Hey yall! I just wanted to say I love your reviews, they're so awesome and they make me so happy! Also, I'd like to just add a friendly reminder that this rendition is an alternate universe, so the roles of the characters can be/are altered differently for this specific story! For the most part, I've stuck tried and true to the characters, but I really wanted to change the dynamics—point and case, Kakashi not being a teacher, but being bonded with these people as an overall team brotherhood/sisterhood aspect. As well, someone had mentioned that the nicknames I've used aren't typical with Japanese culture and you're absolutely right! However, again this is an alternate universe, and additionally I make these characters give each other the nicknames to sort of blur the lines between them- to show just how tight knit they are, in the manner that they're always trying to bust each other's balls and they're all just one big, fucked up, not perfect at all family. I hope yall are enjoying this, as I am really loving writing it. Like I've said before, things on here are rated M for a reason, this is a LEMON, and no—Epstein didn't kill himself. If you leave a review, I won't pull an early 2000's Brit and shave my head bald. Or maybe I will. Happy reading, kitties!
They fucking broke into her apartment.
He should of some it coming, they all should have.
When Ino called Kakashi explaining to him that Sakura's place was absolutely trashed, he had to actively bite the inside of his cheek to keep from tracing the fucker's steps himself. Even before she explained exactly what Sota's men did to Sakura's stuff, he knew immediately. It was a clear-as-day message. It was a process the Yakuza used often; start with their place of residence, letting the victim know that they in fact know where they live. Next, target said victim's place of work, and then the family members—of which Kakashi was grateful Sakura had none here. He knew that the Yakuza wasn't that dumb to target an enormous, government-funded Hospital. If they weren't already on the radar, they'd for sure be putting themselves in the spotlight doing that. The Yakuza did these things to scare the victim shitless, hoping that instead of them hunting the victim, the victim will find the Yakuza themselves in hopes the harassment will stop. Sakura was not about to go to the Yakuza on her own accord, even if she wanted to, he'd stop her.
Once Ino told him she was going to buy Sakura things, he immediately called Shino, who was on a Tracing job with Neji. Kakashi relayed over what happened, telling him to send another two out to see if they can track down the men who did this. Shino figured if the apartment was as trashed as Ino said it was, it had to be three men at least. The job had to be done quick—especially the bit where they lit her clothes on fire.
Fuckers.
While Kakashi hated that this happened, and also cursed at the awful timing; it gave him insight to just how desperate Sota was. It appeared that Sota was focusing a lot of his efforts and men into capturing Sakura. Any time the Yakuza would act, it was off timing—and for a reason, as so not to be tracked. Everything Sota was doing was in succession, and Kakashi was positive that Sota's head boss has no idea about Sota's efforts. To a Yakuza crime lord, Sakura offered nothing. She was not a threat, she had no information, she saw nothing; and she's a nurse, who at some point would have been tending to a Yakuza grunt. Had Sota's boss found out, Sota would be shut down in an instant because he'd be jeopardizing the Yakuza as a whole by making it his mission to capture this woman; and rather sloppily, too. As Kakashi wandered down the store aisle, his mind began formulating several ways this could go. The team can continue this route, picking Sota's men off one by one until they find out where Sota hides out. This will take time, how long nobody knew. The other option could be outing Sota to the Yakuza crime lord, but those efforts seem twice as dangerous considering the Yakuza have an idea they're being checked off by Ancient of Days. The only way the Yakuza crime lord would even remotely agree to meet up and speak, is if there was a truce to be made which would mean Ancient of Days laying off of their pursuit; they weren't about to do that. Even still, the meet up would be tense, they'd want proof—not just word of mouth.
Somehow, they needed to sever the ties between Sota and the Yakuza head. Again, Sota's section was merely a sub-chapter of the Yakuza themselves. If Sota is out of the picture, the Yakuza head wouldn't give two shits. If that tie is severed, then Sota wouldn't have nearly as many grunts working under him, which would make it easier to tick the others off. They'd have to find a way to get this information about Sota out to the Yakuza head—he just didn't know how. They'd need proof first and foremost, and they've only got two instances to go by. The diner, and now, her apartment. Gathering proof for both instances would be easy enough, but that was just the thing; would two instances be enough? Would the team be sticking their necks out just to be shot down by the crime lord? Not to mention, whose to say that the Yakuza boss didn't pull a fast one on them, and ambush them during the meet. It's happened before, it'll easily happen again. Kakashi figured he'd have to get the team's input on the topic, to see if they should simply stick to the plan they have or take the extra step in isolating Sota.
Past the ever-burning rage that was his hatred for Sota, Kakashi felt equally worried—a feat of which he does not often act on. He's always remained so collected, even during high stake situations. But, since knowing Sakura and the events that have taken place, he's been worried. Not so much for her safety anymore now that she was in their care—even though that didn't mean they let their guard down—rather for how she was processing everything; what her thought process must be, how her body was feeling, and her healing. Kiba had told him that Sakura said she was feeling awful and he had no doubt she was, considering the medicine they'd given her had probably worn off not twenty minutes after they left the hospital. He could only imagine what this month was going to bring her, especially these next two weeks. The way she described to him how she was hurting made him wish he had a way to better help her, but all he could do was keep her as stress free as possible and make sure she was taking the medicine. Make sure she was keeping the wounds clean, no heavy lifting, and the like. He'd handled injured people before; it came with the territory after all, but Sakura was an entirely different ball park. Stab wounds, cuts, and gashes he could handle. Even tending to someone after a decent ass kicking was in his repayor. The hefty list of aftercare instructions Himari had given him intimidated him only slightly; he didn't want to do anything wrong. He wanted to make sure she was taken care of properly, and he was thankful that Ino had offered to visit often just to run a check up on Sakura. He'd do everything in his power to make sure she was as safe and as comfortable as possible.
That also meant making sure the house had everything they needed.
Being in the hospital, it didn't even cross his mind that he hadn't been to the house in at least a year. The first of his horrors was realizing there was absolutely no food there; the second being that the bed in the master bedroom was at least twenty years old. What was once his room had been changed by his father years ago into a study, so it wasn't like there was an extra bed they could rely on. He did was the only sensible option and buy a brand-new bed; he had to. Any time he did visit the house, he never slept on that bed anyways, it was always the couch for him. For the longest time Kakashi couldn't bring himself to change his father's bedroom. He'd kept it the same way his dad had left it; pillows over to the side, sheets and blankets crumbled to the lower half of the bed because his dad always kicked them off sometime in the middle of the night. The same book remained opened pages down on the night stand, his reading glasses resting on the corner. Hell, for a hot minute there he kept the glass of water his dad left there, too. After some time, he figured it was best to just let go, and so he did. Book, sheets, glasses—everything got put away into the study for the most part. The bed he just kept there, telling himself he'll deal with it later until he ultimately forgot about it.
In fact, now that he thought back on it; when Kakashi's father was alive, he was over at the house every three days at least. When his father passed, he went through a season where the house was the only place he'd stay. He'd sleep on the couch every night, surrounded in a pile of dogs; secretly hoping he'd hear his father holler from the kitchen if he wanted some Sake. He'd lay there, imagining the two of them standing across from each other in the kitchen; sipping sake while his dad talked about a beautiful woman he'd met the other day. Kakashi used to tell his dad all the time that it was okay if he moved on; if he found another woman to love and fill the emptiness in his life. Each and every time, his dad would just chuckle to himself; swirling the sake down and making a remark about he had already found the woman for him years ago—and that was his mother. Kakashi never knew his mother, she had died when he was just two from an immune disease. From the pictures his dad had of her, she was absolutely stunning. She was tall, willowed in a romantic sort of way; with long, black hair that reached the back of her hips. His dad even had a weathered photo of her holding Kakashi right after he was born; but the picture his dad held onto the most was their wedding photo. Being the hippy dippy, somehow disco freaks, they were; their marriage was unorthodox. Instead of getting married in a church with a pastor, they took a couple friends and got married in a sunflower field during the summer. The polaroid was of them standing side by side, one arm wrapped around the other in a loving embrace, kissing under the sun. His dad always had it, either in his pocket on his jacket, or in his wallet.
It was gripped tightly in his hands when he passed.
Once the initial pain of losing his father had ebbed, going to the house seemed to only feel like picking at a fresh scab. It would only serve to break loose what he worked so hard to maintain and handle himself. He knew his dad wouldn't have wanted him to sit and mourn for too long; as it were, life kept moving forward and so should he. Since then, he'd really only visit the house once a year, just to make sure it was holding up and hadn't crumbled to a pile of wood on the ground. Now, with him and Sakura now staying there for the time being; almost everything had to be bought for the house. New dishes, sheets, blankets, towels, and supplies. Food; soups and liquids for the first five days for Sakura, as well as ingredients for meals, snacks, and drinks. Ino had mentioned to him something about Sakura putting emphasis on three fluffy blankets that Sota's men had, unfortunately, ripped to shreds. He'd made a note to get her blankets similar to that if he could. Unluckily, the grocery store didn't have everything he needed, so he was going to have to make multiple stops—and buy a new coffee machine for the house. As quickly as he could, he grabbed everything he thought he would need, checked out, and made his way to the next store. Even with the tasks at hand, he couldn't seem to think straight.
He'd hope Sakura was doing okay. That Hinata had reached her in time enough for Sakura to take the medicine, so she wasn't feeling bad. That she was feeling comforted during this time; that seeing everyone working hard to protect her made her feel safe.
He'd hope so, anyways.
One just never knew with Sakura.
By the time Kakashi got done with everything and had reached the house, it was well past eight in the evening. Along his shopping, he had taken a detour to Samurai to discuss with Tsunade, Shika, Temri, and Gaara his thoughts on outing Sota to his boss. The responses were exactly what he assumed they were going to be—the situation was too volitile and up in the air to expect anything to come out of it. If anything, they'd only be putting their necks on the line even more than they already were, and these missions with the Yakuza were strictly covert; they weren't supposed to be found out. Sure, the Yakuza had an inkling they were being offed, but they can't quite narrow it down to who considering they've got teams and teams of detectives, agencies, and cops gunning it for the Yakuza. Tsunade stated it would be wise to stick to their plan now, and should anything come up that gives them the opportunity to out Sota, then go for it; but don't stick your neck out doing it.
And she was right.
As of right now, again they were only dealing with Sota and his men. Missions involving the Yakuza were so convert and so secretive; meticulously thought out from each and every point so that the team can take care of their target without being noticed. Sure, some grunts may die along the way, but again grunts were a dime a dozen to the Yakuza. Once they talked it over, Kakashi had made a quick call to Shino just to see where everyone was at. Shino and Neji were still tracing, while Tenten, Rock, and Choji were still on the men's trail. Last Shino had heard, they were in Kabukicho where the men had gone off to, which didn't surprise Kakashi in the slightest. Within the adult-nightclubs is where most Yakuza met up, or fucked off in. Usually after a job like that, they'd always manage to find the grunts throwing money at the women in the clubs as means of celebration. Once the team would come across the grunts, they'd be so drunk out of their minds that apprehending them was cream cheese. Most of the time, anyways. Once in a while there was one big son-of-a-bitch that took a couple of them to take down. Hearing they'd manage to track them to that district gave Kakashi hope that the team could get their hands on them.
The more of these fuckers they could knock off, the better.
Pulling into the driveway, Kakashi was happy to see both Kiba's car there and Hinata's car. He was also really happy that he had an issue with leaving his car at the club all the time, it made it easier for him to leave the club and take off. The sun had already set and the inside of the house glowed with a bright light, illuminating the outside of the house some. Once he'd gathered as many of the bags as he could while still being able to walk, he neared the door and knocked on it with his foot three times. Of course, Kiba had already known it was Kakashi, as Kakashi could see Akamaru's big white head poking up through the window. The knob turned, more bright light pouring out to invade the darkness of the night.
The moment Kakashi stepped in, he was greeted by a bustle of very excited dogs. The surrounded his feet, making small jumps to nip at his hands in greeting. The only dog that didn't move was Bull, and he was propped up on the couch next to a sleeping Sakura; his fat head resting on the dip of her waist. Hinata was in the kitchen, going through drawers and Kiba had side stepped Kakashi to go get the rest of the bags from the car. As quietly as he could, he walked past the heard of dogs to the kitchen, setting the bags down on the island and nodding at Hinata, "Some spring cleaning?"
Hinata glanced over at the bags, "I sort of knew you were going to get all new stuff for the house when you threw out the old bed. Sakura fell asleep pretty soon after I gave her the medicine, so I thought I'd just keep myself busy for awhile. I went ahead and cleaned up, starting with the master bedroom and bathroom. You're lucky there still happened to be cleaning supplies down here. I cleaned the kitchen, dining room, and even your backyard balcony just a little bit. Once I was done, I decided to just throw out everything that was way too old—I hope you don't mind?" Her expression was slightly sheepish, as though she might be feeling guilty for throwing things out.
Kakashi waved at her dismissively, "I don't mind. Everything here was pretty old, I honestly wouldn't feel comfortable having it around. Thank you for cleaning, you really didn't have to do that."
Hinata smiled sweetly, "I don't mind, really. Besides, I knew you were doing a lot already and again, I wasn't doing anything so I decided to help out just a little. Plus, the cleaner the house, the better for Sakura. We don't want any of her wounds getting infected."
"Mmh, good thinking," Kakashi muttered. "Speaking of, how is she doing?"
Hinata's lips pressed into a grim line, "Not bad, but not good either."
Kakashi's brow pulled down in concern, "What happened?"
"Well..." Hinata wrung her hands nervously. "Technically nothing happened. But, I guess when Ino had called and told Kiba about what happened at the apartment, he shouted or something and it woke her up."
Kiba came through the front door with arms full of bags, easily maneuvering his way around the dogs to place the bags on the remaining space of the island. Kiba glanced between the two, "What? What are we talking about?"
"Earlier," Hinata replied in a hushed tone, "when Sakura woke up the first time."
"Aahh," Kiba raised his chin up slowly. "Yeah, that was...rough..."
Kakashi eyed Kiba expectantly, waiting for Kiba to finish.
"Yeah, so I shouted because I was pissed. She wakes up and just starts freaking out. I mean, she was crouched down in somewhat of a fighting stance, if that's what you want to call it. The moment I saw her standing like that, I start walking to her- I was down the hall—to tell her that she needed to stand up straight because the way she was stanced could have ripped the stiches open. She was standing the way Neji does when he really wants to fuck shit up. What's worse is, from where I was standing, you could tell by her face that it fucking hurt," Kiba shook his head and sighed. "But she looked so panicked and freaked out that she wasn't even thinking about it. She no shit thought she was going to get attacked. She shouts my name, I'm halfway to her and she whirls on me and starts trying to lay into me. I barely dodged her blows; I could feel the wind brush my cheeks when her fist would fly by. I managed to grab her wrists and calm her down."
Kakashi frowned deeply, "Flo said something like that would happen."
Hinata's pearl eyes narrowed concernedly, "Is there anything we can do to help her?"
"Flo simply said to make sure she's not alone. She said that Sakura might have night terrors, she might wake up and panic. She's going to be really on-edge and paranoid, so we've got to make sure we remain equally calm. Any updates on anything Sota's men do, let's keep between the team. We don't need to stress her out any further," Kakashi asserted, leaning back against the island.
"Well...you're not going to be happy with me," Kiba half-chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
Kakashi straightened, "What did you do?"
"I mean, technically I didn't do anything. It was just...at the time, she was freaking out really bad. She was demanding that I tell her what happened, so I just-"
Kakashi tossed his head back and let out a low irritated groan, "Fucking really."
"Hey," Kiba barked in a whisper as to not wake Sakura. "She told me she wasn't going to relax until she knew what was going on? What was I supposed to do, hmm?"
"I don't know, Kiba," Kakashi scoffed, slapping his palms down on the outside of his thighs. "Maybe just tell her we have it under control?"
"Yeah," Kiba gibed sarcastically. "Because we both know that would have worked."
Kakashi sighed, running his hand through his hair and shaking his head. "You know what, you're right. She probably did bully you to tell her."
For a brief moment, Kiba opened his mouth as though to argue; but blanked instead. "Oh," he commented shortly. "I thought you were going to give me more shit about it."
"I may be stressed, Kiba, but it doesn't mean I've lost my sensibility."
"Mmm-hhmmm," Kiba hummed skeptically. "Alright, well remember that you're a sensible man when I tell you this next part..."
Kakashi deadpanned.
Kiba held up a hand, "Now, before you say anything just let me explain myself, okay? Sakura had been looking really uneasy the entire time at Samurai, especially when Tsunade was going on about the her being apart of us bit. On the drive there, she said something along the lines of not understanding why we are talking about her like that—you know, her being a part of you which in turn is a part of us...right?"
"Right," Kakashi repeated uniformly.
"So, you're saying that you acknowledge that she's having a hard time trusting us and the way we feel about her, right? You agree that she would need to see it from another perspective to fully grasp where we're coming from- that it would help her feel better about everything...right?" Kiba pressed even harder.
"You sure are setting me up, Kiba," Kakashi suspired. "If I didn't know any better, I'd feel a little nervous with the way you're talking."
"Kiba just get on with it," Hinata interjected, dainty arms crossed on her chest.
"Fine, okay," Kiba glanced over at Hinata almost desperately. "Just- know that I know it wasn't my place to say anything to begin with, and that I am whole heartedly a jackass for telling Sakura your business."
Kakashi waited while Kiba stood there, almost sweating.
"So..." Kiba strung out. "I felt like...If I told her about you and...Yua...she'd understand where you were coming from and where the rest of us were coming from..."
Hinata gasped, "Kiba! You didn't?!"
Kiba cursed under his breath, running his hand along the stubble on his jaw, "Yeah, I did. I felt like I had to. Here at the house wasn't her first freak out. It happened at the club, too. She just tensed up and started tremoring. I watched her fists close up, and I could tell she was trying to play it cool. I felt bad for her. She's probably so confused and scared and overwhelmed that I thought, maybe if she knew that what we were all feeling was genuine...especially you, and the weight behind your words..." he trailed off.
Kakashi remained still, scrutinizing Kiba severely.
Yua had been a topic no one had touched on in a while, and for good reason; no one wanted to. She had done enough damage that, when all the news was out, everyone just wanted to forget her.
Especially Kakashi.
In fact, forgetting her had been pretty fluid for him, for the most part. Due to the fact that he didn't love her. Still, it took time for him to get back on his feet and mourn the loss of a baby that wasn't his. On one hand, he was forever thankful—he couldn't imagine Yua being the mother to his child. What a fucking nightmare that would have been. On the other, he was so incredibly young at the time that, even though he wanted kids eventually, that time was definitely not the time. Being with Yua had been a waking nightmare, one of which he vowed he was never going to live through again. Even his own father actively told Kakashi how he wasn't fond of her; how he felt like she was up to no good.
If only his dad knew...
Initially, Kakashi wanted to deck Kiba square in the jaw. For some reason, there felt like there was an unwritten code that people don't tell someone else their friend's private, personal information. Especially in this instance. But when he thought on it deeper, he hated the fact that he understood Kiba's standpoint. Sakura was vocalizing that she didn't understand everyone's acceptance of her, and why should she? She didn't know them from Eve, so she had a right to be weary of their kindness. Even though she was making small steps in giving Kakashi more and more of her trust, he could still clearly see there the doubt in her eyes that held her back from fully giving in. Not that he expected her to, at any rate. He figured, the way Kiba saw it was the same way the entire team saw it—perspective. They knew Kakashi through and through; they understood when things were serious and when things weren't. They also stopped assuming he was going to settle down. If Sakura was witness to what they witnessed, maybe she'd have the same perspective and feel more confident about the team.
"That wasn't your place to tell her," Kakashi retorted evenly.
"I know," Kiba huffed. "And I'm sorry. I promise I don't just blab all of your personal shit, but I felt so bad for her man, I just figured-"
Kakashi raised a hand up, cutting Kiba off, "I get it...maybe just give me a call next time you want to do something like that."
Kiba nodded, his stressed features relaxing slightly.
"How did she respond?" Hinata inquired, plucking a bag off of the island and digging the items out of it.
"Oh, she was actually pissed," Kiba replied in a surprised tone.
"Really?" Hinata and Kakashi remarked in unison.
"Yep. Her face said it all, if she wasn't in such a bad state, she would have probably jumped out of the car and beat the shit out of Yua herself."
"Did she say anything?" Kakashi muttered, emptying out the other bags himself.
"Say said it gave her a lot of insight," Kiba mused. "That it helps her understand you more...she also called you mysterious."
Kakashi grinned, but it fell when he glanced over at Sakura.
She looked so...vulnerable.
By the way her jaw was slack and her body hadn't moved an inch since he got there, she was beyond exhausted; not just physically, but mentally, too. The way Bull stayed glued to her side told him that even his boys were aware she was not in her best state. While Hinata and Kiba mumbled to each other over the sheets Kakashi bought, Kakashi had percolated his way from the kitchen to standing in front of her, leaning over to get a better look at the wounds on her face.
The side of her face that had been slapped was still red- not as scarlet as the day she got attacked, but red nonetheless. The ruptured blood vessels still remained, though it appeared as if maybe some of them shrunk down, just by a little. On the other side of her face, the scratches seemed to resemble gouges more than anything. The fucker had really dug his nails into her face, and it wasn't a wonder that Himari had talked about scarring. Around the edges of the slashes they appeared irritated, and it was probably because she had been lying on that side of her face. Kakashi reached down, wiggling his hands underneath Sakura to pick her up and put her on the new bed. His hands barely managed to wiggle an inch underneath her when Bull shot up, giving Kakashi a protective, throaty growl. Ignoring Bull, he tucked his hands deeper, squatting down so lift her up. This time, Bull had leapt down, ran around Kakashi, and jumped up to the free side of the couch; barking loudly in Kakashi's face and near Sakura's ear.
Before Kakashi could even register what was taking place, a hand had shot out and clapped him hard along the right side of his face. Bull barked again, and Sakura began jerking in Kakashi's arms wildly. Still holding her at a crouch, Kakashi tossed his head back, avoiding the flailing elbow that was shooting straight for his nose. Sakura screamed, crunching forward and jerking her legs out in attempts to use her momentum to fly out of his arms. Kiba and Hinata were by his side now, furiously grabbing Sakura's limbs while he did his best to carefully set her back down on the couch despite her aggressive jerking and writhing. Hinata had an arm across Sakura's chest, a leg curled over both of Sakura's legs. Kiba held her wrists firmly together in her lap. Even with three people holding her, she was proving to be a lot stronger than what they had anticipated.
"Sakura," Kakashi titled as in as calm of a tone as he could manage. "It's just us." He reached forward, holding her thrashing head in his hands. He directed her eyes to his, and though he was holding her head in place, her eyes continued to rove around wildly; actively searching for her attacker. She jerked her wrists and legs, and he knew that she wasn't registering who was holding her. All she knew is that she was being restrained and she was being attacked. Sakura jerked her head hard to the left, breaking Kakashi's hold and directly head butting Kiba. Kiba swore, but didn't loosen his grip on her wrists. She jerked her legs, taking Hinata's leg with them and landing a solid kick to Kakashi's collar bone; sending him back a couple feet. Hinata moved to anchor herself on Sakura, but not before Sakura bucked her hips, sending Hinata off kilter to the side of the couch. Legs free, Sakura swiveled to Kiba, kicking him in the chest so hard that he fell off of the side of the couch completely.
Sakura went to stand, letting out a small bawl of pain as she did, slouching over and gripping her side. Without so much as a second thought, Kakashi made his move. He maneuvered his way around her, dodging the weak punch and getting behind her. Just as she was about to twist on him, Kakashi circled his arms around her tightly, pulling her frame against his so she wouldn't wiggle out. Hinata took the front, pressing her body against Sakura's and encircling her arms around Sakura and Kakashi as a whole. Kiba came from the side, wrapping one arm around Kakashi's back and one around Hinata's back; sandwiching Sakura in. Minutes passed of Sakura's panic; she writhed, jerked, and yelped when the pain was too much. It was only when Hinata began to whisper to Sakura that she was okay that Sakura began to come down and come to. Her erratic breathing became slow and heavy, and the only movement was the tremoring of her body due to a combination of pain and fear. Hinata was the first to capture Sakura's expression, moonstone eyes regarding Sakura in a gaze that was painfully sweet. Sakura buried her head into Hinata's shoulder, shaking in small waves as she bit back mufflied cries.
No one moved.
Each person remained in their positions, surrounding Sakura in a comforting hold. Kakashi could tell by Kiba's face he was bothered; eyes cast to the side and mouth drawn in an unhappy grimace. The small tears that Hinata wiped away proving she was moved did not escape his notice either. Kakashi remained collected; burning her wild expression in his memory so he can be able to tell next time she's going to go full out. Because, if there was one thing he was sure of, this wasn't going to be the last time she panics like this. He wondered briefly why she hadn't behaved this way at the hospital, but then again it was a place she was familiar with—a place she felt safe staying at. Not to mention, with the nurse's constant coming in and out, she wasn't fully enveloped in sleep like she had been here, at an unfamiliar place no less.
Five more minutes passed before Kiba was the first to disengage himself, turning down the hall to check out his forehead due to the fact that she managed to break skin head butting him. Hinata let go next, taking a soft step back from Sakura to look at her more fully. Kakashi did nothing of the sort. He loosened his tight hold on her, but he hadn't let her go due to the fact she was still shuddering all over. She remained standing, burying her face in her hands and breathing deeply. Hinata's once concerned gazed turned horrified, pointing down to Sakura's side. Glancing down, sure enough Kakashi saw what he had been fearing. Blood had soaked through her shirt where her stab wounds were, making a trail down her leg.
"Tell Ino," Kakashi commanded quietly.
Hinata gave one curt nod, twirling around to walk out the front door and pulling her phone out at the same time.
Kakashi let go of Sakura, stepping around to face her. Sakura still had her face in her hands, and he could hear each heavy, deliberate breath she was taking as though she were still trying to calm herself down.
"Sakura," Kakashi began gently. "I think you may have re-opened one of your stiches. I'm going to pull your shirt up some so I can look at it, okay?"
Sakura nodded slowly, but said nothing and kept her face in her hands.
He squat down, gingerly peeling the shirt up as cautiously as he could manage. Once the fabric was pulled away, more blood pooled forward over the edge of her pants and down. While one of the stab wounds was thankfully still stitched together, save for the irritated red blotches surrounding it, the other one had been opened more than halfway. Swiftly, he stood back up, seeking out the medicine bag and digging out a patch of gauze, an alcohol wipe, and medical tape; striding back to Sakura and squatting before her again. He began to wipe just around the wound, making sure to not touch it directly.
"Is it bad?" She wheezed from behind her hands. Her panicked screams had done a number to her already injured voice.
"Not as bad as it could be," he replied grimly. "It's torn open just over halfway. You'll need to get it stitched back up again. I'll take you to the hospital-" he stood up, just as Sakura nearly shouted.
"No!"
Kakashi froze, looking over at her curiously. She'd removed her face from her hands, and the expression there could have sent him to his grave. Never had he seen someone look so ashamed of themselves; her emerald eyes were bloodshot from the frenzy, pain, and crying she'd gone through. Her pink brows were arched sadly, mouth drawn into a miserable, trembling glower. He wanted so bad to hug her, but he knew it would only hurt her. He wanted to comfort her, but he knew she was already reeling from the moment, desperately feeling as though she need to scrape up what was left of her pride.
"I don't want to go back to the hospital," she rasped in a tremor.
"Usagi," Kakashi broke, sighing and turning to face her head on. "We have to go. Not only did you re-open your stitches, but you head butted Kiba. You have contusions in your brain right now, I don't think head butting someone is good for that kind of thing."
Her breath hitched, "I head butted him?"
Kakashi's face twitched, "You don't remember?"
She shook her head, "I know that I freaked out and screamed..."
"You seriously don't remember trying to kick our asses just now? You literally fought all three of us, Sakura. You tossed Hinata to the side, head butted Kiba and then kicked him off the couch, and kicked me in chest," Kakashi explained carefully, watching her expression with each action he ticked off. Sakura appeared more and more appalled with each statement.
"No, I don't," she sniffed, wincing when she brought her hand up to pat her face.
"I read about that happening," Kiba commented, approaching them from down the hall. "My grandpa has PTSD and my dad would tell me that he'd do stuff like that all the time. He'd think he was getting attacked, black out and lose his shit; then come to later and not remember what he did at all."
"I don't have PTSD," Sakura remarked almost defensively.
"I'm not saying you do," Kiba rebuttled just as quickly. "But I am saying you went through a traumatic experience and this is the kind of stuff that happens. Don't be so hard on yourself, you're human. If anything, I'm giving you mad props, Saku-ka-kaku."
"Props?" She repeated shakily.
"You literally fought off three trained ninjas, who work for an ancient as fuck mercenary group—who hunt down the Yakuza, who turn in drug lords," he enunciated with emphasis. "We have literally been trained all of our lives to fight like badasses and in one ten minute span you threw all of us off." He chuckled, "I'm impressed, honestly. Imagine if she trained with Lee? She'd be dy-no-mite."
Instead of being encouraged by Kiba's words, Sakura's face crumpled, "I'm so sorry!" Her face dropped in her hands again, working hard to fight back the wave of emotion. "I've never done something like that before. I don't remember attacking you all, I just thought that he was here and I thought that he had his men holding me down- I thought they were going to-"
"It's okay, Sakura," Kakashi soothed. "I was kind of prepared for this. What you're experiencing is normal, you've just got to ride it out—and we'll be here to ride it out with you. But, I need you to understand something, okay?"
"What?" she sniffed again, lifting her face.
Kakashi leveled his gaze with hers, staring deep into her eyes with an earnestness that she couldn't look away from. "Understand that no one is going to hurt you here. No one is going to come here and hurt you, no one will be able to put their hands on you as long as I'm breathing, okay?"
Sakura's eyes searched his, pupils dilating. "Okay," she whispered back. "I understand."
"Alright..." Kakashi leaned back. "If you don't want to go to the hospital, what do you suggest we do?"
"Ino," she suggested. "She can re-suture it."
Kakashi's eyebrow quirked, "Are you sure about that?"
"Positive," she croaked. "They wouldn't even numb it for how short it is anyways."
"Alright," he conceded with a sigh. "I'll see if Hinata is still on the phone with Ino."
Due to Ino having to take a detour to the hospital, it took her an extra hour and a half to get to the house. In the meantime, Kakashi did his best to cover the wound, checking it briefly every now and then just to make sure it wasn't bleeding through—of which he only had to replace the gauze once, so he was thankful. Sakura remained on the couch, nodding off but refusing to fall asleep. Both Hinata and Kakashi offered to sit beside her, if it would help her feel more comfortable to fall back asleep; but she remained stubborn, insisting that she'd watch something on the TV instead. Kakashi thanked whatever invisible forces were at play that he decided last minute to buy a new TV for the house. While Hinata took all the sheets and made the new bed, Kiba and Kakashi were at work hooking up the TV and cable box.
"You thought of everything," Kiba remarked in a sweaty grunt, hunched over to reach behind the TV with a yellow wire in his hand.
"I tried to, anyways," Kakashi stated, grabbing the yellow wire and bringing it to his end to connect to the back of the cable box.
"You act like she's moving in for good."
Kakashi glanced up, muttering quietly. "I just want her to be as comfortable as possible."
"You think it's going to take longer than a month, don't you?" Kiba sought grimly.
Kakashi opened his mouth to speak at the same time Ino barged in, holding so many bags that he couldn't even see her until she stood in the middle of the living room, shedding all the bags on the floor. She placed a hand on her hip, pointing a finger at Sakura in disapproval, "You're lucky I like you, Sakura. Himari was sweating me hard about why I was there, and how you were doing. You of all people know it's nearly impossible to lie to that woman. She nearly sniffed me out, too, if it weren't for one of the doctors asking for her help on something. I managed to grab the stuff and take off before she could catch me again—because she did ask me to stay there until she got back. So now I've got to come up with a reason as to why I took off next time I see her."
To Kakashi's surprise, Sakura giggled, "Better come up with something good."
Ino scowled, "Tch. You're lucky I don't call her and tell her you re-opened your wound and head butted Kiba. Then you'd be trapped at the hospital forever."
"You'd never," Sakura challenged with a weak smile.
Ino huffed, leaning over to scoop up another medical bag similar to the one Himari had given them. She held it up in the air, jiggling the contents lightly. "Let's go to the kitchen to do this. There's too much dog fur on the couch already."
"What about the restroom?" Kiba suggested.
Ino shook her head, "Lighting is too dim for a suture, I want to make sure I get this right. I don't do these very often, so I'm not taking any risks."
"You're so reassuring," Kakashi sighed incuriously.
Ignoring Kakashi, Ino grabbed Sakura by the hand and, along with Hinata's help, took Sakura to the kitchen table. Kakashi watched diligently as Ino followed what he assumed was standard protocol. She washed her hands, pulled nylon gloves out from the bag and snapped them on. Sakura sat up as straight as she could, curling her shirt up to tuck it into her armpit, and wiggling her sweats down some so Ino had enough room to work. Ino crouched down, cleaning the area assiduity before threading the medical needle. She hovered over the wound, glancing up at Sakura. What passed between the two was unspoken, but Ino nodded nonetheless; going to work.
When Sakura flinched and hissed, Kakashi almost felt it as though it was happening to him. Despite the fact that he's received more stitches than he can count and he can handle the pain, it was another thing to see it happening to Sakura of all people. He understood she was a grown woman, who was undoubtedly insanely strong; still, it didn't stop the way his forearm flexed like he'd go over there himself to stop it from happening. Even if he was feeling protective over her, he knew better than to hover over someone like Sakura. She'd only resent him for it in the long run, as it was her personality to be wholly independent and proud.
It didn't take Ino long to finish the suture, and Sakura did a hell of a job managing the pain with just small instances of irritation flashing across her face. Once Ino cut the string, she placed her hands around the wounds, squinting and peering hard at them; humming skeptically under her breath.
"What is it?" Sakura grated.
"They just look really irritated, and a little dirty," Ino glanced up. "You're showering tonight right?"
Sakura started. "Um...I don't know. I'm hurting, it was the last thing on my mind, Ino."
Ino shook her head, "I'm sorry, Sakura. I would say we can just clean it, but from the looks of it stuff has managed to slip in between the stitching; I'm guessing from sitting in the hospital bed for as long as you did, going to the club, coming here—we've got to make sure water gets in there and flushes out the grime. Otherwise, it is going to get infected, and you know that."
"I guess..." Sakura deflated, lifting her arm slightly to let her shirt fall down.
Ino caught it, "No ma'am. We just had to restitch these. Keep your shirt up for right now. We'll go ahead and help you shower right now. We can wash them with the soap Himari gave you, that'll clean them really well."
"She can just cover it after, right?" Hinata asked softly, patting Sakura's shoulder tenderly.
"Not really," Ino huffed, looking over at Sakura with her head cocked to the side. "And Sakura should know that. Once it's washed, let it dry on its' own. Then cover it up with the ointment Himari gave us. I bought you sleeping shirts that will accommodate the stab wounds, so that nothing is rubbing against them and irritating them."
"Not necessary," Sakura quipped sharply. "We're putting gauze over it, remember."
"Too late," Ino snapped back just as quickly. "I already bought the shirts. Plus, yes we will be putting these bandages I brought over on them; but you will be moving a lot in your sleep so it's best to keep anything else from rubbing on them to irritate them anymore than they are now."
"Whatever," Sakura mumbled, directing her attention to the floor.
Ino sighed, patting Sakura's knee and standing up and turning to her attention to Kakashi who had been watching with a blank expression. "Towels?"
"They're all in the bathroom, in the cabinet above the toilet," Kakashi jerked his chin toward the direction of the master bathroom.
Ino gave him a thumbs up, stepping to the piles of bags on the living room floor and digging through a few before pulling out a several scraps of fabric, and plucking up a bag that looked like it had toiletries in it. She made her way back to Sakura, nodding at Hinata, "You ready?"
Hinata nodded, folding her hand over Sakura's elbow and gently lifting her up, "Can you walk there by yourself?"
"Yes." Sakura answered curtly.
The women made their way down the hall slowly, following Sakura's pace. Hinata and Sakura disappeared into the bedroom, and Kakashi called out, "Ino."
Ino turned halfway, "Yes?"
"If you need anything, just let me know," he offered genuinely.
Ino nodded, turning away from here and to the master bath.
Kakashi stared down the hall for several more beats, wondering if Sakura was going to be okay. Not because he didn't have faith in Ino or Hinata, but because this was probably the first time Sakura was going to be seeing herself since the attack. She had told him Himari made it a point to keep her from looking in the mirror, and since she'd been with them she hadn't gone to the restroom at all. He hoped she the girls would remind her they're only temporary; that they'll heal. She was so worried about the way she looked, that deep down no matter how much he hoped it would be handled well; he had a sinking feeling she was going to take it hard.
Today has been an incredibly rough day for Sakura, and he wished there was more he could do about it to make her feel better. He decided that when she got to feeling better, he'd make it up to her.
Over in the living room, the TV had been turned on and Kiba was lounging across the couch; spread out with Akamaru tangled between his bulky legs. Kakashi regarded him nonchalantly, making his way to the fridge and pulling out some produce he had bought; laying out carrots, celery, and a can of corn and beans from the pantry. He lined everything up, digging out an old cutting board from the drawer and cleaning it off to set it on the counter. He reached to a cabinet by the stove, pulling out a pot and filling it up with water and chicken stock. While waiting for the water to heat up on the stove, he began to chop away at the veggies, lost in thought.
He wanted to dissect Sakura's brain. He wanted to understand how she was feeling, and he wanted to ask her what he can do to make her feel more comfortable here as her panic earlier was proof that she didn't feel safe enough—not that feeling safe negated the fact that she was bound to have episodes like this, but maybe if she felt more secure they wouldn't happen as often as he feared they might. It wasn't out of fear of handling Sakura, that he could do just fine; it was out of fear for Sakura. With each instance, she was only beating herself up more and more—that was painfully obvious. If she was being hard on herself, it only meant she was stressing herself out, which only added to what both Himari and Tanaka had both seriously ordered: a stress free environment. Maybe, once she the dust has settled, he'd ask her what she needed from him to feel better. It was a simple enough question that shouldn't get a rise out of her.
Once the veggies were cut, Kakashi lobbed a handful of each into the pot; stirring occasionally and adding some salt and pepper. From down the hall, footsteps could be heard marching down rather quickly; and Kakashi turned to see Hinata with a stressed expression on her face.
"How's it going?" Kakashi requested in a half turn towards Hinata.
Hinata froze midstep, turning her head to look at him. She shook her head deftly, closing her eyes and sighing softly.
"Is it the pain? Maybe just get her out of the shower, if she's hurting too much it's not really worth it to-"
"We haven't even gotten there," Hinata cut unhappily. "She hasn't stopped staring at her face. She's been stuck that way for the past fifteen minutes."
"I was afraid of that," Kakashi frowned.
Hinata shook her head again, "We tried to talk to her, but it's like she's not even listening. She just won't stop staring, and she keeps trying to touch her face and we're having to pull her hand away. I know she's sort of..." Hinata blew out air deep from within her lungs. "We know she's really rough right now, but we don't know what else to do to get her to snap out of it. I feel so bad...I actually came out here to ask if maybe you could talk to her?"
"Yes," Kakashi replied instantly, placing the knife down on the cutting board and turning to Kiba. "Hey, can you keep an eye on the soup?"
Kiba nodded, grunting as he peeled himself off of the couch. "Sure," he agreed, stopping to stand iin front of the stove and peer into the pot. "What does it need?"
"Just the beans. Let it boil for about five minutes, add some seasoning that should be in the pantry, and then set it to simmer. I should be back by then."
"Take your time," Kiba waved, lifting the spoon that was in the pot to sip and grimace, muttering "more stock" as Kakashi followed Hinata down the hall.
Walking into the master bath, he had almost forgotten how massive it was. It was room enough to be considered another bedroom, with a tub big enough for two and a shower that was 72 by 72 inches; with really nice shower heads (during their time, though they were just as nice now) and graphite black shower tiles. He remembered his dad was always renovating the master bath because he'd spend a lot of time taking either ridiculously long showers or long baths. To his dad, that was his alone time. The mirror was tall and wide, taking up the majority upper half of the wall just even with the top of the sinks, surrounded in vanity lights. The toilet was tucked in a small corner that jutted in behind the tub, sectioned away to make it appear more private. The floors were white tile, the kitchen sink was the same black graphite as the shower, and the walls were just as white. The room was large and lit up; his dad often preened in the mirror, licking his teeth and telling Kakashi he wishes he was rich instead of "so damned good looking."
With all this lighting, with how bright the room was; Sakura was surely seeing every gash, bruise, and scratch on her body. She was leaning against the sink, hands braced on either side as she stared almost catatonically at her reflection. Her brows were quirked in a sceptical expression, eyes pooled with liquid that only spilled over in a couple small drops. Ino was sitting on the toilet, elbows braced on her knees and head in her hands. She frowned at Kakashi when he caught her gaze, giving her head a subtle jerk towards Sakura. As bright as the lights were, he understood why Sakura would be shocked. The gashes appeared just as awful as they actually were. The shredded edges of her flesh could be seen, the layers of skin could be seen through the gashes on her cheek. The redness of the other half of her face appeared more stark, compared to the pale skin of her neck. The wound riding up her neck appeared crooked and severe, its depth mimicking the one that lined across her collar bone. The bruises around her neck were deep shades of purple, blue, a dark maroon red centered where her attacker had curled his fingers the hardest and where his palms pushed in; the bruising marking up the length of her throat, from the front, around the sides, and even the nape of her neck. He hadn't really noticed it before, but on the corner of her eye of the side where she'd been repeatedly slapped; a very small, very light bruise had formed.
Kakashi waited for a moment, seeing if Sakura would turn to say anything to him, or even just look at him. Several minutes passed of silence between the four; Ino and Hinata standing behind them and watching. Kakashi twisted his torso to the two, mouthing, "Give us some space," deftly. The pair nodded, filing out of the bathroom and shutting the door behind them. Still, Sakura remained motionless when they left; staring deeply at her reflection with the same look of disdain. He neared her, standing just a foot behind her and looking at her reflection. She leaned forward slightly, raising two shaking hands to her cup her cheeks and wincing due to how tender they still managed to be. Tenderly, Kakashi reached from behind her; leaning forward and running his hands down her biceps, up her forearms, to cup over her hands. Teal eyes flicked up momentarily, meeting his in the mirror and flicking back down to her face, eyebrows flinching down in the middle. Using his hands on top of hers, slowly he lowered them back down to either side of the sink; surprisingly meeting no resistance from her. He kept his hands curled over hers, leaving just enough space between them so she didn't feel creeped out or trapped.
"Sakura."
Eyes met his through the mirror again, her gaze almost challenging; as if angrily daring him to remark that she was pretty.
He sighed lowly, not realizing that in doing so he blew hot breath on the nape of her neck and watched her shoulders twitch in response. Any other time, this response would have warranted the deviant in him to take a step forward until she actively made it known otherwise; but now was not the time, and he didn't want her to feel taken advantage of in her vulnerable state. He reared back some, furthering the distance in between them and leaning his head out to the side slightly.
"Don't."
Kakashi's brow furrowed, "Hm?"
Sakura closed her eyes, "Don't say what I think you're going to say."
"What was I going to say, Sakura?" He challenged gently, brushing soft circles over the bottom knuckle of her thumb with his.
"Don't just tell me you think I'm beautiful and just leave it at that."
"Strange," he hummed, leaning over to run the tip of his nose from the corner of her jaw to her temple. "I do think you're beautiful." He placed a kiss on her temple, freezing almost instantly when he did.
What happened to making sure she didn't feel taken advantage of?
What happened to bad timing?
Being this close to her, he had to admit it was unendingly hard to keep himself from doing what just felt natural to him. That was just it, too- it felt natural. Touching her arms, soothing her, and having her within his bubble; it felt as if she was supposed to be there. Regardless of how it felt for him, however, didn't mean it was a feeling that was reciprocated. As casually as he could, he pulled his head away, about to open his mouth to apologize just as she spoke.
"Don't pull away," she murmured under her breath, staring down into the sink. "It'll just make me feel worse."
"If you think display of affection warrants whether or not you're beautiful; you've got it all wrong, Sakura," he retorted in a low tone.
"I know," she nearly whispered, stuttering over words she was trying to choke out but couldn't manage to. Rather she shut her mouth again, keeping her eyes glued to the sink's drain.
"Will that help you feel better?"
At first, Sakura said nothing. She remained still, though not tense considering they were still within each other's personal space. He watched a small tear slip its way down her cheek again, and she glanced up to meet his burning gaze with a sure one of her own. "I know...maybe it's weird...but it just made me feel comforted..." she explained with a shake of her head. "Every time you kiss my head, I feel...I can't explain it. I feel good, and right now I'm feeling the worst I've felt in a long time."
"Is that what you need from me, then? Is to feel comforted? Because, I'll kiss you all over if it means it'll help you feel a little like yourself again," Kakashi enunciated, once again leaning in to repeat his earlier actions. He ran his nose lightly, fleeting across her skin until he paused once again at her temple to administer another press of his lips.
"I just need to know that everything is going to be okay..." she subdued with another soft tremble that didn't slip past his notice. He lowered his head to her neck.
"Everything is going to be okay," he whispered against the base of her throat, trailing his nose up and kissing the corner of her jaw. He moved in closer, moving his hands from the tops of hers to encircle her like he had earlier in the day; arms crossing over her stomach, careful not to touch the stab wounds. He realized Sakura was actively giving him a piece of her she never granted anyone; her doubts. She was always so confident, level headed, and assured. He never once heard her voice something that she doubted if she couldn't fix it or figure it out herself. She was reaching out to him for reassurance that he was all too happy to give her.
Just as he was about to move again, Sakura very slowly twisted in his arms; turning around to face him. He loosened his hold, pulling back so he wasn't pressing against her so tightly. Her eyes stared up into his, somehow managing to appear alert and tired at the same time. Her pupils were dilated, searching his earnestly, "I need to know that no one is going to get hurt protecting me," she uttered almost desperately, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "I need to know that no one is going to come here and hurt us."
Kakashi dipped his head, planting kisses from the base of her throat and up; lips brushing every bruise in his wake. "We are highly professional, highly trained individuals, Sakura. Even if someone did get hurt, it's not the hurt you're thinking of." When he reached where the top of her throat met her jaw, he grazed his lips along her jawline as though she were made of glass. "No one is going to come and hurt us, not as long as there's breath in my lungs," he mumbled along her jaw, kissing the tip of her chin. He let his hands rub soothing patters across the span of her back, following the shoulder bones that jut out and dip back in. "Anything else you'd like to know since we're here?" he asked against the other side of her jaw, pausing at the corner.
Sakura gulped, "I need to know that I'm going to be okay..."
"Mhm," he grunted against her skin, kissing just underneath the corner of her jaw so that she had to tilt her head up some. "You're going to be okay," he repeated, kissing down the other side of her neck in the same manner; kissing every bruise gently as if it would brush them away. He took his time, lingering on each one and pressing as softly as he could while still adding tender force. The more he moved down her neck, the more it felt as though Sakura was leaning into him—and he could have sworn he heard her sigh. Following the curve of her throat, he paused at her pulse point; lips molded over the spot. Sustaining his place there for several beats, he could feel her quickening heart rate with each passing moment. He kissed there delicately, pulling back to face Sakura. "You're going to be okay," he repeated again, moving his hands to run up her arms and over her shoulders. "You're safe," he muttered, kissing her in the middle of her forehead. "Your wounds will heal," he kissed her on her right cheek bone, careful to not apply too much pressure. "We will capture these men and you'll be forever safe," he kissed her left cheek bone, careful to avoid the cuts there. "You may not feel like you're beautiful now, but you're devastatingly beautiful," he kissed the tip of her nose. "Your body will heal and you'll be able to do everything you did before," he kissed her left eyebrow. "No one thinks any less of you because of your predicament. If anything, we are all really impressed by you," he kissed her right eyebrow. He moved away again, realizing that she had her eyes closed. "Sakura," he titled softly.
Startling emerald eyes opened, waiting.
"This is merely a season," he explained gently. "All seasons must pass, and this will pass. Trust me."
"I trust you," she proclaimed in a hushed breath.
Kakashi searched her gaze, deliberating his next plan of action. She was leaning into him, her chin raised towards him and her lips in a small part. The air became still as both waited for the other to move, and he had wondered if this was the right time or not until she tugged at the bottom of his shirt towards herself. He leaned in, making sure to analyze her expression for any negative reaction in any means. He placed his hand along the nape of her neck in a careful hold, feeling the goosebumps break out across her skin. He paused, his mouth just barely hovering over hers. Their breath mingled, and he could almost taste her lip balm.
"Sakura," he murmured deeply, wanting so badly to just ravish her mouth but knowing full and well the consequence.
"Please," she whispered pleadingly.
"I need to know this is what you want," he asserted, not moving away from his position or forward. The last thing he wanted was to kiss her and have her resent him for it later.
Three breaths passed between them before she answered. "I want this," her tone assured and determined. "I want you."
That was all the confirmation he needed.
Kakashi moved forward, molding his lips onto hers as tenderly as he could possibly manage. He felt her inhale sharply through her nose, kissing him back tentatively at first and then growing comfortable in the kiss; as though she'd been kissing him all her life. He pulled away, kissing from the corner of her mouth to just below her earlobe and then pressing his lips onto hers again.
He marveled at how wonderful kissing her felt.
Her lips were incredibly smooth and soft like silk; he loved the plush resistance he was met with every time his mouth pressed down on the supple flesh. He could most definitely taste the honey and mint lip balm she was wearing, and it filled his senses. While most first kisses often started out awkward as each person was learning how the other operated; that wasn't the case with Sakura. From each kiss to the next, the action was fluid with no hang ups. They moved in tandem, a rhythm that only they could hear. Kakashi moved his free hand to her lower back, splaying his fingers and pulling her in just a little closer. He loved the sound of her small gasps, how each time he pulled back to kiss her again; her breath would hitch as if she'd hold it. Her small hands were fisting the edges of his shirt, wringing it in between her fingers tightly. He wanted to kiss her pain away, he wanted to prove to her that she was going to be okay. He kissed her with a tender passion, silver brows furrowing in focus. He poured as much of himself as he could into the kiss, a silent declaration of the many private promises he's made to her.
Kakashi broke the kiss, sucking in a lungful of air and planting soft kisses along her jaw again; reveling in her labored breathing that thrumed from her chest to his ears. He moved his mouth to her chin to kiss the other side of her jaw again, when she twisted her head to catch his mouth with hers; pushing her lips against his eagerly. Kakashi tilted his head, deepening each kiss and resisting the urge to cup her face due to the injuries there. He could feel his temperature rising, and the hot skin of Sakura's flesh was a testament that she was feeling it, too. He ran the tip of his tongue along her lower lip, gaining purchase when she shuddered at the action and slowly let him in. Kakashi prodded his tongue in her mouth, rubbing it along her tongue and sucking on it with a light tug; fighting back the urge to devour her mouth. She tasted so good, like pure honey and he wondered how she managed that. She gasped softly, continuing the kiss with just as much passion and fever. At some point his heart began to thud in his ears, and he hadn't realized that his hands were roving over her back, as though to memorize the expanse of skin back there. Sakura lifted tried to lift her arms, but once she got halfway up she jerked too hard; wincing and grunting at the pain. The sound brought him back down immediately, reminding him that she's way too hurt to continue where this could possibly go; and if they kept up, it was definitely going somewhere.
He slowed, tongue retreating and kissing her in lingering chaste kisses until he was sure she had come down, too. Several minutes passed, and they were both still again besides the small heaving of their chests.
"Are you feeling better?" Kakashi asked, gripping her hands in his.
Sakura bit down on her grinning lip, "A little..."
"Good," he remarked with a grin of his own. "You just let me know next time you need convincing again, okay?"
"Okay," she nodded, ducking her head to hide her red cheeks.
Kakashi brought her head up, "I'm going to get Ino and Hinata now. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
"I should be fine," she replied huskily, still nibbling on her lower lip.
"Maybe I'll tell the girls to give you a cold shower," he winked with an artful grin.
Sakura rolled her eyes, and Kakashi leaned in; pressing his lips against hers just so he could hear her breath hitch again. He pulled back, squeezed her hands, and turned to open the door to get the girls. He felt giddy, like a teenager and he wanted to run laps around the house like a moron.
If that's how Sakura needed comfort, he'd do it day in and day out.