So I'm watching episode 65 of Shippuden. Konoha ninja are so cool when they work together! They all just take orders from each other without question and it's very cool. Nuzugahaha! I love them all and want them to be mine! Except Genma, I want him to be just out of reach of being mine. I'm really liking Genma, I think he's my new favorite since Kakashi isn't in this episode. AH! Ninja zombies. This is my favorite episode ever. Nothing tops ninja zombies. No-thing. Squeee.
Oh 'Krazed, I'm so happy you're ok! I was worried! Really, I was.
I know this is short chapter, but it's no longer very early, it's just early, and I want to go to bed.
Obviously Naruto wasn't sent on the mission to go undercover into one of the cities hosting the trade rink. Unfortunately; Neji was. Which, of course, left Naruto and Hinata spending more and more time at my house; seeing as the one other Hyūga who could stand Naruto was no longer around. Kakashi had edged his way into a section of my closet and the bottom drawers of my dresser, claiming that if Zen was staying here he didn't want me left alone with her. The reasons varied, depending what time of day he was asked and who was doing the asking from 'I don't want them teaming up on me,' to 'Zenitha might hurt Sakura, what kind of husband would I be if I let that happen?' with the occasional, 'I don't want to miss anything they might get carried away doing together,' saved just for Genma. After Genma had heard that excuse he had found more reasons to stop by to see me as well, and soon became obsessed with seeing what was under Zen's mask. To make matters worse Genma was a very popular man, with lots of friends, who thought 'where ever Genma hangs out, I can hang out too!'
To think, just a few weeks ago it was only me in this big house, living happily with all the open space and quiet. Now there's not an hour in the day when there's less than four people in the house and one of them is always drunk, and it never seems to be me.
As I sit at the kitchen counter just before sundown, staring at a new hole in the cabinets and wondering how the hell it was carved out in such a perfect circle Genma comes crashing through the door, nearly knocking it off its hinge. He and the bombshell he's with freeze when they see me sitting at the kitchen counter, drinking tea calmly. A second later they burst out into a fit of giggles. "Don't you have your own home, Genma?" I ask with a scowl. How the hell is he so drunk so early in the day, and why is this girl going home with him so soon? She could do much better by the end of the night.
"Yours is much nicer," he says through a laugh, trying to stop laughing, but failing miserably.
"It used to be," I muse. "Actually, this is perfect, you want to stay here?"
Genma smiles. "Zen home?"
"Of course she is, and it's your job to keep her here," I dump the rest of the tea down the drain. "Kakashi, let's go, I found a babysitter!" I yell up the stairs as I wash my hands quickly and go to put on my shoes. "Zen!" As Kakashi slips down the stairs, zipping up his jonin vest, Zen appears at the top of the stairs, toothbrush in her mouth. "Be good for Genma, would you? Don't cause any trouble?" She nods, giving me a thumbs up and returns to the bathroom. "Bye Genma, see you later," I say with a smile as I slip out the door. "And I hope not to see you when I get home about as much as Genma hopes not to see you when he wakes up," I say to the girl, smiling brightly. She just nods, still smiling. What an idiot.
"Wait," Genma begins, shaking his head. "What am I…"
"Genma," Kakashi says, patting him on the shoulder. He turns to the girl. "Nameless girl he'll forget by tomorrow. Have a nice night… wash the sheets. Or burn them, depending on what games you play"
"Sure…" Genma says with a little laugh as Kakashi closes the door in his face.
"That was easy," he says, taking my hand in his as we head towards town.
"That was lucky," I correct, smiling up at him. "Kami, I never thought I'd be so happy to be out of my own home."
"It's not so bad," he says with a shrug. "At least it's interesting."
"Are you kidding?" I don't think my eyebrows could get any higher. "Did you see that hole in the cabinet? How did they do that? It's amazing!" Kakashi simply laughs, opening the door for me to the tea house.
When our food arrives I smile at how easily Kakashi removes his mask, thanking the star-struck young woman who brought it to us and effectively ignoring her for the rest of the meal. All the same the girl sticks around, listening to us talk and watching Kakashi eat with a fascination that almost makes me sick. I sigh and stare at Kakashi, holding my hand out over the table. He raises an eyebrow at me, but takes my hand all the same.
Is it always like this when you take your mask off? I sign onto his palm.
Like what? He scowls, confused and I almost burst out laughing. Amazing, he doesn't even notice anymore. The waitress comes by again, the third time in two minutes, asking if she can get us anything.
I smirk and Kakashi shakes his head, but I turn to her anyways. "You know, I don't mean to sound weird, but you're very pretty," I say, still holding Kakashi's hand. The girl's eyes go wide in shock. "You see, my husband and I have been tiring of the same old thing, in the bedroom department," I practically whisper. "Do you think you'd be interested… to help liven things up?"
The girl blushes eight different shades of red before turning on her toes and fleeing to the kitchens. "If you were getting bored all you had to do was tell me," Kakashi says with a laugh as I go back to eating calmly.
"She was annoying me," I say simply, taking a bite off his plate.
He smiles, glancing up at the front doors of the restaurant behind me. "I think this new waiter is going to make you fairly happy then," he whispers across the table.
Just as he leans back into his chair and smirks at me a man steps to the edge of the table, he's just short of gorgeous, of course, looking a little like Sauske with dark eyes and a sexy little smirk that is probably meant to scare us. As it is I just roll my eyes at Kakashi. The new waiter puts his hands on the edge of the table, showing off the scars on his knuckles. "You hitting on my little sister?" the man asks Kakashi. Kakashi putts his hands up, shaking his head rapidly.
"No," I say calmly, taking a drink of my tea. "I was." The man stutters for a few minutes before I finally speak again. "Honey, I know I said I wanted a girl… but he's awfully cute. What do you think?"
Kakashi bites back a laugh at that, turning away. "Whatever you want, sweetheart."
The waiter turns to go back to where he came from, a lighter blush than his sister's on his cheeks, but I grab his writs as he's leaving. "Could we get some to-go boxes?" I ask with a smile.
Kakashi practically breaks out laughing as the man scurries off with a nod. "You're evil," he says through his stifled chuckles.
"What if they'd said yes?" I ponder, glancing at my tea cup.
"You know me," he says with a shrug. "All I need is you, but if you want someone else, any one besides Anko or Genma, I'm game."
I smile. "What do you have against Genma?"
He bites his lip glancing up at me before pulling his mask back up. "I seem to remember a bet placed a few years back," he says easily. "If I have sex with Genma I owe someone a lot of money. I really can't remember who though…" The man drops off the to-go boxes with the check, scurrying away before we can say anything to him. Kakashi swipes the check from under my hand, making me smile. "This is a date, sweetheart, you can't pay."
"I was just testing you, but now that you've said I can't I want to," I say, crossing my arms.
"No," he says simply, smiling at me and holding out the money for the waiter as he walks by.
"Very smooth," I say as I begin to transfer the food into the to-go boxes.
Kakashi just smiles at me, taking the to-go boxes and helping me to my feet, leading me from the restaurant with his hand on my lower back. "So where do you want to go?" I ask, taking his free hand in mine and lacing our fingers.
He pulls me to a stop, turning me to face him, and tilts his head to the side, looking me over carefully. "I thought maybe we could just go to my place," he says softly, caressing the back of my hand with his thumb. "Maybe mix up some drinks… watch a movie… cuddle…" For some reason I don't see Kakashi as the cuddling type, indeed a 'snuggle bunny' in the mornings, but 'cuddling' in the middle of the day? Never.
"Have sex?" I ask, smiling knowingly. It's been so crazy around my house lately that it's been hard to get any alone time with him. I can't really blame him. He shrugs, stating non-verbally that was exactly what he was thinking. "I've got a better idea," I say, pulling him to continue walking. He looks at me as if to say, 'better than sex?' which I just smile at. "Let's go spar."
"Spar." he says, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Sure," I say, letting go of his hand to walk ahead of him, hands laced behind my back. "Just you and me, alone in the woods," I glance over my shoulder to him. "Releasing pent up emotions."
"Oh," he says, nodding. "Spar. That does sound like a good idea." We start walking again; not holding hands this time, but close enough so our shoulders brush. "Do we actually have to spar or can we just get straight to the good part?" He asks, glancing down at me in an honest question.
"We should probably spar," I say with a nod. "I don't want to get rusty." He sighs, shoulders slumping. "And you don't get a thing if I win."
"Damn it," he growls, as he had obviously been planning to let me win quickly and get it over with. Since it's so late in the day the training fields are empty when we get there. I pull on my gloves and pop my fingers as Kakashi pushes his forehead protector up. "Are you using your chakra strength?" He asks; the picture of ease.
"It's been a long couple of weeks," I say with a wink.
"Damn," he mutters. "I expect you to heal everything you break."
I laugh. "Sweetheart, I can't leave you broken; then you're no good to me."
He rolls his eyes, sighing heavily. "Weapons?"
I touch my chin thoughtfully. "Mm… no."
"You're putting me at a severe disadvantage here," he says with a smirk. "You can cut with your hands."
"Yes," I edge, smirking. "But without weapons our fighting distance changes to close range."
"Which you're better at," he says with a pout.
I smile at that. "Thank you, but that wasn't what I was thinking," he scowls, meeting my gaze for a moment and then his eyes widen in understanding.
"Close range is good," he says with a nod.
"Ready?" I ask, not at all prepared myself. It's been ages since I've fought someone as skilled as Kakashi. He grins. It wasn't really a proper fight. I found myself pulling my punches, and Kakashi never even came close to hitting me. After ten minutes of that we both give up with a laugh.
"I can't hit you, Sakura," he says, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I can't do it."
"Kami forbid I ever betray the leaf," I joke. "You'd just have to let me go."
"I couldn't just let you go," he argues, pushing a stray hair behind my ear. "I'd have to go with you."
I smile at the honesty behind his words, leaning up to kiss him. "You're so sweet," I mutter against his masked-lips. "But talk like that is going to get you into trouble."
"I'm already in trouble," he says with a grin, wrapping his arms around my waist so my arms have nowhere to go but around his neck. "Tsunade's still not happy with me, Shizune won't speak to me. Even Kurenai is pissed."
"Kurenai?" I ask, confused.
"She thinks it's my fault Hinata and Naruto are having a baby so early, I have no idea how she's made that jump, but there it is." I laugh as he shakes his head sadly. "Oh, had a talk with Iruka the other day. Surprise, surprise, he hates me too." I laugh at that, grinning as he begins to ramble about how Iruka told him to stay away from the academy, afraid he might set his eyes on another student.
"Kakashi," I mutter, cutting him off mid-word as I pull his mask down. "Shut up," I lean up and kiss him, and he immediately gives in, happily kissing me back. He lowers us down to the grass gently, and in the fading light of the setting sun I can see his eyes, filled to the brim with love. I'm about to say something about how cliché this all is, but Kakashi cuts me off, kissing me softly, then nipping at my bottom lip. I wrap my arms around him in a moan, deciding cliché is definitely good. Kakashi's hand trails up slowly, toying with the zipper of my shirt before he slides it down slowly, trailing the backs of his fingers along my skin as he does. "Kami," I mutter as his lips trail down my neck, nipping at my skin gently as he goes.
I reach down quickly, pushing my shorts off my hips, but Kakashi's hand grabs mine. "Why the hurry?" he mutters against my neck, "We've got time… enjoy it for a bit."
"But I'm ready now," I mutter, running my fingers through his hair with one hand as I pull gently at the hem of his pants with the other, "and so are you," I lift my hips against his to prove my point, enticing a groan out of him. He pushes his hips back against mine instinctively, allowing me to push my shorts down and kick them off my feet. "Plus we're in the middle of Konoha's forest," I say, bringing my legs up on either side of him, "and as fun as it sounds to be happened upon by a handsome stranger," I push his pants out of the way with my knees and rise to meet him, skin against skin. "I'd really much rather not."
"No sense of adventure," he mutters, nipping at my chest once more as I take hold of him, positioning him at my entrance and raising my hips towards him, so he sinks into me with a groan. "You're sneaky," he mutters.
"You didn't notice?" I ask, practically panting as he pushes me into the forest floor, finally moving to take control of the situation.
"I did," he breathes, kissing me sweetly. "But that was still sneaky."
I laugh at that, pulling him down to kiss me. "Kami, I miss this," I breathe. Taking the last few weeks off save for a few short trysts during my lunch breaks had left both of us quite irritable, although having so many people around probably would've made us irritable even if it hadn't practically killed our sex life. Why do people always crowd new couples?
"You missed it?" he teases. "Miss Two Years can't go two weeks without sex?"
"Can't go two weeks without you," I growl playfully, wrapping my legs around him to pull him in deeper.
He moans at that, pulling me into a needy kiss. My eyes shoot open in shock just in time to see his do the same before we roll, narrowing avoiding being hit with a dozen shuriken. He pulls out of me quickly reaching for a kunai as he pulls his pants back up. Kicking my shorts at me, he stands protectively in front of me as I slip them on and then helps me to my feet. "Protect Z," he whispers harshly in my ear, pushing me back towards my house as he watches shadows move among the trees.
I take off without a thought, sprinting towards the city. I hear metal clashing as I leave the woods, but I don't turn back. Kakashi can handle himself; if he wants Zen protected there's a good reason for it. I reach the house just as a dark figure jumps in from the roof, into the second floor window. Zen's room. I half jump half climb up the side of the house, following the figure and pushing them off the bed and onto the floor, kunai at their throat.
"Sakura!" I look up to see Genma outside the bed room door, pinned to the wall by a second figure.
"Let them go," the figure holding Genma demands, "or your friend dies."
I pull back a bit, kunai still at the figure's throat, seeing obviously that Zen isn't here. "What are you doing here?" I demand. "Who are you?"
"Isn't it obvious?" the one beneath me laughs. "We're here for the princess."
"Lady Tsunade?" Genma says, thinking of the only princess in the city.
"Lady Zzzzenitha," Genma's attacker hisses, pressing the kunai into Genma's throat enough to let blood trickle down his neck and into his jacket. They then both disappear into thin air.
I jump to my feet, and rush to Genma, healing his neck quickly as he slides to the floor. "You alright?" I ask as the blood flow stops.
He nods, "Lady Zenitha? She's a princess?"
"Go warn Tsunade," I say quickly, leaping down the stairs. "I have to find Zen." I slide into the kitchen and grab the jar of dog treats on top of the fridge. Kakashi had brought them just last week, claiming if I were to be in trouble all I had to do was bite one of them and his dogs would show up. I'd thought he was kidding, but he had adamantly claimed he was not. "Ok, Kakashi, don't let me down now," I mutter, taking one from the jar. I stare at it for a moment before sighing and raising it to my lips. I stop before I can get it into my mouth. Kami. It takes two more tries before I finally close my eyes and bite the stupid thing with my front teeth, letting the treat drop out of my mouth without touching anything more than my teeth. Just as I'm about to curse Kakashi for lying to me there's a poof and at my feet appear four of Kakashi's summons. Shiba and Bisuke, who jump at me immediately when they see the treats in my hand, and Bull with Pakkun on his head.
"Yo," Pakkun says appropriately as I feed treats to the two at my feet, reaching over them to feed one to Bull as well. Pakkun turns his down.
"I need your help," I mutter, pushing Bisuke away as he sniffs at me, his nose pushing between my legs. "You are just like your master," I hiss, pushing him back.
"You smell like him," Bisuke says, trying to sniff me again.
"Ok, back off, seriously. You never act like this for Kakashi," I stutter, knowing exactly why I would smell like him.
"Kakashi's male," Pakkun says with a little pant. "And doesn't usually smell like sex when he summons us."
"Matter of life or death here!" I yell, bringing them all to sit in front of me patiently. "You need to find Zen. I know you know her scent, it's important."
"Because of her pup?" Pakkun asks, jumping off Bull's head to sniff around with the others. "Or is it something else?"
"That's a secret Pakkun," I say, waiting patiently for them to find the newest trail. "Don't say anything about that to anyone. She's being targeted."
"This way," Shiba says from the kitchen counter just under the window. I open the window easily and leap out, followed by the others. As I'm running with the dogs the city goes under alert, making me have to slip in and out of doorways so I'm not recruited into action. The dogs follow Zen's trail for a good ten minutes before Bull growls, turning around. Shiba whines, circling around my feet before Pakkun finally sighs.
"It's her," he says gruffly. "She's alone, up there."
I look up to the window on the third story of the building before me in the direction Bull is growling. This part of town has been empty for years, I can't image why she came here. Probably because it's been empty for years. As I'm watching there's a little flick of light from what looks like a kunai and I sigh, climbing the edge of the building quickly to knock on the window. "Z," I hiss, glancing back down at the dogs. I tilt my head to the side and in a moment they scatter, hiding around the streets surrounding the building.
The window opens and Zen pulls me in quickly, holding a kunai to my throat. "Did you tell anyone?" She demands, pinning me against the wall easily. I notice with annoyance it's one of my own kunai she has held against my throat.
"What?" I ask, trying not to show my fear. "Tell anyone what?"
"Our little secret," she hisses; voice almost silent.
"No, no," I gasp, shaking my head. "I swear, not even Kakashi."
She sighs, releasing me and looking out the window. "They knew where to find me, Sakura," she mutters. "They didn't hesitate at all when they came into the village, just went straight to that room."
"You think someone told them," I ask, still confused as to why people would want her dead, but not thinking now is the time to ask.
"No," she says, shaking her head. "Not on purpose anyways. I should keep moving," she says, getting to her feet, "They'll find me here." I start to get up as well, but I stop at the sound of glass breaking. I watch in shock as a grappling hook flies through the window and imbeds itself in Zen's leg. She doesn't even flinch, simply cuts the wire in one swift motion as it's pulled tight and moves out of the way of the window. "Fuck," she whispers, shaking her head in disbelief. I get up quickly, pulling her arm around my shoulder, and half carry her out of the room.
Without much thought I lead her through the empty halls of the building. "Hang on, Zen," I mutter as her head rests against my shoulder. "I'll get you out of here, I swear."
"I'm gonna pass out," she mutters into my neck and I push open a window, leaning against the sill and wrapping my arms tightly around her.
"No you're not," I say, taking a deep breath as I climb the side of the wall using only chakra in my feet. "You're going to stay awake, and you're going to tell me something about your past. Something about Kakashi, something that will make me angry. Come on Zen, all the stories you've been dying to tell, throw them at me." I pinch her side as she starts to drift off, pulling her onto the roof easily and pulling out my flash light. I send a quick S.O.S. and pick her up again, jumping to the next roof over. "ZEN!" I bark. "A story, come on."
"He used to call me beautiful," she says, half asleep. "Not as a compliment, but as a name. 'Hey beautiful' like that."
"Yeah?" I ask, not really paying attention as I flash another S.O.S. towards the Hokage tower before whistling to the dogs hiding in the shadows below. "What else?"
"When we'd have sex before going to bed," she mutters, wincing as I drop down to a lower roof with a jolt. "I'd always wake up to him hard inside me and ready for more." I flinch at that, having to remind myself that was when Kakashi was still a kid and things like that were easier for him. "We'd stay in bed for days, weeks sometimes."
I take us down one more level, touching the ground lightly and pulling her arm around my shoulders again so she has to hop along next to me. "What else?" I ask through clenched teeth as drag her for doorway to door way. I jump as a cold nose touches my leg, followed by a wet tongue. "Bull," I sigh in relief.
"Bull?" Zen asks, looking down at the dog. "Oh it's been ages," she sighs, leaning down to pet him, but Bull backs away. "Yeah, he never liked me then either," she sighs, shaking her head. "Sakura, I need to sit down."
"No yet," I grunt, following Bull into the nearest door way and out into the alley behind. "Probably doesn't like you since you tried to kill his master."
"Oh that's water under the bridge," she laughs, shaking her head. Bull growls his disagreement. "Well I guess that would be a good reason not to like someone," she amends. Leaning against me a little more.
"Come on Bull," I mutter. He whines shortly and then ducks under the porch of a house. I wait for a moment before Shiba appears, following him.
"This way," Shiba says, digging at the ground slightly around where Bull slipped under the porch. I glance at Zen, but she just shrugs. With a grunt I lower her to the ground and push her towards the porch. A moment later she slides through easily. I get on my stomach, prepared to shimmy my way through as well, but as soon as I'm through Bull grabs my collar and pulls me under quickly.
The area under the porch is open enough for me to kneel without bumping my head, and I can see clearly though the mesh chicken wire that surrounds it, though from the outside I couldn't see in. Bull trots across the open area and lays dutifully behind Zen, allowing her to lay against him. "See, he doesn't hate me," she sighs, sinking into his side.
"You need to get that thing out of her," Shiba says, sniffing at her leg.
"I know, but it's expanded inside her," I say softly, putting my hands over her leg to seep my chakra into her. "No matter how I pull it out it's going cut her up more."
"Just pull it out," Zen says, swallowing as she looks at the grappling hook in her leg. "Then you can heal whatever damage you do, right?"
"Zen, it's going to hurt," I warn, shaking my head. "I could try to push the arms back down, and then pull it out, but I'm afraid that might do more hurt than harm."
"Sakura," I look up to see Zen watching me carefully. She grabs my sleeve and pulls me towards her, until our faces are mere centimeters apart. "Just get this stupid thing out of me, and then I can worry about pain."
I swallow heavily, wrapping my hand around the end of it tightly. "Ready?" I ask. She reaches up to rest her hand on my shoulder, and leans her head against the curve of my neck, covering her eyes with my skin. She then nods. I pull the thing straight out, inch by inch. The more I pull the more she trembles, the more her fingernails dig into my shoulders. She whimpers and I stop, the majority of the thing still in her leg.
"Sakura," she whimpers, leaning back into Bull, who licks her arm comfortingly. "Just one tug, I know you can do it. Just get it out of my leg, and then we'll deal with what happens." I nod, taking a shaky breath and then grabbing it again. "Wait," she says, and then leans up to wrap her arms around me again. "Ok, go."
"One…" I tighten my girp, feeling her lips quiver against my neck. "Two…" Her nails dig into my shoulders, drawing blood I'm sure. "Three!" As I give the final pull she trembles, biting down on my shoulder to stop her scream, which still manages to escape. I drop the grappling hook quickly, trying desperately to heal the layers of muscle and tendons that have been damaged. She continues to bite my neck as I heal her leg, but I don't mind. As long as she's biting she's awake, which means she's alive.
"Lady Zzzzenitha."
I freeze at the same voice from before and Zen's nails dig into my shoulders harshly. Bull and Shiba both bristle, low grumbles starting in their chest beginning to rise to the surface. I lay a comforting hand on each of them, holding my breath as the man walks past the little cottage.
"I knooow yoooouu're heeeeere… I can ssssmell yooouu." Shivers shoot up my spine as he pauses, his feet turning slightly towards the cottage. His feet shift and in a moment another part of the cloak drops into view, a light glow coming from deep inside it. "Peooooek-aaaa-booooo…"
I scramble backwards when I realize that is the man's head I he can indeed see us, pulling Zen along with me. She cries out in pain, but does her best to push us backwards as well, using her one good leg.
"Yooooouu're bleeeeding," he hisses, sending the house above us into oblivion with a sweep of his hand so he stands before us, nothing protecting us from him. "Hoooww… deeelightfuuull."
I can't help the scream that tears from my lips as he reaches forward, ready to grab Zen from my arms. In an instant Bull bristles, jumping at the neck of this… thing. Soon Shiba and Bisuke are at his legs, ripping at them, but the dogs are thrown off with such ease I kind of just want to hand Zen over and run. Instead I wrap my arms more tightly around her and struggle to my feet, pulling her with me. I ignore the blood that covers our clothes, and bite back my hysteria as the thing continues to come after us, and simply pull Zen away. Out of danger, anywhere. Where is Kakashi when you need him?
Suddenly the thing stops, simply freezes. I turn, expecting fully to see Shikamaru at the end of the man's shadow, but instead I find his father, Shikaku. "Sakura," he says easily. "Are you ok?"
"Ye-yes," I say, watching with horror as shadow arms creep up and strangle the figure.
"Zenitha?" He asks; biting his lip and the figure doesn't die immediately. I turn back to Zen, finding her pale and seemingly lifeless. "Go ahead, get to work," he mutters, "I'll take care of this." I crawl back to Zen, feeding my chakra into her leg as efficiently as possible, trying not to pay attention to the gags of the man being strangled behind me. After a moment Shikaku comes to my side, kneeling. "What can I do?" he asks, staring at the hole in her leg.
"I can't carry her anymore," I say after a moment, glancing at his clean shirt before reaching out to tear off the sleeve of the shirt. Standard jonin attire, I'll buy him a new one. "These men, she's the one they're after," I say, ignoring his surprise as I wrap the fabric around her leg. "It's very important that they not get her, and that she not die."
"Right," he mutters, leaning down to scoop her into his arms. I whistle for the dogs as we start running towards the Hokage tower. "Pakkun came and found me," he says as the three dogs run alongside us. "Said you needed help and he was off to find Kakashi." I don't say anything as he glances down at me. "I wasn't going to ask, I swore to myself I wouldn't, but… Kakashi?"
"Are you suggesting there's someone better that him offering themselves?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.
He laughs nervously, knowing what I'm insinuating. "Eh, hahaha, no, I just-"
"It was a mission," I say simply. "You know how things go."
Apparently he does know how things go, because he just nods. "Well good luck with him," he says. I glance over at him, a bit in surprise, but don't have time to say anything before I stop in my tracks. One of the figures in the black cloaks flies in front of us, smashing into the wall of the building. I turn to look where it came from, finding one pissed off Naruto, fist held steady from the Rasengan.
"Naruto!" I gasp in surprise as Shikaku finishes off the cloak.
"Sakura?" He asks, running forward. "Is that Shikamaru."
"That's disturbing," Shikaku mutters. I bite my tongue to resist from saying I made the same mistake at first. "His father," Shikaku rasps out, shifting Zen in his arms. "Sakura, I'm no medic… but hospital seems like a good idea."
"Hokage tower," I correct. "We need Tsunade."
"Is that Zen?" Naruto asks, looking over Shikaku's arm at her. "What happened?"
"Later," I say simply, edging the group towards the Hokage tower.
I clear the papers off of Tsunade's desk when I run in and in a minute Shikaku follows, laying Zen down carefully. Tsunade doesn't ask a single question, simply sets to healing her. I follow suit, working to stitch up her leg from one side while Tsunade works from the other. Once we've finally gotten her to a point that she isn't spilling blood with every movement Tsunade finally speaks, sitting down in her chair. "This was all to get her, wasn't it?" she sighs, looking over Zen carefully. I nod. "The good news is that since the attackers were so preoccupied in finding her they didn't bother putting up much of a fight with our ninja. As far as we know all of the cloaks have been captured and killed, we're still looking for any stragglers, and we'll have a guard over Zenitha. We're sending her back to Kinosaki," she says clearly. "Once she's well enough to travel."
Nurses come in with a stretcher and take her away, to the hospital I suppose. Just as I sigh and sit down, wiping the blood off my hands the door flies open, revealing a red-faced Hiashi. "Where is she?" He demands, looking around the room, eyes settling on Naruto. "Where's my daughter?"
Naruto's eyes go wide, "with the other civilians," he says plainly. "Isn't she?"
"You idiot!" Hiashi growls. "You can't even look after her when the village is under attack, how can I expect you to do things like remember to pick up the kid from school?"
"She was supposed to go with the others," Naruto growls. "She was leaving when I last saw her!"
"Shut up!" Tsunade yells, "Go, look for her, and tell everyone you meet to join in the search. Find her."
"Lady Tsunade!" We all look to the door, surprised as Genma barges in, more surprised at the absence of senbon in his mouth. "Kakashi just brought Hinata into the hospital."
Hiashi is out the door in a flash. Naruto used the window.
When we get to the hospital, long after Naruto, we find him standing at the door of Hinata's room. "Naruto?" I ask, ducking under his arm to go into the room. There, sitting on the edge of Hinata's bed, is Kakashi, with his back to the door and he reaches out to touch the small bundle in Hinata's arms, a small bundle with little arms reaching out to grab at her hair.
"She has your eyes, Naruto," Kakashi says, touching the baby's cheek softly, like it's made of the most fragile glass in the world.
Hinata smiles, weak and tired. "Come hold her, Naruto," she says, patting the bed by her side. "Come hold your daughter."
Kakashi rises from the bed, opening the spot for Naruto and comes towards the door. "Congratulations," he says, patting Naruto's shoulder. Naruto stumbles into the room stupidly, sitting beside her bed.
I smile up at Kakashi as he watches Hinata pass her daughter over to Naruto, "Come on," I whisper. "Family moment."
Kakashi nods, silently shaking the stunned Hitoshi's hand as he passes him and then walking with me down the hall. "Sakura," he says softly, awe in his voice. "I held her," he says. "This minute she was born, I held that baby. I was so scared I would drop her…"
"What happened, Kakashi?" I ask, smiling up at him as he stumbles over his words. It seems so funny, how caught up men get on things like childbirth, like it's the only thing that makes them see the world clearly.
"I found Hinata," he mutters as we sit down at the benches in the waiting room. "She was heading towards the civilian shelters, but had stopped, and… and," he shakes his head in disbelief. "She was in labor, Sakura, I didn't even notice until she asked if I'd even helped a woman give birth before." I smile as he stares at the floor, eyes wide. "Sakura, she was so small… and… and… innocent and… I held her… and helped her breathe… and… gross actually, cleaned her off a bit."
I laugh, shaking my head. There's the Kakashi I know. "You've never held a baby before?"
"Not like that, not so… new," he mutters. "Pakkun came, he knew what to do mostly. Did you summon him?"
I nod. "Dog treats."
He nods. "You bit it."
"Yes," I say, "now kiss me."
He laughs, and then does just that. "They're just shaped like dog treats, Sakura," he says with a laugh. "Pretty much people food though."
I laugh at that, leaning my head against his shoulder. "Zen was attacked, as you guessed."
"How bad?" He asks; scooting down the bench until his head is in my lap, and then putting his feet up on the next bench, so he looks up at me.
"Grappling hook," I say simply. "Straight in the leg."
"She ok?" He asks, closing his eyes.
"She'll live," I say simply.
"That's inevitable," he says with a yawn. "Do you think you'll ever want kids, Sakura?" He asks, eyes closed, and the picture of ease. But his fingers are twitching and I know he's dying to take the question back.
"Probably," I say simply, yawning as well. "You?"
"Yeah," he says softly. "I think I do."
"I think," I say softly. "I'd probably want them to be yours."
"Mighty big claim for a woman who can't say 'I love you'," he teases, cracking one eye to look at me, probably to dodge a punch.
"You don't have to love your mates, genetically you'd be a good choice and probably a decent father," I say stubbornly.
He smiles. "Whatever, you love me, everyone knows it."
"Go to sleep, I like you better like that," I growl, putting my hands over his eyes.
Ok, I'm kind of realizing they talk a lot when they have sex. Realistically, they probably wouldn't, but this is my way of hiding the fact that I'm not writing real lemons, just scenes where they have sex. (There's a difference. One should turn the reader on, the other just makes the reader go "good for them, they have a sex life") But now you all know my secret anyways, so it doesn't really matter. Anyhow. Wanna see my rough draft for this chapter? It's brilliant.
Sakura is pissed, staring at hole in kitchen cabinets. Genma babysits Zen while S+K go on date. Kakashi wants to go back to his place, Sakura says no. Instead: dinner, hit on wait staff, spar, sex in forest at sunset. Attacked, Sakura runs home to Zen and Gen. Meanwhile Kakashi beats his foe and finds Hinata. He takes her to the hiding for villagers, but on the way they are attacked and Hinata goes into labor. Kakashi helps deliver baby. Sakura protects Zen after she is injured until Shikaku saves the day. Sakura meets up with Naruto and they learn Hinata is missing. They all go to the Hokage tower (enemies defeated) when Hiashi yells a bit, but then Genma arrives saying Kakashi and Hinata have just arrived at the hospital. They go to the hospital to find Kakashi sitting on the edge of Hinata's bed, Hinata holding her daughter.
Yep, that's how I plan every chapter. Nothing else, notice the little bits in there about the hold in the kitchen cabinet. That had nothing to do with the story; I have no idea why it was so important. Anyhow. Also notice how some of that I didn't even put in the chapter. And how I speak in fragments until I get to Meanwhile…