It had been a couple months since the disaster Sakura had deemed the Suna debacle. Life had gone back to somewhat normal. She resumed her day-to-day work schedule, flitting around the hospital in her typical fashion. However, one key thing was that her coworkers noticed the much brighter persona she now exuded. It was as if a light was turned on in her eyes and spread throughout.
Ino was the one who noticed first (well, outside of Kakashi himself) and immediately grilled Sakura the day after the festival in June. Sakura tried to be as honest as she could, but truthfully, she was holding back because she wasn't sure of her own feelings.
.
"- So, Forehead…" Ino had begun, bursting into Sakura's apartment with her spare key, slamming the door shut behind her before sashaying further inside.
"Ino," Sakura trailed off, her tone turning dangerous. She glanced up to the incoming intruder from her spot at her kitchen table which was overflowing with medical tomes and cookbooks.
Ino came into Sakura's sight, holding a bag of fancy bentos from the restaurant down the street high in the air. "I hope this is an easy bribe to get you to spill absolutely everything since Suna… Do you know what I had to do to get Sai to watch Inojin?"
"Pig, I know you both adore him so don't even start." Sakura chided, putting notecards into the textbooks to hold her place before closing them fully. She then gathered all the books and piled them onto the spare third chair.
"Well, I still bribed him with new brushes, gotta spoil my man sometimes, you know." She thoughtfully remarked while dropping the bag onto the table. "I got your favorites."
"Umeboshi?"
"Yes, Forehead."
"You're the best, Ino-pig!"
Ino had placed the bentos on the table, giving Sakura the one specifically made with the umeboshi. They both took a seat and opened the beautifully made bentos and dug in heartily.
"So, Sakura, what's this I've been hearing about you and the Rokudaime?" Ino started once again, her blue eyes teasing and curious. Sakura flushed, immediately thinking over the events of the last two weeks.
"Um, I mean," she said, pushing her rice around her chopsticks, the fidgeting obvious to Ino's knowledgeable glance. Damn Ino for her high position within T & C. "How much did Sai tell you about what happened in Suna? I don't really care to repeat what went down there."
"He told me everything, like how according to Naruto, you like Kakashi-sama. And how you crashed at his apartment when you returned home with an experimental new jutsu with soldier pills." Ino ticked off one by one. "Wait? Did I mention the most crucial thing about my best friend's love life? How she fell in love with the Hokage himself?"
"Ah, yes, you see about that…"
"Just spill, Sakura, I've been waiting for weeks for new, juicy drama and you are honestly the juiciest piece of drama to set foot into Konoha in, like I don't know, three months? Anyways, I just want to know how this came to be."
"Okay, I don't really know when it started but I may have developed a crush on him back in March?" Sakura said, her voice lilting into a questioning tone.
"Hold up, March!?" Ino squeaked. "But Sai said you've been dating for almost six months and are-" she glanced down at the ring adorned hand that gently rested on the table before looking back at Sakura, "-now engaged…"
"Ah, last year's March, Ino." Sakura laughed.
"Oh!"
"Yeah, I mean, I think that's when I can definitely pinpoint a beginning."
"But you've been going on the dates that I've finding for you?" Ino questioned, crossing her arms over her chest and her face scrunching up inelegantly as she tried to solve the puzzle that was Sakura's confuddling love life.
"I won't lie and say that I didn't force myself to not have a crush on him. If anything, I used the dates you set me up on to try to get over it, thinking that I'd get over it and could continue on with my life… Or at least, that's what I've come to the conclusion of... Not that it really worked either way." Sakura finally picked up the last umeboshi piece and slowly chewed it before continuing. "Ino, I really did try to get over it but I suppose life has a way of screwing us over, huh?"
"Oh, Forehead," Ino gushed, leaning over the table and grasping Sakura's freehand in a consoling gesture, rubbing slow circles on the back of her hand. "I didn't know how deep you were in. How did you hide it so well? Normally, you blush all the time when interacting with a crush, especially one so…" She gestured inarticulately in the air, having released Sakura's hand a moment prior. "Well, one you interact with so frequently."
Sakura shifted slightly in her seat, finishing the last bit of rice from her bento and putting her chopsticks down. "I'm not sure… either." She said hesitantly, leaning her head on her upturned palm.
"Well, in any case, Sakura, please let me plan your wedding." Ino asked, her eyes glistening with the potential for an absolutely over the top wedding. Sakura nearly groaned, knowing exactly how her best friend was.
"Fine, fine," Sakura waved her blonde friend off. "Just don't go over the top, please." She pleaded, "I don't think Kakashi would be into a big thing either, just saying."
"But Sakura, he is the Hokage," Ino pushed.
"Have you met Kakashi?"
"Okay, fair point, Forehead."
The two soon delved into a discussion about the things that Ino would plan for Sakura's eventual wedding to the Sixth Hokage.
(If it even happened.)
Ino had deemed it time to return home when the sun began to set. The curtains were opened on her window in the living room allowing the dusty pinks and purples to cast their light on her light-colored walls. Sakura had cleaned up after their impromptu lunch and they (read: Ino) began to scribble notes on old medical notes of Sakura's that seemed to permeate the very air of her apartment. They were both sprawled out over the well-worn couch, Sakura lightly skimming a Suna medical journal and Ino brainstorming her best friend's future wedding.
"Well, Forehead, I can feel my boys calling me."
"You know that's impossible at his age, right? You were barely eleven when you figured out your clans jutsu… Plus, Sai can't even do that."
"Maybe Inojin is a genius?" Ino fished, knowing that her one-year old son hadn't mastered his mother's clan's token jutsu. She stood, brushing off invisible crumbs off her low hanging skirt. Sakura soon followed, popping her back and stretching out her arms.
"Pig, it was so good to have you over, even if you did come over suddenly. Like completely sudden." Sakura pulled Ino into a tight (though, not chakra enhanced: Ino would've been squished) hug.
"You too, Forehead." Ino poked her cheek as she pulled back from their embrace. She finally let go after giving Sakura a once over. Ino wiped a fake tear from under her eye before dramatically uttering, "ah, my baby is all growing up. Who'd've thought you would be the last of us to marry?"
And that's how Ino left Sakura's apartment, laughing about her best friend who was finally getting (possibly fake) hitched.
The sun overhead bore down on his dark hair, having since forgone the hood of his traveling cloak. The journey had since been pretty arduous carrying the fussy kid. Not that she was extremely fussy but what did Sasuke know about childrearing, the last time he had dealt with kids was when he was a kid himself and that was over a decade ago.
Currently, the dark-haired child with the iconic Uchiha features was fast asleep, attached to Sasuke's chest by a sling. If it weren't so difficult to care for a child alone while on the road and while taking care of foreign threats to continue to atone for his sins against Konoha, Sasuke would have never considered taking his last full relation back. But as it were, his mission was still incomplete and it was getting increasingly difficult to care for her since the passing of Karin just a month before.
The large gates of Konoha began to loom over the horizon and Sasuke almost sagged in relief. Just a few minutes more before he could drop the kid off and get back to protecting Konoha from the shadows.
Once he reached the guard gate, manned by Kotetsu and Izumo, only then did the questions start.
"Sasuke-san, is that you?" The taller, spiky-haired, bandage-wearing chūnin asked, unsurprisingly confused by Sasuke's random appearance. A most definitely confused by the small child he carried. Kotetsu opened his mouth to say more but the bandana-wearing man to his side cut him off-
"Ey, Sasuke-san, who is that?" Izumo gestured to the now slightly writhing bundle near his chest.
"Yes," Sasuke began, answering Kotetsu's first question before nodding to Izumo's. "- And this is Sarada."
Kotetsu chuckled, "didn't know you had it in you to have a kid, Sasuke-san."
Sasuke merely grimaced. Shaking his head, he gave the two a small bow before he headed in the direction of Sakura's home. Or where he thought she still lived. With her parents.
(Poor Sasuke was not deemed important enough during his "exile" as a teen to know Sakura's new living arrangements, and that she had moved out of her parent's old home into an apartment that was closer to the hospital and in turn also a smidgen closer to the Hokage tower back when she was sixteen.)
It took Sasuke another thirty minutes to the location of the Haruno family's townhouse, a mere few blocks from the Yamanaka's flower shop. He stood outside, contemplating another couple of minutes in front of the townhome, gathering the wayward looks cast his way from the stray passerby at the strange cloaked man.
Sasuke sauntered up the stairs, coming to a stop on the landing before the Haruno's door, the nameplate displaying the two kanji that made up their name. He knocked on the dark green door, taking a step back to wait for the current tenants to answer the door.
The same dark green door creaked open, revealing a middle-aged woman with brilliant green eyes Sasuke had seen on someone else. Unfortunately for Sasuke this was not the woman he was looking for, merely the woman who she just so happened to call "mother."
"Hello, can I help you?" The bright green-eyed woman asked, giving the tall cloaked man in front of her door a slow once over, her bright gaze lingering on the dark-haired child a hair of a fraction longer than anywhere else on his imposing form. It did linger a bit on his rinnegan eye that was eclipsed by his long hair, it was as if the sheer power the hidden eye held attracted the pull to look at it. (And, it most certainly was.)
Sasuke bowed, albeit a little clumsily with the child, but still gave a small, polite bow. "I am sorry for my intrusion but I wish to ask for the whereabouts of Haruno Sakura."
"And who might you be?"
"Oh, forgive me. I am Uchiha Sasuke. I've come to ask a favor of her. I believed she still resided here." Sasuke's cheeks pinked slightly in his forgetfulness. Guess he couldn't lose the awkwardness of dealing with people older than him.
"Oh- Oh!" The Haruno woman exclaimed, opening the door wider and inviting the two inside. "Please, please come inside, I'll make some tea… Sakura's not here, I don't know if you remember me at all but I'm her mother."
The two Uchiha shuffled in after her. (Well, one did, the other was obviously only there for the ride.) And when Sasuke had some difficulty shifting Sarada around in the sling after slipping out of his sandals, the Haruno matriarch softly asked if she could hold the girl.
Sasuke was a bit taken aback at first but soon let the elder woman take the young girl into her arms, cooing to ease the sudden jarring of perspective. Luckily for the two adults, Sarada was such a mellow child and relatively took well to strangers.
"Come, Sasuke-kun, you both must be tired," Mebuki said, holding Sarada on her hip and walking further into the townhome. "What's this little one's name?" She asked as she made way into the kitchen to make the tea for the trio.
"Uh, Sarada," Sasuke replied, taking a seat at the counter, watching Sakura's mother flit around the kitchen easily despite the extra weight of the small toddler. Soon there was tea steeping in a teapot and Mebuki had found some small rice balls for Sarada to snack on, her tiny hands making the already small balls of rice look big.
"How adorable," Sakura's mother exclaimed, taking in the rosy cheeks and shining eyes of the girl still resting on her hip. With the tea finally ready, she poured both Sasuke and herself a cup each. "Ah, that reminds me. Sakura moved out years ago. She has an apartment that's much closer to the hospital. Poor thing spends most of her time there, but I suppose that is to be expected since she practically runs the place in Tsunade-sama's stead. Sweet Shizune-sama also helps out, too, so she's not completely alone."
"I see," Sasuke murmured, taking small sips of the earthy tea. He pondered over the new information Mebuki gave him. "Would you happen to know Sakura's current living arrangements? Her address perhaps."
"Oh, yes, of course. You must want to see your old teammate after all these years." Mebuki practically glowed. "When you drop by, could you deliver some things for me?"
Sasuke nodded.
"Perfect, I'll get it all put in a basket you can just give to her. Thank you, Sasuke-kun." And then Mebuki practically flew around her home, first gathering a large basket and putting various pickling jars into it and other dry foodstuffs.
"Here, I'll put Sarada-chan back in her sling. Will you be alright to carry the basket? It's somewhat heavy." She followed through, tucking the tired girl back into Sasuke's sling, where she continued to slumber on, happily full of rice balls.
Hefting the large basket, Mebuki followed after Sasuke, letting him put his sandals back on before guiding him back to the front door. She handed the heavy basket over to him, noticing that he silently grunted under the strain but made no other mention. Mebuki verbally directed him to Sakura's apartment building and sent him off. Sasuke bowed and went on his way, heading towards the center of Konoha.
.
He once again found himself standing in front of yet another building. This time, however, it was a taller, multilevel apartment building. The heavy weight of the basket made his arm feel like it was filled to the muscle with lead. If he were younger, he would've probably been shifting from foot to foot in nerves.
He stepped forward and quickly found the directory of apartments, pressing on Sakura's apartment's call button. Sasuke made a mental reminder to note that she lived on the fifth floor.
(Not that Sasuke really cared, or noticed, but it probably explained why Sakura's legs looked so good.)
He was soon buzzed in and began the hike up to the fifth floor. Despite the arduous task, it only took him five minutes to get to her floor. Must've been some short ass ceilings or something.
Sasuke knocked on yet another door that day, though finally the door of someone he wished to see.
The door opened to reveal the right shade of emerald green eyes and pink hair.
"Sa-sasuke?" Sakura stammered, her eyes wide in shock.
"Sakura," Sasuke breathed, still partially panting from the climb up to her apartment. He quickly composed himself with a deep breath. "May I come in? Your mother made me bring this," he stated, gesturing with his eyebrows towards the basket in his lone hand.
"Um, yes, come in…. Wait, I can take the basket, she must have loaded it up with food again. It's not like I don't eat enough or anything." Sakura said, quickly taking the basket from Sasuke and then finally took notice of the extra weight Sasuke was carrying outside of the basket Haruno Mebuki forced Sasuke to carry.
"Sasuke, what- who is that?" Sakura asked as she ushered him inside. She placed the basket her mother tasked Sasuke with, on the floor just outside her hallway.
"This is Sarada," Sasuke said as he pulled her out of the sling. Sarada looked up at Sakura, her dark eyes bright with curiosity.
"Why are you here? Both of you?"
"Because it's becoming increasingly more difficult for me to perform my duties for Konoha with a child strapped to me." Sasuke noted sternly, the air of pleasantry fair gone from his earlier tone.
"Hmm, I see, well, come in…. you can sit on the couch, if you want. Do you want me to take her?" She gestured, holding her now free hands out. Sasuke obliged, allowing Sakura to take the girl into her arms, relaxing into a hold that Sasuke saw her mother utilize a mere hour before.
Once Sasuke settled himself on her couch and she offered snacks to which he declined.
"So, Sasuke, what brings you to my home this time? I hope you realize that I'm not taking you back this time." Sakura said with the harsh tone of authority. To Sasuke's badly trained eyes from the previously ruined childhood, she looked every bit the mother that he wished he had after he turned eight.
"Well, to put it mildly, I need you to watch Sarada for me."
"Excuse me?"
"I need you to take care of Sarada."
"What about her mother?"
"Karin passed away more than a month ago. I have no one else to turn to besides you and you always had such devotion towards me during our childhood."
"I've already sent in paperwork to have her formally become your ward. Karin and I both wished that you would be her godmother."
Sakura looked increasingly more frustrated. She began pacing, adjusting and readjusting Sarada in her arms. How could he just appear on her doorstep with a child and conceivably think that she would just welcome in his daughter with open arms?
Sasuke had the audacity to be frightened. (Though, in all honesty, in a no jutsu fight, she probably could tear Sasuke a new one.)
"Why?" She asked, getting more exasperated the more Sasuke left out crucial information pertaining to this girl and why he couldn't take care of her since he was her father.
"Like I said earlier, I can't safely care for her anymore. Konoha's enemies outside would kill her instantly if they knew what she was. Karin already died to protect her and besides, she needs a somewhat more stable home to grow up in. I believed that you might be the best case."
"Why not Naruto and Hinata? They already have a child. Actually, another one on the way soon."
At this Sasuke paled. Which was surprising since he was already so pale as it was.
"I didn't consider that."
"I'm sure you didn't. Though out of all of Team Seven, I'm the only one not in a relationship nor have any children… yet."
"I did hear the rumor about you."
"And which rumor was that? The Iwa one where I singlehandedly took out a whole squad of their S-Level nin? Or was it more recent? Hm?"
"The Suna one."
"Ah, I see. Well, I don't plan on marrying Kankurō."
"As I've also heard rumors about… the Daimyo's third son. Chōjūrō. I could go on."
Sakura hummed. "I suppose you haven't heard about me and Kakashi then?"
Sasuke's lone visible eye widen significantly. "Kakashi? The Rokudaime Hokage?"
"The very one," Sakura said, only now realizing how weird it sounded and felt her cheeks warm. She freed her left arm from under Sarada and flashed the Hatake ring on her hand towards Sasuke. He inspected it briefly before meeting her gaze again.
"When's the wedding?"
"Wait, could we not? I still want to know how long I'm supposed to watch your daughter."
"For as long as Konoha needs me on the outside protecting her."
"That could be forever, Sasuke."
"I'm prepared for that. If it helps, I'll pay for new furniture and whatever you require."
"Really? Anything I would need?" Sakura asked, looking down at Sarada who was gently snoring on her shoulder.
Sasuke stood abruptly. "Well, I'll go out and buy a crib for you." He tried straighten his cloak on his shoulders with his one arm. And soon left without a goodbye.
He returned a few hours later and presented Sakura with a storage scroll filled with the essentials he deemed important. What he didn't tell her is that he partially ransacked the secret Uchiha storage cells held outside of Konoha to find most of the furniture.
Sasuke did finally leave with two requests: the first being that Sarada be raised for the time being with the Uchiha mon and two with more care than Sasuke received as a kid.
"Thank you, Sakura. I knew I could trust you." Sasuke said that evening before he left her apartment for the last time. He disappeared for the final time out of her door not to be seen by Sakura a couple of years later.
"No, no! Sarada-chan get out of that!"
It had been a week since Sasuke had dropped her off, saying that he wasn't sure when he'd be back to Konoha to check on her and told Sakura that he always believed that she'd be a good mother… eventually. Too bad he deigned to stay in one place for too long. Something Sakura always gone back to when she second guessed her hopeful compatibility to the last Uchiha. Hard to have a decent relationship if one half of it was never around. (Good for unrequited love; yes. For a good, healthy relationship; no.)
The crawling toddler was currently getting into a stack of documents that Sakura had taken home to work on while she watched the young Uchiha. Well, she wouldn't be getting any work done while at home after Sarada fully went through them.
Oh, the wiles of motherhood to a child that's not even yours, Sakura thought solemnly.
Sarada looked up with her big dark eyes and Sakura had a to take a moment to just realize how much she looked like Sasuke. His nose. His aristocratic cheekbones. The jaw she remembered from when they were barely genin.
"Hey, Sara-chan, want to help me make some treats for the dogs?" Sakura asked as she slowly kneeled before the toddler, holding out her hands to pick up the girl. Sarada tumbled forward into Sakura's arms, with the latter quickly scooping her up and meandering into the kitchen to begin the battlefield that was cooking. Or rather, baking.
As if that wasn't bad enough, it was as if the heavens communicated to the Hatake ninken telepathically for a lone pug poofed onto Sakura's kitchen floor. Sakura yelped, accidently squeezing Sarada a little in her fright.
"Pakkun! What did I say about surprise visits?"
"Yo."
"Pakkun," Sakura said, her tone dropping almost two octaves. The poor dog got the point, looking a little abashed. Sarada seemed to be completely enamored with the small dog and soon made grabby hands towards him, but Sakura thought best to quell her inquiry for a second before letting her back on the floor.
(Surely, Kakashi wouldn't mind if his ninken would possibly be used as babysitters, right?)
"Sorry, Sakura-san, the boys and I were just passing through, you know, running errands for the Boss, when I heard the most peculiar thing… 'treats for… dogs.'" The ninken stated matter-of-factly.
Sakura hummed in response. "I literally just said that."
"We, ninken, have good ears."
"I am now aware of the fact." She looked around her apartment's living space. "Where are the other seven?"
"We didn't want to overwhelm you, but I can call them in, if you'd like Sakura-san." Pakkun offered.
"If you guys can keep an eye out for Sarada-chan here and keep her safe, I'll make double the amount of treats."
"Deal."
Suddenly, chakra smoke appeared, soon lifting to reveal the horde of dogs that Kakashi called his own. With Pakkun a few feet away from Sakura, the other seven appeared in random locations: Bull by the window, Bisuke and Ūhei seated gently on the couch, Guruko sat in her reading chair which was also by the window, Urushi sat behind Sakura in the kitchen, and lastly, Akino and Shiba had collapsed in to a heap by her hallway.
"Boys, please watch her. Pakkun and Bull, you're in charge of Sarada-chan." Bull padded over from his spot by the window towards Sakura in the kitchen. He came to a stop behind Pakkun and sat down. Sakura placed Sarada delicately between two the ninken and got to work immediately.
Sakura pulled out twice as much of the ingredients that she needed previously and began to carefully mix them.
"Say, Sakura-san, what is your business with our Boss? The boys and I are well prepared to accept you as the Boss's lady."
Sakura was stirring a bowl of dry ingredients when Pakkun broke the silence. She immediately pinked at the insinuation that Pakkun suggested.
"I mean, I do love him." She started, returning to mixing the dry ingredients before adding the wet ones. "I mean, it was one-part self-satisfaction and punishment that led me to start this ruse, Pakkun – wait, why am I telling you this."
"How far are you willing to go for him?" The pug looked up from his post of keeping Sarada entertained.
"I'm not sure, Pakkun. I wish this whole thing weren't a ruse… and that it were… I don't know, real maybe?" Sakura murmured, looking a little sad at the thought.
"I don't think it's completely a ruse, if it helps, Sakura-san."
"Thanks, Pakkun, but that doesn't really help."
"No, really, I mean it. The Boss has been happier these last few months than the past few years."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I pride myself on telling the truth, Sakura-san."
By now, the dog treats that Sakura labored over while talking with Pakkun were now baking in her oven. She looked over to Bull and noticed that a few other ninken had curled up against him and Sarada was sleeping in between his legs. Sakura thought it was a cute moment and wished to keep it with her forever.
.
"Okay, boys, the time has come." Sakura exclaimed, pulling on oven mitts as she quickly turned the oven off and pulled the two trays of baked treats from within out. She placed them on racks to cool and turned to seven of the most alert looking ninken in the whole village, the only one missing was still keep gentle watch of the Sakura's now most precious thing, or rather person, to care for.
It was not lost on Sakura on how quickly she took to Sasuke's daughter and accepted Sarada as one of her own, if she had any children. Which she now supposed, she did.
"Now, we must wait at least an hour before I can let you eat one." Prompting a chorus of sad whines from the dogs in her kitchen which in turn woke up the, up until now, very easy-going child that was slumbering on Bull. Who also, in turn, woke up with a start.
"Shushh," Sakura tried to cajole the eight dogs and one small human to quiet down which proved to work wondrously.
It didn't.
Sakura peeled the mitts off and went over to grab the loudest out of the bunch, Sarada, and gave her a mug of water to sip on. This somewhat quelled most of the noise in her home and she soon sighed in relief.
"Yo, Sakura-chan!"
Came the knocking from her bedroom window. Sakura blearily looked towards her clock, noting the extremely early hour but nevertheless still got up, making sure Sarada was still deeply asleep and tucked in on the bed. She flicked on her lamp, blinking rapidly at the bright light. Sarada shifted around but didn't wake.
"Can I help you?" Sakura asked, tiredly rubbing her eyes as she let the tall man into her room. "It's three-am."
"Well, a little birdy told me that you loved me so I had to double check." The Hokage grinned under his mask, casting a wink towards Sakura. "They also told me you were with child."
Sakura flushed. "She's not my child, Kakashi."
"Well, Pakkun noted that she's Sasuke's daughter. Which I did notice he sent in the adoption paperwork to have her legally linked to you. Must've forgotten to mention that to you a week ago." Kakashi said.
"Damn him," Sakura groaned, her voice rising before she squeaked, covering her mouth when she remembered the toddler slumbering away on her bed. "I know he said something along the lines of that but I thought he was bluffing. Kakashi, why did Sasuke leave me with his kid? Did he talk with you at all before he left?"
"No?" He said, having the gall to look perplexed. "I went into the office one morning to a scroll with his and your seal about him transferring guardianship rights to you."
"Anyway, that's not the reason for my visit." He said after a beat of silence past between them, his voice growing soft. Kakashi reached for Sakura who obliged and fell into a comfortable hug against his taller form.
"Why did you come then?"
"Mah, like I just said, I heard from a little birdy that there's someone who likes the Hokage. And apparently not in the platonic sense."
"Oh, who is it then?" She mumbled into his chest.
"Mah, Sakura-chan, now that's a secret I was given to keep. Anyways, I just wanted to say that you're really pretty when you're flushed. And-"
"Wait-"
"What?"
"You think I'm pretty?" She asked with a tired yet shocked voice, pulling away slightly to look up at Kakashi.
"Well, yeah, plus you're adorable when you're all sleepy." He commented, booping her nose with his finger.
Sakura took a moment to think. "There's another reason why you're here, isn't there?"
He sighed, pulling out of her tight hug, scratching the back of his head with unease. "Actually, there is something else… I need my fiancé to accompany me to the Daimyo." He crossed his arms over his chest and murmured, "and I don't want to put up with the people he's trying to match me up with."
"Well, you can count on me to go… um but what do I do with Sarada?"
Sakura pondered for a moment. "Do you think Naruto and Hinata would mind watching her for however long this trip would be? Or would we be okay taking her? Wait, no, bad idea. Ignore that last thought."
"You've got a week to figure it out, Sakura-chan. In my honest opinion, I do think the Uzumaki's would be the best idea to watch her for a week or two max."
"We'd be gone for two weeks?"
"Could be longer, though, I estimate that I can square everything away pretty quickly. In a matter of days, actually." Kakashi looked a smidgen cocky at the thought but soon disappeared. "I got to get going. Sleep well, Sakura-chan." He pulled her closer to plant a mask covered kiss to her cheek, immediately prompting her cheeks to redden to which Kakashi laughed at, causing him to kiss her nose in an effort to apologize.
"Goodnight, Kakashi." She bid farewell, still red from the sudden kisses. He disappeared out of the very window from which he came in thirty minutes before. Sakura turned the light off and got back into bed with Sarada, readjusting her so they both lay comfortably. Sakura fell asleep again within minutes.
"Yo, Kaka-sensei!" Sakura waved to the Rokudaime who was surprisingly early for a departure. A once in a blue moon occurrence apparently, but he seemed to be more on time for things that related to Sakura.
Kakashi held a single hand up and nodded with a "yo."
She hurried the final few paces and came to a stop a breath before him. "Hi," she breathed with a huge smile. Kakashi fought the urge to cheesily grin back, mostly due to all the street cred he would lose with an audience. Of which, Kotetsu and Izumo were on gate duty and were waiting for the two to check out.
"Sarada with the Uzumaki's?" Kakashi asked as he double checked his pack.
Sakura nodded. "I still feel really bad but I trust them. Hinata likens it to training for their daughter that's due in a couple more months. And she even said that it'll be like a semi-long-term playdate for Boruto."
"Oh, that's good then… You all packed?"
"Yup." She winked in his direction before heading over the guard shack by the gate. "Hi, Kotetsu-san, Izumo-san."
"Sakura-san, 'you and Kakashi-sama checking out?" Kotetsu asked. She nodded, signing out of the logbook.
"Kakashi-sama, your first ANBU detail already departed, the second is waiting for you two to leave and will follow soon after." Izumo announced to the Rokudaime who nodded briefly.
"Mah, Sakura-chan, hope you've been staying in shape," Kakashi chided before taking off at a dead run and jumping up into the treeline. Sakura followed after the Hokage, and then the second ANBU detail followed after her.
.
"Pakkun said that you needed to get more candid about your feelings."
"Now why would Pakkun say that, Sakura?"
"It could have been because I revealed some pretty deep things to him when I was baking with the pack."
"Have you been feeding my dogs unhealthy foods, Sakura?"
She sputtered, almost missing a branch. "Like you do any better, Mr-I-Give-My-Dogs-Leftover-Meats-From-Ten-Days-Ago."
"Hey! That was one time and I severely paid the consequences on that one."
"Yeah, because you also ate the same meat and had food poisoning for two weeks, Kakashi." She retorted with a smirk.
Kakashi groaned, shaking his head. "Maybe this was a mistake, how am I supposed to suffer your company for a week, Sakura-chan." He grumbled.
(He didn't see the shit eating grin on her face.)
"Rokudaime Hokage, how wonderful for you to join us." The tired looking man with the fanned hat welcomed Kakashi and Sakura (and their two ANBU details).
Both Kakashi and Sakura bowed low. "Daimyo-sama, it is our pleasure."
"Please, please, come in, we shall have a feast for your arrival. It's already being prepared so rest and we shall retrieve you from your chambers." The daimyo said, having servants whisk the two away. Kakashi murmured underhandedly to the two ANBU captains to keep watch of the area discretely.
Kakashi also motioned for Sakura right as a servant stepped in front of her. "Meet me later, okay."
She nodded before they finally took her away, disappearing onto the engawa that surrounded one of the outer buildings.
.
"Oh, my dear, you clean up beautifully." The daimyo exclaimed when Sakura entered the banquet hall. After the rigorous bathing experience the servants put Sakura through, she hoped that she looked halfway decent.
She blushed and quickly scanned the room for Kakashi's shock of white hair, easily finding it and moving to sit next to him.
Kakashi looked up to see Sakura sliding into the free chair beside him, noticing the intricate dark blue floral kimono he assumed the daimyo strongly persuaded the servants to dress her in. He noted that it brought out the green in her eyes and the pink of her hair.
After the rest of the guest seated themselves, servants flooded into the room, placing steaming and fragrant dishes on the long table where everyone was seated. The daimyo raised a hand, indicating they could begin eating.
"Mah, Sakura-chan, this eel is to die for, have some," Kakashi whispered into her ear, placing some of the eel he grabbed on the plate in front of her. He watched her pick it up with her chopsticks and take a small bite, humming her approval.
"Say, Hokage-sama," the daimyo began, the subtle buzz of conversation coming to halt at the old man's announcement. "My second daughter is previously unmarried. And Sakura-san, my third son is also unmarried. Perhaps, Hokage-sama, we can further align the Fire Country to the hidden villages with marriages to their top-ranking ninja. Would you and Sakura-san be interested in such an endeavor?"
"Pardon, my intrusion, Daimyo-sama," Sakura said, leaning over Kakashi to get a better vantage point of the daimyo. She placed the still ring laden hand on top of Kakashi's that rested on the table. "You see, Kakashi is already engaged to be married. To me."
The daimyo paled. "Oh, I'm sure you both will be easily swayed." He gestured to his two proffered children. His son looked sheepish, wearing a garish yellow kimono that clashed horribly with his brown hair. His daughter on the other hand, wore a relatively pretty soft pink kimono that didn't help in the looks department at all.
Kakashi held back a shudder. Sakura noticed and tried to hold back the grin creeping on her lips.
"With all due respect, Daimyo-sama, as Sakura-san has already mentioned, but I'm already engaged." He laced his fingers through Sakura's. She turned slightly, directing her gaze to Kakashi's, offering a soft smile.
"How unfortunate." The daimyo muttered. After a few moments of quiet, he gestured for a servant to bring the desserts in.
Kakashi deemed the moment the desserts were brought in as his time to leave the room.
.
"Wait, Kakashi, hold up." Sakura panted, hiking the long skirt of the kimono up so she could catch up with the silver haired shinobi who was quickly making his way through the daimyo's palace.
"I don't think I can take any more of this, Sakura."
"Wait, let me explain." She finally got within grasping distance and reached for his hand, tugging without chakra infused strength. He grunted as he was forced to a stop, slowly turning to face her. Sakura pushed him into an alcove and squeezed in with him.
Sakura was flushed for three reasons. The first was the simple feat of trying to catch up to a Kage-level shinobi. The second was the very close proximity she now found herself in with the Rokudaime. And the third was for her half-assed plan she was about to pull.
Kakashi didn't know what hit him. One moment he was looking down at Sakura who was adorably flushed and the next she had pulled his face to her own and was gently kissing his masked lips. It was a strange feeling, her lips feeling warm and what he could only imagine as soft kissing his own through the mask. (He semi-wondered if it felt weird for her too.)
He pushed her back, breathing hard. "Sakura."
Her green eyes twinkled. "Kakashi. Kami, you don't even know how long I've been wanting to do that."
"But why did you?"
"Because I love you, you dolt."
She couldn't see how his mouth gaped open like a trout through the mask but his eyes widened and she laughed. "Kakashi, I probably wouldn't have subconsciously said I was dating you months ago without having some sort of feelings for you."
She sighed just as she was about to take a step back when he pulled his mask down, gently grasping her face with both hands and pulled her face to his.
She squeaked when he placed his lips on her, tilting his head to get better reach. She tasted like the sweet dango she had managed to snatch before Kakashi made his getaway from the feast.
Sakura immensely liked this kiss more compared to the first one she had with Kakashi just five minutes prior. She ran her fingers through the nape of his head, his stiff looking hair actually much softer than Sakura's own.
She gently pulled back this time. "Wait, what does that mean, Kakashi?"
He hummed, closing his eyes as he tenderly rested his forehead against her. "Could we maybe not pretend anymore?"
She looked up into his charcoal eyes and smiled. "Kami, yes."