All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I am not claiming to own them.
Chapter 19
Happiness
The meeting had gone, well, not as great as anyone from team Kakashi would've wanted. The elders were already livid by the time they stepped through the door, which was probably the main reason as to why every little statement anyone from the team said was quickly cut off by an elder that, obviously, was displeased with the team's actions.
Kakashi should've been more attentive. He shouldn't have any personal feelings for one of his teammates. He should be dismissed permanently. His rank should be stripped of him. Tsunade had retorted to every request that the three of them made, finding that two month's probation from all missions and docking pay for his previous two missions was a justified enough punishment for his "unruly" behavior.
He had to hold back when they had clarified that either he or Sakura was to be removed from the team. Tsunade, yet again, had stood up for them, and mentioned how crucial it was for them to be on the same team, considering Sakura now had his capabilities. The only person that Sakura could be trained from for her new abilities was Kakashi, and they knew it.
There was also a brief moment where the three wanted her to have no formal training in these new abilities whatsoever. They knew she was the best medic nin in the village and they didn't want to lose her abilities. Tsunade was a great medic nin, but Sakura had time to grow, and they expected her to surpass her master far more then where Tsunade could take her.
It was difficult for the slightly boastful Tsunade to bring herself back down and clarify that Sakura was better than her, however, she claimed that these new abilities might take her even further in the line of medical jutsus. It would also make her far more convenient to use on missions, not only for her healing capabilities, but also for her ability to protect herself and not need someone else to watch over her.
The godaime decided to address the couple's current situation with the elders. She clarified that their relationship was permitted, by her views, and no one who served Konohagakure would step between them under her command. It was funny. Right when she had clarified this she looked at Kakashi with a genuine smile on her face and nodded in an approving manner to him.
After the meeting had ended Tsunade left to go to more meetings, the elders and Danzo left, still pissed at the outcome of the meeting, and Naruto plopped onto the extra bed in Kakashi's room. Sai had left after a short discussion about the team while Kakashi was on probation. Apparently, Yamato was to take command like last time should they be placed on any missions.
Two days later, Kakashi had more chakra, and was able to make his way to Sakura's room without even stopping once. She was sitting up, propped on the pillows behind her, with Naruto holding her hand and chatting her ear off about ramen noodles. She saw Kakashi walk through the door and her face instantly turned red.
"Yo." He weakly raised his hand. He knew they had seen each other a couple days ago, but now, they both had the strength and time to address the situations that had occurred, previously. He didn't know why but he was slightly embarrassed too, about the whole situation.
She was scarlet red, and she knew what he wanted to talk about. Kakashi stared at Naruto with the sensei face. The hyperactive ninja took that as a hint, surprisingly since he was the densest nin around, and began to get up. Sakura tightened her grip around the nine-tailed boy's hand, releasing after she noticed Kakashi give her the sensei face as well.
Naruto bent over and whispered a small statement into Sakura's ear and walked out of the room. Her face somehow managed to get even redder and slightly perturbed when he commented to her. After a few seconds the two lover's were alone in the room.
"What did he say?" Kakashi remained standing, his arms crossed in front of him, and all of his weight resting on his right leg. He looked slightly like Sasuke did in his younger years: that cocky and perturbed pose that he would get when he had to do something he didn't want to.
"Uhm..he…he said that…" she looked sideways, anything to avoid that goddamn stare. His eyes…they still have that look, "He said, he could give me more."
With that Kakashi struggled to maintain his sensei face, trying to imagine if Naruto could even comprehend how to give Sakura anything, most of all more than what Kakashi could provide. Hell, the boy couldn't even understand the Ichi Ichi books.
"Do you think he could?" He didn't intend to, but Kakashi was putting Sakura in an extremely uncomfortable position. She knew that Naruto couldn't, at least, not how he was right now. She didn't even want to know. She just wanted to be with Kakashi.
She paused before speaking. It was difficult enough to say, "I don't even want to know if he could."
To this Kakashi softened slightly, maintaining his posture, "We need to talk."
With that Sakura's fists tightened around her blanket, "I know." Her eyes began to burn again. She looked back at everything that had occurred, reminiscing about their time together, and what should've happened. She wasn't even supposed to be here. How did she survive? They were both practically dead.
"Sakura," He took a deep breath and sighed it back out.
"Did you mean it?" she was staring down at her hands. She didn't want to see his face, but she knew she had to look to analyze if he was telling the truth or not. Sakura lifted her face to look at her former sensei's eyes.
"Mean what?"
"Did you mean what you said? Right before we passed out?" She was almost dead, but she could remember. It was the most important thing she had ever heard in her life.
His sensei face melted into an even more serious one. One that he would only ever show her: that soft look that a man would give his love when he meant what he was saying, "Yes."
Sakura looked back down at her hands. She was trying to suppress her urge to cry; it was all she ever did in front of him, and she wanted him to remember her for more than just that. He walked over, sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly, placed his hand under her chin and to stare into her eyes. He adored how those green orbs would look at him, and focus on only him in that moment.
He lifted her hand up and slid her index finger under the edge of his mask. Kakashi's eyes pleaded with her, practically begging her to remove the mask. She obliged, lifting her other hand up to assist in the mask removal in the same fashion as she did the first time he allowed her to remove his mask. She revealed that same face that she had fallen in love with; the same face she would never get tired of seeing.
Kakashi raised his hands to her wrists and pulled them down, staring straight into her eyes, "I love you, Haruno Sakura." She heard him say it before, but this time it meant so much more. They weren't about to die. It wasn't a last ditch effort to squeeze it in before the afterlife. Her eyes completely filled with tears at the sight of his lips moving with those words, spilling over before she could muster what she wanted to say in return.
"I…I love you so much Kakashi!" She broke out and began sobbing out loud with this statement. She threw her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. He held her softly, feeling a few tears stream down his cheek.
They sat for a few moments until Kakashi released the kunoichi in his arms, leaning forward to kiss her with that same passion he had before his initial conversation with Tsunade. He loved her. God, how he loved her.
"So. If I may ask," he got slightly serious again, but not as much as his sensei face, "why did you come all the way out there, by yourself?"
Sakura sniffed once and wiped a tear from under her left eye, "I had to help. Naruto and Sai…INO!! " She practically jumped when she mentioned Ino, "Where…how is she?"
Kakashi smirked slightly at Sakura's cute behavior, "Tsunade informed me that Ino will be fine, physically. She is being sent to see a psychotherapist for any other aspects of her condition." He was solemn and for a second forgot that he wasn't wearing his mask to hide behind. He realized how upsetting his face was when Sakura's beautiful smile melted into a frown, "Uh, no no, Sakura she's fine. Tsunade couldn't tell me everything, but she says for a woman in Ino's position she's doing extremely well."
Sakura was clearly put at ease by this, "So what did you want to know? Oh, yeah. Uhm, I went out there…well," she turned away from his face, only to find his hand reach back up and turn it back towards his eyes. Her face's scared appearance melted into an 'I give up' appeal, "You. I went out there for you. I have to admit, I was upset. What you said, and what you did, it hurt…a lot. Even now, when I think about it, it still hurts. But I couldn't just leave you out there to die. However angry I was at you and Tsunade-sama, I just couldn't ignore the fact that I love you."
"Sakura…Thank you. You have no idea what you have done for me. I don't just mean in a manner of saving my life that one time. You save my life…my soul." He intertwined her hair into his fingers, "You've changed me for the better. I never used to get involved with people because it seemed that everyone I hold dear dies. I thought I was cursed for the longest time, but…you've changed everything."
She raised her hand to his cheek and then felt him pull her into a hug. This was another moment she just wished she could freeze and place it into a box for her children to be able to see.
"So, Sakura. How did you gain that abilitiy?"
"Huh? Oh…I don't know. I just, when I thought about Ino and what everyone must've gone through, I just felt my body get extremely hot and, well…the only thing I can remember would be the lightening arcs coming off of my body."
"It was a chidori technique. One that even I haven't figured out how to use yet." Her eyes shrunk with shock and she was completely speechless, "You also have some sort of…chakra signal change abilities. They're clearly both from me. Well," he turned to look out her window, " I have the ability to change my chakra signal, but I rarely use it because it was my father's technique."
"Kakashi…" He turned back towards her, Her hands were clasped together over her chest, "I…I can feel you. You're forever in me, pulsing through my veins. It's your chakra that makes my heart beat, your chakra that let's me live and breathe." She smiled and cocked her head to one side, this time looking innocent, unintentionally.
"Sakura…" he placed his hand over hers, feeling her pulse beating with his. Their hearts were beating at the same exact rate, "I'm on probation for two months. Apparently I was being 'unruly.'"
She opened her eyes and smiled, "Unruly? For what? Falling for your pupil? Wait…how am I not on probation?"
"I took all of the responsibility from the elders. Luckily, Tsunade-sama actually stood up for us."
She smiled warmly and took his hand up to her cheek, "I think I love Tsunade-sama for that."
"She said that, as part of my punishment, I am to properly train you in the ways of chidori and other techniques I may have transferred to you."
"Oh? What other techniques would you consider?" He smirked and stared at her eyes.
"Actually, I was going to allow you to properly summon Pakkun and the other dogs, since you don't have any summoning techniques. Besides," He sat back and in a relaxed position, "I think Pakkun will like you a lot. After all, he was the one who gave me advice about you."
"What? When did you talk to him about me?"
He chuckled and looked over at the door when it opened. Tsunade stepped through the door with a scroll in hand, "Well, Sakura, it's good to see you awake and moving."
Sakura blushed and bowed slightly to her master, "Thank you Lady Tsunade." The godaime walked over to the bed and placed the scroll into Sakura's hands with confidence.
Kakashi's eyes widened immediately. He knew what that scroll meant. It had been quite a while since he got his from the Sandaime.
"Welcome, Jounin."
Sakura felt her heart flutter slightly, "Wh…What?"
"You have shown that you are capable of handling yourself in a proper manner in terms of Jounin standards. We're promoting you."
Sakura sat there holding the scroll for a few moments, completely speechless, "Th…thank you so much Tsunade-sama!" She bowed so fast that she ended up hitting her forehead on Kakashi's left temple. They both wound up silently rubbing their wounds and respectfully bowing when the godaime chose to leave.
"I'm so sorry Kakashi!" she lifted her hand up to his temple, finding his hand wrap around her wrist and pull it back down.
"You're not strong enough to heal someone yet, so don't try."
She looked down at the scroll in her hand. "So…a Jounin huh?" He nodded silently, "how does it feel to have a strong girlfriend?" she was playing, but he answered seriously.
"It's fantastic. You do realize we're going to be sparring against each other for a while? You'll be training with me for a long time." He kissed her on the forehead where she hit his head and flinched when he felt her hand trace over the scar on his eye.
"Will you tell me? Please?" She had waited and waited, but it was time for him to open up to her.
He smiled softly, moving his head slightly enough to make her hand cup his cheek, "Are you sure you want to know? It's a bit dark."
"I'm absolutely sure." She straightened her body upward and prepared for his story. He sighed and repositioned himself on the bed, giving her one last kiss before he started his journey into his past.
By the end of his story, Sakura was completely bawling and he had to pause a few moments to readjust his unsteady voice, "I have always considered that having his eye still allows him to see the future that he gave me."
"I wonder…" she sniffed when he raised his hand to wipe the tears out of her eyes, "Would Obito-senpai be happy of the future he sees?"
Kakashi had never actually questioned this. In fact, he was rather stunned that she even considered what Obito would think of the future Kakashi had created. He kissed her, gently, "I'm not sure if Obito is happy of what he sees, but I do know that he is glad that I have found happiness. I suppose since his eye is my eye, my happiness is his happiness," he paused ever so slightly, "He deserves to feel the joy that I so selfishly keep when I'm with you."
She pulled him into a hug and smiled, "I suppose I am selfishly keeping my joy to myself. I would never want to share this feeling with anyone else but you."
"Hmm…" he smiled. They both knew it was a selfish statement, but it was a justified statement, at that. He was elated at the fact that she wanted him to all herself. He wouldn't have it any other way.
"Hmm? What does that mean?" She was slightly concerned. Whenever Kakashi didn't say anything he was either upset or trying to analyze a situation. He cracked another smile and placed his hand on her hipbone.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about how pleasant that sounded to me. How…joyful it made me feel." He hugged her with all of the love he had coursing through his body, feeling their emotions filling every space surrounding them.
Tsunade had entered the room about an hour later, forcing Kakashi back into his room.
Sakura stood on the branch, suppressing her chakra signal from being felt by her opponent. She surveyed the field. She knew he was watching out for her, and he knew that she was probably doing the same for him.
Kakashi was crouched under a bush, awaiting another one of her lightening speed attacks. His sharingan was uncovered, and he had a shadow clone hiding in a tree on the other side of the training ground. She had already gotten a few good hits off on him with her brute strength, but he also knew that she was holding back, considerably.
She had definitely gotten stronger, well, more skilled. All of a sudden the memory of Sakura jumping down and kicking Kakashi's clone on the head had filled Kakashi's head. Well, it looks like I'm going to have to take her on, one on one.
He stepped out of his cover and dashed to the center of the field in a negotiation type of motion. She immediately felt his chakra signal appear and move to the field, following it to the edge of the tree line. Sakura looked to the field and noted Kakashi standing comfortably and lax with his hands on his hips.
She stepped out of the forest and walked cautiously towards her lover. She got within earshot of him and started to comment on the situation, "What are you up to?" Sakura stopped about a foot and a half away from her opponent and placed her hands on her hips.
"I want to make a deal with you." He smirked under his usually place mask over his face. To this statement, Sakura raised her eyebrow and looked at him questioningly. Kakashi placed his hand into his back pocket and pulled out a small orange book, "If I win, you have to agree to do pages 42 through 48."
Sakura smiled in response, "And if I win?" He replaced the book back into the pocket he originally took it out of.
"You may choose what you wish," A mischievous smile broke across her face and her right eyebrow arose ever so slightly. Kakashi responded quickly, "Within reason."
Sakura stepped away giddily and pulled a kunai out of her pouch, "What was that last part? I didn't seem to hear it clearly."
"I said—" Kakashi didn't have the opportunity to finish his sentence. Sakura had charged full speed at him with her kunai aimed at his neck. He raised his right art and knocked hers aside similar to that of a crane styled move. Kakashi lifted his other arm and grabbed her right arm. He slid his foot between hers, ensuring that his leg rubbed her core, just enough to get his message across to her.
Her cheeks reddened a little bit and her eyes felt the urge to roll to the back of her head. His foot shifted to behind her foot and tripped her, pinning her to the ground underneath him.
"Looks like I win." His eyes arced like they would when he smiled until he noticed Sakura's lips twitch upwards into a smile. She wasn't smiling sweetly or sensually: it was arrogant. Kakashi didn't realize it until it was too late.
"Taking a page out of Naruto's book, huh?" He remained motionless when he realized the blade of a specific lacquered cherry blossom sword at his neck. The clone under the silver haired jounin disappeared after a poof of smoke.
Sakura leaned down to her lover's ear and whispered into it sensually, "Looks like I win." Kakashi stood up after Sakura returned her blade to the sheath.
"So, you win, but what do you want for it?" He stood in his nonchalant pose and stared at her.
"Oh…I don't know. Maybe…" She lifted a familiar looking book up and kissed the spine. Kakashi reached his hand around to his pouch and felt the unfamiliar feeling of his paperback companion missing from its usual position. "Pages 46 through 70?" She opened the book to a specific page and held it out for him to see.
Kakashi's eyes widened when he finally recognized the image that was on the page, "Are you sure you can handle all the way from pages 46 through 70?"
"I can. Can you?" She winked at him coyly and, before she even had the opportunity to put his book into her weapon pouch, she was in his arms and they were speeding across the village to his apartment, both smiling the entire way home.
WOOT! Final chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this story. Thank you so much for your support and feel good vibes! I am going to start some other fanfics, now that I have graduated from college (yay me!)
I have been reading the naruto manga and some new concepts have come to me and inspired me to write some more stories. So I may start on some new ones, however my Inuyasha and Avatar fics are in serious need of attention right now.
THANK YOU ALL! And if you have any questions or comments that may need some clearing up, feel free to ask!