The cafe was cozy, Sakura thought to herself as she leaned forward on her elbows to take a sip of the sparkling water that sat on the table in front of her. The walls were paneled in dark mahogany wood, the walls in between painted in an intimate shade of red. Above them hung an electric chandelier, its crystals dancing in the soft lighting produced by small flickering bulbs that looked like candles. Here and there were soft decorative touches; some live plants that produced a light, floral scent to accompany the atmosphere and paintings done by local artists. Kakashi's hand reached under the table, coming to a rest gently on her knee. She smiled up at him, though the shine of it didn't quite meet her eyes. The older man noticed and frowned, giving her knee a light squeeze.
"Try not to worry about it," he murmured quietly, his eye meeting hers over the beverage. She huffed under her breath, letting her gaze drift away momentarily before she glanced back at him, shaking her head.
"How can I not, Kakashi?" She whispered back before she pulled her knee away from him, wincing as she bumped the metal pole supporting the table. She rubbed her tender kneecap, speaking through clenched teeth, "Everything you told me...What you said in the cave..."
"I didn't say you anything you don't already know, Sakura," he answered her firmly. "You have seen firsthand that the life we lead; the life we choose is a dangerous one. I can't keep lying to you every time my life is in jeopardy. Our whole life would be a lie."
"But you weren't talking about dying someday, were you?" She retorted, her voice snappier than she'd intended. She frowned, keeping her eyes on Kakashi as she added, "Tell me about Danzo."
She saw the rage flash in his grey eye, his jaw twitching as he said, "Drop it."
"Tell me," she insisted, her own eyes hardening.
They both settled into a tense silence as their waitress approached, bringing with her the entrees they had ordered earlier. The girl's eyes darted between the two of them as she sat a plate of tempura and steamed vegetables in front of Sakura.
"Can I bring you anything else?" The girl asked hesitantly, placing Kakashi's eggplant and rice in front of him.
"No," they both responded in unison, each with a voice that betrayed their frustration. The girl said nothing else as she left them alone again. He made the first move, using a knife to cut a few pieces of the food before he took a slow bite.
"Can we just eat our meal? Please?" Kakashi asked her after he swallowed his food, his eyes meeting hers as he reached to take a sip of his drink.
"I've lost my appetite," Sakura replied indignantly, nose pitched up in the air as she closed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. If Kakashi had been in a better mood, he might have smiled at the childish action; been reminded of who she had been before the trauma and the bloodshed and the death had stolen her light.
As it was, he was going on an hour's sleep and his patience was gone. He narrowed his eyes at her, slamming his chopsticks onto his plate and making it rattle on the tabletop.
"Eat," he hissed at her quietly, paying the curious eyes who were now glancing at them no mind. When she didn't move, he reached for one of her wrists and added tersely, "Please."
She stayed in position for a moment longer but finally cracked under his scrutinizing look, reaching for her chopsticks and taking a forceful bite without breaking eye contact with her. He resumed eating his own meal, neither of them saying a word as the food in front of them slowly disappeared.
Once he'd finished paying, the two of them left the cafe and stood without a word in front of its storefront; Kakashi with his hands in his pockets, Sakura with her arms crossed again. He finally sighed, lifting his gaze to meet his.
"Will you come with me to Gai's place?" He asked her quietly, reaching out of his pocket and offering her his hand. "He's on a mission and won't be back for a few days," he added when he saw the hesitant look on her face. When she still didn't speak or take his hand, he sighed in frustration and stuffed his hand back into the pocket. "Alright, then. Goodnight, Sakura."
He turned and began making his way towards Gai's home, a frown etched into his mouth as he walked. He knew Sakura was pissed off and worse, he knew she had every right to be. She was no doubt confused. Scared, even, because he'd picked probably the worst possible timing to remind her of his mortality.
But she needed to know, he thought darkly. Danzo was a serious threat and now that they knew Root had something to do with whatever had happened to the Iwa girl, he had a pretty good suspicion that they were also behind the explosions of Team Ro's homes. While he hadn't figured out what their role was in the stolen documents, he was sure Danzo was connected somehow.
But what about the Iwa shinobi? He thought to himself. Surely they weren't still looking for revenge over the death of one young girl who had chosen to leave their village.
That thought was still nagging him as he reached Gai's front door, and he fished in his pouch for the key his friend had given him before he entered the house. He closed the door behind himself and made his way to the bathroom. The reflection he saw staring back at himself made him cringe. The dark shadows under his eyes reminded him how little he'd slept. His face was pallid, drained of what little color his natural complexion possessed. He groaned, tugging the mask down and pulling a razor out of the medicine cabinet to shave the rough stubble that had taken over his lower jaw.
He had just finished when a small knock on the front door pulled him out of his thoughts. Frowning as he checked the time on the clock - 9:47 - he made his way cautiously to the entryway, carrying a kunai discreetly behind himself. The unexpected visitor was mid-knock when he pushed it open. His eyebrow shot up when he saw Sakura standing there, her expression hesitant as she lowered her hand.
"Can I come in?" She asked him quietly.
He didn't speak, but stepped aside so that she could enter the house. Pulling the door closed, he turned to face her. He wiped a hand tiredly over his face and opened his mouth as though he was going to say something before he shook his head, walking past her to the couch.
"I didn't come to argue," Sakura murmured, sitting down next to him and placing her hands in her lap. When he didn't say anything, she spoke again, "I'm sorry, Kakashi."
After a moment, the ghost of a smile appeared on his lips, and he lifted an arm, letting her settle in against his side. "I'm sorry, too," he finally said, his lips pressing to her temple. After several long seconds, he added, "Do you still want to talk about Danzo?"
Sakura shook her head, her fingers trailing over the dark bags under his eyes and then down to his freshly-shaved jaw, where she leaned in to press a small kiss before whispering, "You need to sleep."
She stood up, leaning over to grab his legs. She laid them down on the couch before moving to his feet, where she tugged his sandals off. They landed on the floor with a resounding thud. Her hands made quick work of tugging down the zipper to his flak jacket, which he slipped off his arms and laid over the back of the couch. Satisfied that he'd be comfortable enough for the night, she stretched out her own body next to his, allowing him to drape a throw blanket from the arm of the couch over them.
Before his eye slipped closed, Kakashi murmured to her, "I love you, tenshi."
The nickname made Sakura smile, her fingers spread out over the top of his uniform sweater. As his breathing slowed down, she allowed her own eyes to closed to the sound of his heartbeat echoing under her ear. She hoped it would keep her nightmares at bay so that both of them could get a good night's sleep.
-x-
When Sakura woke up the next morning, Kakashi was still soundly asleep next to her. As the early morning light leeched in through the blinds on the window, she couldn't help but admire how peaceful he looked. His hitae-ate had fallen off sometime in the night, so his whole face was exposed to her. She gently lifted her hand to the top of his scar, trailing it down to the bottom of his jaw. His lips twitched, turning up into a small smile at her touch and she leaned in, grazing her lips over his in a soft kiss.
"I love you," she breathed against his mouth before she rested her head back against his shoulder, letting her eyes flutter closed. She was almost asleep again when his groggy voice spoke.
"Love you, too."
They both dozed awhile longer, neither one drifting too far. Kakashi's hand was smoothing up and down her back slowly, the nails of her left hand scraping lazily along his side. She wished every morning could be like this one; slow, tender and without a care in the world.
But they didn't live in that idyllic world, and before long a sharp rapping on the door shattered that illusion. Kakashi sat up right away, while she grumbled and buried her face in the couch cushion. His laugh filled the room, and she felt his hand glide through her hair as he walked by to make his way to the door.
When he opened the door, Kakashi saw Genma standing there, scroll in hand and he sighed, his head falling back even as he extended his hand to accept it. Genma chuckled, rolling his senbon to the other side of his mouth as he spoke.
"Relax, it's not a mission," he told the silver-haired man before he elaborated, "This is a debriefing on what Inoichi learned. Lady Tsunade thought she'd save you the visit," he added with a smirk, shaking his head when he continued, "She's off today, she says. It's a drinking day, she says."
Kakashi chuckled, swiping a hand back through his hair. "Let's see how that turns out for her," he snickered before turning back to face the couch when Sakura let out a loud sneeze. Genma peeked around him, eyebrow arched.
"Oh?" Was all he said to Kakashi, who rolled his eyes.
"Goodbye, Genma," he said as he shut the door promptly in the other man's face. He could hear a boisterous laugh behind it as he walked back over to the couch, plopping down on top of Sakura's still-stretched legs, earning a groan from her.
"Do you think Gai would mind if I showered here?" She asked him as he shifted so that she could pull her legs back. He glanced up at her, his hand pressed to the chakra seal over the scroll.
"I'm sure he wouldn't," he answered her. "Towels are in the hall closet and so is a fresh bar of soap. The bathroom is the second door on the right."
Sakura leaned up, giving him a quick kiss before she hopped up to her feet and bounded down the hall. As he heard the water turn on in the bathroom, he pulled the scroll open and began reading quickly from the top.
Information Obtained in Interrogation of Iwa Agents
Name of Prisoner 1, male, taken alive: Nokogiri Ishi
Name of Prisoner 2, male,taken alive: Nokogiri Kurebasu
Name of Prisoner 3, male, taken deceased: Nokogiri Genki
Reason for being in the Land of Fire: To retrieve Team Ro mission records as well as any and all files pertaining to the personnel of the team
Sent by: Nokogiri clan of Iwagakure; mission approved by Tsuchikage
Summary of their mission: Departed Iwa for Konoha five days before break in of the Hokage's office. Arrived on the morning of the Founder's Day festivities and slipped in to the village under the guise of being ikayaki vendors. Used cover of darkness to complete break in; copied files for redundancy and sent the real ones to Iwa by mistake with a summon. To their knowledge, the Land of Earth nor the Nokogiri clan have anything to do with explosions. Unsure of why they were sent to retrieve the documents but can confirm that order came directly from the Tsuchikage. Unsure of Danzo's level of involvement, though Prisoner 3's corpse revealed through a thorough mental autopsy memories of Danzo and Yoji's faces as well as memories of a letter delivered to the leader of the clan addressed from Danzo, dated a week before Karasu's team was ambushed outside of Tako. The two alive prisoners did not recognize his face nor name. All three members of the team identified their clan's kekkei genkai as being called Rokkudesu. It was many generations back in their ancestral home in the North Pass.
Furthermore, the bodies of the three bodies retrieved by Hatake Kakashi revealed ties to the Nokogiri clan. They possessed the same Rokkudesu capabilities as the prisoners, who identified them as follows:
Name of DOA 1, male: Nokogiri Youta
Name of DOA 2, male: Nokogiri Iwao
Name of DOA 3, female: Nokogiri Tama
DOA 1 C.O.D: Snakebite from a mamushi snake; died over course of 3 days
DOA 2 C.O.D: Chidori hit directly to the face
DOA 3 C.O.D: Mauled by pack of ninken - 8 different hounds identified by DNA
The autopsies did not gather any information as to why they ambushed Karasu's team. We believe that the letter Prisoner 3's autopsy revealed existed has something to do with it, which leads to the deduction that however he is involved, Shimura Danzo at the very least is likely to have sent word to the Nokogiri clan about Karasu's team's presence in the Land of Earth's mountains.
Furthermore, through interrogation of Aburame Yoji we have learned that he interfered with the mission objectives of the Team Ro mission in question; he had locked in his mind a memory of injecting the girl from Iwa and a later memory of a rendezvous with Root agents outside of Tako. Unsure of the status of the girl, but it can be assumed that she was not dead when Team Ro left the North Pass.
Kakashi took a deep breath as he finished reading the scroll's contents, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. So the Land of Earth had wanted the documents, but seemingly had nothing to do with the destruction of Team Ro's homes. Kakashi gripped the scroll tightly, crumpling the paper as he made his own deduction.
The explosions had been a set-up by Danzo to implicate Iwa. Somehow, he was orchestrating this entire mess. But why? He asked himself. He had obviously gotten away with whatever had happened to the young Iwa girl. The Tsuchikage had never to Kakashi's knowledge sent an inquest into the girl's well-being or condition. Neither had the leader of the Nokogiri clan. It had been seventeen years, he thought to himself. Seventeen years of not even remembering this mission, or the impact that girl's supposed death had on him. Why was Danzo bringing it all back up now? It seemed to Kakashi that the diabolical man was trying to start another war, but what on earth could he possibly have to gain from that with Konoha already so crippled?
Before he could ponder any further on that line of thinking, the sound of a shoji screen sliding open pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Sakura emerging from the hallway, wrapped in a large green towel, her damp hair mussed. He bit his bottom lip in appreciation, dropping the scroll on the floor as she approached him.
"You look..." He started, his voice light before he finished with a kiss on her knuckles, "beautiful."
"You always say that," she murmured with a slight blush, swatting his arm playfully.
"Because it's always true," he quipped, tapping her nose with his finger before he sighed as she leaned over to pick the scroll up. "Please don't, Sakura."
Sakura's eyes searched his face for several moments, a frown on her lips when she saw the stern look reflected in his lone grey orb. She didn't fight him, though, as he grabbed the scroll from her.
"Will you at least tell me you're safe for right now?" She whispered, her gaze still not leaving his. Kakashi thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly.
"Yes, tenshi. I believe I'm safe right now," he answered her, pressing his lips to her forehead. She tilted her head up at the last moment, capturing his lips in a smirking kiss, her hands coming to a rest on his thighs.
"And you said Gai-sensei won't be back today?" She breathed against his lips, teasing her fingers to the waistband of his uniform pants. He felt his groin tighten, but didn't move an inch until her knuckles ghosted across his taut stomach. His abdomen rippled then; proof of his incredible self control as she witnessed his bulge begin to build, his hands still not moving.
"Correct," he told her in a strained voice.
Sakura pulled back, giving him a smile that looked far more innocent than the gleam in her green eyes as she reached up to where she'd tucked the towel, pulling it and letting it fall down to Kakashi's lap with her as she straddled him.
"I think you're going to have to replace his couch," she giggled, rolling her hips against the older man's. He let out a small groan, his hands at last moving; one tangling itself in her hair, tugging her head back to expose her still-wet neck while the other reached behind her to grip her ass. Somehow Sakura always knew how and when to distract him just when he needed it most, Kakashi thought to himself as he laid her back and began to break in his best friend's couch. He could ponder on the scroll's contents after he'd had his morning fill of Sakura.
-x-
He was dozing awhile later when he cracked one eye open lazily and saw Sakura sitting cross-legged on the floor, the scroll open in her lap while her eyes scanned over it studiously. He sighed, reaching down and pulling away from her as he sat up, a stern look on his sleep-crusted face.
"I asked you not to read this," he told her firmly, rolling it back up before he replaced the chakra seal on it, ensuring that she wouldn't further be able to pry. She scowled, turning to glare hard at him from where she sat.
"You weren't going to tell me what's going on," she shot back, nose in the air. "You're the one who taught me that kunoichi have certain...advantages," she smirked back at him with a shrug of her shoulders. He looked at her incredulously.
Kakashi just sighed, carrying the scroll with him to Gai's fireplace, where he placed it and launched a small fireball after a series of hand seals. Once he'd done that, he turned to look at her, searching her face for any reaction to what she'd been reading. He saw the concern swirling in her eyes; the frown on her lips as she spoke.
"I guess now I know why you didn't want to talk about Danzo last night," she murmured quietly, reaching up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, green eyes meeting his firm grey one. His eyes softened when he saw the tears start forming, and he swiped a hand back through his own hair as a sigh fell from his mouth.
"Yeah," was all he could say as he watched the scroll disappear into ash.
He heard Sakura's feet padding across the floor before he felt one of her arms wrap around his, her head against his arm. He turned his face and kissed her forehead, smiling in spite of himself as she snaked her other arm around him, holding his body close to her own as she gazed up at him.
"It goes both ways, you know," she told him airily, earning a cocked silver eyebrow as Kakashi glanced down at her. When she saw the confusion in his eye, she moved her hand to his cheek, cupping it lightly as she added, "What is it that you tell me when I wake up from a nightmare?"
"That you're safe," he answered her without hesitation, brushing his lips over hers in a sweet kiss. Sakura smiled against his mouth, pulling away. As Kakashi looked down at her again, he blinked when he saw her delicate features twisted into a confident stare as she said her next words, her hand never leaving his face.
"So are you, Kakashi," she told him earnestly, her thumb gliding along the lower half of his bisected scar. He didn't know what to say as she captured his mouth in a kiss meant to convey just how far she'd go to ensure the truth of her words.
