Chapter Five
Naked Taijutsu?
The next week passed with little fanfare. Kakashi went with her father to work every morning and came back in the evenings mirroring whatever mood Kizashi seemed to be in. It was an adequate mask for the confusion and anger she could still see lurking beneath the surface.
Sakura spent her days helping her grandmother, attempting to improve her cooking skills and doing whatever odd domestic work she could for the neighbors to earn a few ryō. It was fairly boring, but as neither of them could use their trained professions, it was all they could do for the time being.
At night, they ate with her father and grandmother. Afterwards, they lay inches apart on their shared futon and stared at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep. She never asked what he was thinking and he kept his own counsel. Eventually he would have to tell her what he was planning but he clearly wasn't ready. Knowing she could probably beat it out of him if he kept her waiting too long helped her stay patient.
On their tenth day in the past, little Kakashi found her hanging up the last bits of laundry for the elderly couple that lived next door to her grandmother. She'd noticed him as he approached, being as familiar with his chakra signature as her own.
"Hello, Kakashi-kun."
He revealed himself, looking only a little put out that she had noticed him. "You really aren't just a civilian, are you?"
A devious grin spread up her face as she looked down at him. "My husband and I are both civilians in Konoha, little man."
He reared back at the diminutive and pulled a face. "Don't call me that."
She chuckled to herself and pointed at the basket next to his feet. "Fine. Hand me the last one, why don't you."
Grumbling, he bent down and pulled the last sheet from the basket. "Why are you doing laundry, anyway?"
"I'm helping the elderly couple that lives here. They're paying me."
"Isn't that something Genin usually do?"
She shrugged, picking up the basket and heading inside. "Sometimes. But they haven't gone to the shinobi office to request help yet, and I'm cheaper."
"Hm." He followed her, his little hands shoved in his pockets.
"Did you come and find me for a reason, Kakashi-kun?"
"Dad's going to talk to the Hokage about working again."
Sakura paused, glancing down at him. "Oh? That's good news, isn't it?" Considering the way the Hokage seemed to be using him, she wasn't actually sure it was. At least it meant he probably wouldn't try killing himself again.
"Yeah. But it's been months since his last mission. He hasn't trained at all except with me." Oh. "Do you think Karasu-san would spar with him a little? I don't want him going back out on missions rusty."
She considered if she ought to be offended that he hadn't asked her, but decided that she wasn't. "I'm not sure. I could ask him, but a spar at the training grounds will attract the kind of attention we're trying to avoid."
What she could see of Kakashi's face lit up. "That's not a problem! We have a family dojo for taijutsu and there's a small field on our property that backs up to the forest around the village if they want to go all out. No one will see but us. Will you ask him?"
"Hm." She waved him outside while she said goodbye to the couple before joining him. "Why are you asking me and not him?"
He huffed and it reminded her of his older self. "He would just say no to me. But you're his wife." She barely contained her scoff. "Genma says that whenever his mom wants something from his dad, she takes him upstairs and they grapple naked… it gets pretty loud, apparently." Sakura's jaw swung open, her face no doubt darker than her hair. "I don't get why it works, but he says it always does. Just do that if he says no."
There were several different thoughts tangling through her mind all at once as she blindly followed him down the street. Did he have any idea what he was saying? Did Genma? It was not surprising that he was the one filling Kakashi's head with such inappropriate things but he had to be around five as well. Was that how real married people dealt with disagreements?
Would it work on Kakashi?
When his bare face floated into her jumbled thoughts, morphing from laughter to what her imagination guessed he'd look like in the throes of pleasure, she clapped her hands over her burning face to hold back the embarrassed scream. "Kakashi-kun!"
"Are you okay, Ayame-san?"
She dropped her hands, and met his concerned dark eyes, absolutely incredulous. "I'm fine. Kakashi-kun, but please don't go around saying things like that to people. It's wildly inappropriate. This Genma person shouldn't either and he definitely shouldn't be spying on his parents' private conversations."
His face screwed up in confusion. "It is? Why? What's so weird about grappling? I've seen loads of people do it before—" Oh gods save me. "—I'm pretty good at it too." Please!
"Kakashi-kun, this is a conversation to have with your father. Fine. I'll ask Karasu if he'd be up for a little sparring. Just promise me you won't bring up the naked grappling again, okay?"
He still looked a little confused but he nodded. "I promise, I guess. Come over tonight, we'll get ramen. Teuchi still likes dad. What kind do you want?"
Desperate to escape, she agreed easily. "Whatever you like best is fine for both of us."
As he ran off, Sakura tried to banish new, inappropriate thoughts of her former sensei. Damn kid.
Sakura was waiting outside the shop when Kizashi announced they were done enough for the day. She looked anxious, and when their eyes met she blushed and immediately looked away. Kizashi greeted her and she said something polite back. When he asked if she wanted to join them for a drink, she declined.
"Actually, something came up. I need to steal him for the evening."
Kizashi chuckled. "He's your husband, cousin."
Her blush darkened as she looked hard at her feet, trying to match his laugh but sounding terribly uncomfortable. "Ah, yes. Naturally."
What was wrong with her?
"See you in the morning, Karasu-san, Ayame-san. Have a nice evening." With a wave and a nod for his cousin, Kizashi headed off down the street.
Face still red, Sakura watched him go for a moment while Kakashi wondered if he should say something. He wanted to ask what had made her such a red, nervous, nearly stammering mess. But she had done him the courtesy of not asking the dozens of questions she no doubt had so he tried his best to ignore his curiosity. "So, what are our big evening plans?"
"First, we need to talk." Still seemingly unable to meet his eyes, she focused somewhere around his right shoulder. "How involved do you want to be with your father and younger self?"
"Um." He blinked. That wasn't what he was expecting. "Well, we did introduce ourselves as family. I…" Why wouldn't she look at him? It was distracting. "I think it would be okay to see them now and then. Sakura, are you okay?" When he ducked to put his face in her line of sight, she blinked rapidly, tucked her hair behind her ear and looked away. Interesting.
"I'm fine." She huffed a short laugh that only sounded a little forced. "I've been wanting to ask you that all week." Ah. Message received. Don't ask. "Anyways, your uh, little cousin found me today. He said Sakumo is going to talk to the Hokage about working again."
Something that felt like a warning twinged in his chest. If he was right in his assumption about the Hokage, that might be the worst thing he could do. "He was worried that his dad might be a little rusty since he hasn't trained in months and wanted to know if you would spar with him a bit. I told him I'd ask you." She shrugged, looking very interested in the shape of the clouds.
Like earlier in the week, a riot of mixed and strong emotions flooded through him. It had been one thing to contemplate knowing his father now as a man, another to actually do it. But he could admit, if only to himself, that it was something he wanted now that he had the chance. There were risks. He might eventually figure out who Kakashi really was. And it was selfish. Who knew what it might change, how many lives could be affected. But Kakashi had spent his entire life being selfless, dedicated to the village, always putting his personal needs and desires behind duty. And for what? To repay a man and a village that had betrayed his family and used him with no care for his well-being before he was old enough to really understand?
He was currently free of that duty. He was going to be selfish while he could.
"I can do that."
She smiled at him for the first time that day. "Good."
"So that's where we're going, then?"
"Yep."
They started towards the Hatake property in what could have been companionable silence if not for the blush that had yet to fade from her cheeks and the way her gaze would dart away quickly every time he caught her looking at him.
Why was she blushing? What happened?
His curiosity grew each time he caught her staring. Had his younger self said something awkward like her father had days before? Maybe if he shared a little of what he had been feeling all week she would tell him. It was uncomfortable but he trusted her. More importantly, his curiosity outweighed his reluctance to let her in.
"I am okay. I'm angry because I felt… betrayed and… maybe a little taken advantage of. And I've had several ideas of how I would like to get back at Hiruzen and the rest of the council." He paused, shaking his head "Not a single one of them are good ideas. It would be a good idea to discuss actual plans with you though, Ayame. Whatever we do here, we should decide together. Especially as I may be a little too close to current and future events to think rationally. But, I'm okay."
Sakura frowned, putting a hand on his arm to pull him to a stop. She searched his face, clearly a little confused why he had said any of that all of a sudden after almost a week of barely speaking. Gradually a small smile replaced the frown. "I'm glad you're okay. I've been kind of worried about you."
His eyes crinkled with his own smile. "So… how about you? Are you okay, Sakura? You look a little feverish."
The smile slipped off her face, replaced by an irritated glare and a fresh, dark blush. "Kakashi. I'm going to count to three and if you're still standing there I'm going to blow our cover and pummel you into the ground."
So, he fucked up. He really should know better than to try and emotionally manipulate a friend at his age. It was terribly immature. Shameful, really. Letting out a nervous laugh, he rubbed the back of his head as he backed away. "Come on now, Sakura. I'm kind of worried about you too."
"One…"
Whatever it was, it must have been extremely embarrassing. He wanted to know even more now, but not more than he wanted to keep their cover and avoid getting beat to shit. He knew she had a dangerous temper. He really should have known better.
"I'm sorry, Ayame. Forget I asked."
Her face got, if possible, darker before she covered it with both hands. "Ugh, two!"
Half of Kakashi wanted to wrap her in his arms—tight enough that she wouldn't be able to hit him—and make sure she knew how sorry he was. She was important to him. It was really unfair that she had contained her curiosity for a week to allow him the kind of privacy he was used to, but he couldn't last five minutes.
The other half of him saw sense.
The sensible half won out.
He arrived at his childhood home a full four minutes before her. The kid was waiting on the engawa and jumped up when he saw him.
"Karasu-san, you're here. Is Ayame-san coming?"
Catching his breath, Kakashi nodded.
"Did she talk to you?"
"She did."
His smaller self put his hands in his pockets and looked up at him expectantly. "And… will you do it?"
He let his eyes crinkle with a smile. "Of course."
The expectant look turned into the relieved top half of a smile before morphing into dangerous curiosity. Oh no, not him too. "Did she have to do the naked grappling to get you to say yes?"
"The… what?"
He rolled his eyes as if Kakashi had just asked what color the sky was. "My friend Genma says it's how his mom gets his dad to do what she wants." Genma. Of course. Vague memories of a decades old conversation resurfaced. "I figured if I asked Ayame to ask you, you'd be more likely to say yes because she could just make you say yes if you didn't want to."
The embarrassed blush and her overblown reaction suddenly made sense. He could feel his own face rapidly flaming to match. "Um… Kakashi, did you say all of that to Ayame?"
"Well, yeah, obviously. How else would I explain my plan? She got all mad and told me not to mention it again but she wouldn't tell me what the big deal was. I've seen people do it before. I've done it before."
Kakashi closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand down his face, before promptly snapping them open again to banish the sudden Icha Icha themed images featuring his former student. "Stop!" He wasn't sure which of them he was talking to. "Stop… saying that." He looked back over his shoulder to see if she was there yet. Not seeing her, he whipped back around to the kid. "Trust me, you have not seen anyone do it before and you definitely haven't done it either. Your friend is an idiot—"
"Duh."
"—His parents are not grappling or wrestling or fighting at all. What they're doing is…" He sucked his teeth, wondering if he really needed to be the one to explain this. Nope. "Well it's something else entirely. Definitely not something a kid your age should be worried about." Kakashi shook his head, ruffling small Kakashi's hair a little more forcefully than necessary. "You are lucky she thinks you're cute."
"Tch." He batted Kakashi's hands away. "I am not cute."
Hoping desperately that his mask covered most of the heat he could still feel burning his face, Kakashi turned just in time to see Sakura pass the gate and enter the garden. "Yes, you are."
He stood up straight, away from the kid, and smiled at her. "Hey, you finally made it." She looked at him, her eyes lingering on what she could see of his face and his hot ears—dammit he missed his hitai-ate—looked down at the kid, then locked eyes with him again. He knew the exact moment she realized what had happened. Her face contorted back into the embarrassed fury and she zeroed in on the kid with a raised fist.
"You little brat!"
Beside him, the 'little brat' looked entirely too relaxed for someone so close to death. Kakashi gave him a shove towards the house. "Run, kid."
But she didn't follow. Her cheeks puffed up and she dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. "You've always been a perverted creep."
Hey. Unfair. "I am not. Just because I read artfully written smut in public doesn't mean I'm a pervert." One more thing he missed from their future. She lowered her hands to glower at him. "And I promise he has no idea what he's saying. He might be a genius, but no one ever bothered to explain that to him until it uh… well came up the first time." Why was he telling her this? "Minato-sensei was not prepared for that conversation."
Her hands clamped over her mouth and she shook with embarrassed laughter. "Oh gods." Glad she seemed to be less upset, he forced a small laugh too. "That's so terrible, oh you poor kid." Her words said one thing, but the laughter quickly devolved into sobbing cackling she didn't seem to be able to stop. "I just…" Her attempt at communicating caused a wheezing gasp. "Imagining it… hilarious."
Why had he told her that? He folded his arms and waited for her to stop laughing. "Well, I'm glad you find it funny. It was actually pretty traumatic for both of us."
She wiped her eyes, finally calming down. "I'm sure it was. I'm sorry for laughing." The final little chuckle made him think she was not very sorry at all, actually. At least she wasn't angry and embarrassed anymore.
Something in his chest warmed when she smiled at him, still pleasantly flush, green eyes alight with laughter, the golden evening light behind her making her appear to glow.
She was beautiful.
Oh.
The images he'd managed to banish came zipping back to the front of his mind. Nope. Not appropriate. Definitely dangerous thoughts. She's not really your wife. Those soft smiles and casual touches are for show. You're both acting. She was your student for fuck's sake, and she would be absolutely merciless if she knew.
He nearly leapt with relief when Sakumo came around the gate and into the garden at that exact moment. He was carrying a large sack with 'Ichiraku' stamped on the side, and humming to himself. When he saw them, he stopped to take them in, a slow smile making its way up his face.
"Ah, Karasu-san, Ayame-san, you're here. I apologize for not being here to greet you."
Sakura offered his father one of his signature eyes closed, fake smiles. It was disconcerting seeing it on her. "It's not a problem. Your son has already greeted us. Though, I think it might be time for an age appropriate conversation about the difference between sex and taijutsu and respecting the privacy of adults." The last bit was uttered between clenched teeth as she forced out a chuckle and stepped around Kakashi and into the house.
Sakumo's face fell, his head dropping to the side with a groan. "Oh no. What did he do this time?"
"Well…" Kakashi coughed, looking anywhere but at Sakumo. "He tried to get my wife to use sex to coerce me into sparring with you. Apparently that's how one of his friend's mothers gets her husband to bend to her will. Though, they seem to be under the impression it's some sort of naked wrestling sport."
His father looked like he'd like to say several things before landing on: "If you don't want to—"
Kakashi shrugged. "The sneaky ploy was unnecessary. I don't mind."
He nodded. "Well, I'm sorry for my son. He's much too clever for a five-year-old, it isn't always to his benefit."
Kakashi well remembered. "She wasn't too upset, and she thinks he's cute, so he'll live." Sakumo nodded, but still looked vaguely uncomfortable. "How long has it been since your last mission?" He knew the answer, but it was all he could think of to ask.
His father shrugged one shoulder. "Almost seven months."
Kakashi hummed. "Why now?"
Sakumo chewed the inside of his cheek and dropped his eyes. "I think getting back to work will be good for me, and…" Shame darkened his face. "My son needs to get back to school."
What? Kakashi frowned. "He isn't going to school?"
He shook his head once. "He hasn't hardly left my side since…" His eyes flicked up to meet Kakashi with a self-deprecating, wry smile. "The few minutes he was with your wife this afternoon were the first I've had to myself all week."
"Hm." He had missed school for a week after his father's death too. Guess this week of education was always going to be missed. "Can you blame him?"
The hand that hung at his side fisted. "No, but he needs to stop worrying about me. That shouldn't be his burden. As long as nothing changes, he'll have no reason to trust me when I promise him I'll be here when he gets home. He needs to get back to his life, to being a kid. In order for him to feel comfortable enough to do that, I need to get back to mine."
Heart clenching at the unfairness of it, Kakashi swallowed thickly and looked away. Not for the first time, he selfishly wished he could trade places with the child version of himself. Why couldn't a talented, caring healer have shown up to save his father? Why couldn't Sakumo have come to this realization sooner and without attempting to kill himself? Sometimes the gods were cruel. Life was cruel and almost never fair.
Sakumo cleared his throat and walked towards him and into the house. "Come on, he had me get dinner from the one place that won't turn me away. Ichiraku has the best ramen in the village."
Watching Kakashi fight, especially when he was down to just his magnificent taijutsu and his last kunai, was always exhilarating. Sparring with his father was no different. Sakumo was around the same age as Kakashi now, both men were extremely skilled shinobi and in their prime.
They started with a simple hand to kunai taijutsu fight. Simple. Kakashi's taijutsu was so natural, graceful, fluid—almost beautiful. It was like he was dancing, pouring himself around Sakumo, always at least three moves ahead. Sakumo couldn't touch him. No matter how much she trained, no matter how much she improved, Sakura knew she would never achieve his level of finesse. It would be aggravating if she didn't know that he would never have her immense strength.
After ten minutes of impressive back and forth, a mutual agreement must have passed between them because suddenly they were using ninjutsu. Sakumo was fast, his jutsu powerful and his aim true. But Kakashi was faster. He spun and flipped, dodging every one of his father's attacks. Taking the offensive, he went through several of his copied or self invented jutsu, making sure to incorporate every basic chakra nature.
He's showing off.
She almost laughed out loud when she realized.
Even with his face covered, Sakura could see that Kakashi was enjoying himself, and from what she could tell, so was Sakumo. The man seemed to come alive, gradually breaking out of the defeated, depressed fog that hung over him even after they'd saved his life until he was grinning broadly. When Sakumo seemed to land a strike only to be repelled in an electrifying blast by a lightning clone, Kakashi-kun leapt to his feet in excitement. His father quickly recovered with a bark of laughter before diving at his now revealed true opponent.
Not wholly taking his eyes off the fight, Kakashi-kun turned to her. "A lightning clone! He used a fireball, he summoned a dragon from the creek, he nearly buried dad in earth and he started with a wind release move! That's all Five Basic Natures!"
Sakura grinned, feeling like bragging about Kakashi to himself. It was kind of funny. "Karasu has mastered all Five Basic Chakra Natures. It is impressive.
"Only a handful of shinobi can do that, and most of them were Hokage." He looked genuinely impressed. "How did he do it?"
"Lots of hard work." She was pretty sure the Sharingan had helped shorten the learning process, but she suspected he would have been capable without it.
He made a determined fist, eyes riveted on both men. "I'm gonna do that someday."
She chuckled. "I'm sure you will."
The White Fang was not using his famous blade, nor had Kakashi unleashed the chidori, but as the fight grew in intensity it was plain they were decently matched. Watching them fight solidified the opinion she had already formed—Hatake Sakumo's death was a horrible waste, especially right before a war. It truly was a tragedy. Not just because it broke a young Kakashi, but because he was such a powerful shinobi. He could have affected so many things in their original timeline for the better.
The more she let her mind wander down that line of thinking, the more angry she became. Thankfully, she wasn't allowed to dwell long.
"You are incredibly skilled, cousin. I'm impressed. Makes me wonder how often you've trained since the war." Sakumo panted heavily, watching Kakashi with a wicked grin where he crouched a few yards away, both men holding their blades at the ready. "Should we call this now or end it properly?"
Kakashi cocked his head to the side and smiled with his eyes. "That is high praise coming from you, White Fang. By all means, let's continue."
They leapt at one another again, their movements too fast to catch.
Sakura jumped to her feet when her Kakashi suddenly went flying backwards, colliding with a sickening crack against a tree. From where she was, she could not tell which was worse for wear.
"Dad!"
Kakashi-kun raced from his spot beside her to his father while she went to her 'husband.' She could hear the little boy chattering with his father across the field but she focused on Kakashi. He had rolled to his side, pressing his forehead into his arm and breathing shakily. "Are you okay, Kakashi?"
After a moment, he nodded, letting her run her hands along his head, back and sides checking for injuries. One rib was cracked, there were several abrasions from where he'd hit the tree and there was swelling on the back of his head. As she healed him, he watched her. "What did you think?"
"It was an impressive fight. Your younger self was quite impressed with your mastery of all five chakra natures." She smirked. "You were showing off, it's no wonder he got the better of you."
He took a deep breath as his rib reknit, easing the pressure on his lungs. "I was slow. Besides, he needed the win more than I did."
She scoffed. "You let him win?"
His eyes flicked away from her, tracking Sakumo and Kakashi-kun as they crossed the field towards them. "I was slow, Sakura. It does happen occasionally."
Sure it did. "Well, it looked close. You're at least evenly matched."
"Yeah…" There was a genuine smile in his eyes that Sakura couldn't help but return. She wasn't sure, but she suspected the fight, and Sakumo's complimentary appraisal of his skill, must have satisfied some deeply repressed need for paternal acknowledgment he had never had the chance to crave.
Before either of them could think of anything else to say, Kakashi-kun and their father were standing beside them. "I think I won this time, cousin."
"I was slow. Though from everything I've heard about you, I'm not surprised."
Sakumo shrugged, offering a thin lipped smile and ruffling his son's hair. "It was a good fight, it was close. You're not too badly hurt are you?"
She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from grinning like a loon. Kakashi looked so pleased with himself despite having been thrown at least thirty feet into a tree. "My personal Doctor tells me I've cracked a rib. I've had much worse." She scoffed at his usual blasé attitude but did not say anything.
Sakumo chuckled lightly, flexing his right hand. "It's a lucky thing to have the heart of such a talented healer."
Sakura blushed, both at the reminder of their assumed relationship and the look Kakashi was giving her as he replied, "It is."
How else would he look at you? You're supposed to be married. You're supposed to be in love.
Healing finished, she sat back on her heels and helped him to sit up, making sure to let her touch linger in a way that she hoped looked affectionate. "Are you injured at all, Sakumo-san?"
He held up his right hand. There was minor singeing along his fingers and down what she could see of his wrist from his contact with the lightning clone. "Nothing too serious."
She stood and took his hand in hers, his son taking her place beside Kakashi to question him about chakra nature mastery. "I can't tell you how many lightning burns I've had to deal with." She huffed, shaking her head as she thought about all the times Kakashi had caught Naruto or Sai when they trained. She missed Naruto. Maybe Sai too.
"Hm." When she noticed the speculation in his dark eyes, it occurred to her that she probably shouldn't have admitted that. What cause would Kakashi have to use lightning as a day laborer? Sakumo was the last person they needed poking holes in their story. Hoping he wouldn't think too much of it, she repaired the burn quickly and stepped back to Kakashi's side.
He flexed his hand and smiled at her. "Thank you, Ayame-san. And thank you, Karasu-san. We should do this again… If you can spare the time."
Kakashi nodded, draping his arm around her shoulders. "Of course."
A/N SO, the naked taijutsu thing is hilarious to me, it might be cringe, but oh well. I think he is a little genius but not necessarily about things like that. He doesn't have a mom, so he's never accidently walked in on his parents, and I grantee his dad has not had any kind of sex talk with him at this point. Oh well, let me know what you think!