Happy Fire Friday, all! :)
I'm so so excited to be back, holy shit. A lot of you didn't seem particularly happy with things that happened in the last chapter but you gotta trust me okay? This has all been planned for a long time and I hope you enjoy it :)
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Kakashi walked briskly across the camp towards the fire where Sakura and two other men were making breakfast. He saw Asuma seated on a log nearby and nodded at him but didn't stop to chat. The space was slowly filling, hungover rogues lazily stretching and choosing places to sit but Kakashi still felt their gazes heavy on his back and he knew his and Sakura's little scene the night before had made an impression. Gossip moved fast among ninja.
He didn't know how he was supposed to be feeling about the night before. He had briefly considered waiting for Sakura to wake up so they could check in with each other but in the end decided to head towards the showers silently.
The night before—and all throughout this mission, really—he'd been trying to keep things from escalating like they often did in this kind of mission. Teammates who had to fake relationships in long term assignments were common to go back to the village either as a couple or in the odds. Sure, their mission wasn't panning out to be a particularly long one after their breakthrough the day before, but it was still something to take under consideration. Kakashi had been in this spot before but those missions were usually done in about two days and the few times he had spent more than a week with someone, it was always missions where he had to seduce the target or someone close to them; meaning there had been no fear of bringing his work back home with him.
Out of respect for their history and the weird position they were in, Kakashi hadn't wanted to complicate things. Only, if he was being completely honest with himself—and he felt particularly so that morning—he had known from the moment Yugao had suggested this cover that it was a bad idea and went ahead with it either way.
Last night the lines had been blurred beyond recognition. If it had been any other kunoichi with him in that tent, he would have gone all the way. His peers normally didn't have much reservation as to what lengths they took to complete a mission and Sakura sure seemed ready to do whatever it took to keep her stellar records.
Kakashi was having a harder time accepting that Sakura was actually one of his peers than he thought he would have. Maybe that wasn't exactly the problem, though. Throughout this mission so far he had done a good job of coming to terms with the fact that Sakura was a shinobi that stood on his level, he had long ago realised she wasn't the little girl he met all those years ago.
The problem was that Kakashi had no idea what box to put Sakura in. She wasn't a student or a subordinate or even someone he could teach and guide. She was a full fledged kunoichi that didn't need his coddling or help.
However, Sakura also wasn't someone like Yugao whom he considered a good friend and jumping through being friends to being something more and then back hadn't been strenuous at all. Sakura and him had so much history between them, it was absolutely clear in Kakashi's mind that the place she had in his life was more meaningful than that.
For him, relationships and emotional connection had mostly been separated. He would have quick relationships, most of them with civilians outside the village while on a mission, but the ones he cared most about he held to a different kind of esteem.
Sakura had become one of the people inside the village that he cared most about. Their past had been rocky and unsure but, throughout all the resentment, sadness and misdirected anger, they had built a different bond than what he had with anyone else. Sakura was his family and his pack and it felt natural to put her in that particular box for a while.
But now… now he knew how her breasts felt pressed against his chest, her moans muffled on his skin. Her softness and scent were ingrained in his brain almost as if he'd used the Sharingan.
And the fact that he was attracted to those parts of her that made her a woman wasn't even the problem, really. He was a shinobi and so was she and physical attraction was normal in their line of work, it was expected with the way they were wired to be physical and follow their instincts. It was a mere inconvenience at times, something to be ignored or acted upon without much discrimination.
The root of the problem was that Kakashi now knew intimate things about Sakura that didn't quite fit inside the tidy box of family, pack, friend. He now knew how she liked to bundle up for sleep because her feet got cold, he knew how she felt inside his arms as they slept next to each other, the cadence her breaths took as she fell asleep. Kakashi knew how Sakura looked like when she first woke up and he knew the tiny breathy sound she made when she scooched impossibly closer towards him just before she opened her eyes.
Kakashi's thoughts were a jumbled mess inside his head and he had no idea how to deal with them.
And like most things Kakashi didn't know what to do with, he put it carefully away and focused on his duties. He'd see this mission through, get his pay and take another solo mission as soon as they got back to Konoha. Like a good shinobi.
Kakashi raked a hand through his disturbingly short hair while he purposefully strode up to Sakura where she stood cleaning her hands near the cooking pit. He brought his arms around her tiny waist from behind when he was close enough, letting no hesitation show when he leaned down to bump his nose against her jaw affectionately before planting a quick kiss to her cheek.
Growing up as he did, he didn't have a whole lot of people around him that showed emotions and even fewer of those were the romantic types. Kakashi had learned the basics of seduction during his days in ANBU and even had come to excel at it but his personal life was sorely lacking in that department. Not that he wasn't happy with the way things were. That was exactly how he liked things to be. Uncomplicated.
Which was exactly the opposite from this whole situation because when he approached Sakura trying to figure out which type of affectionate gesture he should go with for their audience, the first thing that had come to mind was Minato-sensei and how he used to hug Kushina-san from behind whenever he entered the room.
And the second image that had crossed his fucked up mind was the most troubling of all. The only picture his father kept of his mother at the Hatake house was in his study. The two of them young and in love and getting married. Hatake Midori smiling brilliantly at the camera and Hatake Sakumo nuzzling her jaw, the wolf instincts ever present in the Hatake line making their show of affection manifest close to what their animals did.
He didn't know why he was remembering such troublesome things. Kakashi only knew that he had terrible nightmares with Rin and Obito the night before and that he was tense that morning and what would be a good idea at the moment was to focus on the mission. If he had to make their cover more believable, then he would. He just had to remind himself that Sakura and him had set up a code to tell the other to back off and that she seemed experienced enough with the procedures for this type of mission to actually use it if need be.
There were a lot of catcalls all around them and Kakashi felt the rush of satisfaction that came with accomplishing something mission related despite the conflicting thoughts still rattling inside his brain. He'd convinced them enough. Now they could focus on the real mission.
Kakashi leaned back but kept his arms around Sakura's waist. It was enough to see the slightest of blushes forming across her cheeks. A part of him felt smug after her little stunt the night before. He knew she'd been testing his limits and seeing her like this today was more than enough payback. The other part of him found it endearing that she could not bat an eye at stripping in front of him but could go red at a simple peck on the cheek. After a second of consideration he wondered if she was faking the blush and concluded she positively could and would do so.
Kakashi had to fight against a laugh at that thought.
He was broken out of his thoughts by Asuma's loud bark of laugh and a hand clapping his shoulder roughly.
"I guess no more doghouse for you, eh, old friend?"
To anybody else it would look like he was just a guy goading his best friend, but Kakashi heard the way his laugh was a bit too loud and the half millimetre his eyes were widened more than usual.
Sarutobi Asuma was freaked out. At least a little bit. It seemed their show had been convincing enough to fool his friend and Kakashi would be damned if that didn't make him want to fuck around with him a bit more. He never claimed to be the type of friend that didn't go around pushing buttons and whatnot. His plans to fuck with Asuma were interrupted by Sakura stepping out of his hold.
"For the sake of not murdering my husband's best friend, I'll let that slide but you still owe me your biggest piece of meat for that cheek, Asao-kun." She hooked her arms around his and Asuma's and moved them closer to the fire. "Now come on, get us something to eat fast so we can get a good spot to enjoy our day off."
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Kakashi settled better against the trunk of a tree, a safe distance away from the rest of the gang. Asuma, Sakura and him had chosen a spot that let them be seen but not heard and it was absolutely perfect after way too long stuck in close quarters with every single one of those rogues.
Sakura was nestled against his side, her head pressing against his shoulder as she hugged his arm between hers. Asuma was on her other side, smoking quietly and occasionally sharing it with Sakura when she sent him a not so subtle puppy dog eye. It was peaceful, in a weird way.
The days had gotten less rainy but only marginally less cold. Kakashi could appreciate the sun beaming down on them and the warmth that Sakura's body provided. He missed Icha Icha.
The day before Sakura had trapped him inside the showers to talk. They kept one of the showers running and the door locked to make it seem like something was going on but had talked quietly in the quickly steaming room.
By then it had been three days since things… escalated between them. Sakura, surprisingly, was worried about him.
She had been acting accordingly to their ruse, taking her cues from him and responding perfectly but he had felt a kind of tension coming from her over the few days that had gone by. For a few moments he wondered if he had somehow crossed a boundary with her but everything that had happened between them had been clearly set by her; exactly how he wanted it.
Despite knowing that they had both agreed that they would do whatever it took to finish the mission, Kakashi still wanted for Sakura to take the reigns. He would be… not exactly comfortable but okay with whatever happened and even though she seemed to be on the same page, he didn't want to accidentally embarrass her or make her uncomfortable.
He had no idea that's what she had been feeling as well.
Sakura had been concerned that she had overstepped her boundaries that night in their tent and even though what she did had not been exactly necessary, he couldn't exactly begrudge her. He was okay with everything that could have possibly happened that night and even though their cover didn't need to be that thorough at the time, it was amusing that she had wanted to get a reaction out of him.
Well, at least Kakashi thought it was after he'd gotten over the shock of hearing that moan come out of her mouth.
He could have been angry, sure, maybe he even should have, but the fact was that they were on a mission and they knew what they were getting into after they accepted Yugao's idea. It was always a possibility and one they had prepared for accordingly, setting codes to ensure the other was okay and clearly stating out loud that they would go all in if necessary.
Besides, Kakashi was enjoying seeing this side of Sakura.
It had freaked him out at first, but he had quickly gotten into the swing of things and now he could properly appreciate how much she had changed. In many ways Sakura had become closed off and work driven over the past years and while he completely understood that, it was still nice to see that she could let loose sometimes, enjoy missions and what they entailed beyond her duty.
He couldn't exactly blame her, even if a part of him was still reeling in shock.
The day before, Kakashi had made sure to tease her in the bathroom while they had their conversation but it was mostly for show. They had to be extremely comfortable with each other in this mission for it to succeed and he didn't want to create any more tension than what was already hanging over them.
Kakashi realised he had dozed off when his head slowly fell on top of Sakura's.
He inhaled slowly and deeply, taking in her scent and the smell of the forest around them lazily. Kakashi squeezed her hand almost unknowingly as he revelled in the contrast between the crisp air and her radiating warmth. It took him a minute to realise he couldn't smell Asuma anymore.
"Did he go already?" Kakashi asked, his voice gravely from his short nap. Sakura shivered from beside him and Kakashi finally opened his eye before stretching back.
"Yep," Sakura answered softly.
Kakashi stretched both arms above his head before settling back against the tree. Asuma had left with about half the camp to intercept another caravan nearby and the rest of them were either busy making dinner, playing cards or sparring in the clearing in front of them.
Kakashi shot Sakura a sideways glance.
"Are you cold?"
She wasn't shivering exactly but the wind was picking up a bit and she seemed tense.
"No," Sakura answered while nodding her head yes. Kakashi shot a quick look back at the camp to see some people trying to watch them. It was Yukio and that girl Aya, gossiping in the corner of their makeshift sparring ring while waiting for their turn.
Kakashi fought the urge to roll his eyes and sighed imperceptibly.
"C'mere." He opened his left arm so she could fit better against his side, using his hold on her to act like he was trying to warm her up.
"Thanks, Kato-kun." Sakura smiled brightly at him, her eyes dancing with amusement as they locked onto his before she leaned forward to kiss him. On his beauty mark. Kakashi knew she was messing with him by doing it.
One of the things he had noticed about Sakura recently was that she loved to tease. And she was a bit of a jerk.
Kakashi could relate to that.
"Hmhm." He smirked at her when she leaned back and looked at him in suspicion. Kakashi was pretty sure she knew what he was going to do by the widening of her eyes but he still felt like checking in with her. "Okay, partner?"
Sakura rolled her eyes at him and the very top of her cheeks darkened with a blush Kakashi wasn't sure he trusted. Sakura wasn't innocent in any way and he had firmly reached a point where he didn't really believe her coyness. His suspicions were confirmed when she went back in for another kiss, this one slower, a bit north of his beauty spot, close to the corner of his mouth.
She lingered there for a few seconds while Kakashi listened to Yukio and Aya's excited chattering, the wind in their favour that late afternoon. Kakashi waited for Sakura to pull back for another second and when she didn't, he slightly turned his head towards her.
The first brush of their lips was gentle and not at all like their almost aggressive teasing of each other. Her lips curved at the corners into a smile and he wondered for a beat if she was going to start laughing like the last time but then his mind caught up to him and he realised he had felt her smile.
The action felt more intimate than the kiss and for some reason that made the air catch in his lungs for a second before he leaned further into the kiss, trying to make that warm intimate feeling of it go away. Kakashi tried to bring this towards a place that he knew, a place he was comfortable with and could recognise for what it was; so instead of pulling back and risking her seeing the confusion in his face, he pushed forward.
With his free hand, he tilted her head up by her jaw and settled his lips more firmly to hers, capturing her bottom lip between his. Sakura exhaled harshly and Kakashi pushed one step further because he just wasn't ready to go back and face whatever that had been.
He knew the physicality of it. He knew attraction and desire and sexual tension. He knew how to deal with it. So he went for it, if only for a few seconds.
His tongue slipped out to taste her, to try and distract her from the fact that his breath had stuttered when she smiled. When Sakura opened her mouth against his, he pulled her tongue into a slow dance, trying to keep her in that moment and nothing else.
He moved his hand to the back of her neck and tightened his hold on her, desperately trying to remember any of his moves. Sakura, despite having initially seemed surprised, suddenly leaned into him, curling her legs between them so she could turn towards him.
The arm that had been hanging off her shoulders fell to her back and Kakashi grabbed the fabric of her hoodie to bring her closer. The troubling truth was that he wasn't sure if he was doing it just because it would be a good move.
Sakura tucked herself inside his arms and raised one hand to his chest, scratching slightly at the fabric there before slowly sliding it down towards his stomach. Kakashi's muscles contracted without his permission and he had a panicked moment where he wondered how far down she'd go.
Of course, she didn't go far at all, stopping well above his navel, they were still in public after all but it didn't matter because she still managed to take his breath away. Sakura, little jerk that she was, bit into his bottom lip, maybe a bit harder than a normal civilian would appreciate but to an elite ninja like Kakashi? He had to fight to keep his reactions in check.
Feeling like he had entered a game he hadn't been prepared for, Kakashi tightened his grip on her and pulled back, keeping his eyes on her face only because it would seem weird to anyone watching if he didn't.
The truth was he wasn't sure if this outcome had been any better than that strange intimacy.
Sakura was looking up at him through slightly hooded eyes, her lips slick and invitingly pink and twin cherry spots on her cheeks. Sure, this he knew. He was familiar with this. But Kakashi didn't know if seeing her face like that was any better than feeling her smile so softly like before.
He had played a game and he wasn't sure he had come out on top.
A catcall from the distance called their attention and Kakashi turned to see one of the younger members of the group looking at them with his fingers between his lips. He had apparently just taken out his sparring partner and was still standing in the middle of the makeshift fighting ring.
"Got something to say, kid?" Kakashi called, lazily disentangling himself from Sakura and getting up. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head for show and continued forward to step into the ring. "I think I should teach you a lesson about respecting your elders."
It was a bit showy and too overly confrontational but he wasn't actually trying to hurt the kid. Despite the fight being laughably easy considering his rank, Kakashi forced himself not to use any of his skills and simply revelled in the feel of his knuckles smacking on the poor kid's… everything.
He held back. Tremendously. But it was still a nice way to let some of his pent up energy go, and especially to avoid dealing with the consequences of his actions.
Kakashi pummeled the kid and then the next and then everyone that had queued up to fight that afternoon. When dinner was called, he made his and Sakura's plates and sat down next to her like nothing had happened.
He didn't acknowledge any of her looks, simply put his arm around her when he was finished as they settled against their seats. When Asuma came back with the rest of the crew, he drank everything handed to him and only stopped when he felt he wouldn't be able to walk straight towards their tent.
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Sakura squinted her eyes at Kakashi's profile.
Sunlight was still just beginning to tease them through the canvas and the chill of the early morning kept her firmly buried beneath their covers. She would usually scooch closer to Kakashi to leech some of his warmth—the man was a furnace and it wasn't like he needed the extra warmth anyway—but she took the moment to observe him unencumbered.
Sakura couldn't really figure him out. She had been absolutely certain she had fucked up that first night they faked having sex but the next morning he had been completely unfazed by it. She had, of course, obsessed over it for a few days before finally caving and confronting him about it and he had… teased her. Like she wasn't right in apologizing for crossing his boundaries and it was cute that she would think so despite him clearly having had a negative reaction to her pushings.
Still, that was nothing compared to what had happened the day before.
Sakura wasn't sure what she was going to do when she had underhandedly teased him about his beauty mark but she had not been expecting Kakashi to go for the kiss like that. And he didn't even try to fake it like their first one, he just… he really went for it.
Like they were alone and she was a target he was trying to seduce.
Because really, that's what it had been. Sakura had been in his place enough times to realise that he was putting the moves on her, purposefully. She had become a master at it and it was frankly insulting that he didn't realise she would pick up on it.
Despite it being a nice kiss—a really, really nice kiss that did leave her wanting more even though the shinobi in her frowned at the thought—Sakura had recognised the action for what it was. A seduction technique. A diversion technique.
At first she had thought he had done it because Yukio and Aya had been watching them for too long but then he had quickly pushed away from her and proceeded to obliterate their 'fellow' crewmates in the sparring ring. It would seem to anyone else like Kato had been defending her honour but Sakura knew it was more than that.
Then Kakashi had continued into their evening by drinking more than he probably should have on a mission—even if the mission required them to blend in with the bandits—and while he kept their cover appropriately, Sakura felt he had kept a rather poignant distance between them.
Nothing others would notice, of course, but their interaction had been strictly for their cover. He hadn't tried to use any code with her and Asuma to talk about the mission, or divert her attention to something possibly belonging to the case with a subtle touch. He had gone straight to sleep when they went to their tent, not even bothering to change his clothes.
Now Sakura was watching him as he slept, using the rare moment of being awake before him to try and figure out what was going on inside his head.
After a few more minutes of going over different things in her head, Sakura gave up with a huff and turned to face the top of the canvas. It was stupid to be thinking about anything other than the mission at the moment. He was her partner, their covers were intact and they had a mission objective to complete.
With that, Sakura got up and promptly stripped from the clothes she had been using as pyjamas. The air was cool even inside the tent so she quickly jumped into her day clothes and started to pull her hair up in a ponytail before Kakashi groaned from behind her.
He was slowly pushing himself to a seating position with one hand while the other buried inside the messy hair hanging over his closed Sharingan. He squinted at her in the semi-darkness around them and Sakura snorted. He looked fucking miserable.
"Here, drink this." Sakura let her hair fall around her shoulders to hand him the water bottle next to her pack. He accepted it with a grimace and Sakura smirked at him before sitting back down on their bedroll. "Do you want me to fix that?"
Kakashi grumbled something at her that she took as a yes, and Sakura scooched closer to take his head between her hands. Most of his headache was from dehydration but she could settle some of it and stimulate the cells in his liver into working faster.
This close to him she could smell yesterday's alcohol in his breath and while it wasn't a particularly inviting smell, it was overpowered by his scent. Ever since the mission had begun, she had been constantly circling small amounts of chakra to heighten her senses like she had trained with the pack so she wouldn't miss anything. It had a peculiar side effect of making her more susceptible to noticing his scent. He was, after all, part of her pack.
"Thanks," Kakashi mumbled, looking significantly better but still with a sort of far away look to his face.
Sakura hummed and dropped her hands to her lap but didn't pull away. She was going to get the mission going, she was. But first she just wanted to check in.
"We're okay?"
"Are we—" They interrupted the other and Sakura didn't fight the smile that wanted to stretch at her lips. "We're okay, Kato… I'll head over to make breakfast now, okay? I think Yuuto-sama was looking for me earlier."
Sakura was relieved that they were okay and wanted to quickly divert their attention back to the mission, reminding him that they still didn't know a lot of things about this operation. Kakashi nodded and stretched a bit, his usual slouch disappearing.
"I'll probably spend the day with Asao since tomorrow there's going to be another heist," he offered.
Good. He would check in with Asuma to see what else he had discovered in his mission while Sakura tried to work Yuuto as best as she could. They were back on track.
"Alright." Sakura pressed a kiss to his cheek even though she knew there wasn't anyone outside their tent to witness their interaction and got up. "Drink lots of water!"
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The camp was a happy mess that day. There had been another heist and with it a good loot of booze and gold and they would head out to another visit to the village since it was a Friday. Not everyone got to go every Friday, only Yuuto, but that one was in their rotation and Sakura, Kakashi and Asuma were happy for the reprieve going into town would provide.
At least that's what they were showing on the outside, but the truth was that Sakura would be staying behind. Kakashi would maintain a clone throughout the day with a henge over it since none of the other jounin were going and Sakura was going to infiltrate Yuuto's tent to see what he had hidden away.
It was a tricky plan for several reasons. First, it was a bit of a risk for Kakashi to maintain such a chakra draining jutsu through a whole day and it was very probably going to make him weak at night and weak wasn't something any of them should be during this mission. Then there was the fact that the other three jounin in camp would be staying behind and Sakura would have to evade them all day. Despite the setbacks, it was worth the risk.
Although they had made great progress in figuring out the different routes the camp attacked, they still didn't know how they were aware that the caravans would go by those routes at those specific times. Someone had to be giving out that information and although Sakura's gut told her it was probably related to the Akatsuki, they still hadn't confirmed this and didn't even know what kind of deal it was.
Sakura had made great progress in getting closer to the other members of the crew, however. At first people had been standoffish aside from Yukio and Aya, but after healing some of them and working alongside others, they had opened up to Sakura. Well, to Akari, really. Sakura had nowhere near the amount of sweetness that her perky cover did to pull that off.
It was annoying at times, always being sweet and happy but it was quickly made into a game for Sakura to see how many people she could trick with her sunny disposition. She had so far won over at least half of the camp, making them underestimate her greatly and letting her in on some important conversations.
Sakura, hidden in her genjutsu and with the chakra signature matching the frog next to her, strode silently into the woods. She walked slowly and without hurry just short of a kilometre north until she stopped.
Kaede was sitting on his haunches, his electric-blue eyes piercing right into hers even though he couldn't see her.
"Sakura-hime." His deep voice was cheery even with the seriousness of the situation as it rang inside her head.
Kaede despite having grown up to his full adult form was still a puppy in her eyes and even though his voice had deepened as much as his dad's, he still had a carefree disposition about him that endeared her endlessly. She reached out to press her forehead to his.
"Kaede." She smiled slightly, letting her nose pick up his comforting scent for a few seconds before she stepped back and got right into business. "What do you have to report?"
"Team Ro is still investigating the duo spotted in the village. There have been no further sightings of them." Kaede huffed slightly and Sakura could only imagine if he was a human, he would be pouting. "No one seemed to pick up any different scents around the woods either."
"So… no progress." Sakura sighed imperceptibly, already annoyed. She wanted to keep this mission going forward but it seemed they would have to wait longer before dismantling the operation. She scratched Kaede behind his ears. "It's okay. Good job out there, pup. You be careful, okay? I'll see you in three days."
Sakura could feel his hesitation. Kaede didn't like having her alone any more than she liked leaving her pack unattended in the woods. In the end, though, they trusted each other and they had their duty to attend to. Sakura to her village and Kaede to her commands. She scratched him one more time before turning to leave.
"The Hatake pup is not around…" Kaede stopped her before she could walk any further.
"He's not a pup, Kaede. He's older than you." Sakura turned to smile teasingly at him and he flicked his ears a few times before huffing.
"I don't like leaving you alone in the camp without them here."
Sakura wanted to be annoyed but Kaede was just… so cute when he was worried.
"I could use a lookout," Sakura offered but continued before he could get too enthusiastic, "but Chika would probably be a better choice."
Now he was definitely pouting. Sakura snickered quietly and ruffled his fur. She wanted him to stay with her just as much but she couldn't risk her mission. Kaede seemed to understand that because he nodded slightly before lightly biting at her wrist and moving quickly through the trees after telling her to wait for Chika at the outskirts of the camp.
Sakura moved in place and had to wait only ten minutes before Chika was breaking through the treeline in a careful trot.
"Hiya, Chika." Sakura smiled even though the wolf couldn't see it and moved to pet her pretty white fur. "I need you to hide in a genjutsu outside the tent. If you see anyone coming too close, pretend you're a stray and bark some to let me know to get the fuck out."
"Roger that," Chika replied cheerfully, already incredibly disguised.
They moved silently towards Yuuto's tent while Sakura used the least amount of chakra possible to keep track of the jounins' chakra signatures. The tent was huge and had two separate rooms. One was filled with crates overflowing with all types of trinkets, a small table with four chairs and a lamp.
Sakura didn't waste much time in that room, much more interested in the second one. It was an office and a bedroom at the same time. Yuuto's cot was overflowing with furs in the corner and there was a beautiful wooden desk with many papers sitting haphazardly on top of it.
Sakura ruffled through the papers quickly while Inner memorised what was written in them. It wasn't anything interesting, exactly. Plans for possible heists that had been scratched out, letters from Yuuto's brother and a few love letters from someone who signed only K.
Sakura memorised everything to work on later, she would check for codes when she was safe. The first drawer held a few stacks more of letters and some stationary. Sakura was still ruffling through it when she felt Yukio's chakra signature moving closer.
He was clearly heading her way but she was confident she had a few minutes more before she absolutely had to leave.
The second drawer was opened much more carefully because there seemed to be a trap in it. Nothing tricky, something an Academy student could have figured out and Sakura eased her way into the drawer quickly, finding a stack of files hidden away.
Files on every shinobi in the camp.
Fucking jackpot, Sakura thought, a slow smile gracing her lips for a few seconds before her features were schooled once again. Sakura quickly moved through the files, committing to memory every skill, backstory and info on every single one of the ninja in the crew. At the very bottom was hers and her team's.
They hadn't known much about them, like they had planned. There was a brief physical description of them and estimates on their level and their preferred way of fighting, which of course was every bit fake. Sakura's file only said that she was married to Kato and knew basic medical-ninjutsu.
She made a quick mental note to come back there to destroy their files anyway before the mission was complete.
The last drawer was locked.
Sakura fished her lockpicks from her pouch and got to work. Over the years she had developed her abilities in lockpicking to the point that she could probably do it blindfolded within a few seconds. The lock clicked and the drawer slid open at the same time she felt Yukio's chakra signature right across the fire pit. He was way too close for comfort and she knew Chika would probably interfere soon. She had to get a move on.
The drawer was almost empty. There were a few pens and some paper thrown around but Sakura couldn't figure out why Yuuto would have kept it locked. Something was wrong.
Yukio had stopped at their fire pit and with her enhanced senses Sakura could hear him talking to the cook of the day about their lunch. Sakura pressed her hand around the confines of the drawer until she found it. A secret bottom.
Sakura quickly got it open at the same time as Yukio started to circle the fire. He was getting too close.
Sakura quickly rooted around the hidden compartment and pulled out an iron box. It fit in both her hands and didn't open despite there not being a keyhole.
Yukio was almost on her side of the fire.
Sakura quickly moved the box in every direction until she noticed that there seemed to be a small discoloured circle on the lid. She quickly probed her chakra into it, just the tiniest amount, and confirmed her fears.
Chika barked outside and Sakura heard a commotion near the fire pit.
Taking this as her cue, she carefully set the box back where it belonged and tidied up after herself. She quickly moved around setting things exactly where they had been and squeezed against the entrance of the tent when the noise outside got louder.
Sakura had taken just a few steps away from the tent before she froze. Yukio was standing just a few meters from her, kneeling next to Chika and petting her fur excitedly.
There were about four people around him, none of them above chunin level. Sakura was hidden enough to fool the elite, she knew that and she trusted her skills but Yukio could probably find her if he was a sensor type or if he noticed something odd about Chika's sudden appearance.
"A dog!" he exclaimed, completely enamoured by Chika as she huffed and licked his hand, her tail wagging excessively.
Sakura backed away until she couldn't be seen or heard and took to the trees as soon as she could. She trusted Chika's abilities but it was hard not to worry about the little wolf and how she would escape Yukio's clearly delighted hold. Thank fuck for her fluffy white furry ass. She would get a huge rabbit in return.
Sakura met up with Kaede again, quickly roped him into hunting the biggest rabbit he could find for Chika and then the two of them waited for her to show up.
"That guy is so, so grabby, Sakura-hime!" Chika complained, her fur sticking up in some places, making Sakura want to laugh. She composed herself, though, and kneeled down to present the tiny annoyed wolf with her offering.
"I'm sorry, Chicchan." Chika couldn't see Sakura with her genjutsu on but Sakura smiled all the same. "Here you go! A nice wild hare for your troubles. Thanks for having my back."
"Always!" Chika exclaimed, her eyes widening in delight at the sight of the carcass.
Goodbye wasn't any harder, but Sakura was feeling much lighter. The box was a clever piece of technology that worked as one of the safest places to store away something you didn't want found. The owner would get a small key with a circle at the end that matched the circle on the lid of the box and infuse their chakra in the key. The first time the key was pressed in the faux keyhole, the box's hidden seals would work to only open with that chakra signature.
In other words, it was a lock she couldn't pick.
She could have torn the metal apart with her bare hands, sure, but that was kind of counterproductive since they didn't actually want to be noticed doing anything suspicious before they could take down the whole gang. She had to find the key and her bet was that Yuuto had it on himself.
Sakura waited until lunch was over and no one was around the fire pit to sneak in and grab a few bowls. One for herself now and two for when Kakashi came back. The track to her tent was easy to make without detection and once inside she sat comfortably in her bedroll and ate her lunch.
Sakura easily kept her genjutsu up and her chakra hidden as she leaned back on her small cot and closed her eyes. Food had helped keep her reserves high and a little bit of meditation wouldn't hurt.
The next time she opened her eyes, Kakashi was entering the tent.
Sakura dispelled her genjutsu at the same time he did his clone and watched as he seemed to startle and wince at the same time. Sakura couldn't help the little laugh that escaped her when he quickly recomposed himself and managed to muster enough strength to glare at her.
Sakura offered her pilfered bowls of rice and meat as a peace offering and he gratefully took both before sprawling next to her with a tired sigh. Sakura put a hand to his nape as he ate to check his system and quietly hummed to herself as he devoured the food without ceremony.
His chakra levels weren't dangerously low but it was enough to make anyone tired if you weren't in a fight with the proper levels of adrenaline to keep you up. Kakashi seemed to tense and sigh at the same time at the feeling of her chakra in his system or maybe it was her hand on him, she didn't know. But he did look at her briefly before going back to his meal.
Between bites, he talked to her about the day they supposedly had together to fill her in and Sakura committed to memory everything about it in case she had to bring up conversation. Thankfully, their cover made it so there was no reason for them to be seen apart and he could truthfully rely every encounter she could possibly need to use as a cover.
"Did you have fun today?" Kakashi asked after he was done.
He had given her his bowl to be put away with hers and was now fully leaning back on their beddings, one arm between his head and the pillow and the other on top of his stomach. His eye was drooping more than usual and Sakura knew he was fighting the need to sleep. Some of his reserves had already gotten better since eating but the full stomach had only made him sleepier. Sakura knew he wouldn't appreciate her smiling at him like he was a child but she couldn't help if he looked so fucking adorable when sleepy.
"I had tons of fun, babe." She wiggled her eyebrows at him making him huff a short laugh before her words seemed to catch up to him. He knew she meant she had found something.
Kakashi immediately tried to sit up but Sakura stopped him with a hand to his chest. She gently pushed him back to bed, her head shaking slightly to convey it was okay and not the time to discuss anything.
"Akari…" He trailed off, unsure of what was happening but Sakura simply smiled reassuringly.
"It's okay, you should take a nap! I'll take a quick shower and take my shift at the cooking pit. I'll come wake you up when dinner's ready." Sakura knew he didn't like the idea but it was a testament to how tired he was that he simply narrowed his eye at her for a few seconds before relaxing back into their pillows.
His gaze fell on her hand and it was only then that Sakura realised it was still resting against his chest. It felt reassuring, his warmth beneath her fingertips, the force of his breaths moving her hand up and down and his heartbeat steady and strong. He was alive and with her and Sakura was a bit overwhelmed for a few breaths by how it gave her such relief to feel it.
She happily took a deep breath, letting his scent calm her further and then got up without looking at him or acknowledging the strange pause. Sakura left the tent with only an absentminded wave.
She bumped into Asuma on her way to the showers. They talked for a bit, enough for him to be reassured she knew about their day and for her to tell him that had been a development in their mission, but kept it short. Sakura quickly made her way inside and closed herself with her stuff inside the stall. The others were occupied and it wasn't exactly the reprieve she wanted but the cold water was enough to shock her out of her weird mood.
Sakura put on her heavier clothes when she was done, knowing her wet hair so close to dusk would be a bitch to deal with in the cold. Thankfully, the fire from their cooking pot warmed her up while she worked.
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Sakura pressed against his side for the third time that night. It was a particularly cold one and even though Kakashi didn't usually feel cold, he could feel the crisp chill in the air. Thunder crackled ominously in the distance and he could smell rain in the air.
People ate quickly, talking quietly in small groups as they sipped on warm sake. Beside him, Asuma was done with his food and was chain smoking to keep himself warm. Kakashi had already put his own bowl away and was slowly making his way through his warmed bottle as Sakura finished her dinner.
The next time she pressed closer, he put an arm around her and used his hands to press some warmth to her arms.
"Do you want me to get you another coat?" Kakashi asked, getting concerned at how pale she looked and the fact that the very tip of her nose was turning red.
"My warm hoodie is washing," Sakura sulked as she finished the last bites of her food. She quickly reached to put her bowl away before sliding further into his hold. "Maybe we could go to bed soon?"
As much as Kakashi knew she was bothered by the cold, he also knew that she had posed that question because she was trying to find a way to get him alone so they could talk about her discoveries while he was gone. It seemed like Asuma had already been made aware of the fact she had made some progress but there was no way the three of them could discuss strategies together for now. Asuma would have to follow their lead blindly for now.
"Finish your sake." Kakashi pointed with his chin towards her own warmed bottle and finished his quickly before turning towards Asuma. "Too bad you don't have anyone to keep you warm, heh?"
Asuma snorted while Sakura rolled her eyes but Kakashi merely sent him a teasing smirk. Kato would tease Asao about something like this and Asao wouldn't let it go without it becoming a semi-fight. They argued back and forth while Sakura intervened with occasional cheerful comments and worked on warming herself up with her warmed up drink.
It started raining before Sakura finished her sake. By the time everyone not on guard shift had made a quick run towards their tents only a few minutes had gone by so Kakashi thankfully wasn't fully drenched. His hair and shirt were damp, and Sakura had pulled her hood over her head so they were fairly unscathed from the whole ordeal.
As soon as they stepped foot inside their tent, thunder crackled in the sky and the rain started pelting faster against the canvas.
Kakashi and Sakura worked silently around each other, taking some clothes off while putting others on and it was only when he was fully ready for bed that he noticed Sakura was ruffling through her pack in frustration.
"Stupid chakra, stupid Akari, stupid weather, stupid fucking Water," she mumbled to herself.
Kakashi took pity on her and grabbed a long sleeved shirt from his own pack and handed it to her.
"You can borrow this for tonight." Sakura's eyes brightened as she hastened in putting on the extra layer. "I do expect you to give this back to me, however. You still technically owe me a shirt."
Sakura rolled her eyes and climbed into bed with him.
"Do I have to remind you that what's yours is mine, dear husband?" She sassed while wiggling around to find a good position.
"Not my shirt."
Sakura huffed a laugh and drove a ponty little elbow into his ribs that made the air in his lungs expel harshly. He shot her a glare but couldn't sustain it for long. She was impossibly cold from their dash through the starting rain and even though their situation was largely better, she was looking like she was on the verge of shivers. She looked pitiful, really.
With one long suffering sigh, Kakashi reached for her and pulled her into his chest, making sure the blanket was still closed behind her. She sighed and snuggled closer and pressed her ridiculously cold nose to his neck. Kakashi grumbled a complaint with no heat behind it and settled better against their cot.
"Want to tell me what happened now?" he asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.
He had already checked for any chakra signatures nearby, everyone was inside their tents other than the guards for the night. Besides, with how heavy the rain was pelting, no one would be able to hear them.
"I found a chakra box," Sakura said into his neck, her voice matching his tone. Kakashi made a little hum of interest and waited for her to continue. "He probably keeps the key with him at all times but I think I have a plan that might work. Either way, I also found some letters to his brother and his lover K, and most importantly, I found files on all of us."
"All of us?" Kakashi asked.
"Yep," Sakura replied, "known skills, background, everything. We can go over them tonight and try and pass some of it on to Asuma before we make a move. Yukio, Aya and Kenji are less of a problem than we anticipated. While they could probably pass as jounin, any jounin in the Leaf would be able to take them on. They're nowhere near S-Rank."
Kakashi hummed again and tried not to hiss when her cold toes—cold even through her socks, he didn't know how it was even fucking possible—sneaked beneath the fabric of his pants to press at his shin. His attention was quickly grabbed by the fact that she had moved enough to almost hug him in this position, her arm slung over his chest while the other curled between them. He waited for her to move closer, to press a leg between his and fully accept the position they had put themselves in but Sakura simply stayed like she was; her toes on his shin and her hand curling above his chest.
Kakashi cleared his throat.
"What's your plan?" he asked, eyes forcibly screwed shut.
"It's not a good one," Sakura admitted. "We can wait for him to be comfortable enough in letting me heal him so I can get it off him or wait until next Friday for him to go to the village."
"You want to grab it from him there?" Kakashi asked, carefully considering the situation. "Could work if he's not alert. We can easily make the trip back here and then back to the village if needed in under fifteen minutes."
"That's what I thought," Sakura agreed before she did a weird little shrug. "It would be easier if I did it here while treating him, though."
Kakashi hummed again, deep in thought. He considered every situation carefully, not yet settling in any concrete plan but pleased nonetheless that they had managed to make some kind of progress.
"I also saw some scratched plans for a new heist." Kakashi startled a bit when Sakura began speaking but became progressively more alert as she talked. "It seemed like it would go down on Wednesday. If we could get the key before then, I think it's very likely the heist will be our perfect opportunity to take over."
"Do you think we have enough information to make a move like that?" he asked curiously. If she said yes, they would move without hesitation. After seeing how she operated, Kakashi had no problem following her lead.
"As of right now we have two unknowns. How is the Akatsuki connected to this group and how they're aware of the caravans schedules. I believe those two are connected and I have no doubt whatever's inside that box will give us the answer we need," Sakura's voice was sure and firm, the voice of a leader, and despite the intimacy of their position, it almost felt like they were briefing each other in a conference room. Only they were significantly more comfortable like this.
"You think the Akatsuki are offering up the intel on the caravans," Kakashi said, impressed with her line of thinking. "What could a terrorist organisation want with a group of thieves, though?"
"That's what we need to find out." Sakura curled the fist on his chest tighter for a second before releasing some of her tension. She took a deep breath and released it slowly and with it she relaxed even more. As she let all of the tension in her muscles go, it almost started feeling like he was holding onto a pile of gooey, warm Sakura. She continued speaking with a significantly quieter voice. "I'll tell you what I found in those files. The first one was Yukio's—"
Kakashi listened to Sakura's soft voice for over twenty minutes as she went over the files, completing the information there with what she had gathered by befriending people around camp.
It was a strange thought to have that Kakashi had never felt more relaxed. Despite the almost hysterical freak out he had the night before, he felt comfortable holding Sakura like that. More importantly, he was in his element. With the rain still going on strong outside, Kakashi could completely narrow his focus to their tent alone and do what he did best. This was where Kakashi excelled, working a mission, using his brain and trying to solve their problem.
When Sakura was done, she pressed closer to him with a whispered, "Goodnight," and fell asleep before he could even reply. Kakashi didn't take long to follow her.
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SO. Our weekly rants are BACK. Brought to you by a very sleep deprived author who somehow managed to write 71k words from Jan 2-Jan 31.
You guys have no idea just how productive this break was omg and I owe it all to the wonderful peeps of the KakaSaku fandom but especially my beta, A. She's just fucking AWESOME and really helped me out with keeping productive and motivated when I wasn't getting my daily motivation dose from your comments. If you can, check out her KS fic "running out of reasons". I guarantee you won't regret it.
About the comments! I'm not sure if you guys didn't comment as much on this chapter as in others because you didn't like what happened (a lot of people didn't lol) or because you were waiting for me to go back to my schedule to even read it, I dunno. BUT. If y'all could let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate it! Writing all those chapters without getting feedback wa and I'm so so glad to be going back to posting every week! Fuck, you guys have no idea just how much you change my day with just a few words.
Anyway! The mission is progressing further and things will come to a head soon! For those of you who asked me about Naruto coming back, yes he will! But I stretched out the timeline, remember? And although we're pretty close to when he comes back in the timeline, the next few chapters of the fic will slow down significantly so it might take longer than some of you might want. We're basically done with the time skips for this part of the story.
Okay, I think this is all for now! Thank you so much again for everyone who commented, I really appreciate it even though my anxiety acts up and sometimes I can't reply... You can also reach me over on Tumblr! My username is justjstuff and if you guys give me a follow let me know you found me through DoF!
Just a heads up to this wonderful fandom: We're planning a KakaSaku Month! The girls are still working things out but we're accepting some ideas and prompts if you have any! Head over to sleepyfoxfanworks and bouncyirwin on tumblr, they're our two mods and will soon make a post about the KakaSaku Month
See you next week :)