I don't own any of the characters within this work of fiction, they all belong to Masashi Kishimoto. :)
I have obviously taken some creative liberties within this story, so it's not going to be 100% accurate to the anime or the manga.
The trio are in their early twenties, hovering somewhere around 22 years old. This, of course, makes Kakashi's age somewhere around 36.
Enjoy!
A voice, a petulant little voice, crept into his thoughts to remind him that he didn't deserve this. Didn't deserve the minute amount of happiness that he's found. It's not wrong. He clenched his jaw, gritting his teeth, and returned his attention to the chaos in front of him.
Naruto was, per usual, bouncing off the walls in excitement. His wild yellow hair bounced in time with his hopping from foot to foot. His one female student, Sakura, was wholeheartedly laughing at the wild boy in front of her. It was nice to see the team together again; after all, it's been three years since the wild boy and his stoic companion had set off on a repentance journey.
The Uchiha, who had been absently watching his former teammates, flushed red at a comment the pink-haired kunoichi threw his way. There was an even louder chorus of laughter, Sasuke's embarrassment clearly amusing Naruto and Sakura. Hidden behind his mask, a small smile snuck its way across the watcher's face.
Even though he was enjoying watching his former students catch up on lost time, Kakashi had to break up the homecoming. After all, he was sent by the Hokage to gather the three for a mission briefing. Kakashi dropped from the tree branch he was lounging on without a sound, blithely making his way to the rowdy group. As he approached the three, Kakashi noticed that the blonde and the raven-haired shinobi's pinkies were intertwined.
Sasuke was the first to notice him approaching, his eyes narrowing as he quickly disentangled his finger from his partner's grip. Naruto didn't seem to mind, although Kakashi did catch the quizzical glance he shared with the other.
Naruto was the next to notice him. A brilliant smile exploded across his face, causing the marks on his cheeks to crinkle. Sakura wasn't far behind. Once she caught sight of him, her face lit up, green eyes shining like emeralds.
Beautiful.
Kakashi couldn't stop the thought from forming. It wasn't too off base for him to acknowledge his former student's beauty, she was the most sought-after kunoichi in the village. However, he was quick to shove the thought to the back of his mind.
The trio offered greetings as he closed the distance between himself and their group.
"Kakashi sensei!"
"Kakashi."
"It's good to see you Kakashi."
He offered his usual greeting before continuing with his motive for seeking them out.
When the four companions entered the Hokage's office, she was barely visible behind a mountain of paperwork. She offered no greeting as they continued towards her desk, but tossed a mission scroll to Kakashi who swiftly caught the projectile. He unsealed the scroll, his lone eye intensely flitting across the paper.
Tsunade spoke from behind her pile of files.
"They specifically requested the ninja who were a part of cell 7."
"Hm."
"It could be a trap."
"Hm."
The blonde woman sighed, exasperated, but not surprised, with Kakashi chosen method of communication. "You leave in the morning."
"Eh?!"
"Hang on-"
"Where are we-"
Kakashi's trio of former students erupted into an amass of incoherent questions. He stepped in to explain the situation before their grumbling triggered the Hokage's well-known explosive anger.
"Remember the small hot spring village to the East, just inside the Land of Steam?"
Sakura spoke up. "Oh! The mission where Naruto was kidnapped?"
"Hey," exclaimed the blonde, "That wasn't my fault!"
The more stoic member of the team huffed and rolled his eyes before speaking. "What of it, Kakashi?"
"Well," elaborated the masked man, "it seems as though they've had a string of missing tourists and villagers alike.."
The trio exchanged pointed looks, an air of seriousness settling in the room. Kakashi continued.
"The kidnappers are ransoming their victims, then killing them when the ransom is paid. The MO is eerily similar to our previous mission there, which is why they requested us specifically."
He watched their faces. Naruto's usually exuberant smile was gone and replaced with a deep scowl, his blue eyes burning. To the boy's right, Sakura's face was calm, but the heavily clenched fists at her side told another story. Even Sasuke, whose impassiveness rivaled his own, had the marks of his fury evident on his face. Kakashi pursed his lips under his mask and turned back to Tsunade.
"We're taking the mission."
The woman sighed, leaning back in her chair, arms crossed across her chest.
"I figured as much."
Her brows pulled together, clearly deep in thought, before she spoke again.
"Kakashi is cell captain. He'll decide what roles you'll play in the mission."
"However, as you're all fully aware, Sakura is a medic ninja whose skills almost rival my own. Her return to Kohona's hospital is imperative to the functionality of the village."
The shinobi in question flushed, the color in her cheeks complementing the pink shade of her hair.
"And don't even get me started on the calamity of either one of you idiots," Tsunade's eyes flitted between Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi, "being taken yourselves."
Naruto grinned at Sakura, tossing an arm around her shoulder.
"Don't worry, old lady fifth, we'll take care of Sakura! Dattebayo!"
This sent the trio into another squabble. The boys adamantly insisted that the medic would be taken care of, and the medic vehemently protested that she could "damn well handle things herself". Kakashi sighed; there was no way he'd make it through this mission without Chidori-ing one of them.
"Enough!"
The Hokage caught the shinobis' attention with a slam of her hand on her desk as she stood from her chair.
"Kakashi's captain. You leave in the morning."
The Sannin started all four of them down, particularly glaring at the masked man who did not appreciate the look in her eyes.
"Now, get out of my office!"
The three younger ninjas made their way toward the office door, while the Jonin chose to exit through the window. Silently, as not to alert his former students to their tail, Kakashi traveled across rooftops. He was concerned about how Sakura would handle the pressure dropped on her by Tsunade. Which is why, when the trio separated and the boys headed north and the young kunoichi headed south, Kakashi followed the flash of pink hair.
It didn't take long for them to reach her apartment building. Kakashi, being who he is, preferred to perch in a tree rather than enter said building. When the balcony light of the most right apartment on the second floor switched on, he knew Sakura was home. As was her normal routine, the medic stepped out onto the balcony with a hot mug of tea. Interestingly, instead of taking a seat in the hammock, Sakura focused her attention on the tree he was currently perched in.
A slight jolt of surprise skittered up Kakashi's spine. It was as if she knew he was there and was holding him hostage with her gaze. Neither shinobi moved, both rooted where they stood while the evening breeze played with the leaves on the trees. Slowly, a soft smile spread across Sakura's face and a slight blush tinted her cheeks. She quietly spoke into the cool breeze.
"I'm okay."
Kakashi caught the mumbled words, more so by sight than sound. He wasn't entirely convinced that she was okay, but decided to take his leave anyway. Again, he hopped from rooftop to rooftop.
Roughly two streets away, he quietly dropped down to his own apartment balcony and easily slipped through the Jutsu-sealed doors. He removed his mask and leaf headband, setting them down on the kitchen table before slipping an eyepatch over his left eye.
Kakashi had a lot to prepare before tomorrow's mission, and he intended to have a devised solution for any possible hiccup. He'd be damned if he let anything happen to the shinobi under his watch.
Although Sakura knew that the white-haired Jonin would never admit it, she was well aware that their former sensei kept tabs on them.
Naruto and Sasuke mentioned that he would show up the night before a major mission with some sort of excuse about "strategic training". He was also often spotted lounging in a tree, his nose stuck in an orange-clad book, in the vicinity of the hospital on her more strenuous shifts with the excuse of "just passing through". About two weeks ago, when she was too exhausted to even function after pulling a double at the hospital, there was a home-cooked meal left on her balcony with a small slip of paper that merely had a doodled ninja dog on it. Of course, that didn't exactly mean that the Copy Ninja was the one who left it. However, there wasn't a single ounce of doubt in her mind that Kakashi was the culprit.
Funnily enough, Sakura also kept tabs on her boys. She knew when they left for and returned from missions, and often made an appearance at their places not long after their return to ensure their injuries were taken care of. She was also the only one besides the Hokage who could get those three stubborn fools to agree to lengthy stays in the hospital. Why they were so intent on avoiding medical care Sakura would never know.
She packed her field med kit with extra everything. She had double the amount of sedatives, painkillers, chakra-enhanced salves, bandages, and chakra-boosting pills than a four-man cell could ever need. But Sakura knew her boys, and they'd be just the type of idiots who'd manage to use it all in one go.
Sakura left her med kit near the front door and made her way to the back bedroom, shutting off the lights as she went. She slipped into her covers, the king-sized bed engulfing her petite frame, and yawned. With the breeze in the trees offering a calming lullaby, Sakura easily drifted off into sleep.
Perched on the edge of the bed, he watched Naruto sleep, the boy's chest calmly rising and falling. The blonde had just been animatedly chattering away about their mission but was now passed out. And in Sasuke's bed no less.
Sasuke studied the sleeping boy in his bed. Naruto was laying on his stomach, his head nestled in his arms. Sasuke liked that he was the only one who knew what the other's face looked like when it wasn't overflowing with emotions. He looked more his age when he wasn't beaming from ear to ear. Sasuke reached out, lightly tracing the whisker-like marks on Naruto's upturned cheek while pondering his current predicament.
He knew from experience that trying to wake Naruto would either be a waste of his time or lead to mass chaos. Neither one of those options sounded appealing. Plus, not that he'd ever admit it out loud, but Sasuke slept better and had significantly fewer nightmares when he and the blonde shared a bed.
"You never make anything easy, do you?" Sasuke mumbled under his breath.
He sighed while he attempted to maneuver the slumbering boy under the covers. Once he had managed to simultaneously slip the covers out from under Naruto to on top of Naruto, Sasuke was thoroughly exhausted. The blonde didn't look it but he was dense, and not just in mental capacity.
Sasuke, thankfully, had already donned a pair of pajamas and ran through his nightly routine before Naruto decided to pass out. Which meant that all he had to do was turn off the lamp on the bedside table and crawl into bed. Since he had managed to position Naruto sleeping on his side facing away from the wall, Sasuke made sure to face the opposite direction. The boy had a tendency of flailing in his sleep and Sasuke learned quite quickly that he did not enjoy getting smacked in the face.
Once under the covers and comfortable, muscled arms snaked their way around Sasuke's waist and tugged him closer. He let a small, content smile creep across his face as his companion snuggled into his back. Sasuke could feel the heat from Naruto's bare chest through his shirt, the familiarity of the closeness instantly relaxing him. He drifted off to sleep listening to his favorite sound. Naruto's soft, relaxed, and consistent breathing.