Dinner was an array of steamed fish, breaded pork, and chopped vegetables with sides of rice. The smell was overwhelming. Sakura's stomach growled. She didn't want to take anything from Kakashi, especially as his captive, but she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Kakashi had also prepared cup ramen for Naruto, which he was greedily slurping down at the table.
Sasuke also seemed to have come around, though much more begrudgingly. He had a bowl of chopped tomatoes beside his plate, which he was picking at guiltily.
And Kakashi, he looked all too happy at the head of the table. He hadn't eaten anything yet, just smiling at the three of them. Until it became clear he'd noticed Sakura wasn't eating.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
Sasuke froze beside him. He glanced at Sakura, gently inclining his head towards the food. Eat, he was saying, otherwise you'll get in trouble, too.
Naruto kept eating only his ramen.
"I don't feel like eating," Sakura said. Her voice was quiet, strained against the tight ball of fear in her chest and the emptiness of her stomach. She should eat, just do something to please him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Too much had happened, her body and was as taut as a bowstring.
"You don't?" Kakashi stood. Sasuke and Naruto stopped eating, the room growing into tight silence. He crossed the room, his feet hitting the floorboards the only sound. "Do you have a fever perhaps?" He went behind her and her body became even more rigid. Her pulse was pounding.
His hand wrapped around her forehead, gentle and uncharacteristic. He could use that same hand to snap her neck. He'd used that hand to rip them from their homes. "You don't feel warm."
He reached for her chopsticks, expertly slicing a piece of breaded pork into a bite sized piece. "Here," his voice was gentle, but his presence was overwhelming. It was all she could think about, the heat of his body behind her. She was frozen with fear. "Say 'ah,'" he pushed.
The pork was right in front of her face, but she couldn't bring herself to eat. Her chest heaved and she was crying again. She tries to swallow the sobs, but the more tears streaked her face, the harder it became to control. All of her stress, fear, anxiety, and confusion were pushing through in her cry.
"Now, now, Sakura," Kakashi's hand stroked the side of her face. "There's no need to cry, I'm going to take good care of you all." He brought the pork back towards her, but she couldn't stop crying.
He moved again, creaking following his every move. Slowly, Kakashi pulled down his mask. Of all the things to make her stop crying, seeing her teacher's face was not what she was expecting. She'd always assumed he was handsome, and even with the scar down his eye, he really was. Beauty mark and arrogant smile. "See," he said, placing the piece of pork on his tongue, "it's fine." He cut up another piece for her. "Now it's your turn."
Sakura opened her mouth, the tears had stopped, but she was still sobbing — as compulsive as hiccups. She could barely breathe out of her nose and Kakashi took the moment to feed her. The pork had gotten cold, the breading sharp against her mouth.
"C'mon," he urged, "chew."
She did, and she tasted blood.
A/N: I don't know if I mentioned I wrote all of this today. On my phone. I got what I wanted out, so I probably won't continue this story (and even if I wanted to, I do not have the time). Feel free to use this idea if you really like it though, IDK if that's a thing I can even give permission to, but yeah. I hope you had a good time.