Chapter 19
Chapter Text
Kakashi burst into her apartment looking all sorts of frazzled. "Rin wants you to go to her bridal shower," he blurted out, red creeping up his neck to his cheeks. "Don't feel obligated to go," he tacked on hurriedly. "I said I'd pass along the invitation, but you barely know her, so I understand if you don't want to go."
"Kakashi," she started, a little laugh working its way into her voice.
"She's ridiculous. Why would you want to go? But if I didn't tell you myself, she would have found some other way to get to you, and she can be really pushy—"
"Kakashi," she interrupted. His mouth snapped shut. "I'd love to go. I like Rin a lot."
"Oh."
"Breathe," she reminded him. He did, taking a staggered little breath as he slumped in relief. "You're cute when you're nervous," she teased, rising up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
"If you thought she was nosy at my birthday, you're in for a rude awakening," he warned her.
"Nosier than me breaking into your apartment, going through your laptop, and showing up at an Icha Icha Q&A?" she asked.
"That's not nosy," he assured her with a sweet smile and a chaste kiss. "That's psychotic," he finished, his smile turning unbearably cheeky.
"Get out of my apartment."
As ready and willing as she had been to accept the invitation, when the time came to actually walk herself into a party for Kakashi's best friends, with a list of guests that included people who'd known him since he was a child, she was effectively bricking it.
She had not thought this through. Why was she doing this?
"You don't have to go," Kakashi sighed, sidling up behind her as she smoothed her palms over her dress nervously. "Rin will understand."
"But I want to go," she insisted weakly. Kakashi wasn't buying it. She couldn't blame him; she wasn't even buying it.
She did want to go, but her insides were being chewed up by anxiety in the face of a room full of people she would have to make a good impression on. Kakashi had sworn up and down that she was worried for nothing, that she could charm anyone's pants off without trying, but he was only saying that because she had charmed his pants off. She didn't think seducing her way through this bridal shower was the right way to go about this.
Still, the little kiss he pressed to the back of her neck was a nice distraction, so she couldn't be too frustrated with him and his easy confidence. She just wished she could bottle that up and wear it as perfume.
"You look great," he promised, flicking her hands away from fussing with the non-existent wrinkles in her dress. She had changed her outfit five times before coming back to her first selection. At this point, she was pretty sure Kakashi was so fed up with her indecisiveness that he would have told her it was perfectly appropriate to wear cellophane, but she would just have to trust him on this.
It was a nice dress. A clean and crisp A-line dress, stopping a few inches above the knee in a true red that complimented her colouring nicely. Pretty and proper. She'd spent enough time around Sasuke to have a good handle on what the Uchiha vibe was, and this was her most expensive-looking outfit, which wasn't saying much, but it was the truth.
She sighed and dug her lipstick out of her purse for one final touch before she headed out and into the lion's den. Another spark of anxiety shot through her when she envisioned herself pulling up to some sophisticated mansion in her old beater.
"Do you want a ride?" Kakashi asked, his eyes dancing with amusement as she looked at him in the mirror.
"Get out of my head," she complained with a pout.
"That sounded like a very impolite yes, please," he teased with one last kiss to her cheek before he abandoned her to her lonely reflection.
"I'm a big girl, I can drive myself," she grumbled quietly, for the sole purpose of saving face. She would actually be very grateful if Kakashi would give her a ride, and not just because her car was an embarrassment. With her nerves running at an all-time high, she wasn't sure she'd even be able to get her key in the ignition.
Kakashi hummed noncommittally, twirling his keys around his finger while he patiently waited for her to stop picking apart her reflection. With one last pout at her reflection, Sakura mustered her strength and walked away from the mirror.
As assured as Kakashi was in her ability to make a good impression, he had far less confidence in the other guests' ability to make a good impression on her. She wasn't sure who was more nervous between the two of them. Oddly, that put her mind somewhat at ease. If these people cared about Kakashi, then they would at least have that one thing in common. She could work with that.
Besides, Rin was lovely. Kakashi had a different word to describe her, but Sakura was comfortable with lovely. They'd done the whole social media flirtation since meeting at Kakashi's birthday; liking each other's Instagram posts, commenting with heart-eyes and drooling emojis. They'd even had a conversation or two.
Okay, conversation was a strong word, but Rin had sent her a hospital meme, and that was as good as a marriage proposal, as far as Sakura was concerned.
She felt a little silly, sitting in Kakashi's passenger seat, cradling a pretty black and gold hat box with the lushest arrangement of deep red roses and white calla lilies that Ino's flower shop had to offer. There was a card tucked against the side of the box, bound there by a "CHANEL" stamped ribbon which she had stolen from Ino (which she was fairly certain Ino had stolen from her mother).
Kakashi had sworn up and down that there was no registry, and that Rin and Obito had asked that, in lieu of a gift, donations be made to the Konoha Animal Society. She had been suspicious of him, but his story seemed to check out. Especially after he disclosed that he'd actually adopted Pakkun from a KAS shelter, and that Obito had about four cats living in their little house on the outskirts of town.
When she questioned the approximation, Kakashi said it was because Obito also entertained a plethora of strays, and sometimes it was hard to tell which were homebodies and which were free spirits. That's what Obito referred to them as. Sakura thought that was adorable, and she could very easily understand why Rin would be marrying someone like that. Kakashi was horrified when she'd said that, which only made her revelation all the better.
Kakashi's horror had an interesting way of settling her nerves. By the time they made it to the long, winding driveway of Obito's grandmother's estate, Sakura had forgotten all about the anxiety that had once been sitting heavy in her gut.
They pulled up at a security booth just beyond the main road, where the security guard took one look at Kakashi and promptly waved them through. Sakura didn't tell him, but she thought it was cute that they both had a stake in their separate corners of the Uchiha family. It did make her wonder just how wrapped up in the family Kakashi really was, though.
She wouldn't have to wonder for long, she thought as Kakashi rolled to a stop at the bottom of a wide staircase. She blinked up at the ornate double doors at the top and felt nervous anticipation shoot through her once more. Kakashi's hand gently squeezing her thigh broke her out of her reverie.
"Text me whenever you're ready to leave," Kakashi said softly, pulling his mask away to briefly kiss the corner of her lips. "I'll be at Obito's. It's only about fifteen minutes away."
"I'll be fine," she promised, glancing out the window as she saw the doors at the top of the steps begin to creak open. "No Uchiha could possibly be surlier than Sasuke," she joked to ease her own mind.
His eyes raked over her face, making her feel like he could see straight past her and pluck out every irrational fear that swam around in her head. With a little sigh, he leaned forward to give her one more kiss. "Fifteen minutes," he whispered in reminder, his lips still brushing against hers as he did.
"So clingy," she teased.
He hummed unhappily and dragged himself away from her lips, ignoring her indignant pout. "I'm serious. These things get boring, so, whenever you're ready—"
"You'll be fifteen minutes away," Sakura finished blandly for him. The look he gave her in return was adorably contrite. With one last giggle at his expense, she placed a firm kiss on his cheek and climbed out of his car, purse dangling from her wrist and knuckles white around her flower box. There was a young woman in a pristine grey and white uniform standing at the doors, her hands folded primly in front of her, awaiting Sakura's admittedly slow ascent. She tried to ignore the fact that Kakashi had not driven away, and likely wouldn't until she'd fully entered the estate.
The bastard was tempting her with an escape route, but she would be obstinate. No way was she chickening out now.
"You must be Miss Haruno. My name is Yuki," the young lady said with a bow of her head as Sakura finally approached. "Mrs. Uchiha has eagerly awaited your arrival."
"Don't you mean Nohara?" Sakura asked nervously. Her fingers were getting clammy around the flower arrangement.
"Oh, heavens, no," she said with a small laugh. "Mrs. Uchiha is the lady of the house. She has asked that you join her table."
Sakura swallowed to clear the lump in her throat. Why did Obito's grandmother care about her? She had expected that Kakashi's friends would be in attendance, and that she would have to deal with nosy questions, and she had maybe even hoped for an embarrassing story or two, but she had not anticipated the attention of the Uchiha matriarch.
Yuki guided Sakura through the foyer slowly, for which Sakura would be forever grateful, because it gave her a chance to acclimate.
She had seen the Uchiha wealth up close and personal through Sasuke, but it was always a bit jarring to go from her tiny apartment downtown to grandiose property that reeked of old money. Everything was exquisite, from the luxe textiles of the furnishings and drapery, to the chandeliers hanging overhead that glittered far more brilliantly than any of her jewelry. She focused in on the sound of her heels clacking on marble floors, using each step to steady her breathing.
Yuki presented Sakura to two attendants, standing guard outside a set of French doors leading to a large sunroom. Through the glass panes in the door, Sakura could make out low tables, cushions, and couches, as well as people milling around. Quiet laughter and chit-chat filtered out to her. If she closed her eyes she could almost pretend it was just any other bridal shower, and she'd been to a fair few of them.
Sakura felt her breath whoosh out of her when the doors opened to reveal the true splendor that lay beyond them. The room overlooked the vast gardens, but a taste of the serenity of those gardens had been brought indoors. Flora and fauna decorated the room, the sweet scent of flowers mingling with tea and pastries. Sakura looked down to the flowers in her hand in comparison to the lush arrangements decorating the room and felt her palms go sweaty all over again.
"Sakura!"
Sakura's attention zeroed in on the source of the call. Rin was scurrying toward her, wearing an infectious grin and a beautiful white midi dress. Sakura didn't have much of an opportunity to admire her before her arms were thrown around her shoulders in a hug. Sakura held her box of flowers out at a safe distance and laughed into the hug.
"Congratulations," she said, trying to push past her insecurities as she handed the flowers to Rin. It may not have been an exuberant gift, but it was classic and Rin had leaned down to take a sniff at one of the lilies with a happy hum, which was enough to set Sakura's mind at ease.
"These are beautiful, Sakura, thank you," Rin said with such sincerity, Sakura felt the tension in her shoulders melt away.
"Kakashi told me what flowers you had picked out for the ceremony," she confessed as Rin looped their elbows together to begin leading her through the party.
"I guess I ought to keep him around then," she jested. "He's much better with these things than Bito is."
With Rin ranting about how useless her husband-to-be was in the wedding planning process, Sakura almost felt like she could belong. She may not have been half as fancy as the party or its attendees, but watching women dome their heads together to giggle and pretend like they weren't day-drunk on champagne was a feeling Sakura knew well.
"Speaking of Bito," Rin said with a small sigh as she tightened the arm looped with Sakura's, halting them behind a floor vase that came up to Sakura's shoulder. "Lady Uchiha is dying to meet you."
All at once, Sakura's nervousness slammed into her. "Oh," she said weakly.
"I promise, for an aristocrat, she's very easygoing."
"I don't really have any other aristocrats to gauge that against, so I'll just have to trust you," Sakura said with a tight smile.
Rin's smile was sympathetic, and she rubbed a comforting hand on Sakura's arm as she all but forced her back out into the line of fire. Now that Sakura was aware of the destination, she was finding it hard to look anywhere but at the elegant white-haired woman sat primly in an armchair in the corner of the3 room.
"Lady Uchiha," Rin greeted brightly, dropping Sakura's arm to lean down at take Mrs. Uchiha's hands between both of hers. "This is Sakura," she said, her smile tainted with that same mischievous energy she'd had the night Sakura had first met her.
"Ah," the elderly woman said, her eyes slowly roaming over Sakura and a small smile gracing her lips. Sakura couldn't make heads or tails out of whether she was displaying contempt, or approval. "So, you're Kakashi's sweetheart."
If Sakura had been drinking anything, she would have spit it in Mrs. Uchiha's face. She spluttered, unsure of what to say. She'd never been anyone's sweetheart, and just the thought of agreeing was sending her into a tizzy. She couldn't help but picture what Kakashi would have looked like if he'd been there to hear that firsthand.
Rin's laugh was easy and devoid of any of the panic Sakura was feeling. "Yes, Lady, this is Kakashi's girlfriend."
"Well, I certainly hope it doesn't take them as long as it's taking you and my grandson to walk down the aisle."
Sakura was going to be sick.
"It-it's a pleasure to meet you," she said weakly. "Lady Uchiha," she tacked on awkwardly.
"Ugh," Mrs. Uchiha scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "See what you've done? Devilish child," she chided Rin, but her dark eyes were playful as she regarded Rin. "Do not follow in Rin's vexing footsteps, Sakura," she warned with a haughty sniff.
"Sorry, Lady," Rin said cheekily. Mrs. Uchiha harrumphed and twisted her smile into a half-hearted scowl. Sakura was momentarily stunned by the family resemblance; how many times had she seen Sasuke swallow his smiles in the same manner?
"Hmmph," she huffed, even as she gave Rin an affectionate pat on the hand. "Have you given Sakura the tour?"
"She only just arrived," Rin explained.
"Kakashi's doing, I'm sure," Mrs. Uchiha said with a sigh as she slowly rose. "Come, dear." She granted Sakura one of those elusive, warm smiles as she plucked two champagne glasses off of a wandering waiter's tray and handed one to Sakura, keeping one for herself. Her smile widened at Rin's pout.
Sakura followed closely behind as they made their way, only somewhat taking in the conversation as Rin and Mrs. Uchiha seamlessly flowed from talking point to bickering, and back again. Sakura interjected whenever a question was directed to her, but Rin must have sensed her discomfort, because she took it upon herself to uphold the majority of the conversation.
She couldn't really make sense of why Mrs. Uchiha was so interested in her. She was hardly one of Rin's closest friends. Perhaps she was concerned that, with her dating Kakashi, she would be spending more time with Obito and Rin by extension? She certainly seemed familiar enough with Kakashi. And they had said they'd been friends since they were kids.
The tour's first stop was in a hall littered with portraits and framed photos. Sakura allowed herself to get lost in all the family photos, delving deep into the vast history of the Uchiha family, and smiling when she spotted a tiny Sasuke among dozens of his cousins. Or perhaps that was his brother. Or some other Uchiha she had never met. Honestly, it was hard to tell sometimes.
There was one kid who stood out of the bunch. It was a small photo in a simple silver frame, sitting atop a mantle. The photo was clearly old, and it had been taken by an amateur, because there was intense glare across the kids' faces but that shock of silver hair was impossible to miss.
"Is this Kakashi?" she asked, stunned. She clamped her mouth shut when she realized she'd just interrupted Mrs. Uchiha mid-sentence. Thankfully, she didn't seem offended as she came to stand beside Sakura to gaze down at the photo of Kakashi, Rin and Obito; all crammed onto one big armchair, clutching cookies the size of their heads.
"Ah, yes. That was the first birthday he spent with us," she recalled fondly. "He always hated celebrating his birthday. Silly boy," she continued with a sad smile. "I have more pictures further down here, dear," she said with a wave over her shoulder.
As promised, there were many more pictures of one silver-haired boy amongst all the black-haired Uchihas. Most of them were pictures of Kakashi and Obito together, but there were quite a few of him alone, including a college graduation portrait.
Sakura felt realization trickle down the back of her neck, but brushed it away. "Why?" she mumbled to herself.
Rin's head tilted and her eyebrows drew tight together as she inched closer to Sakura. "Well…because Lady Uchiha raised Kakashi, of course. Didn't he tell you that?"
Chapter 20: A Peek at the Past
Chapter Text
No, Kakashi had most certainly never mentioned that.
At least now she knew why Mrs. Uchiha was so interested in her. Unfortunately, that one answer came at the cost of a million other questions, not the least of which being, why the hell had Kakashi let her walk in here with no warning?
She noticed too late that both Rin and Mrs. Uchiha were staring at her.
"I guess that's why he and Obito bicker like brothers," she joked faintly. It was enough to set the two women off into a flurry of anecdotes and quips at the expense of "their boys". Sakura picked apart every photograph laid before her with new eyes. Suddenly, they weren't just snapshots of a boy and his friends, but family.
Kakashi and Obito standing beneath a weeping willow, their arms slung around each other, and big smiles on their faces. Another one, a few years older, where they were still stood beneath the willow, but this time, Rin stood between them, grinning while the boys on either side of her sulked. A picture of Obito, covered in red splotches and sitting in a bathtub filled with milky water, looking absolutely miserable, while Kakashi sat on the edge of the tub, throwing up a cheeky smile and a peace sign.
Sakura couldn't help but laugh when the frame tucked surreptitiously behind that one housed a picture of Kakashi sitting beside Obito in the tub, clothes and hair completely soaked, while Obito's head was thrown back in laughter.
"Aren't they cute?" Rin cooed.
"It's good to know they haven't grown out of that," Sakura giggled. What she wouldn't give to see that photograph recreated today.
"Would you like to see his old bedroom?"
Sakura felt her jaw drop in shock before she could stop herself. "He used to live here?" she asked, dumbfounded. Mrs. Uchiha and Rin shared a look, Rin hiding her giggle behind her hand. She snapped her mouth closed to try and get a hold of some of that dignity that always seemed to elude her. She wasn't sure that the little pop her mouth made when it shut screamed dignified but it was too late to do anything about it now.
It was enough to convince Mrs. Uchiha to show her to the room without further prompting, in any case. Sakura could not have scurried after her any faster. She felt like she was in a whole Kakashi museum, the most information she had ever had on him at her fingertips. When she had accepted Rin's invitation, she had never expected to be the one receiving a magnificent gift.
His old room was neat and tidy, and from what he had told her about his life, she knew that he had been living on his own since he went to college (which he'd done early, because he was a massive nerd, and though she found that massively sexy, she needed something to tease him about). It had a clear view to a huge willow tree, the same one she had seen in the first picture of him she'd spotted in the hall.
Beside the window was a bookshelf that was still half-filled with books. It made her smile. She imagined a teenage Kakashi trying in vain to pack up and take as many books with him as possible to his college dorm room, but quickly learning that he would have to leave some behind. She wondered how he narrowed down his choices, or if he treated this old room like a library, constantly putting his books in rotation.
She picked up an old paperback; its spine cracked and frayed beyond repair from the sheer amount of times it had been opened. She had barely pulled it out from between the stacks, and already, it was flipped open, making way for all the dog-eared pages, the binding broken and opening immediately toward the end of the book, where a paragraph was highlighted, notes scribbled down and then scribbled over in the margins.
I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all.
If Kakashi could see her at that moment, he would have panicked. The threat of her crying always seemed to have that effect on him.
"Kakashi must have read that book a thousand times," Rin said with a little roll of her eyes. "I never cared for it much."
"Me either," Sakura confessed. Holden Caulfield was always too much of a cynic for her to relate to, but recalling what she could about The Catcher in the Rye, she could see its appeal for Kakashi; Kakashi, who had lost his parents, who had had his life uprooted to eventually be implanted into someone else's family.
She had to quickly swipe away the tear that escaped when she thought of how far he had come from that place. The Kakashi she knew now—her Kakashi—was comfortable with himself and his place in the world; laidback and confident, immovable and strong in who he was. A far cry from the teenage boy who had related to this protagonist.
She put the book down and collected herself. This was a wedding shower, for god's sake. She had stolen Rin away for a good twenty minutes now, and while it had been infinitely valuable to take a peek into Kakashi's childhood, she imagined it would be best to get the bride back where she belonged.
Besides, at this rate, she was worried one of two things might happen if she continued digging deeper; she would either have a stroke from all the questions flying through her mind, or have a Kakashi-induced heart attack from all the emotions that were making her heart clench and twist and pound in her chest.
"Well, I think that's it for me," Mrs. Uchiha declared with a satisfied sigh. "Enjoy your party, dear," she said, taking Rin's hand between hers and giving it a soft squeeze.
"You're not rejoining the party?" Sakura asked, feeling disappointment and minor insecurity course through her, immediately worried that Mrs. Uchiha did not approve of her.
"Lady Uchiha always ducks out early," Rin explained.
"I do not duck, dear," Mrs. Uchiha chided. "I've had my fill. This old woman needs her rest. Now that I've met Miss Haruno, I can take my leave."
"Me?" Sakura asked, dazed and confused.
Mrs. Uchiha's smile had that "I know something you don't" look about it. "Give my love to Kakashi. I hope to see you again soon." She bestowed one of her affectionate pats onto Sakura's shoulder before abandoning the two of them.
Rin seemed to completely understand Sakura's shellshock following the interaction with Mrs. Uchiha and was kind enough to slowly lead her back through the house and to the party. She used the time to explain that she grew up in a nearby suburb, and had met Obito and Kakashi in grade school when they were quite young. Obito had been raised by his grandmother from the time he was a baby, so naturally, Rin had known her for quite a long time, as well.
That explained the familiarity. Sakura didn't want to admit it, but she was feeling a little jealous. Not necessarily of the relationship Rin had with Mrs. Uchiha, but rather how easy it all seemed. One nagging thought kept circling in her head, and it was making her doubt herself. She just couldn't understand why Kakashi had not mentioned that she would be meeting the woman who raised him.
"Hey," Rin said gently, stopping Sakura just a few metres outside the party. "He probably just didn't want you to be too nervous," she suggested, plucking Sakura's insecurities straight out of her head.
Sakura felt some of her tension ease away. She allowed herself to believe Rin. It was hard to argue when she knew Kakashi so well, and was smiling at her with so much warmth. She would just have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Besides, as he'd said a hundred times, he was only fifteen minutes away. Her answers would come sooner rather than later. That thought alone was enough to placate her.
After that, she was actually able to settle her nerves and enjoy herself. The other friend she'd met at Kakashi's birthday, Kurenai, was there, so that came as a relief. There was one other familiar face floating around, though that one hadn't brought Sakura as much comfort as Kurenai's had.
"Hey, there's my cash cow," Anko said, swirling around a glass of amber liquid. Sakura was pretty sure she must have brought that herself, because the hardest liquor being served was champagne. "Seriously, I don't know what you did to Hatake, but this next book is going to make me rich."
"Well, I'm happy for you, but I didn't really do anything," she said with a laugh as Anko clinked her glass against Sakura's in cheers.
"Here's to good sex," Anko said with a smirk before downing her drink. Sakura nearly spit her own out. She had to hand it to Kakashi; if she were going to hire a manager to peddle filth to the masses, she would also choose Anko.
Aside from Anko, the women in attendance were easy to talk to and made Sakura feel welcome. A few of them were also in the medical field, which was nice. It definitely made Sakura feel like less of an outsider. By the end of it, she had forgotten all about her reservations.
Kurenai was the first to say her goodbyes as she had to rush home and make sure Asuma hadn't accidentally set their baby on fire. Sakura had laughed at the joke, but there was an edge to Kurenai's smile that made her think she wasn't totally joking.
As guests trickled out, Sakura figured it was about time she did, too. She had had enough champagne to feel bubbly and to make some minor typos in her text to Kakashi, and maybe she used too many heart emojis (like seven heart emojis, but he was worth it). Rin had things to say about her departure, none of them favourable, but Kakashi was quick to respond to her seven heart emojis (with a thumbs up, who did that?!).
She should have known a punctual Kakashi was a suspicious Kakashi, but in the midst of her big, fat feelings for him and all his childhood angst, she had overlooked the obvious; Kakashi was never on time for anything, unless it suited him.
So, when Rin insisted she walk Sakura out and to the car, she thought nothing of it. Especially, because she could use the hand navigating the stairs while she absconded with one of the table centrepieces.
Kakashi was waiting for her by the car, looking very cute, and very much like he was on the verge of laughter as she clung to her flowers with one arm, and Rin with the other. He almost lost it when she missed the bottom step and nearly lost her flowers along the way.
"You lasted longer than I expected," he said, laughing lightly into her hair when she dove headfirst into his chest.
"On the stairs?" she mumbled into his shirt.
"At the party."
"Why wouldn't I stay until the end?" she asked in confusion.
"Yeah, Kakashi, why wouldn't she?" Rin challenged. Sakura—regretfully—peeled herself away from Kakashi's chest to look at her, hands braced on her hips and ready to scold. Sakura ooh'd under her breath and Kakashi gave her a dirty look for it. "I don't suppose it has anything to do with you purposely bringing her here three hours late?"
"Kakashi!" Sakura cried out in horror. His eyes crinkled happily over his mask.
"I figured it would be an easier transition for Sakura if the party was winding down. I was being thoughtful," he said with a shrug.
"You were being Kakashi," Rin corrected dryly. "But, no matter. You were right on time," she said with a mocking smile.
"I was?" he asked unhappily.
"Mhm. And there was someone who was very excited to meet Sakura," Rin informed him serenely.
"There was?"
Sakura watched the two of them go back and forth, her eyes feeling like ping pong balls in her head, darting between them.
"Yes. I know you, Hatake. I wasn't going to let you slither your way out of this one with tardiness," Rin huffed.
"You told me this thing started at noon," Kakashi accused.
"Uh, guys?" Sakura interjected. They ignored her. Now, she was the one huffing.
"Yes, and you brought Sakura here three hours late."
"Apparently not late enough," Kakashi grumbled.
"Guys!" Sakura said again, louder. Both of them turned to look at her, finally.
"Sorry," they said together, looking dutifully guilty.
Sakura shook her head, rolling her eyes at them. Kakashi had his sleepy eyes on puppy-mode, and Rin was pouting at her. "Thank you for inviting me, I had a really great time," she said, handing off her flowers to Kakashi before wrapping Rin up in a hug.
"Give him hell," she whispered in her ear before they parted.
When Sakura turned back to Kakashi, he was fidgeting. She didn't mention it, or anything about what had transpired at the party he had (apparently) tried to bar her from. Instead, she thanked him and took her flowers back before sliding into the passenger seat and waiting for him to start driving.
Perhaps Rin was right, and she should just give him hell for it, and there was a significant part of her that definitely wanted to do that, but another part of her was hesitant. She was a little scared to hear the truth.
Kakashi's left leg was bouncing incessantly as he pulled out to the main road. Maybe he was also a little scared to tell her the truth. That didn't help strengthen her confidence.
The longer they drove in silence, the harder it became to speak. Sakura was beginning to think they would just pretend nothing had happened at all, and that this whole day would just be a blip in their lives, never to be mentioned.
"I met Mrs. Uchiha."
Or, she could just blurt it out without warning, startling both Kakashi and herself.
Kakashi kept his eyes glued to the road as he nodded slowly.
"I liked her," she continued. Shut up, she begged herself. "I didn't know you grew up with Obito." Shut up, shut up, shut up. "I liked the picture of you guys in the bath."
Mentioning the bath earned her a wearied sigh and a shake of his head, but little else. Okay, now he was just annoying her.
"And I saw your copy of The Catcher in the Rye," she continued, eyeing him carefully. His mask was still in place, and other than the subtle tightening of his grip on the steering wheel, he gave no reaction. "I guess I just don't understand why you never mentioned any of it to me."
"I didn't know you were a J. D. Salinger fan," he said blandly.
"That's not what I mean, and you know it," she said, watching him closer. No matter what she goaded him with, he remained silent.
Suddenly, all those nagging worries she'd had, the ones that Rin had so easily brushed away from her subconscious, were screaming at her. He clearly did not want to talk about it. He clearly had not wanted her to meet Mrs. Uchiha, and was not ready for her to get that close to his past, in any capacity.
She tightened her hold on the flowers until she felt one of the stems snap under the force. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. They were almost home, and this horribly awkward drive would be over soon. Neither of them said another word as he descended into the underground parking lot and pulled into his assigned space.
Sakura said a forlorn goodbye to the stem of the hydrangea she had snapped as she climbed out of the car and it tumbled out of the arrangement and down to the concrete. Another sacrifice made to the day's festivities, the first of which being her pride.
If she thought the car ride home was awkward, it was nothing compared to the elevator up to the 32nd floor. When the doors opened, she nearly fell over in relief.
As bitter as the awkwardness between them tasted, she figured some space would make things easier. Even if, after spending an entire afternoon thinking about him, and dying to talk to him, space was the very last thing she truly wanted. Prying was clearly getting her nowhere, which was unfortunate, because it was what she did best.
Imagine her surprise when he stepped into her apartment behind her. She had to duck her face to hide that shock from him before quickly scuttling into the kitchen to plop her flowers in a vase. She meticulously unwrapped them from the bundle Rin had so neatly prepared for her, and then proceeded to cut the stems on an angle, one by one, even though they'd already been cut.
If Kakashi thought her behaviour was strange, he didn't mention it. Then again, he hadn't said three words to her since the halfway point back home. She cut the next stem with a little too much "enthusiasm" and sent it careening off the counter and toward the bathroom.
Grumbling to herself, she left the broken bit of stem where it was and turned to procure her one and only vase. She opened the cupboard and glared up at it, sat proudly on the very top shelf, pretty and on display, because she really never used it, and so she thought that putting it well out of reach made sense. It probably had at the time, but now she was just frustrated.
She had just braced her knee on the counter and was halfway to hoisting herself up onto it when a firm grip settled on her shoulders and made her carefully back away. She shifted her glare from the vase to Kakashi.
"I got it," he said quietly.
She harrumphed childishly, impatiently tapping her foot on the kitchen tiles as he brought it down from the shelf.
"Cherry blossoms?" he noted as he held it out to her.
"It was a gift from my mother," she said as she gingerly took it from his hands and moved back toward the sink, where her flowers were waiting for her. "She hand-painted it herself."
"It's beautiful," he said, sounding so annoyingly sincere, that she slowly felt her fiery anger dwindle. He inhaled audibly, and Sakura looked over her shoulder just in time to see his mouth snap shut and his head shake subtly. Was he going to say something about his own parents?
She sighed to herself as she placed the flowers in the vase, one at a time. She thought back to one of their first outings together; that little hike with Pakkun, where he had brought her to a place so sentimental, and then told her about how he'd lost his parents. He'd been so open and vulnerable. The memory of it brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't understand what had changed; why he had been able to open up then, but was unreachable now.
"I didn't tell you because I was worried it was too much," he blurted out suddenly. He had moved to her couch and was sitting with his back to her, talking straight at the black screen of her television. "That you weren't ready to meet my—I mean, we never talked about meeting parents, and she's the only one I have, really…"
Sakura dropped her flower back into the sink and wiped her hands off before slowly making her way to him.
"Were you worried she wouldn't approve?" she asked faintly.
Finally, his head snapped in her direction, his body twisting so he could look at her over the back of the couch, brows pinched and lips downturned unhappily. "God, no—no, I wasn't worried about that, I just didn't want you to feel pressured."
She took another few steps toward him as he rubbed his palms over his face. The last time she'd seen him this distressed had been following the Tenzou shit show.
"We just… You were thrown into the situation with my friends without even being asked. I didn't want this to be like that," he continued. Sakura sat beside him carefully, watching his leg bounce anxiously. "It's— I care about—" With a frustrated huff and another rub at his face, he finally met her stare head-on, looking determined. "I like that you fit in with my friends," he said hurriedly. "I like that they like you. And—and my dog—"
"Our dog," she corrected, just to be a little petty.
"Family is complicated," he finished finally, with a slump of his shoulders. "Things have gone well so far and maybe…maybe I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop."
Sakura let that hang between them. Maybe some of that cynicism was still lingering in him, after all.
She was finding it difficult to be upset with him. Whether it was the champagne, or the glimpse into his past, or how red his ears had gone, she wasn't sure, but she didn't stop herself from reaching over to take his hand in hers. His leg stopped bouncing when she dropped their interlocked hands in her lap.
"So...you decided to gatekeep your grandmother," Sakura deadpanned.
Kakashi let out a surprised huff of laughter. "Sounds bad when you say it like that," he mumbled.
"It's pretty bad," she said with a wry smile, knocking her shoulder against his. "But is it as bad as breaking into your laptop instead of just telling you I needed you to be more open?" she asked with a long, self-deprecating sigh.
Kakashi's lips tilted into a small smile as his eyes raked over her face. She nearly forgot how to breathe when he leaned in close to press a gentle peck to her lips.
"Charmer," she teased.
He smiled and leaned away. "I think our communication skills need some polishing up."
If that wasn't the understatement of the year, she would sleep in Pakkun's stinky bed for a week.
"Okay," she started with newfound vigor, "let's make a pact."
"A pact?" he asked dubiously.
"A pact. We keep doing this thing," she said, gesturing vaguely between them and hoping Kakashi was picking up what she was putting down with her wishy-washy hand flapping. "This thing, where we need more from each other, but instead of saying it, we just hold it all in until it manifests as some ridiculous scheme."
"Like a B&E."
"Or," she continued, "an attempt at sabotaging your best friend's bridal shower."
"I wasn't trying to sabotage the shower," he objected. "I was trying to sabotage you at the shower."
"Anyway," she said, ignoring him. "Whenever we're feeling…insecure about anything between us, we should just air it out. Don't let it fester."
The look on his face was incredulous at best. "You just described a normal, functioning relationship between two well-adjusted adults," he pointed out.
"Yeah," she agreed. "We should probably give that a try."
He stared at her for a beat before nodding slowly. "It's a deal," he said softly, his voice low and rumbling, and totally unfair. His warm smile transformed into one of those cocky smirks that he knew got on her nerves, but it didn't stop her from swinging a leg over his lap to sit herself on his knees.
"Good," she said, feeling light as air as she twirled her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. "Because I've got about a thousand questions."
He sighed, but he was still smiling. "As long as it's not about the bathtub."
"Really? Because I was thinking we could start with a little re-enactment," she said with a pout. "Just you and me, and maybe less clothing."
Sakura was careful not to bombard Kakashi with too many questions, and Kakashi thanked her by making a visible effort to not evade those questions. She never knew being open and understanding could be so frustrating. She wanted to sit him down in an interrogation room and demand he lay out every second of his life that he could remember, from the age of six.
She didn't do that, though. She tried to keep her questions to a minimum, which meant having to choose wisely, but it was so hard when one question inevitably led to another.
Yes, he grew up with Obito in that house, and yes, he went to most, if not all, Uchiha family functions. No, he was never officially adopted into the Uchiha family, and no, he had never had the desire to be. He called Mrs. Uchiha grandmother, and he swore up and down that he was the favourite of all her grandchildren. He and Obito were the only grandchildren she raised.
He had lived in a little house with his parents down the road from Mrs. Uchiha's home. Nothing nearly as grand, but it was on a big green field. Across the street was a suburban development. That's where Rin's family lived. The three of them were school friends, always bouncing between their three houses. More often than not, they would end up at Kakashi's house, playing games in that open field.
And then Kakashi's father passed.
He had opened up to her about it before, but it made it no less heartbreaking this time around. He took one look at her quivering lip and cut their Question & Answer game short.
That's how pretty much all their impromptu Q&A's went. Lately, though, he'd been sharing more without her poking and prodding, and every time he did, she had to hide her stupidly happy smile for fear that it would scare him into clamming up.
They were doing dishes. He was washing and she was drying, and in a not totally unexpected moment of clumsiness, Sakura had nearly swept her vase and flowers clean off the countertop. Kakashi was quick to save it from toppling over, his wet, sudsy hands flying past her face and splashing soap into her eyes.
"Kakashi!" she cried, blindly flinging her wet dish towel around and only stopping when she was satisfied with the sound of it slapping against his skin.
"I save a precious gift from your mother, and this is the thanks I get?" he grumbled.
She squinted at him through her wet eyelashes only to find him much closer than she expected, his face hovering inches from hers, eyebrow raised and inarguably unimpressed with her (actually quite impressive) aim. Despite the wet towel onslaught she unleashed on him, he still took a clean towel from her cupboard to wipe at her face.
"Thank you," she said quietly, paired with her most adorable pout. She was pretty sure he was immune to it, at this point. Her suspicions were confirmed with his dry harrumph in reply.
Once her eyes were dry and de-soaped, he turned back to the sink, leaving her jutted out bottom lip criminally un-kissed. Her petulant pout turned into a real one, but he paid her no mind.
"My mother was a poet," he said, offhanded and entirely unexpected. She nearly let the plate he handed to her slip through her fingers. "My father used to have her poems framed around the house," he continued, smiling softly to himself, completely unaware of how he'd knocked her off balance. "Instead of bedtime stories, he would read her poetry to me."
When she remained uncharacteristically silent in the face of this information, he paused in his work to look at her. His eyes widened with panic.
"Do not cry," he warned, soapy finger wagging threateningly.
"I'm not gonna cry!" she snapped, even as she forced the warble out of her voice. Incredulity was written all over his face, but he let it slide, moving on to the last of the cutlery sitting at the bottom of the basin. "But that's very sweet," she said softly, keeping her head ducked and her smile tucked away as she dried off their forks. "I guess that's where you get it from."
His ears were pink, but that didn't stop him from teasing her. "I thought you said I write filth."
"Well-written filth," she corrected with a sniff.
"Well," he said slowly, the pink creeping down from his ears to his cheeks. "The publishing house is holding an event for a preview of the upcoming filth."
"How glamorous," she said, thoroughly enjoying the way his blush was spreading.
He scratched the back of his neck, giving her a good view of how red it had gone. "I can bring a guest," he said slowly, eyeing her carefully as she dried off her hands and collected the dirty dish towels to toss in her hamper.
She wondered how long she could get away with playing dumb. "That sounds fun! Are you bringing Obito?"
"What? No, I—" His eyes narrowed at her and he scowled. She laughed outright at the sight of him, blushing and annoyed. "You're messing with me."
"I would never do that," she said sweetly, leaning up on her toes to kiss his chin.
"Maybe I should bring Obito," he sulked.
"Aw, I'm sorry," she said insincerely through her giggles. "No, really. Ask me again."
"I didn't ask you the first time," he pointed out.
"C'mon," she pressed. "Ask me to be your date." She couldn't hold back her impish grin. It was rare that Kakashi was the one grumpily propositioning her, and she would milk this for all it was worth.
"Will you be my date?" he asked dryly.
"Don't you mean Sukea's date?" she teased.
"I'm leaving."
"Kakashi!" she cried out through her giggles. He slumped toward the door, Pakkun hot on his tail.
He was gone for not five minutes before he slumped right back in, grudgingly kissing her on her playful smile until she was too distracted to tease him any further.
Chapter 21
Chapter Text
What did one wear to a publishing house soirée? Sakura had no idea, but she did know who to ask.
Between her sleep schedule and requesting Ino's assistance to look presentable, her timeline just wouldn't line up with Kakashi's. She would have to meet him at the event and miss his reading, but then, she was certain that a private re-enactment would be more enjoyable, anyway.
She wasn't sure what she expected from a publisher that unleashed such salacious content unto the masses, but it had not been anything so swanky. It wasn't Mrs. Uchiha level, but her ol' pencil-skirt-and-sweater combo definitely wouldn't have been appropriate. She typed a quick thank you message to Ino as she stepped into the building.
The venue was intimate, but impressive, and someplace Sakura was actually very familiar with; the Shimura Library of Rare Books on the Konoha U campus. She was greeted by the warmth of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, protected by glass panes that reflected the golden lights, making the room glow from within.
This had always been her favourite library, for that reason. It wasn't great for studying; the lights were always a little too dim to be able to read for hours on end, but it was always peaceful.
The chamber that hosted the book preview was quite small, and suddenly Sakura was acutely aware that these were the people Kakashi worked very closely with, and that he had invited her to take part in it. She also began to appreciate the significance of his so-called "filth". His books were clearly very important to the publisher.
She scanned the room for him, looking for that signature slouch and his brown wig. She had to bite her cheek to keep from grinning when she remembered the last time she'd seen him in the Sukea getup. She didn't think a repeat performance amid Konoha's rarest books was a great idea, but the mental picture was still nice.
She spotted him just moments before he spotted her. Her feet moved of their own accord, carrying her towards him, where he stood with a full drink, Anko standing beside him, talking at him and looking particularly threatening. Sakura got the feeling that Kakashi was ignoring her.
He smiled when his eyes locked with hers, and he stepped away from Anko without a word, leaving her fuming in his wake.
"Hey," she greeted, tilting her face up to accept the kiss he aimed at her cheek. "How was the reading?"
"It was fine. I always pick the most boring passage so that they'll stop asking me to do them," he confessed quietly, smirking as he brought his glass to his lips.
"You are shameless."
"And you are beautiful," he returned easily, draping his arm across her back and letting his hand settle on her hip. Damn, but he could sweet-talk his way out of anything. Still, just to put on the air that she was immune to his charms, she rolled her eyes and swatted at his chest lightly.
"C'mon, Sukea," she teased, "I need a drink if I'm to put up with you all night."
"All night? Is that a promise?" he asked, his eyes positively gleaming with mischief.
"I should have known your alter-ego would be an even bigger perv than you," she chided. He paid her jeering no mind as he led her to the bar, and then around the room.
Sukea was charming. It was a sight to behold and left Sakura a little bit in awe.
She had always found Kakashi charming, and annoyingly so, but it wasn't until she watched him turn it on for the public that she could truly appreciate how smooth he really could be. Everyone that approached him always left smiling. It seemed everyone wanted to either be him, or be his friend. Compliments fell on him endlessly, and he accepted them all with graceful modesty, all while Sakura stood by his side, probably looking as stupidly enthralled with him as everyone else at the party did.
She was getting dangerously close to feeling too much. Reconciling all the different versions of Kakashi she'd seen into one whole person was making it abundantly clear to her that she liked this person. Sure, she knew she liked him, what with them dating and all, but this was something else entirely.
From the snarky, arrogant Kakashi she had despised, to the guy who fed her soup when she was sad, to this confident professional before her; it was all becoming too much. She almost couldn't breathe from the weight of it. Her ridiculous heart was pounding, and when he glanced at her to see how she was faring, it nearly jumped straight out of her chest.
He introduced her with such reverence in his voice, like she was the one being honoured here, instead of him. She never felt out of place or uncomfortable at his side, amidst a crowd of strangers (and Anko).
When she excused herself to use the washroom, she took the moment to stand apart from the crowd just to look at him. Maybe she was having a stroke. That would explain the sudden tingling in her fingertips, and the way her thoughts seemed to slow to a halt when she looked at him.
She never imagined that a grudge match with her infuriating neighbour would lead her here.
With a determined huff, she shoved those all-consuming feelings to the side for the evening. As if sweeping her up in a massive wave of emotion wasn't bad enough, he also had the nerve to appeal to every shallow fibre of her being. Those clingy shirts would be the death of her, she just knew it.
Her "bathroom break" had apparently gone on too long for Kakashi, because he came looking for her, only to find her leaning against a wooden beam, following his every move, trying to keep her insatiable thirst in check.
"Everything okay?" he asked, that hand once again sliding across her back. She leaned into it.
"Mm, it's interesting to know that you can actually behave in a socially acceptable manner," she said with a put-upon sigh. When his hand slowly crept down her spine to rest low on her back, she stiffened. It did not go unnoticed by Kakashi.
His eyebrow was raised and his lips quirked in a coy smirk. "Have I behaved inappropriately, Miss Haruno?"
God, did he have to have a voice smoother than velvet? He knew exactly what that did to her, damn him.
Before she could answer him, Anko slithered up behind him and wrapped her hand around his elbow, gripping hard to prevent any escape attempts—suggesting that Kakashi had escaped her clutches more than once this evening.
"One of the board members just arrived, and they want another reading," she said with a clipped tone, leaving no room for argument. "Now, Hatake."
"I already did one!" he complained quietly, slouching further down.
"Don't be a baby," Anko whispered fiercely. "C'mon, mama needs a new car."
With that, she started dragging him away. He cast a helpless look over his shoulder to Sakura, but she was more than happy to see him endure the torture. She sent him off with a wiggle of her fingers and a wink over the rim of her glass as she took a hearty sip.
She hung around the back of the crowd while Anko forced a tablet into his hands. Despite lingering behind the shoulders of people a head taller than her, Kakashi managed to find her peeping between two biceps. He turned back to Anko and gestured to the tablet, murmuring softly to her and shaking his head.
She scoffed quietly to herself, earning her the ire of the two people she'd been peeking through. A whole party in honour of a book preview, and he was refusing to give them what they wanted. Of course, he would find some way to come out smelling like roses. Classic Kakashi.
Anko looked surprised, but not in the angry, "I will kick your ass from here to Suna" kind of way. Instead, she nodded enthusiastically and took the tablet from his hands, swiping furiously before landing on whatever it was she was looking for. It was all very fascinating, and Sakura was interested to see how it would turn out.
That was, until Anko handed the tablet back to him and turned to leave, but not before sending a wink Sakura's way. Her keen interest quickly turned to dust to make room for being absolutely, completely scared shitless for whatever was about to happen.
And so she should have been.
Kakashi proceeded to read to the crowd the very excerpt that she had discovered while snooping; his retelling of their first time together. Somehow, it was far more jarring to hear him read it aloud than it had been to read it to herself in silence. It definitely didn't help that his eyes kept lifting from the tablet to meet hers in the crowd, a slow smile spreading over his face as she grew more and more flustered.
She was going to explode. She could feel it. The heat was crawling under her skin, pooling in her cheeks, her belly, and between her thighs, and—god, seriously, there was something so hot about it all, and she hated him for that.
She wanted to do unspeakable things to make him pay; unspeakable, glorious, naked things—but unspeakable, to be sure.
She was reconsidering her thoughts on getting it on in the rare book stacks when Kakashi handed the tablet back to Anko, bowing his head to accept the bout of applause the small gathering offered to him.
A portly man stepped forward—Sakura assumed this was the board member that Anko was keen to impress—to shake his hand for what felt like too long. Kakashi had to stop the man from wiggling his arm out of its socket by clapping his other hand against the man's before breaking his hold. If Sakura had tried that manoeuvre, she doubted it would have been half as well-received as Kakashi's performance.
It was the damn smile. She just knew it. He could do anything with that smile. She would do anything to him, so long as he smiled at her like that.
It was rich of her to accuse Kakashi of being a perv when she was standing there, all hot and bothered over a smile—but, god, what she wouldn't give to have him sink those teeth into her right now. What would he do if she just took him behind one of these towering shelves and dropped to her knees?
Another drink. She needed another drink, and she needed a cold one.
"Vodka cran with extra ice, please," she said, sounding more harried than she cared to admit as she slipped a small bill across the counter. "Thank you," she gushed as the bartender offered her the glass, filled to the brim with ice, which was fine by her. She took a big gulp, crunching one of the small cubes between her teeth.
"Feeling warm?"
"Yeek!" she squeaked, jumping and losing a couple of her ice cubes to the floor, as well as earning the surprised stare of a few publishing professionals. She whirled to see Kakashi and his stupidly self-satisfied smile looming over her. He continued to smile, even as she slyly swatted at his chest. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she hissed.
He remained as amused as ever. "I find it quite cool in here, myself," he said, tilting his head in consideration. "Or," he continued with a sly smirk, leaning down so he could speak directly into her ear, "are you flustered for some other reason?"
Damn him.
She could feel the heat she had just managed to dispel begin to creep up her neck again. "You wish," she said weakly.
He hummed softly, his voice low and sweet, his breath tickling her ear and his hand curling around her hip slowly. His grip was light, but every little flex of his fingers was sending shocks to her stomach.
"Is that really how you remember it?" she asked breathlessly, giving up all hope on trying to emanate a calm and collected aura. They both knew why she was standing with her ankles crossed.
Kakashi's eyes met hers with a weightiness that had her knees quaking. His hand gripped her hip a little tighter as he moved his lips to her ear once more. "I kept the best parts for myself."
She could barely hear him over the pounding of her heart, and when he pulled away, her head was swimming, but there was one thing she knew, and she knew it well—they needed to get out of there, because if they didn't, she would not be held accountable for her actions.
"Take me home," she whispered, her hand curling around his wrist and clinging to it for dear life.
Kakashi's falsely-brown eyebrow twitched upward in mild surprise. "Do you have a thing for Sukea, Miss Haruno?" he teased, his voice dipping lower, growing gravelly and reaching parts of her that should not be reached in public.
"Take me home and find out," she propositioned, meeting his dark eyes head-on and holding him there. If this wasn't the most obscene display of eye-fucking in the history of the world, she didn't know what was.
Kakashi hummed in consideration, his thumb rubbing slow circles into her hip before his other hand came up to her chin, tilting her face up to his. He pressed a (shocking) kiss to the corner of her lips, quickly and surreptitiously, making certain no one else would see.
"Patience," he murmured with one last devilish smile before his hands were gone, and his lips were too far, and his voice was back to its regular timbre, as if he was completely unaffected. By all definitions, he was completely unaffected. He just fixed her with a cheeky smile and waited patiently for her to finish her drink.
Well, if that's how he wanted it to be, then two could play it that way.
With a sigh of resignation, she put her empty glass down, and looped her arm into his, allowing herself to be towed alongside him as he was pulled from into a conversation only to duck out and be pulled into another. He was an expert at the dodge-and-weave, but even he could not eliminate social interactions at a party thrown for him.
She dutifully stood by his side, laughing politely at jokes, offering her compliments and support to him where prompted, and fixing him with her most dazzling of smiles whenever he chanced a glance down at her. His smile was always a little softer when he directed it at her, compared to the one oozing charisma that everyone else received.
She could almost feel his defenses dropping.
"Sukea, your editor has teased that this is your most romantic work to date," a willowy woman with salt-and-pepper hair said excitedly, tapping her long fingernails against her wine glass in enthusiasm. Sakura thought that if she were to be any more excited, she would wet herself.
Kakashi did his whole chuckle-and-duck routine in the face of the compliments, graciously accepting their praise. Sakura loosened her hand hooked around his elbow and slowly let it trail down to where his hand hung loosely in his pocket. She kept her eyes forward and her winning smile in place, but her hand wandered slowly, tracing the underside of his forearm, where his sleeve was rolled up, down to his wrist, to brush ever-so-slightly against his pulse point.
She caught the fleeting, quizzical look he shot her, but played innocent. He returned his attention forward, and she continued her exploration of the soft skin of his wrist. She let her fingers brush over it, one by one, before moving down to his palm, slowly sliding down to the centre, letting her cool fingertips rest gently against his heated skin.
She crooked two fingers against his palm in slow strokes, blinking up at him innocently as he his hand twitched against hers and his jaw clenched.
"Ah, you'll have to excuse us. Sakura has an early shift, so I should get her home," he said with his most genial smile. As dismayed as they were to see him go, they could not possibly be upset with him, so they all bid him gushing goodbyes.
Sakura smiled to herself as he led her away, her hand clasped firmly in his.
"I don't work until afternoon tomorrow," she reminded him.
His eyes were clouded when they met hers before darting down to her lips. He gripped her hand tighter as he looped his arm over her shoulder, hugging her tight to his side so he could speak against her temple.
"I know. You're going to need your rest."
Nothing revved a girl's engine quite as much as spending the better part of her evening objectifying her partner, especially not when said partner a) looked like that, and b) was doing everything in his power to keep her going. From the moment they were in the car, to the long, long, long ride up to the 32nd floor. Sakura just had to accept that this little black dress was never going back in Ino's closet—not after Kakashi had had his hand all the way up under its hem.
The hallway was blissfully empty, not that she would have cared either way. Not that she could have even seen anything with how far back her eyes were rolling in her head as Kakashi's hands held her body so tight and close to his, or how his mouth sealed against the side of her neck, nipping and licking and sucking, and, god, if this continued she was going to get down on all fours right there, and demand he do his worst.
"Get your key out," he rasped against her ear, making her skin erupt in goosebumps and her fingers quake as she fumbled with her bag.
"What's wrong with your apartment?" she asked, tripping over her words as she shook her bag to knock her keys loose from whatever pocket dimension they'd clearly fallen into. She had only just managed to wrangle them free when Kakashi jerked her hard against his body, his lips lowering to hers in a deep kiss that had her weak in the knees, and buttery in the fingers, because her keys promptly slipped right out of them and onto the carpet.
"I have a feeling you're going to be making a lot of noise tonight," he said, his voice rumbling from his chest to hers, and all the way through her body, settling between her legs.
She choked on the sound that pulled from her, fisting her hand into his shirt, as it was the only thing keeping her on this plane of reality and preventing her from floating up to horny heaven. He didn't wait for her to make a recovery. It was easy enough for him to break her hold so he could double over and pick up her fallen keys, before bracketing her snugly to his side as he unlocked her door.
It wasn't fair that he could still function when she was total and utter goo in his arms, but then, she didn't really have the strength to protest. Thankfully, one of them did have some strength, and he was using it very effectively; choosing to kick her door shut behind them with a slam while he gripped the back of her thighs hard enough to hoist her up against him.
There was a time when she may have felt a wee bit indignant about him using their relationship as very literal inspiration for his writing, but right now, all she could feel was gratitude. Long, hard gratitude, pressing firmly against her core as she wrapped her legs around Kakashi's waist.
She felt the cold granite of her countertop materialize beneath her thighs as Kakashi rested her atop the kitchen island where they often ate breakfast, but fuck it, she would sterilize it in the morning. She would sterilize a thousand counters, so long as he kept doing that thing with his mouth. Her toes were curling in her shoes with every breath he huffed out against her neck between kisses.
The skirt of her dress was rendered entirely useless as his hands pushed it out of his way, intent on groping to his heart's desire. Everywhere they went, they left a trail of fire in their wake; over and between her thighs, under her ass and around her hips, then finally—finally pushing between her legs to press two fingers against her seam in one long stroke.
He was right about her being noisy tonight.
She let out a broken whine and dug her ankles into the small of his back to bring him closer. He remained just out of reach, his lips a breath away from hers, tilted in a smug smile. She dropped her eager, trembling fingers to his belt, unfastening it posthaste, because if he wasn't going to continue with the urgency she felt the situation called for, then she would have to take matters into her own hands.
"I want you," she whispered, hearing the desperation in her own voice and being too far gone to be embarrassed about it.
She had nothing to be embarrassed about, apparently, because Kakashi took that as his cue to kiss her, at long last. She groaned into it as he pressed his lips hard against hers, deepening the kiss immediately, parting his lips against hers and panting hard as her hand slipped into his unbuttoned pants to palm at his length through his boxers.
"God, I want you," she said again, whining and wanting.
"I'm yours," he rasped between heated kisses. His hands pushed her dress fully out of the way. He didn't even bother with pulling her panties down; instead, he settled for pushing them aside as she pulled him free of his boxers and toward her entrance.
His hands gripped her hips hard and pulled her to the edge of the counter, her body surging toward his, muscles already taut with the anticipation of finally getting what she so badly wanted. As he pulled her closer, she pulled him as well; by his hair, bringing his lips crashing down on hers once more.
One hand flew from her hip to brace himself on the counter, his blunt tip snugly pressed against her entrance, and she tilted her hips to pull him in. A clatter behind her made her freeze.
"Shit—" Kakashi cursed, so quietly it was nearly drowned out by the sound of glass breaking, and then the feel of cool liquid splashing against her back. "Shit," he swore again, more aggressively as something shattered on the floor.
When she looked down, she saw the broken remnants of her mother's vase littering the kitchen tile alongside her dying flowers. She blinked at it in confusion before raising her eyes back to Kakashi, hissing in pain. There was a hefty amount of blood on his hand, pouring out from a nasty cut in his palm.
"Shit, Sak, I'm so sorry," he said emphatically. "Your vase—"
"Your hand," she interrupted, pushing him back far enough that she could slip off the counter To get a clean dish towel. She wrapped it tight around the cut and then squeezed his hand into a fist with her own. "Hold that tight, like this," she instructed. "I'll be right back with the first aid kit."
He looked like he was going to argue, but she turned her back and headed for where her kit was stashed in the linen closet. When she got back to him, he had managed to tuck himself back into his pants and was using one hand to sweep the broken glass into one tidy pile. She set the kit down and took the broom from his hand. His droopy eyes seemed even droopier, if that was possible.
"Here," she said, taking his hand gently in hers and carefully unwrapping the towel. "This will sting," she warned before applying antiseptic.
"I'm sorry," he said again, sighing in frustration.
"Kakashi, it's okay," she said with a little laugh. "It's just a vase."
"It was a gift from your mother," he reminded her, his eyes boring into hers with a hefty sadness.
"And it was special to me," she admitted before dropping her eyes to his cut. "But so are you," she continued, keeping her gaze locked on his hand as she cleaned and dressed the wound. Once satisfied with her handiwork, she gingerly raised his hand to her lips to kiss his clean knuckles.
His eyes were searching her face frantically, no doubt trying to find signs of deception, but she had nothing to hide. Sure, the gift from her mother held sentimental value, and sure, she was sad to see it broken, but at the end of the day, it was just a vase. Her heart lobbed itself into her throat when she saw that he was hurt, and no inanimate object could have pulled that reaction from her.
"I can try to fix it," he offered, staring down at the pile of broken pieces on the floor, and the pile that remained on the counter.
"Kakashi," she said, taking his face between her hands and forcing him to look at her. "It's just a vase. Totally replaceable. What I need is for you to ice this hand and keep it elevated to keep any swelling down."
His brows pinched and his lips turned down into a tiny frown, he very reluctantly relented. "Bossy," he grumbled.
"Well," she started with a weary sigh. "At least this one won't end up in one of your books."
The gravity in his expression sent a thrill through her. "If you think this is over, you don't know me very well."
It had been threatening to rain all day, but that didn't stop Sakura and Kakashi from piling into his car with Pakkun and driving down that long country road that led to the Uchiha house that Kakashi had grown up in. Sakura watched as they passed the hidden driveway that betrayed nothing of the extraordinary home that sat at the end of it.
Kakashi didn't tell her where they were going, only that he wanted to show her something. She didn't particularly care where they went, honestly. Anywhere he took her generally had something worthwhile waiting for her. Pakkun was snoozing peacefully in her lap, that rainy day effect hitting him hard, even though the rain had yet to fall.
"The sky is almost as grey as you," Sakura teased lightly. Kakashi spared her one unimpressed glance.
Something about the heaviness of the clouds above them made her feel at ease, like there was a thick blanket hanging over them. It helped that the car was warm and cozy and smelled heavily of Kakashi, and that his hand was clasped lightly in hers, resting on her thigh beside Pakkun's head.
Not for the first time, Sakura felt her chest squeeze with some unnamed emotion. She could probably guess what it was, but she was just as content to let her heart do its somersaults in ignorant bliss. It was a pleasant feeling, in any case, if not a little demanding. The more she ignored it, the more it demanded to be heard.
Between her head and her heart, she wasn't quite sure which was more stubborn. She supposed she would find out eventually.
It wasn't long after they passed Mrs. Uchiha's home that Kakashi pulled into a long dirt driveway that led to a small, dilapidated house. It was boarded up, the white paint on the porch yellowed and peeling, and altogether in a bad way, but Sakura's heart stopped its foolish dancing and leapt straight up into her throat. She didn't need to ask to know where he'd brought her.
This was his home. This was his parents' home.
Her face must have betrayed her shock, because Kakashi's eyes crinkled softly with an affectionate smile, and his hand squeezed hers gently, as if she was the one that needed comforting. Based on the way her eyes had begun to prickle, she guessed he was right. Not that she'd ever tell him that.
He gave her a minute to compose herself, probably for his own benefit as much as hers, and slowly got out of the car, stretching and waiting patiently at the hood, just gazing at the house in front of them until she was ready to step outside with him.
"You can let Pakkun roam. He won't go far," he said when he heard her door open, not bothering to turn and face her. Pakkun did not look pleased to have his sleep interrupted, which was probably why he immediately trotted away from them when given the chance. She watched his curly tail bob through the dried out grass of the field around the house.
She could easily picture the little Kakashi she'd seen in those pictures running around this field on a warm summer day. Little Kakashi and a big dog, rolling around in the grass. Kakashi lounging beneath the sun, reading a book far too complicated for a boy his age, completely absorbed in it until the sun was setting and his father was calling him inside for supper.
She squished herself tight to his side and hugged his arm as she pictured it. She hoped he saw happy memories when he looked at this place. It may have been in a sad state, but she could easily see its charm through the disrepair.
"After my father died, I didn't have anywhere to go," Kakashi began softly, keeping his eyes fixed on the horizon where Pakkun was ambling casually through the field. "I had no other family and he hadn't left a will."
He heaved a stuttering sigh. Sakura waited patiently for him to continue. She imagined this couldn't have been an easy story to share.
"I spent a couple of months in foster care, bouncing around. I didn't tell anyone. Rin and Obito wondered why I wasn't hanging out after school anymore, but I didn't know how to tell them. I still don't know how grandmother found out," he confessed with a small smile and a shake of his head. "I just know that, one day, she appeared at my last foster family's home and told me to collect my things, and that was the last time I had to toss all my clothes into a garbage bag."
Sakura bit her cheek to keep from launching into a rampage. She didn't want to think of Kakashi—her Kakashi; strong, cocky, brilliant, infuriating Kakashi, as a lonely boy with all his worldly possessions tossed into a plastic bag, being shuffled from one home to the next.
"It wasn't so bad," he said, finally looking her way, plucking her displeasure straight out of her head. She really needed to work on masking her feelings better.
"I'm glad Mrs. Uchiha got you out," she managed to say without too much anger or sadness creeping into her voice.
"Me too," he said, knocking her with his shoulder and a playful smile. He took it all in stride. She was in awe of him. "Everything my parents had was held up in an estate. Lawyers had to poke around, and then everything moved into a trust. Once grandmother became my legal guardian, she was named executor. I told her I didn't want any of it, to just sell the house and whatever was in it."
"Kakashi…" Sakura said softly, squeezing his arm. "You didn't."
He sighed once more. "I was bitter. I was angry that they left me." His eyebrows pinched unhappily and he shook his head in self-deprecation.
Sakura thought about all the petty things she'd been upset with her parents about over the course of her life. She couldn't begrudge him that, as awful as it may have sounded.
"It was very Holden Caulfield of me," he joked.
"Thank god you grew out of that," she joked back, though the humour was generally lost on both of them. "She didn't listen to you, did she?" she guessed.
Kakashi looked down at her, mildly surprised. She wasn't sure what he was looking for in her face, but whatever it was, he seemed to find it. His smile was small, but sweet. "No, she didn't."
"I like Mrs. Uchiha," Sakura decided. Her conviction made Kakashi laugh. Her heart did that stupid jig again.
"I think she likes you, too," he admitted, albeit reluctantly.
She felt shock shoot through her. "Really?"
Kakashi took one look at her face and burst out in laughter. "Don't look so surprised." He leaned down to press a small kiss to her forehead; a move so tender it had her eyes fluttering closed. She felt like she was in one of those cheesy rom-coms Ino made her watch. The moment ended when Kakashi leaned back with a smug smile. "You can be bearable on occasion."
"Maybe I should rectify that," she threatened dryly. "From now on, I will be entirely unbearable, one-hundred percent of the time," she promised.
"Consistency is key," he agreed amiably. She punched his shoulder for it.
"I don't know how anyone can be so sweet and so annoying at once. You're giving me emotional whiplash," she complained as he took her hand and pulled her from where she was leaning on the hood of his car toward the rickety old porch of the house.
She followed warily, watching her every step. Despite the look of it, the structure felt solid under her feet, but that didn't quell her displeasure when Kakashi dropped her hand to pull out a set of keys, twirling them around his finger as he watched her watching him.
"I knew I got serial killer vibes from you."
It wasn't a total lie. He could lure her into anything with the look he was giving her. She knew he did it on purpose, but that didn't stop her from falling for it every time. One arched brow, a crooked little smile, and the casual lean against the doorframe. Even the way he twirled that key ring around his middle finger was doing things to her.
She glared at him as he leaned down closer to her, his eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Is that your way of asking me for another little death?" he asked cheekily.
"On second thought, maybe I'll murder you," she said with her cheeriest grin.
"That's definitely counterproductive to seducing—"
"Just— Open the damn door, Hatake!" she snapped, stomping her foot in anger, like the grown woman she was.
Chuckling under his breath, no doubt congratulating himself on besting her yet again, he unlocked and opened the door, as he was bid.
Sakura had been prepared to see some shit when that door opened. Going off the sorry state of the house's exterior, her expectations were low to say the least. She expected ruin; walls crumbling, floors gaping, vermin scuttling about.
What she hadn't expected was a clean, crisp blank slate of a home.
It was bare. In fact, bare was an understatement. There was no proper flooring, the walls were just blank drywall, there were no light fixtures, only electrical wires dangling from precisely-cut holes in the ceiling and walls, and there was no furniture or appliances to speak of.
"The estate has been covering property and land tax," Kakashi explained as he walked slowly through the home. There was a small bit of light flowing in through the boarded-up windows. From the outside, she had assumed that the windows were likely old and broken. Now, from the inside, she could see they were actually relatively new installments. "But they sacrificed on insurance. Minimal coverage," he continued with a long sigh and a kick to a rogue bit of drywall on the floor.
Sakura listened carefully to him as she slowly ambled through the home. It was bigger than she initially thought, though certainly not grand. She could imagine where they stood now, right off the front entrance, was a warm and inviting living room. There was a fireplace against one wall that she could easily picture Pakkun lounging in front of during the cold winter months.
"There was some really bad flooding one year," Kakashi said as they moved from one room to the next. "It wouldn't have been so bad, except no one knew. By the time we realized it, the damage was irreparable."
Sakura felt her heart clench. Kakashi may have told Mrs. Uchiha that he wanted nothing to do with his family home, but she knew that people often said things they didn't mean when they were hurt. She couldn't imagine how it had felt to finally gather the courage to return to this place, only to find wreckage.
"Everything was ruined," he finished softly. She glanced back at him, slyly over her shoulder to see that his eyes were downcast and his shoulders sloping heavily with the weight of the world. She wanted nothing more than to help him carry that weight, but as soon as that thought crossed her mind, Kakashi steeled himself and lifted his head.
Rather than let him catch her seeing him in a vulnerable moment, she turned her attention to what she believed would be the kitchen. Pipes stuck up from the unfinished floor, and a huge window showed her peeks of the field behind the house; a wide expanse with nothing to be seen except for the forest in the distance. She imagined standing by that window with Kakashi, watching fireflies buzz around outside while he washed and she dried the dishes.
Her throat constricted and she kept moving.
"Everything?" she asked as loudly as she dared. She had no doubt that Kakashi suspected her of getting emotional again, but as he was dealing with his own problems, he paid her no mind. Miracles really did happen everyday, she supposed.
"Mm," he hummed in confirmation. "Everything I left behind."
After what he'd said about being angry and bitter, she imagined that was damn near everything.
"Except," he continued, his voice close to her ear as he took her shoulders and steered her toward a narrow hall off the kitchen, "my mother's writing journal," he finished as he opened the two doors on either side of the hall, revealing two small rooms; a bedroom and a washroom. There was one last door at the end of the hall. Kakashi didn't make a move for it.
"You still have it?" Sakura asked before she could stop herself. She clamped her mouth shut. It was none of her business.
His hands gently moving over her shoulders and down her arms startled her. She felt herself leaning back into him, her body subconsciously making the decision to drink in his warmth without her permission. He must not have been affronted by the question, because he placed a lingering kiss on her cheek.
"I do," he said. "And one photo of me and my dad."
Don't ask him to show you, don't ask him to show you, don't ask him to show you, for fuck's sake do not ask him to show you.
By the skin of her teeth, she managed to restrain herself. In the game of head vs. heart, it was head: 1, heart: 0. She wasn't so confident that that would last very long.
It was too much to think of little Kakashi sitting in his bed while his father read his mother's poems to him, so she moved along. Kakashi didn't seem to mind, either. His hand did pause hesitantly over the final door, though. For a moment, she considered telling him it was okay, that he didn't have to share everything all at once, but he turned the knob before she could speak.
The room was big, considering the size of the house. A huge, south-facing window in the centre of the room, and a fireplace at the wall across from it. Even empty, it promised comfort. Her skin was starting to itch with how the word home kept creeping into her subconscious.
Kakashi didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. It was clear this had been his parents' bedroom. It was strange how an empty house could incite so much emotion, but here they were. If she closed her eyes, she could honestly convince herself this was home.
She could see the huge bookshelf against the west wall, overstuffed with a mix of her textbooks and Kakashi's novels. She could see the dog bed in the corner by the fireplace, and the thick blanket thrown over the bed. She could see Kakashi lounging back against the headboard, that teasing smile on his face as he goaded her into joining him on the bed.
She moved back to the hall without another word. This was getting out of hand. She was becoming downright delusional.
The last place he led her was down a staircase off the kitchen, just past the back door. To her surprise, the lower level was completely finished. It was unfurnished, but the rest was all in place, including light fixtures. Kakashi said the power wasn't running yet, as no one was living there, but it was clear he intended for someone to, based on where she was standing.
There was a set of double doors that walked straight out into the field, the glass panes remaining uncovered, unlike the other windows she'd seen. She wondered if Kakashi had done that on purpose, knowing he would be bringing her here, and knowing that she was a hazard on two legs. Either way, she was grateful for the light filtering in, however dim it may have been.
"My father always talked about wanting to finish the basement," Kakashi said, startling her from her reverie. "He said my mother only agreed to buy this place because he swore he would finish it."
Sakura gave the room another good look. Another fireplace, this one larger than the two upstairs, and an open floor plan. There were a couple of rooms, one of which Sakura assumed was a washroom, but overall, she got the feeling that this was meant to be a meeting place of sorts.
"I've been slowly trying to fix it up," he continued, keeping his eyes firmly averted from her. "Starting here, with whatever small payout I got from the insurance company."
"All your moonlighting as Sukea is making sense now," she said weakly, with a wobbly smile. She heaved a breath of relief when Kakashi gave her a short laugh in reply.
He took her hand in his and brought her out through those double doors. From down here, she could see the deck off the kitchen, and Pakkun rolling around in the dirt in the distance. She flexed her hand around Kakashi's, amazed at the strides he had made, from not wanting anything to do with this house, to making it a home.
"I, uh—I'm not great at sharing," he said, stating the obvious. "But this place is important to me, and I wanted you to see it. I haven't even told Obito and Rin about it," he confessed quietly.
Lord, help her. Her heart was bursting with that big, scary feeling, and the more she tried to shove it aside, the louder it got. If she didn't say something soon, she was sure her heart would beat its way out of her chest and tell him itself.
"It—it's a b-beautiful home, Kashi," she warbled, biting hard into her bottom lip to keep the tears at bay, but it was too late for that. She raised her face to him, eyes wide and brimming with tears, lips trembling despite all her efforts.
Instead of his usual discomfort, she was met with his strong arms wrapped around her, hugging her tightly to him. The cold air blew fiercely around them, but he was so warm she hardly noticed.
"I'm sorry I'm such a cry-baby," she wept sloppily into his chest.
"Don't be sorry," he said with a small laugh and a comforting rub at her back. "I'll get used to it," he vowed softly, which did absolutely nothing to dispel her tears. She hugged herself tighter to him, probably holding him with an uncomfortable amount of force, but he didn't complain. Even when she pulled her face away from his shirt, he didn't complain that she'd gotten tears and snot on it.
Okay, he complained a little, but in a teasing way, which he followed up with another one of those forehead kisses. Her lips parted; ready to concede to her stubborn heart.
A loud crack of thunder overhead stopped her. Her mouth was still open when the clouds gave way to a heavy downpour. Kakashi's arms slackened in surprise, and Sakura laughed, watching as his usually gravity-defying hair flattened under the force of the rain, dripping heavily into his eyes.
Maybe she wasn't ready to let her heart win just yet, but tilting her head back in an invitation for Kakashi's kiss felt like a confession in its own right. His lips were cold and slippery from the rain, but it was no less breathtaking.
She clutched at him desperately, yanking him until he was stepping into her. The two of them stumbled into one another until her feet began sliding in the mud. Before she knew it, their kiss was broken up by her frightful gasp, and then the two of them collapsed together in the mud.
"I'm getting déjà vu," she whispered.
Kakashi laughed even as he groaned, but welcomed another kiss. With every break and recapture of her lips beneath his, she became more and more convinced that she would be consumed by him; by the feelings she had when she was with him, when she thought of him. The feelings she had for him.
She whimpered weakly into his kiss. He broke away, remaining close enough that his breath mingled with hers in misty puffs, but far enough away that the world started to shift back into focus. His concern was written all over his face and had her scrambling for excuses.
Thankfully, Pakkun had her back. He darted for them, barking excitedly and kicking up grass and mud as he paced along the length of their bodies, lying in the dirt. Sakura let out a watery giggle, the sound muffled by the heavy rain.
Kakashi's smile was soft and his posture relaxed as he laughed and helped Sakura to her feet before relinquishing her to the cold.
"Come on. You're going to reek of wet dog," he said with a good-natured sigh.
"He's about due for a bath, anyway," Sakura said as she opened the passenger side door and Pakkun immediately hopped in to sit beneath the seat.
"I wasn't talking about Pakkun," Kakashi teased over the hood before climbing in himself, leaving her standing alone in the rain, caught somewhere between howling rage and incomparable joy.
Sakura was almost grateful that she had work at ass-o'clock the next morning, because she wasn't sure she could keep her mouth shut about all the ways she had mentally inserted herself into Kakashi's home. They had agreed to share more, sure, but there was a difference between being open and being insane, and Sakura straddled that line precariously, everyday teetering too far to one side, and she was hardly ever on the side of sanity.
She had only just peeled herself out of her mud-caked clothes when she heard a knock at her door, followed by the door opening.
Kakashi, then.
"Sakura, have you seen my wallet?" he called into her apartment. She emerged from the washroom to see him frantically looking around. She had never seen him do anything frantically.
"No, I haven't. Have you checked the car?"
"I just did. It's not there." He let out a frustrated huff and ran his hands through his damp, muddy hair. "What am I gonna do?" he mumbled to himself.
"Hey," she said softly, setting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing, hoping to comfort him. She could feel he was still tense beneath her hand. "It's okay. We can call the bank and cancel your cards. You can apply to have your ID reissued online. I've done it about a hundred times before for Naruto—"
"I don't care about my credit card, or my ID," he snapped.
Sakura pulled her hand back in surprise. "It's just a wallet, Kakashi. You can get a new one." When he didn't respond, she continued, hesitantly smiling at him. "That thing was pretty old; you could use an upgrade—"
He fixed her with a hard glare that made her stomach drop to her feet. "Is everything replaceable to you?" he asked, his voice sharp.
"Of course not," she answered as calmly as she could. She didn't understand what had him so upset, but she was trying her best not to let it get to her. She tentatively reached out for him once more. "Why are you getting so upset with me?"
He shrugged her hand off brusquely, his jaw working hard, clenching and unclenching. "Nothing. You wouldn't understand," he dismissed.
She took a deep breath to calm herself. She hadn't anticipated the day would come when Kakashi was more ill-tempered than she was, and she tried hard to clamp down on her frustration, but the more he spoke, the harder it got.
"That's not fair," she said, trying to reason with him.
He barked out a bitter laugh. "Isn't it? If you lose or break something, no problem, just buy a new, shiny one to replace it. Doesn't that sound materialistic to you? Because it sure sounds like it to me," he jeered.
Frustrated tears burned behind her eyes, but she blinked them away.
"Kakashi," she said weakly in disbelief. "You don't mean that." She phrased it like a statement, but every fibre of her being was questioning him.
His lips set in a firm line as he stared down at her. She could see some of the fire he'd blazed in with starting to die out, but his body was still tense with anger. He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.
He whirled around to the door. "I need to go."
"Kakashi—!"
She was cut off by her door slamming shut behind him.
