Chapter 22 - 99.9%
"I am sorry I couldn't help you with the Genjutsu yet," Sakura said while trying to match the length of her strides to his - just as he was shortening his to match hers.
"Hm, not to worry," Kakashi smiled at her. His lost-memory-issue was not exactly a smiling matter and the longer it lasted, the more worrying it was, but he couldn't help it. Had he ever been this happy?
"I also want to examine your arm," she added, making a serious face. So, so cute. He wanted to pinch her cheeks and ruffle her hair, but that's what you did to a child, not to a woman like her.
"Anytime, really," he grinned. "Arm and anything else you want to examine."
"Oh," she blushed a little. "I meant… professionally. And the pills. I haven't forgotten about the pills I promised to analyze either."
"Mhm," he nodded and grinned even more broadly.
She threw him a slightly irritated look. Okay, he was super distracted but he did hear what she was saying. Arm, pills, genjutsu. And hadn't he dreamt something important? Something he had meant to tell her… nevermind.
"Why… why are you smiling like this?" she asked, sounding insecure.
"Because we made love in your office," he answered promptly. "And I liked it a lot."
"Psssst," she hissed, frantically turning her head to check whether anybody was near. But there wasn't. He needn't be a sensory type ninja to know that the corridor was deserted and...
"Stop," he said and grabbed her shoulder.
She turned towards him with a questioning look.
"Sorry, I really need to kiss you again," he murmured and bent down to press his lips against hers. Ah, the softness and warmth of her. He pulled her into him, wanting to feel that gorgeous body against his. The damn clothes were in the way though. It was what happened when you did things hasty: It left you craving for more.
"We have to go down. Tsunade might be looking for us," Sakura said after he let go. He put his mask back up. Not that he was done kissing her, but if she was busy… was she?
"Didn't you say it would take a few hours to do the genetic sequencing?"
"I did…"
"We could go back to your office," Kakashi suggested. "You could examine… my arm?"
"Stop it," Sakura giggled.
"You can't see it through the mask, but I'm pouting," he informed her.
"O… okay," she agreed breathlessly, "okay."
They hadn't gotten far in their progress down the corridor so they were back in the office within seconds. Bang went the door behind them.
"If you want to undress in front of me again, I wouldn't mind," Kakashi said and sat down on a chair expectantly. "Maybe do it a bit more slowly?"
She murmured something under her breath that sounded a lot like 'shameless', and yet, she complied, taking her dear time with the buttons of her doctor's coat until he felt ready to shout at her to hurry up. That she knew how to tease him like this came as a pleasant surprise, but it also came with an unfamiliar type of impatience he hadn't even realized he had.
"I'm going to rip that off you if you continue like this," he murmured fidgeting when she got to her bra and just slid her fingers underneath the elastic, with no apparent will to take it off. And then he froze completely when she moved her fingers to her nipples to twirl them. Looking at him intensely, taking in this hopelessly gaping and drooling version of him with a glint in her eye he hadn't seen before, Sakura moved one hand down into her panties next.
He was going to explode soon. Slow would have to come yet another time, he needed to have her right now and fast.
"Come here," he said.
"Do you like…," she began, but he grabbed both her arms as soon as she was standing near enough and pulled her onto his lap, slipping his tongue into her mouth and frantically trying to pull down his pants. That didn't work so well. He sprang up, slinging her legs around his middle just as her hands came around his neck, finally able to get rid of the annoying fabric on his body. Now to the one on hers. Rip, there went her panties and rip, goodbye bra. Those things were not needed anyway, he threw them across the room.
Kakashi grabbed her buttocks and pulled the cheeks apart, feeling her wetness against his lower belly, urgently pressing her body down unceremoniously so he could slide in. There was no tightness now, only accommodating readiness as he buried himself all the way, making her moan in that stimulating way of hers. He used his hands on her rear to move her lower body back and forth in the rhythm he preferred, only that she wanted to go faster, which was going to ondo him in no time.
He was pretty certain he'd lose a match of strength against her, but he had surprise on his side and knew how to cheat.
Pressing her against him forcefully so that she couldn't move, he carried her over to the desk and sat her down on his hands. Sneaking a thumb near her rear hole and gathering some chakra into its tip as he moved it forward, he used it to expertly stimulate the pleasure spot inside of her.
"Ohhhhh," she gasped and jerked long and hard in his arms, after which he briefly regained the advantage to move at the pace he wanted to set. Sex was by far the most satisfactory when he was able to reach that stage before release that was like standing on a steep ledge on your tiptoes, leaning forward to look down but not quite falling off yet. It seemed that was quite the challenge with Sakura though because with her, he was way more impatient than he had known he could be - equivalent to not even trying to climb up to get to the ledge. But despite his trademark tardiness Kakashi loved things that truly challenged him.
A humming chakra finger held to her pleasure point at the front bought him some more time next, but whom was he trying to fool, this wasn't going to last long even with these little tricks. It was like his body wanted to be joint with hers as many times as possible in a short amount of time just in case this was the only chance they'd get to be together. It was a desperation he only knew from war, when tomorrow was not a concept with meaning, where death and separation were the only realities that mattered. Before long, his seed gushed out of him just as forcefully as the first time and with it another part of his soul.
Right after catching his breath, he lifted her up again and went back to collapse into the chair, holding her to himself very tightly all the while. Snuggling in a sitting position with her pressed against him was better than not snuggling at all, but he wished there was a proper bed. A large one. In a sunlit house in the forest, where the air was fragrant and fresh. He wouldn't leave that bed ever again as long as she was in it, not even to feed the puppies. They were smart enough to get their own food. He would make love to her for hours and…
"Are you exceptionally good at this?" she murmured against his neck, bringing him back from that place where reality began to intermingle with the beginning of dreams.
"Just average, I'm afraid," he chuckled.
"You've always been much too modest," she said, "I know that for a fact."
"I won't ever leave you unsatisfied, I promise," he said, "and I can always learn more."
Which in itself was a promise. A promise that it would go further, that he was ready to sleep with her as many times as she agreed to it. What she had said before was good enough to cancel out what he had said in his miserable attempt to keep a semblance of dignity. Now he could temporarily fool himself into believing that she was really going to leave Sasuke. Down the road, when reality would make lying to himself harder, he would collect the pieces of his broken heart and glue it back together. He had lived without Sakura for many years of his life, it wouldn't likely kill him not to continue living with her for many more, would it? The thought might hurt now - but like with everything in his life, he would be able to move on. Eventually.
For now, he just held her, breathed in her scent, played with a lock of her hair. Her skin, it was so soft and precious, he was almost afraid of touching it with fingers tarnished from handling weapons and killing people.
Should he tell her what he felt? It was a sudden thought that brought considerable anxiety. He tested the words in his head. Sakura, I love you.
There were additional words in his head. I love you so much it hurts.
And... I think I want babies with you.
Oh god, no, Kakashi cringed. He didn't want to burden her with his emotions and silly thoughts. Babies? He could even begin to imagine the responsibilities that came with that. What are you going to do next? He laughed at himself. Cry? You are going to be that guy? Stop being so goddamn emotional. Remember the Shinobi Code of Conduct?
He buried his face into her hair, willing himself to forget everything else and relish what he had in his arms right now. He even fell halfway asleep again, thinking of their house in the forest.
"The sequencing is done!" she gasped some time later, jerking him awake.
"Can you sense that?" He was impressed.
"No, my buzzer is buzzing," she sighed. On the floor at their feet. Inside her pocket. Now he felt it too.
"Shame," he yawned. "I guess that means we have to get dressed."
"I guess," she sighed, peeling herself away from him.
A short while later, she examined the damage done to her clothes. "Hey, you ripped my underwear apart!" she sounded appalled.
"Just walk around without underwear," he shrugged.
"But that's uncomfortable!" she complained, "I have another shift after this!"
"Then I'll sew it together for you," he said. "If you get me needle and thread."
"You don't mean that," she frowned.
"Oh, but I do," he smiled.
Still frowning, she went over to her desk and took out a sewing kit from one of the drawers.
"You mean it?" she asked again.
"Try me," he said, holding out his hand.
###
"Come on in," Tsunade frowned at them from behind her large desk. "Kakashi, you too. Since you seem to have some knowledge of this matter."
Kakashi looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Understandably so… it was going to get uncomfortable. Kakashi who knew how to sew underwear like an expert. Kakashi whose hair was even messier than usual. No wonder - Sakura liked gripping that hair a lot. And his ears. She really liked his ears.
Tsunade had put Sasuke in a wheelchair. Her husband was trying hard not to make his haughtiest, most disdainful face, but he was trying too hard and after successfully forgetting about him for a short time, Sakura felt her earlier discomfort surge again. She was certain something was off with him. He was hiding something and that scared her.
I should have warned Kakashi. I should have talked to him instead of just… just… Sakura felt her mouth water at the memory of his powerful body thrusting into her. It was hard to concentrate with him in the room.
"The test results are here," Tsunade said grimly, looking at the sheet of paper in her hand like she wished herself elsewhere too. "We tested Sarada's blood and have concluded with 99.9% certainty that Uchiha Sasuke is Sarada's father."
There was a spot on the floor Sakura focused on very hard, so that she did not have to see anybody's pitying expressions. She had thought that proof wouldn't really change anything, but it did. It made it official in the most horrible way.
"As for the mother… there is no match in our databases," Tsunade continued. "But from the genetic material we have, it seems that Sarada's mother is an Uzumaki. We're about 86% sure."
An Uzumaki? Like… Naruto?
"The red hair," Kakashi said quietly. "It's like Kushina's."
"Who is Kushina?" Shizune asked what Sakura wanted to ask too.
"Naruto's mother. She was a redhead and an Uzumaki," Tsunade explained. "Kakashi, Karin has the same hair, you say?"
Kakashi nodded. "I remember it struck me as interesting the first time I saw her. That said, we know nothing about Karin's heritage. Do you, Sasuke?"
"No," Sasuke answered curtly. "I don't know anything about her, only that she helped Orochimaru with his experiments and was the warden of his Southern Hideout."
Sakura tried to keep a straight face, but she wanted to spit at him. Having a kid with another woman was bad enough but not even knowing anything about that woman? Sasuke at his worst.
And then she remembered when she had first met Karin. Half-dead. Because of Sasuke. Maybe he liked to kill women he wanted babies with? She thought bitterly.
"Considering her age, she would have been born after Uzushiogakure was destroyed - or shortly before," Kakashi mused. "I will inquire whether any of the village's records still exist, with your permission, Hokage. Though that's unlikely."
Tsunade nodded.
"An Uzumaki and an Uchiha? The powers this child might unleash…," the Hokage murmured.
"I will test her," Kakashi offered. "As soon as she feels more comfortable here."
"Does she have the Sharingan yet?" the Hokage asked him.
"It is possible," Kakashi sighed. "The child shows signs of trauma. We will have to teach her how to use it safely."
Tsunade nodded again. "This is urgent. Go and talk to Iruka. He has more experience with small children. You two can teach her together in the beginning."
"Okay," Kakashi agreed, throwing a look at Sasuke, who pretended not to be in the least affected by the conversation.
Tsunade threw a challenging look at him too. "You wanted to keep the existence of this child from us, Sasuke? You know how hard Konoha is trying to preserve the Uchiha bloodline."
"I didn't know of her existence," Sasuke said coldly. "Karin is a madwoman. I have absolutely no idea how she got pregnant with my child."
"You don't remember fathering it?" Tsunade asked sharply.
"I never touched her." He sounded disgusted.
Liar, Sakura thought viciously. Maybe you forgot or simply don't care.
Tsunade sighed. "What are we going to do with her? Should we send her to the orphanage?"
"No," Kakashi said almost too fast.
That earned him some raised eyebrows from Tsunade. "What objections do you have?"
"Sarada needs a stable home right now," he said haltingly. "With someone who knows how to deal with traumatized children, a professional, someone who…" Kakashi faltered as his eyes grew a fraction larger and sought Sakura's. "I'm sorry," he said chagrined. "I didn't mean to suggest…"
"Not your fault," she answered though she wanted to scream.
"Sakura?" Tsunade frowned. "Hm. That is an excellent idea. You want to specialize in childrens' mental health. It's asking a lot of you though…"
"I am healthy enough to go home," Sasuke said. "She is my child, it is only fitting she lives with me."
"You will be in a wheelchair for several weeks," Tsunade informed him sharply. "You cannot take care of a small child."
"Then I need someone to help me take care…"
"Sakura?" Tsunade interrupted him. "Do you think you can shoulder this? I would send a nurse to help Sasuke when you have your shifts at the hospital, I need you here. Sarada can spend the days with Iruka and Kakashi. In the evenings and during the nights, she'd be with you."
"Of course," Sakura heard herself say. But all she saw was Sasuke's flabbergasted face. "Of course I will take care of my husband's traumatized child," she added. "It will let me gain more experience for when I open my own hospital."
Sasuke had gotten several shades paler. Without a doubt, Sakura had been right. He had amnesia too but didn't want to admit it. He had no longer remembered that they were married.
Good. May he never remember, Sakura wished with all her heart. I don't want him anymore.
But his face was no longer haughty. He looked truly shocked. As if… as if he cared.
Oh Sasuke, Sakura thought, looking into those dark, mesmerizing eyes. Let me go. Please. Let me go.
