The sort of, kind of, not really songfic: Yellow Moon
The night was dark around her and the light of a full moon illuminated all her features perfectly. She hadn't noticed him walk into her apartment. She hadn't heard the door shut. He made sure she didn't hear him come to stand behind her.
She was humming softly, sweetly. Her voice was like silk trailing down his spine, clear and clean and soothing. Then she was singing quietly under her breath.
"Yellow moon, ima mou, mistu, kazoete me o akete."
She was just staring out the cold glass window at the bright moon that hung over her. She placed a hand on the barrier and continued to sing. Her green eyes sparkled imploringly up at the indeed brilliantly golden moon. She poured her very soul into that burning gaze. She was beautiful.
"Shadow moon, mada yume o miteru. Me o mite. Me o mite. Se o mukeainagara, me o mite. Itsu aeru?"
She took her hand away and there was the perfect outline of her hand, measured in the white fog left by her warmth. As if by magic, the print did not fade, as if her warm hand was still placed there to keep the formation intact, strong.
"Every day. Every night. Omoitsuku kotoba de. Chirakatta mama no kimochi o ima sugu."
He smiled at the beautiful, sad song and brought his hand up to cover the print. The pristine glass was truthfully warm from her. It amazed him. He felt her tense beside him and had to suppress a chuckle. He knew she would not finish the song, now having an audience to listen to her bell-like voice. He finished the song for her in his deep baritone.
"Mahou no chord change, nemurenai machi, higawari na jazz guitar sotto mainaa de."
"Kaka-sempai," she breathed when he had finished. He knew she was breathless from embarrassment, not what he wanted her to be breathless from. "Y-you…"
His hand was still on the glass and he was standing so close he could feel the increase and decrease of heat as her body came closer to his with each rise and fall of her breath. He waited for her to finish her sentence with his usual lazy posture.
"You used the front door."
"There's a first time for everything. And I couldn't sneak up on you if I went the normal route through the window."
"I…um…w-why are you here?"
Her fidgeting told him she was nervous. She didn't sing often and would only do it in close company. He knew she was self-conscious about her voice, but he thought it was the prettiest sound in the world.
"Tsunade sent me over for healing. She said it would be easier for me to come here than to call you up and then send you to me."
"Kaka-sempai," she scolded, "if you were hurt, you should have said something. Baka-sempai!"
And like that, her discomfort was immediately forgotten and her professional demeanor overtook her. That didn't stop the hands she ran along his ribs, checking for breaks, from feeling most sensual to him.
"Where are you hurt?"
"I've got a scratch on my back and my wrist is a little sore."
She would find those things anyway, so there was no reason for him not to tell her. Besides, once she knew about the one on his back…
"Take off your vest and shirt."
That being done, she ran her soothing hands up and down his spine. Her warm, healing chakra seeped into him from the chakra pathways she had managed to find in her exploration of his back. It was bliss.
"Baka-sempai, this is hardly a 'scratch.' It goes from your shoulder to your hip, for Kami-sama's sake! Thank goodness it's not deep as well. What did you think you were doing waiting this long to get treatment? I swear. And this is the third time in two weeks. You're losing your edge, old man."
What he would never tell her was he often let the enemy pierce him in such a way just for the chance to feel her so close to him. Having an injury seemed like the only way to get close to her these days and not have Naruto or Gai or Genma breathing down his neck about something or other- usually training, challenges, or putting in a good word with Sakura.
He had to restrain himself many times from pummeling Genma for that last request. Why would he help Genma steal her away from him? Honestly, the man was grade-A stupid. He barely got to see her as it is. She was always so busy trying to save Konoha single-handedly, be it healing injuries or fighting enemies. Another man in her life (Kami damn the possibility) would only take up more of her scarce recreational time, time she usually spent with him (and her many other shinobi friends). She never showed interest in dating the various youths who asked her out, thank Kami-sama, but he was not going to push his luck. If only she would return his feelings, he wouldn't have to worry about scaring off every boy who thought he could get fresh with the Copy-nin's woman. But, back to the matter at hand…
"I'm not old, Sakura."
His tone was plaintive because he knew she would take notice of any complaints the mysterious Copy-nin might have. It wasn't often he cared enough about something to voice his concerns. He also knew that while she would take notice, she would not change her rough attitude.
"You might as well be, getting a wound like this. You're the great Kakashi no Sharingan who knows the opponents move before the opponent. You shouldn't be getting wounded at all."
He was pleased that she thought so highly of him, but that wouldn't stop him from hassling her.
"You're starting to sound like Tsunade-sama."
She finished with his back and moved around to his front to look at his wrist.
"Don't you start with that, too. Baka! This isn't just sore! It's fractured."
"Oh, is it?"
He feigned unconcern just to rile her. Now that he could see her beautiful face, he could enjoy it more. She let out a frustrated growl just as he expected.
"You're such a…forget it! It's just a waste of breath."
He wasn't expecting her to let it go that easily. He knew everything about her and could predict her every movement. It was something he was extremely proud of because no else could do it. Something was seriously wrong when she started surprising him. He was completely unprepared for her dewy, burning eyes to lock with his. He knew she was very close to crying if he said something to upset her again.
"Seriously, Kaka-sempai. You need to start taking better care of yourself."
Her eyes were begging him for reassurance. He couldn't promise her this. If he stopped getting hurt, he wouldn't get to see her alone anymore. So, he smiled and brushed off the concern.
"Now why would I take care of myself when I have you to do it for me?"
He knew she didn't appreciate his answer, but she let it go. This worried him more. She should have started scolding him again, blushing while telling him that she was not his keeper, and tried to hit him on his head in anger. He would always catch her before she made contact and hurt anything. Then he was allowed to pull her into his lap and chuckle as she tried to squirm out of his grasp, cursing him to hell and back. When she calmed down, he would have gotten to hold her close and converse with her until she was called away to the hospital or on a mission. None of this happened and he hated it.
She finished with his wrist and she turned to get away from him. He pulled her back to him and trapped her between his body and the window.
"What's wrong, Sakura?"
She looked up at him worriedly for a moment and then turned her eyes to the floor with a blush.
"It's nothing important."
She tried to avoid an answer. Now he would have to get it out of her. He sighed and brought them both to sit on the couch. If he tried to confront her, she would be stubborn and refuse to tell him. He would have to ease into this. He was unfamiliar with her current subdued mood, but he had experienced it before. Whatever was on her mind usually found an outlet in the small things. That sad song she had been singing might have been the current outlet. He could ask her about it and seem like he had dropped the previous subject.
"Why were you singing that song, Sakura?"
"Hm? What song?"
She had been so busy preparing for a stubborn battle of hush and tell that she had forgotten he had caught her singing.
He hummed a few bars and watched with amusement as her eyes lighted with recognition and her cheeks with a blush.
"Well, um, I guess just because it seemed to fit what I was feeling right now."
"How so?"
Her blush deepened slightly and was now a shade darker than her silky hair.
"Well, I want to tell this guy how I love him, but I don't think he would ever acknowledge my feelings. It's really just me throwing myself a pity party. I'll get over it sooner or later."
Something seized hold of Kakashi's heart.
"Who?"
"What?"
"Who's the guy?"
Kakashi knew his tone was dark and too possessive for their current relationship, but damn it, she was bright red now and he wanted to claw this mysterious guy into small pieces.
"I-I don't think that's any of your business."
He knew Sakura didn't know that those words would be exactly the wrong words to say to him right now, but that didn't stop him. The thing squeezing the life out of his heart was probably the one that usually held his temper. He shoved her onto the couch, straddled her waist, held her wrists on either side of her head, and got into her face.
"The hell it isn't my business, Sakura. Who's the guy?"
He kept his voice level, but he was glaring at her. He could tell that she was a little frightened at his display, but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was finding out who the little shit was and maiming him so badly that Sakura wouldn't be able to even look at him without retching.
"I-I don't want to tell you," she stammered. She was starting to shake in fear of his strange behavior.
He growled and squeezed her hips between his legs and tightened his grip on her wrists. He brought their noses and foreheads together and used a tone that often meant death for his enemies.
"Damn it, Sakura. Tell me who he is!"
He squeezed her tighter in blind fury. Why wouldn't she just tell him? Him, the person she trusted most in her life.
"You're hurting me."
Her voice was a whisper and she was crying. In an instant, the constricting hand on his heart was gone. Instead, his heart felt like it was collapsing in on itself. Kami, what was he doing?
He released her, but then fell on top of her, still not sure who her new love was. He didn't know what to do. She was crying silently into his shoulder. He had really scared her.
"Sakura, I…I…"
He didn't know what to say. Any apology now would seem lame and unfelt.
She showed how much she knew him and how much she trusted him when she brought her hands around his neck and hugged him. With the two of them, there had never been a need for words. Just like that, he was forgiven. He had hurt her, Kami damn it! He didn't deserve to be forgiven. He intertwined his fingers with hers, glad to love such a woman as her.
"Why did you want to know?"
He wasn't expecting that question from her. Or maybe he was. This momentary loss of control just now had him very disoriented. Either way, she deserved an answer.
"So I could beat the living shit out of the bastard."
It was not the exact truth, but it wasn't really a lie either. He had been expecting her to grill him for such talk about her new beau. He was not prepared for her lilting laugh of amusement. He gave her a confused look, which only made her laugh more.
"You really want to know who he is?"
He hesitated at her mischievous tone.
"Yes…"
Her blush was back full force and she refused to meet his eyes again. He waited patiently this time, not wanting to repeat the same mistake twice even though the hand was squeezing his heart again.
"It's you," she mumbled. She tried to pull her hands away from his to cover her face, but he wouldn't let her. This made her even more self-conscious, he knew, which made her babble.
"The song really fit perfectly. I mean, I always thought you resembled the moon. You're both white in color, both beautiful. Both tend to see me at night. Especially in the distance department you are alike. It always seemed like no matter how close you looked, I could never touch you. I wanted to tell you so much that I loved you, but I could never find the words. It was just…I don't know. And I was afraid that you would never… even want to deal with it. That my love would just cause you problems. I don't really expect you to return my feelings and I'm sorry if it's a burden, but you asked and…"
He couldn't help but interrupt her with his laughs. He nuzzled the skin below her ear and chuckled.
"What's so damn funny?"
"All this time…"
He laughed and brought his lips against hers. It was her first kiss, he knew. He made sure it stayed chaste and that she enjoyed it even with his mask on. With what he planned for her, there would be plenty of time for maskless kisses of a less chaste variety, so there was no reason to rush now. When they reluctantly broke apart, he couldn't help but laugh again at their situation. Before she could ask again about his laughter, he told her the answer.
"All this time, we've been feeling the exact same way about each other. We're fools not to have seen it."
And soon Sakura was laughing with him and it was music to his ears.
When they finally got control of themselves, he pulled his mask down (to her cute shock) and spent the rest of the night performing those not so chaste kisses among other things to the woman no other man would ever lay a finger on. He'd propose to her in the morning. He already had the ring, as pathetic as that was.
He had seen it in the window of a jewelry store and it had screamed her name. It was a pink diamond set in a white gold band so that the stone was level with the metal (perfect for kunoichi as it wouldn't snag on anything) with two smaller white diamonds on either side of the pink. He bought it on a whim, thinking he might give it to her as a birthday present.
That would have raised a few eyebrows, giving her an engagement ring as a birthday present. But it was just so perfect for her that he had to get it. Sadly enough, he kept in the vest pocket closest to his heart. It was lame and corny of him, but he couldn't help it. It was a side of him that only she had seen. She had sighed cutely at the actions she thought were sweet and he thought were embarrassing. However, because she had liked that part of him, he was starting to like it more himself. In fact, he sometimes smiled at his sappy thoughts as he wondered what her reaction would be to them.
His thoughts never strayed far from her. In everything he did, he tried to do the thing that he thought might make her happy and bring that brilliant smile to her face, or maybe that admiring look she had just for him. He was a better man because of his love for her.
Now that his eyes had been opened to her love for him, he would make sure that nothing would ever come between them. Ever. He made her his that night under the golden moon.
Author's Note: I'm not really pleased with this fic. It was much better in my head. I do believe I'm suffocating in the fluff. Yellow Moon is a real song and does not belong to me. Neither does Naruto on that note. This fic didn't do justice to the song. Oh well. I hope you at least might enjoy it, minna-san. ;)