27

tie the knot

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It had been a week after Sakura was dispatched from the hospital after having her miscarriage.

Kakashi was a mess to say the least.

Sakura was numb.

He sat in the living room floor with his head in his hands, and she sat in their bed touching her stomach.

He kept reprimanding himself for overlooking such a thing. Had he been so wrapped up about Sakura finding out about him being in ANBU that he just completely forgot about her in general?

At the same time there was suppressed anger as to why she had agreed to such a high profile mission in her position.

"I didn't think anything would happen." She had told him in the hospital.

Her back was almost always turned towards him. She was ashamed and hurt because she let her anger cloud her judgment.

She had killed her own child.

Kakashi couldn't stop comprehending the idea that he was going to be a father. He knew that it would happen eventually but not under these circumstances. It got him thinking seriously.

His thought process had been halted upon hearing Sakura call him from the other room, "Kakashi"

A little too quickly he stood up and walked to their room.

She lay under three blankets, only her head lay exposed. Her tangled and messy tresses fanned were around her face.

He sat on the edge of the bed looking at the ground, "Kakashi."

She called his name again and he looked at her with tired eyes and she gave him a wistful smile. She sat up slowly and coaxed him to lay his head in her lap.

She bent forward to kiss his forehead and then pulled back to look at him. Her fingers untangling his gravity defying locks while her other hand lay on his chest to feel his heartbeat.

He looked up at her unable to read her face. Though he could tell that all the anger and hostility she held against him had dissipated and had left her tired and weak.

He didn't move at all as she touched him, he just looked at her. It had been a good while since he really looked at her.

Did they both have to lose a child in order for them to relook over their life decisions?

Is this how they wanted to keep living?

Did they have to go through loss time and time again to reassess their love? They knew they couldn't be with anyone else but each other, but they were so cautious of giving themselves completely to the other.

Sakura's fingers faltered slightly, and she shook her head as she felt tears slip.

"I'm so stupid" she croaked as she attempted to wipe at the tears, "Why did I have to be so angry at you?"

"Why did I have to keep it a secret from you?" Kakashi whispered back at her and she looked down at him in shock.

He sat up so he could pull he close, "This isn't your fault. It's both our faults."

"Mikoto-san told me not to take the mission." Sakura countered

"And I was an idiot who didn't realize what was going on." Kakashi sighed, "We can go at this all day Sakura, but at the end of the day it happened. As much as it hurts to say it, it happened and we can't do anything about it."

"This isn't the first time." Sakura said quietly.

Kakashi's heart sank as he pulled the woman away from him to look her in the eyes, her emerald orbs looked so dull as she looked down at her fingers.

"…What do you mean?" Kakashi said under his breath.

Sakura pulled in close again and gripped his jersey t-shirt, taking in his comforting pine scent, "Last year when you were away for a while, I was at a bathhouse with Anko and I slipped. I-I didn't know until I went to the hospital because I wouldn't stop bleeding." Sakura mumbled into his shirt.

"I couldn't tell you because you were injured when you came back from that mission. You were barely talking to me to begin with." Sakura continued.

"I made Anko promise not to tell you." Sakura's eyes watered, "I was hiding something from you, as you were. I had no right to be angry at you."

Kakashi was at a loss for words. How much pain was she hiding from him all this time.

He was quiet for a long time, rubbing her back gently.

"Are you hungry?" Kakashi spoke after a while.

"Very" Sakura replied.

He nodded and stood up from the bed and helped her out.

He helped her into a jacket and pants and wrapped the red scarf she had given him years ago around her neck.

"It's cold out today" he supplied as he did so.

Her fingers fumbled at her hair, trying to make it more presentable. He simply took a hair elastic from the dresser and tied it up for her.

"Thank you" she blushed.

He simply nodded.

Like a child he took her by her hand and then crouched to slip her sandals on her slender feet.

The old tattoos on her sole almost completely faded.

She looked at him with a gentle smile and pulled up his mask before he opened the door.

"I'd like to pay my respects to Ren before we go eat." Sakura said quietly as she walked out the door. He nodded.

To Sakura's surprise he held her hand the whole time they walked through the throngs of people in the village.

She was grateful that he did, because if he didn't she felt like she could fall apart at any moment.

When they got to the memorial there were a few flowers clustered around the 'K.I.A' plaque.

The name "Tsunemori Ren" read on a new column of the plaque.

They both put their hands together in prayer and once they were done they moved towards their family graves.

About an hour later they walked back to the bustling streets of Konoha.

They found themselves sitting at Ichiraku's, Teuchi was over the moon happy to see the two. Some vagabond sat next them talking about stories of his travels, most of them hilarious misunderstandings.

They were grateful for the company.

Kakashi relished in the sound of hearing Sakura's laughter, his heart warming up.

He only wanted to keep making her happy and to have her forget the pain she had been harboring for so long.

A good hour later Sakura and Kakashi decided it was best to leave; they thanked Teuchi for the meal and the vagabond for his company.

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They sat at the riverbank near the Great Naruto Bridge drinking warm sake while just talking about the little things.

After a while Kakashi looked at Sakura expectantly and held her hand, "I've been meaning to ask you this for a while." Kakashi started.

Sakura let out a warm breath that looked like smoke on that cool night. "I was going to ask you on your birthday." He continued.

He pulled out a simple silver ring from his pocket.

Her breath became shallow and she bit her lip, "Would please do me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me?" he blushed up to his ears as he asked her.

She leapt at him and he fell back hard against the ground.

From the bridge they heard a few voices, "Took you long enough dumbass." Anko hollered.

"So fucking whipped!" Genma retorted.

Sakura could only kiss Kakashi full on the lips over his mask.

A few stray whistles followed.

Sakura couldn't stop laughing, Kakashi pulled them both up,

"So is that a yes?"

"Put the ring on my finger and I'll call it a day" Sakura replied cheekily.

"I promise till the day I die I will always make you the happiest you can be" He said as he slid the ring on her finger.

"But I'm already happy" She smiled.

"But I want to make you happier." Kakashi replied wholeheartedly

"We got a smooth operator here." Genma chortled.

Sakura and Kakashi glared in his direction and then laughed.

Sakura stood from the ground and pulled Kakashi up with her.

She looped her arm through his. He smiled looking at how ring suited her so well.

"You got a whole lifetime to do that Kakashi, I'm not going anywhere without you." She continued their conversation as they walked to the bridge.

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze relishing the touch of the cool silver ring on her finger.

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I decided I might just update shorter chapters for the time being because I'll be able to update more frequently.

We are nearing the end my lovelies.

I've lost a few people along the way, but thank you so much for sticking by.

I wouldn't have been able to get this far with the story without your support.

Thank you again,

Until next time

OXZA

P.S. My brain is fried, so the flow of the last three chapters may be skewed but I hope it didn't ruin the story for you.

I'm going to have the next chapter dedicated to their wedding & who knows maybe a honey moon wink wink