Hands in Hair
He was here again. That damnable place that he avoided like the plague, because he was expecting just such an outbreak one of these days. And somehow or other, he managed to be her patient yet again. It was really unfair how every time he came to the hospital he was forced to be under her care. He was a master at avoiding his own mind, but it always managed to come back to him in these types of situations. In times like these, he was reminded of everything he had done wrong with her.
He was her jounin sensei. It should have been him to teach her every genjutsu she knew. It should have been him to take all that raw potential (Had he even seen it in her to begin with? Curse him if he didn't.) and help her turn it into the power she had yearned for. It should have been him standing behind her all the way. It should have been him recommending her for the jounin test. It should have been him bursting with pride when she passed. It should have been him to help her find a place as an ANBU medic-nin who moonlights as a doctor at Konoha Hospital. It should have been him, damn it!
So, why hadn't it been? What had gotten in the way? What had made him turn away from her all those years ago? What had made him reluctant to push her, reluctant to even look at her? How had they ended up like this?
He was sitting on this cold, sterile table watching her patch him up, making all the aches and pains disappear like magic. And he couldn't help but feel guilt and regret. She hummed a silly song as she went about healing the four foot laceration running from his shoulder to his thigh as if it were the simplest thing in the world. It almost tore his heart out, seeing how great she had become. How had he failed her so?
"I was a horrible sensei, wasn't I?" he muttered to himself.
She paused in her work, the humming silenced for a brief second in time. She didn't call him out. She didn't make a fuss. She just smiled a little and went back to healing. For some reason, that just depressed him more. He wanted her to yell at him, to tell him how horrible he was, how he didn't even deserve to be in the same room as her. Damn it!
She finished healing him and stood up straight, looking down at him with an appraising look, one eyebrow cocked.
He just sat with his usual slump and lowered his eyes to the floor. Maybe if he apologized, after all these years, she might forgive him.
"Sakura, I…"
There was a hand in his hair, ruffling it out of its usual sweep to the side. He jerked his head up in surprise and met her smiling face.
She chuckled and continued ruffling his hair as if he were a little child.
"You know, I seem to remember that you used to ruffle our hair whenever we did something good. I also remember that whenever the three of us together did something good neither one of your hands ever ended up on my head."
He dropped her gaze in shame. This was it. This was the persecution he had been waiting for. Finally, he could be done with it. He tensed for the onslaught.
But he was surprised when she laughed and took his hands in hers.
"But you know what, sempai?" she asked with laughter in her voice. "You only have two hands!" She waved his hands around to emphasize her point. "One. Two! It would just be weird if you had three."
She gasped and slapped his hands onto either side of his face, forcing him to look into her cheery green eyes.
"Kakashi-sempai is human! I never would have guessed."
He scowled at her sarcasm and she laughed in his face. She picked up his medical sheet, jotted down a few notes, and then walked to the door. Before she left, she turned back to him.
"Sometimes it's not just about you, Kakashi. I'm not mad at you. Just let it go. You might find it's a lot easier than you think it is."
And with a smile, she was gone.
Kakashi stared after her for a few minutes, not sure what to make of everything that had just happened. He looked down at the floor in thought. Slowly, a small smile graced his features.
"Arigatou, Sakura. Arigatou."
Author's Note: This is so pointless and baroque that I didn't even feel like proofreading it. Hopefully I got it right the first time. It's not long enough to make a lot of mistakes, ne?
Author's Note (New): I proofread and reposted this. If anyone sees any mistakes, please tell me. Sakura is very mature in this fic, but I guess she would be considering she's older now. The situation has no back story to make it plausible (something I despise in fanfics). The hands metaphor is so obvious I think I gave myself a concussion beating the reader on the head with it like that. The idea behind it is overused (Kakashi feels guilty for his poor teaching of Sakura), or at least it's greatly discussed. But, it is rather sweet. I guess for something I did to kill time, it turned out okay. I'm satisfied. What about you?