Kakashi held her securely in his arms, his heart full as he watched the slow rise and fall of her chest.
He had missed her. For years he had lived with the painful ache in his chest, as if he ripped his own heart out the day he broke up with her. Simply being in her presence again had begun to sooth it. Having her again in his arms, knowing she was his…
Kakashi could hear the shift in Kotori's breathing as she slowly woke up.
"Good morning my love," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Did you sleep well?"
Her eyes fluttered open. A lazy, content smile on her face as she shifted within his arms.
"What sleep?" she sleepily mumbled into his bare chest.
He had woken her up for another round in the middle of the night. Her naked body too much of a temptation. His cock twitched at the memory of pushing into her, her moans as she fisted the sheets beneath them. She had looked so beautiful with the moonlight covering her bare back.
"You were so gorgeous, I couldn't resist."
She shivered as his innocent touches turned less innocent. Even now, he hadn't been properly sated. He couldn't get enough of the soft feeling of her skin and felt the need to be constantly touching her. She was still completely naked and he allowed his eyes to roam in the soft morning light. Her hair was messy and mused from sex and sleep. He wanted to roll her over and bury himself in her. To feel her legs wrapped around him once more.
He pushed her onto her back, trailing kisses down her neck and lingering on a spot at the base that he knew was particularly sensitive. She arched her back with a content sigh as he continued his careful ministrations.
Bang
Something exploded in the distance, startling them both. Kotori's knee connected with his stomach as she knocked him off. Kakashi tried to hold back a groan because she hadn't held back, reacting entirely on instinct.
"Sorry - I - " Kotori winced in sympathy. Her pupils were dilated and her breathing heavier. All traces of her earlier sleepiness gone.
"I'm fine. Check outside. I'll cover you."
He grabbed his boxers and pants and threw his long sleeved shirt at Kotori. He fought the urge to rush out to investigate instead of her - unless they wanted to announce to the rest of the jonin complex that they had had sex the night before. Especially with her half dressed in his rumpled jonin shirt and her hair mused like that. On her own, most would assume she had just woken up.
"Academy students set off fireworks," Kotori grumbled, coming back in from her balcony. "I forgot - the Tanabata Festival is tomorrow. The village wants this one to be big; a celebration of life after the year we've had."
Kakashi felt the tension drain from his shoulders. He darkly muttered, "Konohamaru."
A smile ghosted her lips before she sat flopped back down on her bed. "Most likely."
Konoha would want to put on a show. This was the first festival Konoha would host since the Suna-Oto invasion the year before. They had been too weak to open up their village to the possibility of another attack until now. This would be a display of hope for their village after what had been a long and difficult year. And a display of resilience to the rest of the world. That Konoha was still thriving despite Orochimaru's attempts to crush her.
"Will you be on duty?"
"A shinobi is always on duty," she teased, although it was laced with the tired truth. With so many strangers in the village for such an occasion, all shinobi would be on alert. "But I am free to attend, if that's what you're asking."
For one blissful moment, he envisioned the two of them being free to attend together. Walking hand in hand along the lanterns and stealing a kiss under fireworks.
He could see from Kotori's sad smile that she wanted that too. But also came to the same realization.
"How is this going to work?"
"I don't know. The last time we dated you were targeted to get to me."
They had barely begun to put together profiles on all of the Akatsuki members. But after his run-in with Itachi and Kisame he knew all too well what they were capable of. And Naruto would be their target. Kakashi would be right at the centre of it, already trying to keep one person he cared for alive and out of danger. He pushed down the part of him that whispered he was selfish for rekindling a romance with her at such a volatile time.
The sharingan vividly recalled the memory of her, kneeling on the ground with her eyes screwed shut in pain, begging him to make it stop.
Kotori sat on the bed, lacing her fingers through his with a troubled look on her face. As if her mind went there too.
"I'm a kunoichi. You can't protect me from everything."
"I know."
Like it or not, he knew both of them would have their part to play in the conflict looming on the horizon.
"I don't want to be the cause of any more stress for you. Why don't we act as we have been these last few months. The people who know us will figure it out."
"Thank you," he choked out, grateful for her understanding. He would make it up to her. One day soon, he hoped.
Kakashi and Kotori's responsibilities had them parting for the next two days as the village prepared to receive an influx of visitors. It wasn't until the evening of the Tanabata Festival that he was free to seek her out.
Senju Park had been set up as the main hub of the festival. Vendors lined the pathways with brightly coloured booths with flashy games and booming voices. A small stage had been set up for travelling performers, and musicians were spread out around the park. At the centre of the park was the bamboo trees with hundreds of stripes of paper dangling from them, each with a wish written by one of the villagers.
He found Kotori alone, wandering around the carnival games. Her kimono was not one of her usual ones in sky blues or light greys. Hers was a midnight blue that seemed to shimmer. Tiny specks of white and gold twinkled from the fabric. Her hair was pulled back with a pair of kanzashi pinning it in place, stars dangling off the ends. Her eyes had a silvery eyeshadow that looked like stardust.
She looked like the night sky itself.
Kakashi's own yukata was a simple midnight blue with the Hatake mon embroidered in grey on the back. Underneath he had one of his black undershirts that stretched up over his neck and covered his face to his nose.
He dipped his head in greeting as he tailed her to one of the games. There were two rows of circular red and white disks set up that moved back and forth. The vendor boasted that breaking one would get a small prize, two a medium sized size and three a large prize.
"What do you say?" He asked Kakashi, holding three kunai between his fingers.
Kakashi thoughtfully tested the weight of the kunai. It was only two ounces off the standard regulation kunai. The blade was no doubt duller and the plates sturdier than they looked. Enough to throw a shinobi off his game if he didn't know what to look for.
He threw the first one, the blunt blade hitting the plate, but not having enough force to break it.
Kotori giggled into her hand. "Even the great Hatake Kakashi can't break these targets."
He gave her a mock glare in response. The next one had too much force and bounced back. He resisted the urge to lift the eyepatch from the sharingan. That would be overkill for a trick carnival game. Besides there were signs everywhere. No jutsu. No chakra.
He corrected the amount of force and finally smashed one of the offending plates.
"Winner!" The vendor shouted, offering Kakashi his choice in keychains. He picked a cute little wooden songbird and quietly gifted it to Kotori. She smiled as she slipped the keychain into her pocket.
The pair wandered aimlessly around, trying their hand at the different games.
"Come on little lady," a vendor jeered at Kotori. "Step right up and try your hand at the ultimate test of strength!"
"Oh, I don't know, I'm a kunoichi," Kotori demurred. "I'm a lot stronger than I look."
"All of the games have been rated for shinobi," the vendor chuckled. "And chakra is allowed."
Indeed, the colourful tower had different markers, each labelled with a rank. Academy student. Genin. Chunin. Jonin. And finally, Hokage on the bell.
"Well, in that case." Kotori grinned as she exchanged some ryo for the mallet.
Kakashi smiled beneath the mask. He suspected the vendor thought Kotori was some harmless chunin or a desk ninja.
"Come on, Kotori-sensei!"
Two teenaged boys gathered around. Gone were the scrawny youth they had been sent to retrieve all those years ago. Or the gangly teenagers Kotori had entered in the chunin exams just last year. Both had started to fill out, growing into their height. Kakashi also recognize Mimi hanging back, happily chatting with Lee and Tenten. Neji was watching Kotori while trying to look uninterested in the carnival games.
Kotori focused on her breathing before taking the mallet and striking dead-centre with all of her force. The puck shot all the way to the top, the bell chiming in.
"Winner!" The vendor shouted.
Delighted, Lee and Mimi joined her, each trying - and failing - to hit the bell despite hitting the pummel with all of their strength.
Mimi's pink eyes sparkled as she regarded her teacher. "Sensei! How did you do that?"
Kotori shrugged her shoulders. "It's more rewarding when you figure it out."
"There's a trick to it," Neji smugly informed them. "A game like that is designed for every muscle head shinobi to want to prove themselves."
Mimi barred her teeth, her hackles raised, a clear sign she was annoyed at Neji. However Lee took no offence, used to Neji's attitude.
"Yosh! I vow to play this game one hundred times for every time I fail!" Lee declared.
The vendor looked delighted at that proclamation and Kakashi could only imagine how much money he would make off of Lee and Gai tonight. While both had extreme amounts of strength, Kakashi didn't think either had the precise control over it to evenly apply it.
Neji sighed, clearly of the same mind. "A fool and his money shall soon be parted."
Kakashi steered Kotori away from the games, noticing that Mimi and Lee were attracting the attention of Kurenai's team and with them, Asuma's team would surely follow. Knowing this lot of kids and their lack of tact, his relationship with Kotori would be outed for the entire world in about five seconds flat. Of course, he couldn't ditch all of the kids.
"Hey Kotori-sensei," Ryoku asked, folding his arms behind his head. "You're not on a date with this looser, are you?"
"No, we just ran into each other."
Kouta grinned. "Really? Wasn't he your old jackass captain you were avoiding?"
"Did I say that?" Kotori awkwardly scratched underneath her eye as she smiled.
Ryoku watched him out of the corner of his eye and Kakashi mentally added Kotori's students to the list of people he apparently needed to win over.
"Well, that went well," Kakashi said as soon as the boys were out of earshot.
"Oh yes my precious students are all grown up and think their poor old sensei needs them to protect her." She rolled her eyes, but her voice was fond. Amused, even. "They like to give guys interested in me a hard time. They fleeced Aoba on some really expensive hotels during missions."
"As if genin aren't expensive enough," Kakashi groused.
Jonin leaders were compensated by the village for taking less high ranked missions during their tenure, but they ended up subsidizing their students' costs a lot anyway. At least his team was placated by the cheaper ramen, even if Naruto could eat enough to feed a baby elephant - Asuma had the most expensive team by far with their Yakiniku Q habit. Kurenai usually invited her team to her home for home cooked team dinners. Which seemed like the type of thing Kotori would do. Perhaps the female jonin leaders were on to something… then again, Kakashi didn't want any of his little hellions to know where he lived.
"You should see how much Naruto eats."
"I know. I took them out once, remember?" Kotori grinned. "Ooh, speaking of food, want anything? I've been craving festival food all day."
She tugged on his arm, leading him towaeds the main street that all the food stalls had set up. They ended up splitting an order of takoyaki and some fried noddles. They slipped off to one of the rooftops, Kakashi leading her to an alcove he had found years ago. It was perfect for two people to be tucked away, hidden from view. They ate their food as they watched the festivities down below. He noticed Tenzo and Yugao dressed in their ANBU gear on another rooftop. While they were officially on duty, Tenzo had a stick of yakitori and was sneaking bites underneath the mask. Yugao was holding hers delicately in her hand, staring up at the moon above. He gave them a quick wave, which both returned.
He spied Shikaku and Ensui with their wives. Although he caught Shikaku giving hand signs to Inoichi to find Choza and meet him at their usual bar after the fireworks. Ensui appeared to be mid-argument with his daughter. Rika shouted something over her shoulder as she ran off with two other girls.
"Nine going on nineteen with that one," Kotori snickered.
Masato and Hinoki were together in civilian clothing and off duty for once. Konohamaru was grinning - and well behaved - no doubt from having both of his parents present. A luxury the busy couple could rarely afford.
His attention turned to the cluster of students. Sakura had accidentally destroyed the striker game with her new monstrous strength. Lee and Mimi pulling her back from the now furious vendor. Apparently the vendor had underestimated the pink haired kunoichi's strength and precise control over it. Kiba, Shino and Hinata were playing whack-a-mole. Choji was on a tour of the food stalls while Shikamaru causally followed him. Kouta was attempting to win Ino a prize at the kunai throw while Ryoku cajoled him from the sidelines.
Kotori eventually slipped off to join their group of friends. Kakashi waited a few minutes, not wanting to make it too obvious they had arrived together.
Anko and Guy were off, waiting in line at one of the stalls serving dango. Kotori had joined the cluster made up of Aimi, Kurenai and Shiori. He spied a ring on Kurenai's finger. And judging from the giggled and excited whispers, it was a recent development.
Raidou, Genma and Aoba were clustered together. Raidou had his young son sitting atop his shoulders, pulling on his hair to direct his father's attention to whatever caught his fleeting attention. Aoba gave Kakashi a brief nod in acknowledgement so he supposed he was forgiven as far as things went. It was difficult for those within their group to hold a grudge when every single one of them would lay down their life for the others.
Well, except for Genma. The usually laid back shinobi was still willing to hold a grudge on Kotori's behalf.
Asuma was leaning against the wall, a cigarette between his lips as he watched the others. Kakashi silently joined him.
"I see congratulations are in order."
Asuma grinned, blowing a puff of smoke. His eyes drifted over to where his new fiancée was chatting with her friends.
"We're planning a small ceremony for now. No announcements. I'd like for you to be my witness."
Kakashi was stunned. He had never considered him and Asuma to be particularly close. "Of course."
Asuma gruffly clapped a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "Good. When all this is over, we'll throw a proper reception. With things as they are - it's not a good idea to be a Sarurobi right now if you can help it."
Kakashi felt a quiet kinship with Asuma, who understood the risks more than anyone else. The Sarutobi had been targeted during the second and third wars, as a way to weaken the Sarutobi reputation throughout the nations. That the Third Hokage's very own kin were so easily brought to their knees. Asuma had been the youngest of five children. Now only two of them remained.
"I understand."
"I thought as much." Asuma glanced towards the women once more, but he didn't say anything else. Kakashi appreciated him for it.
Soon enough, everyone was gathering in the park to watch the fireworks set off over the water. While everyone else was watching the dazzling display of pinwheels and comets across the night sky, he was watching her. Kotori's face was illuminated by the bright yellows and pinks glittering above. As if feeling his eyes on her, she turned, smiling broadly at him. He was struck once again by how absolutely gorgeous she was.
He closed his eye, smiling back underneath the mask.
Everyone started leaving in pairs after the fireworks. Aimi and Genma walking with Kotori towards the apartment block. Kakashi lingered, giving Kotori time to get home before he showed up on her balcony. As he did a slow loop around the park, he found Sakura standing by herself, dressed in a white kimono with pink sakura blossoms and petals. She was staring at the circle of bamboo trees that decorated the heart of the festival with their thousands and thousands of wishes. Sakura's eyes were wistful as she glanced up at them.
"Hi Sakura," he greeted.
"Hi Kakashi-sensei." Sakura gave him a small smile. "I was just thinking, what do you think Sasuke and Naruto are doing right now?"
"Well, knowing Naruto, he probably disguised himself and went to a festival like this and ate too much."
Sakura shook her head, but was smiling. "That's so like him."
"And Sasuke, hm, he was never one for crowds. He's probably on a rooftop or a tree, starring up at the sky."
It was a pretty lie. Kakashi wondered if he should stop giving Sakura false hopes that things would be fine or would go back to the way they were. The jaded part of him knew better. Every day that passed, Orochimaru dug his hooks into Sasuke a little deeper. But he couldn't find it in him to crush Sakura or Naruto and he himself wasn't ready to admit defeat yet either. Part of him still believed that Naruto and Sakura could bring Sasuke back. The bonds he shared with the two of them - those were real.
"Every year I used to wish that Sasuke would notice me," Sakura admitted. "Now I wish - I wish all of us could be together again. That everyone I care about would be here, at this festival by this time next year. What do you wish for, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Sakura, I don't think we're supposed to say them out loud," he said in a stage whisper.
"Oh, no! Now it won't come true." Her face twisted, sadness dimmed her eyes.
"Not if it's a shared wish." He added a henohenomoheji to the strip of paper. Sakura tearfully hugged him and he awkwardly patted her head in response.
Sasuke, don't make her wait too long.
AN:I can never thank you all enough for your support xo
Now for some exciting news, I've always had a vague idea of what will happen next/overall but I've finally plotted out the remainder of the chapters with chapter titles and everything. Just need to write them. :')