Welcome back! Two chapters this week (school is about to start so don't get used to it lol) because I wanted to get the ball rolling. I believe this one is double the word count. Enjoy and I look forward to your reviews!
P.S. Some of this isn't cannon. I didn't want to leave Neji dead, but that's for another time.
The Reveal
"I'm going to Naruto's. I'll meet you all at the gates at 10." Sauske said lazily as he turned to exit Kakashi's office.
"Sauske." Kakashi said quietly, causing the man mentioned to stop, but not turn around. "Don't fuck with Sakura's head during this mission. You of all people know what kind of attention Orochimaru needs."
"Kakashi. When have I have ever intentionally interacted with Sakura, directly or indirectly? It seems that she's moved on from her little crush. Good for her." Sauske walked out of the door with that parting statement. When the door closed, Kakashi sighed wearily, knowing this was going to be a long mission. It had been a while for him. All he had time to do was sit on his ass and sign paperwork. He stretched, tied up some loose ends, and then teleported out of his office to the Hokage's residence. He wasn't at all surprised to see he had a visitor.
"Giving him the cold shoulder was a little childish, don't you think?" Kakashi asked the pink haired blob in pajamas on his couch. Sakura sat up and looked up at Kakashi as he approached her. He'd taken off the vest and his overshirt on his walk over, leaving the undershirt with the mask attached on. He leaned over the couch forcing her to sit back a little. He took down his mask meeting her halfway for a quick kiss.
"It wasn't the cold shoulder. I simply had other things on my mind. Mainly the fact that we haven't told anyone about our… thing. Now Team Kakashi is reuniting for the worst reason ever, and we have to go on this mission pretending that we aren't more than teammates. I'm annoyed." Sakura sat back from him completely in a huff, going back to the now semi-room temperature dango she'd been eating. Kakashi moved to lean on the back of the sofa.
"Sakura. Telling them before this mission isn't an option, nor is letting them find out during it."
"Don't talk to me like I'm a fucking kid, Kakashi. I know that." Kakashi stood up, stripping out of the rest of his clothes as he walked toward the bathroom to take a quick shower before packing.
"Shouldn't you be at home packing instead of lounging in pajamas on my couch?" He asked her over his shoulder without stopping. Sakura got up to follow him into his room while stripping herself.
"I figured you could pack then we could teleport to my place so I can grab my pack. This is the last bit of time we have before we have to act like we haven't been together for the past six months."
Sakura finished undressing and stepped into the shower after him. She blushed slightly as she looked from his body to his face. Kakashi was a beautiful sight, and even being slightly mad at him wouldn't stop her from noticing that body. Kakashi turned toward her as she got in behind him. They hadn't slept together, but Sakura had started birth control after their first real date. As a result, Sakura was no longer the stick she complained about being (even though it was clear that Sakura was a petite hourglass.) She was still muscular, even more so due to the weight gain, but now she was as top heavy as Ino, and her ass was even more prominent. She'd even started wearing pants instead of shorts because men were drooling after her in the village and outside of it. The breasts he could take or leave. The thighs, hips, and ass were his speed. The shapeliness of those body parts spoke to the strength a woman's body had. And as most of the men in the village had found out in the past six months, she had plenty of it.
"It's not the end of the world, Sakura. This is what we do. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can get back."
"Yeah, Yeah. Pass me my body wash and loofah, please. Also, why did you call Sauske back to the village? Why couldn't he have met us in the Sound? Better yet, why include him at all," She muttered, holding out her hand for the items she'd asked for. She wasn't even slightly placated by what Kakashi seemed to call reassurance. Kakashi sided eyed his girlfriend silently answering her stupid question. She saw the look then rolled her eyes and began to lather. They both washed and left the shower. Kakashi finished first. Sakura had begun to grow her hair out again so she was delayed about twenty minutes. Who knows when she'd be able to deep condition again? Kakashi was dressed and had begun packing by the time she made it out of the bathroom.
"Why weren't you wearing your robes today?"
"I don't wear them every day, Sakura." He responded dryly while stuffing some rations into his back. Sakura stared at him crossly as she threw on another outfit from the stash she had in his closet. In the normal world, they'd be moving way too fast yet too slow since they had no problems showering together. It almost never turned into a sensual/sexual thing, because if they were showing together it was usually because they both were too exhausted to wait for the other to finish. Since they were ninja and had known each other for years the rules didn't really apply here, either.
"I know you don't wear them every day, smartass. The Kazekage is in town right now. You typically greet in formal robes."
"Gaara is here to see how Temari is doing in Konoha, and to spend time with Naruto. No robes necessary. I'm starting to think you have a thing for that particular uniform." Kakashi laughed as he ducked a pillow turned missile. Sakura landed on the bed next to his pack with his signed copy of Icha Violence, an extra uniform, and sandals. He raised an eyebrow, watching her place them in the bag correctly.
"Stop looking at me like that, Kakashi. I know how you like your pack. We've snuck into it enough over the years." It was Sakura's turn to laugh as Kakashi realized what that meant.
"You're all set! Let's head out then go meet Hinata and Naruto for dinner before we leave."
"Why are we meeting anyone for dinner? Why can't you cook at your place?"
"I am not your personal servant, Kakashi."
"I didn't say you were. I just assumed we weren't leaving your apartment. Didn't you just say this was our time since we won't have any for a while?"
"Yeah, well as I left-"
"Stomped."
"Left the tower after the meeting I ran into Hinata, who of course had already been seen by Naruto. He told her to invite the Konoha Eleven and teachers; well those in town to Barbeque. I told her I'd pass the message along to you and if I was coming, she'd see my face." Sakura shrugged as she walked back toward the door with Kakashi to put on her sandals. Once they put their sandals on, they stood and Kakashi grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together to get ready to transport them both. They appeared in Sakura's living room and she let his hand go to go and grab her already finished pack. She walked back over to where Kakashi was standing with his hands in his pockets, watching her. She'd noticed that since they'd made it official, he watched her a lot. It wasn't always sexual, though. It was like he just wanted to make sure she was alright.
She smiled as she stood a few inches in front of him, thinking of the nostalgia of Team Kakashi going out again… then the smile faded as she realized that Kakashi was going on a mission, and not as Hokage. "Kakashi… why are you going on this mission? It's already extremely dangerous. If word gets out that you're doing missions instead of sitting behind that desk…" Kakashi took one hand out of his pocket and ran it along her cheek, then slid it down to run it over her bottom lip. Sakura shivered, and Kakashi smiled. He slowly put his hand back in his pocket and answered her question.
"Orochimaru has a Rinnegan." There was a lengthy pause before Sakura lost her shit.
"What did you just say?! How in the hell did that bastard get a Rinnegan?"
"It's Madara's. He stole it off his corpse while the Sage of Six Paths released the spirits. We were all kind of caught up making sure Naruto was okay after he lost Minato. Oh, and making sure that Sauske wouldn't do anything that would make me have to kill him." Sakura shivered for a non-sexual reason as she thought about that genjutsu. She'd never forgive him for that nightmare even though he did give that weak apology while he and Naruto were losing blood.
"Why didn't you mention it to Sauske or Naruto?"
"They know now. That information is in the mission scroll."
"Hey! I didn't get a mission scroll!" Before she could finish that sentence once appeared in front of her.
"I figured I'd see you well before we had to leave."
"You did this on purpose! Now we can't go out because I have to read this damn thing!"
"How was I supposed to know you'd made plans? And since I'm the one that wrote the scroll, it's just you that can't go out."
"Kakashi." Sakura looked up at him with serious contempt, enough to make him take a giant step back.
"Honestly, it won't take that long. Most of this is redundant to you."
"Great! Make some tea while I read." Kakashi crossed the room to the stove, put some water in the kettle and started it up as Sakura sat at the kitchen table to read. Thirty minutes later, Sakura was scanning the new information for the third time. "I cannot believe this..." She whispered and looked up at her team leader, who was finishing her tea off. Kakashi turned the scroll to ash after confirming that she was done reading it, then got up to throw out the ashes and rinse the tea cups.
"Unfortunately, you didn't have the clearance to know most of this information. Outside of Tenzou and Tsunade, I'm the only one who knew."
"A Rinnegan… possible Sharingans… Hashirama's cells… and a plan to take Neji's body from his grave? But Orochimaru had to know that Neji had a Caged Bird Seal… that makes no sense…" Kakashi shrugged as he returned to the table and to sit.
"Knowing Orochimaru, that was just a small obstacle. But there's also no guarantee that he knew Neji was a part of the branch house."
"He had to know, Kakashi. He was posing as the Kazekage during the Chunin Exams!"
"Valid point. Now we know that the seal doesn't matter to him."
"Neji was one of us, Kakashi, how can you sound so fucking detached talking about him!" Sakura's hand slammed down on her table. It whined at the sudden attack. Sakura was struggling to hold back her emotions. Neji was a sensitive topic for all of them. He was the only one of the Konoha Eleven not there. None of them were the same after losing him and they never would be. That train of thought brought her back to Sauske. Neji was gone, but Sauske was here. Being the asshole you'd expect him to be, even though his team had given him more chances than he'd ever deserved. Sometimes that hurt Sakura and she locked herself in her house for days. Sometimes, like today, it pissed her off. Even after she and Kakashi got together. It wasn't that she still had romantic feelings for him. Those died when he walked away from her again at the gates four years ago. Sauske was theirs and he still didn't fucking get it.
"Sauske still doesn't get it, Sakura. Maybe he never will. He understands that we love him, but it still doesn't translate. He's still embarrassed and angry that he couldn't figure out what Itachi was really doing and save him. He feels like he doesn't deserve us." Kakashi said quietly after sensing what, or rather whom Sakura had transferred her anger about Orochimaru to. Sakura looked up at the window that had closed blinds. She knew that, but she was tired of Sauske and his excuses not to give a shit about them.
Sakura compartmentalized those emotions, then looked up at Kakashi with a smile. "Ready to go get Barbeque?" Kakashi stared at her, watching her turn into that kid who hid her feelings about the boy she loved.
"Don't do that, Sakura. It's not healthy, and we can't afford to fuck up this mission." Sakura was shocked that he'd call her out and just stared at him. Kakashi then held out his hand and waited. After a few minutes Sakura grabbed it and sat facing him in his lap. He let her hand go and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let go.
