Catching Up – Chapter 13 (Final Chapter)

Kurai-Hisaki

"Angel of Mercy… how did you move me… why am I on my feet again?" ~ Mercy, One Republic
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

When the kiss had ended, Sakura had half a mind to remember what had started it in the first place. She faintly remembered her mouth heating up and that she had gasped in surprise.

After a moment of silence and after Sakura recovered from her shock, she exclaimed, "No way! You transferred chakra to me… by kissing me? I can't use that for my medical studies… that's no use for me at all! Kaka-…"

"Hmm?" Kakashi raised one eyebrow. "No one said anything about you being able to use it to heal people…"

Then she saw it. The thing that people died to see, the thing that team seven had betted on seeing. She had noticed when his eyebrow arched oh-so-perfectly.

His mask pooled around his neck as Sakura just stared shamelessly. It was everything that she had thought that she saw – weeks or possibly months ago when they were still back at her apartment. A tall nose, a strong jaw-line, thin lips – all in all, she would say that he looked good – no, a lot better than good. He had no flaws on his skin aside from the scar that ran down his sharingan. Sure, it was a little exaggerated, but he was beautiful - cute even! Very typical right? But it's true! No wonder people fell in love with him when they saw his face. For a man who's in his mid to late-30s, he had a very boyish, yet masculine face. He didn't look like a day over 30. Hell, he could probably pass as if he was in the late-20s.

"Like what you see?"

Snapping out of her daze, Sakura slowly responded, "No…"

Who am I kidding; I can stare at you all day…

"I would have thought that you saw my face already… I mean… all the nights that I fell asleep; you didn't try to pull my mask down? I'm surprised."

"Hey! I'm not that indecent! That would be robbing you of your privacy while you were half dead to the world. Maybe when Naruto, Sasuke and I still had that bet going… but they don't know so… and the bet's over… but damn, that's almost like undressing someone when they're asleep… not that... that has crossed my mind- I haven't thought about it, I swear…"

Kakashi chuckled, "Undressing me huh… that's something you don't hear out of your mouth everyday… and besides… if I had known that you haven't seen my face before, I would have given you a more dramatic strip of my mask."

Sakura just rolled her eyes.

"Kakashi… how did you do that without me knowing before?"

"Do what?"

"Transfer chakra to me, like that, without me knowing."

With a sigh, Kakashi looked at the ceiling. Sakura could see that he was deciding if he should tell her something important. To help him make up his mind, Sakura reassured him.

"I promise I won't get mad."

Kakashi glanced at her suspiciously.

"Fine…" She laughed, "I promise I won't beat you through a wall."

Kakashi chuckled, "It's not that… I'm just not sure if you will take this the right way."

"Try me."

With another sigh, Kakashi told her. He told her of all the nights that they had spent back at her apartment, when she would fall asleep on his shoulder; he had wanted to kiss her. It was tempting. Having a beautiful woman be so close to him, and totally unconscious to the world, he had wanted to kiss her for the longest time. It was this time when he started to see her as a woman and not a girl that he used to teach – physically, emotionally and mentally. Through the times they spent together, he realized that she was so much more than just that head-over-heels in love girl that she used to be when she was a Genin. But he had always told himself that it would be inappropriate, with them having a student-teacher relationship and all.

Sakura was much too precious to him for him to just kiss her and if by chance that it ruined their relationship, he wouldn't be able to take it. It was strange that he was afraid of this happening in the first place, it would have never occurred to him if he was kissing any other woman. But then again, he couldn't just walk out the next morning like nothing had happened; he would have to work with her again one day or they would meet when he needed treatment. He couldn't avoid her either even if he tried. It wasn't easy to stay away from something that attracted you, however strange the attraction may be. She was a kid that he had looked after ever since she was 12 and was a comrade that he had watched growing into a beautiful and strong woman. She wasn't just someone who he can kiss, have sex with, then walk out of their life the next day. He was sure that his heart couldn't take it anyways. No, she was more than that.

Then there was one night where Sakura, who had smelt deliciously sweeter than normal, had fallen asleep dangerously close to him. With her head on his chest and hands gently resting on his upper thigh, he had finally given into temptation. Her lips tauntingly invited his and he kissed her. He had tried to justify his actions by thinking that he was helping her heal faster by giving her chakra - at least then if Sakura decided to hate him, he could justify himself and perhaps she wouldn't castrate him then ignore him for the rest of his life. It was a lame excuse, he knew that, but it was just his back up plan. He was glad that he never had to put it into use. So that was precisely what he did, instead of just kissing her, he gave her a little bit of chakra each time.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it, but I don't know why I did. I had no rights to, and I'm…"

Sakura silenced him by resting her finger on his lips. With a gentle shake of her head, she smiled at him.

"Now you're rambling. Don't worry… I'm glad you did what you did… I wouldn't be here if you hadn't done so… so… Thank You…"

"You're not mad." It was funny how Kakashi just said it as a statement rather than a question.

"Why would I be? Kakashi… you saved my life. As much as I had wanted to be with my parents… it was you who brought me back. When they left, I didn't accept the reality and the fact that they weren't coming back. I threw myself into work, worked myself until I couldn't think of anything else… I worked until all I did was work, eat and sleep. I didn't have time for fun, or time to go out. You made me realize that there are people here who still care for me. Thank you."

Teasing Kakashi a little bit, she continued, "You also made me realize that there are people who can't live without me."

Kakashi blinked, "What?"

"A kiss never lies."

Kakashi smiled at her and Sakura felt like melting. He really did have the sweetest smile. Pulling his mask back up, she said, "Better keep that covered, wouldn't want people melting all over the place."

In response, Kakashi laughed at her like he hasn't laughed in weeks. In reality, he hasn't. He had been so worried that he hadn't smiled at all for the past month. It sounded strange in Sakura's ears as she had never heard him laugh like that before – she had to admit that his laughter was more than welcomed though.

When he finally stopped, he smiled, hugged her close to him and whispered, "Sakura…"

Then there was a pause. Sakura knew that he was uncomfortable with affection so she continued his train of thought, "I know, I love you too."

"No… you don't understand – the feelings that I felt when I thought that I was going to lose you. When I went on that mission while you were sick, I had this feeling that when I got back… something horrible was going to happen… and it did. I'm so sorry for leaving you. I'm not saying Sasuke is a bad friend, but I would have felt more secure if it was me who was there… but I was also confused. I'm sorry."

Sakura knew that it was hard for Kakashi to show emotions and for him to talk more than a few words at once, was rare. She knew exactly what he was confused about – their relationship and his feelings. From the times that she met him, she never recalled him being serious about any woman. She smiled a bit when she remembered team 7 betting if he was gay or not. For being such a pervert, she knew that he wasn't, but Naruto thought otherwise. She was glad that he was opening up to her about his feelings.

"Thank you."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"… for telling me all that. But you don't have to be sorry… really… I'm glad this all happened."

When Sakura saw that Kakashi still had the apologetic look on his face, she smiled.

"If you keep on having that look on your face… I'm really going to beat you through a wall."

Kakashi just returned her statement with a crinkle in his eye.

She meant what she said – after all… if this didn't happen, she never would have gotten close to Kakashi and in return, he would have never loved her. They would have never started this relationship. All in all, she was grateful for everything that has happened. She was thankful that Kakashi came back when he did. At the start, everything had felt so difficult for her, yet now… everything was falling into place.

The sun was shining when she stepped foot out of the place that had confined her for so long. There was not a cloud that could be seen in the spacious blue sky. Crisp, fresh air filled her lungs as she took a huge breath.

This is what the sun and good weather should be for… enjoyment. I've missed out on this for so long.

"SAAAKUUURAAA-CHAAAN!!"

Smiling to herself, Sakura swung around to see Naruto running at her in full speed. She never thought that she would be the one to admit this but it was great to hear something loud and something so 'Naruto' for a change. Being in the hospital drove her insane, especially when it was so silent. Now she knew why Kakashi hated being a patient so much. It was weird that she never realized it before – especially when she worked there so much. She made a mental note to herself to give the patients an option of playing music in their rooms.

She felt the wind get knocked out of her when Naruto finally crashed into her. He picked her up from where she was and started to hug her while swinging her.

"Naruto! I can't breathe! Stop!"

Nausea hit her when he started swinging her in circles. She felt like puking.

"NA-RU…TO! ST-OP! I'm go-ing to p-u-ke, Stop- Kaka-sen-sei! He-lp!"

Naruto didn't stop, nor did Kakashi try to help her. If anything Naruto hugged harder and tears starting to stream down his face as he cried, "'SAKUUURA-CHAN!! I MISSED YOU!!"

"KAKASHI!"

Kakashi raised one eyebrow again, picked Naruto up and set the kyuubi container on his feet on the other side of him – away from Sakura. Needless to say, Kakashi received a death glare from Sakura.

"I'm going home." Sakura turned and started to walk away from the hospital entrance.

The 2 males looked at each other. Naruto had a confused look on his face while Kakashi's expression never changed. The jounin simply patted Naruto on the shoulder, shrugged and said, "PMS."

"I HEARD THAT!"

With a chuckle, Kakashi bided Naruto farewell and followed Sakura.

"So… why didn't you help me? I was going to hurl you know."

"I know."

Sakura stopped and glared at him again.

"So why?"

Sakura had to admit that she was a little pissed off. She knew that Kakashi had never been one to show affections, much less in public. She knew that Kakashi has never been in love or openly dated someone before, but she didn't know that he was going to be so cold towards her. Did he have some personality disorder where he was cold to people he loved – just like how boys in kindergarten would bully the girl that they liked? Looking over to the Copy-Ninja, she felt silly for thinking that. He was a grown man, so why?

Nevertheless, she started to think and retrace the things she said. Her eyes widened when she realized.

"You didn't help me and I almost threw up because I called you sensei?"

Kakashi just kept on walking.

"You're mean!! Kakashi-sensei!"

She didn't really mean it of course. She knew that he always had a weird way of teaching things. In the future, if she called him 'sensei' again, she would remember today - the day when he was more than just a sensei, and more than a teammate and friend – and the day where she almost puked in front of her new lover. However, she was still slightly sad that he would go to this extreme to prove a point. She was confused when she heard him laugh quietly.

"I think you're mistaken. I simply just thought that you missed Naruto as much as he missed you. A little hug never hurt anyone."

"… Little? … He may be little to you, but as much as I love Naruto and his hugs, I feel like his hugs crush me sometimes. He's grown too much over the years. I can almost feel my spine snap when he towers over me." With a smile, Sakura continued, "He doesn't know his own strength."

"It was also hard to hear you when you were laughing while you were screaming help."

Sakura blushed, "I knew I gave you too much credit for your teaching methods."

Kakashi raised one eyebrow. "Teaching methods?"

"Nevermind."

After a moment of silence, Sakura apologized for thinking that Kakashi was cold. It was a simple misunderstanding and she forgot that he had slow reflexes when it came to things outside of a battle. She felt bad for being ill-tempered towards him – it was something that she really had to fix. Tsunade's short temper was not a good thing to pick up on. How could she forget with all the times that she had to wait for him? It explains a lot – from not picking Naruto off of her to not answering when she thought he didn't help her because she called him 'sensei'.

"I'm not cold… I just have a different way of thinking."

Sakura nodded in agreement, knowing all too well just how different Kakashi was.

"You and I both know that I've never been good at relationships, and as much as I would love to be with you… I'm going to ask that you have to be patient with me…"

Sakura nodded again.

"However hard that may be."

Sakura gave a little scowl and lightly swung a punch at him.

"And I'm going to have to ask that you don't physically abuse me. I'd like to be black-and-blue free."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. It's a …"

"I was joking."

Sakura raised one eyebrow and pretended to look astonished. "The famous Hatake Kakashi can … joke?"

"Yes… didn't you promise to drop the 'sensei' anyways?"

"Sure did, but you know it's a habit…" and with a suggestive look, Sakura added, "Unless… you want me to call you 'sensei'?"

Kakashi froze as Icha Icha scenarios played like a movie in his head. Sakura laughed out loud as they continued to walk. As she reached her front door, a thought that hadn't crossed Sakura's mind before hit her.

It felt nice to walk home with someone, to have someone here with her and to have a nice conversation with. She wouldn't mind if this happened everyday. She smiled when she looked up at Kakashi. It seemed that he was also having similar thoughts. Before she stuck her key in the lock, she turned and faced Kakashi. Looking up through her lashes, she asked, "Would you like to come in?"

Casually resting his hand on her lower back, he gave a lopsided grin behind his mask. "How can I resist an offer like that?"

With a smile, Sakura opened the door and they made their way in. Upon turning around to look at her apartment, she froze. Then she looked at Kakashi and saw that he was avoiding her gaze.

"You flipped my apartment… upside-down… just to see if I was taking my pills!?"

Kakashi could only scratch the back of his head as he took a step back.

"KAKASHIIII!!!"

Watching the pink-haired ninja advance towards him, he knew that his life was starting to get very interesting.

They had both missed out a lot on each other's lives and had a lot of catching up to do. He understood that they were 2 very different people; nevertheless, they balanced each other out. She had the passion and overflowing emotions that he didn't. She made decisions rashly and based on her emotions while he was calm and made level-headed decisions. Changes would have to be made. When Sakura had pounced on top of him, he knew that his life would never be the same and he accepted it with open arms.

He had never thought that he would be able to care about anything besides his duties or to love again, but here he was. He had never thought about ever showing any more emotions, but again he was proven wrong. Sakura had 180 degrees flipped his life around, a life that he didn't think he would be able to experience again - a life of companionship, promise and love. For him, life had just been 'restarted', and he couldn't be happier.

For Sakura, her emotions had always been her drive and motivation to advance in life. She had thought about ending it all, but for once… she was not the one who had to ask the other, not to leave. She was glad that she was so easily persuaded or that Kakashi was a good persuader. She couldn't explain why she gave in to her usual stubbornness this time, but she didn't think about it too much. She was here now, and the happiness she felt couldn't be replaced with anything else.

Who would have thought that out of everyone she knew… she would have ended up with Hatake Kakashi? She was sure that no one had seen it coming. When she was young, she had thought of Kakashi as the most annoying man she knew. Sure, she knew that he was strong but she had thought that he had no sense of responsibility. To her back then, he wasn't serious about anything he did and he seemed to just drift through life while she had to work and study so hard to get where she was. Oh, how wrong had she been…

As she got to know him, she found out his past and had regretted thinking that he wasn't serious about anything. She also discovered that having no sense of responsibility was just a front that he put on. On the outside, he seemed like he didn't care about anything but even though he looked like he lacked emotions, Sakura found out that he felt more than most people. Whenever she found him standing in front of the memorial, he would be expressionless, but she could feel him thinking and reflecting internally. He didn't show this either, but his happiness was contagious. He didn't laugh like crazy like Naruto did, nor did he skip down the street… For Sakura, a simple chuckle was all that was needed to make her feel warm inside.

Despite knowing him for so long, there was a lot that she didn't know about him. For once, she was patient in waiting for him. She decided that she will wait to learn more about him; after all, he was already opening up to her. She couldn't figure out if this relationship was going too fast or if it was too good to be true, but she didn't overanalyze it.

Yes, they had a lot of catching up to do and they intended to make up for every bit of lost time. When Sakura laughed and threw her arms around Kakashi's neck, he had made up his mind.

With a kiss, he decided that the catching up started now.

The End

Cheesy-ness to the max! Was the reason for the kiss too predictable? Sorry for the long wait, I just started school/work again and things have been crazy (especially during first year orientation week). Sorry for the quick ending, but I'm not sure where the story can go anymore – so I am starting a new one. Hopefully it will be better.

Please check out Breathe when you have time.

Here's a quick summary of it, (it's still under construction): Due to unexpected circumstances, Sakura has to live at Kakashi's apartment for a while. What could possibly happen? And just how long will she or can she stand to live at his place? [KakaSaku]

Take note that the rating has been changed back to T instead of M (because someone said T is more suitable, and at first it was only rated M to be safe because I wasn't sure where I was going with it). Not that this is saying much because it's the end of the story already, so... sorry if this disappointed any of you (if you were looking for anything 'M' material =P).

Thanks again to all my readers. I really wouldn't have found the motivation to write without you guys and without reading your reviews – Thank you so much!