Chapter Eight: Oh, This Is Going To Be Painful

                                    

                                          
Chapter Eight: Oh This Is Going To Be Painful
"Well now you know," Pakun having scented him prior to asking, easily found Kakashi's concealed position. As much as the little pug could annoy him, Pakun had always been the one to ask the tough questions Kakashi couldn't bring himself to.
In some small measure, it soothed the former sense of knowing that she was doing it for him. That even from a distance, Sakura was still supporting him. It also made him feel as shit of a team Captain as he ever had, still having that crutch.
No, Kakashi never realized how much he leaned on his team until they were gone.
"Can I go to bed now?" Pakun whimpered, making Kakashi pull his attention from the pink haired girl he equally wanted to avoid and run into. Internally, the man swore if a dog was physically capable of it, Pakun would have folded his arms at him no matter how grumpy his tone.
"Yeah," Kakashi's response was soft and still deep, with the emotional edge to his naturally graveled voice. With no real idea, how it was going to go, or if it was a good idea at all, the experienced nin set his aim on casually running into her.
"Kakashi!" The second their shoulders bumped, he felt that too familiar and still unnerving tingle. Her voice even brighter than the spark of emotion as Sakura lit up, immediately jumping into his arms. With all the angst and pent-up worry, it was surprising to him how easy it was to wrap her up and hold her close. 
Closing his eyes to savor the fact that she still smelled like juniper and berries, Kakashi examined her form against him. The once scrawny child he'd trained, grown into a devastating woman, felt so much fuller than she ever had in his arms.
It felt good.
"Just Kakashi?" He teased, somehow finding the will to put her down when more than his heart started to respond to her familiar scent and evolved figure.
"Sensei," That still feminine and small nose of hers drew on the once natural word. "Sir? Lord Sixth?" Sakura's head tilted further in each attempted honorarium, as the pull of her nose increased, as if she were eating something she couldn't decide whether she hated or not.
"I'm teasing Sakura," no matter how formidable Kakashi was, or the fact he was Hokage didn't change his ability to act like a mindless idiot at times. Still, with her, it wasn't the same act he'd used to put people at ease. The woman really did steal half the blood and thought content from his brain more often than he wanted to admit. "I didn't realize you were home."
"I wish............ What I would not give for my bed," the pout following her head bobbing back with her face to the sky rather than him, was short-lived. Still a visual Kakashi could do without in the moment trying to adjust to her energy again. "But alas, Ino decided to take my place, and use it as a love shack for her and her boy toy. So I'm headed to the Inn." There was a visible point of her finger in the general direction as her tone wavered in irritation.
"Pretty sure they're booked up with the festival," Kakashi, even after close to four years, was still working on not pulling his brows. He didn't really have to worry about it before Naruto restored his eye. Losing it as a child only to have Obito gift him the Sharingan on his deathbed to replace it, had always kept Kakashi's face covered, unless in a serious fight. 
Which was perfectly okay to show stern seriousness in. He couldn't argue the fact it was a blessing to have both of his eyes back, but still struggled with hiding himself as he had. Sakura not even being aware of the festival, she'd demanded they be home for every year, no matter what mission they were on, was another marked change in everything he knew about her.
"Ugh, completely forgot," she facepalmed. It wasn't the drat, I'm missing this. It was definitely the shit, no way am I finding an open room expression. The exhaustion, so clear in her face and mature features, matched the same fatigue threatening to seep into every fiber of his bones.
"Come on," Kakashi nudged her shoulder with his own taller one, noting the ease in which she followed. Their feet all but fell into that almost cosmic alignment, as their steps matched with that same easy and natural rhythm.
Kakashi watched the realization dawn on her as he led her up and into the complex he'd so diligently hidden from close to every one. There was no shortage of excitement lighting those green eyes as they flitted around with a new burst of energy. An energy that was infectious, just like the woman they belonged to.
"That's right," Kakashi broke the silence with something of an aww chuckle. "You've never been here." It wasn't just the Genin he'd taken on as students. Kakashi was utterly against any one knowing where he lived, considering how often Guy and Asuma broke through his doors at random hours religiously.
"Think I have some leftovers in here," the offering pulled them from the entrance and through the living space to the kitchen, divided by a bar that she sat at. "Drink?" He asked more for himself and his own nerves at having Sakura in his space.
Regardless of how busy he was, the place was still tidy. Nothing fancy or well-thought-out like something the pinkette might put together, but.....
"Oh Spirits yes," the groan in which she said it, stretching her arms across the wide bar top, laying her head down between her biceps as a pillow, put him even more on edge. "The tallest and strongest glass, please."
"Since when do you drink?" Kakashi managed a wink mocking a shocked tone, eager to turn away from the sight while he went through his secret stash of liquor.
"Since well before the age of consent, Kakashi," Sakura's answer did not come until two glasses were poured, and they were clinking them together. There was a depth there, almost like a chuckle of her own might have been caught in her throat, like his breath was caught in his.
The moment her eyes closed around the alcohol, savoring the bolder and stronger brew rather than cringing at it, had him forgetting all about the soup he pulled out and left on the counter. Even if Kakashi wasn't utterly exhausted, he'd still would have been on edge and unsteady with the woman he'd been pretending he wasn't in love with in his home.
"Kakashi?" Like usual. Like no time had passed at all, Sakura easily picked up where he left off, moving into the kitchen as if she'd been there a thousand times. "When did you make this?" There was that adorable little scrinch of her features, when taking off the lid and looking at it.
"I ordered it yesterday," the words came before the thought that it was the first time he'd slept here in a week. He'd even been showering at the office. There was the 'you have got to be joking look' with the raised brow and little hip pop she did.
"Okay," he drew out the word while she disposed of the obviously spoiled food. "I'll find a take-out menu." As Kakashi moved to get up, Sakura put her hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place while she finished her drink.
"Your job is drinks. My job is food," the decision was made with a half grin as she slid her empty cup back in front of him, and the bottle of straight alcohol they were not bothering to mix. The fact that she could still surprise him, still touch him without him flinching, was only more reason he should not be drinking.
The fact that she just fell right back into step with him like she'd never left was the exact reason he was filling both of their glasses for the third time.
"Oh, this is going to be painful," Sakura decided aloud with a deep breath, knotting her hair at the top of her head so it was out of the way before washing her hands. There was a little more color to her cheeks and she was avoiding his questioning gaze at the seemingly random comment while she went about looking through his kitchen.



Chapter Nine: Like I Said......