One never truly realized how often there was cause for celebration until the ability to celebrate had been taken away. In the old days, it seemed as if there was always a reason to celebrate: the success of a mission, a birthday, a wedding, some holiday, another day of life. Now there was hardly any celebrating at all.
The curtailment of kunoichi was only the beginning of a series of unjust, demoralizing and oppressive decree's handed down by Danzo. Several months after his controversial decision regarding all female ninja, it was announced by one of the Hokage's ever faithful ROOT captains that shinobi would no longer be allowed to celebrate most festivals. Danzo had decided that such celebrations only caused shinobi to be tempted by foul distractions that could compromise their efficiency during missions. In fact the Rokudaime had extended this limitation to all acts of revelry with the curious exception of birthdays.
Of course these limitations were not leveled towards civilians. They were allowed to celebrate anything in any manner they wished. The Hokage worked very hard in fact to keep the civilians happy and distracted, lest they began to sense the webs of martial law that were being spun about them.
But today was not a day to linger on such thoughts, because there was a party to attend. One that was being held in the honor of the famous Copy-Nin Hatake Kakashi himself. One that they were running very, very late to.
"I thought it was the woman's job to make the man late for everything!" Sakura huffed as she walked behind Kakashi, pushing against his back and marching him up the street.
"But Sakuraaa-chaaan, it's raining out." Kakashi whined in a tone quite unbecoming of someone turning thirty.
"Don't Sakura-chan me Hatake! You know damn well how much this means to everyone." She continued to push him forward. Despite his verbal protests he made no real attempt at escaping and being a master of over a 1,000 jutsu he could certainly escape her grasp if he wanted too.
Truth be told, he did realized how much a simple party like this meant to everyone left in the village and while he inwardly cringed at the idea of turning thirty if a party to mark this ghastly occasion would put a smile of the faces of his friend's and comrade's he would endure it like the renown shinobi he was.
"If you don't hurry up my make up is going to run and I'll look like the Kazekage's long lost sister."
"Hmm, I think you'd look cute with tanuki eyes." Kakashi remarked.
"Argh! You're insufferable sometimes!" She threw her arms up in exasperation which took Kakashi by surprise. While he hadn't really been physically protesting, he was more than content to just let her push him along. So with her arms so suddenly gone he found himself staring up into a gray sky, against a cool ground with even cooler water seeping into the back of his shirt.
For a moment there was a strong silence that was only punctured by the soft, wet patter of the rain against the ground, then a nervous giggled sounded followed by a few chuckles that soon developed into a heartfelt laugh.
"Well, I never!" Kakashi responded in mock indignation.
This only caused Sakura to laugh harder until she was on her knees and holding her hands against a stitch in her side. "Oh the look on your face! You should have seen it!"
"You should see yours." He responded, sitting up. "Your make up is running dear."
"Oh shut up." She wheezed. The cherry blossom was still trying to catch her breath from her hysterical fit of laughter.
Looking at her, Kakashi couldn't help but smile. Her features were a light with joy , a soft blush peppered across her checks in the aftermath of her mirth. She looked like she had in her younger years, before the weight of this new world had pulled her down and grounded away her happiness until it was but a distance memory. To have witnessed this very moment was better than any birthday present he could receive.
Sliding next to her, he leaned forward and nuzzled her face, kissing the tip of her nose softly before capturing her lips in a tender embrace with his own. Even through his mask he could feel how soft and supple they were.
Pulling back from her lover she graced him with one more smile before the after glow of laughter began to fade from her green orbs and they grew jaded once again. The moment was over, but Kakashi would cherish it for the rest of his days.
"We really should be getting to the party…"
"Right." Kakashi said. With all the grace he naturally possessed he rose to his feet, pulling Sakura up with him. Together they resumed their damp walk forward.
Even though the party was for the great Hatake Kakashi it was still very understated. These days you didn't want to run the risk of getting to rowdy and being caught by wandering ROOT patrols. Such encounters never ended well. However, since it was a thirtieth birthday celebration it had been decided that sneaking in a few bottles of sake, courtesy of Genma, was a risk worth taking.
The only depressing aspect of walking into a party for Sakura was the realization of how few of the people she actually knew were left. There was no Hinata or Tenten, no Shino or Shizune. The list went on and seemed to be growing every month these days, but the missing face that haunted her the most was that of a loud mouthed blonde with whiskered cheeks and a bold attitude.
"Ah Sakura!" greeted a high-pitched voice, "You look like a drowned rat. I must say it's an improvement from your usual appearance."
"Ino-pig!" Sakura cried in response, "You look as is if you've swallowed an elephant!"
Despite the teasing, the two girls embraced tightly or as tightly as Ino's bulging belly would allow. Leaning down, Sakura began rubbing circles against the blonde's stomach.
"Don't worry little ones, I'm sure you'll be nothing like your pig-faced mother here." she cooed softly.
Ino only smiled wider. "I'm still getting used to the idea that I'm having twins. Can you believe that?"
"I still can't believe you're even having children!" The two laughed.
"I suppose it was only a matter of time. Since I've become a civilian I'll have all the time in the world to be a stay at home mom."
Sakura tried not to frown at her words and seeing the distress they had caused her friend Ino waved towards the plush red couch she had just vacated. "Come on, have a seat and dry off. We have so much to catch up on!"
The rest of the night was spent sipping sake and retelling stories of their more youthful days. Despite his earlier protests of not wanting to attend, Kakashi became the center of attention when he began retelling stories of his great escapades during the third secret war. This enthralled many of the younger ninja in attendance who had only heard fragments of the jounin's mysterious past.
Becoming jealous of the sway Kakashi seemed to hold over the younger shinobi and their remarks of "how cool" he was and how "amazing" his achievements were, a drunken Guy decided to dub himself the Green Fairy of Spring and began to douse everyone in the "rain of youth." The rain was provided courtesy of a sake bottle.
Clearly the forbidden liquor was starting to get to everyone so before anyone else got it in their heads to declare themselves a fairy, hugs and hands shakes went around and farewells were had. Though the clock said it was well after midnight, it seemed as if things were ending far to soon.
"Will you be okay walking home Sakura?" Ino stood in the doorway of her home and eyed Kakashi wearily. He kept swaying from side to side, like a tree continuously caught in a strong wind.
"I'll be fine. I'll come back for all his presents tomorrow." With a nod to her dear friend, she took her former sensei by the hand and began to lead him home. At least the rain had stopped.
"Be careful Sakura!" Ino called to their fading silhouettes. These days you could never be sure of what was roaming around the shinobi district at night.
The walk back to Kakashi's apartment was not a long one in terms of distance but his drunken stupor was making it difficult to go five steps without having to pause to let him catch his balance.
"Sakura…you should see all these pretty stars."
Without even looking to see which way his head way facing, the medic-nin replied. "Those aren't stars, they're spots."
"Oh…"He was silent for a moment, "Well…they're still pretty."
A snide remark died on her lips as she heard the crunching of gravel beneath a boot up a head. Though the night was chill from the evenings rain a cool sweat broke out along her spine. All types of nasty ROOT agents were known to prowl the ninja district.
Taking a deep breath the cherry blossom started forward but she hadn't made it three steps before two shadows seem to materialize out of the night itself. She hated it when they did that.
"Well, well, well. Do I spy some misbehaving ninja?" The voice that spoke from behind the mask was sneering and full of arrogance. He was clearly looking for a fight.
"Just getting the birthday boy home sir." Sakura was going to try for the short and simple route.
"He certainly seems as if he has been enjoying himself." the ROOT operative stroked his masked chin. "Here I thought the Hokage had forbidden ninja from drinking."
"Oh no sir, he's just not feeling well. He ate some bad tempura."
"I don't think I like your tone." The agent said, taking a step forward. It was a ridiculous accusation really as Sakura hadn't taken any type of tone with him.
"That's enough now." The second ROOT ninja stepped between Sakura and the advancing man. "Haruno Sakura here is one of only two women to hold the rank of jounin, she knows exactly the punishment they would face for breaking the Hokage's decree. If she says he is sick from spoiled tempura then it is the truth. She isn't the risk taking type."
This seemed to dissuade the more brash ROOT agent causing him to pause and consider his partner's words carefully while Sakura stared wide-eyed at her rescuer's back. She knew that voice.
"Tch," The ROOT agent spat out after a tense moment. "Whatever, let's get out of here already." Clearly annoyed that he'd lost out on some good fun the agent sulked off into the night, intent on finding another mouse to play with. God help whoever he found.
"Thank you Sai.." Sakura whispered softly, pouring all her gratitude into those words. Beside her Kakashi continued to sway but he seemed to have stopped his senseless babble.
"Be more discreet next time. I might not be around to help you again." Then just as quickly as he had appeared, he was lost into the darkness again.
Deciding to take no more chances, the kunoichi pulled the much taller jounin onto her back and made a dash for his apartment. A vomit covered shoulder would be a small price to pay to avoid another run in with any ROOT agents.
Luckily Sakura avoided a vomit covered shoulder, it ended up on his living room floor instead.
"Pakkun will eat it later." Kakashi grunted as he staggered towards the bedroom. Not being in the mood to clean up the mess she walked away from the puddle, deciding to let the pug deal with it on his own.
In the bedroom she found Kakashi curled on the bed, laying on his side and clutching the comforter between his arms. His cloths laid crumpled on the floor.
"Oh Sakura…oh Sakura…where is my lovely Sakura-chaaan~" What was supposed to be a sing-song voice come out sounding more like a horsed juvenile who'd just begun puberty.
Pulling off her shirt, the cherry blossom tossed it over her shoulder and onto his face in an attempt to muffle the offending voice.
"MmmM." He took a strong breath in. "I can smell her but I can't see her! Oh where is my lovely Sa~ku~ra~!"
"Open your eyes and take the shirt off your head Kakashi. Really, you're not an invalid." It wasn't that he was annoying her with his drunk and impromptu lyrics, in fact she found it quite amusing that he was singing about her but she was still shaken up by the run in with ROOT. What would have happened if Sai hadn't of been there?
"Open my eyes you say?" His voice was much too close now for him to still be on the bed.
Turning around slowly, Sakura looked up into the unmasked face of her lover. It was not a face carved from magnificent beauty nor was it plain. Kakashi's face fell directly into the middle of the handsome category and the scar that ran down his cheek only served to grace it with a more exotic edge.
Out of habit her eyes followed the trail of that scar upwards but instead of meeting a closed lid she found herself staring into the swirling tomoe of the sharingan. Just like that he had caught her. Suddenly the room was plunged into shades of red and gray but Sakura didn't fight it, this wasn't the first time they had done this.
Reaching out he pulled Sakura flush against his body, ghosting touches along her lower back and behind. The small touches were enough to make her moan and shiver against him. When ever he used his sharingan like this all sensations were pushed to a point where they almost unbearable.
"Cheater.." She whispered against his lips as he licked and nibbled at hers greedily.
"Hn." was his only reply as his fingers found purchase in the flesh of her hips and he effortlessly lifted her upwards. Driven purely by instinct she wrapped her legs around his hips, gasping as she felt his warm length pressed against her inner thigh. Every touch of their bodies coaxed throaty moans from the cherry blossom and she could feel herself wet and ready. Burying her hands into his hair she shifted her hips and slowly began to slide his sex inside her.
With a sudden growl he pressed the medic-nin against the wall and took control, moving her hips roughly against his. He pushed forward until he was completely sheathed in her warmth and held her hips still despite her protests while he ground his pelvis against her clitoris. He repeated these movements again and again until she was screaming and clawing at his back in ecstasy, begging him to let her come. In this world Sakura could not reach her release until Kakashi let her, until then the pleasure would just continue to intensify and envelope the cherry blossom until she felt as if she might lose her sanity against the waves of pure bliss that crashed over her each time their bodies reunited with another.
He wouldn't keep her begging long, not this time.
His rhythm began to break down as his thrusts became more erratic and wild, primal grunts and moans mingling with Sakura's pleading cries. With a final thrust forward he released Sakura from his spell, in an almost dizzying fashion their positions changed. They were on the bed, Sakura riding his hips but before she could adjust to the change the dam Kakashi built finally burst and her pleasure roared through her, consumed her and swept her away into a lake of golden ecstasy.
In the throes of her pleasure Kakashi found his own burning release, crying out her name as he spilled his white hot seed inside her. Spent and exhausted Sakura collapsed onto his chest shivering and gasping , her limbs twitching involuntarily every time the Copy-nin ran his hands across her back.
Settling her head between his shoulder and neck the kunoichi let out a content sigh and closed her eyes, lulled to sleep by the steady beating of his heart against her chest. Kakashi made no attempt to move her, enjoying the feel of her heated, sweaty body pressed so intimately against him while his sex still pulsed faintly inside.
He continued to massage her back, refusing the hand sleep extended to him. For now he was content to lay there and take solace in the feel of her warm, living body against his own. It was the only thing he had left anymore.
AN: If I screwed up the ages I am terribly sorry. Form what I could figured Sakura was around 16 when the Pain destroys Konoha arc was occurring and this part of the story is set about two year after that, making Sakura 18. Kakashi, if math is to be believed, should be around 12 years older than her, putting him at 30.
If I'm wrong, let's just pretend I'm right. It's much more fun that way.