Kakashi slept poorly, battling dreams of pink-haired women floating in specimen jars. But he had woken to find that his chakra had finally gone back to normal, and so when he opened his eye in the mirror he wasn't too surprised to see that the strange black bars had gone away and his sharingan looked like the usual tomoe marks once more. Whatever he had activated that day had finally deactivated.
'Relieved' had been an understatement. The prospect of losing Obito's last gift aside, he had come to rely on the sharingan as a tool. Without it, his personal range of jutsu was severely handicapped. With it, he could do almost anything.
True to his word, he arrived at Hokage Tower just before the night shift ended and the day shift began. He was invited to wait in the general holding area on the ground floor while they 'wrapped things up' upstairs. The image of a dissected Sakura surrounded by medics frantically sewing her back together came unbidden, and he hid his clenched fists in his pockets.
Eventually Sakura emerged, looking much the same as she had; but Kakashi couldn't feel too much relief, because the man guiding her by the arm was Danzo.
"Kakashi!" She gently extricated herself from Danzo's grip so that she could come over. "Be honest: did you actually go home and rest, or have you been camped out here the whole time?"
"I went home," he assured her. "And now I'm back to make sure you're okay." He glanced at Danzo.
"I'm okay," she said. "Feels like all I've done since I arrived is talk, which is weird."
An ANBU agent Kakashi didn't recognise entered the room and whispered something in Danzo's ear.
"Send them in," Danzo said, before turning to Sakura with a smile that she didn't return. "Your parents have arrived."
Seconds later, the main door burst open with a bang, and Kakashi turned to see the Harunos Mebuki and Kizashi stride in with the agent trailing behind them. He felt, rather than saw, that Sakura had moved behind him, and his heart briefly twinged with the same protective instincts he felt for the version of her he had lost. This must be as strange for her as it was for her parents, who until this morning had likely been preparing to assume the worst and move on with their lives.
"Sakura?" Her father called uncertainly.
"Dad."
Kakashi looked back at Sakura, and found that her eyes were half a head lower than he was expecting. She waved shyly at her parents from behind his shoulder, then finally stepped out so that they could see her properly.
"Oh, Sakura!" her mother rushed to hug her, her father only a half-step behind.
Kakashi could only stare. Sakura had a round, youthful face free of scars, and wore a long red dress with a white ring on the back. In short, she looked exactly as she did the day she went missing.
"We were so worried," her mother sobbed, squeezing the child Sakura against her chest.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Sakura reassured her, voice muffled.
Her father was also crying, stroking her long, even hair. "They told us you looked…different," he said finally. "They said you went through something that 'changed' you."
"She did," Danzo spoke up, reminding the parents that he was in the room. They immediately stood back up to greet him respectfully.
"Danzo-sama."
Kakashi, who had definitely not forgotten the man was still there, gritted his teeth. The young Sakura was glancing nervously between them, as if begging him to intervene before Danzo did exactly what they both knew he would.
"Sakura, please remove that henge."
She stared at Danzo a moment longer, but it was clear from his expression that he would offer her no further reprieve. Defeated, Sakura stepped back away from her parents and dropped the illusion.
Her father gasped, and her mother made a noise halfway between a sob and a shriek.
"Who are you?!"
Everything got a little chaotic after that. Sakura tried to explain, but she also seemed to understand that the explanation would just hurt her parents even more. Kakashi didn't know how to help her, either. He knew she couldn't have kept up a henge the entire time she was with her parents, especially since the news of Sakura's aging was bound to sweep the village eventually. But seeing how they reacted to her new, hardened appearance, he could understand why Sakura had tried to soften the blow.
Eventually Danzo stepped in, smoothly removing the distraught parents to another room where they could discuss the 'problem' in private. Kakashi and Sakura were left alone with the agent who had escorted her parents. He leaned against the wall, masked face unreadable.
"That went better than I expected," Sakura laughed self-consciously, and Kakashi could see she was trying hard not to show just how badly her parents had hurt her.
"They just need a little time to get to know the new you," he said, hoping it was what she needed to hear. "They'll come around."
The rest of their wait passed in silence. Eventually the others returned, along with two new ANBU agents, this time ones that Kakashi did recognise. They discreetly broke off from the main trio and stood against the wall opposite the first agent, who didn't acknowledge them at all.
The Harunos had stopped crying, but now they seemed almost too calm, lips pressed together as if uttering a single word would crack everything open again. As for Danzo, he looked sad as he approached Sakura, clasping her shoulder sympathetically.
"Your parents and I have discussed what to do with you, and I'm afraid we're at something of a loss," he told her.
She looked to her parents, who seemed unable to return her gaze.
"They believe it would be best if you stayed somewhere neutral for now, and then once you're settled back in we can look into arranging some visits home." Over the top of her head, Danzo smiled at Kakashi. "I have a splinter cell of the ANBU called Root, that always has a place for talented ninjas in need of purpose. I would be more than happy to-"
"I'll take her." The words were out of his mouth before he'd even properly made up his mind. He'd even stuck his hand up like a child volunteering to clean the blackboard after class.
Sakura stared at him. Her parents stared at him. Danzo was outright glaring at him, but he was pretty sure he saw one of the new ANBU agents give him a small thumbs up.
"You'll take her?" Danzo repeated, scoffing.
"That's right." The more it upset the man, the more resolved he became.
"She's not a puppy, Kakashi. She's a woman, and if I recall correctly you live in a one-bedroom apartment in the bachelor's district." He turned to her parents. "Would you really prefer such an arrangement for your daughter?"
For a moment, Kakashi thought they would simply leave without saying anything further. Sakura's mother still looked like speaking was beyond her. But eventually her father gave her a tiny glance.
"Whatever she wants, we'll support."
"I want him," Sakura pointed to Kakashi without hesitation, and once again the need to protect her flared in his chest so strongly that it almost burned away the panic at what he had just agreed to.
Her father gave a small nod, and then both he and his wife made for the exit. "We'll…see you later, Sakura," he said quietly before they left.
"I hope you realise what you're both agreeing to." With his last potential allies gone, Danzo turned on Kakashi and Sakura. "Even if the Third agrees to this arrangement, which I highly doubt, you'll effectively be putting your career on hold to play babysitter for an unstable woman who may never be fit for anything ever again."
"Actually, Danzo-sama," the ANBU agent who had given Kakashi the thumbs up produced a file and held it up. "Haruno Sakura's test results indicate that she is surprisingly stable, given the circumstances, and the Third has personally requested ongoing assessment for fitness to return to service under Team Seven, to be conducted by her jounin sensei. That's what we were coming to announce when we met you in the hall just now." He lowered the file, and even though he couldn't see his face, Kakashi could guess at the smirk hiding underneath his Tiger mask. "And I believe the correct term is 'handler,' Danzo-sama."
"You will come to regret this," Danzo said gravely, pure contempt in his eyes. He turned on his heel and left without another word, taking his Root agent with him.
"Here." Tiger handed the file to Kakashi. "The results of all the tests. So you know what you're getting yourself into," he added quietly, before nodding to Sakura. "Miss."
Then he and the other agent disappeared into smoke.
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"Is there anything you need from your parents' place?" Kakashi asked, trying to mask the awkwardness of the situation he had found himself in.
Sakura had been released into his care, and now he had to figure out what to do with her. The details of their arrangement were still getting ironed out, but for now he had taken her back to his apartment to give her the grand tour.
"I can't think of anything I need."
"Really? Not even a change of clothes?"
"Wouldn't fit me."
"Toothbrush?"
She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Don't need one."
"Listen, if there's something you need then I can just go and grab it for you. You don't have to talk to your parents."
"It's honestly fine, Kakashi. I've gone without my stuff for ten years. I can handle a little longer."
They stepped into the entrance of his home, from which you could see pretty much every inch of it. "It's kind of small." It was a perfectly nice size for just him, but for two people it was going to be extremely cramped.
"Books!" Sakura sighted on his bookshelf, and almost left the genkan area before removing her shoes. She realised her mistake and quickly tugged off the spare boots Tsunami had given her. For a second Kakashi wondered if she would put them in her bag with all the rest of her possessions, but she seemed to trust the security of his apartment enough to deposit them in the little nooks provided.
Then she was sprinting for his books, running her hands across their spines and leaning close to take deep breaths of their papery smell. "You have so many," she grinned, already removing one with a bright orange cover. "We only had a handful, and we all read them about a thousand times each."
"Not that one!" Kakashi threw out his hands automatically, snatching the book and hiding it behind his back.
Sakura let him take it. "Sorry, I should have asked before touching."
"No, I'm sorry, it's just…" he held up the cover to show her the bold '18+ only' on the corner. "It's for adults."
She looked at him like he was a bit simple. "I am an adult."
He blushed under his mask. It was true, she was clearly much older than eighteen; but he couldn't really handle it if her first act in the apartment they now shared was to read his favourite porn. "But you're also my student, so it's not really appropriate for me to lend you this sort of thing."
"First of all, you didn't lend it, I grabbed it entirely without your permission." She smirked at him. "And second, isn't that the book you were reading when we first met? I remember the orange cover."
He floundered. "Well it's one thing for me to read it…"
"Ah, so you can read it aroundyour students, but they can't read it around you? Got it." She grabbed a history book about the Country of Fire instead and started leafing through. "Maybe you can read it to me one day, then."
He made a noncommittal noise and stuffed Icha Icha Paradise in his back pocket. He'd find a suitable hiding place for it later.
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Sakura would have been happy to sit and read Kakashi's entire bookshelf in one sitting, but when he suggested they go find the boys and grab some lunch together she remembered just how badly she wanted to see the rest of Konoha.
The circumstances of her return were not officially public knowledge yet, but gossip travelled fast in a ninja village. Half the people they passed stared at her, and some even tried to approach her before Kakashi smoothly redirected them to Hokage Tower for official news.
Since she'd been taken out, she had tried to stare right back at those staring at her. It was a way to take back control, to show that unless they were a madman with an ocular jutsu, there was no way they could harm her just by looking at her. But for the last ten years she had only spoken to eight other people, and unlike The Land of Waves everyone in Konoha knew exactly what she was. It was a little overwhelming to have that many pairs of eyes on you at once. She drew up the hood on her jacket before they had even reached Naruto's house, and it stayed up while they collected Sasuke.
The boys and Kakashi were debating where to eat (they had kindly asked her if she had a favourite place, but in her starved imagination everywhere had become her favourite), when they passed a yakiniku place that smelled so strongly that Sakura was practically towed over to the open window.
"How about here?" she suggested, and the boys shrugged. Kakashi, however, was eyeing a booth in the opposite corner.
"You know Asuma's kunoichi, right?" he asked quietly, and now Sakura could see that Team Ten was also eating lunch. "Are you gonna be okay?"
Sakura climbed through the window.
"Hey!" Kakashi snatched at her wrist but she shook him off. If she had still been much of a crier, the sight of her first ever friend would have been enough to set her off. She looked a little paler and smaller than Sakura remembered (the Yamanaka Ino of her memories was a ten-foot tall, shining goddess of childhood mercy) but it was still Ino, her lovely kind Ino that she'd stopped being friends with for a reason that seemed laughably foolish now. She could have Sasuke. She could have anyone as long as she also kept Sakura.
It was only when Ino looked up and noticed her that she considered how hard this moment might be for the girl.
"Sakura!" Chouji choked on his meat and had to be slapped roughly on the back by Shikamaru. Asuma was looking behind her, having some sort of silent conversation with Kakashi. He looked much as he always did, but as an adult Sakura could better appreciate that he was the very definition of 'tall, dark and handsome.'
But still she only had eyes for Ino. Would she scream and make a scene? Worse, would she reject her like her parents had? She really shouldn't have just walked over and confronted her, she should have waited until she was sure Ino was ready. Her friend was back from the dead, and looked like an adult who had gone through absolute hell; of course it was going to be too much. Besides which, even though their fight felt like ancient history to Sakura, did Ino even consider them friends anymore?
All these worries evaporated when Ino stood up and threw her arms around her.
"Careful." Asuma stood, putting his hands out awkwardly. Sakura could tell he was trying to think of a way to separate them that wouldn't offend her.
Shikamaru was taking his cues from Asuma, and was close enough to gently tug at Ino's shoulder.
"Oi, Ino," he said, but she slapped his hand away.
Sakura was frozen, afraid to hug Ino back just in case the others thought she was hurting her. They were already starting to make the scene she was afraid of, and after a moment she patted Ino gently on the back and stepped out of the hug. Ino clung to her hands instead, as if breaking the physical connection between them would make Sakura disappear.
"It's good to see you, Ino-pig."
"Dad told me you were back, and a little about what happened." Ino's pretty face was blotchy and streaked with tears. "I wanted to go to your place right away, but Asuma said we should give you time to settle in first."
"I'm not staying at my parents' place." She sat down in the empty booth across from Team Ten so that they could still talk but didn't have to keep making a spectacle of themselves. Kakashi and the others quickly followed suit, and before long the other diners returned their attention to their meals.
Ino frowned. "Where, then?"
"Kakashi's." The arrangement had seemed normal enough at the time, and certainly preferable to what the elder Danzo had suggested, which would have completely removed her from the orbit of her old life. But the other genin looked shocked.
"With a teacher?" Ino wrinkled her nose.
"With Kakashi?" Naruto cried, and Sasuke punched him in the arm.
"It's temporary." If only she had thought to explain it to Team Seven on the walk over. She'd forgotten how excitable kids could be, especially in large groups.
"But he's so old."
"We're the same age," Kakashi and Sakura said at the same time. They glanced at one another and then immediately looked away again.
Now they're guaranteed to get the wrong idea…
"Jeez guys, can everyone calm down?" Asuma had decided to rescue things, speaking in that deep voice that made everything he said sound super reasonable. "It's just like camping on a mission. Not a big deal."
After that, everyone managed to get through the rest of the meal without any more comments or questions. They didn't even ask about where she had been or any of the other hundred things she'd been grilled on last night, either because Ino had already passed on the highlights or because Asuma was shooting his team little warning looks any time someone opened their mouth without putting food in it.
As for the food, it was probably delicious; but Sakura could barely taste it. She was home enjoying her freedom, eating yakiniku while The Others continued to wait Inside. How much time had passed by now? Years? Did they all assume she'd ended up killed on a mission, or even - she shuddered - murdered by The Watcher himself as some horrid culmination of his obsession with her?
And had he noticed yet, that she was missing? Was now going to be the moment that she got sent back Inside? Or now? She was so distracted by these thoughts that she ate one of the meat slices raw and didn't even notice until Chouji pointed it out. The other genin laughed, and she forced herself to laugh along with them. Kakashi might not look at her with outright suspicion anymore, but if she broke down now she'd undo all the progress she'd made with him. She needed tonight to go well, or he'd end up sending her back to Danzo and his strange Root.