The Bank II
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." - Jean de La Fontaine
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.
A/N: Unbeta'd. I will attempt to post every other week. I think I'm going to need to do more rewrites on the remaining chapters than in previous chapters so I can't make any guarantees.
**The chapter upload seems to have gone poorly - please let me know if you find any missing words or weird formatting. I fixed what I found but am not sure if I missed anything.**
Enjoy.
Chapter XVIII
Slowly Kakashi woke, a sunbeam teasing his eyelids. Silently he stifled a groan, he did not want to be awake. Reflexively he pulled Sakura a little closer to himself for just a moment, savoring the sensation, before releasing her entirely. He knew he needed to be up before she woke. He'd decided as much before getting into bed with her in the first place.
Not bothering to try and stop himself from yawning, he got out of bed, messily twitching the covers into place behind him – he'd return to make the bed properly when she was up. Without a backward glance, his self-control could only take so much, he wandered into the kitchen with thoughts of making coffee and seeing if Sakura's paper had been delivered.
As he meandered down the hall, he paused at the little desk where she kept her paperwork, the space that had long been occupied by the legal papers he'd given her was now empty. Uncertain how to feel about the missing documents, he continued on to the kitchen, wondering what she had done with them.
Upon entering the kitchen he quickly located the coffee and started a pot. While wandering around, getting the lay of the land, and a quick inventory of what food she had on hand, he discovered a schedule of sorts on her refrigerator. After a few moments of study, Kakashi realized that it was Sakura's care schedule – an added piece of paper appeared to be a separate schedule for home visits from her counselor, or rather, from the looks of it, it seemed that Sakura had switched over to a therapist. Interested, he removed both schedules from the refrigerator and took them with him to the kitchen table. Before he sat down, however, he went to her front door and picked up the morning paper.
With a mug of coffee in hand and the schedules and paper to peruse, he settled in for what he assumed would be a comfortable hour or two before Sakura woke.
Once he'd finished about half of the paper and memorized both Sakura's care schedules, he felt restless enough to want breakfast. According to the care schedule, someone would be along in less than an hour to check on Sakura and presumably make her breakfast if she was unable to do so for herself. Another look firmed his resolve to hang around if only until Sakura was up.
Pushing himself up from the table he rummaged around her kitchen, pulling out a tray, and setting it with dishes for the breakfast he would make. He didn't have a large culinary repertoire but he did know how to make a few decent breakfast dishes. With a slight smile he grabbed her apron, a silly frilly pink thing her friends had given her as a gag gift that she still insisted upon using despite its impracticality. As quietly as he could, he set about preparing the morning meal. Figuring he'd make his own and then make hers once she woke, he took his time puttering around, not particularly paying attention to much else – his thoughts focused elsewhere.
Sakura awoke slowly, as she always did when taking heavy-duty pain medication. After a few moments of just lying in her bed, she realized that something was off. It all came back to her when she turned her head and found that the other side of her bed had been slept in. Sakura sighed, it would have been nice for him to have stuck around but she knew that was asking too much. That he had actually stayed through the night was more than enough for her. Though, she couldn't help but feel just a little cheated by the fact that she hadn't been able to enjoy having him spend the night.
Pushing those useless thoughts from her mind, Sakura slowly gathered herself to get out of bed. A process that took a little longer than she would like to admit. Unavoidable though considering her extensive internal injuries. A moment later, while she was fussing with a robe, she heard the telltale noises indicating that someone was in her kitchen.
The sounds of someone rummaging around added speed to her slow progress, she didn't like it when any of the assigned medics found her in bed when they came to check on her. Faster than she'd realized she could move, Sakura was in the hall and shuffling toward the kitchen with her emergency button in hand.
Upon arriving she paused briefly in surprise. It wasn't the assigned caregiver making her breakfast, it was Kakashi, wearing her silly apron. He hadn't left at first light after all.
"Kakashi! What are you doing?" she asked, unable to hide the surprise from her voice.
Startled, he'd been focused deep within himself, Kakashi turned from the stove to find Sakura standing, wobbling a little, just inside the kitchen.
"Sakura!"
Hastily he dropped what he was doing and hurried over to Sakura to help her into one of the kitchen chairs. He couldn't help but notice the fading remains of some fairly nasty cuts and bruises on her face. He suppressed a grimace upon catching sight of the all too noticeable reminders of her recent close call. He knew better than to let on to Sakura how much her injuries bothered him – how much her close call affected, was still, affecting him. She should have died. Firmly getting a hold of himself, he resolved to focus on the present and the fact that Sakura had survived rather than on what had almost happened.
"Should you be up and about?" he asked once he had her settled in a chair, concern present in his furrowed brow as he fussed unnecessarily over her.
Her arms were also covered with the remnants of similar injuries as those still gracing her face. He made a mental note that he would have to make sure to handle any part of her with extreme care. Though Tsunade had said that aside from her internal injuries Sakura was mostly healed, he couldn't let himself forget that Sakura still had other, more minor, injuries.
Sakura suppressed a chuckle at both Kakashi's uncharacteristic behavior and the sight of him wearing her apron. She hadn't been able to truly appreciate the ridiculousness of the apron until he'd turned from the stove.
"Love the apron."
He rolled his eyes dramatically before crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow – he was not going to let her slip out of answering his question.
She couldn't help but giggle a little before quickly getting it under control.
"I'm fine Kakashi – so long as I go slowly, it's okay for me to be up and about. Besides," she gestured with her emergency button, "I have this if I run into any trouble."
Eyeing her suspiciously, uncertain if he could buy her explanation, he returned to the stovetop to see if he could rescue the eggs he'd been making for himself.
Sakura sniffed the air appreciatively, choosing not to comment upon the scent of scorched eggs – as those were clearly due to her unexpected entrance, she couldn't fault Kakashi for the failed attempt.
"So, what's for breakfast?"
"Well, I was going to make you a tray so you could eat in bed once you woke, you know." He turned to shoot her a slightly exasperated look.
She laughed, surprised again, this time at both his exasperation at her accidental interruption of a kind gesture and the thoughtfulness he was displaying.
"Gesture noted and appreciated."
Kakashi nodded and returned his attention to the ruined eggs in front of him. With a suppressed sigh he scratched the batch, dumped them in the trash and, readied the frying pan to try again.
"I've repurposed the leftover rice I found in your fridge into rice porridge – I hope you didn't have other plans for it?" He glanced back to catch Sakura's reaction as he rummaged around in her fridge for more eggs.
She shook her head, eyes wide, no one else had gone through the trouble to make something as involved as rice porridge – even with the shortcut of using leftover rice.
He nodded and continued. "I sliced up the rest of your fruit and you can add it to the porridge to sweeten it and improve the flavor. There's toast with jam too if you want or prefer it." He paused for a moment in thought. "I planned to make you some eggs if you were up for them – how does an omelet sound?"
Sakura's mouth was already watering before Kakashi even mentioned all of the delicious foods he was making – none of her morning caretakers ever bothered to make her anything half as delicious and she herself was not quite up to making anything advanced.
"Yes, please. That all sounds wonderful. Suddenly I'm very hungry!"
Kakashi rearranged things on the stovetop and opened the fridge again in search of omelet additives.
"Cheese and ham okay? Doesn't look like you have any fresh veggies."
"Yes, please." She smiled though she knew he couldn't see. "I think I'm due to receive fresh groceries today. Just depends who's on the schedule or if any of the girls plan to stop by, if they have time to go to the farmer's market, they usually bring whatever they find on their way here."
Kakashi nodded and continued with the process of making the omelet. Even if Sakura was due to receive groceries, he'd still go out shopping for her after breakfast – not as though he had anything better to do. And, besides, he'd noticed a few large holes in her schedules and he intended to fill them. He didn't care that she was a medic and more or less fully capable of taking care of herself. He needed to make sure she was okay.
Absently Kakashi had to wonder how long it would take for her to get sick of having him around… or worse, feel insulted by his need to make sure she was okay. He didn't want to consider the fact that he'd spent so long doing everything he could to avoid staying with her that it was ironic how he would now do nearly anything to avoid leaving her.
Sakura stayed put, watching Kakashi work instead of getting to her feet to get a start on what he had already prepared for her, or even getting herself a mug of coffee though she really wanted one. Since she was fairly certain that this would be the only time he ever made her breakfast she wanted to take the time to sit back and enjoy the experience. Sakura was also fairly certain that Kakashi would fuss unnecessarily over her the moment she tried to get to her feet again and she didn't want to cause him any more trouble than she already had.
A short while later, Kakashi ferried over several dishes for Sakura in addition to a mug of coffee – fixed just how she liked it – and a glass of water. Absolutely starving, Sakura immediately dug in while Kakashi watched.
"Oh… Kakashi, this is delicious!" she cried after the first few fluffy bites. None of her other caretakers were half as good at breakfast as he turned out to be.
He smiled at her reaction, exactly the one he'd wanted. Only a small portion of his mind wished for her to moan his name like that again in an entirely different context. Hastily he shook his head to clear the inappropriate thought – it would be some time before she was up for that sort of interlude. He would do much better to focus on the present.
"Good, I'm glad you like it."
Moving away from the table reluctantly, Kakashi started making a second omelet for himself. He was fairly certain that she would steal most of it from his plate and an omelet would be easier to steal than the batch of scrambled eggs he'd originally set out to make for himself.
Sakura paused to watch as Kakashi resumed his position at the stovetop, unable to feel anything other than content at that very moment. A small part of her mind did its best to try and capture the moment – to be cherished for the rest of her life, as she was certain that this rare occurrence would never happen again.
Sakura's moment of contentment was shattered by a perfunctory knock on her apartment door before said door opened and someone entered her living area. Startled, she checked the clock on her wall and noted the time with a sigh.
Kakashi turned from his position at the stovetop, pulling his mask up and into place as he did so. He was fairly certain he knew who was at the door and now on their way into the kitchen and he was exactly where he wanted to be when that person entered the room. A moment later, he was not disappointed.
Itsuki entered the kitchen, sniffing the air as he entered.
"Sakura! No complicated cooking! You're not sup-" he stopped abruptly upon realizing that he hadn't walked in upon what he'd thought he'd walked in on. His eyes wide and his jaw dropping open, a piece of gum nearly popping out of his mouth.
"Good morning, Itsuki." Sakura greeted him somewhat smugly.
Finding Kakashi there after he'd clearly spent the night, even with her convalescing, might finally get across to him once and for all that she was not interested. For some incomprehensible reason Itsuki had been buzzing around her nearly all the time once again and she couldn't quite figure out why. She'd thought they were done with that nonsense.
Of course, Itsuki had been recalled from his training program in Sand – all medics and medical personnel had been called home after the tragedy at the hospital. Unfortunately, the next session of that particular training program wasn't due to start for another six months. And, when volunteers were requested to check on her at home, he'd been one of the first to sign up. So, it would appear that she was stuck with him for the next six months or until she no longer needed medical check-ins.
Itsuki ignored Sakura's greeting, focusing all his attention on the other man in the room.
"Mr. Hatake? What… How are you-?" He shook his head, still trying to make sense of it, Kakashi was supposed to be dead, KIA according to his source in ANBU.
Kakashi smiled, wondering what Itsuki found more surprising, that he was there making breakfast, that he had clearly spent the night, or that he was there at all. He had to wonder absently if someone (likely Daishi) had blabbed about his last mission – otherwise, Itsuki's reaction seemed far too exaggerated.
"I'm making breakfast," Kakashi responded, keeping his amusement to himself. With that reminder of the task at hand, he turned back to tend to his omelet. Politeness dictated that he should offer an omelet to Itsuki but he couldn't bring himself to do so.
Still not quite able to pull himself together, Itsuki continued to stare at Kakashi, his ever-present wad of gum for once going un-chewed.
"But… you're not-"
Hastily, Kakashi turned from the omelet in progress on the stove to face Itsuki.
"I'm not what?" He asked, his voice dipping lower in warning. He couldn't quite believe that Itsuki could be stupid enough to bring it up in front of Sakura.
Still unable to process what he was seeing and not realizing what he was saying, Itsuki exclaimed, "But, you're supposed to be dead!"
Sakura inhaled sharply, her spoon nearly dropping from her suddenly numb fingers. She was still feeling fragile after her most recent ordeal and this new possibility threatened to shatter the progress she'd recently made. Kakashi's mission wasn't supposed to be one of those missions, he'd told her that himself. Anxiously, she shifted her gaze from Itsuki to Kakashi.
Angry that the idiot would bring that up in front of Sakura, especially since he was clearly just fine, Kakashi did his best to keep his expression impassive. He could sense that Itsuki's thoughtless utterance had upset Sakura and was afraid of the possible consequences.
"Don't know where you heard that." Kakashi shrugged as he casually flipped the frying pan to fold his omelet without looking. "Obviously it's wrong though."
"But- the ANBU said…"
Itsuki finally managed to pull himself together, realizing that Sakura had refocused her attention on him, her eyebrows knitted together in uncertainty as his jaw resumed chewing on his gum. He shook his head.
"Uh, never mind. Clearly, the rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated."
"Itsuki… there were rumors that Kakashi died on his mission?" Sakura asked, a worrying wobble in her tone of voice.
Several things suddenly came into focus through the lens of Kakashi possibly having been killed in action. Sakura had thought it odd that no one had mentioned him to her at all, especially Tsunade. And, every time she had asked about his current mission and expected return date she'd been put off quite expertly by the Hokage. Never mind Itsuki's sudden interest in her once again.
Finally realizing the magnitude of his slip, Itsuki focused entirely on Sakura.
"Oh! Uh, well…" Itsuki trailed off glancing at Kakashi for help only to find that he had returned his attention to his frying pan.
"Um, you see…" he started and then stumbled to a halt again. Itsuki raised his hand to the back of his neck and cleared his throat.
Sakura's concerned expression melted into a frown as her temper temporarily shoved the uncertainty to the side and took control. The easiest way to handle the feelings she didn't want to cope with was to lash out at the person who'd made her feel them.
"There were rumors, ANBU rumors that Kakashi was KIA and you didn't tell me?"
"Now, now, Sakura…" he started, obviously uncertain how to handle the situation and bungling it badly.
Livid, she started to push herself to her feet.
"Don't you patronize me! Tell me the truth-" she stopped abruptly as she felt gentle hands on her shoulders, urging her to sit back down. She looked up to find Kakashi, frowning awesomely at Itsuki. Realizing that she was going to do herself more harm than Itsuki, she allowed herself to be returned to her seat.
Less than thrilled with how things were going, Kakashi stayed standing behind Sakura's chair, hands resting very lightly on her shoulders, and shifted his focus to Itsuki.
"I believe you came to check up on Sakura?" he asked, his voice hard.
When Itsuki didn't immediately respond he prompted him, "You came for her checkup, yes?"
Itsuki nodded, uncertain what he could say at that point. Pretty much anything was the wrong thing.
"Does the morning checkup need any actual checking up? Or is the visual good enough?"
Itsuki cleared his throat again, shifted his wad of gum around a bit, and took the out he was graciously given. He shook his head.
"No, no. No actual exam is necessary. Just needed to make sure she was up, okay, and fed."
Still angry but aware that the only person she was harming just then was herself, Sakura nodded curtly at Itsuki, just wanting him to go.
"I'm up, fine, and fed. Kakashi has made sure of that."
"Uh, right…" Itsuki swallowed, nearly swallowing his gum, before continuing, "I'll just be going. On my way to my shift at the hospital, you know?"
Without waiting for a reaction, well aware that he was getting out of a spectacular display of temper, Itsuki rushed back out the way he came in. Several gum wrappers fluttering to the ground behind him.
Still frowning, Kakashi watched him go and when the front door closed behind Itsuki, he removed his hands from Sakura's shoulders and followed in Itsuki's footsteps picking up the trail of discarded gum wrappers. The last thing he wanted was for Sakura to slip on one of them. In her current condition, she was likely unable to bend over to pick them up herself and a slip could be deadly if any of her wounds, external or internal, reopened.
"Kakashi…" Sakura started in a small voice.
Kakashi returned his focus to Sakura as he dropped the gum wrappers in her trash.
"Yes?" he asked, a knot suddenly forming in the pit of his stomach – he didn't like the tone of her voice, nor the hint of a wobble he had hoped her anger at Itsuki had driven from her.
"Was… was there any truth to Itsuki's comments?"
Kakashi exhaled slowly. He knew that lying was not an option.
"Kakashi?" she asked again, growing even more concerned.
Aware that he couldn't be less than honest he decided to try and break it to her slowly.
"The mission wasn't supposed to be that sort of mission – and that is what I told you before I left."
"But?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"My support team was recalled after…" he trailed off, not wanting to mention the event that nearly claimed Sakura's life and had claimed many of her coworkers.
Understanding dawned and she drew her brows together.
"Oh… I see…"
Hoping to dispel the sudden uncomfortable mood in the room, Kakashi grabbed his now very well done omelet – as he was fairly certain she'd lost her appetite, he didn't bother trying to make a new one since she was unlikely to try and steal it from him – and seated himself across from Sakura.
"It doesn't matter. I came back, didn't I?"
Sakura let out a long slow breath before nodding.
The cat came back.
"Good, finish your breakfast before it gets any colder."
She studied him for a moment, realizing that there was definitely more to it than what he had said and that the rumors had likely been genuine – spread by his support team upon their return. This explanation also accounted for Itsuki's recent renewed attempts to get her attention once again.
"Kakashi?"
"Hmm?" he vocalized warily, mouth currently full of breakfast.
"Thank you." She smiled, doing her best to put Kakashi's clear near-miss behind her.
"I still can't believe he's back!"
Kumiko signed and rolled her eyes, not this again. Though, it would seem that he only ever invited her to get coffee these days in order to vent about his unsuccessful campaign to win Ms. Haruno's interest. So, she supposed, she shouldn't be surprised. But still, he'd been on about Mr. Hatake's unexpected return for a few weeks now – surely he should have gotten over it by now…
"I don't see why you're finding it so hard to believe. He's an elite – of course he'd beat the odds. He's the type that will, regardless of what's expected of him." She shrugged before adding thoughtfully, "To be honest, I imagine he'll always come back now."
Itsuki shook his head emphatically, his gum wad rolling from one side of his mouth to the other, this time he'd had inside information.
"Not this time! He was not supposed to come back. I had it on good authority that it was a suicide mission for even one of his skill and there was no way he'd come back! No way he even could!"
"Well, clearly your source was wrong." She sighed, wondering why she'd agreed to have coffee with him again after the last several times had ended up just like this. "Bottom line is that he's back – not a lot to be done about it now."
Itsuki continued to restlessly shift his wad of gum from one cheek to the other.
"There's got to be something I can do!"
Kumiko shook her head, slightly disgusted.
"I doubt it. It's probably best you cut your losses and just let her go. She'll never look past Mr. Hatake as long as he's around."
"I know! He just needs to not be around! I thought it was a lock, he was going to throw his life away for the village!"
Kumiko eyed him with something akin to pity – so much potential, too bad he was fixated on what he would never have.
"That was before he had anything else to live for..." she trailed off realizing that Itsuki, as usual, wasn't listening.
"I just don't understand!" he wailed in near despair.
Kumiko drained the rest of her coffee and pushed herself up from the small café table. She was tired of having the same conversation with him, especially since he never listened.
"No, I don't think you ever will." She took a step away from the table. "Thank you for the coffee and pastry Itsuki, I'll see you at work tomorrow."
Tsunade dismissed the messenger with a nod of her head and suppressed a sigh as she refocused her attention on the pages on her desk. Without Sakura taking on a fair amount of the tedious daily hospital paperwork she was finding herself slowly overwhelmed. She should hire an additional assistant, if only as a temporary hire, but couldn't quite bring herself to do so.
Once Sakura returned, she would be taking it all over anyway. That she hadn't officially been offered the promotion was just a small detail. With everything that had been going on, the timing had never seemed right to approach Sakura about her advancement – especially since she would be taking over some of Akihiro's responsibilities in addition to some of Tsunade's. A bit of a touchy subject for all involved.
Moreover, it seemed disrespectful to fill Akihiro's position before his name was officially added to the Memorial. Out of respect for Sakura, the ceremony was being held until she was well enough to attend, though Sakura herself had no idea that this was the case. Regardless, Tsunade figured it would be some time before she would be able to find the time to discuss it with Sakura.
As Tsunade was shuffling the papers in front of her into a more cohesive semblance of order, she was interrupted by a firm but still deferential knock on her door. Silently she cursed, this was not the time.
"Come in," she called out, attempting to keep the irritation from her voice.
Yui opened the door carefully and glided gracefully into the room.
"Afternoon, Yui."
Yui bowed.
"The Council sends their greetings, my Lady."
Tsunade suppressed a sigh.
"And, no scroll, I take it?"
"No, my Lady. Not this time."
"What do they want then?"
"The Council has heard that Kakashi Hatake has returned from his mission, my Lady."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, news had taken longer to reach the Council than she'd expected. Then again, one never knew with the Council. Yes, they seemed extra focused on Kakashi as of late but that didn't mean that his was the only life they were attempting to arrange to their own liking. No way to know how many other people they were also harassing.
"Yes, and?"
"The Council was under the impression that that particular piece had been sacrificed – a steep but necessary price for an equally important mission, my Lady."
"And?"
"My Lady, he has returned?"
Losing her patience far sooner than she should, she didn't have time for this, Tsunade exploded.
"Yes! Kakashi has returned. He wasn't supposed to but he's made it back. But, somehow, he has!. What does the Council want? They can't possibly be upset that he came back. He's an incredibly valuable asset to the village – no one should be upset that he's returned!"
Yui flinched visibly and forced herself to remain in place so she could clarify the Council's concerns.
"The understanding, my Lady, was that the mission was impossible from the beginning. That he has returned has left questions as to if it was indeed completed satisfactorily." She coughed delicately before continuing, knowing that what she was required to say next was not going to be well received. "My Lady, rumors have circulated about a possible… ah, distraction, you see."
Tsunade was unable to prevent herself from rolling her eyes and choose not to respond to the comment about a 'distraction.' Sakura would definitely take umbrage at being referred to as such and it would do Sakura herself no good for Tsunade to confirm her status as said 'distraction' to the Council.
"Of course Kakashi was successful. He doesn't understand how to be anything but," she responded tartly.
"Apologies, my Lady. The Council would like to know if his report has been verified?."
"Yes. It has," she ground out between gritted teeth. "His mission was completed successfully – the chain of events he started played out as expected and we are very happy with the end results."
Yui nodded slightly. The Council had honestly expected to hear no less of the last Hatake. On to the actual question of the Council.
"Then, it is the Council's understanding, my Lady, that he is due to be retired?"
Tsunade frowned and shook her head.
"That is currently under review."
"The Council would rather he not retire, my Lady."
Tsunade snorted.
"No one wants him retired, least of all the man himself."
Yui nodded, it was as expected.
"I see. I shall convey this to the Council, thank you for your time, my Lady."
Once Yui was gone Tsunade pressed the hidden button on her desk.
Ideally, she'd discuss it with Sakura first but with the Council's heightened interest… best to put it through now and apologize later. Though, since they'd already discussed her desired career path many times, she didn't think Sakura would mind – this was the promotion she'd been working toward after all. Once she was aware of the position she was currently in, Sakura would especially appreciate the fact that this move would put her out of the Council's easy reach. It was only a matter of time before Yui returned with their unreasonable demand now that Kakashi was back and more or less permanently out of danger.
"Thought I'd find you out here."
Kakashi glanced down to see Tsunade standing by the foot of what had become 'his' tree – the largest tree in the small park across the street from Sakura's apartment.
"Yo," he greeted her as he smoothly pocketed his current novel and dropped to the ground so the Hokage wouldn't have to strain her neck looking up at him.
"Sakura said you always disappeared whenever she had company though she wasn't exactly certain where you went."
He shrugged, figuring it was self-explanatory. That the particular branch where he spent time when he didn't have errands to run just so happened to provide an excellent view of both Sakura's balcony and the front door of the apartment building didn't escape Tsunade's notice. Nor did the fact that Kakashi likely wouldn't easily be seen from Sakura's apartment or the ground while he was seated on that particular branch enjoying a good book.
"Did you need something? Or, are you just letting me know that the coast is clear?"
Tsunade chuckled, Sakura had also mentioned that her girlfriends had been over earlier that afternoon. Kakashi had likely hightailed it out of there just before they arrived.
"I wanted a word with you."
"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow. "Here okay, or do we need to return to your office?"
Tsunade took a look around, her security detail was stationed far enough away from them so as not to overhear their conversation. She nodded slightly and signaled to the ANBU that she wanted a private word with Kakashi.
The head of her security detail nodded in response and made the necessary gestures to her team.
"Here'll do. They'll make sure no one comes close enough to overhear, nor will they overhear us either."
Kakashi nodded, slightly surprised for a moment before shrugging it off, Tsunade likely had her reasons.
Chivalrously he gestured to a nearby bench, Tsunade shook her head slightly.
"This shouldn't take long."
He nodded agreeably, unsurprised.
"A warning, Kakashi. Or, rather, another warning I suppose. The Council is aware that you have returned and that your future status is up in the air."
"Understood. Though I'm not sure that there's anything I can do about that at this time?"
She waved a hand dismissively, that was a given.
"They were also asking about your last mission results. They were afraid that you'd potentially been… ah, their words, 'distracted'."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, unable to entirely suppress his irritation.
"Distracted? Does that mean what I think it means?"
"Probably."
Kakashi cursed loudly and colorfully.
"My thoughts exactly," Tsunade responded dryly once Kakashi stopped cursing.
"She know?"
Tsunade sighed and briefly reconsidered the bench.
"I just told Sakura now – told her about the Council's interest and then about her promotion. I would rather have waited until she was doing better but… I don't think the Council will wait too long before making a move. Just don't know what that move will be or when they'll strike. Better to promote her now than be sorry later."
Kakashi nodded absently, mind already working, his temper on hold while he concentrated on more immediately important things.
"Her next appointment with her therapist isn't until the day after tomorrow…"
Tsunade held up a hand to stop him.
"I spoke to her therapist before I spoke to Sakura. She thought it would be a good idea to be available, just in case. She's in with Sakura now."
Kakashi exhaled slowly.
"Okay."
"You staying out here?"
"Yes."
She eyed him shrewdly.
"Going to wait for Dr. Kikuchi to leave?"
"Yes."
"Right, so waiting for the coast to be clear before going back in?" she asked, wondering if he was going to run.
He shook his head before answering what he knew the next question would be.
"Waiting to see if I should get something to celebrate or if I should make myself scarce for the next few days."
"Ah… astute of you." Tsunade eyed him for a moment. "Whatever you choose to do after this, don't just disappear entirely on her now – even if she asks you to. I don't think she could actually cope without you around at least some of the time."
Shocked that she would even think that he could desert Sakura when she needed him, he tilted his head to the side in surprise.
"What?"
"If you do decide to run, please do me the favor of letting me know before you go so we can rearrange Sakura's care schedule and get some sort of plan in place. I don't think she's going to cope as well with this as she may like."
Kakashi frowned and shook his head, aware that Tsunade was right to bring it up – he'd never spent this much time with anyone before.
"I'll stay as long as I'm needed."
Tsunade frowned briefly, it wasn't exactly the answer she wanted but, knowing Kakashi, it was the only answer she was going to get.
Kakashi carefully wiped his feet on the mat Sakura had placed on her balcony for him some months previously when he'd started turning up regularly, the shortcut he'd taken across one of the large green spaces had been muddier than he'd expected.
"Kakashi, that you?" Sakura called from her bedroom, her voice a little thick.
"Yes," he called out in response, as he removed his sandals. "Brought dinner."
"Thought there were leftovers in the fridge?" she asked as she slowly shuffled to the kitchen where she found Kakashi clearing and preparing to set her table. "What's all this?"
Kakashi picked up two of the three large reinforced bags from where he'd left them by the sliding glass door and placed them on the kitchen table before going to find bowls and utensils.
"There's a new challenger in the world of ramen."
Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. No one had dared to try for Ichiraku's ramen crown for quite some time – not since the last ill-fated place they had tried together, at any rate.
"Really?"
"Yup."
Kakashi placed the bowls and utensils on the table before moving to Sakura's chair. With an upraised eyebrow, he pulled it out from the table and gestured for her to take a seat.
Bemused, Sakura complied, allowing him to gently push the chair to the table.
"Why the two bags?"
"Insurance."
She shot him a puzzled glance.
"Insurance?"
"Got some Ichiraku in case the stuff from the new place is awful."
Sakura stared at him for a moment before laughing.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Kakashi had not missed her red and puffy eyes, nor that she had been noticeably drooping when she'd first come to the kitchen. Dr. Kikuchi had not been very encouraging when Kakashi had approached her on her way out with thoughts of how to celebrate Sakura's promotion.
Sakura watched as Kakashi arranged things on the table so they could eat, noticing that he had neglected to choose a beverage. Before she could ask, he offered.
"What would you like to drink with dinner?" he asked as he raised the third reinforced bag from where he had left it by the door. Closer examination showed that it was a cooler bag and moisture beaded on the bottles as Kakashi removed them from the bag and placed them on the table for Sakura to see. Kakashi had been thorough in selecting a variety of drinks: extra-large bottles of two different types of cold tea, a large bottle of juice, two larger than average bottles of beer, two different types of wine, and… a bottle of champagne.
Sakura paused before responding. Kakashi was an intelligent man and failing that, Tsunade would have told him – it affected him as well, after all. He would follow her lead and either celebrate with her or tactfully ignore it – it was entirely up to her. And, he was giving her a discrete way of expressing her wishes. Unable to prevent it, she felt tears threaten once again. She glanced away though she knew he'd already seen.
Kakashi remained still as he waited for Sakura to get her emotions under control. He knew this wasn't easy for her and would wait as long as she needed… and turn a blind eye to her moment of emotional difficulties. She was independent enough that he knew she would prefer he not try to interfere.
After getting her emotions under control and an additional moment of actual thought for the question, aware that Kakashi was trying not to watch her closely, Sakura finally sighed.
"Just water tonight, please." She glanced up to catch his gaze. "I don't feel much like celebrating…"
Kakashi nodded understandingly, returned the drinks to their bag, and went to retrieve a pair of glasses and to fill a pitcher with water before returning to the table. Tactfully, he put the bag of unwanted drinks on the counter by the refrigerator – to be dealt with later, once Sakura had left the kitchen.
Sakura smiled just a little sadly as her eyes followed the bag of assorted drinks. He was far more thoughtful than most people would give him credit for.
"Thanks, Kakashi."
Kakashi found himself in line before he realized what he was doing. With a mental shrug, he decided that some of the special The Coffee Shop coffee would be a nice treat for Sakura – she was still having a rough time coping with her promotion. Because of this, he had already stopped by one of the little markets she liked but was too far out of the way for any of her helpers to frequent on her behalf, to pick up a few treats. He figured it wouldn't hurt to also pick her up a cup of the coffee she liked so much.
When he got to the front of the line, the woman behind the counter grinned happily at seeing him again.
"Ah, Mr. ANBU! Good to see you! It's been a while!"
He nodded his usual greeting, unsurprised that she recognized him even though he was wearing his jonin gear instead of his ANBU uniform.
"Your usual?"
Only slightly startled that she remembered his order, he smiled and held up two fingers.
She laughed.
"Of course, of course! You always order two! One black and one sweetened and flavored in some way – usually with chocolate."
He chuckled a bit self-consciously, lifting his hand to the back of his neck.
"I suppose I do."
She eyed him for a moment before deciding to take a chance.
"Have you thought about taking your lady some of the new biscotti we've made to go along with the special The Coffee Shop coffee? The recipe was specifically developed to go with the second The Coffee Shop book."
Kakashi tilted his head to the side, he hadn't noticed that they were now selling the crisp confection alongside the fragrant brew. But, having read the follow-up book, he felt that he shouldn't be surprised. Biscotti had featured heavily in a few of the sequences involving the new barista main character and his combat medic love interest.
"Since you usually get two pumps of chocolate in your lady friend's coffee, she'd probably like this salted caramel biscotti to go with it."
Kakashi shrugged.
"Sure, why not. Might as well get her two and two for me."
"Two salted caramel for your lady friend and…" she trailed off, trying to take his measure, "two plain for you."
"Sounds good."
Silently he sighed, he wouldn't have minded the sweeter biscotti to go with the strong bitter coffee but figured it would be best to go along with it… unless...
He tilted his head to the side as if something had suddenly occurred to him.
"You know what, make my coffee the same as hers."
The barista's eyes widened in slight surprise. She'd never expected an elite ANBU such as Kakashi to have a sweet tooth.
Kakashi heaved a dramatic sigh.
"She always finishes hers first and then steals the rest of mine – but then she complains that I take it black."
The barista raised a hand to her mouth to try, unsuccessfully, to stifle her giggle.
"If she's going to steal it anyway, she might as well enjoy it."
Unable to suppress it any longer, the barista laughed and changed the order. After a moment's thought, she also changed the order to four of the salted caramel biscotti. If his lady friend stole his coffee she would probably also steal his biscotti.
Not too much later, he found himself heading back to Sakura's apartment, small warming jutsu applied to the bottom of the cups – the secret as to how he'd managed to bring her perfectly temperatured coffee or tea no matter how far away from her he was.
As he made his way, his mind wandered down the now familiar path of wondering just what the hell he was doing.