Chapter 6: Falling Deeper
The quiet sound of metal sliding and clicking as the door unlocked echoed in the empty and darkened apartment, bouncing off walls and gaining in volume. The two shinobi on the threshold simultaneously paused in their steps; someone had been in there not too long ago, and they hadn't bothered to conceal their presence. This place reeked of them.
"A kunoichi," the brown haired man whispered, a kunai appearing in his hand seemingly out of thin air.
The blonde standing next to him squinted in the dark and took a tentative step in as if sensing the air. "It doesn't feel malicious to me. Perhaps one of the girls dropped by in my absence."
Her partner did not relax his stance at her reassuring words, but he didn't stop her from switching the lights on and wandering in. She disappeared into her bedroom and he made his way into the small kitchen, eyes and ears sharp for any sign that things were out of place.
"Genma!" Abrupt laughter came from his companion, and he hurried to where she was to find her sitting at the edge of her bed clutching a note in her nimble fingers. The senbon wielder joined her on the white coloured covers and leant over her shoulder, eyes scanning the note.
Dear Ino,
No, there was no ninja thief in here, and if there was, they should probably resign.
I'm on an undercover mission with Kakashi (I'll share the details when I get back), and I needed 'honeymoon' suitable clothes (yes, I'm baiting you). I'll be back in a week or two, and then we'll go shopping because if you can't already tell, my closet is bare (and here, I'm appealing to your shopaholic side). Sorry! Please take care.
Love,
Sakura.
His eyebrows shot high on his forehead, and the corner of his mouth quirked around the senbon sticking from between his teeth. "Did I read that right?"
"Oh, yes you did," Ino chortled, and there was just a hint of evil in her tone that never sat well with the brown-haired man. "This is gonna be so good; I can't wait till she gets back. That Forehead, she knows how to get my blood pumping."
Genma stopped trying to resist the smile tugging at his lips and sighed, but without any real displeasure. Her presence next to him was warm, but the room was a bit too chilly for his tastes, so his brilliant mind came up with an equally brilliant solution. "Tea?"
"Yes, please."
Sakura Han had only been gone for less than ten minutes, but somehow she managed to return to the sight of her silver-haired 'husband' possessively clutching two pillows and staring determinedly at the door from which she walked in. "I'm taking your pillow."
Twin pink eyebrows rose. "But it's my pillow."
"It was your pillow," he disagreed, looking absolutely hilarious clutching onto the twin pillows as if they were overstuffed teddy bears. "Now you'll have to get another one."
"You're just too lazy to call room service aren't you?" Sakura concluded dryly and rolled her eyes as she sauntered towards the landline phone by her bedside.
Kakashi had the audacity to look sheepish. "Maybe."
The rosette sighed out loud. Was Kakashi going to play the lazy husband role? Because that was going to be a pain. Although he made a memorable sight sitting on the king side bed hugging the pillows to his chest. Dare she say he looked adorable, but she decided that line of thought was better kept to herself for now.
The suite they were checked into was massive in magnitude. The bathroom by itself was the size of Sakura's home kitchen. The walls were made out of expensive golden and white coloured marble, and there were at least three different lotion bottles on the sink with various kinds of bath bombs. The bedroom was beautiful too; Sakura had to admit. The beige-coloured headboard was made out of velvet, and the matching carpet on the floor was so soft her feet sank in a few millimetres when she walked. Oh, and she especially loved the red roses in the vase on the coffee table and the nice contrast between it and the nude coloured room.
Kakashi didn't seem enthralled with anything except the jet spa in the bathroom and the food menu. Typical.
After asking for two more pillows, she stuck her tongue out at her companion and waltzed to the balcony to check their view. Sakura nearly squealed —they got beach view, and the sight was breathtaking. "Kakashi, you gotta see this!"
Some shuffling followed accompanied by a tired sigh before he appeared by her side, hand mussing his already messy hair. "You know we're on a mission, right?"
"No harm enjoying opportunities." Sakura shrugged good-naturedly and folded her arms over the black metal rail of the balcony. "When am I ever going to come here again?"
"Maybe when you get married? It is an excellent honeymoon spot if I say so myself," Kakashi suggested with an eye crease, his gaze sweeping over the place as if to see if his statement needed reassessing.
Sakura wasn't sure why his reply suddenly pummelled her good mood to the ground below them. "Which probably means never," she answered with more sourness than she intended and huffed, leaning well over the railing to look at the bustling restaurant below. She did that mostly to avoid looking him in the eyes, knowing he probably caught onto the hint of bitterness in her tone; she honestly hadn't planned on showing him how much this particular topic unsettled her.
Kakashi frowned and leant to rest his hip against the rail facing her, crossed his arms and peered over at her face. Confusion with a hint of curiosity showed in his features. "Why not? Do you not think you'll get married?"
A mocking laugh was his answer. "Not many would like to be with a woman physically stronger than them. Men don't really find that appealing."
A beat of silence passed, and then throaty laughter followed. Sakura's head whipped in Kakashi's direction to find his face buried in his hands. She frowned, why is he laughing at me? Does he think this is funny? She felt her face flush in both indignation and embarrassment and was about to snap at him to shut up, but he spoke up first.
"Gods, Sakura," he snorted before his laughter died down and his face morphed into a more serious look. "You need to find yourself better male company. That's absolutely pathetic. If your being a capable, strong kunoichi threatens their masculinity then they're a bunch of losers, and you're better off without them."
Her face flushed against her will and it wasn't because she was flustered this time. She looked away quickly, her heart fluttering irregularly in her chest. "You don't agree with them?" she asked hesitantly, and she wasn't sure why she did so in the first place.
"Of course not." Another snort and she dared peek at him out of the corner of her eye. His charcoal eyes held a streak of mischief that caused butterflies to erupt in her tummy, and for reasons she failed to comprehend, his next words made her heart skip a beat. "What fun is a demure, obedient woman? I like to think that the fiercer the woman is, the more exciting the marriage is… but then that's just me."
She took a shaky breath. Sakura had dreamed of a man saying these words to her for years but never had she imagined Kakashi to be that man. His beliefs were more or less a mystery to her. And now… oh, the gods above must be having a good laugh. Her aloof, dependable, dorky, ex-sensei was currently the closest man to her dream guy that she personally knew.
It should unsettle her, she knew, but nothing of that sort made itself known in her mind. Instead, a certain… warmth blossomed in her heart for the man standing next to her. Kakashi really was a sweet man, he was charming in his way, and not many noticed it. None seemed to look further than the cool mask/tragic background story to judge him with. It did, however, mystify her that she was maybe, just a little bit, grateful for that fact.
Their afternoon and evening were spent searching for Toishi and his wife. Eventually, they found a man fitting the multimillionaire's description by the bar on the beach. Kamaru Toishi had dark hair, slicked back by what had to be multiple expensive hair products for it was perfectly combed and flat against his head without a strand out of place. He was a lean man with bulgy biceps and accusing forest green eyes.
Next to him sat a beautiful blonde woman clad in a little black bikini, her hair tied at the nape of her neck. Her cerulean eyes bore a striking resemblance to Naruto's, and Kakashi was sure if both blondes stood by one another, people would mistake them for siblings, or at least cousins. The woman, however, was quite obviously a foreigner for when she spoke to her husband, her words held a strange accent that let slip she wasn't from the local area.
Having found a couple that resembled the detailed report provided to them, and having seen the expensive wrist watch the man wore, the silver-haired shinobi was compelled into believing these were his targets and so he led his companion to a nearby seat, just a few stools away from the engrossed pair.
Sakura's eyebrow twitched imperceptibly in question, and he gave little nod; yes, these are the people we're here for.
Kakashi was quick to order them drinks as not to seem suspicious and turned in his seat to face Sakura, having strategically positioned her between him and the couple so that he could observe their target without giving himself away.
"I told you, I'm not resigning," the woman said in her strange accent, and her voice held a tone of despair. "I love what I do."
"How will you be able to look after our son if you're working in that goddamned place, Akiko?" Toishi's voice was deep and hoarse and probably intimidating to mere civilians.
"Our child will get all the attention it deserves just fine. I only work late hours, and I expect you to do you part of the caring, too," Akiko said firmly and turned to face away from her husband.
Kakashi quickly locked eyes with Sakura and leant closer, just enough so he could comfortably reach for a strand of her rose coloured hair and twirl it around his index. His companion gave him a curious look but otherwise remained silent as he began to murmur to her in what an outsider would observe as an intimate conversation between lovers. "So our target is a prick."
Sakura giggled quietly, and he smiled at how she was slowly adapting to her role and falling in disguise, blushing prettily and giggling as he sneaked pieces of observations to her.
"Oh, such lovely hair!" Their target's wife suddenly perked up, getting both Kakashi's and Sakura's attention. The woman was quite obviously referring to his partner's pink-coloured strands.
Kakashi let go of Sakura's hair as the rosette turned to face Akiko and his eyes creased in a smile. "Indeed, my wife has beautiful hair."
Sakura's cheeks flushed an endearing pink, but she laughed easily and nudged his side in an overly familiar gesture. "Oh, shush it. You only think so because you have white hair."
Oh no she didn't. "Silver hair darling, my hair is silver."
The kunoichi smirked and turned to face away from him, taking a sip of her Martini. "Whatever you say, sweetheart."
This tipped him that the pink-haired woman was enjoying herself. He let out a pained sigh with obviously faked displeasure. "I try to compliment you, and this is how I'm repaid." Her retort is a not-so-discreet kick to his shins.
Akiko giggled and then levelled him with a politely curious look. "What's the mask for?"
Kakashi was all too happy to provide her with the same cover story he told the elderly couple on his way to this island, going into gritty details of how a wild bear attacked him and how despite his surviving, his face sustained permanent ugly wounds. At the end of his little rehearsed story, he had the attention of his target as well.
"What an unfortunate accident," the man muttered into his drink, eyes studying Kakashi curiously. "Perhaps consider plastic surgery."
"We're still looking into our options," Sakura answered for him, and her eyes were dancing with concealed amusement. "Ever since the accident, my husband has developed a fear of pointy objects."
Oh yes, his companion was definitely enjoying herself. The couple next to them looked sympathetic, but Kakashi just waved his hand dismissively. "It's been years, I've gotten used to it—"
"Oh dear, look! It's the lovely young couple from the ship!" Kakashi was rudely cut off by the delighted cry of an overly-enthusiastic (why escaped him) senior woman.
All four turned to face the greying couple who were making their way towards them, the woman dragging her husband by the wrist to where Kakashi and Sakura sat.
It mystified Kakashi that they were referred to as a young couple; while Sakura definitely looked youthful, he did not. Nevertheless, he waved politely at their approaching company, secretly annoyed that precious time interrogating their target was being lost by playing fake-couple.
The woman was eyeing his arm around Sakura's waist and beaming. "Hello to you two again."
"Hello," Sakura replied politely, but there was a slight tenseness to her posture that clued Kakashi she was uncomfortable. He was inclined to tune out the rest of their conversation; he really couldn't fake being interested in sunscreen brands and how important it was to take care of one's skin.
"Oh, sure you can join!" Kakashi tuned back in at Sakura's polite reply, smiling and nodding as if he had the faintest idea what the conversation was about. The couple departed afterwards, and Kakashi gave Sakura a questioning look.
His teammate rolled her eyes at his ignorance and muttered an explanation, "They're joining us for dinner tonight."
"We're having dinner tonight?" She smacked him, and he ignored the giggles coming from Akiko.
"Yes and you'd do well to pay attention next time," she huffed and turned to face Akiko with an eye roll, grumbling "Men." as if that explained everything.
"Tell me about it, sweetheart," the woman intoned, shooting her husband a dirty glare for which he ignored. "Let's go for a swim, what do you say?"
And then they were gone, leaving Kakashi and Toishi with two very unfinished drinks and a lot of room to talk. Perfect.
Kakashi scooted closer to Toishi and formally introduced himself. "I'm Kakashi Han, by the way, I didn't catch your name?" He began mentally plotting the list of things he could ask to get a bit more friendly with the man and hoping Sakura was putting forth the same effort with Akiko.
Kakashi wasn't quite sure what was worse, knowing that their target was an expert at downplaying his importance and withholding selective information or dinner in khaki shorts with people he barely knew. He wasn't even going to pretend he remembered the last time he saw his legs that wasn't when in the shower.
"Why did you agree?" he grumbled, irritated in his own skin and the fact that Sakura was taking too long in the bathroom when his bladder was screaming at him for attention.
"Because—" Her exasperated tone had echoed through the cherrywood door before it slammed open to reveal her in a pink flowery dress and ballerina flats glaring pointedly at him, "—someone decided it was a good idea for me to deal with nosy madam Katsuki and her whipped husband."
Kakashi bit back a sarcastic retort —pissing Sakura off was, more often than not, a death wish and contrary to popular belief he actually didn't fancy dying— especially by her hand. The medic had her wicked and terrifying methods of drawn out torturous deaths he didn't fancy getting intimate with.
Instead, he took a calming breath, stepped around her and slammed the door shut to take care of his business. He really should've foreseen the undertones of an upcoming disaster in retaliation to his actions. He had just sort of slammed the door in her face.
"Kakashi!" she growled, kicking the unlocked door open so hard it rattled at the hinges, and he nearly pissed himself in fright as she stormed in and oh, shit, he had his fucking balls out. "Don't you— oh!"
Kakashi squeezed his eyes shut and took in another deep breath. How does one react when they're disturbed while urine is shooting out of their body? "Yes, Sakura, oh."
He didn't need to look at her to know her face was glowing like a bulb as she stammered her apology, "Oh, shit, I, crap —sorry!" before she raced out of the bathroom, shutting the door with equal vehemence to that of her entry.
Kakashi sighed as he went about finishing his business. The last time someone (Genma) walked into the bathroom after him, unannounced, they had laughed so hard they'd cried. Yes, the brown-haired man had startled Kakashi enough to make him miss the toilet bowl entirely and then proceeded to dissolve into tears while shrieking "you should've seen your face!"
It was partly the Copy Ninja's fault; he never bothered locking the door, just assuming people would know better than to come marching right in. Apparently not.
Flushing the toilet and knowing he just announced to Sakura his arrival, he expected she'd find a way to make this his fault (maybe it was) and berate him for not securing the door upon his exit. Instead, he discovered that she vacated the room entirely, escaping onto the balcony and shutting the door.
Kakashi sighed and prepared to face the music as he joined her outside.
Cheeks tinted pink; the rosette looked ready to throttle him. "I'm sorry." She gritted, and her blush crept down her neck.
"Sorry that you frightened me half-to-death or sorry that you saw my ass crack?" he joked, trying to lighten the invisible tension hanging in the air. It wasn't that big of a deal; he figured at one point his teammates would manage to catch a peek.
"Both." The kunoichi sighed and cracked a shaky smile as she attempted a joke. "But it's apparent you do your squats."
Do his squa— Kakashi blinked stupidly for a few seconds, unsure if he heard her right. "Did you just…?"
"Compliment your butt? Yes," Sakura confirmed although her cheeks were still stained a lovely pink. "Can we go now?"
"Do we have to?"
"Yes."
Kakashi looked skyward as if to ask for divine intervention before sighing plaintively and trudging after her. If only Sakura had told them to piss off so he could enjoy a nice, long nap in the cool air… "Why can't we be assholes again?"
Not long after arriving at the restaurant located beneath their hotel suite, they were led to a secluded table at the rear and given two mugs of beer. The place had a friendly jovial atmosphere; yellow fairy lights hung from the ceiling casting a warm glow over the cherrywood walls, and fresh-looking green plants decorated the corners and the windows, softening the browns and blacks of the doors and floors. Delicious scents of well-cooked food and relaxing music permeated the autumn air and teased Sakura's nose, drawing a pleading grumble from her empty stomach.
Kakashi gracefully eased himself into the seat next to her as the wall he favoured was positioned behind them and the entrance before them.
The calming air was quickly killing any lingering awkwardness between them, and she found she could easily meet Kakashi's eyes and smile at him. "Nice, huh?"
"Indeed." The copy-ninja reached behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his side, much like every other couple around them was positioned. Sakura relaxed comfortably into his embrace and felt his nose brushing her temple as he leant into her.
Breathing in the scent of her hair, he relaxed too and let out a soft exhale. "You smell nice."
A wave of shyness assaulted Sakura, and she felt heat creeping up her cheeks as she abashedly replied, "You know smelling people is creepy, right?"
Another whiff of air echoed in her ear as Kakashi inhaled deeply. "Mhm. Maybe. I don't do it on purpose; I have a sensitive nose."
"What do I smell like?" Sakura's eyes widened as her brain realised the words that escaped her mouth. Why the hell did she ask him that?
If Kakashi thought it was weird, he gave no verbal indication, instead choosing to go unceremoniously quiet. A slow moment passed, where she was hyper aware of his electric breathing on her face and his warm arm around her shoulder. And then he spoke, and it was a low, intimate imitation of his voice. "Your hair smells strongly of lavender with the undertones of sea salt and mint tea… and your skin… it smells of your perfume… violet, ivy… iris, amaryllis, exotic liquorice and vanilla." He chuckled deeply, and her position allowed her to feel it as a rumble in his chest. "It's like standing in a garden, Sakura."
The way he breathed her name —and she was positive her name has never sounded quite so heated— sent a shiver down her spine that she fought to hold back. "Y-yeah?" Her voice cracked unintentionally, and she regretted asking him, hell, she regretted trusting him to give her a simple answer.
Something about having his nose against the space below her ear as he smelled her was too intimate to deny. "Mhm," he hummed, and she felt the quiet sound reverberate in his chest before she heard it in her ear, low and… "I can smell your nail polish, it doesn't feel unpleasant, but it clashes with your other scents. And your body wash… something like roses and mulberry extracts." …sexy.
This time she did shiver, and she sensed his smile on her skin. He had pinpointed every smell that clung to her; identified every ingredient in her perfume and body wash. Heck, he was able to catch the faint lingering smell of her tea from this morning on her hair. "Your nose is scary," she said in a wobbly voice, and her eyes caught the greying couple approaching them with a flicker of relief.
"So I've been told," he confessed and leant back just as Mr. and Mrs. Katsuki arrived at their table, smiling gaily as they took their seats.
"Good evening," Mrs. Katsuki greeted the couple warmly while her husband remained quiet and smiled politely at them. Kakashi was seriously beginning to contemplate the idea that the man was mute, the Copy Ninja hadn't heard him say a single word since their first meeting.
"It is indeed." Kakashi eased himself back into his chair, allowing his arm to rest on the back of Sakura's, who's face was slowly returning to its natural colour.
"We didn't want to order any food before you got here," Sakura explained when the couple eyed their half-drunken beer.
"That's fine; we're not really hungry." And those were the first words they'd heard from Mr. Katsuki's mouth. "Hiroko only wanted to spy on our son's date."
Hiroko's face flushed a dark red, and she stammered, clearly embarrassed at being outed by her husband. "T-toshiya! They don't need to know that!"
Sakura felt a giggle burst from between her sealed lips and bit her cheek. "Where is he, your son?"
Hiroko sighed as Toshiya turned in his seat and pointed to the other end of the vast room, where two men sat: a dark haired one wearing thick, blue glasses and a silver-haired foreign looking male that was laughing convivially at something his partner said.
Sakura's eyebrows shot up in incredulity, and she whirled to face her partner, palm slamming against the table top as a laugh bubbled in her chest. "Oh look, you're not the only silver-haired man under forty!"
Rolling his eyes, Kakashi replied dryly, "How fascinating." His sarcasm was not lost on their dinner guests, who burst into merry giggles.
The dark haired man's gaze suddenly settled on their direction and Sakura watched in fascination as he nearly toppled out of his chair and simultaneously jumped out of his skin. It was like nothing she'd ever seen; he flinched profoundly in shock at seeing his parents, so much that he knocked his knee at the underside of the table, yelped and went skidding to the ground as he ungracefully slid out of his seat.
"Yuri?!" His partner gasped in concern, kneeling on the ground next to him.
"He's surely graceful for a skater," Toshiya chortled as he watched the silver-haired man help Yuri onto his feet and pat his back consolingly.
Sakura's eyes burned from the strain of restraining her laughter at the poor man's misfortune. Kakashi didn't put forth the same effort for he was squeezing her shoulder for dear life as laughter rocked his build.
"Ah," Kakashi took a shaky breath and flicked off a tear at the corner of his eye. "He looks like a funny fella."
They watched Yuri and his date flounder through the crowd and out of the restaurant at considerable speed, eliciting a new round of chuckles from his parents and Sakura.
"They've been together for years, and Yuri still acts like he's on his first date." Hiroko sighed wistfully as she rested her chin on her upturned palm. "I was hoping I'd see Victor propose."
Sakura's widened, and she gasped, "Oh! Are they getting engaged?"
"Oh, no," Mrs Katsuki snorted into her hand. "They already are, kind of, engaged. This is the official thing —but enough of that, what about you two? How did he propose?"
She tilted her chin in Kakashi's direction, and Sakura decided it was payback time for when he made her deal with this couple alone that afternoon. "Oh, he didn't. I proposed to him."
Kakashi's head turned in her direction so fast it was a miracle he didn't give himself a concussion. He stared at her with wide questioning charcoal orbs, and she had to fight to swallow her laughter at the way his knee jerked abruptly to slam to the underside of their table, much like Yuri did a few minutes ago.
Mrs Katsuki gasped, delighted. "Oh, I love it when mainstreams are broken!"
"Well, I wasn't going to wait forever." Sakura rolled her eyes in exaggeration. "He just couldn't grow the courage to go through with it, so I dragged him to the busiest district in town and got down on one knee." Sakura's story was met with a delighted squeal, a chortle and stunned silence from her partner. "He said yes."
"You got yourself a good woman." Mrs Katsuki winked at him, and Kakashi sank in his seat with an air of defeat, secretly pinching Sakura's thigh under the table. He was so getting her back for this later, she knew it, but Sakura never backed out on some harmless challenge…
"Indeed." And for the icing on the cake, she leant over and pressed a soft but lingering kiss to Kakashi's masked cheek. "Right, dear?"
Much to her delight, Kakashi stammered, "R-right."
Yes, missions —and dinner with strangers— could indeed be fun if you put your mind into them.
Ahhhhh I'm not reading this chapter anymore I'm done. I reread it so much I hate it at this point so excuse any typos/mistakes.
If you liked this -and I hope you did- please review and let me know. Thanks for all the support this story has received so far, you guys are amazing. There isn't much action going on in the story yet, but I promise, it's coming.
I did enjoy including YOI, I love that show so much.
Question: I listen to a few songs while writing this story that I honestly think suit it. Would you like it if I created a playlist and shared these songs with you?
Beta'd by Denilmo. -Rams x
