Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Grounded	By : djserani Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 2818 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
When Sakura woke, the sun was starting to set. She sat up and stretched, then checked Kakashi over. He’d be fine with rest, since it was only chakra exhaustion from the sharingan and nothing more. She breathed a sigh of relief.
She made her way around the campground. Ino was watching over Temari, Shikamaru and Chouji and after making her promise not to push too much, Sakura left her to them. Neji finally agreed to let her check him and, aside from some scrapes and bruises, he’d managed to come out with no damage. Hinata was still resting, her wounds coming along nicely.
Sakura moved on to Lee and Tenten. Lee would be fine, he was still sleeping. She checked Tenten again and all she had left were a few scrapes. She made her lay down to check the baby and, thankfully, everything looked fine.
One last look over the rogue-nin that were left alive and she settled down next to Kakashi again. Someone had retrieved the packs from where they’d left them before the battle and brewed some of her tea. Sakura had gratefully taken a cup and was sipping on it while she kept her eyes trained on Kakashi.
They couldn’t stay for long. They didn’t have food and even their soldier pills wouldn’t last them long. Chouji looked dead skinny already, having used his chakra almost up. They’d have to figure something out, and soon.
Sakura was so lost in thought, she didn’t see Kakashi open his eyes. He finally drew her attention as he sat up. “How bad is it?”
“You should be laying down.” She set her tea cup aside and pushed on his shoulders, but he just shook his head.
“I’ll be fine. It doesn’t drain me like it used to.” He glanced around the camp. “How bad is it?”
She gave him a rundown of the injuries. “Just a few too many to try to move. But we can’t stay long, we have no food and few soldier pills.”
Kakashi nodded. “I’d bet Lee will be fine when he wakes up. Hinata and Shikamaru will need to go slow, but we can probably make it to the first village tomorrow without too much trouble. We can request help there.” He paused to look her over. “Has Ino checked you?”
“Huh?” Sakura just stared at him.
“Did Ino—or anyone, for that matter—check you over?”
“Oh. I’m okay. I had a bit of chakra exhaustion, but that was it. I’ve napped since then and I’ll be fine.” She glanced around. “We still have seven rogue-nin to deal with, Takumi needs to be escorted back to Suna and four dead bodies to seal.”
“I’ll do that in a bit.” He sighed. “Well, we got lucky, I think.”
“We were skilled, had a good leader, and a good strategist,” Sakura corrected him.
Kakashi stared at her. “And a good medic.”
She shrugged. “We’re all alive and our injuries are relatively minor. I’d call it a win.”
“Well, we need rest. Are there watches set?”
She nodded. “Yes, and I’m due for mine in a bit. Get some more rest. We can seal the dead in the morning. They’ve been moved to the other side of the camp.”
Kakashi looked like he wanted to argue, but yawned instead and lay back down. “Okay.” He took her hand, though, and kissed it through his mask before falling back to sleep.

By morning, Hinata was awake and feeling okay. She was slightly low on chakra, but it was nothing a few healthy meals and more rest wouldn’t take care of. Shikamaru’s bleeding had stopped completely, and he’d even recovered most of his chakra. Lee woke up as full of energy as ever, much to Tenten’s chagrin. Kakashi had even recovered most of his chakra, so after burying the fire, sealing the dead and corralling the rogue-nin, they headed for the village.
It took forever, having to move as slow as they did. It was late afternoon by the time they made it there. The village had a small jail, so they put the nin in there under guard. Takumi volunteered to watch them for a while, so with Neji, they settled in.
Kakashi summoned Pakkun and sent a message to Tsunade for help. With luck, the ANBU would be there in a couple of hours to retrieve the rogue-nin and the transport scroll and they could concentrate on getting themselves back home. While they waited, they worked with the headman to find places for everyone to sleep.
Sakura stepped out of the teahouse and sat next to him. “How are you feeling?” She looked him over, but he just took her hand.
“I’m fine. I keep telling you that.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead through the mask. “And you?”
“Just fine. Tired, but that’s to be expected. Nothing a bit of real rest won’t cure.” She smiled.
“Tsunade is sending ANBU to collect the rogues. We’ll stay here tonight and head home tomorrow. “
She nodded. “Okay.” She tried unsuccessfully to hide the yawn.
“Go on, go get rest,” he said, but she just shook her head. He raised an eyebrow. “You used to listen to me.”
“Yeah, you reminded me a few days ago that you’re not my sensei anymore.” She winked at him and grinned.
“Now you agree.” He sighed, but he put his arm around her and they sat together, waiting.

When the ANBU team arrived, Kakashi pulled the tiger-masked captain aside. “Be careful. They’ve escaped twice before this.”
Tenzou nodded. “Hai, senpai. I remember them.” He hesitated and Kakashi raised an eyebrow waiting. “Is everyone else okay? Is Sakura?”
Kakashi gave a half smile. “They’re fine. She’s tired, but the whole thing started off with a rather—” He cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head. “—sleepless night. Two nights of camping, some emotional crap and then the big battle. It’s no wonder. Once we all get some rest we’ll be fine.”
“So it’s true, then? You and Sakura?”
Kakashi stared at the man he’d come to think of as the closest thing to a best friend he had. “Where did you hear that?”
“There was a rumor that you left the bar with her the other night.”
Kakashi closed his eyes and sighed. “Yes, it’s true.” He stared at the tiger mask and waited. “Well?”
“Well, what? If you care about her, it’s none of my business. There are comments being made by others, but I don’t have anything to say about it.”
Kakashi sighed again. “Well, thanks for that.”
Tenzou nodded. “We have to get going. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Thanks.” He waved and headed into the teahouse in search of Sakura. But he wasn’t quite in such a hurry to get back to town, after all.

After they rested that night, they were all healed enough to travel the ninja way back to Konoha. When they got to the gates, Kakashi sent the rest of the team home, and he and Sakura turned toward Hokage tower. It was a lot more difficult than he thought it would be to not hold her hand or touch her in some way while they stood in front of Tsunade’s desk. He buried his hands in his pockets, instead.
“Good work, you two.” She took a deep breath and watched the two of them carefully. They were both obviously fighting the urge to lean together. She buried the urge to smile. “I really ought to dress you down for not keeping the girls in the village, but I suspect they took matters into their own hands.” Sakura blushed at that and Tsunade had to bite her tongue to keep the grin hidden.
“Genma and Gai’s teams came back the day before yesterday. The rogue-nin that broke off from the group still hasn’t been found. We’ll keep an eye out for him, but I suspect he’s gone under. You’ve both done a good job. Take a couple of days. You can report back to the hospital then, Sakura.” Sakura nodded. “Thank you again. Dismissed!”
They headed through the door, but at the bottom of the steps, they stood awkwardly. “Well, um…” Sakura said, then smacked her forehead. “Ugh.”
“Hmm?” Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
“Chouji is going to be at my apartment.” She sighed, then shuddered. “No way am I going to be around them all the time. I guess I’ll stay with my mom for a while. Ugh.”
Kakashi looked down. “Why don’t you get a few things and stay with me.”
She blinked up at him, not believing her ears. He couldn’t be suggesting… “But…”
“You don’t have to. I just figured you might not want to go back home.” He looked away.
“I just didn’t think you’d want me to.” She stepped up to him and kissed over the mask. “I want to be with you.”
He turned back to her and took her hand. “Well, then, let’s get some of your clothes. We’ll figure the rest out later.”

When they got to her apartment, Sakura laughed. Ino had just about every dish in the kitchen dirty and Chouji was currently eating his way through a table full of food. Ino jumped up and hugged her. “Hey. I wondered if I’d see you.”
“I’m not staying. No offense to you guys.”
Ino smiled. “It’s okay. I understand. But…” She glanced over at Kakashi. “Where are you going?”
Sakura closed her eyes a moment. “Where do you think?” she said, quietly.
Ino glanced back at Kakashi again. “Okay. Come on, I’ll help you get a few things together.”
When they got into Sakura’s bedroom and she pulled a bag out from under her bed, Ino turned to her. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Look. If you think for one minute you’re going to manage to either not have sex or keep it quiet, you’re nuts. And I’d really prefer to not be the fifth wheel here.” Sakura went to her dresser and started pulling clothes out and dumping them into her pack.
“That’s not what I meant. I wouldn’t want to get stuck here with us, either.” She rolled her eyes. “I meant Kakashi.”
That stopped Sakura. “What?”
“I mean…” She sighed. “Is it such a good idea? It’s one thing to go have sex with him to get rid of the reason we were grounded, but do you really think he wants a long term relationship? Come on.”
Sakura turned to her. “I don’t know what he wants. I hope he does. He’s not the man that everyone thinks he is, okay? But honestly, Ino, I love him and this is between us.”
“Okay. It’s your decision. I just think you’re making a mistake.” Ino helped her get a few more things together and they headed back out to the living room in silence.
“I’ll catch you later.” She hugged Ino and Chouji then turned back to Kakashi. “Ready?”
“Yes.” He hadn’t moved from his spot by the door. He opened the door and held it for her. She waved once more at Ino and Chouji and stepped through.
He took her bag from her, then took her hand. The walk to his apartment was in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. He paused at the guard booth to tell the security guard to let her in when he saw her, then they went inside.
The nin pack was sprawled all over the living room when he opened the door. “I know you guys know how to find your own food,” he said in exasperation, when Pakkun padded up to him with his bowl in his mouth. Sakura laughed.
She looked up at him. “Do you have food for them here?”
He gave a long-suffering sigh. “Yes. Bottom cabinet next to the sink.”
“I’ll take care of it.” She kicked her shoes off, then took the bowl from Pakkun. “Come on,” she said to the dogs and she headed into the kitchen, the entire nin-pack following her.
Kakashi watched in amusement as she dug the food out and started filling bowls. He shook his head and headed into the bedroom. His apartment was way too small for two, but he couldn’t see her going to her mother’s. He wasn’t quite willing to admit that it had more to do with the empty bed and the prospect of a suddenly empty life, than any real thought of generosity.
He cleared out a drawer in his dresser, cramming his things into the other two, then pushed some of his clothes together in his closet, making as much space in the tiny spot as he could. He was staring at her bag, trying to decide if he should unpack it for her when she came in.
“You look absolutely terrified,” she said from the doorway. He turned around.
“How did you know that?” She pointed at the darkened window that looked very mirror-like at the moment. “Ah.”
She stepped into the room and sat on the bed. “Look, Kakashi, if you’re not comfortable with this, I can just go to my mom’s.”
He didn’t say anything at first, just sat next to her and reached up to brush her hair out of her face again. “I’ve never contemplated something like this in my entire life. The idea of waking up next to someone every day is…” He paused, shaking his head. “Hell waking up with someone is so foreign to me, I can’t begin to compare it with anything.” He turned and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs, staring at the floor. “I heard what Ino said.”
“Oh.” Sakura sighed. She wrapped her arms around her, trying not to let it bother her. “I don’t care what she thinks,” she said, but the words rang false, even to her own ears.
“You had to know we’d take crap for this. For us.” He continued to stare at the floor.
She nodded, then realizing he couldn’t see her said, “Yeah. I know.” She took a deep breath, then turned to him. She stared at him a minute, then crossed the room and closed the door. When she came back, she took his headband off, pulled his mask down and started kissing him.
And then all the other crap melted to the background. Their kiss dragged them in and they couldn’t resist the force that was them when they were together. She pulled at his vest while he took his gloves off. But it wasn’t fast enough. She nearly tore the thing off of him, but he opened it in time. She started in on the buttons as he pulled on her zipper.
Somewhere along the way, she heard a rip, but had no idea if it was her clothes or his. The bag got knocked off the bed and landed with a loud thump. Then they were naked, he was inside of her and nothing else mattered. They moved together, nearly desperate to feel the other’s pleasure. And when it hit, when she nearly screamed his name, he followed her off the edge.

The two days they had together was near idyllic. They read together, worked out together and made love a lot. He refused to let her cook, but after discovering he could—quite well, in fact—she left him to it and did the clean-up instead.
It was cozy, homey…and terrifying. Sakura found herself wanting this with him on a much longer-term basis. After a lousy forty-eight hours, she couldn’t imagine a life alone again. No, she couldn’t imagine a life without him again. And it scared her to death, because despite what she said to Ino, she didn’t know if he could handle something like that.
He hadn’t said anything about it lasting a long time. They hadn’t exactly made any plans in the two days they were together for her to find her own place, but that was a far cry from her completely moving in, too. So as she lay up against him on the second night, she couldn’t help but worry.
The next day she’d go to the hospital and he’d be ready for missions again. She didn’t know what to expect after all of that. She knew he was up for another team soon, and, selfishly, she didn’t want to share him with one. Assuming, of course, that he passed them. She smiled secretly. Not likely.
She didn’t know when she fell asleep except that it took a long time.
- 17
- 18
- 19
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