"I'm so sorry for crashing in here. Totally didn't mean to by the way but you're the only one still in the village right now, that I know of and can really trust regardless. But um, could you - could you pretend to date me?"
If it were anything to wake up Hatake Kakashi like a cold bucket of water despite the obvious lack of said bucket of cold water, it would be the frantic, pink haired woman who bulldozed into his apartment at kami knows in the morning. He was almost positive the birds weren't even awake at this hour so why should his favorite former teammate be?
"Hrrghh," the half-asleep former jōnin groaned, rolling over on his nest that Sakura could barely discern as a proper bed. "Mah, Sakura… why?"
"I'm sorry, Kakashi, but it's urgent." She hissed, arms crossed over her chest as she leered down at him, still breathing heavily from her break in.
"What-" He glanced at the ticking clock on the shelf that lined the wall underneath the window that Sakura was currently perched in. "- are you doing here at – does that say three? Sakura, why are you here at three in the morning?"
If the situation weren't so dire, maybe Sakura would've laughed but seeing as it wasn't and she really needed him to agree, she stayed silent.
"Please, Kakashi," she whimpered, mentally sulking for stooping so low but if it was what made him tip in her favor, then so be it.
"Whose ass is out to get yours that you needed a fake boyfriend anyway?" He grumbled, pulling his shuriken blanket higher on his face and tried to curl up more into a ball underneath it.
She silently slipped further into the room and now leaned against the desk that was opposite his bed. If Kakashi were even looking at her, he would have noticed her crestfallen face. "It's, um, Sabaku no Kankurō." She mumbled, chin almost completely buried in her jōnin vest.
Two dark gray eyes opened abruptly and slid over to the moonlit kunoichi standing in the room. Her ethereally vibrant eyes stared back.
"Then what seems to be the problem here?" He said, ineffectively realizing that the light sleep he could've gotten without the interference of an obstinate woman was soon gone and that it was better to listen to her whims.
Clearly, in her rush over to his place, she had thought out a plausible plan for the two to enact. Sakura quickly waved her hands as if the act would pacify the situation. (It didn't but Kakashi liked to see her try anyway.) "You don't even have to do anything, Kakashi. It can all just be in name and title. And honestly a month at max. I don't think Gaara's going to even want stay in the village that long anyway and they'll be out of our hair soon enough. I just need enough time to thwart his advances." She took a shaky breath, looking back down at the man who was now partially leaning against the wall and his blanket pooling around his waist. Noticeably, the man still slept with his masked, sleeveless, turtleneck on.
Sakura mumbled something else under her breath. Kakashi stared harder.
"I'm sorry, in my old age, I must've misheard that. Did you just say that you told him 'we've been dating for six months?'" He sputtered, a great deal more eloquently than the rapid washed out blush that spread on Sakura's nose and cheeks.
"I'm sorry, okay? I panicked when he asked me if I'd been seeing anyone – to be honest, I thought it was another way to secure another tie to Suna, you know, like Shikamaru and Temari? And I couldn't have used Naruto because of Hinata, and they've already been together for what? A few years now, eh?" Sakura now looked like she wanted to be far from anyone she knew and Kakashi sat there glowering. "And couldn't have picked Yamato-taichō because to be frank, he still scares me a little bit. And I know you must be thinking, 'oh, why not Sai?' And that's because surprisingly, he's gotten together with Ino, which I don't know if you've been paying attention to anything happening in your village."
"Eh? What about Sasuke? He's not even in the village, wouldn't that be easier?" Kakashi questioned thoughtfully, as if this suggestion was by far the best one for her to choose.
She shook her head sullenly, pink hair fluttering around her face. "Even if I did, that would make him expect things… things I'm not ready to give to him until he…" She trailed off, readjusting the hair that fell into her eyes.
The silence between the two grew. Kakashi took this a call to get ready for the morning, so he slid out of bed and went to the bathroom, leaving the pink haired kunoichi to stew in her thoughts for the time being.
He popped out of the bathroom, toothbrush in mouth to glance at her. (If Sakura had been paying any attention, she could've gotten a good look at the sixth Hokage's bare face, but she was just a smidge out of it at the moment.) "Okay, so let's say that I do follow through on your plan?" He hoped to at least alleviate the awkward air with a proposition that should compel her to respond. "What did you suspect we do to solidify your 'act'?"
"Um," she all but hummed. "Truthfully, I only said it in name. Kakashi, you don't have to do anything. We already talk pretty frequently as it is."
"Ah, I do suppose that is true," he murmured as he finally left the bathroom and headed into the outer living area. "Yo, Sakura, tea?"
The pink haired woman grunted a response and followed after the silver haired man. She took a seat at his dilapidated oak table in the center of the kitchen, pulling her knees up to her chest.
A steaming mug of her favorite blend of green tea was gently placed in front of her. She looked up to see the smiling eye creases of Kakashi as he leaned over her to place the mug down. He ruffled her hair before standing fully again and back to fixing his own mug of tea.
"Do I take it that you've accepted?" She murmured after taking a sip of the scalding tea.
"Mah, Sakura at least let me think about it for a minute, why don't you?" He chuckled, sipping his own tea through the mask. (How he didn't waterboard himself on the daily, was something that Sakura never could comprehend.)
"Hmrph."
"Okay, okay, fine," he threw his hands in the air and relented. "You drive a hard bargain. What do I get out of this, anyway? A full week vacation from kage-dom? Or, ooh, free food for a month?"
"Ugh," she groaned, throwing her head back in exasperation. "Can I figure out something later in the day? I am still tired. I did book it from Sunagakure to here this evening."
"Wait."
"What?"
"Did you just say that you ran from Suna to here this evening?"
"Yes? Was that not implied?" She glared at the shocked Hokage seated to her right. "I was on a medical friendship mission there for the past two weeks. You even signed my mission papers."
"Yeah, but Sakura, that's a three-day run at barely above normal speed."
"Okay, and?"
"I wouldn't be shocked if you passed out within the next moment from over exertion." True to his estimations, she knocked out right there on his kitchen table. And even fell into her mug, splashing hot green tea all over her face and the surface of the table.
When Sakura came to two days later, she didn't fully recognize her surroundings. A truly troublesome thing for an elite kunoichi but hey, she was now nursing the after effects of the three soldier pills she took before her short jaunt over country lines.
"Oh, good, you're awake. The Boss will be most pleased." A distorted, gruff voice came from her side. Her mind was spinning, still reeling from the pills and lack of real food eaten in the meantime.
"Wha- huh? Where am I?" She finally managed after smacking her dry mouth together to get a semblance of moisture back. She shifted her head to the side and noted the small dog with a blue Leaf hitai-ate.
"Yo," the pug waved his paw in a small greeting.
"Pakkun!" She breathed with relief, and settled herself comfortably in the bed again, knowing at least she had an ally in the vicinity. If Kankurō had taken Pakkun as a hostage, that meant that her attempted getaway was all in vain. "But Pakkun, where am I?"
"Oh, Sakura-san, you're at the Boss' apartment." He stated matter-of-factly, as if she was supposed to remember where she crashed.
"Is Kakashi here?" She asked meekly, now realizing that she was probably in his bed, as she knew he didn't have any guest beds, outside of his couch. So much for the kage-dom, she mentally grumbled, if you can't even have a guest bed for overnight crashers. Then again, he also didn't even move out of his old apartment so it was moot point to begin with.
"No, he's at the Tower right now talking with the Suna envoy." Pakkun began to tend to his paws, taking great care to clean in between his claws.
"Ah, thank you, Pakkun. I suppose I'll leave him to it and go back to sleep," she shifted again to her side, curling an arm under her head.
"I can take a message? If you want, Sakura-san." He offered with a helpful tone.
"Nah, it's alright, I'll just sleep until he returns." She slurred, already feeling the last dregs of her energy dropping and pulling her into a blank slumber.
"After the first day, I was super grumpy because I had to sleep on the floor. And then the next day, I thought that you weren't ever going to wake up – do you even know how shitty it is to sleep on the floor of your own apartment? Sakura, pay attention, I'm trying to admonish you for this surprise sleepover."
To her chagrin, the silver haired Hokage did not shut up. If anything, her subtle movements to cover her hears from the incessant speaking of the man, only spurred him further.
"Please, not now, I just want to sleep more." She groaned, curling even more into a ball underneath the same shuriken blanket that she found her old sensei under just days earlier.
That same blanket was aggressively ripped off her exhausted form. Immediately, she missed the warmth and cozy scent, trying to hug her arms around her now exposed legs.
"Mah, mah, Sakura-chan, can't sleep anymore without any food. And besides, you still reek of green tea and sweat." He chided, dumping the blanket on the edge of the bed and leaned forward to grab her ankles and drag her out of bed completely.
Sakura noticed the attempt and tried to roll out of the way. Key word being tried, as she rolled directly into the wall that the bed was lying lengthwise against. The loud thud shook the wall and some of the hanging articles that hung on the wall, very nearly fell down. Now she was nursing an empty stomach and a burgeoning headache from slamming it into the wall.
Feeling the cool hands slide underneath her neck and knees, she gave up any attempt to fight and went slack-limbed, giving herself over to her captor. Who, at the vexation of herself, was actually being nice for once and not completely annoying. Soon, Kakashi had her bunched up in his arms and took her to the bathroom where he inelegantly dropped her on the cold tile and gave her strict instruction to shower and brush her teeth. She immediately obliged once she caught sight of herself in the mirror and took notice of her pale features and the slight green tinge on her nose that looked like it had spilled down to her chin and the underside of her jaw.
After cleaning up and taking note of the lack of green on her face and the dirt and leaves finally out of hair, she made way to dress back in the clothes she arrived in. She was just about to pull her towel off when he spoke up.
"Eh, Sakura, you can borrow some of my clothes and get yours washed, I can get it done within the hour so the meeting with the Kazekage at three is still on schedule. Here, open the door, and I'll hand you a shirt and pants and you can toss your dirty clothes in the hamper by the toilet and then hand me that."
She obliged again, knowing full well she didn't want to sit (stand?) in the dirty dark blue top and black shinobi issued pants she traveled across the country in. Pulling a storage scroll from her pouch, she retrieved a clean set of underwear and tossed all of her dirty laundry in the hamper and held the towel tighter around her body and opened the door to a waiting hand that held a clean set of clothes.
"Thanks, Kakashi." She said, exchanging the hamper with the clean clothes and shut the door again to dress. The clean blue jōnin shirt was several sizes larger than Sakura's own smaller frame but the deceptive softness to it more than made up for the large size. It was like bundling herself in a warm hug. A hug that also smelled somewhat like Kakashi.
Finally, dressed and clean, she emerged from the bathroom and moseyed on back to the kitchen, lightly leaning against the wall for extra support because she still felt a smidgen weaker than normal.
(It should be prudent to know that everyone but Sakura has known that she's been out of commission for two and a half days.)
Kakashi looked up from his position at the stove and over to the slightly wobbly kunoichi standing in his hallway. Knowing that his pot of rice porridge wasn't going to spill over or burn in the two minutes it would be to grab her and set her down at the table, he made way to become her crutch.
"Ehh, Kaka-sensei, making breakfast for me?" Sakura chided with an uncharacteristic wink. She sagged into his arms and it took more effort to properly right her slight form in her greatly weakened state.
"Mah, Sakura, don't go falling for me now." Kakashi laughed, pulling her into his arms and carried her into the kitchen. He set her gently on the chair that she first crashed in the night she dropped in on Kakashi and turned back to the steaming pot on the stove, giving it a quick stir to prevent clumps.
(And thankfully, the porridge hadn't burned yet.)
Sakura was wavering slightly on her chair and Kakashi could tell that she was trying her hardest to stay lucid and maybe at least get some food within her soon. Which, when the porridge looked finished, he could immediately remedy and soon ladled a bowl full of the hearty food. With a lazy flourish, it appeared before Sakura's drooping form along with a spoon and some side dishes from the fridge.
Once he noted that she began eating, he turned back to the counter and began to prepare some tea for the two of them. Suddenly, a poof of clouds appeared on the floor of the kitchen, leaving a stern Pakkun in its place as they dispersed. His small face held a stern feel to it, typically worn when he had urged summons for his Summoner.
"Boss, the Kazekage sent for a meeting again." He stated dutifully. With a small cursory glance to the pink kunoichi still seated, he nodded once more in greeting. "Good to see you up and around, Sakura-san."
"Apologies, Gaara-sama." Kakashi intoned as he made his way into his office. "One of my shinobi has been in pretty bad shape the past couple of days and I personally took to their needs."
He strode around the Kazekage that stood before the Hokage's swamped desk. Inwardly, Kakashi cringed at showing anyone outside of Shikamaru, Shizune, and his former teammates the bad habits of the Rokudaime. But Gaara, and Sand in general, were considered somewhat friends and Kakashi was almost certain that the young Kage suffered under the heavy load of paperwork.
"Ah, yes, I must apologize for my brother's actions as well." The red haired Kazekage bowed deeply once Kakashi settled in his chair. "He was unaware of your shinobi's current loyalties and acted without respect and compassion."
Kakashi nodded, leaning back in his seat and thoughtfully placed a hand on his chin. He was about to ask what Gaara had wanted to discuss two days prior but was cut off by the man himself.
"Her early departure will not reflect badly of Konoha nin nor Konohagakure as a whole. I'm sure that Kankurō did not mean to insult either Sakura-san nor yourself, Kakashi-sama." To Kakashi's keen eye, it would appear that Gaara was deeply sorry. "However, Kankurō would like to express his deepest apologies as well but considering the circumstances, I thought it best to leave him behind to give Sakura-san time to recuperate."
"Understood, Gaara-sama." Kakashi replied with partial smile.
Suddenly the features on the Kazekage's face transformed into a congratulatory smirk. "I would like to be the first of the five Kages at congratulating you on your impending engagement."
(If Kakashi were drinking anything, Gaara and the rest of the Hokage office would be covered in it. Thankfully, the man was far away from any sort of beverage.)
The man in question sat in shock, the mask disguising the partially open mouth and the slight reddening of cheeks.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Your engagement with Haruno Sakura, the assistant Chief Medical Officer of Konoha." Gaara smiled warmly.
Ah – right his engagement with Sakura. She already debriefed him on that.
Wait?
"Engagement?"
Sakura didn't mention anything about an engagement. Kakashi made a note to later converse with his fiancé about the current predicament he was put in.
Gaara had the audacity to look a smidge shaken, eyes slightly widening as if his comment was considered a threat to the foreign dignitary before him. If this were any other situation, Kakashi might have laughed at his open emotions but be as it may, he refrained.
"Sorry, it's still taking some time to get used to, you know." Kakashi shrugged sheepishly, scratching the back of his head to hide his nerves.
"I could only imagine, Kakashi-sama." Gaara chuckled. He stood for a moment before coming back to his senses. "Ah, yes, I forgot. The Suna envoy shall depart in two weeks. I'll have my advisors mention to my Medic-nins that their training will soon come to a close."
"Accepted," Kakashi replied, looking down at the mess of his desk for the calendar that Shikamaru kept in pristine condition. Buried underneath a tower of mission report scrolls, he pulled it out and consulted the dates that the Nara advisor penned in. "The night before your departure, Gaara-sama, Konoha holds its annual rice planting festival and I do hope, on behalf of the village, that your Shinobi attend. - We don't actually plant rice anymore, but we've kept the festival all the same."
"Of course, I'm sure my people would enjoy the respite very much." Gaara supplied, made a quick bow and left the room.
Kakashi leaned back in his chair and sat there in quiet contemplation.
Or he would have, if Shikamaru hadn't just sauntered into the room, trailing an irate Temari. Shockingly, it was as if the toddler that was held in her arms was calmed by his mother's anger. Shikamaru merely shrugged his shoulders when Kakashi caught his eye with a questioning plea.
"Kakashi-sama, what's this I hear about my little brother getting turned down by Sakura? I thought they had something going?" She readjusted Shikadai on her hip, looking even more frustrated.
Shikamaru for all that he loved his wife with, honestly looked like he wanted to pass away. Ascend into the pure lands and cease to exist. Interfering with relationships outside of his own were truly troublesome and more often than not, caused more trouble than necessary.
"Were you ever going to mention our impending nuptials, mmh, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura felt her face heat with the rush of her pounding heart at the unexpected entrance of the Hokage from his own window. She didn't want to face him at all but slowly turned, willing her cheeks to calm down.
"Ahh, Kakashi-sensei, you see… about that…" Sakura murmured, twirling a lock of hair and not meeting his eyes.
If Kakashi weren't absolutely serious about getting down to the root of the predicament he found himself in, he probably would have laughed. As it were, he wanted to know what this pink haired woman was planning and why was she selectively leaving him in the dark.
"Sakuraaa," he dragged her name on, getting increasingly frustrated. It didn't help at all that she wasn't looking him in the eye.
A hand slowly came up to her chin and gently forced her to look up into his eyes. Kakashi saw the hesitation flicker in the bright green irises, the minute contraction within the muscle.
When her eyes finally landed on his dark and piercing ones, she involuntarily shuddered. The warmth that gently guided under her chin to face his own face was definitely not helping. She wondered in the back of her mind if he could hear her heart beating a fast tattoo. Mostly at his close presence. (She could feel the warmth radiating of his taller form and not just because it was the dead of winter; he was a mere breath away.)
"Kakashi," she breathed, completely transfixed. His eyes widened and he hastily leaned away, releasing her chin and wrapping his arms around his chest as if to protect himself.
"Okay, so what the hell was that all about, Kaka-sensei?" Sakura all but pummeled him into the ground a week later. The training ground was littered with Kakashi-sized craters as the newly minted tokubetsu jōnin tossed around the Sixth Hokage.
Sakura hadn't seen Kakashi in a week. She mused that it was partially because of the Suna medical envoy was still training daily with the Konoha medic-nin. And obviously, Kakashi had been swept up in his Kage duties, again with the Suna envoy, since Gaara had decided to tag along and draft up some new amendments to the Konoha and Suna treaties.
"I'm not entirely sure if I catch your drift, Sakura-chan." Kakashi chided high up in a branch behind her slightly shaky form. She spun, fists raised and glared at the man who sat in the tree like a little kid just learning how to utilize chakra to keep him safe.
"Oh, no, no, no," she hissed, stalking slowly towards his perch. "You won't be getting aloof with me, sir."
If Sakura had any form of superior hearing, she would have heard the gulp that Kakashi swallowed in fear. Which, from an outside perspective not knowing who either of these Shinobi were, looked hilarious as this brightly colored, sprite sized woman radiated off immense power aimed towards one man, also strangely colored, who defied human limits himself in latent power just waiting to be unleashed. (Not that either of them cared, but their destructive auras were scaring off the smaller wildlife that called the training ground a home.)
"Mah, Sakura-chan," he waved in defense as she edged closer and closer. Just as she was about the buildup the chakra in her arm to unleash it against the tree, Kakashi quickly substituted himself with branch and appeared behind her, however this time much, much closer than she had anticipated. Like, breathing down her neck close.
"Ha! Got you!" She shouted, spinning and landing a chakra laden right hook to his left arm, launching Kakashi yet again across the field. He crashed into sweaty heap at the base of yet another tree, groaning in pain, most likely due to the very recent attack aimed at his shoulder. She lightly jogged over, chakra already changing forms from her battle power to the calmer healing energy.
"You really gotta stop letting me get a hit in, Kakashi," she murmured as she pumped his shoulder and upper arm with the green healing chakra.
Said Shinobi was currently sighing in relief, feeling the warm chakra reform his joints and muscles together. "Ehh, Sakura, you really are much stronger than a decade ago, you know." His eyes were closed, but she could tell that he meant every single word.
She merely chuckled, feeling the chakra ebb down through his arm, healing the tiny nicks she noticed along the way. "Thanks, Kakashi. You're not so bad for an old man." With a final analysis over his mended form, her eyes shifting down and back up to meet his eyes with an eye crinkling smile, and judging him to be in perfect condition, or as near perfect condition considering the years without her extraordinary healing capabilities.
"You're good to go, Hokage-sama," she noted, voice filled with mirth at the formal title and suffix that he hated so.
"Ugh, never say that again… but thank you." He groaned as she stood, holding a hand out to bring him to his feet, which he gratefully took with his right hand, still feeling the aftershocks of pain run down the nerves in his left arm.
They soon started a slow canter back towards the center of the village, walking side by side. They passed by some of the smaller clan compounds as they made their way back. Sakura kept glancing at Kakashi's stoic profile out of the corner of her eye as they walked, trying to figure out a good time to break the amicable silence. After a few minutes, she finally faced him fully.
"Say, Kakashi, since I won that spar, could you buy me some dango?" She asked sweetly, batting her lashes and trying to butter him up with a look.
"Mah, Sakura, I'm straight out of money right now," he said sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders.
"You know, if this were four years ago, I would probably have believed you," Sakura groaned, running her fingers through her hand in exasperation. "However, since you're Hokage, I know for a fact you get a monthly stipend. Almost as good as S-rank missions. So you better pay for my dango, Kaka-sensei."
"Fine, fine," Kakashi yielded, raising his hands in defense. "You've got me there, Sakura-chan."
The two finally reached the dango shop, taking a table near the back wall. Sakura quickly ordered a pot of tea and two sets of their hanami dango.
"You know, Kakashi," Sakura began, nibbling on her first dango stick. She chewed the dumpling before continuing her thought. "This is kind of like a date, wouldn't you say?"
"That's a dangerous train of thought for someone who's my fiancé." Kakashi deadpanned.
Sakura turned as red as the setting sun, completely mortified.
Temari notes that the travel time from Suna to Konoah is roughly three days in canon.