Chapter 38

Pack

They had just finished their morning katas. Kakashi was running through an easy taijutsu drill with an eager Tenzō, and Sakura decided that she wanted to fight. She wanted to throw everything she had into a proper spar against someone new.

Three weeks ago, a flood of enemies had poured into her home and gotten the better of her, hurt her, killed her baby, and taken her boys and herself away.

She hadn't been strong enough.

The strongest kunoichi of her generation, but she couldn't protect her own children.

She would have to be stronger, and today, she finally felt ready to start working towards that goal.

"Mebae?"

The other woman looked up from where she'd been watching Kakashi and Tenzō. "Yes, Ayame-sama?"

Sakura huffed, as uncomfortable with the deference as Kakashi was. 'You're the matriarch of our clan, it's due respect. It's how I was raised.' Maybe if they were a very large clan it would be more important to Sakura. As it was, it felt overly formal from an older woman that would hopefully be a friend. Mebae had seen her at her very worst, helped to rescue them, she was family. "Mebae, please, I told you, Ayame is fine."

She smiled apologetically, pulling her thick braid over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ayame."

Sakura relaxed, folding her arms across her waist. "I was wondering if you would like to spar?"

Her bright blue eyes lit up and she smiled wider. "I'd love to!" She started to stand but froze, eyes sliding to Kakashi. "I won't hurt her, Karasu-sama."

Shoulders sagging, Sakura looked at her husband. He was still focusing on Tenzō, yet she could see that he was tense. He had been overprotective, hovering, but she did not blame him. A small sigh passed through his mask and his eyes creased in a smile. "I know that, Mebae." He looked at her and the tightness around his eyes softened. "But you don't have to hold back for her, she can handle it."

A faint smile on her lips, Sakura beckoned Mebae to follow her as she headed out.

As they walked towards the field, Mebae watched her from the corner of her eyes. "Karasu-sama said you were the strongest kunoichi of your generation."

The past tense chaffed. She knew that wasn't how he'd meant it, but it's how she felt. "I've spent the last year at home. Sure, I've trained as much as I ever have, but I haven't gone on missions, faced actual enemies. When I did, when it mattered, I failed. I don't know if I deserve that title anymore."

Mebae put her hand on her arm, pulling her to a stop. "Ayame, you were essentially alone, facing more than thirty Jōnin-level enemies at once, ambushed in your bed, fighting them in such a confined space while trying to protect your pups. Having Tenzō at your feet and the pup you were carrying severely restricted how you could fight back. It wasn't a fair fight, and I can't think of anyone who would have done better than you."

Sakura frowned down at the ground, her vision blurred. Kakashi had said almost the same thing to her when Tenzō had woken up with another nightmare a week before. They'd gotten him settled, but she had broken down and blamed herself again. "Yeah… I know you're right but…"

"It stole the confidence you had in your abilities, in your strength."

Dabbing at the corners of her eyes, Sakura nodded. "Yeah, that's…" She cleared her throat. "I wasn't always the strongest, I started out pretty useless actually. I had to work so hard, for years to even feel like I deserved to stand on the same field as my teammates. Knowing that he has confidence in me means more than I can say, but I need to believe it again for myself."

Mebae caught her eyes and grinned. "Well then, let's get started! I won't hold back."

The field was wrecked. Sakura stood in the middle of the devastation, chest heaving, skin slick with sweat, a smile on her face.

Mebae had been a challenging opponent, favoring lightning like Kakashi, but not nearly as strong or versatile. Once it became clear that Sakura was having to hold back, Kakashi had thrown Raiu and Kakashi-kun at her as well. Three against one was much more difficult, especially with how in sync Mebae and her brother were. Even still, Sakura had come out on top.

A shadow fell across her face and she opened her eyes to see her husband standing in front of her. Of course, she hadn't been surprised, she'd tracked his chakra as he'd moved across the field towards her.

"Hey."

"Feel any better?"

Her smile stretched as he stepped closer, brushing sweat-slicked hair from her face. "I do, yeah."

"Good." He slipped his mask down and kissed her. "You amaze me, you know that?"

If her skin wasn't already flush from exertion, she would have blushed. "Really?"

"Mmhm. You're so powerful, Sakura, a genius in your own right. It's always impressive to watch you fight." The bridge of his nose grazed her cheek. "It's… terribly sexy, actually."

A genuine laugh erupted from her and she smacked his chest. "Kakashi—"

He was grinning but his eyes were dark and she knew that he hadn't been kidding. "It's true, but that's not important just now. I have something for you."

"Oh?"

"Yep." He pressed another kiss to her temple and reached into the pouch on his hip, pulling out a storage scroll. "I asked Sakumo to find them for me."

She took it with a small frown as they started walking back towards the house. "What is it?"

"Everything ever written about the Mokuton." Sakura gasped, beginning to unroll the storage scroll with sudden eagerness. "Most of it is Hashirama's personal writings. Which, considering who he was to me and seeing how we're raising Tenzō, our esteemed Hokage decided they should stay with us. They're yours, no need for any ANBU breaking and entering after all."

Running her fingers over the first storage seal, Sakura remembered their conversation from the year before and smiled up at him. "Thank you."

He shrugged. "There's quite a lot there. I wonder how long it will take you to get through."

Tucking the scroll against her chest, Sakura looped her other arm through his. "Well, if Sakumo's suggested reparations are accepted, it will probably take a while. I can't imagine I will have lots of free time for studying between training foreign medics and teaching Kakashi-kun. I want to have time for you and Tenzō, too."

"Yes, I'm sure we'll all have a busy couple of years. But it won't just be us here."

She looked up at him. "No?"

He shook his head. "Mebae and Raiu asked me if they could stay. They want to be with pack, now that they know we exist. The Raikage was reluctant to let them go, but after all we've done to help end the war, he granted their request to immigrate. I planned to give them one of the other houses on the property. It will take a while until it's livable again, but I'm glad they're staying. I wanted them here."

"Good." She lay her cheek on his shoulder. "I like having them here, too."

"Hm. Should we have your grandmother live here too? After your parents get married?"

Sakura stopped walking and he followed suit, looking down at her. "Can we?"

His eyes curved with a smile. "It would make you happy to have her closer, wouldn't it?"

Her lips parted, stretching into a smile. "Yes."

"Where did she live before? With your parents?"

She shook her head as they started walking again. "No. My Mother wanted to have her own home, so after they were married they moved into the house I grew up in. My grandmother didn't like keeping such a large place just for her after Yōko-san died, so she sold it and rented a small apartment. I never even met my mother's parents. They didn't approve of the match and cut her off." She wrinkled her nose. "But Ume-Bachan was around a lot even though she didn't live with us."

"Then, if she wants, she'll live with us. In the main house, or one of the smaller ones if she'd prefer."

Sakura smiled up at him. Did he know how good he was, how much she loved him? "I love you, Kakashi."

Tenzō was practically bouncing in place beside Kakashi, standing in the garden. Senbei had popped over to their realm to check on Kusa that morning and come back with good news. Kusa was finally healed well enough to come home too. It had been almost a month, and Tenzō had begged to see his 'puppy' every day.

"Are you ready, pup?"

Tenzō nodded, tugging on Kakashi's pants. "Yes! I ready, Daddy, I ready to see my Kusa!"

Sakura chuckled, leaning down to scratch Bull behind his ears.

Drawing a kunai across his thumb, Kakashi knelt to summon the massive ninken. As the cloud cleared, Tenzō shrieked, throwing himself at Kusa.

"Kusa! My Kusa! My puppy!" Happy tears ran down his cheeks, licked away by the gentle bulldog. "I miss you, Kusa! I miss you so much!"

Kusa laughed, and Tenzō was giggling and shrieking, and it was such a happy sound. Sakura wiped her eyes, meeting Kakashi's serene smile with one of her own.

"I missed you too, pup. I'm glad you're alright. I was so worried about you."

Rubbing his face in his wrinkly neck, Tenzō sighed happily. All was right in his little world again. "I okay, Kusa. I happy you home."

Snuffling, Kusa crouched so he could climb up onto his back. Once he was secure, he ambled over to Sakura and Kakashi-kun. He sniffed Kakashi-kun over, licking him too before looking up at Sakura. His ears drooped but he leaned into her hand when she pet his head.

"I'm sorry, Ma." He butt his head against her hip and whined. "Are you okay?"

Forcing a smile, Sakura nodded. "I'm okay."

"Do you want to go for a run, Kusa?" Kakashi stood with his hands on his hips, all their family's ninken around them.

"Sure, Boss."

Kakashi arched a questioning brow at her and she smiled back at him, taking his offered hand. Over his shoulder, he addressed the rest of their family. "What about you, Sakumo, Mebae, Raiu, want to come?"

The Hokage, having just returned, sitting on the edge of the engawa, hummed thoughtfully. "I'd love to. I'm going to be too busy for this soon." He stood with a sigh, rubbing Kakashi-kun's head. "Dealing with Suna is going to be a drawn out pain."

"Alright! Pack run!" Raiu tugged his sister up from her seat on the engawa and reached down to scratch one of his ninken behind his ears. "We haven't done this in years."

Sakura let herself be pulled against Kakashi, a kiss pressed to her temple. "Let's go."

The Hokage residence was nice. And big. So big, they couldn't hear whatever the boys were getting up to upstairs. Even though he still lived with them, Kakashi-kun had a room here for the occasional nights with Sakumo—when he wasn't kept away sorting out their burgeoning peace. That's where they were currently, along with Obito and Guy, who had joined them for Kakashi-kun's recent birthday.

Kakashi could sense their chakra and knew they were safe.

They were taking the rare child-free opportunity to grill Sakumo about his mysterious love interest. He had been slippery and evasive about the topic for months, not giving them more than a name, but Sakura and Tsunade had finally pinned him down. This woman might be their son's step-mother. They wanted to know all about her.

In the face of their combined rabid curiosity, Sakumo had folded like a paper crane.

"So, Yui was a prisoner?"

Sakumo winced, his face coloring slightly as he looked away. "Look, I know it isn't exactly romantic—"

Tsunade scoffed. "Not romantic? Try: outright problematic."

"It's not like anything happened. I would never take advantage of a situation or a woman like that."

Kakashi decided his opinion was not required for this conversation. Sakura and Tsunade were managing just fine on their own. Outwardly, he focused intently on his food.

"And yet…"

Sakumo pushed his sake glass in circles with his fingertips. "Look, she just… There was something about her, something that I couldn't ignore."

Sakura scoffed. "Let me guess, large breasts and a nice ass?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

Kakashi nearly choked on broth.

"You're disgusting."

Tsunade snorted into her saké. "Predictable, more like."

Sakumo made an indignant choking sound. "No I'm not. I'm a man. We notice those things. It's not like I watched her bathing." He scowled at them. "I'm not Jiraiya."

Both women burst out laughing.

Clearly feeling ganged up on and stupidly brave, Sakumo jabbed a finger at Tsunade's chest. "I know those are at least partially some kind of jutsu." His accusing finger swung to point at Kakashi. "And don't pretend you don't know the effect that tight little ass of yours has on your husband, Ayame." Tsunade merely snorted into her cup, while Sakura looked like she might leap across the table and strangle him. "What? I'm not blind."

Kakashi considered admonishing Sakumo for mentioning his wife's ass, but he had a point. "He's not wrong." Her glare turned on him and he shrugged, a playful smirk on his face. "You know exactly what you're doing when you wear those tight little shorts around the house." Color bloomed across her face and something dangerous flickered in her green eyes. "It is a very nice ass."

Someone snorted. He reconsidered.

Not looking away from her eyes, a kunai appeared in his hand, stabbing into the table half an inch from Sakumo's hand. "Fuck—" It was okay. It was the Hokage's table.

"Don't ever talk about my mate's ass again, Sakumo."

He cleared his throat. "Right. Of course. Uh… where was I?"

Said mate rolled her eyes, but her hand found his upper thigh under the table. "Something you couldn't ignore?"

"Yeah… To be honest, Yui is built a bit like you, Tsuna. But while that might have turned my head, it wasn't really what held my attention. She was…" He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's hard to explain the non-physical things that make you want someone."

Clearly struggling, he held out his empty glass for Tsunade to refill and tried again. "She was a civilian conscript. Prisoner trades were rare, but they never asked for her. She didn't seem surprised, like she was resigned to spending the rest of the war a prisoner if there were more competent soldiers to be released instead. Eventually she shared that she had been a Genin but retired a decade ago. Didn't have a stomach for killing."

He got a silly look on his face that made something in Kakashi's stomach flip. Damn, he's got it bad.

"She paints. Well enough to make a living. I got her blank scrolls and some paints after she told me. Gave her something to keep her occupied.

"She was basically forced to be a shinobi. Iwa had a big push to train everyone old enough during and right after the last war. Anyway, her father had been a painter and taught her when she was younger. Eventually they let her retire and she went back to his studio full time."

He got up and left the room briefly, returning with a loosely rolled scroll. "She did this for me."

Sakura accepted the treasured scroll and unrolled it carefully, all three of them leaning in to get a look. It was a self portrait.

Tsunade hummed appreciatively. "Well, she does have nice breasts."

Kakashi met his wife's amused gaze and stifled a laugh. He definitely has a type. Waist-length brown hair and pale eyes looked out over a generous figure. A simple yukata hung open indecently, ample breasts nearly spilling out.

"She is lovely, Sakumo but…" She rolled the scroll back up and handed it back. "Why?"

"Ah." He cleared his throat, ears burning as he focused a little too hard on the edges of the scroll. "I spent nearly every free evening and sometimes lunch talking to her. I never compromised myself—" He rushed to assure them. "About all she knows about me is that I have a son, that I'm single, that I was definitely more than a little interested, and whatever's in my Bingo book entry. We mostly talked about her. Oh, and I told her I'm a dog person."

Sakura snorted. "As in, you can smell her a mile away and might bite, or in that you have half a dozen ninken, and the house frequently smells like wet dog?"

Kakashi suppressed a grin and Tsunade chuckled.

"Both? Does it really smell like dog?"

Sakura laughed again. "Only when it rains. But I'm used to it."

"Hm. Well anyway, she didn't give that to me until right before she left. It had gotten bitter cold and we didn't have enough blankets. When Iwa wanted to trade prisoners again, I let her go with the rest. She almost acted like she wanted to stay. At least in a cell she didn't have to fight, but…" He sighed. "I found it in her cell after she left. There was a note and another smaller portrait, but I'm not sharing that."

Kakashi ignored the insinuation, choosing to press about the trip he'd taken two months before. "You saw her when you were in Iwa?"

"Yes. I wasn't sure I'd get to. Hell, I didn't even know for sure if she was still alive. But there was a painting in the hotel I stayed in that reminded me of her work. When I complimented the woman that ran the place, she told me all about the 'sweet young local gal' that did it for her. She was so pleased she'd survived, she'd commissioned another piece for her home." He shrugged. "She didn't question why a visiting Kage would want to know where to find her.

"It was a pain to ditch my ANBU guard, but I didn't need them to watch me humiliate myself if it didn't go well."

Sakura leaned on her elbows, taken with the story despite herself. "Was she surprised to see you?"

Sakumo pursed his lips for a moment before they stretched into a small grin. "Not at all. She fully expected me to turn up at some point now that the war was over. She was a little surprised that I was the Hokage. Anyway, I was there for two weeks and fairly busy, unfortunately, but I snuck away to see her whenever I had the chance. We spent my last night there together and we've been writing to each other since I got back."

Tsunade's smile was genuine. She was happy for her friend. Kakashi was too. "When do we get to meet her?"

His small grin widened into something almost giddy. "She's traveling with the first batch of medical trainees Iwa is sending. They should be here by the end of the week."

A/N I have a Sakumo scene involving his new lady and Kakashi that will take place like, six months after this? I don't know if I am quite ready to post it yet. I might add to it. idk. I will probably post it on Tuesday. I have almost 3 scenes done for the ep! I really think you're gonna like them! Thank you so much for all the input last chapter. I think I know what I am going to do with kakasaku 2.0 and how much I will approximately show. (Not much lol but enough to give you an idea of what's going to happen.) This chapter could really be the EP themselves except that I want to have some future stuff too. Well, let me know what you think!