Kumogakure, Jounin Apartment #53
The ice of late February clung on every surface, refusing to give way to March's steady thaw. It clung to the glass panes of the windows, penetrating the inside air even through the heavy thermal curtains. Darui leaned his head back on the small sitting chair in their living room Mina had reupholstered last year, insisting that the original piece was worth restoring. At the time, he had told her it would be easier to simply buy a new one, but she refused, far too enamored with the antique carved oak legs.
He carefully opened a creased slip of paper from the communications office dated from January Fifth, the last communication he received from her. The ink was worn with time, he had long missed her loping cursive, the sloppy print she wrote in as a physician. When he closed his eyes he liked to imagine it was her handwriting and not the clerk at the communications office.
'I love you. Stop. Hot water is required for lavender tea. Stop.'
Intelligence had yet to confirm her presence in the Land of Hot Water or anywhere near their border seven weeks later. Konoha confirmed Zabuza's death, and Mei Terumi immediately declared Mina of Kumogakure an enemy of the state. Though, she had also blamed Konoha. Not that she could do anything about it.
Last week, Konoha had accepted Kumo's offer for Mina's bounty at seven million ryo. He found it suspicious, they hadn't really tried to negotiate for higher terms. The pitying looks Samui gave him whenever he walked into Torture and Interrogation rankled him. By the third week Mina had not checked in, Samui reported her suspicions that Konoha had arrested Mina for lingering in the Land of Fire. If they had, they certainly weren't forthcoming about it.
"Where are you, Mina?" he whispered to himself. His voice almost echoed off the empty walls, soaking back into the furniture and pillows she had so lovingly picked out with him.
Pocketing the small slip of paper, he picked up the whetstone and box of discarded kunai. He had promised Yugito he would drop by the academy for a demonstration. The students needed to have faith in the commanding officers of the village. Showing up with dull kunai would not do.
Konohagakure, Hatake Estate
The rains of late March beat down on the roof overhead. Water slapped against the sides of the house, drenching the small garden below. A fresh pile of cleaned laundry was on the couch, waiting to be folded. Mina's days were monotonous, broken into a hundred small tasks. She would wake up, shower, and work out. See a vision of the stranger again. Have breakfast, report to work. Catch a phantom scent of bergamot and ozone. Pick up ingredients for dinner. Cook dinner. Pray Kakashi actually arrived home on time. Hear a deep voice slowly whisper her name on the wind.
Three months had passed now, and she thought she might actually be going crazy. Last week she submitted a request to return to field work, to end the ennui that had set in. Obito promptly denied it, delivering the denial in person with the excuse that they still had not found who made an attempt on her life. She was tired of the infantilization, she was more than capable in the field. She was certainly more than a trauma surgeon and medic. As the weeks passed by slowly, there was a sense that something was missing.
Folding another winter blanket for storage, she carefully carried the large stack to the hallway linen pantry. The linen pantry was a walk-in, with a small ladder to reach the uppermost shelves. Boxes of heirloom kimono lined the top shelves, relics of a bygone age when such things indicated a family's status. As a family of landowners, and minor nobility, their forebears had spared no expense to prove they were worthy of an appearance in the daimyo's court. In so doing, they created a valuable allyship with both the Senju and Uchiha clans. This allyship helped broker the alliance for peace.
Kajuen Hatake had capitalized by renting out the Hatake farmland to the newly minted Konohagakure no Sato. A shrewd businessman, he hired lawyers from the capital to draw up a legally binding document to that effect. Only when the last Hatake died in the line of duty would the land be relinquished to the village's authority. Over the last eighty years since the founding of the village the small clan of forty was now down to two.
A small wooden box in the corner of the closet had the Senju clan crest burnt into the front. Mina pulled it down and smiled when she opened the dusty lid. All of their family heirlooms their mother brought into her marriage with Sakumo were neatly placed inside. Each one was carefully wrapped in paper or silk. Picking up the nearest one, Mina unwrapped the silk to a gold floral comb, crystal cut sapphires interspersed with small pearls dangled on the end, refracting the dim light, highlighting the dust motes in the air in a rainbow of colors. She gently laid it on the small piece of silk.
At the bottom of the box lay a small envelope containing a picture of her parents' wedding day. Sakumo held his new bride's cheek, his other hand slipped beneath the yards of heavy silk, close to her skin. She was the only woman in the world, as he held her in his arms, not caring about the directions of the photographer. A soft smile graced his face, returned by the bride. Mina packed up the rest of the box, wrapping the comb and returning it to its place. She delicately held the photo, intending to frame it and possibly make a copy for Kakashi's birthday as well.
Tugging her rucksack from its hiding place at the bottom of the closet, she unbuckled the straps and unbuttoned the small waterproof pocket inside. A piece of paper scrapped against her finger. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest as she pulled out the folded photograph.
"I'm home!" Kakashi called.
She pocketed the photograph, snatching her hand away from the rucksack, and shoving it back into its place.
"Welcome home!" she breathlessly called back.
He leaned against the door frame, his hair dripping onto the tatami mats below.
"Ugh, can you not? I've been cleaning all day. Go change."
With a wicked grin he shook his wet hair toward her, splattering her with rain water.
"Oh seriously?!"
She got up, brushing the droplets of water to the ground. He held out his hands as she stalked toward him.
"Now, now—" Without another word, he vanished.
"Get back here, you coward!" Mina ran down the hall and yanked on the handle of his locked bedroom door.
"No, I don't think I will," he said from the other side. "You see, I'm quite content to stay here for the next few months."
"The hell you will! Open this door!"
He laughed, and there was a small buzz in the air as a seal activated. She jumped back when the door handle shocked her.
"You absolute ass, Kakashi!"
Suddenly opening the door, he yanked her into his soaked chest and held her against him. "I'm getting all wet," she protested when he rested his chin on the top of her head. "You're messing up my hair."
"Shh. I love you, you know that right?" He rocked her from side to side. She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his wet shirt.
"Bad day?"
"Guard duty out in this. I've had worse, though. Holding you always made things better. I like being able to hear your heartbeat, smell you. It's soothing…I didn't realize how much until you were gone."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Capital City, The Land of Fire
The cherry blossom trees were beautiful in mid-April. Delicate petals floated to the floor of the daimyo's courtyard, each bloom unique from the others. Shisui sat quietly on the stone bench, soaking up the sun's rays as spring. Mina's tanto was heavy on his back; he'd yet to return it to its rightful owner. She had quit asking in the letters she sent, long ago.
The thick stationary she preferred was heavy in his hand. This letter included a small watercolor sketch of Bisuke and Uhei romping through the lavender garden she was trying to grow. Their tongues wagged as their lopsided bodies shredded the small buds.
Shisui,
I'm so bored, I can barely stand it. Every day is the same. I wake up, work, come home, garden, cook. Or *gasp* bake something. I know, what is the world coming to? The end of days is surely upon us. My shadows still won't leave me, I don't know what Obito is so concerned about. It's not like the assassin is going to make an attempt on my life in Konoha. Besides, I'm not convinced I was their true target. If anything it could have been a Kiri-nin eliminating a nuke-nin. Maybe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I miss you. I miss sharing the apartment with you. Kakashi can be overbearing sometimes. It's like when he looks at me, he's surprised I'm here. Gods, if I knew he was going to be this unbearable in my absence, I wouldn't have requested to join Obito's pet project. He's always hugging me every chance he gets. Kakashi, not Obito. Weird. It's the touchy-feely part that is disconcerting. Maybe the whole bridge thing really scared him. I suppose I don't know what it's like to feel so helpless as a loved one bleeds out. I'm too good of a medic. ;P I know, I know, I shouldn't joke about such things.
Speaking of medics, Sasuke has asked me to train him. Imagine that? My first student! Don't worry, I won't run him into the ground…much. I started him on some scrolls about basic wound care. I think we'll start on the mystic palm in the next couple of weeks. I think he might have a small crush on me. It's adorable. His little cheeks get all red when I move too close. I live for that kind of chaos, truly.
Though of course, Itachi sticks close by when he's in town. He's so unflappable to anything I've tried. I even tried bribing Izumi to tell me what makes the man tick. She wouldn't budge. So annoying. Now I sound like our favorite hedgehog.
My research is going pretty well. I've looked into new trauma treatments for the brain using lightning chakra. It's funny, I keep trying to use it on myself when I get a headache, and it works pretty well so far. It's better than an aspirin, actually. But, it's not ready for use in others. I'd like to conduct more experiments.
Anyway, my herbs started to sprout and bud. Until Uhei and Bisuke decided to have a tug-a-war match in the middle of the patch. I'm so bad at this, I don't know how my ancestors were successful farmers. There's one plant in the house that hasn't died, and I suspect that is because Kakashi's students gave it to him, so it has sentimental value.
That about wraps up my week. Tell me about yours! Were you guys able to catch those S-rank nuke-nin? How's Chiriku doing? I'm trying to get Obito to let me leave so I can run your unit's annual exams. We'll see if he lets me.
All my love, your friend,
Kaminari Hatake
Shisui closed his eyes, letting the warm spring air caress his skin. The guilt he felt for wiping her memory was only abated with each letter she sent—chronicles of a simple life. He missed her banter, the sharp tongue that could cut a man to ribbons, then paste him together again with a sweet word.
The letter was three days old. Obito had sent a coded missive yesterday, detailing the order for medical exams. He could only pray that his cousin let Mina out of the village. She would go insane if she was cooped up for too long. Even pet birds were let out of their cages for short periods of time for their mental health.
There was a clamor at the gate, and he teleported over to greet the visitors. After a curt nod to the sentries on duty, they opened the gate for the two Konoha-nin. In a rush of wild silver curls, Mina jumped on him. He caught her, spinning her around
"Shisui!" she yelled, plopping a kiss on his cheek.
He rolled his eyes at her antics, dropping her on a bench near the gate. Itachi loomed nearby, waiting for them to settle.
"Good gods have I missed you."
"Oh yeah?" Shisui hugged Itachi quickly, grabbing him by the forearm and slapping an arm on his back. "Missed me, or missed travel?"
"Yes! I'm so bored you have no idea. Obito said I could go on this mission if Itachi came along. I'm grateful he had the time."
"Where's Obito?" Shisui let go of Itachi. He shook his head slightly, with a quick glance toward Mina.
"He said he had an errand to run outside of town. Something about being an ambassador," Mina piped up, leaning back on her hands on the bench. "Anyway, I'm going to do physicals today. Treatments tomorrow."
"The mission order is for three days," Itachi reminded, passing a scroll to Shisui.
"Right, well the third day we can have some fun." She winked at the two men.
How did they end up like this? Shisui wondered to himself. Mina's lips were on his, incessant hands pushing him back to his bed. Her body begged him for more as she desperately shed clothing. She tugged at his pants, forgetting about the button and zipper, ripping them down his legs.
"Slow down," he warned, kicking her own off in the process. "Fuck, Mina. Slow down."
"Shisui, please," she murmured with her lips on his throat, her hand on his cock, jerking down his boxers for freer access.
He swallowed hard when he looked down at the soft gray lace barely covering her breasts. The lacy bustier did nothing to hide her protruding nipples, matching the thong below.
"That for me?" he drawled, rolling his thumb against one of the hard buds.
"Thought it would be a nice after dinner treat."
He laughed lightly, toying with the band of her panties. "Mm, is it now?"
She roughly pushed him onto the bed, licking her way down his abs to his shaft. Blowing against it in a tease, she stroked him. Her hand stayed on his chest, keeping him against the bed. Releasing him for a moment, he heard his nightstand drawer open and the crinkle of a condom.
"When was the last time you had sex?" he asked quietly. "You were the last person I was with. Months ago."
"I'd prefer it if we used one, to be safe."
"Alright." He held his hand out, and she handed it over to him. "Come here."
She leaned over him, he thrust his fingers into her hair with one hand on her hip. Flipping them over, he kissed her lips, running his hand down her soft skin. He tried to kiss her neck, her shoulder came up instinctively, blocking him.
"Sorry." A light pink blush spread on the tops of her cheeks. "I—I don't know why I did that…"
"Don't worry about it." He brushed his thumb against her cheek. She tasted sweet against his lips, like the mochi Itachi brought from Konoha. "You know I'll stop if you ever told me to."
"Of course I do." She rested her hand on his cheek, gently stroking his cheekbone.
Her lips were pink, eyelashes dusted with some black makeup thing to hide their natural silver. The ribbons and layered lace hid the raised pink scar he knew was there. The scar he hated most of all, he couldn't bear to look at it. With one swift tug on the end of the ribbon, it would fall off her body.
"Shisui?" Her grey eyes were soft, concerned. "We don't have to do anything you don't want. Your consent matters too. We can always cuddle."
In his memory, he could see her eyes fill with tears, hear her whisper his name, beg him to stop when he didn't. He promised. He failed. Another failure. Another scar on her beautiful body that was his fault.
She was slipping under the covers now, hiding the lingerie from him, holding the sheets over her chest. Her subconscious knew he had hurt her, even if she didn't understand.
"Shisui?" she stroked his cheek again. "Come here."
He followed her beneath the sheets and laid down on his side. Her hair tickled his nose as she wrapped her arms around him. She was warm against his bare chest, the lace was coarse in contrast to her skin.
"You carry too much, you know," she whispered. She kissed him softly at the base of his throat. "I don't know what you have to feel so guilty about. It's just us here. You don't have to be so strong. Trust me enough to let me help."
"I do trust you." The sheets rasped against the lingerie as he pulled her closer, kissing the crown of her head. He hoped by repeating it, it would become true. "I do trust you."
"You know what I think?"
"What's that?"
"I think you don't trust yourself."
Her delicate hands kneaded the muscles on his back.
"Here, turn over," she gently ordered.
She sat on top of him when he turned. He groaned in relief as she loosened the knots formed from years of stress. Her chakra was like the thunderstorms of summer, soothing, warm, with a humid static that clung to his skin.
"I'm going to break up some of this inflammation. It shouldn't hurt."
He grunted in response, enjoying the feel of her hands on his back. Small calluses surrounded the edge of her index finger and thumb from years of training, they lightly rasped against his skin. She targeted a painful spot on the outside of his shoulder blade almost instantly, pressing and pushing, molding her chakra to penetrate the worst of it. It felt far too good, all of the pain dissipated, and he groaned again in relief. He shuddered against her lips when she gently kissed the old injury.
"Why didn't you get treatment for that one? That was a lot of scar tissue."
"Don't like hospitals," he mumbled, pulling a pillow beneath his face and neck and holding it in his arms.
"You could've just asked me, you know." She got off his back and walked to her pack near his closet. He snorted when she pulled out a small bottle of lotion.
"Itachi's going to judge if I smell like a 'pretty princess.'"
"It's cocoa butter, heathen. Your skin is dry anyway."
"Hmm. If you say so."
Though why she would favor cocoa butter instead of eucalyptus cream like most of the women in the Land of Fire did, he didn't know. Eucalyptus cream was produced in the southern region of the country and very cheap in Konoha. Cocoa butter was imported from the Land of Tea, popular in… His mind stuttered. It was popular in the Land of Lightning, one of the biggest importers of cocoa products.
"You are not relaxing," she grumbled.
He tensed when a cold glob of cream hit his skin. "Rude."
"Are you complaining?"
"No, ma'am. I am curious, why cocoa butter and not eucalyptus cream?"
"I like the smell. It's comforting, for some reason. Makes it worth the price, to me."
"I see." He sighed as another knot loosened, burying his face into the pillow. Her bare thighs slipped against his hips. He was all too aware of the miniscule excuse for panties that separated her sex from his back.
"You never did answer my question. Why didn't you tell me you were in pain? I could've helped you. We lived together for five years."
'You lived with Darui for five years,' he thought, staying silent. He began to wonder if he had this kind of treatment every night for five years. She laid another kiss against his back and he shuddered at the warmth.
"I don't like to ask for help, you know that," he finally grumbled. "Besides, you used a lot of your chakra at the clinic," he added, a safe bet.
He could feel her shrug from on top of him as she picked another knot to attack.
"I love you, you know," she said quietly, probing the sore spot with her chakra.
His heart stopped. She had thrown him off the edge of a cliff with her whispered confession. He pulled up on his elbows and looked back at her.
"Stop moving, you're going to make me slip." She pushed him face down back on the pillow.
"You never slip," he mumbled, trying to make his heart beat again. Her love wasn't meant for him, couldn't possibly. She loved a lie. Guilt was a black hole in his heart, swallowing whole anything between them.
"True, but there's a first for everything."
He wanted her to love him, for him, not for the lie he forced her to believe. Gods knew he had been in love with her since they were five. No one had ever been able to compare to her ghost. He could remember that summer. He had brought her a new flower from the field beside the Uchiha training grounds every day before class began. One time he wove them into a flower crown and had beamed when she wore it for the rest of the day.
Mina was meant to be his, not this stranger from Kumo. She was always meant to be his. From cradle to now, all of that time she had spent with Darui was stolen from him. Her heart was his, not the 'Godaime Raikage Presumptive's,' whatever the hell that title was supposed to mean. When they stole her from him, he desperately had tried to fill the spaces her absence had left. Work, women, books, and scrolls on rare jutsu, none of it was enough to compensate for her absence. If she had been anyone else who he could grieve, he could have let it go. His soul knew she was out there, waiting for him, waiting to give him the rest of her heart. Obito was always right. It wasn't his fault. None of it. Her return was the fates righting a wrong in the course of history.
She swatted the back of his head. "Stop tensing or I'll stop numbing."
"Dull," he mumbled.
She froze. Her hands rested on her back. He could feel her tremble above him.
"Mina?" he asked, turning his head to look back at her. Her eyes were glassy, she was focused on the headboard. He turned around completely, jacking up so her chest was against his. "Mina?" he asked more urgently.
She blinked, the focus coming back into her eyes. "What're you doing? I wasn't finished."
"Look at me, sweetheart."
"Oh my gods, stop worrying. I'm fine, just a headache."
He held her head in his hands and dropped his forehead to hers. "A headache?"
"Yeah, I've been getting them a lot lately. It's weird. I think it's a remnant of the attack. I haven't been able to probe deep enough into my head, though. Not without risking injury."
He gently kissed her, swiping his thumb across her lips. Her lips were firm against his, meeting every movement. She tugged at his hair, lighting his nerves on fire as he tugged her closer against his erection. He briefly surrendered to her, letting her suck against his pulse, hard enough to leave a mark the next day. He didn't care, he wanted it. He wanted everything.
Gaining enough leverage, he tugged her hair back and met her soft grey eyes. "I love you, Kaminari Hatake. I always have. I always will. I love you. I swear I will do whatever I can to make sure you're safe and cared for."
"I love you too." She caressed his jaw, leaning up to kiss him. His heart pounded in his chest as he cupped her breast, gently tugging the ribbon holding her corset together.
"I love you," he repeated, sliding the lingerie off her shoulders, exposing her breasts. His calloused fingers caught against her smooth skin, she gasped in pleasure, squirming on his lap. "I really do love you." He dipped down and kissed her shoulder, reveling in the feel of her against his lips.
AN: thank you for reading! If you have time, please leave a comment.
I uh, can't remember when I updated so this might be a tad early.
Beta'ed by: Cherryberry12