109A/N: And here it is, the final chapter. I have a confession, and that is that I didn't really take this story very seriously for most of the process of writing it, so I was surprised when I got closer to the end and actually started really caring about what happened to these idiots. Which is why a 7 chapter story that had a sort of meh ending turned into the 8 chapter story you have before you now. I really hope that you like what I ended up doing with the ending! I'm a lot more satisfied with it now than I was with the original version.
Thank you to Nyxako, Mummapaintstheblues, and k_waifu for their beta work and support, and for making the story way better. And a big thank you to everyone who left sweet comments and kudos along the way! I couldn't ask for more supportive readers and I appreciate it so much.
The night after Sakura returned Kakashi's memories she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. When she closed her eyes, all she could see was the wild, panicked look that Kakashi had worn when he'd remembered what they'd done together.
The thought of his expression was enough to make her eyes burn, but Sakura wouldn't let herself cry anymore. The situation was already bad enough—she'd be damned if she was going to be a crybaby on top of it. Eventually, sometime before dawn, her exhaustion won out and she fell into a restless sleep.
When she woke again only hours later, she wasn't holding back tears anymore—she was furious.
With herself, at first. How could she have been so stupid? She knew that she should've kept it to herself—why hadn't she been prepared with better lies? Why hadn't she protected Kakashi better from the past?
Was she really that selfish?
He'd looked so destroyed when he'd regained his memories. Guilt squeezed her chest every time she thought about it. She'd never meant to hurt him like that.
But it was too late for Sakura to take back what she had done. All she could do now was worry about him—and hope, deep down, that maybe things would get better.
She decided that the best thing she could do was give him time. So, she did. And for two of the longest, most excruciatingly lonely days that she'd ever lived, she heard nothing from him, and did nothing to reach out. And all that time, she was angry at herself. She knew that the whole situation was her fault, and she couldn't even begin to forgive herself for it. But then, on the third day, Shizune called her back into the hospital and asked her to resume her liaison duties at the Hokage Tower—and that brought her around Kakashi again.
And it was around that time that Sakura started getting mad at him.
Sakura had experienced aloof Kakashi before. This wasn't aloof. This was him stubbornly insisting on pretending she wasn't in the room unless forced to acknowledge her, after which he would end the conversation as quickly as possible while avoiding eye contact. At first it was just another thing for Sakura to blame herself for, but when he dropped a stack of papers rather than brush her hand with his, her frustration with the situation began to turn into anger at him. He was treating her like she was invisible.
He wouldn't even look at her.
But it wasn't like she could do much. He clearly didn't want anything to do with her. So, he kept being awkwardly dismissive of her, and her anger built up more and more, until he was walking around like a nervous goose, and she was practically breathing fire. The Hokage office had never been so uncomfortable.
It was the fourth day after Kakashi had regained his memories when Shikamaru, looking harried and exhausted, cornered her alone in the workroom behind the Hokage office and said, "We need to talk."
"I don't have time," Sakura snapped, attempting to move past him.
"Make time," Shikamaru countered bluntly as he angled himself back in front of her, forcing her to stop.
Huffing, Sakura set down the stack of papers she'd been preparing to send to the hospital. "Fine. What is it?"
"Let's talk about you and Lord Sixth."
Sakura's stomach clenched nervously, and she looked away. "There's nothing to talk about."
She could still feel him staring at her as he replied, "Yes, there is. You've been weird around him since you came back, and now he's gotten even weirder around you. The whole office can feel it."
"Kakashi is always weird," she snapped. "I don't know what that has to do with—" Sakura broke off when she saw Shikamaru's eyes widen, knowing she'd made yet another mistake.
"You've never not called him sensei," Shikamaru said, his dark eyes pinning her to the spot.
"It was a slip of the tongue," Sakura blustered.
"No, it wasn't," Shikamaru said thoughtfully. Tilting his head back, he looked up contemplatively at the ceiling for a moment and mused, "Not the way you mean, at least. You slipped because you're comfortable calling him by just his name." He sounded surprised, and curious—and he definitely looked more awake than he had only moments before.
"Shikamaru, you really need to mind your own business," Sakura warned, but she could tell he wasn't listening anymore. She could practically see his genius brain running away with itself.
She was really beginning to get sick of geniuses.
"Things have obviously changed between you since you came back from the past. You called him by his first name alone. And then there's the way you look at him all the time…" Frowning slightly, Shikamaru stared at her and said, "Don't tell me…"
"Leave it alone," Sakura said from between clenched teeth, but she knew it was too late.
In a hushed, incredulous voice, Shikamaru asked, "Are you two involved with each other?"
"No!" Sakura said quickly. At least that much was true.
"But you were in the past, weren't you?" Shikamaru said perceptively.
Sakura tried to look away, knowing he already knew the answer, but Shikamaru angled himself in front of her again, still studying her face like he could read all of her guilt there. He probably could, the jerk.
"And you couldn't keep it to yourself," Shikamaru continued thoughtfully, "So you told him." Drawing in a long breath, he released it in a long-suffering sigh, turning away slightly as he pinched the bridge of his nose, looking pained. "Great."
Watching him have the audacity to act like this was hard on him was too much for Sakura, and she exploded, throwing her hands in the air and practically shouting, "I don't know why you're acting like this is your problem!"
Completely unflapped by her show of temper, Shikamaru just dropped his hand and looked at her like she was an idiot. "Of course it's my problem. How am I supposed to manage him if he's too busy freaking out about you to get any work done?" Pausing, as if something had just occurred to him, he asked, "Did you just tell him what happened, or did you somehow give him his memories back?"
Sakura glared at him stubbornly for a long moment. When Shikamaru just waited patiently, she finally sighed, giving in. It wasn't like there was much point in hiding anything from him now. "Before I left the past, Lord Third gave me a letter. Inside it was the code phrase that would unlock the seal on Kakashi-sensei's memories." Looking down, Sakura quietly added, "I shouldn't have used it."
Shikamaru said, "Maybe not. But it's too late for that." He lapsed into pensive silence for a moment, then suddenly nodded and said, "The only thing we can do is move forward and figure out what you're going to do now."
"We?" Sakura asked, surprised that he was suddenly acting like they were together in this.
"If I leave this to the two of you, you'll probably screw it up—catastrophically," Shikamaru replied, ignoring her insulted gasp of indignation. "First, we have to figure out what kind of endgame you want." Turning, he paced a few feet in the opposite direction, then spun to face her. "Well? Do you want to be with him or not?"
Sakura sputtered, feeling her face get hot to be put on the spot. Discussing her feelings with Shikamaru was not something she had been prepared for when she'd come to work that day, and she was having trouble with his abrupt decision to support her.
And then she realized something—Shikamaru was taking this all awfully well. He certainly wasn't reacting with the shock she would've expected at the news of her being involved with her former teacher and current Hokage. Hesitating, she said, "You're acting like it would be normal for me to want to be with him. Don't you think it's… wrong?"
With a shrug and what looked like the beginnings of a crooked smirk, Shikamaru said, "I was surprised at first. But then I realized I don't really give a shit."
Sakura frowned at him, refusing to be charmed by his apparent lack of concern. "Other people will. It would be a scandal."
He waved his hand slightly, as if he were shooing away a fly, and said, "You need to stop worrying about what other people will think. They would get over it eventually… probably." He cleared his throat and then continued, "So, you'd better figure out what you want. Because he obviously wants you—he wouldn't be acting so stupid if he didn't."
"He doesn't want me," Sakura argued. "He barely even looks at me. I think he might hate me now." She said that last part quieter, not wanting to admit it.
"I don't think that's true," Shikamaru replied. "The way he's avoiding you, I think he's feeling guilty… because he wants you."
For the first time in days, hope blossomed in Sakura's chest. Only moments before she'd wanted to throttle Shikamaru—now she wanted to hug him. "Really?"
Shikamaru was looking a little embarrassed now, like all of this relationship talk was finally becoming too much for him. There was clear exasperation in his tone as he said, "Yes, really. And since you looked like I handed you a puppy when I said he wants you, I'm guessing that means you still want him, too. So, go do something about it."
"What am I supposed to do?" Sakura asked, dropping her volume as she heard voices in the adjoining office. It sounded like everyone was coming back from lunch.
Similarly lowering his voice, Shikamaru said, "Figure it out. You know him better than I do in that regard. Did he make the first move in the past?"
"No," Sakura whispered after a moment's thought, keeping her voice low as Izumo and Kotetsu came through the door. She was a little surprised to be discussing romantic strategies with Shikamaru, of all people, but she ignored how weird it was. Any port in a storm, after all.
"There's your answer. You're going to have to take the first step." Clearing his throat again, Shikamaru spoke a little louder for the benefit of their new company. "I think that's everything we need to talk about. You should probably get those papers to the hospital."
Picking up the papers she had discarded and almost forgotten about, Sakura kept her voice hushed as she asked, "But when should I do it? It's so hard to get him alone."
"Tonight. After the council meeting gets out. He'll be alone in the office." Shikamaru took her by the shoulders and physically turned her toward the door. "Now go. I need to get something done today."
Not missing the curiosity in Izumo and Kotetsu's eyes as she turned toward them, Sakura gave them a perfunctory wave. Over her shoulder, she said, "Thanks, Shikamaru," trying to put in as much sincerity as she could without making the others suspicious.
Because she was thankful—because now, for the first time since she'd gotten back from the past, Sakura felt like she knew the right thing to do.
Now, she just had to do it.
That evening, Sakura paused outside the door to the Hokage's office, her hand hovering over the knob. No matter how steady her hands normally were, there was a tremor in her fingers now. She took a deep breath and held it for a moment before releasing it. She was going to need all of her courage for this.
She'd spent all day thinking about what she had to do. But now that she was here, preparing to do it, she felt perilously close to losing her nerve.
In the past, before she had kissed Kakashi for the first time, she had felt nervous—but not like this. It was one thing for her to make the first move against someone her age, who was more or less her equal in the village. It was another thing entirely for her to make a move on someone fourteen years her senior—her sensei. Her Hokage.
The stakes were much higher.
Swallowing thickly, Sakura lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders, and then turned the knob and let herself into the office.
It looked empty at first. But as she closed the door quietly behind her, the tall chair behind the main desk turned to face her, revealing a slumped, tired-looking Kakashi. Biting her lip, Sakura lifted her hand from the knob and slowly turned the lock above it with a metallic click that echoed in the quiet room.
"Sakura…" Kakashi said softly, and then cleared his throat. His voice was firmer when he spoke again. "Sakura-chan. Now isn't a good time."
"Why not?" Sakura said mulishly, inwardly pleased with the way he looked surprised at her challenge. She took a slow, measured step toward the desk.
"Because…" he began, but he seemed to falter slightly, like he didn't know what to say—or maybe he just didn't want to say it. In the next moment, though, his eyebrows knotted into a frown, and he straightened in his chair and said, "Because I said so," as if he had just remembered that he was Hokage and didn't need to justify himself to her.
Sakura remembered he was Hokage, too. But she didn't really care anymore. She took another step, and then another. "You're going to have to come up with a better reason than that."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't have to have a reason to kick you out of my office."
Sakura paused before her next step. "Would you really do that?"
He held her stare for a long moment before sighing. "No."
Sakura softened at the weariness in his voice. This was hard on him. "Kakashi-sensei…"
He gave a short, humorless laugh. "I'm not much of a sensei now, am I?"
You'll always be my sensei was what she wanted to say, but instead she took another couple of steps until she was beside the desk, resting her hand on it, and asked, "Is that why you won't look at me anymore?"
He turned in the chair so that he was facing her. "I look at you," he said softly—a confession. His guilt was audible.
She didn't take another step towards him. Not yet. "I want you to look at me," she said quietly.
"I'm supposed to be your teacher," he said, his guilt still heavy in his voice. "I can't—"
"Former teacher," Sakura interrupted.
"And current Hokage," Kakashi replied, his voice growing more heated. "You're technically my subordinate."
Sakura huffed, unable to hold it in. "So what? Isn't everyone technically your subordinate? What, so you can't get involved with anyone in the village?" Sakura could feel her pulse quickening, but it wasn't because of anger—she was excited. The fact that he was even having this argument with her meant that he'd been thinking of them together, and that felt like a victory to her.
"You're not just anyone," Kakashi said, following his words with a suppressed groan as he leaned forward in his chair, until his elbows were on his knees and his face was in his hands. Muffled, he added, "And you're not making this easy."
If she'd been Ino, perhaps she would have coyly said something about how she was actually very, very easy. Instead, a spark of her earlier anger returned. "Good! I don't want to make it easy."
Kakashi lowered his hands, irritation thick in his voice as he said, "Stop being such a—" He trailed off, looking embarrassed, like he had said something he hadn't meant to say.
"A brat?" Sakura suggested, finally stepping around the corner of the desk. Even though her anger wasn't gone, she was holding back a smile. She wanted him to be irritated—as irritated as she was by the whole situation.
"I didn't say that." His eyes flickered down to her mouth, and then to the side, away from her. She wondered if he was thinking about the last time he'd called her a brat, and the way he'd kissed her afterward.
Sakura took the final step so that she was right in front of him, her knees almost touching his. "But you were thinking it, weren't you?"
He finally looked at her again, and the conflict she saw in his eyes made her heart hurt. His voice low, he said, "If you knew what I was thinking…"
"Tell me." She wanted—needed—to know if he was thinking the same thing as her. Summoning her courage, she reached out with both hands for his face, whispering, "Are you thinking about kissing me again?"
He raised his hands and placed them over hers, holding them for a brief moment—and then he was pulling them down, away from his face. "No," he said, though his voice probably didn't sound as firm as he'd wanted.
Of all the stubborn—scowling, Sakura yanked her hands back. "Fine."
That was it. She had shot her shot. There was only one thing left she could think of—and that was to make him as angry as she was. After all, Sakura was nothing if not spiteful. Taking a step back, she spat, "I never took you for a coward."
Anger lit up Kakashi's eyes, but Sakura didn't wait to see what his response would be. Instead, she spun on her heel and marched away from him, fists clenched at her sides as she stalked toward the door. She only made it about halfway there before his voice carried across the room.
"Sakura."
There was definitely anger in his voice, but there was something else there, too. Sakura stopped, but she didn't turn, or speak.
"Come here," he said, his voice a clear order.
The low, unyielding tone of his voice made her pulse quicken. Wetting her lips, Sakura slowly turned to face him. Folding her arms, she cocked her head to the side and said, "Come here… what?"
Kakashi leaned forward in his chair, hands on his knees. His gaze was sharp, and Sakura wondered what kind of expression he had under the mask—whether it was an angry scowl, or a frown, or maybe, if she was really lucky… a smile.
When he spoke again, his voice carried an edge of sharp humor that brought her back to the past. "Come here now." He was definitely smiling under the mask—a dangerous smile. She could hear it.
Apparently, pissing him off had been the right idea.
Disbelief rushed through Sakura as she realized that she'd actually won her gambit, and she bit her lower lip as she walked back toward Kakashi. He watched her as she moved toward him, his eyes dark and predatory. When she stopped in front of him, he lifted a hand, palm out. Sakura held his gaze as she rested her hand in his.
Kakashi's hand tightened around hers, and Sakura gasped as he spun her around, tugging her back onto his lap. His other arm caught her around the waist, pulling her closer, and Sakura closed her eyes at the sensation of his breath against her ear as he said, "I liked you more when you did as you were told."
Considering the way he was holding her, Sakura didn't really believe it, and she smiled slightly as she returned, "No, you didn't." Arching her back slightly, she pressed back against him.
"No, I didn't," Kakashi admitted in that rough voice, the hand that held hers releasing it and raising to her chin, tilting her head to face him. "Don't call me a coward again."
Don't give me a reason to was right on her tongue to say, but Sakura didn't say it—after all, she already had him right where she wanted him. Instead, her hands crept up to the edges of his mask as she breathed, "Yes, sensei," and when he didn't stop her, she peeled his mask down beneath his chin.
Before she could kiss him, he dipped his head and lightly bit her neck, his mouth hot on her skin. Sakura exhaled shakily at the feeling, biting her lip as he pulled back enough to rasp, "You really are a brat."
"Kakashi," Sakura whimpered softly, tilting her head to give him better access to her neck.
"Do you know how much I want you?" he asked her, dragging his mouth up her neck to her ear, even as the arm around her waist held her flush against him. He murmured, "Ever since I got my memories back, I see you in here and you're all I can think about."
As he nuzzled into her neck and bit the sensitive skin there again, sucking, Sakura moaned softly, reaching back with one hand to lose her fingers in his already-messy hair. "Kakashi…" she whispered again. All of her frustration since she'd come back to the past had built up to this moment, and now that he was there with her, she needed him so desperately that she didn't even know how to put it into words.
His hands slid up over her abdomen, his thumbs sweeping softly over the lower curves of her breasts. His voice was even rougher as he asked, "Do you know what they'll think of me? The pervert sensei who fucks his students."
"Just one of his students," she corrected impudently, and he snorted softly behind her. She knew what he was saying was true, but she just didn't care anymore. Shikamaru was right—she needed to stop worrying about what other people thought. And it was time to make Kakashi stop worrying, too. Arching back against him, Sakura pressed her ass back against his hips, feeling him beginning to get hard beneath her. Turning her head, she placed a soft, open-mouthed kiss on his jaw, her tone sweet as she asked, "Does that mean you're going to fuck me, sensei?"
Kakashi let out a soft groan and growled, "Brat." Sliding a hand up beneath her skirt, he cupped her through her panties. "Is that what you want?" Biting her neck again, a little harder than before, and then pressing a kiss to it, he asked, "Do you want me to make you come?"
"Yes," Sakura whimpered, grinding herself into his hand.
His fingers slowly rubbed her through the silken fabric of her panties, and she could hear that dark smile in his voice again as he said, "Then you're going to need to ask more nicely than that."
Kakashi was apparently done feeling guilty.
"Please, Kakashi…" Sakura whispered, sweet as sugar, knowing exactly what he wanted to hear. Apparently, he hadn't changed that much. "Please touch me. Please make me come."
"Good girl," he murmured, raising his hand enough to slide his fingers into the waistband of her panties. Sakura spread her legs more as he stroked lower, lower, until the slightly coarse pads of his fingers were sliding through the slick lips of her sex. She was almost embarrassed to be so turned on from just a few kisses. "Wet so soon, Sakura?" he murmured, and the approval in his voice swept away her embarrassment. His free hand slid down her thigh, pressing it wider.
Sakura let out a shaky breath as he slowly slid a long finger into her. When his thumb, wet with her slick, found the nub of her clit and applied slow, circling pressure, she whimpered his name again.
His hand—his wonderful hand—was deft and merciless as he teased her, his voice dark velvet in her ear as he whispered all of the things he wanted to do to her—and he seemed to have learned a few things in the fourteen years since they'd last been together. By the time he slid another finger inside of her, Sakura's ability to think coherent thoughts was gone, lost in the spiral of pleasure he drew out of her like she had been made for him.
As her breath quickened, so did his hand, his fingers sure in their purpose. Sakura keened, pressing herself back against him, her hands gripping the flexing muscles of his forearms. It wasn't just that he seemed to know exactly how to touch her—it was how much she had wanted this moment, how she had waited for it. It had all built up to this single, overwhelming moment.
As he brought her close to her release, Sakura's whole body tightened like a bowstring, her inner muscles clenching around his slick fingers. Right as she was at her crest, she heard his voice in her ear, softly urging, "Come for me, Sakura."
It was enough to destroy her. She came, gasping and shaking in his lap, his name brokenly falling from her lips. His hand worked between her legs, inside her panties, as he drew her pleasure out—every last drop. When she finally went limp in his arms, panting, he pressed a kiss to her temple, a slow smile curling his mouth. "That's my girl," he murmured, almost too quietly for her to hear it.
Sakura didn't reply at first, just trying to catch her breath as her whole body throbbed in the aftermath of her orgasm. But she hadn't lost her awareness of the feeling of Kakashi's very hard cock against her ass, and as soon as she felt like she could move without dissolving into a puddle, she was sliding off of him just long enough to turn herself around and climb back on again.
Kakashi was only able to let out one soft chuckle at her eagerness before she pressed her lips to his, finally feeling his lips against hers, running her hands up his chest as she straddled him. He let her control the kiss as her hands made it up to his hair, pulling his hitae-ate off so she could fully run her fingers through his choppy strands, her fingers tightening as his hands found her hips and pulled her into him. Breaking the kiss, she rolled her hips into his, and just because she knew he would like it, she put her lips close to his ear and whispered, "Please, Kakashi… I want you inside me."
There was another one of those low, delicious noises in his throat, and Sakura was pretty sure that she had succeeded in turning him on further by the way he grinded up against her. Letting her hands drop between them, she began to unfasten his pants while pressing small, sweet kisses to his jaw and neck.
"Impatient, are we?" he asked with some amusement, although the 'we' sounded a little winded as her eager hand curled around his cock, sliding it out of his pants.
He was hot in her hand, the swollen head of his cock already slick with precum as her thumb swept over it. Sakura could hear Kakashi's breath catch in his throat as she slowly stroked him, spreading the slickness, as she continued to kiss her way back to his mouth. When she bit his lower lip and he jumped in her hand, she decided she couldn't wait any more, and raised herself over him, ready to take him inside her.
He was happy to help her, taking his cock into his hand as she pulled her panties out of the way. Sakura held his gaze, and with one hand on her hip, Kakashi guided her down onto his cock.
He hissed softly as she took him into her, his forehead touching hers, and the next kiss they shared was surprisingly sweet and tender—but almost immediately, that kiss deepened and roughened, and Sakura whimpered as she drew herself up to drop down again, a little harder and faster than before. That was enough for him to grab her hips in an iron grip and begin to guide her into the rhythm that he wanted.
After his fingers, Sakura was more than ready for him, and he felt like slick iron inside her as she rose and fell in his lap. He held her firm by the hips, thrusting up into her even as he pushed her down on him, and beneath the sound of her little mewls and whimpers she could hear his soft, roughened grunts.
As he struck a particularly sweet spot again, and again, Sakura mewled into his neck and pleaded, "More, Kakashi, please…"
His steely grip shifted from the top of her hips to beneath them, and he growled, "Hold on," before lifting them both out of the chair. It was only a single step to the thankfully clear desk, and Kakashi managed to set Sakura down on the edge of it without ever pulling his cock from inside her.
When Sakura went to release his shoulders, he stopped her, pulling her arms back around his neck. "Stay up here where you can hear me," he said in a low voice. Leaning in to brush his lips against her ear, he had that teasing smile in his voice again as he said, "Since I know that you just want your sensei to tell you what a good girl you are."
He was teasing her, reminding her of when he'd said that in the past, but just like then, it sent a bolt of arousal through Sakura that made her throb around him. Gripping the front of his flak vest, Sakura moaned, "Please, sensei…" and then pulled him down to her for another kiss.
Kakashi didn't need to be asked again, one hand sliding up from her shoulders to grip the back of her neck, the other falling to her hip as he pulled his hips back and then thrusted into her again. Sakura broke their kiss to cry out as he began to fuck her in earnest, harder than before now that he had her on the desk. As he fucked her, he fulfilled his promise and whispered in her ear, telling her how she felt around his cock, how wet she was, what a good girl she was. It had Sakura shaking for him, nearly sobbing as she approached an even bigger peak than before.
Sakura put her arms back, bracing herself on the desk behind her, freeing Kakashi's supporting hand to slide between them, finding her clit. "Look at me, Sakura," Kakashi ordered, and Sakura bit her lip around a moan, holding his gaze as he began to rub her clit in small circles, still fucking her stroke for stroke. She could see that he was getting as close as she was, it was written all over his sinfully handsome face, and when a particular bolt of pleasure went through her and she shuddered around him, he let out a low groan and only fucked her harder.
"Don't stop," she gasped. "I'm going to come…"
"Where do you want me to come, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, and she could hear how close he was in his voice.
"Inside—" Sakura began, gasping again as another bolt of pleasure hit her. She was so close. So close. One of her hands left the desk and grabbed for his shoulder, pulling him in as she moaned, "Kakashi—come inside me—"
She would have said more, but at that moment a powerful orgasm swept through her, making her cry out, and Kakashi closed his eyes and pulled her to him, fucking her with short, powerful strokes until he shuddered and came, his warmth filling her as she quaked around him.
"Fuck," Kakashi said, sounding as blown away as she was. Sakura, on the other hand, couldn't even manage to speak.
They clung together as they trembled through the aftershocks, but eventually Sakura pulled away enough to lay back on the desk, panting as she came down. Kakashi pulled out of her and braced himself over her, his own breath coming as quick as hers, and when their gazes met, he raised his eyebrows at her, as if wordlessly asking if she was okay.
That was enough for the enormity of what had just happened to hit Sakura, and she clapped her hands over her face, feeling herself turning red. Just like the last time she'd slept with Kakashi, she couldn't believe the things that had come out of her mouth. And she'd said them to her fucking Hokage! Even Ino would be shocked. Oh god, what was Ino going to say? When she found out she was—
Kakashi chuckled, interrupting her momentary catastrophizing, and she glared at him through her fingers, saying, "What are you laughing at?"
"You." He was grinning at her. "You have no problem being filthy when we're in the middle of things, but afterwards you're always embarrassed." Lifting a hand from the desk, he tweaked her chin, adding, "It's pretty cute."
"You can't say 'always' if we've only had sex two times," she pointed out, pouting a bit.
"You're right. I'm going to need a bigger sample size," he said, that lazy grin not faltering in the slightest.
Something about that grin made her feel less embarrassed. Sakura finally let her hands drop from her face. "You don't seem very worried about what people will think of you anymore," she observed, smiling a little. She was glad that he didn't seem to be feeling guilty anymore.
"Yeah, I decided I don't care about that," Kakashi said casually as he looked down and tucked himself back into his pants.
Sakura sat up, letting out a laugh at his blasé demeanor. "Since when?"
"Somewhere around the time where you came in here acting like a brat, and made me forget what I was worried about," he said, the amused lilt to his voice taking any sting out of his words.
He seemed like he meant it, and Sakura was surprised. Surely it couldn't really be that easy for him to change his mind. "People will have a lot of things to say if they find out about us, though," she said soberly. Then, realizing what she'd just said, she quickly added, "If there even is an us, I mean. I didn't meant to—" Sakura paused, flailing for words under his quiet gaze, and then finally lamely finished, "I just meant… nobody needs to find out about this."
Kakashi frowned and, instead of answering right away, sat back down in his desk chair. Reaching down, he pulled open one of the desk drawers, revealing a box of tissues. Offering them to her, he said, "Don't you remember what I said in the past?"
Sakura gratefully accepted the box of tissues and began to use them to clean herself up a bit as she considered his question. "You said a lot of things in the past," she hedged, and then suddenly straightened and said, "Hey! 'Don't' what?"
The confusion was plain on his face. "What?"
Tossing several balled-up tissues into a nearby trash can, she turned back to face him. "In the Third Hokage's office, right before I came back to this time, you looked at me and you said 'don't.' Don't what?" she demanded.
He was thoughtfully silent for a moment, and then his eyes lit up in recognition. "I remember that. I was going to say, 'Don't keep this to yourself.'"
"Oh," Sakura said, taking that in. She hadn't realized that, deep down, she was still feeling a little guilty—still questioning whether she had done the right thing, if she'd gone against his wishes. As relief flooded her, she suddenly leaned forward to stab a finger at his chest and exclaimed, "You should have tried harder to say something! I drove myself crazy trying to figure out if I should tell you!"
He caught her finger in his hand, his eyes sincere. "I'm sorry."
It turned out a sincere Kakashi was not something Sakura was prepared to defend herself against, and it was all she could do not to simper at him as she said, "It's okay."
"That wasn't what I was asking if you remembered, though," he continued. When Sakura just looked at him expectantly, he continued, "After we slept together—the first time—you asked me what I would do tomorrow if you didn't have to leave."
That was enough to jar her memory, and Sakura finished for him. "And you told me you would ask me out, and fuck me again." Smiling, she added, "And that I would say yes to both."
Smiling back at her, he said, "I think that's where we should start."
Sakura's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Could things come together this neatly? How on earth could she believe that the ever aloof, ever weird Kakashi would just… want her like this? "You know, five minutes ago you were telling me you didn't even want to kiss me."
Kakashi made a face, clearly insulted as he protested, "It was definitely longer than five minutes."
Sakura grinned in spite of herself. "And now you want to ask me out?"
"I process things quicker than most people," he sniffed. The didn't you know I'm a genius was only implied—or maybe that was just Sakura's imagination. She scoffed, and he continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Also, you did a really good job of convincing me." That grin was back, but it was more of a smirk this time. "You're very good at that."
Sakura narrowed her eyes. "You had better not just be saying all of this because we have great sex."
"Really great sex," Kakashi corrected.
"Amazing sex," Sakura conceded, the smile creeping back onto her face.
"That's not the only reason," Kakashi said, softening a bit as he stood again, stepping toward her. Resting his hands on her knees, he lowered his head until his messy silver strands brushed at her forehead. "The time we spent together," he began haltingly, pausing for a moment before he continued, "It's not just the sex. It's you. It's how I feel when I'm with you."
His awkward sincerity melted Sakura again, and she reached up to wind her arms around his neck, softly asking, "How do you feel when you're with me?"
"Like I don't give a shit what other people think," he said, that crooked smile returning.
It was a light answer, but Sakura was okay with it—it wasn't like she was looking for any grand declaration of love.
Well… not yet, anyway.
But in that moment, Sakura finally let it all sink in—she had given Kakashi back his memories, and he wanted her, just like she wanted him. Things had gone the best they possibly could. Still… "What if it causes a scandal?"
"Oh, it's definitely going to cause a scandal," Kakashi said with a short laugh. "The council is probably going to lose their minds, at least for a while. I'm going to have to warn Shikamaru."
Pulling back slightly to look at him more fully, Sakura said, "Oh—uh, Shikamaru already knows."
"Of course he does," Kakashi deadpanned.
"He's actually the one who told me to make a move on you," Sakura admitted with a sheepish grin.
Kakashi huffed a laugh and said, "Of course he did." Dipping his head down, he nuzzled into her neck, murmuring, "I'm going to have to get him a raise."
Sakura giggled softly, both from his words and the feeling of his lips on her neck. When Kakashi lifted his head again, she smiled at him and said, "So, what now?"
"Now, I take you home," he said with a devious look. Before she could respond, he folded his arms around her, completing a flurry of hand signs, and they both disappeared from the office.
After that, things got complicated for Sakura—and also much simpler.
They were complicated because, as Sakura began to spend more time together with Kakashi, occasionally stealing off to a favorite restaurant or tea shop, they were eventually seen together, and people began to talk. Eventually, Kakashi was forced to make a statement to the council, wherein he officially acknowledged her as his romantic partner. It caused quite an uproar for the current Hokage to be involved with his former student, and it was the talk of the village—and even other villages—for months. Sakura felt like she couldn't go anywhere without whispers following her.
And then there was the fallout in her personal life—explaining things to a very demanding Ino, explaining things to her parents… for a long while, Sakura had to do a lot to defend her actions.
But the simple part was that, somehow, none of it really mattered. It didn't change the ease Sakura felt when she was around Kakashi, or the passion. As busy as her work at the hospital kept her, she still made time for him, and he made time for her, too—and the more time they spent together, the more the bond between them grew. Very quickly, their relationship became something that felt so natural in Sakura's life that she didn't know how she'd ever survived without it. And when her friends and family saw how happy she was, they all eventually accepted Kakashi as her lover, former teacher or not.
The months passed and became a year, and the gossipers finally began to die down, and all that was left was the love that had built between them. And when Kakashi eventually asked Sakura if she would marry him, there was never any question for her that the answer would be yes.
And every year on her birthday, he brought her cake, and made her promise to never, ever, open another scroll that she didn't recognize—not unless he was with her.