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Sakura felt like it all started the day Kakashi pulled her from the water.
She didn’t remember her back hitting the water, her consciousness already slipping as she sunk deeper. She fell quickly, her limbs limp as the water rushed around her. Her vision was blurry, and she was vaguely aware of her lungs struggling to breathe. But she couldn’t focus on anything and black spots where beginning to appear.
Hands gripped her arms and pulled her up. She felt heavy as she was dragged to the shore, someone breathing heavily as fingers dug into her skin hard enough to leave bruises. Her eyes closed as she felt hot sand burn at her skin.
Sakura didn’t remember drowning, not really, but she could remember the panic in Kakashi’s voice.
His gloves were soaked, and he slapped her face lightly as he leaned over her. “Sakura? Sakura, can you hear me?”
Sakura couldn’t and his words were unintelligible to her. She could only make out the emotion there and she felt her body sag against the ground, her mind so cloudy.
Hands pressing down on her chest made something burn up her throat. She felt lips press against hers and fingers pinch her nose. Sakura coughed as water climbed up her throat to spill into her mouth. He turned her head to the side as the water dripped out of her mouth and on to the ground. Seconds passed and his lips were on hers again, breathing life back into her.
Sakura didn’t know how long it lasted, but she eventually started to have coherent thoughts again when he adjusted her to lay on her side. She coughed and her eyes burned as she opened them. She was vaguely aware of something heavy laying across her and realized it was a blanket. She tried to turn her head, the only thing her eyes could see was the ocean in front of them.
Kakashi’s voice stopped her as his hand gently turned her head back. “Lie there for a minute.” His voice was breathless, and Sakura couldn’t remember a time he’d sounded so worn out.
She obeyed, her mind clearing as she continued to cough up salt water every other minute. She listened to him rummaging through his pack and found her voice. It was scratchy but she felt the need to warn him if he didn’t already know, “I think I have a concussion.”
Kakashi sighed and told her, “Try to stay awake.” He added after a moment, his voice quieter, “For my sanity’s sake, please.”
Sakura felt herself smile and did her best to do as she was told. Her breathing finally evened back out after a few more minutes and Sakura moved to sit up. Her head protested as her vision blurred and Kakashi’s hands were on her again. She met his eyes as she tried to focus her vision and the surprise at seeing his mask down helped clear some of the spots from her vision.
It was something to reflect on later, though, and she gripped his arm. “Kakashi, help me sit up. I want to try and get the rest of the water out with my chakra.”
Kakashi hesitated but didn’t let her go. “Do you have enough chakra for that? We’re not far from the village – “
Sakura shook her head, wincing at the hammering pain it caused. “I’d rather have chakra depletion than pneumonia or heart damage.”
Kakashi levelled a look with her and reminded her, “You have a concussion . I don’t want you passing out – “
Sakura forced a smile on her lips and squeezed his arm. “I won’t pass out.”
Kakashi sighed but moved to sit behind her with his legs around her and his hands on her arms. Sakura leaned back against his chest and gathered chakra in her hand then slipped it into her chest. She found the water easily, it wasn’t much. She pulled her chakra back out, a pained gasp leaving her as she lurched with it. Kakashi’s strong grip on her was the only reason she didn’t fall over. She repeated the process until it was all gone, her chakra coating her lungs to heal any damage. Tears poured down her face from the pain and Kakashi rubbed a hand up and down her arm in comfort.
Sakura fell back against him tiredly. “It’s all out.”
Kakashi let out a breath and his head fell to her shoulder as his arms wrapped around her waist to pull her closer. They stayed like that for a moment, Sakura trying to catch her breath and Kakashi trying to calm down from whatever hell she had put him through in the last ten minutes.
He told her a moment later, his voice shaken as his arms tightened around her, “You scared the hell out of me.”
Sakura leaned her head against his and put her hand over one of the ones on her stomach. “I’m okay, Kakashi. You made sure of that.”
He laughed and didn’t reply. Another moment passed and he loosened his arms around her with a heavy sigh. “Are you okay to travel? I finished them off, but I don’t know if they had back up. We need to get out of here.”
Sakura thought about it before answering. “If we go slow.”
Kakashi nodded and moved away from her to clean up around them. Sakura turned towards the pack that was near her. It was Kakashi’s and she dug into it until she found the extra clothes he packed. She tossed them to him, and he kept the pants, throwing the shirt back at her. “Put it on. Your pack is on the ocean floor by now and I don’t want you to get hypothermia.”
Sakura’s muscles protested as she pulled her shirt off, the fabric sticking unpleasantly to her skin and it felt like she had to peal it off her skin. She brushed the sand off her before slipping Kakashi’s shirt on. It was big on her but warm and comforting in a way she didn’t know how to explain. She rolled up the sleeves and then reached for a kunai to cut her bindings away under her shirt. The wet fabric fell away to the sand and Sakura felt like she breathed better.
Her eyes went to Kakashi as he folded up the blanket, he’d thrown over her earlier. He still hadn’t pulled his mask up and Sakura wondered if he had a spare one. She turned back to his pack to search for it so he wouldn’t have to deal with the soaked fabric sticking to his skin. She ignored how her heart beat off rhythm in her chest as she thought about how beautiful he was.
***
Kakashi called her a hypocrite but Sakura shrugged it off and kept walking out of the hospital. They’d already checked over her – telling her what she already knew – and she wasn’t going to spend two more days there so she could be looked after.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at her as he walked beside her. “Sakura, you have a concussion .”
“I know, Kakashi. I told you that on the beach.” Sakura rolled her eyes and didn’t feel bad about leaning into him.
Kakashi sighed and bit his tongue, wrapping an arm around her waist before she could trip over her own feet and tumble to the ground. They walked for a minute and then Sakura noticed Kakashi was turning her down the wrong street. “Kakashi, my apartment – “
“Stay with me tonight,” Kakashi interrupted her, not looking at her.
Sakura fought back a sigh and debated arguing but only told him, “You know I can sleep, right? That’s just a myth.”
“I know.” Kakashi’s hand squeezed her hip and he glanced down at her with a sigh. “Just give me some peace of mind, Sakura.”
Sakura nodded, a small smile on her lips and leaned more into him. “Okay, Kakashi.”
***
Sakura felt much better as she laid on Kakashi’s couch, after a hot shower and dressed in clothes that were too big for her but still comfortable. When Kakashi came out of his bedroom in new clothes and his hair wet from his own shower, he didn’t have his mask on, and Sakura wondered if this was going to be their new normal. She’d already seen his face, so he didn’t feel the need to cover it?
Kakashi leaned over the back of the couch and looked down at her with a soft smile. “What do you want for dinner?”
Sakura shook her head and grimaced. “I don’t think I can stomach something.”
Kakashi nodded and moved towards the small kitchen. “I’ll grab you something light.”
He brought her some oranges and Sakura sat up as he joined her on the couch. Kakashi laid down and propped his feet up in her lap. Sakura chuckled with a roll of her eyes but didn’t push him off. She continued to peal her oranges, tossing the peelings to the coffee table as Kakashi started reading a book he’d grabbed.
Sakura glanced at the cover and then asked him, “What’re you reading?”
“Some romance novel.”
Sakura bit back a smile and raised an orange slice to her mouth. Once she’d found out Kakashi was just a hopeless romantic and not simply a pervert, she found it incredibly endearing.
He looked over at her when she laid the rest of the two oranges on the table. “You’re not going to finish them?”
Sakura shook her head and curled on her side towards him, her hand dropping mindlessly to one of the feet in her lap. She gave him a small smile. “No, I’m not very hungry.”
Kakashi smiled at her and asked her softly, “Are you tired?”
Sakura nodded and then he stood up from the couch. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him but took his hand when he held it out for her. He pulled her up and led her to his bedroom. Sakura felt heat crawl up her spine as her imagination ran and she shoved the thoughts down.
Sakura sat on the edge of his bed and watched tiredly as he reached into his closet. “What’re you doing?”
He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Getting blankets? So, I don’t freeze to death in my sleep?”
Sakura laughed as she realized and cocked an eyebrow at him. “Are you planning to sleep on the couch ? That’s stupid. Your bed is big enough for both of us.”
Kakashi rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. “Sakura, I’ll be fine – “
Sakura sighed and got up from the bed to walk over to him and grab his arm. “Kakashi, I don’t want to kick you out of your bed. I promise I won’t molest you in your sleep.” She winked at him and it earned her a small laugh.
“You promise?”
Sakura bit her lip and nodded, pulling on him. “I promise .”
Kakashi crawled into the bed with her and told her in a serious voice, “You know, I take my virtue very seriously, Sakura – “
Sakura grabbed a pillow and hit him with it before putting it back behind her head. “Oh, shut up.”
Kakashi chuckled and they were quiet for a moment as they made themselves comfortable. Sakura found herself asking him as she laid her head on the pillow near his. “Kakashi, why do you wear a mask?”
Kakashi turned on his side towards her and gave her a teasing grin. Sakura felt annoyed at how it was harder to be unaffected by it without the blue fabric. “Why? Are you about to try and talk me into not wearing it because I’m so pretty?”
Sakura snorted. “What? No.”
Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes. “It’s what people usually do.”
Sakura rolled her eyes. “I was just wondering why you wore it in the first place. I wasn’t going to try and convince you of anything.” She added in a teasing voice, “Though, you are very pretty , Kakashi.”
He chuckled and opened his eyes again to meet hers. She watched as he debated it and she was about to take it back; tell him he didn’t need to tell her when he glanced away from her and turned on his back.
“When I was small, my mother was in ANBU,” he started quietly, his eyes on the ceiling. Sakura’s eyes widened slightly at the admission, Kakashi rarely talked about his father and she’d never heard him mention his mother. Kakashi stretched out, putting an arm behind his head. He had a small smile on his face. “She was a messy person and forgetful. She constantly forgot to clean up after herself after missions – I can’t really blame her now, having been there – and her uniform was always laying around on her bedroom floor. I don’t know why I thought the mask was – I don’t know, but I had a bad habit of playing in her things and would steal her mask to run around the house in it.”
Sakura smiled against the pillow as she listened to him, imagining a little Kakashi playing ninja. His voice was warm and low, so soothing as they laid there and he told her a story about his childhood.
Kakashi waved a hand. “It freaked her out obviously, but I didn’t understand then. I was too young. She had this idea that maybe if I had my own mask then I would stop taking hers.”
Kakashi paused and Sakura commented, “So, she bought you a mask?”
Kakashi glanced at her, his smile a little sad but still there. “Yeah, she did.”
Sakura raised an eyebrow when he didn’t continue and asked, “What happened?”
Kakashi sighed and said simply, “She died.”
Sakura felt her heart break a little, knowing it was probably the starting point in the various tragedies Kakashi had to live through growing up. Sakura reached out for him to lay a hand on his chest and Kakashi played off the sign of comfort – she wasn’t surprised, he was already out of his element opening up like this . “It was a long time ago, Sakura. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you what she looked like if I didn’t have pictures.”
Sakura smiled and told him softly, “Doesn’t mean it can’t still hurt.”
Kakashi looked over at her and Sakura didn’t know what he saw in her smile, but it made him turn on his side again. The look in his eyes made her heart squeeze and she shifted closer to him, her hand curling against his chest.
That sad smile was on his face again and Sakura listened quietly as he started talking again, his voice softer than before. “I was young, and I wanted to be closer to her, so I started wearing the mask daily until it became a fixture on my face. My father never commented on it. I think he always wanted to say something, to tell me I didn’t need the mask, but he just didn’t know how. Then, he died, and I figured it out for myself years later.”
It was a sad story, but so sweet and Sakura had never expected something like that for the reason Kakashi wore a mask. Sakura felt something grow in her chest as Kakashi trailed off. It made her chest tight that he told her all this, made himself vulnerable for her with his face bare as she laid in his bed. Each word felt like a gift and Sakura coveted them, committing them to heart. She found herself wanting to know more, not just about the mask but about the man who gave away so little about himself, despite how close they were.
“Why’d you keep wearing it then?”
Kakashi shrugged and Sakura got the feeling his reasons had become so muddied over the years he may not even know. He chuckled dryly and laid a hand on her hip. “Well, I’m sure you know how reclusive I am.”
Sakura smiled and told him, “You’re not that bad anymore.”
“I was even more closed off when I was younger, and the mask helped. With only my eyes visible – and then just one eye – it was hard to read me, and I liked that. Over time, I just… I don’t know, it was a – “
“A part of you?” Sakura raised an eyebrow at him with a small laugh.
Kakashi nodded against the pillow and smiled. “Yeah, it’s a habit at this point. But I’ve also worn it for so long, it feels uncomfortable to not have something there.”
If Sakura wasn’t so tired and Kakashi hadn’t just admitted something so intimate to her, she might not have done it. But it felt easy and she lifted her hand to rest against his cheek. Kakashi stilled but it was barely noticeable, and then he relaxed back against the bed. His face was barely visible from the moonlight shining through the window behind him. She could make out the tan line, the skin under his mask paler than the rest of his face, and the small silver hairs of his stubble.
Her thumb stroked across his skin and her eyes followed the movement. She barely noticed the way his hand moved from her hip to her lower back, his fingers slipping under her shirt – his shirt to lay warm against her skin.
Sakura looked back to his eyes, a question on the tip of her tongue but it fell when she saw the affection there. She knew he’d looked at her like that before and it had been easy to ignore the way it made her heart race in the daylight. But here in his bed, she felt her heart pound against her ribcage.
He must’ve seen the question in her eyes because he hummed and raised an eyebrow at her. Sakura swallowed and then told him, “You didn’t wear it tonight.”
“I don’t usually when I’m home and you’d already seen me without it.” He said it easily, like it wasn’t a big deal, but Sakura felt like it was another moment of him playing something off.
She didn’t call him out on it and asked him, “Who else has seen your face?”
“A few other people.” Kakashi laughed and gave her a look. “Sakura, you need to go to sleep.”
Sakura pouted, not wanting the conversation to end. She didn’t know if she would get this again, this closeness to him. Now that she’d had it, she knew she would always crave it.
Kakashi rubbed his knuckles lightly across her back and added in a low voice, “I’ll tell you more later.”
Sakura sighed and let her hand fall from his face. She hoped she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt when she asked him, “Promise?”
She expected him to laugh but he replied in a warm voice as she closed her eyes, “Promise.”
***
It wasn’t all the time but Kakashi slowly gave pieces of himself away to her. She could see it in his eyes when he thought about it. She didn’t comment when he decided to keep things to himself. It was a little disappointing, but Sakura still didn’t expect any of it, so she wasn’t upset when it didn’t happen.
She enjoyed it though, more than he probably knew. But she also felt like maybe he did know, at least partly, and it was what encouraged the words to spill from his lips.
They were small things, not often anything too serious when they stood beside other points in his past. She found herself hanging on every word he said and tried to not make it look like she did too much, knowing he would be overwhelmed if she watched him too closely while he talked.
She didn’t know if he’d shared these parts of himself with other people, people who weren’t around to experience it. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter either way. She still felt how much he cared about her by the way he talked, his voice soft and low. Even if he’d told others, it was clear that it hadn’t been many people. She may not actually be special, but he made her feel like she was.
***
Their team had started weekly dinners a few years back and never stopped, even if not everyone could make it, they still did it. Tonight, only her and Kakashi were free and it was just another reason to see each other, not any different from her coming over the night before.
She had made herself comfortable on his kitchen counter as Kakashi stared at the bare contents of his fridge. Sakura laughed when he closed it with a sigh. “Maybe we should just go out.”
Sakura was selfish and had become greedy with how he didn’t wear his mask when they were alone. She didn’t want to go out and miss the way he smiled at her, the dimple in his cheek and the small mole near his mouth.
“You were supposed to cook tonight so I don’t know why you don’t have anything prepared,” Sakura teased him with a smile.
Kakashi rolled his eyes and stepped over to her. He placed his hands on the counter, bracketing her as he leaned forward with a raised eyebrow. “Well, I did and then you came over last night, so I had to feed you.”
It was such a cop out and Sakura laughed, her heart skipping a beat at his smile. She poked him in the chest. “You didn’t have to feed me. I just wanted to see you and besides, you should keep more food on hand anyway.”
Kakashi’s eyes softened and he shrugged. “Well, what do you want to do then?”
Sakura made the move to hop down from the counter and Kakashi took a step back. She peeked inside the fridge and saw fresh fish laying there. She raised an eyebrow at him and gestured to them. “Why don’t we just have fish? They look like you just bought them.”
Kakashi wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “No, I don’t like fish. I bought those for Bisuke since the tuna was on sale today.”
Sakura looked at him confused and tried to rattle her memory of him telling her that before. “I don’t think I knew that.”
Kakashi chuckled. “I’ll eat it if it’s the only thing available, but I ate it a lot growing up after my father died.”
Sakura’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him. “But fish is so expensive. Why – “
Kakashi gave her a small smile. “I didn’t buy it, I caught it.”
Sakura realized too late, her heart twisting in her chest as she figured it out. He told her anyway as he leaned back against the wall, “Missions didn’t pay a lot back then because of the war and missions that were directly for the war effort barely paid anything. I had to save where I could.”
“That must’ve been hard, Kakashi.”
Kakashi shrugged and leaned off the wall to step over to her with a smile. He repeated what he usually told her when she tried to comfort him over old wounds, “It was a long time ago, Sakura.”
Sakura smiled back at him and gave a nod, letting the topic fall. It felt like something was wrapped around her chest in a tight grip and she tried to ignore the feeling, turning back to the fridge. She didn’t regret him telling her, but she still wanted far away from the conversation, bitterness in her stomach as it reminded her of things Naruto had told her over the years about growing up as an orphan.
***
Sakura was sitting on the counter again as he made them some tea. It was becoming her favorite place to sit in his kitchen, liking how he would come over to stand between her legs to talk to her as he cooked. Something seemed to shift between them over the last few months and Sakura found herself always near him; his leg pressed against hers on the couch, a hand on her back as they walked. She liked how he’d started to reach for her, the warm feeling that would grow in her chest when he touched her.
Just like the little stories he told her, she found herself wanting more. But she was willing to let him have control of that, following at whatever pace he wanted to set.
Kakashi handed her a mug of tea and then leaned beside her against the counter. He raised an eyebrow at her when he noticed her staring and smiled over his mug as he took a drink. “What?”
Sakura reached out to run her fingers along his jawline before taking her hand back. She teased him, “You need to shave.”
Kakashi scratched at his stubble and shrugged. “Probably.”
Sakura set her mug down on her other side and smiled at him. “Maybe you should grow it out.”
Kakashi chuckled and put his mug on the counter, then leaned towards her. “You want me to grow a beard?”
Sakura shrugged, her heart skipping a beat in her chest, and raised her hand up to hold his face. “I think you’d look really handsome.”
Kakashi smiled at her and moved in front of her, his hands brushing her thighs as he put them on the counter. “Sorry, the itchiness of wearing a mask over my beard isn’t worth it.”
Sakura laughed lightly and dropped her hand back to her lap. He was quiet for a moment and Sakura asked him something she’d been wondering about. “Do you think you’ll ever show Naruto your face?”
Kakashi shrugged and told her, “I don’t know. I’m kind of still enjoying teasing him with it.”
Sakura laughed and grabbed his arm. She gave him a coy smile. “Aw, Kakashi, do you miss teasing me with it?”
“Sometimes.” Kakashi smiled and his hands moved to her hips as he leaned closer to her. “Though, there are other ways I can tease you.”
Sakura’s stomach felt tight with anticipation as her heart raced and she rested her palm against his chest. “Oh?”
He hummed and it was hard to look away from his eyes. Something burning there, affection and amusement and something else. His hand left her hip to hold her face and Sakura leaned into his touch. His voice was barely above a whisper as he warned her, “Sakura, I’m about to do something stupid. You should probably stop me.”
Sakura smiled and moved her hands to lock around his neck to pull him down to her. He leaned his forehead against hers and she felt her eyes flutter close. “I won’t.”
Kakashi brushed his lips against hers and she felt her breath catch in her chest. Then, he pressed his lips more firmly against hers and any thought she had left her as she parted her lips. He kissed her slowly and Sakura’s chest felt so full . Wherever he touched her felt warm and hummed against him when his hand slipped under her shirt to hold her side.
When his tongue licked into her mouth, she felt herself moan low in her throat and it made him press harder against her. Sakura wrapped her legs around his waist to pull her hips to the edge of the counter. Kakashi’s hand moved to her back and held her closer to him. He broke away from her to breathe and Sakura’s lips followed after him. He smiled into the kiss and pulled her flush against him.
His voice was breathless, a low sound that vibrated across her skin. “Sakura, I want you.”
He already had her in any way he wanted, but she answered anyway, “You have me.”
His lips were moving against hers again and he yanked her hips to his, his hands going under her thighs as he lifted her off the counter.
Kakashi moved against her slowly and he was driving her mad. Her mind filled with only thoughts of him, clouded with an overwhelming feeling that made her throw her head back.
His lips were on hers and it was so tender how he kissed her. Sakura moaned into his mouth, her fingers twisting in his hair and tugging. A low groan ripped from his chest and his breath was warm against her skin. He kissed her and then leaned back down to look at her. Sakura felt like she would come undone just from the look in his eyes, something so dark there, a heat that she wanted to dive in to.
“You’re beautiful.”
When Kakashi smiled down at her and then leaned his forehead against her collarbone to laugh softly, she realized it had been her voice. Sakura felt something giddy in her chest and couldn’t find a reason to be embarrassed.
Kakashi lifted his head to kiss her again and then leaned back. “Oh, Sakura, you have no idea what you look like right now, do you?”
Sakura arched her back with a gasp from a particularly hard thrust. He let out a breath, his hands moving up her sides to her breasts. “You’re so beautiful.”
She couldn’t reply, her voice only able to moan out his name as his fingers dug into her hips.
***
Naruto didn’t comment on the change in their relationship, only sending them knowing smiles every now and then.
But he did lean towards her one day as they were eating to ask her in a conspiring voice, “Hey, Sakura-chan, you’ve seen Kakashi’s face, haven’t you?”
Sakura chuckled and nodded as Kakashi leaned around her from her other side. “She won’t tell you anything, Naruto.”
Naruto scoffed and looked to her, tapping her arm. “Come on, Sakura-chan.”
Kakashi sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her back to him. “Don’t bother. I put a jutsu on her, she’s sworn to secrecy.”
Sakura played along, barely able to contain the laughter in her chest as she sighed solemnly with a nod. “It’s true.”
Naruto rolled his eyes at them and complained. “Come on!”
Sakura laughed and shook her head. “I’m not going to tell you, Naruto.”
Naruto pouted and looked down at his food. After a moment he looked over at Kakashi with a smile, “You know, Kakashi, I’ve always admired you and – “
Sakura hit him on the arm as she laughed. “You are not going to try and seduce Kakashi’s mask off!”
Kakashi hid his laughter into her shoulder as Naruto waved a hand at her. “It worked for you!”
“I should throw you through a wall – “
***
Sakura could get used to this.
She leaned her head back against Kakashi’s shoulder, stretching her arms out behind her, one hand tangling in the back of Kakashi’s hair. She could feel him smile as he kissed the skin below her ear, the sound of him dipping his hands into the bath water to caress her thighs filling the air. Sakura let out a soft sigh as he kissed down her neck.
His lips brushed across her ear again a moment later and he told her in a deep voice, “I realized something about you the other day.”
Sakura hummed and turned her head to meet his eyes. He told her teasingly, “You’re just as closed off as I am.”
Sakura snorted. “I am not.”
Kakashi chuckled against her throat and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You are. Anything I know about you I learned from being around you.”
Sakura didn’t think she was closed off, but if she thought about it, she supposed she didn’t share much about herself with other people. She wondered if that was how Kakashi felt before he realized how private he was.
She leaned her head back to look up at the ceiling, her fingers trailing down to Kakashi’s knee. She started with a wistful sigh, “Well, my parents were merchants and fell in love in the summer of –“
Kakashi cut her off with a laugh. “One thing, Sakura. Tell me one thing tonight. I don’t want you to tell me your life story, I’d rather piece it together myself.”
Sakura laughed with him and angled her head for a kiss that he gave easily. Then, she looked down at the water thoughtfully, bubbles that were fading away piled up around their legs.
“At the beginning, I only had a crush on Sasuke because of Ino,” she told him quietly. She’d never told anyone this, not even the woman involved. But she felt like they’d moved past it enough to not need to open reopen closed wounds.
“Ino?” Kakashi asked. “Some rivalry or something?”
“No.” Sakura shook her head, her fingers mindlessly stroking across the arm wrapped around her. “Ino was… I was bullied a lot when I was little. I got picked on because of my forehead and I was too shy, an easy target or something. I used to have these horrible shaggy bangs to cover it in hopes it would look better.”
“Ino befriended me one day, stood up for me and gave me a red ribbon to tie my hair back. She was my first friend and I adored her.” Sakura smiled, shifting against Kakashi and leaning her head against his. “I wanted to be like her, she was so strong, so confident in herself. Slowly the bullying stopped and Ino’s group of friends started talking to me too.”
Kakashi was quiet behind her, listening to every word. Sakura found herself a little lost in her memories as she talked. “She used to tell me about flowers and watching them bloom. I was happy with her. I probably had more of a crush on her than I ever did Sasuke.”
When she paused, Kakashi prompted softly, “But?”
Sakura sighed. “But then I started thinking about how I was following her around, wanting to be like her. And… I don’t know – one day, I decided I wanted to be like me, and I didn’t think I could find her if I was still trailing after Ino like I was. I needed to grow, and I couldn’t do it in her shadow.”
“What does Sasuke have to do with this?”
“He was an easy excuse.” Sakura shrugged her shoulders. “A lot of the girls liked him, he was cool and mysterious, nice to look at. I heard Ino liked him and then, I made a big deal about liking him also, telling her we were rivals.” Sakura smiled sadly to herself. “I think I broke her heart a little. She didn’t understand why I didn’t want to be friends anymore and I didn’t know how to tell her, so I used Sasuke. I don’t think she ever liked him that much either and was really always just mad all those years about me ending our friendship the way I did.”
Sakura paused, watching how lovingly Kakashi dragged his fingers along her thigh. “I still think I needed to do it, but I probably could’ve gone about it better. But you know, kids are stupid.” She sighed and then added, “My crush on him got a little more genuine once we were put on the same team but that was how it started.”
Kakashi was quiet for a moment and then told her, “Well, stupid kid or not, you’ve grown into a beautiful woman. You and Ino worked things out, so let some of the guilt go.”
Sakura felt her skin warm and smiled, raising one of Kakashi’s hands to her mouth so she could press a kiss into his palm.
***
“Tell me something else.”
“I’m allergic to cats.”
Sakura laughed and Kakashi gave her that crooked smile of his. “Your turn.”
“I was always bad at braiding when I was a little girl.”
“Can you braid now?” Kakashi asked as he pulled her closer to him on the couch.
Sakura bookmarked her novel and tossed it to the coffee table. She hummed as she turned in his arms to see dark eyes meet hers. “Still not very good, though. I can only do the simple ones.”
Kakashi mumbled something in response and Sakura bopped his nose. “What?”
“Tell me something else.”
“Greedy,” she teased him with a grin. “I want to nap now.”
Kakashi pouted at her and Sakura told him softly, “I’ll tell you more later.”
He chuckled and asked quietly back, “Promise?”
“Promise.”