A/N Almost everyone has been asking about this, here it finally is! I want to thank everyone that's been reading and commenting! I appreciate the support for this one and reading your thoughts and ideas has been so much fun. Let me know what you think about this one!

Chapter Thirteen

Annoying Guests

The strangest part about being in the past were all the ghosts. It had been worse for Kakashi—obviously—but Sakura thought she was handling them alright. Until Sakumo brought home a guest as well as dinner one night that she had not been expecting to meet.

Jiraiya-sama's familiar, hearty laugh boomed through the house ahead of him and his host as they came through to the kitchen. "Sakumo, please. It's water under the bridge, I've already told you. Where is the little rascal anyway? Hiruzen tells me he's going to be the best of his generation. Not surprising at all!"

Sakura was getting popsicles from the freezer, a panting ninken at her feet as they came into the kitchen. Sakumo set their dinner on the counter. "Out with friends tonight. And he may be right about that, but my son won't be taking the graduation exams for a few years."

Jiraiya laughed again, coming into the room behind him. "Well of course not. He's what, five?"

"Six in two months. They're pushing for it already."

Jiraiya frowned and opened his mouth to respond but his eyes landed on Sakura and the frown became a suave, flirtatious grin. She felt her skin crawl to have it directed at her, banishing the emotional upheaval at seeing him alive in an instant. "My my, Sakumo, who is this delectable pink flower blossoming in your kitchen?" He stepped around Sakumo, and reached for her hand. Before he could touch her, the ninken at her feet intervened. Senbei, who was growing fast and big enough now that he was almost actually intimidating, put himself between them with a vicious snarl. Jiraiya took a step back, watching the dog with a cautious curiosity.

"Jiraiya, you remember I mentioned my cousin?" Sakumo jerked his head in Kakashi's direction. Her husband was standing on the other end of the room, his arms crossed and a subtle thread of killing intent leaking out of him. Something below her stomach tightened when she felt it. He was actually angry. "Hatake Karasu, from Kumogakure. This is his lovely young wife, Hatake Ayame."

"Ahh haa, I see!" He rubbed his neck. "What a lucky man he is."

Ignoring the tension Kakashi was stirring in her, Sakura bent over to hug her furry protector, kissing his head. "You're Ma's good boy, aren't you?"

He barked and licked her face. "I'm Ma's good boy!"

Standing, she grabbed the popsicle she had been hunting for and handed it down to him. He took it between his teeth and took off outside, pausing to growl at Jiraiya again before he went. "Jiraiya, one of the Sannin. It is… nice to meet you." She tore open a popsicle for herself, swallowing down a gasp when Kakashi was suddenly towering over her. He wrapped her hand in his and leaned into her space, lips pulled fully back to flash his fangs as he took a bite. His dark eyes bore into hers before cutting over to glare at the other man as he replaced his mask and stood to his full height.

"Yes, very… nice." His voice was a deep rumble, a threatening growl that made the tight feeling in her gut sink lower. Fuck.

Sakumo snorted as Jiraiya took two full steps back. "It's nice to meet you as well—uh, both of you, of course."

The sensible part of her brain that was still functioning after Kakashi's possessive display worried that the Sannin might not be someone they wanted to know about them. But Sakumo knew they were trying to avoid the Hokage's attention and had brought him anyway. If he trusted him, she would too.

Shaking his head, Sakumo started unpacking the takeout. "It was my cousin here who gave me the idea to keep Kakashi home next year. Hiruzen wasn't pleased, but I find that I care for his opinion less and less these days."

Jiraiya cleared his throat, turning back to their conversation. "Hm. I should have come home sooner. I am sorry I was away for so long, Sakumo."

Sakumo shrugged one shoulder slightly. "It took me threatening to take my son and leave the village for him to clear my name. I don't know what you being here would have changed. If my cousin and his wife hadn't shown up when they did, well…"

He passed Jiraiya his food and ushered him towards the table, Sakura and Kakashi moving to help with the rest. "I don't understand at all. He's going to need you, Sakumo. What did he think would happen if he sent you off to war and the shinobi under your command did not trust you?"

Sakura scoffed but Sakumo only shrugged again. "I don't care to dwell on it. But my son won't be taking orders from him until he's at least nine."

Making a minor show of sitting as far from Sakura as he could, Jiraiya accepted the saké she poured him with a sigh. "You're going to be away indefinitely once things are officially declared, who's going to be teaching Kakashi?"

Sakumo waved his chopsticks at her for her to answer. If he repeated any of this to Tsunade they would be in trouble, but as far as Sakura knew, the other Sannin wasn't currently in Konoha. "I've been teaching him medical ninjutsu for the last two months at his request. He is doing quite well. Without access to any of the training scrolls, I'm limited in what I can teach him but…" She shrugged, hiding her small smile behind her glass of sake. "He is as natural to it as anything else I've seen him do."

"Is that right…" Jiraiya gave Sakumo a strange look before assessing Sakura again. This time his gaze was intent, focusing on the diamond seal on her forehead. "Have you told—"

"No. And I have no intention of doing so. My son will learn whatever they can teach him. Right now that's medical ninjutsu. Karasu has been helping him with his ninken when I'm away, and sparring the pair of them, sometimes all three of us, is pushing him to improve quickly." He threw back his saké.

"Hm." Now it was Kakashi that fell under his scrutiny. "I'd heard you were just a carpenter. Is that not true?"

Kakashi pushed his food around his plate, casting Jiraiya an equally scrutinizing glare. "It's how I'm currently employed. My wife's family owns the shop and it pays well enough."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "He said you were from Kumo? Why did you come to Konoha? Surely not just to build tables."

The hair on the back of Sakura's neck stood on end at the edge in his voice. If he decided they were a threat, his trust of Sakumo might not be enough to stop him reporting to Hiruzen. Minato was young and looked up to Sakumo, he trusted him. The Sannin had enough experience to be wary and distrustful of even old friends.

Kakashi's head dipped slightly to the side. "I left Kumo after the last war. Most recently we were living in a border town that was attacked by Iwa. We came to Konoha after because she has family here."

"But you're not interested in loyalty to the village or the Hokage? You won't fight for us?"

His hand found hers on the table and again, his voice, his words, sent an embarrassingly aroused shiver down her spine. "I am loyal to my wife—"

Oh gods, I hope he can't tell.

He nodded at Sakumo. "—and my family, first. Hiruzen has not impressed me, so I see no reason for us to submit ourselves to his authority and your shinobi law."

Letting out a tense breath, Jiraiya folded his arms and stared down at the table. "I admit, I find myself rather disappointed in his judgment." He pursed his lips, frowned and then looked up at Sakumo with a smile. "Well, I'm glad to know I'll have you fighting beside me again. It would have been a devastating blow to lose you on the eve of war."

Sakumo's eyes pinched, likely considering how close a thing it had been.

After that, conversation drifted to safer topics as Jiraiya and Sakumo continued sharing sake. Kakashi-kun came home around the time they finished the first bottle and opened the next. He greeted his father and Jiraiya—someone he was pleased to meet—and excused himself to bed. Sakura and Kakashi followed shortly after.

As she lay beside him that night, all Sakura could think about was the heat in his eyes when he'd stolen a bite of her popsicle. What did it mean? Why did he look at her like that? Why had he done it? He didn't even like sweets. More importantly, why had he gotten so angry when Jiraiya was flirting with her? So actually angry that it had leaked out of him and been clear to everyone?

All the gods help her, the way it made her feel. Was it foolish to let herself believe it was because he was jealous? Could he have grown to care for her the way she had for him? He had stopped hiding his face from her when they were alone. It meant that he was comfortable with her, he trusted her. It did not necessarily mean that he was having any similarly more-than-friendly feelings toward her. But it did make her feel close to him, precious. And that, more than anything else, made her want impossible things.

Dropping her head to the side, she watched him. His eyes were closed, arms folded across his chest and hands tucked tightly beneath his biceps. He had started sleeping that way a few weeks before, around the time he'd chosen Senbei. It didn't look especially comfortable, and was a strange display of discomfort juxtaposed against his bare face. There were frown lines on his forehead and his jaw looked tense.

Determining that his breathing was even and that he must be asleep, she cautiously reached across the small space between them. She brushed his hair out of his face, tracing her fingers across his cheek. Her lips parted with a quiet gasp when he turned into her touch. The frown softened, his whole body seemed to relax. Frozen, terrified he would open his eyes and catch her touching him, Sakura held her breath. Eventually, guessing he was still asleep, she dared to continue touching him. The whole side of his face now nestled in the palm of her hand, she swept her thumb across the arch of his lips with a featherlite touch. They parted just so, his warm breath tickling her skin.

Kiss him.

She wanted so badly to… It would be so easy.

But he was asleep. If he were awake he would never allow her so close. He wouldn't kiss her.

Would he? She remembered the heat in his eyes, his teeth biting into her popsicle. Maybe he would.

But she couldn't do it, not if she wasn't sure. If she guessed wrong, it would ruin everything they had together.

So she relaxed against her pillow and pulled her hand away. As soon as she did, he rolled towards her, the frown coming back. He groaned and his eyes fluttered. Panicking, she closed her eyes, feigning sleep. His breath came out in a gasping woosh and she felt him tense. "Sakura…" He whispered her name and she prayed that he would be fooled by her tremulous breathing. After several tense seconds, the tips of his fingers traced gently down the side of her face and his small sigh sounded relaxed, content.

His touch retreated and she felt him shift but she kept her eyes closed until she heard his breathing even out. Peeking at him between her lashes in the dim light, she saw that he had rolled away from her. Disappointment washed over her but she immediately shoved it away.

They were close, he cared about her, probably very much. He was protective of her, as he always had been. But the romantic feelings burning through her were her own alone.

It was okay.

It was enough.

The rage that spilled out of him when Jiraiya had hit on Sakura had taken him by surprise. Her usual teasing, friendly flirtation with Sakumo was annoying, irritating, but it never made him angry. And he should have been happy to see the Sannin. He had been a friend, someone he'd known and respected since he was a young shinobi. Knowing him as long as he had, the fact that he had immediately jumped to flirt with the beautiful woman in the room was hardly surprising.

But this beautiful woman was his.

His wife, his partner, his… friend. Their marriage might not be real and her heart might not be his, but they had committed to their roles and their plans, their mission. Jiraiya's leering gaze, lingering on her body as he towered over her, had filled him with a possessive hatred.

In hindsight, he realized the extreme response was largely born from insecurity. He was in love with her, but he could not reach out and have her the way he wanted. Jiraiya, on the other hand, had nothing keeping him from reaching out and plucking the 'delectable rose.' Jiraiya also happened to be a whole two years younger than him in this time, only ten years her senior to Kakashi's twelve.

The fact that there was no planet on which Sakura would ever accept his advances had mattered little to Kakashi in the moment.

He hoped.

He told himself that she wouldn't be able to guess how he really felt from his possessive reaction. Sunshining to her side and staring into her eyes as he tasted her popsicle before glaring down the other man had definitely been overkill. It hadn't seemed to bother her, and Jiraiya had gotten the message, but he should have exercised restraint.

The next morning when Sakumo finally dragged himself from bed—they had apparently gone through several bottles of saké—he'd taken one look at Kakashi's sulking expression and laughed. "I apologize for my guest last night, cousin. Jiraiya is harmless though…" He paused, wincing as he reached for the coffee. "Mostly. But his heart has always belonged to the same woman." There was something sad, nostalgic in his expression, almost… guilty. Then it vanished as he sat down across from Kakashi. "Admittedly, they do have rather a lot in common." He tapped at his forehead.

Tsunade.

"Well, I shouldn't have reacted like a jealous teenager." He sighed into his coffee but Sakumo only laughed again.

"You're a Hatake, you know how we tend to get a little territorial about our pack if we aren't careful, especially our mates." Was he 'territorial' over Sakura? He certainly didn't know that it was apparently normal. His father had killed himself before he was ever old enough to learn more about their family. He had vicious teeth, keen senses and an affinity for dogs. Was there more? Thinking back, he remembered the one and only other time he'd had a semi-regular sexual partner. She was in ANBU too and he'd been sixteen. It had ended badly when he'd nearly taken another man's hand off for touching her ass in front of him. She hadn't been impressed, reminding him they were 'just fucking' and if he was going to be jealous they were done. He'd chalked it up to teenage hormones and his violent, angry baseline. It hadn't been the best time of his life. Had his reaction been more to do with their clan's innate traits?

Sakumo sighed around the heat of his coffee. "You all but pissed on your wife's leg and bared your fangs at him a little. It's a lot less than I'd have done. Though, I guess I can't really look him in the eye and tell him not to touch any woman of mine." His laugh was self deprecating.

What he was alluding to was almost too ludicrous to believe. "You and… Tsunade?"

He shrugged, sipping his coffee as if he had not dropped a major tidbit about his life before Kakashi. "A few times yeah, but it was years ago and he's long since forgiven me for it. But still, if Ayame was my wife I'd have returned the right hook he gave me back then."

Kakashi stared, blinking stupidly at the man that had been his father. He had slept with Tsunade? Was it before he'd met his mother or after she had died? More than once? Tsunade?

Suddenly his flirtatious banter with Sakura felt much more threatening.

Noticing his incredulous gaping, Sakumo laughed again. "It wasn't very serious. It only lasted a couple of months and was really more stress relief than anything." He scratched his cheek and stared out the open doors into the garden, thoughtful. "She's not really the relationship type. Not anymore, anyway. Her fiancée died in the last war and she kind of… shut that part of her heart down. Can't hardly blame her." His eyes slid back to Kakashi and a sly smirk lifted his face. "She's a good time though. If you can keep up with her, that is."

Kakashi had the sudden realization that he did not know his father nearly as well as he'd imagined he did.

He needed to find Sakura.

He very nearly stood up from the table and left without another word. That would be rude. He needed to say something.

All he could come up with was, "Can you?"

Sakumo's grin was all teeth and confidence. "Of course."

Yep. He needed to get out of there.

"I think I hear my wife calling me."

Thankfully she was easy to find.

"Sakura!" He whisper-shouted as he came up behind where she was standing. She turned from where she'd been watching the kid in the field with the ninken.

"Oh. Good morning." There was a faint blush on her face but he couldn't tell if it was because she was thinking about the evening before or the heat. As she was fanning herself with a bamboo uchiwa, it was probably the heat. "Are you okay?"

"Um. I think so? I just had a… strange conversation with Sakumo."

Her fine pink eyebrows lifted curiously. "Oh?"

"He slept with Tsunade." It came out in a rush, like it was the most horrifying, confusing thing he had heard in his life.

She looked like she barely contained a laugh, turning back to watch the kid. "That's not surprising at all."

"What?"

The laugh escaped this time. "Well for a start, he's gorgeous and at least as powerful as she is."

His usual irritation when she made such comments about Sakumo felt more serious this morning. "Excuse me?"

She looked at him askance, clearly a little taken aback by his almost aggressive tone before shrugging it off. "He is objectively very good looking, Kakashi. You do look an awful lot alike. I'm not blind, and neither is Tsunade. Plus…" Some of the amusement faded from her face. "I think, by the end, she was actually in love with Jiraiya. Maybe if he had lived she would have had the courage to act on it. They're not dissimilar in appearance. Maybe she slept with him because he reminded her of Jiraiya, but didn't come with the emotional mess that would have come with sleeping with a man that was in love with her."

Kakashi experienced a brief moment of panic thinking she may have figured him out, but then she looked up at him with a vaguely condescending grin. "You're weirded out, aren't you?"

"What—"

"Did you ever…?"

Horrified, he grimaced. "No."

She giggled. It was cute. "Didn't even think about it?"

"I did not. Not even once."

She nodded and looked away again but he got the impression she didn't really believe him. "Alright. Well, it's not that weird. They're adults." Her face darkened and this time he knew it was a blush. "I've unfortunately heard more than one drunken sex story. I wonder if…" A visible shudder went through her. "Now I have a face to go with at least one of those… great."

Having nothing to say to that and not wanting to risk her elaborating, he let the silence stretch as they watched the kid and the ninken.

A warm breeze stirred the humid summer air, making his hair tickle his nose. When he shook his head, she glanced up at him. "Oh, here." She unwrapped one of her elastic headbands from around her wrist and held it out to him. Feeling very much like he wanted her to touch him, he kept his hands in his pockets and leaned his head down towards her. She scoffed.

"It looks better when you do it."

There, that was definitely a blush.

"Fine." The right corner of her mouth turned up as she tugged it down over his head and worked it up into his hair. Her face was so close, he could lean in and kiss her if he wanted. And he did want to. Her big, lovely green eyes were focused on his hair so she did not immediately notice how intently he watched her. When her teeth caught her bottom lip as she concentrated on his unruly hair, he could not help mirroring the action. Mesmerized.

"Kakashi?"

"Hn?" He blinked dumbly, focusing on her eyes again. One slender brow arched gracefully over an amused, pink cheeked, crooked little grin. Damn. He was so utterly and completely lost.

"I was saying how I like it long like this." She reached back and ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his head that now brushed his shoulders. "You should keep growing it out." Far too soon she pulled her hand away, turning around to watch the kid.

He kept his attention on her, wishing that he could read her thoughts, wishing he could know if there was the possibility, the slightest chance that she could ever feel for him what he felt for her.

Maybe someday she could.

But he could not force her. And if someone else were to catch her eye, if she fell in love with someone else—even Jiraiya, even Sakumo—he would do his best not to interfere.

For now, he had her care, her companionship, her respect. For now, she was his. And it was okay. It was enough.