Chapter 13

"Kakashi, I'll be right back. I'm going to run to the bathroom."

The silver haired man just nodded absentmindedly from his desk as he continued reading over whatever work document was in his hand. Sakura smiled as she stood up from her chair and walked out and down the hall towards the ladies room. Whenever they were working he was usually so absorbed in the work that he barely noticed his surroundings.

It had been a little less than two weeks since the two of them had entered into their relationship. Next to nothing really changed in their everyday lives besides the fact they shared kisses and hugs when they were in the privacy of his home. Most evenings they would just snuggle up on the couch and watch mindless television while she did her daily reports for work.

Sakura had made him promise for the time being that there was strictly no PDA while they worked or went out in public and he was perfectly fine with it. He revealed he wasn't one to be overly affectionate in public to begin with. And she was silently thankful he was sticking to his promise of "going slower than a snail's pace" with her. She knew it was a lot to ask from him. But, she also knew that if he really cared for her like he claimed, he would respect her wishes.

"I don't care, I need that money back!" she heard the muffled shout of a man echo from the service stairwell that was just off to the side of the elevators.

"Lower your voice!" the voice a woman hissed then.

Sakura stopped walking and edged closer to the closed metal door. There was no window on the door so she strained her hearing to continue eavesdropping.

'Why are they in the service stairs?'

"What do you mean you don't know where it's at?" she heard him shout again, "I swear to god if you don't find it soon, I'll have your head! That was twenty thousand dollars!"

Sakura tried desperately to connect the voices to faces, but struggled before she heard them fade away as they walked further down the stairs. Sakura stood there contemplating if she should follow them, but decided to dismiss the thought since it seemed they were only arguing over money.

This was a multimillion dollar investment company after all, so arguments like that were regular.

She still thought it was a lot of money, even if it was just a drop in the bucket to some. Kakashi had informed her last week that investments failed quite often if you didn't pay close enough attention. There was no single way to succeed in the industry, you just had to be smart and analytical. He mentioned how he kept a diverse portfolio of investments and never kept all his eggs in one basket, so if one failed he could easily fall back onto one of his other investments. She found all this information interesting as she watched in awe as he could decipher charts and charts of financial information like it was simple math. And how people were needed to help keep the ship afloat with all the investments him and his late father had made over the companies over thirty year history.

Sakura looked around the halls to see if anyone else had been around and found that there wasn't a soul nearby. Deciding the weird stairwell shouting match wasn't worth her worry, she walked away and made her way to the bathroom.

"You were gone a while." Kakashi pointed out casually when she settled herself back into her seat at her desk that was adjacent from the CEO's.

Sakura shot him an unamused look.

"Are you timing how long it takes me to pee?"

Kakashi snorted in laughter as he finally looked up from the documents for the first time since she had returned. A playful pout clear on his face.

"Mah, Sakura. You never let me have any fun. Of course I'm timing your bathroom breaks! I'm not paying you to slack off!" he said with a cheeky wink.

He barely had time to duck as she whipped a pencil at him. Sitting back up, he got a clearer look at her to find she was shooting daggers at him with those bright green eyes he loved so much.

"You could've taken my eye out! I've lost one already, I don't feel like losing another one!" He stated in a monotone voice, despite the shit eating grin he showed her.

Sakura suddenly gasped at his statement and clamped her hands over her mouth as she realized what she had done.

"Oh my, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" she quickly apologized.

Kakashi couldn't hold it in any longer as he burst out in laughter at the look of pure panic on her face. He watched as her hands dropped from her face and watched him with utter confusion written all over her small face.

"I'm just joking! I couldn't help myself. You're way too easy to tease!" he got out as he let his head fall into his arms on the desk.

The next moment he felt another what could only be a pencil bounce off of his head and fall to the floor somewhere beside him. Looking back up again, he found she had returned to her earlier dirty look.

"You were aiming that time!" he whined as he nursed the spot the pencil tip has hit him.

"Damn right, I was! You're so infuriating!" she snapped back as she returned to her own work.

Kakashi just hummed happily as he turned and picked up the two pencils off the floor. Sitting back up, he glanced back over to Sakura and found she no longer looked as grumpy as she did a moment ago.

A small smile played on her lips as she grabbed her pen and started her work up again.

With a smile of his own, Kakashi returned to his own work as well.

It had been a little less than two weeks since Sakura told him she wanted this too and he couldn't have been more happy with how things were going. They had immediately fallen back into their old habits and routines, but with a more comfortable familiarity between them.

He didn't push it when she said she need time and his patience for her to come around. She never really indulged romance before, she told him, and that only confused him. How could someone as beautiful and friendly as Sakura not experience love on a consistent basis?

He could excuse the last near four years she'd been a bodyguard, but before that? Kakashi wondered why she chose not to date when she so easily could have the pick of the crops. He saw how other men looked at her whenever they went downtown. Anyone with a half decent pair of eyes could see the natural beauty she radiated.

He wondered if something happened in her past that made her actively choose to remain single.

Kakashi wasn't going to argue her deciding he was worth it though. He knew she wasn't into him because of his position or wealth, something he often ran into with his exes. She had made that clear hundred of times whenever she threatened to kick his ass or put him in his place before either revealed their feelings.

What he felt for Sakura, for him, was on a more intimate and deeper level than anyone else had ever been before. He promised to prove himself to her and show he how serious he was and he was damned determined to give her the world.

'She said she was nervous so maybe she's stepping outside her comfort zone?'

An hour passed as the two continued doing their own work when a sudden knock came to the office door. Sakura sat up and looked at Kakashi with a confused look and found he was giving one back. Neither was expecting any visitors or had any meetings planned at this time.

"Enter." Kakashi quickly spoke up.

When the door opened, it revealed that it was Shikamaru on the other side and Sakura relaxed back into her chair.

Her and the slightly older advisor had developed a friendly work relationship. She found out he was married to his high school sweetheart and had a thirteen year old son. Sakumo had hired him straight out of university a few years before Kakashi started with the company himself. Shikamaru was a rather lazy and laid back man, but he worked hard for Kakashi and the company.

"Ah, Shikamaru, what can I help you with?" Kakashi asked as he put down the file he was holding.

"I came by to see if you've seen Tenzo? He got a call during our meeting earlier and left and never returned. He looked pretty pissed."

Sakura stiffened in her seat as she listened to the two talk. It dawned on her then that one of the voices she heard in the stairwell earlier had been Tenzo's. Who was the woman then? She couldn't recall any women she had met so far at work that matched that woman's. It was obviously someone Tenzo knew then. Shikamaru was right, he did seem extremely pissed. Deciding to keep her mouth shut, she continued to work as she listened in on the two businessmen.

"No, I haven't seen or heard from him since this morning when you guys were here then."

"Hmm, maybe something came up at home and he have to leave. He told me his mother has been sick a couple weeks back, hope it doesn't have anything to do with that." Shikamaru sighed, "Said she's got alzheimers pretty bad."

Sakura felt a slight sadness come to her at the possibility that Tenzo's mother could be sick or hurt. But it quickly passed when she remembered that he was yelling about money and there was zero mention of his mother. Plus who was the woman? Maybe someone connected to his mother? Maybe something with her insurance? A caretaker?

'It could be about money for her treatment? She must be with a facility or something. Maybe that woman was a caretaker or a representative? Maybe a lawyer?'

"I didn't know that. If he needs time off to be with her, I'll gladly give it to him. Especially with the holidays coming up. I don't want him to stress himself out." Kakashi replied with, concern evident on his voice.

Sakura couldn't help the smile that came to her and she stared down at the papers on her desk.

Kakashi was such a caring person through and through and he obviously cared about the well being of his employees and their families. He really was putting forth the effort of being a better man after all.

He wasn't some heartless CEO like many she's encountered over the years in her job. He was a rare breed of boss that put others before themselves. This was probably why the business was as successful as it was now. He said profits have been skyrocketing in that last couple months, not that it wasn't successful to begin with.

Kakashi treated everyone as equals and never flexed or flaunted his wealth.

Shikamaru and Kakashi spoke for a few more minutes before the advisor departed.

"So you ready to go home?" he spoke up after a short period of comfortable silence passed.

His voice pulled her out of her head and she looked up to him with a confused look after checking the clock on her computer.

"We still have thirty minutes left before it's time to go though?"

Standing up from his desk, he shrugged lightly as he stepped around to where she was sitting and stretched his arms over his head.

"Finished up my work a little early and figured we could just head out instead of sitting around." he explained and she looked up to him, "That is if your not working on something important?"

"No, I'm not." she quickly replied as she turned and stuffed the files on her desk into her work bag, "We can go home a little earlier if you want. Besides, my feet are killing me in these heels."

"You're definitely not one of those frilly girls, that's for sure." he playfully teased.

Sakura only rolled her eyes at him as she stood and pushed in her chair.

"No, I'm not. It's quite inconvenient in my line of work, plus I never was when I was younger. Give me flats, sneakers, or boots and I can do anything. Heels? Not so much. I like them more for show, not everyday use."

Together they walked out of the office and towards the elevators.

"Then why wear them if your feet hurt?" he asked as they walked along.

"I have to look the part as your assistant. Plus, you insisted I get all the heels I was looking at when we went shopping a couple months ago!"

Kakashi just hummed for a moment.

"I just wanted to make sure you had everything you wanted and needed. You looked like you wanted them after all!" he sassed back.

A playful scoff left her at his statement.

"I did want them! It's just working in them for eight hours a day makes my feet and calves so sore. You spoil me way too much, you know that right?"

"Oh, I haven't even begun to spoil you yet." Kakashi deadpanned.

Sakura stopped as they approached the elevators and turned and studied her boyfriend for a moment.

"What?" he asked after a second.

"Did you have a crush on me then? When we went out that day?"

Kakashi's face scrunched up in thought as he recalled the memories of that day.

"Nope, but it wasn't long after then that I think I started too. I didn't realize it until the day you got hurt though."

Sakura blinked and looked away then. She knew he was still struggling with the results of that day. His nightmares were consistent still and he was still seeing the blood on his hands. Thankfully the lotion she got him was doing it's job and hiding the evidence from the world. Sakura knew he wanted to keep that issue between only them. She didn't know that, that incident was what made him realize that he held feelings though. She felt slightly guilty for bringing up this subject.

She reached up instinctively and touched the spot that once had a gash. It was completely healed now and left only a faint scar that was barely noticeable unless you knew where it was.

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

"Don't be." he replied instantly, "I'm thankful I came to terms with my growing feelings."

She felt his fingers brush over hers then as he traced over where she had been hurt. Sakura glanced back up and found him regarding her with a content expression.

"I wouldn't have you like this now if the chain events that took place then never happened." he added quietly.

Sakura smiled as she silently nodded up to him.

"You're right. Let's be thankful for what we have." she replied as she let her finger intertwine with his for a moment.

They stood like that for a moment before they both realized that they were still standing in front of the elevator and out in the open. Dropping their hands to their sides, they shot goofy smiles to each other.

The second Sakura reached out to hit the button to call the elevator to them, the doors dinged and opened and revealed Tenzo standing alone in the elevator.

"Oh, Tenzo! What a pleasure to see you!" Kakashi exclaimed happily, "Is everything alright with you? Shikamaru came to me and said that you got a phone call and left a meeting in a hurry earlier."

Sakura watched closely as the usually quiet man's eyes widened in surprise that fact that Kakashi knew of his earlier disappearance.

"Oh, yes! Everything is fine! I'm sorry for causing any concern. My mother hasn't been feeling well these days and the live in nurse called me and said she had fallen, so I rushed home to make sure everything was alright." the advisor explained as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

'He's lying.' she quickly thought to herself as she studied him closely and noticed his barely there fidgeting and small sweat beading at his temple, 'Why is he lying about something like that?'

He or the mystery woman must have not heard her and Sakura decided to keep her mouth shut again. No reason to raise any unneeded suspicion. She still didn't have all the facts to make a sound choice or judgment to begin with.

Tenzo stepped out of the elevator then and glanced at her and she immediately gave him a worried look as if she was reacting to his story.

"Is she alright?" she asked for added measure.

Tenzo nodded a couple times and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Yes, she's perfectly fine thankfully. Just a sore bum." he said as he rubbed the side of his head.

It took everything in the bodyguard to not roll her eyes at the fake information he was providing.

"Tenzo, you know if you need any time off to be with her, I'll gladly allow that." Kakashi said next.

Both Sakura and Tenzo looked over to the silver haired man at that and she smiled warmly again at his generosity, but didn't fail to notice how Tenzo barely reacted to such an offer.

"Thank you, Kakashi. But right now, I'm fine. I'll take it into consideration though. But I do need to get going, I sadly have some work to finish up here since I left so abruptly. You two have a nice evening." he replied.

Before either could get in a proper reply to say goodbye, the advisor stepped by them and down the hall to where his own office was located. Sakura watched him closely as he walked out of their view before looking back up to Kakashi with a smile. It was obvious that Kakashi had no clue what was going on inside her head and she was thankful for it. She didn't want to him to worry just in case she was wrong. She was an overly cautious woman, so she noticed things underneath the underneath.

She wouldn't allow herself to get taken advantage of ever again.

Plus, she didn't have enough information to form any opinions other than more questions which she couldn't get answered at the moment.

"Well, you got your answer on that. Ready to go home?" she said in hopes to quickly change the subject.

Kakashi smiled back down to her and nodded once in reply.

"More than ready. I'm itching to get outta this suit."

Sakura just shook her head with a smile as she pressed the button to call the elevator again and together the rode up to Kakashi's place.

Walking into the house, she immediately felt as Kakashi intertwined his fingers with hers the moment the door closed behind them. Sakura turned to her right and looked up to him with a smug smile.

"Just couldn't wait to get home, huh?" she lightly teased.

"I'm a simple man, what can I say?" he teased back as he smiled down to her.

Sakura smiled brightly back up to Kakashi for a few seconds.

"You really want to kiss me right now, don't you?"

"Maybe. Who wouldn't?" he replied honestly.

Sakura stepped around to stand in front of him.

"Alright, since you asked so nicely, I guess I can let you do that." she agreed to his subtle request.

She didn't know how his smirk could grow any bigger, but it did. With his free hand, he reached up and cupped her face before he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her left cheek.

"You know I'm so happy that, that healed up so well." he whispered as he placed another kiss on the corner of her mouth.

Sakura could only hum a reply as he moved and finally captured her into an actual kiss. She always swooned in just how tender he was when it came to these small moments. She had spoken of her nervousness when it came to intimacy and he replied with being so gentle and sweet with her whenever they were remotely intimate. Sakura was forever grateful for him and for being so understanding.

There had only been a couple of times they had gotten a bit carried away, but he always stopped and reeled them in before she could even think of stopping them herself. She was nervous, but those moments made her excited for what was to eventually come.

She was human and so was Kakashi. They both had needs they sought to satisfy, but he always made sure to stick with the promises they made. It would happen the moment she felt she was ready and he was willing to wait until then.

Eventually pulling back, she watched as Kakashi undid the buttons on his suit jacket and shrug it off.

"Have I told you sometimes I hate that you're my bodyguard?"

Sakura shot him a confused look, wondering why he would say such a thing after sharing such a tender moment seconds ago.

"No, you haven't? Why are you bringing this up suddenly?" she asked back as she walked into the living room and tossed her work bag onto the couch.

"Because I realized that I never get to surprise you." he revealed.

She faced him again and saw that he had removed his tie already and was currently unbuttoning the red dress shirt to reveal the white undershirt beneath.

"I'm still not following?" she replied as she undid the bun she wore and made to remove her heels.

"You're my bodyguard. So, let's say, if I wanted to surprise you and take you out like to dinner or anywhere outside of this building, you need to be notified." she watched him drape the jacket, shirt, and tie over his arm as he spoke.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the realization. Walking back up to him, she wrapped her arms loosely around his midsection and smiled up the silver haired man.

"Well, I'm sorry for ruining your fun. You'll just have to surprise me from inside the building then." she offered in hopes to appease the pouting CEO.

"And how am I supposed to do that when you monitor all the surveillance in the building?" he countered quickly, "I lose no matter what. I can't do anything romantic."

Turning her head, Sakura rested her head on his toned chest and continued laughing at his misery as she hugged him tighter. Strong arms wrapped around her and hugged her back.

"I don't know how to help you then, darling."

Sakura felt a small groan rumble through him and she looked back up to find him smiling down to her. Reaching up on her tiptoes, she gave him a quick peck before letting go of him.

"I'm going to go put on some pajamas." she revealed.

"I'm ordering Chinese for dinner." she heard him call back to her as she reached the door to her room, "Same order as usual right? Extra dumplings and soy sauce?"

"You know me so well!" she called back as she reached her door.

She smiled to herself as she walked into her closet and changed out of her work clothes and into her pajamas. Kakashi ordering Chinese food meant that they would snuggle up on the couch and binge their favorite shows together, so now she was giddy with excitement at their plans for the evening.

She didn't need surprises, she thought, she just craved the simple things in life and relaxing on the couch with take out with someone she cared deeply for was as simple and as wonderful as it could get.

A/N: Finally getting this posted! There's literally no excuse as to why I'm posting late, especially if you guys saw my post on Tumblr of my friend and beta legit calling me out TWICE for being a forgetful and bad writer. xD

I love these two so much and I love them even more as a couple. Now that we got our favs together, I'm going to start focusing more on the story now. But don't worry! There will still be lots of love and fluff between Kakashi and Sakura as they slowly learn more and more about each other and the relationship progresses! I have SO many ideas I want to try out and explore.

Also, I figured I'd get some age related stuff outta the way before anyone gets confused. The characters are obviously not canonically the correct ages and many are OOC for this AU. When the story starts up Kakashi is 30 and Sakura is 26. Tenzo is 25 and Shikamaru is 33. Sakumo was just shy of 55 years old when he died in July (Kakashi was still 29 at the time) and started Hatake Int when he was 22 years old (so the company is 32-ish years old) and had Kakashi when he was 24/25.

Thank you as always to you lovely readers for sticking with me and this story! I promise I have lots in store, so don't forget to hit follow! As always, please leave a review if you can! I love hearing from you guys and reading your thoughts and opinions on the story so far. You guys are my biggest motivators and source of inspo!

And thank you to Taytay95 for being a dope ass friend and beta! Go check out her stories and stay tuned for a BEAUTIFUL KakaSaku one shot she's typing up!