Chapter 9: Unravelled
Sakura slept peacefully in Kakashi's arms, soft breath tickling his neck and hands grasping loosely at his shirt, her leg thrown over his calf. That's how Naruto and Sasuke found them when they retreated from scouting the hotel and investigating the foreign chakra signature in the storage room.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Naruto snorted into his palm. "Why aren't you two comfortable!"
Kakashi could do nothing more than glare at them from his position on the bed. He was immensely glad the rosette had fallen into a deep sleep, especially after she kept drifting in and out of consciousness, and he wasn't about to disturb her even if Naruto was being another brand of annoying today. Instead, he whispered, "Did you guys find any leads?"
"Yes," Sasuke confirmed and Kakashi's heart all but jumped to lodge in his throat. Oh, finally...
"Do tell." Kakashi encouraged the Uchiha, his head tilting in the direction of the corner of the bed in invitation. Sasuke didn't follow, but Naruto plopped himself onto the soft mattress and sighed long and deep, in a way that made Kakashi quite anxious.
He watched the blond fidget with the bindings on his prosthetic arm for a few seconds before he received an answer in the form of: "I couldn't sense where her chakra led even when I went into sage mode."
Kakashi froze. "That's impossible."
Naruto nodded seriously, eyes fixed on the ceiling. "I mean there's bits and pieces scattered here and there, but in a sporadic pattern. It leads back to two different places, however, here and the gym."
"And?" Kakashi pressed when the blond stopped talking.
"Whatever they did to her, I think it suppressed her chakra. I'm just thinking out loud here, but any and every living thing has chakra, and I doubt anything can completely suppress it. She would've died from the stress it would've caused on her internal organs." Naruto sucked in a weary breath. "There's a faint lingering chakra residue that could belong to her, but we were about two days late so the trail's gone cold."
"It also doesn't explain the fever," Sasuke cut in, twirling a kunai in his hand. "My guess is we're dealing with pretty dangerous people."
For a few short moments, Kakashi felt personally targeted in this whole fiasco. Why did it have to be Sakura they came after? An angry part of his mind growled, irritated, I already lose enough sleep worrying...
He cut that thought track short. For the past two hours, all thoughts of Sakura came with waves of confusion and terrifying answers. He couldn't think about her without his mind drifting to the weird emotions he was experiencing more and more frequently. It didn't help that her face was shoved in his throat, her lips pressed there like a white-hot iron on his skin.
Later... later he'd think. For now, he'd worry about the inevitable. "Someone's after Sakura," he confessed, his grip on her didn't tighten, he was simply imagining things. "We suspect it has something to do with the Land of Stars and the new circulating drug that made shinobi... well, superhuman to say the least."
"Why don't we just capture this Toishi guy?" Naruto suggested in a snarl that communicated his impatience with the whole mission. "I'm pretty sure that'd cut everything shorter."
"First, I'm about ninety-eight percent sure Toishi's working with ninja. I know you can take them on," Kakashi added hurriedly when Naruto opened his mouth to retort, "but this drug we're talking about it's... it makes people inhuman. I've fought one, and if it wasn't for Sakura I'd be dead."
"I'm sure we could handle them," Sasuke insisted in his usual confident tone, his shoulders squaring determinedly, but Kakashi adamantly shook his head again.
"Like I said, I know you can. But remember we're not talking about one enemy here. There's a whole organisation behind this. Taking Toishi out of the picture won't make Sakura any safer," Kakashi explained, a sigh threatening to burst through his lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to suppress the upcoming headache. "They're after her and if we don't bring the whole group down it's pointless. Taking out Toishi, who is our only possible lead for now, would send us back to square one."
He watched reluctant understanding dawn on their faces and added, "We're not even sure if it's Toishi, somebody could be framing him. What I know is we're being watched. And the person who attacked Sakura won't take long before they try again. You need to make yourselves inconspicuous, lest we scare them away."
Both Naruto and Sasuke were forced to nod their acceptance, and while one seemed nonchalant, the other was visibly agitated.
Kakashi gave in to the urge to sigh and let out a soft and rather miserable breath. "As much as I hate this, I need Sakura to lure them in. Once she's better of course, I want her to be able to defend herself so for now I'll watch her." He added the last part out loud because for a split second Naruto looked like he might jump him. Of course he'd never let Sakura out of his sight in her condition. Was the blond out of his mind to even begin to suggest he'd commit something so outrageous? The poor girl could barely undress herself without being at risk of falling down and giving herself a worse concussion.
"Go," he finally told them, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way Sasuke was eyeing his arms around Sakura. He wasn't an affectionate person and they all knew it. It must be weird to everyone else to see him go from being a stiff reclusive man to cuddling a person. Oh, the things he'd done for this girl... he forced himself to focus back on the boys to distract himself, "Are you... undercover as well?"
"Well, we're supposed to be if we remain." Naruto shrugged and then, to Kakashi's amazement, a bright blush dusted the Uchiha's cheeks. It became apparent when Naruto carried on with his explanation. "We'll pose as a married couple, too, but we're not supposed to interact with you guys."
Kakashi was torn between gaping and laughing. Oh, he'd kill to see that. The Uchiha was squirming in his place already and it was utterly hilarious, but Kakashi held onto his amusement, locking it down and away for another time when his hands were unoccupied and he could defend himself when both guys inevitably attacked him for even suggesting they were together like that. Instead, he chewed his lip to hold his laughter and said, "Maah... have fun."
Well, it was too late when he realised what his words could sound like and Sasuke bristled, flushing. "Shut up, Kakashi."
"Ah ah," Kakashi said, waving a disapproving finger at him, a glint in his eyes. "It's captain for you."
Naruto, who also had a faint blush, was laughing at Sasuke's misery, unbothered with Kakashi's teasing. He grabbed the Uchiha's elbow as he stood and began to steer him away. "C'mon bastard, let's go before we wake Sakura-chan up."
Sasuke grunted, following willingly behind the blond. The door clicked and then they were gone and Kakashi was once again alone with his thoughts and the delicate body in his hold. Well, it could've been worse... right?
Sakura's breath suddenly caught against his neck and she squirmed, her breath accelerating. She let out a small terrified sound, her lips parting in a gasp. Kakashi froze, looking down at her to confirm she was sleeping. Indeed, she was. She must be having a nightmare.
"Kakashi," she breathed, in that same shell-shocked tone he'd heard when she saved him on the forest ground, what felt like a lifetime ago. "No... no, no, no..."
Kakashi seized breathing altogether. Was she... dreaming of him? His chest tightened with that same unnamed emotion as earlier, his heart rate going up a notch.
She squirmed again, limbs twitching, breath accelerating and heartbeat going wild in what he could only assume was fear, and he wondered what she could possibly be dreaming about that included him and caused her so much terror. Was he hurt?
He couldn't stand to watch her face twist up or listen to her incoherent pleas much longer. He gently shook her shoulder, trying to wake her up without startling her. "Sakura, wake up." He waited a beat before shaking her again, more forcefully this time but still with the same gentle patience. "Sakura." Another shake and her breath caught loudly as she sprung upright, her body twisting so that she lifted on her knees, straddling Kakashi in the process. Her glassy eyes snapped wide open, more alert than he had seen the whole day.
She stopped breathing for the whole of seven seconds, looking like a deer caught in the headlights for the whole of another moment before her face scrunched up again and her eyes grew glassier. He watched in horror as her lips shook and her teeth sank into them to prevent the surely coming sob.
"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, suddenly anxious, hating the sight of her struggling so hard to hold herself together in front of him. "I didn't mean to startle you." He added quickly, reaching to awkwardly pat her shoulder as he watched her quiver like a leaf in the wind in his lap. "You were... I think you were having a nightmare."
She took a steadying breath through her nose, held it for a moment and let it out through her mouth before she croaked, "I-I'm okay. It's okay... I think..."
Perhaps she was okay, it was just a nightmare after all and surely she could handle that, but Kakashi was now faced with another dilemma: he was curious. He wanted to ask what happened in her dream, but he feared he might embarrass her, or worse, cause her more pain.
He looked at her still flushed cheeks and her pools of deep forest green eyes watching him unsurely, as if she expected him to ask her what happened. His breath hitched unexpectedly as he was caught off guard by the sight of her. She shouldn't have looked beautiful, especially with the way her hair was mussed up and her skin was coated with a thin layer of sweat, eyes unfocused and slightly smudged with mascara. Kakashi cursed in his head; could things get any more confusing?
Clamping down on his confusing feelings, he reached and quickly wiped away at a stray tear caught by the edge of her eye. "I'm sorry," he apologised again, sincerely, and then asked hesitantly, "What... happened?"
She looked away and stared at the adjacent wall, lips pursed together. "They were hurting someone dear to me."
Did that make him the dear someone? His heart banged briskly against his rib cage. "Someone dear?"
She sighed and shook her head, moving to get off him. "Yeah."
She settled in the space next to him on the bed and he watched her turn away and wipe at her eyes before facing towards him again. She cleared her throat, wringing her hands together and then she raised one of her them curiously and focused on it for a moment before it glowed a vivid blue. She cursed softly, her hand trembling badly as she tried to force more chakra into it.
Kakashi reached to stop her, wrapping a hand around her wrist and lowering it. "Don't," he cautioned, "you need to rest."
She pouted and then started as if she remembered something. She turned to look at him with wide eyes. "Can you get me my travel bag?"
He paused at the wild change of topic, but nodded and moved to the closet where it lay anyway. When he gave it to her, she proceeded to open and turn it upside down, emptying its content on the sheets. He studied the various objects with interest: a hair brush, a pink tube of what he assumed was lip gloss, folded pieces of paper, scrolls, ink, explosive tags and finally, a small grey box.
Her deceptively delicate-looking hand reached for the box and soon he discovered it to be filled with multi-coloured pills. "Medicine?" he asked curiously.
"Something like that," she muttered, lost in thought. Next, she grabbed a scroll wrapped with a green ribbon and unrolled it, summoning a mortar and a pestle.
He watched with interest as she proceeded to select a white pill, a pink pill, and a green one then put them all in the mortar where she began crushing the pills. Finally, she unscrewed what looked like a plastic pill and filled it with the powder.
"Water, please?" she requested eyeing the red and blue pill between her fingers with a hopeful expression.
He complied, returning with a water bottle. "What is it?"
She threw the pill in her mouth and downed it with water, a trickle seeping down the corner of her mouth before she answered. "For my fever," she explained, wiping at her moistened lips. He was momentarily distracted by the sight of them glistening and quickly looked away.
"Maah, that's good," he said moving to get off the bed, and in turn away from his surprising feelings.
She caught the hem of his shirt and tugged him back, much to his surprise. "Where are you going?"
He bit his lip. "Just over there," he said quietly, pointing at the armchair.
She arched an eyebrow at him. "What for? Stay here."
Kakashi suddenly missed the young, shy Sakura. This version was straight forward and never afraid; a confident young woman with a constant fire blazing in her eyes, always working to overcome her weakness and to achieve her goals. Embarrassedly, he found her breathtaking.
He was so, so screwed, he realised as he warily settled back next to her and watched her nuzzle his side with an expression just short of awe. When was Sakura so comfortable around him, anyway? "I'm sorry for using you as my personal heating bag," she muttered in embarrassment.
Ah, he wasn't quite sure she should be apologising for that. He did feel uneasy when close to other human beings but even he couldn't deny the pleasantness of her feminine curves moulded to his side.
Okay, maybe the gods weren't done punishing him yet. Like really? Developing a crush on his student? What's next?
'Once student' the traitorous part of his brain reminded sagely.
Shut up! He all but snapped at himself. He was being unreasonably… messed up. Sakura was all warmth and gentle smiles and caring touches. He had no business liking her at all, especially that way. Someone as damaged as him would surely ruin her.
Why the fuck are you even entertaining that thought?! Backtrack, Hatake!
Screwed, definitely. Maybe in the head. Absolutely in the head. Even so, he thought he could use a concussion himself at this point, too. Anything to distract him off his absurd thought track.
"I think it's working." Sakura broke the silence, voice holding a note of awe. "I can almost think without feeling as if I'm scorching my eye sockets."
"Ow." He commented offhandedly and relished in her amused giggle.
"Y'know, you make a good cuddle buddy." She hummed thoughtfully when another bout of silence stretched between them. "You're kinda soft."
"I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. I worked very hard on these pectorals, you know." He bantered, if only to distract him from the ridiculous fluttering in his stomach.
She turned wide emerald eyes at him. "Oh! That's not how I meant it, your pectorals are great," she assured poking his chest with her index. "Exquisite. Can definitely see how hard you worked on these."
"Sarcasm or genuine?"
"Genuine dummy." She giggled and he wondered if she was still delirious from her fever.
She frowned a little when her fingers touched his collarbones as she rightened her position. "You're hot."
His mouth quirked up. "Why, thank you, Sakura-chan. I try."
She smacked him without any real heat, her lips twitching up, too. "I'm referring to your skin. Do you have a fever, too? Don't tell me I got you sick."
He waved her off and leaned against the pillow cushioned behind his back, getting comfortable. "No, no. Don't worry, I'm always like this."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Really? How come I've never noticed this?"
"It's a family trait," he admitted, pressing a palm to his neck where he could acutely feel the blood pumping through his veins. "We have higher body temperatures."
Sakura bolted up to a sitting position, emerald eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Oh? Why is that?"
He smiled, thoughtlessly brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Curious one aren't you?" He hummed thoughtfully, wondering how to explain it best. "My clan always... associated with dogs. We worked best together due to our... well, similarities. We have developed olfactory senses, elongated canines, and higher metabolism rates —which is why we have higher body temperatures. Does that answer your question?"
She smiled, biting her lip. "You have elongated canines?"
He had to bite back a laugh at her expression. "Just slightly."
"Like Kiba's?" She pressed, eyes alight with excitement.
"More or less," he agreed with a chuckle.
She shut her eyes tightly and made a contemplative sound, her eyebrows tugging together. She pouted, "I can almost imagine it, but not exactly."
A chuckle burst through his lips and he sighed. Everyone always wanted to see under his mask. He wondered if she'd be disappointed when she saw. He had a very ordinary face if you asked him—
His trail of thought abruptly slammed on the brakes. Wait, when? Not if? He didn't realise that subconsciously, he'd planned to one day show her his face. An uncomfortable feeling twisted his stomach. No, that wouldn't do. He needed to stop imagining they'd always be this way: bantering, cuddling, and joking around.
One day, this bubbly girl will find herself someone who deserves her, and they'd go out on a lot of dates, and be all cutesy in public because she deserved a man who would be open and unashamed in his affections. And then one day, they'd get married, and they'd have many children, ones with her eyes and bright smiles and— he cut that thought track too, an even more unpleasant feeling settling in his gut.
Kakashi hadn't even realised how deep his own feelings ran until this second. Maybe it wasn't just a crush. That mental image of her with another man, starting a family, moving away from him... it tore at him in a way he hadn't expected. It wasn't jealousy, not exactly. It was something deeper, rawer. It hurt.
Kakashi really liked her, and in ways he wasn't entirely comfortable admitting.
The frightening truth was, in a way, he could see himself falling in love with her if he let himself. And he wasn't sure how to deal with that piece of discovery.
The lovely Skittledoodles drew the bathroom scene from last chapter. You could go onto my blog (bouncyirwin) and search the tag 'underneath the underneath' if you wish to see it! Fanart is always very appreciated (yes I'm asking you to spam me, please!)
Song:
1) Dangerously - Charlie Puth
2) Please Don't Go - Mike Posner
I promise next chapter will be longer, with some action. We're almost halfway through.
Beta'd by Denilmo. Until next time!
- Rama x
