. What would Kakashi do then?

"To borrow a phrase from Shikamaru, murderously troublesome." Kakashi ducks to retrieve a steaming carton cup from the bag and sets it in front of her. "Here, nearly forgot to give you your tea."

Sakura accepts with a shy smile. "You've really gone out of your way."

"Nonsense," Kakashi disagrees. "If I don't take care of our favourite medic, who will?"

The compliment, although a widespread sentiment lately, leaves her flustered. "Kakashi-senpai I hope you don't think you personally have to worry about me."

Kakashi's elbows rest loosely on the edge of her desk as he turns his whole body to face her. "Sakura-chan," he says seriously; it momentarily lifts off the fog of exhaustion. "I've spent eight years worrying for Team Seven. And I'll probably spend eighty more years worrying for you guys—not because you aren't capable of taking care of yourself but because I care about you."

She watches the gentle steam wafting out of her cup, suddenly unable to look him in the eyes. "I'm just saying I know that you feel like you have to. But I'm telling you now you don't."

"Duly noted," he quips.

It makes her roll her eyes fondly. "Anyway, why was your day murderously troublesome?"

"We're holding another Kage summit at the end of the month," he sighs wearily. "The Tsuchikage is stepping down and introducing us to his successor, so there's a lot of political bullshit to discuss. And today Shizune and Shikamaru were constantly at each other's throats."

Come to think of it, Kakashi does look tired. He rubs at his eyes, like he might be sleepy too, and confirms that for a fact when he opens his mouth and says: "I need a nap."

"Me too," she echoes thoughtlessly.

Silence reigns as Sakura goes back to munching on her sweets.

"Okay," Kakashi pipes, regaining her attention. "Let's take a nap."

"What?"

"Let's take a nap," he reiterates. "You have a couch, and it's break time."

Is he out of his mind? "My breaks ends in—"

"—forty minutes, I know, I asked."

Her jaw clicks shut, taken aback.

"Come on, we could both use some rest," he says as he gets up and makes his way to the single green couch in her office. She splurged on that one—wide, generously cushioned and with comfortable pillows.

Kakashi tosses the two pillows to the end of the couch and sprawls unceremoniously across it. His ankles stuck out over the armrest, his head resting on one of the pillows. "Hmm… this is quite nice. Come on."

Sakura, who's gaping in reaction, closes and opens her mouth a few times. "I-I don't think we'll fit."

"Nonsense we've shared tighter spaces." Indeed, who would forget that time they had to sleep in the same bedroll, not an inch of space to separate them? That had been an experience, to say the least.

Unable to think of any more protests, Sakura is forced to join him. She perches awkwardly on the cushions, and shifts to lie back next to him.

As expected, a quarter of her body sticks out over the edge.

Kakashi twists, pressing his back to the backrest and coaxes her closer, a hand on her waist and the other tucked under his head. Sakura shifts too, to face him, and finds herself closer than expected.

His eyes crinkle in a smile. "There. Plenty of space for both of us."

Kakashi's warmness washes over her, their knees interlocking. It's somehow more intimate than the sleeping bag. The little space between them quickly soaks up their body heat, leaving Sakura feeling droopy.

The way his hair falls over his face and his eyes dip sleepily is a little fascinating. "Rest," he says softly, patting her hip.

She doesn't tell him there's no way she can with them like this. She settles for relaxing into the calmness of the atmosphere and unabashedly watching him.

As if determined to set an example, his eyes drift shut and to her utter surprise, he's out in a few minutes.

Sakura takes a moment to study him in a way she's never before. His lashes are long, casting a faint shadow on his cheek, and there's a soft frown perpetually resting between his brows. He looks younger like this, she's surprised to note.

She can see the faint outline of his lips from this close. No fish lips indeed. The thought makes her smile, reminiscent of lighter times.

She closes her eyes and relaxes further into the security of his presence.

When Sakura awakes half an hour later, she doesn't remember falling asleep. Kakashi is still dozing next to her, soft snores tickling her skin. He'd drifted closer in his slumber, and his forehead now rests lightly against hers.

Sakura stares at him, eyes still blurry. She's strangely caught by the novelty of this. It wasn't the first time she slept next to Kakashi, but it certainly is the first time she feels this well-rested from sleeping in someone else's arms.

The swimmy dizziness that lingered for days now has receded. In its place was a warm and contented feeling. Peace.

"Kakashi?" She pokes him gently, almost regretfully. He looks so serene but he's going to be late if she doesn't wake him up.

"Hm?" He grunts.

"Time to get up," she murmurs, her own voice thick from sleep. She doesn't know why she doesn't attempt to put some distance between them before she wakes him.

His eyes crack open, and he squints at her. "What time is it?" his voice rasps, sending a strange shiver down her spine.

"Um…" his breath feels feverishly hot on her chin. Sakura looks away from depthless eyes to the clock hanging over her desk. "Quarter to four."

He groans, and then sits up with some effort. It leaves their legs an awkward tangled mess.

Sakura cautiously extracts herself. "I didn't want you to be late."

A yawn cracks his jaw and he stands up and stretches. "'S okay. I feel rested enough. That was nice, thank you."

To her surprise, she feels a blush warming her cheeks. "Me too … and anytime, senpai."

Kakashi nods with a smile, as casual as ever, and then runs a hand through his messy silver hair. "I'll see you around then, Sakura-chan," he says as he takes his leave.

It sounds like a promise.

"Shizune-san, I'm heading out early today!"

"Sure, just don't forget your four o'clock meeting!"

He comes the next day.

And the day after next.

And the day after that.

By the end of the week, Sakura feels decidedly more human. She's never slept better than those stolen naps with him in her office.

Each time, he visits, she eats lunch, and then she curls into the comfort of his solid body beside her and drifts off. At first, she found it a little awkward and shyness made her reluctant. But after a measly week, she's already incorporated into the routine, wanting and loving the way it left her feeling rested and rejuvenated.

No one ever thinks to interrupt her now for anything—not with the Hokage in her office. It's a blessing.

"They probably think we're working," she chuckles quietly to him, both of them getting slowly lulled to sleep listening to each other's breathing. "When we're doing the exact opposite."

"I make no apologies," he hums contentedly.

Comfortable silence engulfs them. His arm, strong and sure, is curved over her waist. It leaves little space between them and there's something heady and intoxicating in his solid masculinity against her body, and in his spicy clean scent dominating her personal space.

"Can we keep doing this?" She wonders quietly, sleep lowering her inhibitions and leaving only honesty and vulnerability behind. It feels okay to admit, because she feels safe here, with him.

Kakashi's hand rubs gently across her back. "Yes. As much as you want."

That sounded like a promise, too.

They sleep in his office sometimes. Not as frequently as they do in hers, but whenever Sakura sets up 'meetings' with him; they spend exactly ten minutes talking during those events, and the rest of the hour sleeping blissfully against each other.

"We have to work at some point, you know?" she mumbles on one drowsy afternoon that finds them on his couch, soaking in the sunlight streaming through the large windows of his office. "The hospital wing won't build itself."

"That would be too convenient," he chuckles agreeably. She smells nice this close; like flowers and home. It seems she still uses the same shampoo Pakkun insists on every time. It makes Kakashi smile every time. "We can meet up after work if you'd like? Just for a couple of hours to whip something out."

He can tell she likes the suggestion because she curls a little into him. Her pink hair tickles his face in a way he thinks should be annoying, but he finds it strangely endearing.

"I'd like that," she says seconds later, sounding moments away from sleep.

Kakashi's face bows to nuzzle her hair, blocking out the sunlight. It sends him into dreamland after her.

He shows up at her doorstep freshly showered, with a bag in hand.

"You're early," she says in surprise.

"I'm ten minutes late?" he counters, giving her a strange look.

"That is early," Sakura laughs. "For you at least."

"May I come in?"

Still laughing, Sakura steps back to let him into the comfort of her home. He kicks his shoes off and slips into a pair of slippers, handing Sakura the bag. "I made us dinner."

"You made it?" she peers into it, finding two bentos stacked inside. It smells heavenly.

"Yes, I figured we can eat something homemade for once," he follows Sakura to her living room to where she already set up her notes and calculations on the low table. "We can eat it while it's still warm if you want?"

"Yeah let's do that," she says. "I'll get some ice tea."

When she returns Kakashi has both bentos placed on the table and her papers neatly put aside. He accepts the ice-tea can when she passes it to him, and together they get settled to eat.

"Oh," she blinks as the strong flavour of garnished fish coats her taste buds. "This is really good. I had no idea you cooked!"

"Just enough to get by," he says awkwardly; his food was already disappearing, as always, without a trace.

"Don't understate it," Sakura chides, taking another mouthful. "You'd make the perfect housewife Kakashi."

"Now, now, I'll blush, Sakura-chan." God forbid , she thinks with a chuckle.

When they settle to review her proposal later that night, Sakura is a pleasant mixture of sated and at ease. Kakashi next to her seems completely relaxed, twirling a pen between deft fingers as Sakura walks him through the merits of her proposal.

"The elders might approve this if you come up with a five-year plan?" Kakashi sounds unsure himself. "I really like this Sakura, you've clearly put a lot of thought into it but we're going to have to fight hard for it."

Sakura clenches her fists in determination. "Well, bring it on!"

He smiles like he's pleased with her reaction and passes her the paper. "Section thirteen needs adjustments. You need to clarify exactly where the budget is going, how you'll be allocating the funds."

"Huh," she mumbles, noting indeed that she's missing some key things. "I'll work on that. Anything else?"

"You might want to get some clan heads to back you up."

The suggestion isn't a bad one, but beyond asking Ino, Sakura has no idea where to go. "I could probably get the Yamanaka on it, and the Naras and Akimichis by proxy."

"Should be enough," Kakashi smiles kindly. "You've got this," he encourages.

It makes warmth bloom in her chest. Kakashi probably has no idea how much he's done for her lately; how much he'd endeared himself to her, how much he fills her with assurance and reminds her of what it's like to feel functional and alive.

Sakura can't help but crave more of it. It's the only excuse she can give herself later that night when they somehow manage to find themselves lounging on her couch. That it's only natural to want this.

Sakura thinks, only a few short months later, that she's ready to give up the world for this; this undeniable security, this comfort, the nightmare-free sleep—she wonders if Kakashi knows that he's chased them away, that he left her light in the wake of their absence.

"What are you thinking?" he mutters softly. He sounds half-asleep, dozing lightly even when they made no verbal agreement that they would be spending the night here, like this. "You sound like you're thinking really hard ... you should sleep."

She briefly contemplates whether he knows how tender he sounds when sleep laces his voice and lowers his restraints. This Kakashi is even softer than the one that holds her in the daylight. Could it be because he's in her home, in her space?

Sakura peers into sleep-addled eyes the colour of charcoal. She's struck by how beautiful he looks like this; vulnerable and exposed in the intimacy that comes with their predicament.

"I'm thinking that ... this arrangement works really, really well," she whispers with a hint of uncertainty. After all, she can't speak for him.

He smiles and she can see it under the mask, the way it lifts his cheeks. That too leaves her feeling warm.

"Indeed it does," he rasps. It makes her smile back to discover that he feels the same way. She'd suspected it of course, but it's different having it voiced. A part of her relaxes at that. He wants to be here; he wants to do this. "but put that busy mind to rest. You need your sleep, Sakura."

"You'll stay?" There's no way he could've missed the hopeful note in her voice.

"Hm, sure." And he's out like a light

She watches him slumber in her arms and wonders how she could've gotten so lucky.

Sakura begins to smell more like him. He doesn't notice it at first, until one fateful day when he runs into her at the vegetable market and finds the scent of his aftershave and detergent clinging to her; like she belongs to him.

It gives him a pause.

He watches her purchase eggplants, the sunset painting her hair coral and her skin golden, and wonders distractedly who else could identify his essence on her.

Sakura looks peaceful; well-rested. There's no hunch in her shoulders. Dark-bags no longer dominate the skin under her eyes, and her complexion glows healthily. She looks beautiful.

They've made plans to have dinner tonight, just dinner. No work, no talks of budgets, no complaints about the council. Just a peaceful evening dinner and a bottle of sake. He was the one to suggest it. They both sorely need a break and Sakura readily agreed to it.

She notices him a moment later, ever attuned to his presence. Her face splits in a smile as she raises her hand to wave. It's positively endearing that her reaction to him is to smile like the sun.

It makes Kakashi warm in ways he's never experienced.

Could it be that after thirty-four years of suppressed emotions, he's finally experiencing love?

He puts the scary thought away to dissect at a later time and raises his hand to return her greeting. He refuses to be intimidated by this; he refuses to sabotage whatever it is.

For once, Kakashi goes with what his gut wants. He smiles genuinely at Sakura, and holds her groceries for her, and then together they walk home to have the dinner Kakashi will prepare for them.

He's everywhere, Sakura has an epiphany one morning. Somehow Kakashi has wormed himself into her life and her space and left it littered with pieces of himself.

There's a green toothbrush next to her pink one in the cupholder. One of his spare Hokage robes sits in her closet. Her fridge is perpetually stocked with eggplants and her office holds his favourite pens.

And now his office smells of lavender much like hers does.

"Hey," she greets, a folder clutched precariously to her chest.

Kakashi looks up from the documents he's previewing with a smile. "Hey, you made it."

"Yep, and I've got the finalised proposal." Sakura places the file on his table, suddenly overcome with nervousness. "You think this will work?"

"We spent three weeks working on it. Trust me it'll be fine. You did everything you could do and more." His eyes pore into her own, sincere and honest.

Sakura has to look away as a strange warmth sweeps through her. It's at once confusing and inviting, the way he looks at her. Her heart flutters with uncertainty as it longs for something Sakura doesn't recognise yet deeply understands.

Kakashi accepts the folder when she passes it to him and tucks it away in his drawer. "I mean it," he tells her again.

"Okay." Nodding doesn't feel enough. Saying 'thank you' doesn't feel enough. She doesn't know what to do with the jumble of gratitude and warmth she feels for him. "Will I see you at lunch?"

"Count on it."

Sakura leaves feeling flustered. It's now a custom for them to have lunch together so it was wholly unnecessary for her to track him down to give him her proposal before then. But she had wanted to see him.

It was inexplicable and yet she ended up there in his office, bound with emotions that seemed to spread over their every interaction. Does he feel this strange pull too? Does he sense the underlying ripples, the wavers in the essence of their relationship?

It's not twenty minutes later that finds him in her office with the premade lunch he prepared for them last night at her home.

How silly that she couldn't wait those twenty minutes to see him.

"Yo," he says cheerfully. "I have food and coffee."

Sakura's smile feels wobbly on her face when the tug grows exponentially again. Following it leads her to him, and before she knows what she's doing, she's already wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face in his solid chest. "Thank you."

Kakashi falters for a moment, clearly caught off guard. "M-mah, it's nothing. It's my pleasure, Sakura-chan."

"No, for everything," she mumbles, unsure if the acute heat on her face is her blush or him against her. "For everything you've done for me."

Kakashi grows silent.

Sakura knows she should pull away but she can't bear it yet. Her heart is a quivering mess and she feels overly filled with emotions.

The tentative brush of his fingertips over her scalp makes her shiver. His palm curves over the back of her head, and he presses her against him for a moment.

Then his head bows and she feels his words murmured against her hair. "Don't thank me. Sakura … you may not know it, but you've done a lot for me, too."

Oh.

Something inside her swoops down—or maybe soars up?—and she cranes her neck to look at him.

She's not prepared for how close he is. He leans away an inch, as if startled by her sudden movement, but it still leaves too little distance between them and their noses brush.

Sakura's face burns and she's caught off-guard by how her eyes are drawn to the lower half of his face. She looks away quickly. "Really?"

There's a blush peeking above his mask that nearly melts her. "Yes, really." His eyes crease in a hidden smile. "So you don't have to thank me."

She draws back, burning nearly, with things she doesn't understand. "Okay. Um. Well, sorry for jumping you like that. Let's eat."

Kakashi only chuckles, but she has a feeling there's more he wanted to say.

He couldn't have imagined that. Her eyes had lingered on his mouth that day. He's replied that moment a hundred times in his head and he's almost sure.

It leaves him part anxious, part giddy.

What was she thinking? Does she feel inexplicably drawn to him the way he is drawn to her? As exhilarating as the thought is, it leaves his hands clammy with uncertainty. This isn't the place to misstep. It would never be.

Sakura is too precious to him, too important. He can't even bear the thought of her not being in his life anymore. What if his errant feelings damn him and their friendship?

Kakashi swallows thickly and shakes his head free of such thoughts. There's only one thing he could truly do … it's time to find out if Sakura harbours any kinds of feelings towards him beyond the strictly platonic. Perhaps if he can figure that out, it would help him sort out his own cluttered feelings.

His newfound resolve leads him to her doorstep.

When she opens the door, the kind of smile she gives him is that kind that makes parts of his soul ache with longing. Sakura always regards him with so much softness. It's not fair , he thinks.

"Hey," she greets warmly, "I wasn't expecting you today."

It's her day off, of course she wouldn't expect him. Kakashi feels so swamped with conflicted feelings. "I know I just … wanted to see you."

The most endearing blush rises in her cheeks and she leans her head against the edge of her door. She glows softly in the wake of his revelation. "I'm always happy to see you."

He feels unsteady. He has noticed this interesting effect she has on him only lately and still finds himself scrambling to gain his bearings in her presence.

"I'm doing some cleaning around, so if you can avert your eyes off the mess, you may come in for a cup of tea." Her voice is filled with quiet mirth and shyness. Kakashi can only nod, glad the first step of his plan is done.

He … hadn't really planned much beyond that point. He curses himself softly as she leads him to her kitchen. True to her words, the sink is piled with dishes and there are grocery bags littering her counter.

"Avert you eyes," she pouts at him, stepping into his line of sight to shield her sink.

Kakashi can't help it, he begins chuckling. "Can I help you?"

"You want to help me clean my dishes?" she sounds sceptical.

"Yep," Kakashi responds simply.

Sakura steps away from him, crossing her arms and squinting at him curiously. "Out of your own free will?"

"I would sure hope so," the chuckles were little giggles now. She's so charming , he thinks, enraptured.

He gets up before she can walk them into a blunder and heads for her sink. In a matter of seconds, he has the tap open and the sponge soaped. "I've helped you draft proposals, this is nothing."

She flushes an appealing shade of pink and quietly sidles to his side to grab for the dishtowel.

The endless questions he has prod at his mind yet again as he hands her a dish to dry.

"I've thanked you for that," she says.

"Hm?"

"I've thanked you for that. You didn't have to do it and I really appreciate your help. I really do owe you."

He couldn't quite decipher her tone. But he feels like he had somehow misstepped already. "Sakura-chan, what are you talking about?"

She lays the dishtowel on the counter and takes a shaky breath, not meeting his eyes. "I don't know … I feel like I'm burdening you. You know you don't have to always be here for me to help me. Or comfort me."

Kakashi shuts the tap, caught off guard again. How do such lame insecurities ever find her? What's he doing wrong?

"Sakura," he said, as softly as he could, but he could hear the frustrated note in his own voice. "You're not a burden. You never were a burden, and you will never be a burden."

He turns to glance at her, but she's now staring at her hands, which grip the dishtowel in a bruising hold. "Look at me."

Hesitantly, she chances a look at him from under long, pink lashes. He catches her emerald gaze and holds it. "I love spending time with you," he starts simply and relishes in her faint blush. "You make a delightful company. I'm not burdened by this nor do I view it as an obligation. I find you because I want to find you because I like spending time with you. Okay?"

The pink in her cheeks warms until it almost matches her hair. But she's smiling, shy and sweet and can't seem to hold his gaze anymore as she mutters. "Okay … thank you."

Kakashi turns the tap back on, satisfied with her answer. His quivering heart is another matter … disclosing his emotions has never been easy. This could prove to be problematic if he were to continue his investigation and prod her.

"It's the same for you," she says, receiving another dish. She dries it meticulously as she speaks. "I …" she clears her throat softly, "love spending time with you. A lot. Ino's jealous of you."

The revelation nearly undoes him. He passes her another plate. "Oh?" he tries to keep his face blank and give no inflexion in his voice beyond the curious lilt.

"Yeah," Sakura chuckles feebly. "She thinks you're my new best friend."

Best friend. He bounces that word around in his head for a few moments, trying to decide how he feels about it and what it implies in this context. "Am I?"

Her head jerks and she stares up at him, clearly taken by surprise.

He stares back at her, hot water cascading down his wrists.

It feels like gravity. He's tethered to his spot as he waits for her answer, wondering if it'll knock him off his feet. "Um," Sakura says breathlessly, eyes roaming his face. "Well."

She takes another moment to study his face and swallows thickly. "I'm not sure if … 'best friend' is the right word," she fidgets with the dishtowel, he can see it out of the corner of his eyes but can't seem to take his eyes off her expressive ones. "I'm not really sure what … what to call you."

Heart racing in his chest, Kakashi finds himself shutting the tap for a second time. The absence of the gushing water leaves behind a ringing silence.

"Why?" his voice comes out raspier than he intended, and his heart keeps catching on an odd beat.

"Well, um," she casts for words, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and twists her hands together. She looks down at them, as if just now remember the dishtowel, and finds it mangled beyond repair. "There's … something … going on here, isn't there? Between us, I mean. Right?"

Ah. There is gravity. It makes its presence striking as his knees nearly give.

Sakura peaks up at him. She looks worried. "Or did I completely misinterpret that? Gods, I totally misinterpreted that, didn't I? This is so embarrassing, I'm so sorry, I'm—"

"Stop." Kakashi catches her wrist in his hand. Sakura stills, words dying on her lips.

He's completely out of his depths. He feels so ready to unravel hers. "Stop," he repeats, brushing the pad of his thumb over the erratic beat in her wrist.

When he finds no more words, when he loses all the thoughts he was trying to form looking at her wide green eyes, he tugs her closer. Sakura stumbles forward, and into his chest in a parody of their encounter last week.

Her breath catches as he holds her there, not in an embrace, just against him.

He was always better at planning than improvising. But it didn't mean he couldn't improvise if need be.

"I don't think you're misinterpreting anything," he says carefully. "I also feel this weird … tug."

Sakura shudders in his hold. Her free hand comes up to clutch at his shirt and she buries her face deeper in his chest. "Really?" she mumbles, voice muffled.

"Yeah, really," he smiles, as elation settles in that neither of them is freaking out and she hasn't kicked him out of her house for even daring to want her.

Sakura looks up at him, chin resting on his chest. Her cheeks are incandescent. Her eyes lower demurely as she speaks to his collarbones. "You just make me feel … strange."

"That's one way to put it," he chuckles, allowing himself to softly brush the hair at the crown of her head. "... a good strange though, I hope."

"Mhm," Sakura says, pressing her face into his chest again. It makes his stomach knot with anticipation. "It's a good strange."

He presses his open palm between her shoulderblades and holds her for a moment. Then he draws back with a regretful smile. "Those dishes won't wash themselves, I'm afraid."

Sakura's blush has deepened if possible, but she nods and turns back to the sink. "Yeah, okay, you're right, let's do this."

She looks at her ruined dishcloth. "Uh … on second thought I'll get another one of these first."

Kakashi can't help but laugh.

Sakura can't help but join him.

Together, in her sun-soaked kitchen, they share a moment of lightness and warmth, basking in newfound, reciprocated feelings.

It feels like the start of something good.

"So what's up with you and Kakashi?" Ino says nonchalantly. She's in the middle of arranging an extravagant bouquet while Sakura cuts and arranges ribbons for her the way Ino taught her in her youth.

The unexpected question makes Sakura stiffen, said lightly enough to give no inflexion yet it packs all kinds of meaning. "W-what do you mean?"

"You know, your new best friend," Ino says, poorly masking how sore she feels in regards to that. "What's up with that?"

"Ino," Sakura says delicately, catching Ino's gaze. She reaches across the counter to grip her hand. " You are my best friend. My only best friend. And I'm so damn lucky for it."

Faint colour suffuses Ino's cheeks as she fails to conceal her pleasure. "Damn right, Forehead Girl. But what's really up with Kakashi?"

How could she begin to untangle what is really up with Kakashi? So many things have changed. The way he makes her feel—how his laugh makes her chest tight, how his voice sinks all the way down to settle pleasantly in her stomach, how even his innocent touches burn her skin—so many things are different now.

"It's nothing really," she lies, and when Ino shoots her an incredulous look, stumbles for explanations.

She settles for a half-truth. "We're just sleeping together."

Not even a nanosecond later, she realises just how wrong that sounds and her mouth clamps shut.

"WHAT?!" Ino's jaw drops.

Oh gods, oh no … what has she done?

"N-no, no, no! Not like that! I-I meant we're literally sleeping together. Sleeping, Ino, stop looking at me like that!" Sakura whines, burying her face in her hands. "That was a very poor choice of words on my part, I'm so sorry."

When she peeks through her fingers at Ino, the blond is still picking her jaw off the floor. "'Sleeping together?' What do you mean?"

"Like naps and stuff," Sakura says, feeling utterly mortified. "We um, have the same break time. So we uh, nap in my office."

Ino looks exasperated. "Trust you to associate 'sleeping' with someone with naps, Forehead. This is so sad. You know what? You should totally sleep with Kakashi-senpai, it's time you found yourself a real man. You know what they say about older men, they're such generous lovers."

"Ino-Pig!" Sakura splutters, face swamping with colour. "Don't say things like that!"

Ino waves her hand dismissively. "I'm just trying to help you, Forehead Girl. As your best friend, I get to be concerned about your utter lack of sex life."

"Ino please," Sakura pleads, feeling like her face is going to melt. "Stop."

Ino sighs long-sufferingly. "Seriously, do you plan to die a virgin?"

It is, of course, precisely at that moment that Kiba Inuzuka walks into the flower shop to catch the tail-end of their conversation. His jaw drops, similarly to Ino's from a moment ago. "You're a virgin?" he says, forgoing all greetings.

"Kiba!" Ino hisses at him, suddenly indignant on Sakura's behalf. "Have you got NO TACT?!"

Sakura buries her face in her hands once more. Could this get any worse?

"Shut up, Ino! There's no way —" Kiba begins to say but Ino lunges for him. Knowing better than to ever get between these two and their couple quarrels, Sakura silently slips out of the flower shop.

The news spreads like wildfire. Sakura knows this because Kiba is as big a gossip as Ino and because when she sees Kakashi the next day, he looks like he has words on the tip of his tongue.

Their awkward talk at the kitchen happened a couple of weeks ago and they still don't have a name for what they're doing; all they had is vague implications of having feelings for each other.

Kakashi of course, has more tact than Kiba, so all he says is: "Is it true?"

They were in the middle of falling asleep on her couch, her head resting on his chest. Sakura was in the middle of counting his heartbeats, slowly being lulled to sleep when he spoke up.

She knows what he means. Yet, she feigns ignorance. "What is true?"

"There has been … an interesting rumour going around," he says after a short, contemplative pause. "Of a rather very private nature."

Sakura's face flames but she refuses to show her embarrassment. "I see."

"So it's true?" Kakashi's finger twirls a strand of her hair. The motion is soothing and nearly sends her to sleep.

"Mhm …" she hesitates. "Is it weird?"

"No," he decides, sinking all five fingers in her hair. "It's different for everyone."

Sakura bites her lip as her curiosity flares to life with his words, sleep momentarily receding. "What about you?"

His voice is filled with mirth. "Am I a virgin? I suppose I could be since it's been a very long time since … well." he chuckles lightly, unbothered.

Sakura draws circles with her index on his chest, suddenly shy. But she's so intrigued, she can't mask it. "Was it with someone special?"

Kakashi's fingers drum lightly against her head. It takes him a moment to answer. "In some ways, yes. But I was too young."

Her heart flutters. "How young?"

A momentary silence elapses. Kakashi takes a deep breath as if resurfacing from some dark recess in his mind. "I was thirteen."

Sakura gasps, twisting in his hold. He gazes at her wide eyes, hand still in her hair. "It was with my genin teammate. We'd just lost Obito and … well. Funny how emotions work."

He sounds so wistful. Sakura feels a little dizzy. "That's so young," she whispers, tracing his masked jawline. "Have you not been with anyone since then?"

"I've been with a few people, but nothing special," he admits as he tenderly strokes her hair. "Is that what you're waiting for? Something special?"

Sakura can't help her blush, not when he's looking at her like that, eyes so full of gentleness and understanding. "I guess."

"Then never settle." His eyes crease in a warm smile. It sends her heartrate into a frenzy.

She bows her head, letting her hair shield her expression. "I won't," she promises, watching the rise and fall of his chest. "Thank you."

"Of course." A chuckle rumbles in his throat and he gently coaxes her down into his arms again. "Now sleep, you have a long day tomorrow."

The council approves Sakura's proposal.

He watches her from across the room as she struggles not to beam widely in reaction to the news. Instead, she smiles and bows deeply as she thanks everyone for their time.

She leaves when they dismiss her and Kakashi can't wait for his break time to find her.

"Haruno has grown into a fine kunoichi," Koharu nods sagely, seeming quite pleased. Out of the five councilmen, she's the most agreeable.

Kakashi rises, restless with excitement. "Thank you for your audience. I shall resume my duties now."

"Hokage-sama," they all nod as he departs.

He makes it to his office in record time, wondering if he could finish his work faster and take his break earlier. He's already finished his meetings for the day and all he's left with is a pile of paperwork. If he powered through it, he could be done by three.

"Yosh," he cracks his knuckles as he takes his seat, tossing his hat aside. "Let's get some work done."

He doesn't see Sakura until the evening.

It seems an emergency sent her to the ER where she remained for five hours. Lunchtime passes and Kakashi tries not to be disappointed. He'd wanted to see her, to hug her, to have an excuse to kiss her. He wants her to know how proud he is of her.

He doesn't let that little hiccup ruin it for them though. Instead, he resolves to meet her later at her house.

But Sakura beats him to it, showing up at his office at the end of the day, still in her scrubs, looking weary but victorious.

She's beautiful when she smiles tiredly. She shuts the door behind her, leaning against it. "We did it," she says.

"No, you did it," he smiles back at her as he gets up from his chair and rounds the desk. "It was all you."

She goes to him, and he takes her in his arms, savouring her intoxicating warmth and soft curves. "Without your help, it would've taken many more months," she sighs contentedly.

"This calls for a celebration," he tells her, rubbing her back soothingly. "If you're up for it."

"I am a little exhausted," she admits and looks up at him with a tired smile. "Maybe something small for tonight."

"Whatever you want," he tells her.

Her eyes sparkle with excitement. "Anything?"

"Anything," Kakashi agrees, smiling at her anticipatory expression. "Why, do you have something in mind?"

"Well," Sakura sways lightly in his arms as she looks up at the ceiling. "What I want … What I really, really want … is to see your face."

She gives him a cheeky smile. Kakashi can't help it, he bursts into chuckles. "Of course that's what you ask for."

She pouts, although it looks like she's trying hard to suppress a smile. "Are you going to go back on your promise? You said anything."

Kakashi shakes his head, still chuckling. She looks so utterly endearing, it makes his chest hurt. He takes her sweet, blushing face in his hands and leans to peck the tip of her nose. "No, a promise is a promise."

Her eyes widen like she hasn't considered he might accept her request. "Wait—really?"

"Yes, really," he takes her hands in his and guides them to his face. "Go ahead."

Her breath catches, and her eyes drop to the bridge of his nose as she cautiously hooks her fingers at the edge of his mask. Kakashi holds her trim waist as he watches her unveil his face.

Slowly, Sakura rolls the mask down his nose, her eyes drinking him in, over the edge of his upper lip, and lower on his chin, until the mask pooled around his neck. The sudden cool air of the office feels pleasant against his skin, and the way she looks at him then is shattering.

It leaves him unearthed. Her lips part and her breathing wavers as her eye widen. "Wow."

He gives her a crooked smile. "Good wow or bad wow?"

Sakura brackets his face between her hands as her eyes roam every surface inch like he's a rare treasure only found once in a lifetime. Her eyes snap up to meet his and she looks dazzled. "Don't joke. You're … you're gorgeous, truly. This is completely ridiculous."

He feels his cheeks warm. "No fair making me blush without my mask on."

"That mask is a crime," she chuckles lightly, taking in his face again. "It deserves to burn."

His heart bangs harder against his ribcage. "You think so?"

"I know so," she says firmly, and then carries on, softer: "Just look at you … made my night just looking at you."

He changes his mind then; gravity is not real, for at that moment it doesn't hold him down. He feels afloat in the sea of her eyes as they lock with his and she leans closer, slowly, testingly.

"Can I …" When he makes no move to back away, she leans closer, lips hovering over his own, "Do this…?" she presses her mouth softly against his, plush and warm.

Kakashi leans into her, into the heady sensation of her loving mouth, into the delectable edges of her body. His lips part for hers, move with hers, until he feels too dizzy to go on.

He leans back, feeling both heavy and light, and drunk on the smell and taste of her. "Yes," he husks, already sinking back towards her. "Can I ... do it, too?"

His hand sinks in the hair at the nape of her neck and tips her head back for him. Their lips meet again, achingly soft. He caresses her lips with his tongue and savours every hitching breath he extracts from her with his kiss.

Again, he draws back when his mind begins to swim and licks his lips where her taste lingers. Her eyes crack open to regard him through foggy emerald. "Yes," she echoes in a whisper, stroking his cheek with her thumb as she takes a shuddering breath. "Again, please."

Their lips touch again and he would have been content to kiss her senseless if the door didn't knock. He draws away from her, reaching for his mask.

Sakura immediately steps away from him.

"Come in," he calls, feeling ruffled.

Shikamaru pokes his head in, "Hokage-sama, I'm leaving now."

"Alright, thanks for today Shikamaru-kun," Kakashi says as composedly as he could manage when Sakura's taste still coated his tongue like a drug. "See you tomorrow."

Shikamaru departs leaving them alone again. He clears his throat softly, longing but suddenly shy. "Shall we go home?"

"Yes, please," she says, and he's surprised by just how much he wants to kiss her again. Again and again and again.

He would ponder later when he started referring to her house as home.

He has a sneaking suspicion that it's her he found a home in, not the house.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Summary:

Kakashi and Sakura's relationship slowly develops as they examine their feelings more closely and learn to open up more to each other.

Notes:

Dear Pink,

Surprise! I wrote a part 2 ❤️ I sincerely hope you enjoy it~

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Gravity

Chapter 2

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Side by side, they walk out of the Hokage office and into the late evening. The cool air pricks at the tips of Kakashi's ears, and he can smell an approaching storm. But despite that, he feels warm everywhere else; in his chest, in his cheeks, in the pit of his stomach.

The ghost of her body in his embrace lingers, chasing sparks down his spine. And his lips ... he traces his tongue along his bottom lip where it still tastes of her chapstick.

His heart skips faintly like a bouncing rock on a shallow pond.

Sakura next to him is quiet and blushing, her fingers twisted together in a nervous gesture. Every once in a while she would glance at him out of the corner of her eyes almost shyly.

An itch starts in the tips of his fingers like a spell to drag her into the nearest alleyway and sample her mouth again; feel her soft hair between his fingers.

He doesn't know if he would be able to restrain himself once they arrive at her apartment.

Dragging his eyes away from the pink in her cheeks, he takes in the sparsely populated streets.

There are no crowds tonight. The store lights are on, but many of them sat empty, others closed for the night. Perhaps the people of Konohagakure could sense the approaching storm too; the staticity in the air that plays along the hairs of his arm, as if calling for the lighting within him.

Sakura angles towards him, her feet shuffling closer. He's hyper-aware of her in the most novel of ways—her every breath, every scant inch of space between them, the compelling warmth of her body against his side.

The back of her hand brushes his innocuously, knuckles against knuckles and warmth against warmth.

He glances at her, his breath lost to the crisp air of the looming night. Their eyes meet, hers a startling bright green, and her lips twitch up in a timid smile.

Discreetly, he lets his fingers trace the side of her hand. He almost feels sparks catching at the sharp edge of static electricity where skin meets skin. Cautiously, and with a last inconspicuous look around the emptying streets, he slips his hand into hers.

Sakura's eyes sparkle as they peak through lowered pink lashes and she bites her lip—it's so enticing it almost feels mocking—as his hand grasps hers in a firm hold.

This is different, he marvels. The feeling of their palms pressed together, the contrasting calluses and softness of her hand, the gentle human touch that serves nothing else but to diminish proximity—to reach out.

He exhales shakily, surprised, always so surprised, by the way it makes him feel to do those things with her. To brush her hair and hold her hand and walk her home. To watch her fall asleep in his arms and to wake up in hers. The embraces they share and the tender pillow talks he holds close to his heart.

And the next morning when he sees her off to work, still dozing lightly as she quietly moves around the room ... all those little things that make Kakashi feel like a different man, like he belongs somewhere.

He feels them so profoundly at that moment.

They walk home, hands entwined, where even the last of the moonlight eclipsed by the storm couldn't diminish the kindling warmth in the spaces between them. On her shadowed porch, Sakura unlocks her door without letting go of him and drags him in after her.

It clicks shut, the security of her house enveloping them with silence.

Her breathing is audible then, nearly strained, undoubtedly with the same tension he feels. The heart already racing in his chest stumbles at the sight of her gazing at him with such earnest longing, and about crashes into his ribcage.

His body moves.

Kakashi takes her in his arms, where she curves fully into him, welcoming and yearning as she winds her arms around his hips.

Slowly, Kakashi backs her against the door and leans down to capture her mouth in a kiss that singes his spine.

It's impulsive—still raw and new, and he can't say he's surprised that he hasn't had his fill yet. He spent weeks thinking about doing this, wondering about her lips against his.

He feels the hot pressure of her mouth through the mask but he longs for her taste enough to gather the will to lean back and do away with the cloth. Her eyes shimmer in the dimness of her hallway, reflecting the sliver of light breaking through the cracked kitchen door.

She's beautiful in the low light, sheltered in the shadows of his body.

The backs of his fingers trail down the soft arch of her cheek, memorising the way her eyes, wide and dark, drank him in before leaning in for another taste.

Velvety lips brush against his and he relishes every atom of oxygen he loses under the tip of her tongue. He's not sure what he's doing, or where they are going. But the secret smiling slant of her mouth is addicting, and the faint taste of her strawberry chapstick lingers, drawing him in.

Sakura's neck cranes back and her hands fist the back of his shirt, holding him close as their mouths meshed slowly together, tongues stroking experimentally; an unfamiliar dance memorised in snapshots, his foggy mind coming into sharp focus every time her teeth graze his lips or her tongue traces his teeth.

And then her head would tilt just so, their mouths slotting together seamlessly and the hazy cloud of desire would pull him under again. He clutches her hip, his other hand coming up to stroke her hair as he basks in the sweet taste of her and the tentative fragility of having her locked in his arms like this.

It's not completely unfamiliar. He knows the feel of her by now; she's soft to the touch where the waist of her pants meets skin on one side and rough on the other where Sasori's puppets once skewered her and left a scar.

He can feel goosebumps on her body under the tips of his fingers.

He wants to take more, to allow his lips to stray down the elegant stretch of her neck, to hold her close for a little longer but he makes himself stop. He doesn't want to push her.

He draws away with a final gentle peck, mouth lingering for a moment longer in a valiant hope of memorising her taste.

It leaves tingles dancing along his lips.

Sakura's hold loosens around him, her fingers unclenching from his shirt. She doesn't let him go, however, keeping him locked in the cradle of her arms.

She looks at him drowsily, and smiles, "Stay," she says. "Stay the night."

Kakashi bites his lip. Her gaze falls to his mouth as if transfixed. "Please," she murmurs.

He watches her eyes, they're sleepy and tender. Her lips are dewy and delectable. And the solid, reassuring curve of her in his arms with her taste still in his mouth feels unravelling.

"Okay." Kakashi draws back from the door, taking her with him. She's light in his hold, like she weighs nothing; he wonders if she'll float away from his arms. He begins to lead them to the couch in a slow, swaying shuffle as he refuses to relinquish his hold on her, their bodies pressed together in an intimate embrace.

But Sakura has other plans, for she nudges him in the other direction, and he soon finds himself meandering into her bedroom.

Kakashi catches himself feeling unsure again, but it feels safe with her. Whatever she wants, whatever she needs from him, he's happy to give it to her.

She strokes his side as she pushes him down on her bed and crawls onto the space next to him.

"It's more comfortable here," she chuckles softly in explanation, tugging her covers back. She wiggles her toes under it and scoots towards the wall. "Come on."

Kakashi's heart flutters; it's not uncertainty, it's warmer and more anxious. He kicks his shoes off, and sits next to her, leaning against the backrest. Sakura tucks her head against his shoulder and sighs happily. "I know this wasn't your idea of a celebration but if you ask me, this is quite nice."

Kakashi's lips quirk in a smile. "You're only saying this because I showed you my face."

Her reaction is endearing—she presses her face into his bicep and groans. "Shut up," she muffles out. Kakashi chuckles and lovingly strokes her hair with his free hand.

At the brush of his fingers, her neck tips back and she looks at him thoughtfully.

"What are you thinking?" he wonders.

"I'm thinking I need to change but I'm too lazy," she admits with a bashful grin. "I'm also thinking that having you here is enough of a celebration."

Kakashi's face warms. "What is it with you and needing to make me blush?"

Sakura giggles gleefully. It's too dim to see his blush, but she scrutinises his face anyway. "I like it. You're so cute."

Kakashi arches a brow at her, torn between humour and feeling shy. "Cute and gorgeous? You know, if I had a stake in masculine ego it'd be bruised by now."

Sakura slaps him lightly across the chest. "You know what I mean!"

Kakashi knows what she means.

He presses a kiss to her cheek. "I know. Now go get changed because you're only gonna get lazier."

Sakura groans softly again. "I hate it when you're right."

"Pfft," he says and helps her up by giving her a supporting arm to hold on to. Sakura stumbles slightly, catches herself as she giggles and turns to point a cautionary finger at him.

"Don't laugh at me," she warns at the small chuckle that burst out of him.

"Yes ma'am," he says dutifully but can't quite temper his smile in the face of her flushed grin.

Sakura makes way for her closet where she spends a few minutes riffling and muttering to herself. Kakashi uses that time to undo his hitai-ate, remove his gloves and weapons pouch, and take off his vest. The latter, he hangs on the back of her chair, the former, he deposits on her nightstand.

"I think I'm gonna take a shower," Sakura says as she straightens from her kneel by her drawers.

"Okay, I'll make us something to eat," Kakashi announces with a nod, and heads to the kitchen.

Moments later, the sound of gushing water reaches him. He shakes his head in hopes of dislodging a few stray thoughts of her in the shower and goes hunting through her cupboards for food.

The freezer reveals a promising packet of shrimps, which sets him into motion, preparing to cook some tempura for dinner. Sakura's fond of that dish and imagining her reaction sends his heart into a flurry of somersaults.

She doesn't return until a while later, her wet hair braided back, and her pyjama shorts hanging enticingly low on feminine hips. Her tank top is loose, but Kakashi could see the faint impression of her nipples through it and feels like smacking his head against the cupboard for noticing.

"I made us tempura," he manages, not quite able to look away from the red skin of her neck and the droplets of water gliding a path down her chest.

Sakura beams and takes her seat on the dining table, distracting him with her smile. "You're just the best."

Pesky butterflies in his stomach. Kakashi feels so young these days. He joins her, and watches every shy glimpse she sends his way and every blush that brightens her face when their eyes meet.

"I'm proud of you for getting the council's approval," he finds himself telling her, and the startled look that passes on her face is achingly endearing. "You're going to do great things, Sakura."

She ducks her head, mumbling. "Thank you, really, without you it wouldn't have happened."

"Without you, it would've never even been considered," he counters. "All the hours of work you put into it—you should give yourself more credit. You're amazing."

He can feel the heat radiating off her face from where he sits across from her. Kakashi reaches across to cover her hand with his. "I mean it."

Sakura smiles, and it's affectionate and teary. Her hand turns beneath the cover of his and she grasps his fingers with both hands and brings his knuckles to her lips. She leaves a burning kiss that lingers, sending those annoying butterflies swarming relentlessly until Kakashi is sure he has no place left for food. "Thank you."

Flustered, he mumbles a reply and takes a bite of his food.

Her hand remains in his, and neither of them relinquishes their hold on the other.

It feels safe. Like home.

.

.

.

Sometimes he watches her sleep. In the deepest hours of the night when he finishes reading, he curls close to her and plays with the soft rosy strands of her hair, and traces the arch of her brow with the tip of his finger.

This time Sakura stirs, turning in his arms. "Kakashi?"

"Shh, go back to sleep," he whispers. Her arms slip around him as she scoots closer and she nudges her foot between his.

"What's wrong?" She wonders groggily and presses her face into his solid chest.

Kakashi smiles and tells her the truth: "Nothing could ever be wrong when I'm with you."

"You're such a sap," she mumbles and sinks into the warmth of his body. "Go to sleep."

"A few more minutes," he beseeches, so softly, he wonders if she heard him. A few more minutes of relishing being with her in this way. He runs his fingers through her fruity smelling hair; they slip seamlessly through the strands, still dewy from her evening shower.

Kakashi's heart gives a familiar flutter, although it has grown more pronounced and agonising with time. Like a wince, a stumbling beat that lodges his breath in his throat. It's a sweet pain.

Sakura's breath evens out again, her chest moving against his until his rhythm matches hers.

He falls asleep with his face pressed in her hair and his palm curved over her cheek.

It's something, he thinks in the last dredges of consciousness. What he feels for her, it's really something.

He comes home with flowers. Sakura doesn't know why she finds that shocking, except for once, she's home early from her morning shift and he walks in with his key carrying a bouquet of daffodils. "Hey, I'm home… I bought these.."

She flounders for a moment as she accepts them. 'A feeling of yearning, a flower full of hope,' Ino's teachings from their genin days return to her. Could it be that Kakashi knows the language of flowers? "You got those for me?"

"Yes," he chuckles—it sounds bashful; shy. "I wanted to get you flowers."

"They're lovely," she says after a pause, still taken aback but rapidly drowning in an overflowing wave of affection for this man. "I love them so much, thank you."

She arches her head back expectantly and leans into him. Kakashi immediately swoops low to kiss her lips.

It feels as natural as breathing.

He draws back, a blush peeking over his mask. "Would you um … I was thinking we could go somewhere tonight?"

Sakura nods, her own face warm, and feels like a silly teenager talking to her crush. "I would like that, yes."

.

.

.

He takes her to a lake. The orange glow of the evening sun paints a beautiful sunset on wavering ripples, the cattails on the bank swaying softly in the cool breeze. There's a small boat tied to the post, wooden and polished.

Sakura can see small fish swimming beneath the surface, water lilies floating in the distance. Even in the approaching autumn, the aura of the place inspires a warmth that chases away the chill in the air.

"Here," Kakashi says, drawing her attention to him. He holds a hand out to her expectantly, and Sakura takes it as he helps her board.

The boat rocks gently beneath their combined weight as they settle down. She's bundled up in a comfortable sweater and a skirt, still swarmed with a fluttery feeling in her stomach. When Kakashi turns his dark, warm eyes on her, it feels almost like drowning.

She looks down, breath catching. Beyond the sound of the breeze ruffling through trees, and the quiet buzz of insects, not much can be heard. It's just her and Kakashi.

He rows them away, the boat drifting towards the middle of the lake.

"This is nice," Sakura remarks as they come to a stop and she stares out into the expense of forest in the distance. "I didn't know there was a lake out here."

'Out here' is at the outskirts of Konoha, hushed and peaceful, with soft stem bulrush basking in the warm glow of sunset. Kakashi seems to be one with this place and its inherent peace; and like something extraordinary, his relaxed features and easy grace belaying the dangerous depths that made him the most fearsome creature in the forest.

"Oh," he says softly like he's just remembered something. "I used to live here when my father... when I was still young."

Sakura bites the inside of her lip as her curiosity rears its head. Kakashi's past never has and never will feel like a safe topic to broach. Despite that, she nudges him as gently as she knows how: "Did you come here often?"

"Every day. To fish," he offers readily in answer. He's beautiful in this light. It graces his cheekbones as if the gods that so meticulously crafted him were reaching out to admire their masterpiece.

Sakura wants to reach out and do the same, trace his sharp cheekbones and the arch of his brow; brush her fingers through his unruly silver hair. She stifles the impulse, rubbing her hands together.

"Are you cold?" He asks suddenly, brows quirking faintly in concern. Sakura opens her mouth to deny that just as he catches her hands between his big calloused palms and holds them. "Your hands are freezing."

Sakura hadn't even been aware of that, too caught up in Kakashi. Her heart thrums faintly, like a reminder that he's never going to stop making it skip.

His body heat sinks into her. It simultaneously warms her yet makes her want to shiver—an interesting juxtaposition that leaves her caught between leaning in and bracing herself against the chills racing down her spine.

"Um," she manages with an embarrassed chuckle. "It's fine. My hands are always cold."

He levels her with a steady look, carefully dissecting. "That's not true," he denies, pressing his palms against her own. "You're always warm," he sounds thoughtful. Sakura flushes under his attention.

She ducks her head to gather her bearings and wonders about her sudden nervousness. Is it the bouquet of flowers sitting in her living room? Or the ever creeping sense of 'this is it' that she feels in her gut whenever she's around him?

Sakura watches the way his hands curve around her own for a moment, studying the faint white scars crisscrossing his knuckles. "Kakashi?"

"Mhm?"

"Are we ... dating?"

Sakura's jaw clicks shut, surprised by the question she just blurted. Nervousness tightens her stomach, and shyness burns in her cheeks.

Kakashi stares at her, hands going a little slack. And then he laughs . "I thought that was fairly obvious."

Sakura pouts, a blush spreading down her neck. "Don't laugh at me," she whines.

"I'm sorry," he says sincerely, still chuckling. "It's just ... I've done everything to make my intentions clear, and yet you still have doubts."

Sakura shakes her head, her heart racing and racing and racing. She licks her lips, a nervous habit. "And what are your intentions?"

Kakashi's expression sobers up. He casts his gaze around, looking into the distance. A thoughtful momentary silence elapses, one that leaves Sakura breathless, feeling faint.

"My intentions ... they're not so much intentions as they are things I want to avoid," Kakashi says slowly, turning his eyes back to her. He looks a little jaded then as his mask quirks up in a small smile. "I lived a long time running away from the things that made me happy. Mostly because the idea of losing them scared me. But I don't feel that way when I'm with you ... I guess I refuse to run away from you."

Sakura swallows, still feeling lightheaded at the implications that she makes him happy. "So ... dating, then."

His eyes crease again. "Yes. Dating. If you'll allow it."

"Like ... boyfriend and girlfriend?" Sakura feels instantly silly as she voices those words, but Kakashi's expression seems to warm.

"Why not?" He says lightly. "Being labelled a boyfriend certainly makes me sound younger than I am."

That makes Sakura laugh, taken aback and incredulous. "Really?"

"Yeah," Kakashi chuckles again, and draws her hands to his lips for a chaste kiss. It makes Sakura hide her face again as a burning blush permeates her cheeks and Kakashi adds in a softer tone, "It's a good feeling."

She's constantly on his mind. His every waking moment is spent pulling himself out of a spiralling daydream when he realises he spaced out thinking about her amidst one of his tasks. Focusing becomes a struggle, one he didn't foresee.

He thinks of her when he wakes up; what they'll have for breakfast. He thinks of her when he takes his morning shower; what her hair will smell like today. He thinks of her in meetings with the council and his advisors; if her day is as hectic as his. And mostly he thinks of her in his quiet moments—when there are lulls in conversation or a lapse of peace, when he finds himself alone.

He misses her most in those moments when no distractions serve him. He sinks into a memory of her lips, her words, the way she smiles at him when she thinks no one is looking. Everything about her makes his chest ache.

A knock at his door and the spring-like warmth of her chakra alert him to her presence.

She pokes her head in, smiling tentatively and her growing pink hair graces her shoulder. "Hey."

"Hey. Come in," he puts his pen down, his earlier weariness vanishing in the sunshine of her presence.

She slips in, shutting the door behind her. There's a lightness to her bearing that's so uniquely her as she approaches his desk, it always leaves Kakashi riveted.

Sakura lowers herself on one of the chairs facing his desks and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "How are you today?"

Kakashi smiles. "Better now that you're here."

As expected, pink suffuses her cheeks. She looks away, trying to suppress a smile. "You're such a sap."

"How was your day?" He returns with a chuckle, not denying her accusation.

Her smile brightens a little. "Great. Did you know Naruto's planning to propose to Hinata?"

Kakashi jerks in his seat at the news, eyes widening. "Already?!"

"Yep," Sakura sounds excited. "He's taking her to dinner this weekend. He asked me to pick out his suit."

Still in disbelief, Kakashi sits back. "Naruto … as an engaged man … huh, I guess everyone does eventually grow."

He thinks of Minato-sensei and laments yet again that he missed the sunshine boy he and Kushina created.

Sakura's smile softens. "Hinata's good for him. I'm happy for them."

Kakashi has a sudden vision of Sakura in a white dress, smiling under her bride's veil and flushes at the unexpected thought. He sweeps his gaze away as his heart gives a quivering squeeze and mentally shakes himself before he refocuses. "Me too," he admits, reaching for his pen again and twirling it between deft fingers.

Sakura watches him silently, still smiling but it's soft and shy now. "... I missed you."

He swallows as he drops the pen, the yearning inside him growing exponentially. He thanks the gods that they're alone in his office so he could reach over the desk and take her hand in his. He tugs until she stands, and guides her around his desk, his chair rolling back to make space for her.

"What?" She flushes when he pulls her down to sit on his thigh but she leans into him, one arm wrapping around his shoulders.

Kakashi brings his masked mouth to her ear and murmurs, "I missed you too."

She looks at him for a moment; her expressive green eyes seem to say a thousand things. Sakura's fingers thread through the hair at his nape and her forehead comes to rest briefly atop his head. She sighs softly, and then does it again as if her chest too felt so tight with feelings she couldn't hope to contain.

His arms tighten around her, familiar curves encircled within his arms where she fits perfectly; as if she was made to be held by him. He wishes he didn't have work so he could spend the rest of the day like this, just holding her close, getting tipsy on the flowery scent of her hair and skin. He presses his nose against her collarbone and takes a moment to bask in her warmth.

The gentle brush of her fingers through his hair makes him shut his eyes and sink a little more into her. "What are your plans for today?" She asks softly, as if she's trying to lull him to sleep.

"You. Just want to spend the day with you." He marvels at the words that so easily escape his throat. Hadn't it always been so hard to say what he feels, what he thinks? And yet she wedges those little feelings out of him with little to no effort.

"I finish my shift at eight today," she says, and brushes his hair again. He knows she finishes at eight—he knows because he looked at her weekly schedules in those moments he missed her most. "What do you feel like having for dinner?"

"You'll cook?"

She leans back to look at him, a faint blush darkening her cheeks. "You always cook. I was thinking maybe it's my turn," an awkward chuckle tumbles out of her mouth.

His chest swells with affection for her. Kakashi tucks another stray hair strand behind her ear, taking in the way her blush grows more prominent and her eyes flitter shyly. It's too much—too much of that stabbing-like sensation in his chest, too much longing in his fingers and that want clawing up his throat.

She makes a soft, surprised sound when he lurches forward, yanking his mask off and presses his mouth against hers.

Sakura always tastes sweet, her lips always soft and plush. He nips at her full bottom lip and wonders if there will ever be a feeling more exquisite than her mouth moulding with his. Her grip on him tightens and she takes a shaky breath through her nose.

When he nips at her lips again, a small sound vibrates in her throat. It makes an unexpected warmth curl in his belly.

It's now Kakashi's turn to take a shaky breath as she leans back, leaving his lips dewy with her kiss.

The sunlight casts an ethereal glow over her smooth milky skin and brightens her eyes until they sparkle. Her lips are slick, impressions of his teeth linger faintly on plush rose. It takes his breath away.

"Do you want to nap today?" She asks but Kakashi is too caught up in the heat and intimacy of her against his front and the warmth of the afternoon sun at his back that he doesn't answer right away. "I'm not particularly sleepy but we can lie down if you want."

Lying down is perhaps exactly what he needs—there's a sense of unbalance around her that never seems to fade. Like a rush of blood to his brain that makes his head spin. "Lying down sounds good."

She stands up and brings him to his feet. "Do you want tea first?"

"I'm good," he responds and grasps her wrist so that she doesn't think to leave him for the nonsensical tea. He pulls them both down on the couch and lies down in hopes it would calm the butterflies he feels in the pit of his stomach.

Sakura watches him with a smile. "You're so cute," she confesses as she moves his hair out of his eyes.

" You 're cute," his mouth twitches in a wry smile and his palm curves over her delicate cheek. His thumb flits over the arch, stroking gently. When he begins to pull away, she catches his hand in hers and presses it to her face.

They stare at each other for a silent beat and there's a thick tension scratching at Kakashi's skin as he waits for her to say something. She doesn't, but her half-lidded eyes seem to be doing the talking.

Sakura bends. Kakashi's chin instinctively tilts up to receive her kiss and he holds his breath as her soft pecks make something in his stomach burn.

The angle must have been awkward for her because she subtly attempts to shift her position. Kakashi doesn't know what compels him, what emboldens him, but he grabs her waist and coaxes her atop his body.

Sakura's leg slips between his knees, and her feminine curves press against his shoulder as she lies next to him, half of her body pressed over his.

It takes him a moment to realise this is new.

Sakura's body caresses him with her every shifting move, her kiss growing hungrier. Kakashi is momentarily caught between slowing her down and feeding her fire gasoline.

It feels like a race—would he steal her breath first or would she steal his?

When he's rendered dizzy, losing the air in his lungs to her whims, when he's sure he'll drown if he doesn't resurface soon, Sakura pulls back with a soft gasp, her chest heaving and her face heavily flushed.

Dammit , Kakashi thinks as his heart bangs briskly against his ribcage and he tries to catch his breath. I…

No coherent thought presents itself. But his body seems to have thoughts of its own. He turns on his side, his body curling over hers and catches her mouth in his again, hand landing on her collarbones.

Sakura's head arches far back, her mouth firm against his and holds their bodies together. Her hands wander, mapping trails down his back, gripping at his shoulders and neck—Kakashi sinks lower, his leg caught between hers, his head foggy. Another firm squeeze of her arms around him brings him flush against her; suddenly he finds his body lining hers, every intimate inch pressed together.

His breath catches, but she doesn't give him a chance to hesitate even when heat begins coursing through his veins. Her hands drag lower, kneading as they go. They come to rest at his sides, applying a steady faint pressure and then she shifts—

—Kakashi's body goes momentarily rigid as her front brushes his crotch, their fidgeting causing their bodies to roll together.

He disentangles from her kiss, lungs straining, to find her gazing at him through hazy eyes. Her expression is strange, unfamiliar.

She licks her lips and says hoarsely, "what?"

What, indeed. Kakashi clears his throat quietly and studies her heady expression unsurely. "... Nothing."

"Why'd you stop then?" Her hands skim his sides again.

He's doomed—that's the only crystal thought in his jumbled brain.

Kakashi leans down again, more tentative this time as his lips brush over hers. Sakura hums pleasantly, tilting her head until they slot together again.

Cautiously he shifts against her as their lips find a rhythm. In contrast, her body moves restlessly against him and her hips surge upwards. They roll together once again, sparking short-lived friction.

He nearly bites his tongue as he pulls away from her this time, his heart racing. Sakura looks mostly unphased but for the red in her cheeks.

"What?" She asks again.

"Nothing," Kakashi says once more, trying to calm himself. He strokes her hair gently, wondering why his body is behaving weirdly now out of all times.

In a daring move, he presses her hips to the couch, pinning her under his weight before reclaiming her mouth. Her fidgeting doesn't cease, if anything she seems to become more shivery under his firm touch. But with control back in his hand and a safe couple of inches separating their bodies, he can finally sink into the heat of her mouth and velvety tongue without pause.

Sakura makes soft noises in her mouth, her hands lost in his hair, pulling and tugging and gripping hard whenever his tongue dips between her lips.

It's intoxicating, having her under him like this, her hands traversing the hard planes of his body.

Out of breath, Kakashi's lips stray to the column of her neck leaving feathery, wet kisses on her sensitive skin. Sakura's grip tightens on him, but she goes still when he sucks at her pulse point. Her breath stutters and she arches a little under him. "O-oh," she breathes like she hadn't expected that to feel the way it did.

Kakashi, in the time he uses to catch his breath and calm himself, moves his lips somewhere less erogenous. He presses kisses to her cheeks, her brow, her eyelids, the tip of her nose and finally her lips for one last lingering kiss.

Sakura's eyelids crack open when he leans back to watch her. He shifts his weight from over her to next to her and rests his head over his upturned palm, a smile teasing the corner of his lips at the little pout that's forming on her lips.

"What?" It's his turn to ask now.

Sakura's blush returns but she looks at him determinedly. "I didn't want to stop."

Kakashi's heart gives a lurch and his stomach tightens. He takes a slow, calming breath and strokes her cheek with the back of his fingers. "You need to rest before your shift."

"Maybe I need you more," she mutters, her eyes cast down.

His heartbeat roars in his ears, brutal and unforgiving. Doesn't she know what that sounds like?

Kakashi shakes off the thought of his lips trailing lower on her body and refocuses. He allows himself one last kiss, pressed softly over the corner of her mouth. "I'll see you at eight," he tells her softly, "and then I'm all yours."

Sakura leaves for her shift reeling and unbalanced.

In the time it takes for her to arrive at the hospital and sort her charts, she runs through the memory of every romantic encounter she's had in her life trying to recall if anyone ever made her feel this way.

Her one semi-serious relationship in the past was with a chuunin when she was eighteen. It had lasted a few months but ended because he couldn't deal with her hectic schedule and constant absence. They'd gotten along fairly well, and he was always sweet and kind to her but he never quite made her heart thunder like this. His kisses didn't leave her dizzy and his touch never made her feel like she's burning from the inside out.

Sakura nearly drops her charts when she hastens to her office and ends up running smack-dab into Shizune. She stumbles and barely manages to catch her things before they hit the ground. "Oh shoot, are you okay?"

Shizune has a steadying hand on her elbow. "I'm fine—are you okay?"

"Yep, golden," Sakura says, watching Shizune's dissecting gaze warily. "How are you, senpai?"

Shizune let's go of her elbow and starts walking with her. "Me? I'm doing okay. I'm planning to go on a vacation soon for a few days… and you? You look better."

Something in Shizune's gaze makes Sakura wonder what she knows. "I'm sleeping better," Sakura admits. "And resting better."

The sparkle in Shizune's eyes sharpens and her lips twist up. She pats Sakura on the back. "I'm glad to hear that, Sakura. I have to run now but let's catch up soon."

Sakura nods dumbly after her and watches as the older woman disappears around a corner. She continues to her office, her attention shifting between her surroundings and inwardly where she finds herself lost again dissecting the past and the present.

No one's ever looked at her the way Kakashi does. Perhaps he's unaware of the way his eyes warm when he regards her, or the way his face softens. But it always takes Sakura's breath to be the subject of his gentle scrutiny.

Certainly no one has kissed her the way Kakashi does. With lips that move slowly, basking in touch and taste; and lips that match her hunger, fiery and consuming. Sakura's heart begins to race at the memory of his hands on her hips, strong and warm as they pinned her down.

Sakura isn't naive, she knows that what he'd done turned her on. His firm grasp and his body towering over her—lean and sculpted muscles rolling against her—the feeling of his tongue against her own, his teeth that left soft marks… Sakura had been melting, half gone in the swirling heat sinking in her stomach.

She even told him she didn't want to stop. She wonders now about that and how much truth those emboldened words held. Sakura wants to keep kissing him. She wants those hands that always protected her on her skin. She wants the weight of his body to press her down until she can no longer tell if the air in her lungs is his or her own.

She rests a hand over her stomach when it flutters at the thought.

Has she been so caught up in the sudden overflowing affection she has for him that she missed how much she wants him?

Sakura shakes the thoughts away. She'll never get through her shift if she doesn't refocus.

All she has to do is keep him out of her mind until eight. She glances at her watch, feeling a little breathless and finds that it's five p.m. She takes a deep breath; her lungs strain uncomfortably. She can do this.

And when eight p.m. arrives … she's bound to figure out a way to rid herself of the burning in her stomach.

.

.

.

Sakura returns home to an empty, dark apartment. The cool interiors are quiet, her books lay scattered on the table where she left them, one of Kakashi's coffee mugs is still in the sink. Kakashi isn't home yet, it seems.

She goes to make a cup of tea, needing something to calm down the anticipation still bubbling inside her. Has it ever been this violent in her stomach? A tight knot that won't loosen, a constant flutter like anxiety that won't let her rest. When had she ever felt this way?

Sasuke had been cold in their youth, with the rare flickers of concern he'd show her that made her chest swell with hope. Jun had been warm and sweet when they weren't arguing about her work hours.

Kakashi makes her burn from the inside out. He'd give her one of those rare smiles where his teeth show and Sakura would feel like the earth shattered beneath her feet. His gaze, in some of those secret moments they share, would go soft and gentle and Sakura would forget how to breathe looking at him. His touches, when they linger, chase goosebumps, leave her shivery.

In so many ways, everything about him is familiar to the core yet brand new. He's Kakashi, one of the few constants in her life, one of the few people she trusts implicitly. She can recall him in every trivial and important instance in her life, in the corner of every important memory she possesses.

But where there was just trust and safety in the past now lives a pulsing little thing, growing and festering.

The door clicks open, pulling Sakura out of her musings. She starts a little, her heartbeat going up in a crescendo. Setting her tea mug down, Sakura exits her kitchen to greet Kakashi.

What she finds is not what she expects.

In the doorway stands Kakashi, a bundle cradled protectively in his arms. He closes the door with the edge of his foot and when he turns, he looks a little weary.

"Hey," she says, suddenly anxious. "You're late."

Kakashi gives her a little eye-crease, maybe at the irony of that. He's always late to everything, but never to her anymore.

The bundle in his arms wiggles, sending Sakura's eyebrows up in surprise. "What's that?"

She approaches cautiously, tilting her head to peek into the Hokage robes Kakashi is using as a makeshift blanket. The tiniest kitten, her grey fur matted and wet nuzzles its cover and shivers. A surprised gasp echoes from Sakura, her eyes shooting up to Kakashi who begins to explain.

He looks upset. "I found her drowning… getting drowned … by two drunks." He grits his teeth, and presses the kitten more securely to his chest. "She must be a few days old, she's so tiny. She nearly died, I had to do CPR on her. I couldn't just … leave her. I hope you don't mind."

Sakura's heart thrums with affection, but her fists clench in an overpowering wave of anger hearing about something so cruel. "What the hell is wrong with people— who would— gosh! Take me to them, I'll teach them a lesson!"

One of Kakashi's hands comes down on her shoulder and pats gently. "It's fine. I dealt with it."

His eyes glimmer dangerously for a moment, a look she associates with the legendary copy ninja. "They won't be hurting anyone any time soon."

Satisfaction curls in Sakura's gut to find out that justice is served and doesn't bother to inquire about the hows. Instead, she reaches tentatively for the kitten and strokes her little head with the tip of her finger. "Poor baby …"

"Can we keep her?"

Sakura's eyes widen. "You want to adopt her? Together?"

"Yes. I have the ninken at my house so that's not very … and I'm mostly here anyways." Indeed he is. Sakura thinks about this frequently. By all accords, they're living together at this point. She wonders why they don't just label it for what it is. "Only if you're okay with it of course."

Sakura looks down hoping to hide the blush in her cheeks. "Yeah. Sure. We can keep her."

Kakashi's eyes soften to that secret look he reserves for her and Sakura's heart jumps to lodge in her throat. "But cleaning the litter box is on you," she adds quickly, trying to rid herself of the impossibly warm feeling in her chest and gut. It's an inappropriate time for that—they have a bigger issue at hand.

"Yes ma'am," Kakashi agrees readily and follows her to the living room where he sets down the kitten for Sakura to examine.

Sakura takes her time clearing out any excess moisture in the kitten's lungs and heals the few scapes she finds on her body, all the while her heart breaks with the knowledge of what happened to this tiny, innocent life. She strokes her head until the kitten purrs and nuzzles her hand. "Oh my god … she's so cute," Sakura says, moved by the little sign of trust. "What should we call her?"

Kakashi lowers himself on the ground next to her and takes his turn petting the kitten. He stares at her furry head pensively for a few moments, before he offers. "Mei?"

"That's a pretty name," Sakura agrees, turning to the kitten. "What do you say, Meimei-chan?"

Seeing the cat nuzzle Kakashi too makes her smile. "I think she likes it."

Kakashi smiles back, tired eyes creasing. Thoughtlessly, Sakura reaches for his face, curving her palm around his cheek and strokes. "Are you okay?"

He leans into her touch, eyes closing for a brief moment before he opens them and covers her hand with his own. He turns to bestow a kiss on the edge of her palm. "I'm fine. It was just a tedious day is all."

"Why don't you take a shower, maybe it'll make you feel better?" she suggests, turning back to Mei. "I'll look after this one until you're done."

Kakashi easily agrees and departs soon after, leaving Sakura in her lamp-lit living room with a dozing kitten. She watches the little thing breathe with a soft smile and strokes her head as she wonders about what to feed her, where to make her sleep.

In the time Kakashi uses to shower, Sakura makes a quick trip to the pet store down the block and buys some kitten-based milk formula mixture. The counter lady helpfully takes the time to explain to Sakura how to prepare it and how often to feed the kitten, which Sakura is immensely grateful for.

Kakashi returns to find her on the couch feeding Mei milk via a syringe. "You went shopping?" He remarks with surprise.

Sakura shifts her eyes to him long enough to smile and take in his appearance: damp hair, dark shorts, white tee and no mask. Her chest tightens, caught between the constant novelty of seeing Kakashi like that—open and unguarded, at ease and comfortable—and the cuteness and affection she feels for her newly acquired pet.

"There's a pet store just down the road," Sakura reveals. "Can you get me a box from the storage?"

Kakashi nods slowly, disappearing for a moment only to return with an empty shoebox. "Here."

Sakura stands with the now sleeping kitten cradled in her arms, and sets the syringe down. "Let's set it in our room—" Sakura's teeth click shut, realising what she just uttered. She stares at her kitten and swears internally for a moment until she has her tumultuous emotions back under control. "Can you get me a few fuzzy towels from the closet?"

Kakashi complies silently, and returns with her requested items.

Together, they make it cosy for Mei and gently set her down amidst the towels. As if to show her thoughts on the matter, Mei nuzzled into her new bed, seeming content.

Kakashi reaches forward again and runs the back of his index across her head, appearing pensive. They watch her for a moment, both of them silent, both of them growing wearier as the day's events wash over them.

Sakura's shift had been a new level of troublesome that day. She was given two new cases in the absence of one of the attendants who'd caught a nasty stomach bug, and both of them managed to code once before her shift was over. Harried, Sakura had been running back and forth between them and her other inpatients. Even the nurses had taken pity on her by the end and cajoled her to leave fifteen minutes earlier.

"There's hot water left if you want to shower," Kakashi speaks up. When Sakura turns to look at him, she finds him watching her.

The same fluttery feeling in her stomach returns as a sudden impulse to kiss him nearly overpowers her. Her fingers curl against temptation and she offers him a small smile as she begins to rise. "Okay, I'll see you in a bit."

With one last look, Sakura leaves for the bathroom.

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Kakashi watches her go, feeling puzzled. He has a feeling that Sakura wants to say something but is perhaps unsure how to. He resolves to find out after her shower.

With Mei safe and asleep, and his anger low and cooling, Kakashi wanders to the kitchen in search for something to eat. He ends up making turkey sandwiches and tea for both him and Sakura who returns ten minutes later with her hair piled up, wearing a sweatshirt that dwarfs her adorably, paired with red shorts.

She hugs his side, still silent even when her eyes seem to be saying a hundred things in the span of the time it takes for them to settle down and start munching on their sandwiches.

He watches her eat, not blatantly, although he's sure she wouldn't have noticed, absorbed as she was with watching her plate.

"Do you want another one?" he breaks the silence when she pops the last bite in her mouth.

Sakura startles a little, like she had been in a daze until he interrupted her, and quickly shakes her head as pink seeps into her cheeks. "N-no, I'm full."

His curiosity surges. What is it that left her so distracted?

Kakashi thinks back on his day, looking for clues. Is it that slip earlier when she called her room their room? Kakashi's body still feels light with it, knowing now that she considers him part of her personal space.

Kakashi belongs.

It's heady, marvellous. He doesn't want to leave, he doesn't think he'll ever want to leave.

He reaches for her hand, noting how touching her, and being affectionate with her grows easier each day they spend together. "What's on your mind?"

Her eyes widen. It's not the reaction he's been expecting but the pink in her cheeks darkens, and her gaze flitters to the side as if she's afraid that Kakashi would suddenly be able to read her mind through her eyes alone.

"Nothing," she says a little too quickly. "Why?"

He circles the back of her hand with his thumb, trying to get her to relax. "You look like you want to say something. You know you can tell me anything right?"

She bites her lip, eyes cast down. Kakashi's mind flashes back to the afternoon when he'd done the same, catching her lip between his teeth just like that.

Maybe I need you more.

Kakashi wonders again, much like he did for the rest of his shift, what she'd meant by that. He wonders about his promise too.

He'd told her he'd all hers after her shift. Is that what she has circling through her mind?

"It's nothing," she insists, still avoiding his eyes. "Thanks for the food. I'm going to get ready for bed."

Kakashi frowns after her, feeling conflicted and even more curious.

But he lets the matter momentarily rest, washing the dishes and then brushing his teeth.

When he later joins Sakura in bed, she's still got that blush on her face that thoroughly tests his self control and she's fidgeting with her hands. He takes a slow, steadying breath to settle his heart rate before he slides under the covers with her, his foot bumping hers. Maybe they need to talk?

He turns to face her, but she steadily avoids eye-contact, staring at his collarbones instead. "Is this about earlier?" he hedges uncertainly.

Sakura bites her lips again, one of her hands coming up to rest on his hip. When she looks at him, her eyes are vulnerable. "I guess I'm nervous."

Kakashi's chest tightens at the sight of her green eyes, her uncertain expression. He brushes her hair gently, trying to come up with a proper response and articulate his feelings. He ends up admitting: "I get nervous too."

Her eyes widen comically. It makes him chuckle. "What? Don't tell me you didn't know that."

"N-no it's just … you always seem so sure all the time," she fidgets a little more, her eyes shyly peeking into his own.

He moves closer, his arm circling her waist and locks their gazes. "I am sure of this," He tells her with utmost honesty. "It's you who makes me nervous."

"Why?" She whispers hoarsely, her voice cracking towards the end.

How can she ask him that? Does she not notice the way she makes him trip over his words sometimes? Or all the other times she leaves his heart a racing mess and all words elude him because of her?

"Because I like you," he tells her. It feels like the rawest thing he's ever said. "I like you a lot. Sometimes I look at you and it hurts so badly in my chest I have to look away. Of course you make me nervous, Sakura. I can barely believe I get to have you like this."

Her breathing shallows, like his words made it hard to draw a lungfull.

She swallows. "I like you, too."

It makes him smile, despite the anxious heart racing in his chest. "I know."

When she leans in, he meets her halfway and their mouths mesh together in a sweet kiss. "A lot," Sakura adds and squirms closer, tangling their legs in a bold gesture and presses their bodies together.

He welcomes it, and her scent and the softness of her skin. He strokes her hair and savours her taste and when her hands slip under his shirt to gently trace his sides, he lets his body melt against hers.

"Is this okay?" She whispers against the side of his neck, her lips burning like a brand.

"Yes," his voice rasps as tension brews in his gut and her warmth kindles a fire in him. "More than okay."

Sakura responds by pushing his shirt up further, her lips lavishing his torso with slow, tentative kisses. Her hands caress his face, smooth down his abs and mark paths up his sides.

Kakashi's lips find her neck in return, much like he did in his office earlier that evening and leaves heated kisses down the column of her throat, relishing every surprised gasp that falls from her lips.

"Is this okay?" He echoes, his palms mapping her sides beneath her shirt, grazing the soft skin under her breasts but not daring to stray further up.

Sakura responds by kissing him, and her body rolls against his own. This time the spark ignites like a match, and burns all the quicker.

He lets out an involuntary groan when her core grinds over his thigh and steadies her face as he deepens their kiss, trying to release the building tension. She's hot against him, burning almost, it steals his breath.

"Sakura," he says as they break apart and he finds her as short of breath as he is. "I…"

"You can touch me if you want," she says, her face flushed but her eyes full of desire. Heat sinks lower, dangerous and unrestrained.

It makes Kakashi groan and reclaim her mouth. He's definitely turned on now, his hands still learning the taut skin of her stomach. Inch by inch, he lets them drift. His thumb strokes the hot skin, the gentle curve of her chest. Sakura follows his touch, basking in it.

It takes a moment to gather the courage to take more. To hold one firm globe in his hand and give a faint squeeze. Sakura arches into it, and he feels her pebbled nipples against his palm.

It has been so long, he's nearly forgotten how much he enjoyed the feeling of his body melding against another. The weight of her in his hands is addicting, and she fits his palm perfectly like the hands that lovingly created her shaped her exactly right for Kakashi.

"You're so perfect," he murmurs in her ear, bestowing a soft kiss in the nook behind her earlobe.

The calluses of his fingers catch on the rough edges of her scars. He traces the one on her hip, the ridges of the sword cut under her chest, and the blunt burn on the back of her shoulder. They echo the ones mapping his body; while different in severity, they share the same blades, the same enemies. Kakashi remembers every wound that healed under her hands, every time she left herself bleeding while his skin knitted under the green glow of her chakra.

She's always healing him, favouring him to herself, always saving him.

His mouth parts, slick tongue sliding against her own. Sakura's nails scratch lightly as they explore the hard edges of his abs, as they investigate every scar. Her body rolls again, a minute gyrating of her hips that makes every muscle in his torso tense and twitch.

She shifts against his thigh, and it's the most intimate they've ever been yet. The hot press of her bleeds heat directly into his loins until his chest forgets how to expand fully and his skin feels tingly and sparkling.

He doesn't know what to do with all the pent up tension she skillfully cords into him in the span of minutes. Does she feel it too? Does she feel the way electricity crackles between them? The minute, restless twitching of her hips is surely a sign that she too is filled up with the same pressure he feels in his gut.

But … Kakashi hesitates, his kiss slowing down. What if they're going too fast and it's too soon for her?

He wants to kiss her, to touch her. He wants to see her. But he wants her to want that too.

Sakura follows his pace, slowing down to a stop. Leaning back, she looks at him with half-lidded eyes and an expression he's never seen before. It makes him swallow tightly. His chest rises and falls, bare under her gaze where she'd left his shirt tucked under his arms.

She seems to understand what he's thinking suddenly, because she smiles shyly. "You know I would tell you to stop if I wanted to, right?"

He lets out a ragged laugh as he catches his breath. "I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Sakura leans down to pepper soft kisses on his skin. "This does feel risky doesn't it?"

"I am very aware of how easily you could break my bones, yes," Kakashi says lightly, his breath hitches when she sucks on his pulsepoint.

"I'm not gonna break anything!" She laughs, sitting back. "I… I like this," She adds sweetly.

His heart, already arrhythmic, gives a leap. It takes a moment to get it back under control. His hands settle on her hips, steadying.

"I would say I like this but that'd be an understatement," Kakashi manages a chuckle. It leaves him gratified when her face flushes and she ducks to hide her expression in his chest.

"Stoppp," she whines adorably.

"You're so cute," he nuzzles her hair.

Sakura leans back again, with a pout this time. "I'm trying to be sexy here."

"You're sexy too," Kakashi reassures her, still smiling.

It makes her pouty expression grow more pronounced. As if to prove his point, Kakashi sits up suddenly, bringing their faces an inch apart.

"I'm serious, you know?" he says, nibbling on her bottom lip, his arms winding around her middle. Her arms come up around his neck as their eyes meet and her expression shifts to something hazy and desirous. "Do I need to prove it to you?"

Sakura licks her lips, nudging their noses together. "Wouldn't hurt I suppose…"

She lets out a surprised squeal when he suddenly flips them over and pins her underneath his body. A mischievous smirk paints his lips as he looks down at her bewildered expression. "Okay, ready?"

Sakura lets out a startled laugh and her legs twist to lock around him. "Take it slowly?"

Kakashi's expression softens, and his hands drag slowly down her thighs, enjoying the smooth feeling of her skin. "Of course."

He leans down to capture her mouth in a gentle kiss, his hammering heart calming down bit by bit. "Tell me to stop whenever, okay?"

Sakura's arms tighten around him. "Don't stop."

He chuckles again, his breath catching lightly as their bodies press flush together. Kakashi leads his lips down the column of her neck, leaving open-mouthed kisses that make Sakura's chest stutter on exhales.

He skips lower, to the strip of exposed skin between her shorts and sweatshirt. When he sucks on her hip bone she shivers, and her hand comes up to cradle the back of his head. He raises her shirt slowly as he goes, and whatever calm he'd managed to achieve earlier is suddenly scattered to the wind and he feels pent up and breathless again.

"Can I…?" He leaves the question hanging, his thumbs hooked under the hem of her shirt.

When she nods, face the sweetest shade of pink, Kakashi sits back to look at her, all of her, as he pushes her shirt up and bares her skin.

She's delicate, and pink, and her skin is milky and smooth, her scar but a faint line under the curve of her breast. Her torso stretches long and taut with lean muscles under his gaze.

Kakashi lets out a breath, smoothing his hands up her ribs. They're so large in comparison to her slighter frame that they nearly span her whole ribcage. "You're so perfect," he tells her again as he bends to kiss her parted lips.

Sakura's hands slip under his shirt too, over the rippling muscles of his back. He breaks their kiss as she yanks it off, and her smile is tentative, skirting on the side of shy. "Now we're even."

Kakashi kisses her again, and this time when she pulls him against her, there's no barrier to separate them.

Chest against chest, suddenly he can feel her heartbeat right against his skin, brisk and unrelenting, and wonders if she can feel his too.

Everything about her in that moment feels silky and warm, and beyond the breathless novelty of being like this with someone he has feelings for, Kakashi feels like he's sinking into the softest mattress, somewhere far away, somewhere safe and welcoming.

It feels like coming home, finally, from a war that lasted his whole life.

Notes:

If you like this please, please let me know! Especially if you have a favourite line! It'd mean the world ❤️

Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Summary:

Kakashi and Sakura take their relationship to the next level.

Notes:

So... yes, a part 3, and I have no excuses for myself. It just ran away from me.

A few of things before you read on:

1) Please note that the rating has been upped to Explicit.

2) This is disgustingly romantic, you've been warned

3) Pink, this is for you too because you do so much for this fandom and I love you. If you ever forget it, this is your reminder.

Beta'd by Kakashisgf whom I owe everything. Can't believe this darling puts up with me but I'm blessed.

Without further ado, enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Gravity

Chapter 3

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Morning comes with the first titter of the birds for Sakura, gentle, cool blue rays starting to fan through her curtains and splay brokenly over hers and Kakashi's bodies.

He's warm like a furnace against her back, his palm pressed over her bare stomach, fingers spread. She can feel his soft breathing against her scalp, still asleep, chest rising and falling rhythmically against her.

She takes a deep breath, content, and can only smell him and feel his warmth in their cocoon under the covers. Sakura lays a hand atop his, snuggling deeper into him.

They hadn't gone too far, though the kisses he pressed to her skin last night still burn like phantom brands, and the memory of his fingers as they'd slipped lower and lower makes her toes curl and eyes shut.

A part of her wonders if she dreamt it, if she dreamt his body on top of hers and the weight of him in her hand.

Sakura bites her lips, sure that she's blushing—sure that she hasn't stopped blushing since last night.

Kakashi is a patient lover. Sakura wasn't prepared for how generous he'd be … she doesn't know what she expected, but it wasn't the smiling, loving creature that took time to touch, taste, and caress as he held her close.

In all her fantasies, Sakura had never thought that a man could have a hand down her panties while the other caressed her hair as one might do when lulling someone to sleep. And somehow it was perfect.

Her chest feels too full with emotions then, even when she's been waking up in his arms more frequently than not lately. There's a novelty to it today, with the bare skin of his chest pressed against her naked back and the protective curve of his arm spanning her waist.

He'd touched her.

Sakura's face flames again, and she feels both giddy and silly. Isn't she too old, too jaded to feel like this? As a doctor, she's seen many bodies, and as a ninja, she's shared her personal space with many comrades, and it wasn't like Kakashi was the first person to ever touch her like that. And yet …

She casts her memory back to the first time she got a little physical with Jun. There'd been more embarrassment, to say the least. Yesterday had been warmth and security and her heart close to bursting and Kakashi's scent and laugh and tenderness—and sure, shyness, but Sakura wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else but with him at that moment.

Kakashi doesn't touch her like he's doing it to get somewhere. He makes her feel like just being near her is enough for him.

She sinks closer to him, her heart racing—as always, as always , is she doomed to feel breathless forever?—and holds tightly onto his arm around her as she begins to slowly shift to face him.

Kakashi stirs, but his eyes remain shut. He burrows closer to her, interlocks their knees and presses his face into her hair.

Moments later, he rumbles, "Morning…"

This close, every lungful is a concentrated dose of his essence, cedarwood and earth—it leaves her heady. "G'morning."

He lazily strokes her hair, lips press lightly to her forehead. Her heart trips over its rhythm, especially when he murmurs, "How do you feel? Sleep well?"

One day, Sakura resolves, she'll be able to tell him exactly how she feels, how she's never known more comfort and warmth than in this moment in time, locked against the furnace of his body, breathing him in until she feels him in her lungs—a part of her now.

"Mhm," she grunts instead and nuzzles into him unabashedly. Much can be overlooked in the first moments of wakefulness, when sleep-tender bodies soak in sunlight contently and curl into the shared warmth of a blanket that cloaks them against the chill of early autumn. "How are you?"

Her hand slips under his arm, snakes around him. Sakura presses a foot to the sheets and pushes herself up a notch, bringing their faces together.

He smiles, eyes heavily lidded, and pulls the hand in her hair lower, skimming it down her back until it rests on her waist. "Never been better," he murmurs, voice roughened with sleep. It grazes pleasantly against her skin, a gentle companion to the thumb that circles over her hip.

"Why's that?" she asks, smiling teasingly.

His eyes this close take on another shade, the light softening the charcoal to grey. Scattered spots of sunshine paint his cheeks, streaking over his shoulder as they fan out.

Beautiful. You're beautiful , she wants to tell him.

"It's very sappy," he warns, but the smiling slant of his mouth grows.

"Maybe I like sappy." She mirrors his smile.

His face softens, and he has no right to look like that—like a melted puddle of sunshine, all the warmth contained in those eyes that crease gently and in this curve of lips that smile with secrets.

"You're the first thing I saw today," he reveals softly. "And the last thing I saw last night. Maybe that makes me happy."

"It's not the first time," she says, instead of the shy 'shut up' she wants to blurt to hide the flutter in her chest.

Kakashi hums agreeably as the hand on the dip of her waist trails up and down, across the edge of her panties and along the smooth naked slope of her thigh. It travels up her back, between her shoulder blades, and rests there. "It feels different," he says after a moment. His hand seeps warmth into her very core. "I … I like the feeling of your skin on mine."

Her heart does a pathetic little up and swoop, a soaring bird that loses its momentum and almost crashes to the ground.

She curls closer to him still, and admits, voice catching, "Me too."

They stare at each other.

Kakashi's palm curves over the side of her neck, and he kisses her. It makes her toes curl—too much gentleness and intimacy packed into something so soft and small.

"I'm glad we're on the same page," he tells her when he pulls back. "And as much as I'd love to stay like this all day, we have work to get to."

Sakura pouts, wanting to remain like this with every cell in her body. "Do we have to?"

"I'm afraid so." He sounds as bummed out as she feels. "But … look on the brightside. Tomorrow's your day off—I'll clock in late, and we can spend all morning doing whatever you want."

Sakura lets out a put-upon sign. "Fiiine. I'll release you, but only because you promised me nice things."

Kakashi grins as he begins to sit up. "Very generous of you, thank you. Let me just brush my teeth, and then you'll receive a proper kiss in compensation."

Sakura laughs as he slips away and flops on her back with a happy feeling filling her chest.

I want this always , she thinks before she pulls herself up to get ready.

Shizune corners Kakashi barely an hour into his shift. He blinks at her, surprised, when she all but blocks his pathway out of the office. "What?"

"Kakashi-sama," she says without pause. "Can we talk?"

"Uh, sure." He backs away from her, back towards his desk. "Have a seat."

Shizune follows, watching him attentively as he takes a seat in his chair again. All of a sudden, her face breaks into a massive grin. "It's working! It's working brilliantly . I don't know what you've done, but it's magical, and it shows. I've never seen Sakura look so well-rested in forever! She's practically glowing . What's your secret?"

I'm dating her.

"Mandatory naptime after lunch," he says instead of the truth that's growing harder to hide every moment he spends with Sakura, wishing it was okay to reach out and hold her hand. "I make her nap here."

Shizune's lips tilt up in satisfaction. "I knew I could count on you, Kakashi-sama."

He chuckles, heat creeping up his neck. "Mah, thank you, Shizune-san, and please, no more with the 'sama'. I'm stepping down soon, you know?"

Shizune waves a hand and gets up to her feet. "No way. Besides, no offence to all Hokages past and coming, but you're one of the best kages Konoha's ever had."

He stares. Shizune just smiles, kind and proud. "I mean it, Kakashi-san. It's been an honour being your assistant."

His throat tightens strangely. "You know, it would be entirely inappropriate to make your Hokage cry during work hours."

"I'm a very special assistant," Shizune says proudly and makes her departure. "Be back in an hour! I'll bring the next batch of paperwork from Shikamaru-kun."

He waves after her. "Have mercy." His plea meets the soft click of the door shutting.

He shakes his head and wonders about happy days and kind people and how they all seem to correlate with Sakura's entrance into his life.

Sakura's humming faintly to herself as she waits on Ino to finish ringing up a customer. Her shift today is a short one, and it's been a while since she's hung out with her best friend.

"Have a good day!" Ino calls after the man who cradles his bouquet of roses with a blush and makes a hasty exit.

"Ease up on the charm, Ino. Poor guy," Sakura sniggers.

The man nearly trips on his way out, barely managing to catch himself on the door handle as he tosses one final look over his shoulder and slips outside.

"He buys a bouquet every week," Ino says pleasantly. "Charm is my secret to a very successful business, Forehead Girl, watch and learn."

Sakura rolls her eyes fondly and idly flips to the next page of her magazine. Konoha Times ' front cover of this issue is Kakashi draped in his Hokage robes, sitting casually in his office chair with his chin resting atop his fist. His piercing gaze cut straight into the camera, the set of his eyebrows faintly challenging.

The script on the cover promises exclusive pictures from his photoshoot and popular Wind Country Recipes, as well as a juicy interview with Gaara-san in which they discuss dating and relationships.

Ino plops on the stool next to her and peers over her shoulder. "Anything good?"

The next page Sakura flips to makes Ino gasp.

Kakashi, shirtless yet masked, and leaning casually against a rail offers the camera a half-lidded stare. The text details ten tips older shinobi should follow to maintain their physique.

"You've been napping next to that ?" Ino says, eyes bulging. To be fair, the lighting and the angle flatter him greatly in this shot, bringing into focus every delightfully sculpted muscle and every rakish scar on his body.

"Yep," Sakura says faintly, drinking in the sight of him.

"You lucky bitch." Ino barks out a laugh. "I genuinely don't know how you can contain yourself. I mean, just look at those abs…"

"To be fair, I see bodies in various states of undress for a living." Sakura gives herself a mental pat on the back for maintaining her cool.

"Don't you want to lick that?"

That's not half a bad idea, Sakura decides, feeling a flush creeping down her body.

"You're being kinda creepy, you know?" she laughs but can't manage to summon up the usual excuse of 'he was my sensei, Ino, please don't drool over him'. Instead she says, "I have to see him in a couple of hours, so I'd rather you don't stuff my head full of rotten thoughts."

"Just look at him," Ino sighs wistfully and turns the next page before Sakura can.

Her regret over not memorising that glorious shot vanishes in under one second as the next image comes to view.

Kakashi in a suit.

"Oh," she says, and something clenches in her gut.

"That's … gotta be illegal," Ino decides, smacking her lips.

Kakashi's white button-up's sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, offering a nice view of the lean, layered muscles of his forearms. The first button is undone, and his tie is artfully loosened and lying askew. He has two fingers hooked at the edge of his mask like he means to take it off. His jacket is tossed carelessly on the back of the couch in the shot.

Sakura swallows. "That's … definitely illegal."

"Forehead," Ino says seriously. "You need to climb that."

"What makes you think I can climb that?" Sakura shoots back. It occurs to her in the next three seconds that she could, in fact, climb that if she so desired.

Not that Ino needs to know.

That thought does nothing to lessen the severity of the burning in her gut.

"Forehead, just look at him," Ino repeats. "Look at that look. That's a man practically begging to get fucked."

Sakura helplessly flushes at that. "I think he might be doing that by accident."

"Not the point." Ino turns blue eyes back on the image. "He is in need of climbing. Climb. Gosh, I bet he's so repressed. How many hours a day does he work again? Ten? Twelve?"

"I'll have to ask him," Sakura deflects, trying not to wander adrift in a daydream about last night's events.

"Even if I were a virgin, I would totally give it up for Kakashi-sensei," Ino chimes pointedly.

"Oh wow," Sakura says, unable to think of a better come back. "... are you done trying to get me to screw my superior officer, or should I make us tea while you're at it?"

Ino rolls her eyes, clearly unimpressed. "You're no fun, Forehead Girl … I bet he's a generous lover."

Sakura thumps her head down on the counter and groans. Don't I know it.

His day passes excruciatingly slowly. Seconds ticking by feel like minutes, and hours drag on until Kakashi begins to believe he's been locked in his office for days on end.

Mind-numbing, utterly boring, completely endless stacks of paperwork lay on the table. He'll throttle Shikamaru later for the extra work. Shizune departed an hour ago, and the head of interrogation saw fit to drop by for a cup of tea and a little chat.

Sometimes Kakashi really hates his job.

A knock at his door nearly makes him groan. He barely manages a polite, "Come on in!"

The clock reads ten p.m. Kakashi prays for divine intervention as Genma slips in. "Yo."

Kakashi sighs.

"Wow, who's got your knickers in a twist?" Genma carelessly drops into one chair with zero regard for what this office represents and unfolds one long leg over the wooden table separating the two guest seats.

"You're a smart man. Look at the time, then look at this lovely pile." He jerks a disdainful thumb at his paperwork.

"I feel for you man," Genma sympathises.

"If you do, let me know what you need ASAP, then kindly get out of my hair." Bluntness always serves him when he needs it.

Genma is clearly determined to be an exception. "It's a bit of a personal manner."

Well, that certainly bodes well, Kakashi thinks darkly. "Okay. Let's hear it."

"I was hoping you could help a friend out and find out if Shizune is still single."

Kakashi drops his pen and barely manages to catch it before it thumps down on his desk. "I beg your pardon?"

"I know—I know what you're thinking! But I'm serious this time … and I really need to know." Genma drops his leg off the table in his sudden agitated fit. Kakashi is nearly grateful, except now he's entirely sidetracked by Genma's ridiculous query .

"But why ? Why Shizune?"

"Why Sakura ?" Genma counters.

Kakashi does drop his pen this time.

"What are you talking— "

"I saw you," Genma interjects before Kakashi can grow anymore outraged. "Holding hands."

What the fuck?

"That doesn't have to mean anything," Kakashi denies stubbornly. Inside, he begins to panic.

"But it does," Genma insists, all too sure. "Because I know you. And I know what you're like. And you're holding hands with Sakura."

Kakashi opens his mouth, ready to bullshit his way out of this clusterfuck, but one look at Genma's serious gaze makes him stop and reconsider. Genma isn't judging him. At least, Kakashi doesn't think so. "Fine. That doesn't disregard my previous question, though. Why? Did something happen?"

"Yes. I'm old and stupid, and I might've lost the only woman meant for me."

Well, when he puts it that way, Kakashi is sort of inclined to agree. "And who should I thank for this generous wake-up call?" he says dryly.

Genma glares, unimpressed. "Can you just ask? It would be wholly awkward if I make a move on her only to be randomly surprised by an uppercut from a jealous boyfriend."

"Point," Kakashi allows. "Okay. I'll think of some way I can ask her that wouldn't be utterly weird , considering I'm her boss ."

Genma rolls his eyes, begins to rise, then drops back like a man who lost his footing. "Actually, on that note, do please tell me what brought on your sudden infatuation with Sakura-chan."

Kakashi casts a baleful look to the ceiling and questions the gods in charge of planning his day today. "Don't. Just don't."

"What?" Genma asks defensively. "It's a valid question. You've been on the same team for eight years."

"Uh," Kakashi says intelligently. "Tell me you didn't just ask me that. For all the very obvious reasons."

Genma glares right back and doesn't back down. "I did. I will. I care about Sakura-chan."

"You've known me your whole life," Kakashi says, more than a little stung. "You're my closest friend. How could you—" He stops and doesn't know what to say. "This is just a few months old. There was never anything. It's not like that, don't be gross."

"Mhmm," Genma steeples his fingers together. Then cracks a smile. "I believe you."

Would everyone else? Kakashi files away that bothersome thought to contemplate at a later time.

"And I got you to admit that it's been a few months . You bastard, I want details!" It was Genma's turn to be offended. "How dare you call me your best friend?"

"I'm regretting it dearly," Kakashi says, long suffering.

"Don't try to distract me," Genma demands.

"I'm not. I really don't know what to say," Kakashi says, appalled at the concept of talking about his rather tender feelings towards his ex-teammate with Genma .

"It is serious, right?" For the first time, a hint of worry touches at Genma's hazel eyes.

It makes Kakashi's frosted edges thaw a little, knowing that Genma cares so much about Sakura's feelings. "Yes."

He lets out a sigh of relief. "But like, how serious?"

Kakashi thinks about that for a moment. He coughs uncomfortably as he tries to force the truth out of the security of his mouth. "As serious as it's ever been. I um. It's a thing. Officially. Between us, I mean."

Genma raises an eyebrow, looking intrigued. "Boyfriend/girlfriend? Wow. She really took your ass off the market, huh?"

That earns him an eye roll from Kakashi.

"To be fair, Sakura-chan is gorgeous, so I don't blame you," Genma sniggers.

Ha. Kakashi keeps his mouth shut, but he wants to laugh, because what he has with Sakura is not merely a surface attraction—no, that would've been simple to understand. He can't deny how gorgeous she is, but he's got the right head in the game this time, no matter what anyone chooses to believe.

He's also aware that 'I'm attracted to her personality' is a very cliché thing to say. Genma wouldn't let him live that one down.

"Anyway, I'll 'get out of your hair' now." Genma gets to his feet and places a senbon between his teeth. He has a light look in his eyes—Kakashi would dare say he looks happy. "Don't forget about Shizune."

"How could I?" Kakashi sighs tiredly and watches as Genma makes his exit.

Despite the awkward request, Kakashi is happy about this new development. He remembers Genma and Shizune as a couple when they were teenagers—they used to get teased relentlessly because they skipped right past dating to bickering married couples. But then Shizune left with Tsunade-sama.

Genma was crushed.

And upon her return, it was pride that kept him from chasing her again.

He wonders what changed. Kakashi glances at his clock. Five more minutes.

He thinks about Sakura waiting for him at home. He thinks about tiny Mei-chan curled on her makeshift bed.

"Fuck it," he murmurs, grabs his documents and his coat and shunshins away.

He lands on the porch because he's not dumb enough to startle the strongest kunoichi in the world in her home and knocks the door before he enters.

Sakura's chakra flickers in recognition. He traces it to the bathroom to where he can hear the gushing of the showerhead. "I'm home!" he calls out regardless and goes to check on Mei.

She looks healthier by the day, her fur a rich grey colour and her green eyes wide and alert.

"Hi hi Mei-chan." Kakashi tentatively offers his fingertips and feels a perpetual smile on his lips when she trustingly nuzzles his palm and meows. "You're the cutest, did you know that? But don't tell Pakkun I said that."

She meows again. Kakashi smiles. "It's a deal."

He carefully scoops her up and pets her soft, furry back until she purrs. A light feeling fills his chest, and only intensifies when Sakura's spring green chakra caresses his senses as she joins him, freshly showered.

"Hi." She squeezes his shoulder affectionately and kneels next to him. "Welcome home."

Kakashi turns, lowering his mask, and presses a kiss to her smiling cheek. "Hey. How've you been?"

Sakura still blushes when he's affectionate with her, but it appears to be more pleasure than shyness. "Well enough. Got home about an hour ago."

"It's nice when we both make it home before midnight, huh?" He chuckles and returns Mei to her bed of fluffy towels.

"The best," Sakura grins, and they both rise to their feet and head for the kitchen.

"What's on your agenda?" he asks her as he begins undoing his hitai-ate. He places it on the kitchen counter, Sakura following closely behind him.

She picks it up, admires it. Kakashi peers into the fridge curiously.

"Nothing. Do you want to watch a movie?" she asks, although there's an interesting edge in her voice as she leans beside him to pluck a water bottle out.

She smells like something smokey underlined by sweetness. Like cinnamon. He likes it. "Sure," He bends and grabs an apple. "How do you feel about takeout?"

"Takeout sounds good. Noodles?"

"Noodles," Kakashi agrees, and they share a smile.

The Road to Being a Ninja plays. Sakura affords it exactly one-percent of her attention.

She curses Ino for infesting her thoughts. She's already doomed, as she feels more secure with Kakashi, more daring. He strikes her as the tentative type, which she wasn't really expecting. When she tucks herself under his arm on the couch, he simply curves it around her shoulders and holds her to him.

His ankles are crossed on the table, his body half reclined against the backrest. In a pair of flannel pyjamas and missing his mask, he looks completely disarming. Sakura doesn't think she'll ever get used to this side of him.

She chooses her next words carefully. "I saw your photoshoot in Konoha Times ."

Kakashi tenses a fraction, then forcibly relaxes. "Oh. That."

Silence reigns. Kakashi clears his throat. "I lost a bet with Genma. He had, um, a thing for the camerawoman. He promised he'd help her get me on board, and, well—I totally regret it."

"Regret it?" Sakura sits up, surprised. "Why?"

"I'm not exactly a model," Kakashi says, scratching at his cheek. "And I don't have any interest in being one. And now all the magazines are blowing up my mail."

Sakura thinks about that for a moment. "I guess I don't blame them."

"What?" Kakashi's eyes snap to her face, surprised. "You ... liked the pictures?"

He can't be that clueless, Sakura marvels. "What's there not to like?"

And he honest-to-god blushes. Damn him, she thinks, riveted. "We talked about making me blush without my mask," he almost pouts. The contrasting confidence of his actions and the occasional baffling shyness he displays is so endearing yet attractive, Sakura doesn't know what to do with herself for a moment.

"You're so cute when you blush though," she says, ironically feeling a blush bloom in her cheeks.

It isn't lost on Kakashi, for he pokes her cheek with his index. "Not as cute as you when you blush though."

"Why do I feel like this relationship is a race for who makes the other blush more?" She affects a dry tone even when her ears feel hot and fire blazes ever so strongly inside her.

"That does sound fun," Kakashi says after a moment, quietly.

The movie is completely forgotten.

Deciphering his tone is not an easy job, even when Sakura has the benefit of seeing his expression. She arches a brow, leaning closer. "Oh? Any tips?"

Kakashi meets her eyes boldly. "Yes. This."

"This?" She glances down at the way her body is curved against his side, their faces within kissing distance. "I see."

Maybe it is the pictures, or her own disastrous libido, or simply the intoxicating warmth of his body, but Sakura finds herself seized by an emboldened urge and a sudden confidence. She twists smoothly and settles her legs astride him. "What about now?"

"Oh …" It takes him a moment, but perhaps that split second of hesitation would fade with time, to settle his palms on her hips. "Now … is much, much better," he decides, bottom lip caught between his teeth for the briefest of moments.

It's ridiculous that something so small can shatter Sakura so thoroughly.

Her heart leaps, and her mouth dries, and something inside her aches . She takes hold of his face and swoops down to kiss him.

It grounds her and electrocutes her at once. Fitting, she muses distractedly, that she'd be scorched by the lightning in him.

Climb him, Ino had said. Sakura's not quite sure she's ready for that yet, and not after such an exhausting day, but her curiosity nags her mind, and her libido has ideas .

"I want to try something," she says before she can lose her nerve. "If it's okay."

Kakashi swallows, rubs the small of her back, nuzzles her cheek. "Anything you want."

"Careful, or I'll get greedy," she murmurs with a last kiss to his lips before she starts making her way lower.

"Holy shit," Kakashi says, eyes blown wide as she settles between his thighs. "Please do."

She tells Ino.

She tells Ino, because Sakura can't for the life of her keep it a secret any longer.

The Hokage of their esteemed village wakes up in her arms every day, co-raises a kitten with her, and steals her breath with increasingly interesting endeavors. Sakura is going to die if she didn't say anything.

So she tells Ino.

" Forehead ," Ino gasps. Happily . "I have never been prouder—or more jealous—in my entire life! You go girl ... snatch that rokubooty, snatch it right up!"

"Ino!" Sakura barks out a shocked laugh. " R-rokubooty ? Oh my god, I think I'm gonna have an aneurysm."

"I need details," Ino demands. "All the details. Spare nothing. I want to know the exact circumference of his coc—"

"Ino!"

It's known amongst the rookie twelve that when a particular piece of gossip falls into the hands of Ino Yamanaka, it's bound to circulate certain circles.

Kiba finds out, inevitably, because his chatty girlfriend can't contain her excitement.

Kiba, being just as bad of a gossip, sees to it that Shikamaru and Hinata know too. In his shock, Shikamaru blurts it out to Shizune, and in her state of utter disbelief, Shizune hunts the Hokage down for answers.

She arrives at his office looking harried.

Kakashi looks up from his paperwork, and the small, unhidden part of his face shows his startlement. "Shizune-san? Are you okay?"

Shizune shuts the door after her and leans against it. It occurs to her then that perhaps she might look crazed. Or murderous. "You!" she says with accusation. "I—I can't believe you!"

"... Can't believe what ?" Kakashi looks composed but there's an edge in his voice he can't hide.

"You!" Shizune cries again and stalks to his desk. She slams both palms down on the surface and laments not having Tsunade's strength. "You slept with her?!"

Kakashi's eyes widen and he splutters. " Excuse me?"

"I told you she was having troubles sleeping so you slept with her ?!" Shizune rages, looking hurt and angry.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Kakashi says, his eyes still wide. "I never—"

"Shikamaru told me," Shizune interrupts, expression daring him to challenge her. "He said you and Sakura were together . That you slept together."

Kakashi slumbs back in his seat with a bewildered laugh. "Shizune-san … he meant that literally."

"What?! What do you mean litera—oh! Oh… like sleeping-sleeping together … ahahaha … oops?" Shizune attempts, her face colouring. "Damn, that was out of line, I'm sorry."

Kakashi sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "No, I'm sorry," he says. "It's um. Complicated."

"What is?" Shizune asks tentatively.

"To explain. What Sakura and I have." Kakashi looks at the documents furnishing his table and sighs again. "It's not, um, physical between us."

"Then what is it?" Shizune prods, curious now that her anger has calmed.

"Uh … well," Kakashi coughs awkwardly, his face heating. "We've um. Been seeing each other. Romantically."

"Oh … oh ."

He meets her eyes unsurely. "This is only a few months old," he adds quickly. "We're taking it as it comes."

Shizune makes a strange squeaking sound. And then she beams. "This is wonderful! That's such good news. You guys totally deserve each other!"

Kakashi lets out another startled laugh. "Uh, thank you."

"Really this is … this is good, this is great. You both could, um, use someone," Shizune blurts, then her face darkens to a cherry red. "I mean, have someone. Sorry, I'm saying everything wrong today, aren't I?"

Another chuckle from Kakashi, this one warmer. "It's fine. I appreciate this."

"I think I'm gonna go now before I put my foot in my mouth again. But we'll talk about this later!" Shizune gushes as she backtracks to the door. "See you, Kakashi-san!"

"See you," Kakashi waves dumbly after her and exhales in relief once she's gone. "... gods, I'm too old for this," he mutters as he grabs his pen again and returns to his paperwork.

He can't help but smile, however, feeling the lingering warmth of happiness in his chest.

Sakura works too late sometimes.

Kakashi knows because he likes to stay up reading until she makes it home whenever he returns before her.

Tonight the hours seem to tick slower. The glow of her bedside clock reads three in the morning, and Kakashi feels antsy. He misses her warmth by his side and the sound of her soft exhales as she slumbers. It feels like days since he last held her, and perhaps it has been.

He's been busy with the preparations of passing the mantle to Naruto, and Sakura's new project is eating up all her time.

He isn't the clingy type, but he's feeling her absence sharply, enough to slip out from under the sheets and get dressed to see her for a few moments. Kakashi bundles up and makes a coffee before he heads out to steal a few precious moments from her.

The hospital at this time is quiet, hushed and sleepy. Kakashi avoids reception so as not to raise too many heads. After all, anyone would be alarmed to see the Hokage in this place so late into the night. Instead, he tracks Sakura by her scent—by his scent that cloaks her most days.

He catches her mid-rounds and conceals himself until he's sure she's done and he's not disturbing her when he pulls her into an empty closet. Sakura gasps, but she doesn't react violently, all too accustomed to his presence to ever mistake him for an enemy. "Kakashi! H-hi," she says, blinking her surprise away at finding him here, maskless. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did something—"

He presses their lips together, silencing her. "I'm okay," he reassures, bestowing another kiss on lips that taste like confusion. Kakashi pushes the coffee into her hands. "I just needed to see you," he murmurs.

The frosted glass of the door lets in a soft yellow glow, just enough to see her green eyes gentle and warm for him. "I missed you too."

Kakashi uses the backs of his knuckles to gently stroke her cheek as he takes her face between his hands and kisses her again, more tenderly. "I've gotten so used to sleeping next to you," he whispers, his lips moving against her own. "I guess I hate it on my own now."

Sakura's free hand clutches the back of his shirt, and her face tilts as she presses back against his lips with her own. "I know, me too."

"It's just," Kakashi grasps for words and loses a few thoughts as he continues to kiss her over and over. "You drive me crazy."

He leans back to look her in the eyes, his breaths puffing out faster. "I miss you viscerally."

Sakura licks her lips and takes his face between his hands. She gives him the gentlest of pecks. "Why don't you take me home now?"

"Can I?" he asks hopefully, his hands settling on her hips.

"I'm done with my rounds," she confirms and leans against him. "Just take me home."

He whisks them away, and they land in her room, against her closet.

She rocks against him at the abrupt motion, and he holds her closer. "We're home." He gives her a small, cheeky smile that melts her.

Sakura absentmindedly places the coffee on her dresser. She's too busy memorising the sliver of moonlight that lights his eyes. She'd been thinking about him all day, lost in daydreams and fantasies of the two of them together. To finally hold him is dizzying.

"Kakashi," she says when he just watches her back, thumb stroking her cheekbone. She leans closer to him, rises on her tippy toes to seek his lips. "Mhmmm." She sags in his arms when their lips meet again; his are sure, bolder now in the security of their home.

Her hands slip under his shirt, mapping the exquisite expanse of the rough skin of his scarred abs. The minute shudder the simple dance of her fingers elicit lights up a simmering fire in her gut.

"Tell me what you want," he beseeches and strokes her tongue with his own. Big, masculine palms sift through her hair as he draws them gently away from her face, tugging until her jaw tips back and his mouth slants deeper against her own.

Sakura's heart starts pounding in anticipation—his touch feels different, the slow-building passion of his kiss, of his hands and the muted undulating of his body against her own, threatens cresting waves she isn't sure she can survive.

When they part for breath, Sakura knows what she wants to happen. Tentatively, she rests her hands on his hips and wonders aloud: "Tell me what you want."

Kakashi's dark eyes, usually so guarded to the world, are brimming with emotions and thoughts as he surveys her face. His forehead touches gently against her own, and he takes a long, steadying breath. "I want you."

"I want you," she echoes, and her heart swoops painfully, like she just launched herself off the side of a mountain. It free falls for a few coalescing seconds and comes to a near stop when his face dips again and he kisses her with something achingly tender.

Strong arms encircle her waist, pulling her flush against him, every hot inch of his solid body lined against her own. She wants him then in ways she's never desired from anyone else, wants to crawl under his skin, to tease apart the delicate threads of his heart, to be his undoing.

Kakashi's breath is rough against her own as he backs her towards a bed that was once her own but is now inexplicably theirs, with a side for her and a side for him and the space in between where they inevitably find each other in a tangle of limbs.

When the backs of her knees touch the mattress, Sakura pulls him down with her as she sits and drags her body back as she cajoles him to crawl atop of her.

Knowledge of what's about to come leaves her fidgeting and filled with restless tension. Every light stroke of his fingers against her skin trails crackling electricity in its wake until she feels like a live wire.

Boldly, Sakura strips him of his shirt, her legs unabashedly circling his hips as she pulls him closer to where she aches.

Kakashi's eyes meet her own, so dark and so wanting it leaves her breathless. Experimentally, he presses against her, and their hips naturally roll together—the movement chases sparks down Sakura's spine, and she nearly arches, her breath hitching with desire and her hips rolling again to seek the delightful friction they created together.

His head dips to shield his expression for a moment, and he uses his mouth to map feverish kisses across the straining tendons of her neck when she throws her head back.

It seems only natural that his touch would electrify her skin, like her water element has latched onto the lightning in him and is determined to sear her. He works her out of her shirt, and like the first time, it sets her face burning, but it mirrors the flush in his cheeks and the heady look in his eyes—the shadows of her room cloaks them well, but Sakura can spy them in the moonlight and in the telltales of his body that's wound so tightly with tension.

She barely breathes at all as piece by piece the layers come off and for the first time they're both naked at once. He's otherworldly like this too, broad-chested and towering over her, the sturdy muscles of his thighs pressed against her own.

"You're so beautiful," he whispers gravelly, his voice wonderfully rough. The drag of his palms slows as they descend over her stomach, lower and lower, until he's cupping her intimately.

She is slick to his touch, delicate and soft. Kakashi feels unsteady as his fingers slip inside her; this isn't familiar, but it feels like home, the way her body wraps around him so trustingly. He would do anything to preserve this.

Sakura is not vocal, but every little hitching breath and impatient undulating of hips lights him up, winds him tighter. He feels almost rigid as her body falls apart around his fingers; she draws so tight, pulses around him until he can no longer even move his fingers, and chokes on a sound.

Kakashi has never seen someone so beautiful, has never been so aroused in his life. He looks at her, and it's not merely a beautiful woman he sees sprawled beneath him but someone he cherishes, someone he trusts more than anyone, someone he wouldn't mind falling apart for, someone he's okay with exposing every part of himself to.

For the first time since they've gotten together, Kakashi realises what he truly has. It seems almost unfathomable that he might've found the person who completes him, but he can't deny it then as big green eyes drink him in with so much tenderness and trust.

"Sakura," he says, unravelled, his hand coming up to stroke her hair. "Sakura."

"Kakashi?" She wonders gently.

"I ... I'm so in love with you." He stares at her, feeling like he's just been swept away by a tsunami and is now but wreckage on the shore. Utterly unmade.

Her eyes widen, and her hands pause on his chest. "Oh," she utters, and she appears dazed. "Oh."

"Does it scare you?" he wonders, voice scratchy.

She shakes her head. "No. No. Of course not. I was just thinking ... I'm in love with you . And it's like you heard me."

Kakashi chuckles, feeling inhumanely light. He ducks to kiss her, and it's the sweetest kiss yet. What he tastes on his tongue he now identifies as love, her love for him. It's the best thing that's happened to him yet. "Let me make love to you," he says, parting her thighs for him.

Sakura's body arches, like the implications of his words alone are unbearable. "Please," she chokes, her arms locking him against her. "Please, Kakashi."

He can't deny her even if he tries. Kakashi presses into her and feels every shudder and ripple transferring into his frame, the hot squeeze of her around him, the incredible warmth and tightness of a body that's never been joined with another. It's dizzying to be inside her like this.

Sakura steals every last one of his breaths. She does it again when her head cranes back and she kisses him deeper than ever before. And yet again when her hips buck up and she squeezes around him like a vice.

He nearly chokes on a sound, and his hips roll, a grind more than a thrust, but it makes them both tremble and clutch onto each other.

And oh. It's not like anything he's experienced before—everything is different with her; even the taste of oxygen feels richer when it's the air in her lungs he breathes in.

What a marvellous, heady thing it is to hold her like this, to sink into her.

His hips roll again, and again, and again.

She's not quiet anymore; where before she was silent, strained breaths, now she's soft, wanton moans and little cries that Kakashi could swear will be the end of him.

The tug and pull of their bodies grows desperate as they feed the burning fires of each other's desire. Up and up it carries them until Kakashi fears the inevitable crash.

His body has drawn so tight, is straining against her own for a release that promises shattering to pieces.

"Sakura," he grunts, his thrusts shallowing and stuttering as his focus wavers. "I'm—agh!" He curls deeply into her as she mercilessly squeezes him.

Sakura crests the waves of her orgasm with a drawn-out cry of ecstasy that sweeps Kakashi along.

He ruts into her, his breathing ragged and his body shuddering. It feels like he's released a piece of his soul into her, and he's left feeling a little wrecked in the aftermath. Sakura clings to him until the shivers subside, and then her legs untwist from around him and she presses her face unabashedly into his throat as she breathes brokenly.

Finally she laughs. She laughs incredulously, a wheezing, breathless sound that emanates from her chest.

Kakashi leans back to study her curiously. Her blush is a burning red even in the dark, and her eyes glint with moonlight. "What?"

"Ino was right," Sakura chuckles. "I was missing out. And you are in need of climbing."

Kakashi blinks. "Just what on earth do you and Ino talk about?"

"It's a secret," Sakura tells him cheekily and winds her arms around his neck.

She pulls him down for a kiss. "And that was perfect," she adds. "You're perfect."

Kakashi's insides soften at her loving words. He cards his hand through her hair and enjoys kissing her for a few more moments. "I love you," he says again and can't believe how much he means it.

"I do, too. I love you too," she whispers, twisting her legs around him again. "... think you can go again?"

"Already?"

"Maybe ..."

Kakashi laughs and begins descending her body, his expression playful. "What the lady wants the lady shall receive."

"Oh, Kakashi..."

Shizune finds him a few days later, a skip in her stride betraying her cheerful mood. "Kakashi-san," she sing-songs.

Kakashi, who had been anxiously anticipating her since their confrontation, stiffens. "Uh, hello, Shizune-san."

"Kakashi-san," she repeats with a cheerful smile and plops down on the chair by his desk. "I've been thinking!"

Oh, dear.

"Yes?" he prompts, terrified.

"What do you like about Sakura?" she asks cheekily.

He saw this coming, didn't he? Shizune's enthusiasm knows no bounds, never mind her excitement when it comes to matters that concern her friends' happiness.

Kakashi clears his throat, sure his cheeks are flushed beneath his mask. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you know!" Shizune gushes. "I live vicariously through my friends! I think it's incredibly sweet that the two of you caught feelings."

'Caught feelings' is certainly one way to put it. "In other words ... this is my punishment for hiding this, isn't it?"

Shizune's smile just widens. "Well ..."

Kakashi feels tongue-tied all of a sudden. "Well ..." he echoes to buy himself some time and feels his cheeks redden even further, because his brain lately has been a trainwreck of thoughts of Sakura naked. He can't very well divulge those thoughts to Shizune, though he could have told her in detail what he likes about Sakura when she's missing her clothes.

"Come on, just a thing or two!" Shizune cajoles, nearly pouting at him.

What has my life become? Kakashi mourns.

To attempt to answer Shizune, he casts his memory back beyond their recent tryst into the world of physical pleasures. Gosh, he needs to get his mind out of the gutter.

It's surprisingly easy to slip into a warmer memory of her. Kakashi finds himself recalling her sweet, smiling face as she cared for Mei-chan. The gentle warmth of their first kiss here in this very office. His heart does a little leap and sink. "There isn't a single thing not to like about Sakura," he tells Shizune truthfully and watches as she nearly swoons. "She's wonderful."

"You wound my fragile heart," Shizune tells him, looking moved, but her voice is full of humour.

On that note ...

"Say, Shizune-san ..." Kakashi begins, finding that she's offered him the perfect opening to a question he'd been meaning to ask for a while. "Are you single still?"

"Don't say it like that," she replies defensively. "I'll have you know I'm still in my prime."

"Of course," he reassures quickly, lamenting his poor choice of words. "Forgive me."

Shizune lets out a put-upon sigh. "Yes, I'm very single. Happy?"

Strangely, very much. For Genma's sake. "What if I tell you someone I know fancies you very much?"

She perks up in her seat, eyes snapping to meet his. " What . Who?"

Now that , Kakashi couldn't divulge quite yet. "A friend. He was wondering if he could meet you tonight."

Maybe he should quit his job and become a matchmaker ... the thought appealed greatly compared to the pile of reports awaiting him on his desk.

"Is he cute?" Shizune wonders.

"The cutest," Kakashi says, internally laughing. "As cute as puppies."

Shizune levels him with a mildly skeptical gaze. "Aha ... I'll take your word for it then, I guess."

"Wonderful," Kakashi gives himself a mental pat on the back. "I'll have him meet you at Mitsuki's Grill, how's that?"

"Alright," Shizune nods and rises to her feet. "... I can't believe I'm agreeing to this, but what time?"

"Eight," Kakashi decides with a smirk. "And what've you got to lose?"

"Fair enough." Shizune shakes her head with a smile of her own. "I'll let you work now."

"Thank you," he says gratefully. "And Shizune-san?"

"Yes?" She turns back to him, hand on the doorknob.

"Give him a chance, yeah?" he beseeches.

Shizune looks at him, long and measured. Finally she nods and casts a small smile in his direction. "Okay."

"You won't believe what I've done," Kakashi says by way of greeting. Sakura pokes her head out of the kitchen, half a piece of toast hanging adorably from her mouth.

She removes it long enough to ask: "What?" And promptly takes a bite.

"I may or may not have set Shizune up on a blind date with Genma," Kakashi divulges, feeling mildly terrified at the prospect of facing his assistant tomorrow, but willing to put some faith in Genma's wooing skills. That or he'll kill him.

Sakura snorts and turns to wander into the kitchen. Kakashi follows her, tossing his Hokage hat on one of the wooden chairs. Sakura hops to sit on the counter, her heels drumming lightly against the cabinet doors. "You're insane."

"Sometimes," he agrees and bestows a kiss on her cheek. She swats at him, a flush rising on her face, which prompts Kakashi to kiss that same cheek again. "You're so cute."

"Let me eat," she whines, using her foot to push him away. Kakashi catches her ankle, laughing. "Fine, fine."

He massages the arch of her heel with the rough pads of his fingers. "How was your shift today?"

"Mildly boring," Sakura admits, taking another small bite of her toast and chewing. Kakashi watches her with a gentle smile. "A few broken bones, a couple of chakra exhaustion cases and one complicated c-section—but mom and baby made it through."

"Yeah? That's good to hear," he rubs the delicate arch of her ankle and begins to massage her calf.

Sakura hums happily, finishing her toast with flourish. "That feels really, really nice. You're spoiling me."

"You deserve some pampering," he counters easily, happy just to be close to her.

"Wait, come closer." Sakura moves forward, and Kakashi leans in. She snags the edge of his mask and tugs it down, beaming widely. "There, now I can see your pretty smile."

Unexpectedly, his face warms in pleasure, which only excites Sakura, who uses it as an opportunity to squish his face. "You're so cute!"

"My male ego, Sakura," he admonishes gently, unable to tone down the grin on his face. "I'm fierce and mighty."

"Yeah, well, you can go be fierce and mighty with the whole world. Here you're a dork," Sakura teases him, her smile endearing as it makes her cheeks pop. "... A dork who needs a shower."

"I just got home," he pouts.

"And I'm awaiting my cuddles," she says firmly, using her heel to nudge him away again. "Go shower."

"Do I have any hope of convincing you to join me?" he tries cheekily, refusing to budge.

Her face flames, which he finds particularly enticing and rather strange, considering the progress they've made the last few days. "No, you need to shower, not ... not other things."

"Oh? And what other things might you mean?" Now he's just messing with her, but it isn't his fault she's terribly fun to tease.

She rolls her eyes in exasperation, but the ghost of the smile on her lips betrays her. "If you shower, I might give you a demonstration."

"Oh?" He perks up in anticipation. "Is that so?"

"Yes. But go before I change my mind," Sakura gives him a toothy grin.

"Okay, going!" He ducks to steal a quick kiss and rushes to the bathroom, Sakura's giggles following him.

"Don't take too long!"

"I won't!"

Sakura and Kakashi lie serenely in bed amidst soft sheets and against the press of a warm body.

Head resting against his chest, Sakura listens to each sure beat of his heart and tries not to purr like a pleased kitten. The physical aspect of their relationship does indeed add an exciting new dimension to their day to day life, and she loves every bit of it.

"We could get a new bed," he suggests drowsily. "A bigger one."

"We could," Sakura, who doesn't feel particularly sleepy but does feel incredibly boneless, melts a little into the soft cadence of his voice and the warmth a future with him promises. "We can even get you a closet."

"Hm?" Kakashi's brain doesn't seem to catch the implications immediately. "Why?"

Sakura takes a moment to taste the safe atmosphere of the room and draw courage from it. She's wanted to ask for a while—they are essentially already living together. "You can move in ... permanently. I mean, you're more or less living here—which makes me so happy! I just want you to feel more comfortable."

When Sakura chances a look at him, he's smiling softly. "I am comfortable. I've never been this comfortable with anyone."

The reminder sends her heart stumbling. Yes, indeed. Sakura has been so caught up in the novelty of them, in all the new experiences, that she hasn't quite stopped to think that those experiences were also brand new to Kakashi.

Bizarrely, it makes her lightheaded with happiness. Sakura curls closer to him, arms drawing tighter around his midsection. "This is your home too. So it should have your things in it. If you want that too, of course."

A kiss to the crown of her head makes her look up again to a smile that's achingly tender. "Yes. Of course, I'd like that, too."

"Good, it's settled then," Sakura announces, barely able to conceal her giddiness. "... I can help you pack your things up and settle in."

Kakashi chuckles breathily. "I feel very lucky."

"You should," she says primly, but soon after, her face cracks into another smile. "I'm going to spoil you."

"I'm not above being pampered," Kakashi reassures, squeezing her arm in his big palm. "And on that note, you should expect pampering in return."

"Sounds like a plan." Sakura buries her face in his chest and inhales happily. "Sounds like a really good plan."

In the end, she marvels over how easy it is. He has become a part of her space, of her person. He makes a home for himself in the crook of her arm, in the warm space in her bed, in the secure grip of her body, in every secret she holds close to her heart.

Sakura falls for him helplessly—slowly and then rapidly. The more he endears himself to her and the more she knows him, the more her heart swells for him, the more he takes up space in her chest, in her lungs, in her head. He pushes everything out until there's little else that matters as much as him.

And loving him comes as naturally as breathing. In her soul, she feels like she was made for adoring him and his little nuances and idiosyncrasies, each secret smile and fragile insecurity and soft confession. Certainly every tender word and loving caress he offers.

Growing up, Sakura had put a lot of thought into soulmates; the hopeless romantic in her had always tendered at the prospect of having someone destined for her. And while she's outgrown those fantasies, she can't help but think of Kakashi as her soulmate, the person who is meant for her.

That after all the grief and the pain and the torment, there is something to come home to, something that's hers.

It's all the little things about him that she grows privy to day by day: the sound of his soft laughter, the creases around his eyes that deepen when he beams, the sharp point of his canine, the playful way he holds her when he feels mischievous, the secret glimmer in his eyes when he's quietly pleased. It's the little things that damn her the most.

She loves him and loves him and loves him, and feels fuller for it, feels complete.

In the end, he marvels over how easy it is too. Sakura fits the curve of his arms like her body was shaped to be cradled by him. He slips into her life without struggle, fits her space unassumingly like he belongs there.

And soon, he understands that he does.

He slides into sheets that smell like her every night and tastes her kiss on his lips even in her absence. Everything about her is bright and vivid and achy; sometimes his chest feels so full, it twinges.

It contains a well of feelings he'd never held for anyone before her.

Loving Sakura is as easy as breathing. When he looks at her, he finds her littered with little facets that bleed the adoration right out of him like a broken faucet. Her endearing smiles and soothing voice and caring touch. The soft whisper of her comfort and the promise of her affection and the twinkle of bright eyes that spell their love for Kakashi.

Growing up, he never believed in love. Everything always felt bleak and painful, and everyone always left too soon, and Kakashi had always been broken by it. He's since learned to open himself up again, to allow her to heal him.

He holds her as close as his body allows him and loves her as deeply as his heart knows how to and finds it harder every day to be away from her.

He loves her and loves her and loves her, and feels healed by it, feels complete.