The rest of the week dragged on like a damn piece of chewing gum under a shoe. Outside of business, Kakashi and Sakura didn't speak to each other, and normally, Kakashi wouldn't have minded spending his free time alone, but for some reason he was worried about his student. She played the brave, the self-confident one, tried not to let anything show, but whenever she thought Kakashi couldn't see her, she looked sad. Her pulse betrayed her as well. It was irregular and if a heartbeat could actually express emotions, he now knew what heartache sounded like. The nights were much worse than the days because Kakashi felt that his mere presence gave Sakura hope. So he spent the night from Friday to Saturday at the Cortez after the last negotiations had taken place and their new clients had finally signed the contract.
It was the last time he could be with Elizabeth and Donovan before he had to leave again, and they ended their week of passion with a bang. The three of them went to the festival that was keeping the city in suspense. Each of them chose a person they considered worthy and took them to the penthouse, where they fucked every functioning brain cell out of them and each other. In the morning, Kakashi cleaned himself, kissed Donovan first and then kissed Elizabeth for a long time before leaving, promising to return.
Sakura had already flown to Japan at the end of the negotiations and should have arrived by now, but Kakashi had to take care of another job in Buenos Aires, so he packed his stuff, checked out of the hotel and took his flight to Argentina.
A week later, on the first Thursday in July to be precise, he returned to Tokyo and, as soon as he had entered his company and immediately chewed out Naruto for the fucked-up room booking, he only had to see Sakura's tired, green eyes to remember what had happened between them. Before that, his lovers at the Cortez and his work had kept him from thinking about his student, and a small part of him had even been convinced that nothing had occurred. But her clearly sad irises brought him back to reality. He gave Naruto a task that would keep him busy for a long time and said, „Sakura-kouhai, would you please come with me to my office?"
„Ah, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun wanted to talk to you right away," Naruto interjected, casting a worried look at Kakashi, as if he feared further consequences for having forgotten to pass on this information directly.
„Okay, thanks, Naruto," Sakura replied, a little downcast. Hesitantly, she stepped into Kakashi's office. „Please sit down." She obeyed and Kakashi took a seat opposite her. He folded his hands in front of his belly and scrutinized his protégé. „I think we should talk about this."
„We've already talked." She didn't look up, speaking more to her knees, between which she had stuck her clearly trembling fingers.
„Focus on me, Sakura," Kakashi said sternly, and when she looked at him, he continued calmly, „That's right, we talked, but apparently not enough." He sighed. „You've had a week to think about this, so I'll ask you again: Are you okay with us continuing to work together?"
He could almost see the wheels turning behind her rather broad forehead. Finally, she took a deep breath and nodded. „Yes, Sensei. I can't say that I'm not sad, but I have to rise above it and think about my future."
„I can pass your training on to someone else," said Kakashi. „It's not that everyone here is bad. Madara, for example, is also very capable. Admittedly – and this sounds arrogant, I know – I'm the best in this profession."
Sakura smiled for the first time in a week and a half in his presence. „It's not arrogant if it's true."
At these words, Kakashi smiled slightly. He not only liked that she appreciated his abilities and stroked his ego, he also liked to see that she seemed to be thawing out a little again. „Thank you."
„Kakashi-sensei, it's okay, really. I don't want to go to anyone else. To become the best myself, I have to learn from the best, right?"
He nodded slowly. „Right. Only you realize that this means you have to put up with me for another year, don't you?"
„Yes," Sakura smiled. „Yes, I know that."
„Good. I have to praise you, by the way." She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and this simple gesture made it clear to Kakashi that he did not do that often enough. „Yes, I actually do," he laughed slightly. „Two weeks ago, you could hardly form a proper sentence, and today we are having a fluent conversation in English. That is remarkable, and I'm honest, I probably wouldn't have done that so quickly." Sakura was downright beaming. „If you now look for courses on how to get rid of your accent, no one will be able to tell that it's not your native language."
Pink spots appeared on her pale cheeks and her leg began to twitch nervously. „Thank you, Sensei."
He stood up again and Sakura did the same. „Then, here's to continued good cooperation," he said and smiled, but he looked at her. „Just one more thing..."
„Huh? What is it?"
„Have your wounds all healed well?" he asked in a low voice, squinting slightly.
Sakura's head suddenly exploded, but immediately reformed and glowed like a signal light. „Y-yes... I still have a few bruises and... well... on my... you know... there are still shadows of your..." She audibly sucked in air. „It's all going to be fine. Soon I'll look like I did before."
Kakashi's right corner of the mouth twitched up. „Too bad," he said and turned to his desk. Behind him he heard Sakura's blood and knew that her head had exploded a second time before she could apparently collect herself and leave his office. He grinned. Maybe he should stop doing that for her sake, but actually he didn't want to.
The class reunion was the following day. Kakashi had quenched his thirst for blood the night before, and now he was showered, styled and dressed in a noble suit that he always kept for special occasions – although a bloody class reunion shouldn't even really count as special occasion, but it was special enough, since Kakashi otherwise only left the apartment for work or incidental raids – and he stood in front of the double doors to his old gym and listened to the thumping music coming from inside.
„Don't you dare go in?" Someone approached him, bringing with them a seductive aroma of sandalwood that quickened Kakashi's heartbeat. He turned and looked into the black eyes of Itachi. Even back then, his appearance had eclipsed everyone else's, and today, nothing had changed at all. His age was only marked by two deep shadows under his eyes, which unintentionally but appealingly emphasized the reddish shimmer of the irises. As if under a spell, Kakashi stared at the charming features of his former seatmate and it took a while before he could tear himself away from his face. The last time he had been so fascinated by a man, his throat had been slit just a few hours later. „Itachi, hello."
„Kakashi," Itachi nodded friendly and smiled slightly. They had never been close enough to call each other friends, and despite their seats, they had hardly exchanged a word. „It's nice to see you here. To whom do we owe it that you were able to drag yourself out of your cave of professional success?"
„Asuma," Kakashi grinned. „He invited me, although I have to admit that I wondered if it was just out of a sense of duty."
„Mm," Itachi said, smiling more broadly. „I picked up on a bit of the planning and, from what I heard, it was extremely difficult to find out your address. So they put me on to you and, well, with my talent, it was easy."
Kakashi tilted his head slightly. „So you know where I live, huh?"
A sparkle appeared in Itachi's extraordinary eyes, which Kakashi liked very much. „I do, indeed."
Suddenly the door was pushed open, music and laughter spilled out and Kakashi found himself buried in a screaming ball of black and green. „KAKASHI!" a voice roared close to his ear and Kakashi fought his way out of Gai's grip, groaning and choking. „Yes.. I.. fuck.. Gai, I can't breathe!"
Maito Gai, as they had always jokingly called him, broke away from Kakashi and grinned at him happily, his bulky eyebrows dancing. „Kakashi-kun, I was beside myself when I heard that you were coming!"
„You don't say," Kakashi murmured, and Itachi snorted quietly, amused. He straightened his tie and jacket and shook hands with Asuma, who had come out of the gym with Gai. „Hey."
„Hello there," Asuma grinned back, put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. „Does anyone else want one? Or are you all non-smokers?"
Gai and Itachi declined, but Kakashi took a cigarette from the pack. Maybe it was a bad idea for mortal people to start smoking at over 30, but after his transformation, Kakashi had felt the need to throw all scruples to the wind and just do it. He could afford it and didn't have to worry about getting some form of cancer at some point, so there was nothing to be said against it.
„Ahh future tumor partner, that's good," Asuma joked and handed Kakashi the lighter. „At least I won't be so alone on my deathbed."
Kakashi just smirked and teased in his mind: 'Yes, you are, all of you.'
„Kakashi, tea time, what are you up to if you don't want to be content with us young whippersnappers?" Gai asked in his usual deafening voice and patted Kakashi on the shoulder so hard that his knees buckled briefly. For someone who was actually the strongest in the group, he was giving the amateur martial artist far too much of an opening. He cracked his neck to calm his demon, which would have liked nothing more than to stamp Gai into the ground, and replied, „I was avoiding being challenged by you to make some more pointless bets, Gai-kun."
„Pointless?!" Gai exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips and tugging at the hem of his dark green shirt. „Our competitions were only for the purpose of finding out who was the best in the class. And maybe you've forgotten, but it was a draw last time. Admit it, you just didn't want to lose to me!"
Kakashi shook his head slowly. This guy was 33, why the hell was he still acting like a twelve-year-old on crack?! Lord, only now did he realize how much he had missed these people. Asuma's undeniable coolness – and yes, he still hated that word, but he had always found him cool – Gai's hyperactive nature, even Itachi's presence was.. pleasant. Nothing had changed, only Kakashi himself. But no two cigarettes later, everything from the last fifteen years was forgotten; he laughed with the others and felt like he did on the day they were together for the last time, when they were still truly inseparable. Maybe that was the meaning of the word – it wasn't about staying together forever, but how it felt when you found each other again. It was as if Kakashi had never been away.
More guests arrived, bringing alcohol with them, joining the cozy group, chiming in with the laughter. Kakashi was able to immediately assign a name to each face. There was Genma, Yamato, Anko and Iruka. Endless minutes had passed when it started to rain and they moved their loud and nostalgic conversation into the festively decorated interior of the gym, where familiar and equally exuberant faces were waiting: Kurenai, Hayate, Yuugao, Tsume, Kotetsu, Izumo and – Kakashi's heart stopped for a moment – Obito and Rin. They were apparently still together, raising their glasses to Kakashi from a distance, who acknowledged the presence of his former lovers with a nod and a wry smile, preferring to devote himself to his conversation with Itachi, who happened to be standing next to him. However, Kakashi's gaze had not escaped Itachi's notice, and he stated unabashedly, „You don't seem particularly happy to see my cousin."
Kakashi took a few well-chosen sips of his cocktail and said in a hushed voice, so that not everyone in the immediate vicinity would necessarily catch it, „When three people have an improper relationship with each other, one of them inevitably gets the short end of the stick in this society."
Itachi raised his eyebrows. „I never thought you were into men back then. Not Hatake Kakashi, the heartthrob of every future mother-in-law and heartbreaker of desperate souls."
„I weren't.. back then," he smiled over the rim of his glass.
At this, Itachi's eyebrows merely twitched. „But you are now?"
Kakashi smiled at him mysteriously and licked his lips. „This stuff is great. I'll get another one. Do you also want some?"
With more flowing alcohol and more people appearing, Kakashi had more and more difficulty naming the people. However, that didn't stop him from having a great time, telling a new version of the origin of his facial scar just to see Itachi laugh, enjoying all the attention, giving some back in return, talking to Itachi, dancing with Asuma, competing with Gai and drinking even more. Sure, his body was more resilient than that of a mortal, but even his limits were reached at some point and he found himself many hours and many drinks later in a situation that he had subconsciously longed for half the evening. Sandalwood clouded his already intoxicated senses as he kissed Itachi against a wall and caressed him in places that showed him unambiguous desire.
„I hadn't expected YOU to be into men, Uchiha Itachi~," Kakashi whispered into Itachi's hot mouth in a husk voice.
Itachi smiled vaguely. „I've always been, but back then I didn't want to show it to anyone." He bit Kakashi's lower lip and pressed his erection against Kakashi's, causing him to gasp in excitement. „Didn't you ever notice the way I was looking at you?"
„No, but I did tonight," Kakashi whispered back, and once again wrapped Itachi in a passionate kiss that carried them both into the bedroom and into higher dimensions.
The next thing Kakashi noticed was a slender, naked arm on his back. He was lying on his stomach, completely naked, on a very comfortable bed, with only an equally naked leg serving as a blanket on his right thigh. Growling, he pressed his heavy head into the soft pillow, which set the hand on his shoulder blade in motion and tickled him. „Good morning," said a pleasantly calm voice somewhere next to or above him, and through the distinctly noticeable hangover, also everywhere in his buzzing head.
„Mhh..," Kakashi just replied, closing his mouth that had been half open, wetting his furry palate with bitter moisture and turning his head. Because of the sunlight that was coming in through a slit in the curtain that was much too wide for his taste, he closed his eyes tensely and the pain in his brain only worsened. He took a deep breath, blinked and gradually recognized a face with a faint smile. „Itachi..?"
Itachi smiled more broadly. „Were you expecting someone else?" He let out a laugh that boomed harshly in Kakashi's ears and made him close his eyes again. „I don't blame you. The way you shot yourself down yesterday, I was surprised that you were even capable of anything." He leaned forward and kissed Kakashi on the cheek. „But that something was very good."
Kakashi growled, pressed his face back into the pillowcase and sighed. „Fuck."
Itachi laughed again and Kakashi growled louder. „Are you hungry? I'll make us breakfast."
Without being able to make any other sounds, Kakashi nodded. Itachi took his arm, his leg and his warm, naked body from him and Kakashi shuddered at the sudden cold that now surrounded his side. Noises that sounded like someone getting up and putting on a single piece of clothing fought with a nerve-wracking tinnitus in his skull for the place of the penetrating intrusiveness. For hours, at least it seemed to Kakashi, he continued to lie in exactly the same position until he had finally found enough energy in his arms to maneuver his heavy body into a kneeling position. A stab of pain shot through his ass, and at least now he knew why he had been sleeping on his stomach, even though he never did that. Apparently he had just collapsed at some point. Shit. In agony, he sat up on his violated ass, stretched out his legs and remained bent over like the wet sack that he was, his hands still buried deep in the sheets – maybe he even fell asleep again, he couldn't tell.
Something hissing reached his ears and a pale hand with midnight-blue nails pushed a glass into his field of vision, in which a fizzy tablet was making clear water bubble. Kakashi gratefully accepted it, but held the fingers tight with the other hand and pulled them closer to his aching eyes, as if to confirm that Itachi really was wearing nail polish. „Huh," he uttered in a tone that was even for him indefinable.
„Yees," Itachi laughed, carefully wriggling his hand out of Kakashi's grip and sitting down next to him. Only now did Kakashi smell the fried egg next to the sandalwood. Itachi handed Kakashi one of the two plates he had been balancing elegantly on his hand and forearm. „It's a habit of mine and my boss doesn't mind, so it's fine. He wears a red one himself."
„Really?" Kakashi croaked, glad to still have a voice at all.
„Yes, but in his circles he is known as 'Pain', so I'm not really surprised."
„Circles..." Kakashi cleared his throat to get the frog out of his throat and not sound like he was still in his puberty, „.. circles almost sounds illegal. What do you do for a living again? I'm sorry if I already asked that yesterday."
Itachi smirked. „Something with technology. So if you ever need help sorting your e-mail inbox, I'm your man." These words and the way Itachi said them made Kakashi feel a strange yet cozy tingling in his stomach. Itachi leaned over to his trousers, which were lying on the floor, and fished a black business card out of a small case. „Here, for when you want to use my services." With a clear twitch of his eyebrows, he added, „No matter what kind they may be."
On the paper, Itachi's name and cell phone number were written under a red and white, cloud-like logo. „Akatsuki," Kakashi read and frowned. He had hardly noticed Itachi's obvious flirting in his state. „A bit dramatic, isn't it?"
Itachi grinned and shrugged. „It suits us, soo.. Let's have breakfast. Bon appetit," he said, pushing his fork against Kakashi's, who couldn't remember picking it up in the first place, and started eating.
„Yes..." He gnawed a little bit of the egg off the fork and when he realized that his stomach didn't immediately throw it back up, he tentatively tried larger portions.
When the two plates were empty and the now dissolved painkiller had been drunk, Kakashi dared to take a longer look at Itachi's face for the first time that morning. It wore a smile, the nature of which he was unable to interpret, and watched him as he very slowly became a useful being again. „Um..." Kakashi said, not really knowing what he wanted to say. Fuck. It had been too long since such post-coital conversations and the last one with Sakura hadn't gone very well either. How did you talk when you had seen each other in the most intimate situations? Or in this case: when one side couldn't remember it anymore? He would have liked to know what they had done, even if his throbbing anus spoke volumes. But it had only been his second anal fuck ever and he would have liked to have experienced it at least while fully conscious. So Kakashi decided on a question that was just as embarrassing, but whose answer was more relevant in his opinion. „Have I thrown up anywhere?"
Itachi shook his head, still with that certain smile on his pretty lips. „No, in fact not. You seem to have yourself well under control. At least," he snorted, „as far as that goes."
Shit. He wanted to finally know. „What did we do? I'd like to jog my memory."
„I can explain it to you in a factual way, ooor I can show it to you visually." Itachi grinned, which Kakashi tentatively imitated. Finally, he understood the flirting. „I'm afraid my brain can't take any more movement right now, and if we did even one thing of what I would love to do with you, you would kill me."
„And we don't want that," Itachi murmured, kissed Kakashi – he was probably into smooching, hm, it wasn't really his thing – and continued, „So the factual explanation. After the party, we took a taxi to my place. To be honest, you didn't wait long and started heating me up in the hallway, but then we quickly got to the bed, tore each other's clothes off – don't worry, everything's still in one piece, the suit looked too expensive to destroy – you sucked my dick, I sucked yours, well, at least I tried, because my goodness, you have a real truncheon, then you fucked me in the ass in various positions, came twice, for some reason even I can't tell you, you got a crying fit, all I could hear was a name, or rather, a title: Countess, whoever that is, I have no idea, I calmed you down, you jumped all over me again, fucked me in another position, man, you're really creative when it comes to that, then you were exhausted, but you wanted to do something good for me, although to be honest, you made me cum several times just with your cock, your hand and your mouth, but hey, I'm not complaining, that's why you offered me that I could fuck you if I wanted to, and of course I wanted, so I did, very gently, I realized that you hadn't done that very often, and when I came in you and you in my hand, you collapsed and fell asleep immediately. The short version: two raw-fucked asses, a raw-fucked throat, lots of ejaculate and the best sex of my life. It's a shame you can't remember it."
Kakashi had grown darker and darker in the face during Itachi's brutally toneless delivery. He had said too many things that had shamed him so much that he didn't even want to repeat them in his thoughts. The icing on the cake was probably the mental breakdown. In the middle of sex, shit. „Wow," was all he could manage to say, and he lowered his gaze. „That sounds like a more or less very satisfying night."
„Yes, it really was. And..." Itachi nervously played with Kakashi's fine leg hair, „if you like, we can do a lot of that again."
Kakashi tilted his head thoughtfully to the side and looked at Itachi's angelic features, looking much too young for his age. Within the past few hours, as he recalled them in his mind, he had realized how much he had grown fond of the Uchiha. Not only his face, which his genes had been extremely gracious to, but also the way he moved, spoke, looked at Kakashi, and above all his scent. He leaned forward, pressing his nose against that warm, pale, soft skin that smelled so overwhelmingly of sandalwood that his body almost started pumping blood into his dick again, if it hadn't been needed in his brain right now, and ran his tongue along the curve of his neck, whispering, „I would like that very much, Itachi."
Kakashi couldn't believe it. At the beginning of June, he had been living his immortal life in a way that he had believed he would continue for all eternity. But even before his second trip to Los Angeles, he had subconsciously noticed that he was becoming more and more irritable and felt the urge to kill someone much more often, even though it had only brought him temporary relief. He never expected that he would become one of those people who wish that someone would send them a message at some point during the day, even if it was only to say, „I just took a big dump in the toilet."
Not that Uchiha Itachi would ever write something so vulgar, he was too educated and too polite and too.. perfect. Yes, perfect. Kakashi had been convinced that he would only associate this adjective with Elizabeth, but that was not the case. After that one night that the two former classmates had spent together, which Kakashi couldn't even remember, he could see himself looking at his cell phone for no apparent reason, opening the chat with Itachi often enough, who was as scrawny as his own furniture, started typing messages that he immediately deleted again so as not to annoy Itachi, and put the phone aside again – only to do exactly the same thing again a few minutes later. And it drove him crazy not to have answers to his questions, and even more crazy that his brain thought of Itachi every free second. He wondered what was wrong with him, why he suddenly craved the attention of a single person.
It became clear to him at the weekend after the class reunion. Thursday Itachi called and asked if Kakashi had any plans for Friday. Of course he immediately said no. Tsunade had already explained to him that there were no overseas assignments in the next few weeks, and Kakashi was parked behind his desk. He was fine with that. He had been on the road almost permanently for the last four months. So he met Itachi at his apartment on Friday evening. They ate together – Itachi was a really good cook – talked about everything under the sun and then ended up back in bed, only this time Kakashi was sober enough to be aware of what was going on. And, holy hell, he was aware to the limits of his senses. He absorbed every feeling, every sensation. No words could describe what was happening between them. It was completely without pain and blood and ripped-out guts, but tender, gentle, intimate, heartfelt... he could go on like that forever. He didn't fuck Itachi, well, he did, in a way, but it was more an act born of pure passion, of longing, of...
Startled, Kakashi lifted his head from Itachi's bare, still slightly sweaty chest. With this movement, Itachi lowered his gaze and the weak light that the street lamp outside the window cast into the room brought out this red shimmer in the black irises that Kakashi had always found so impressive. They stared at each other in silence, and Kakashi searched Itachi's eyes for something that he thought he could find there. Was he imagining it? No. It was there, surrounded by...
„Itachi?"
„Kakashi?"
„I want you to be my boyfriend." Was it too soon? Was it stupid? Shit, he was acting like a little boy who stood in front of the little girl in the row behind him confessing his...
Itachi smiled, stroking over Kakashi's furrowed brow and saying quietly, „I want that too." He laid his hands on his cheeks and had a glow in his eyes that made Kakashi shiver. „It's strange, because we've only been talking to each other again for a week or even talking to each other at all" – his mouth corners twitched up briefly – „but I've never felt that a relationship with someone would be more appropriate than with you. Well, appropriate now sounds like a duty, but it's not." His thumbs stroked over Kakashi's cheekbones. „Kakashi, I wanted to write to you so many times last week, but I never did because I didn't want to annoy you. You have a stressful life, I don't want to mess with that. You don't know how much courage it took me to call you yesterday. And you don't know how happy I was when you said yes." His thumbs paused. „I feel stupid when I think about what... well, what I feel for you after such a short time."
„Me too," Kakashi whispered, pushing himself up so that their faces hovered over each other and their noses touched briefly. „But fuck it, Itachi, let's just not think about it." He lowered his head and kissed Itachi longingly, who returned the touch just as intensely. His lips, his tongue, his sandalwood odor. With every passing minute, which felt like an eternity between them, Kakashi realized that he was indeed the type for smooching. It just had to be with someone he…
… loved.