Shotgun Wedding

I know it's been forever! My in-laws were in town, so my writing schedule was totally off. I was also re-wading through what I'd already posted. My god there were a lot of typos! I even have a beta! Oh well. I'll repost each chapter with the changes. Please send me e-mails if you spot something with the chapter and approximate location of a typo. It's embarrassing having a typo in the middle of a smut scene. It breaks everything up. Okay, anyway, here's the next chapter, with more mission stuff. No glaring smut, but I'll have more, probably in the next chappie. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Sakura sighed softly and turned over onto her back, blinking against the bright morning light. She frowned for a moment, confused by the site of an unfamiliar ceiling. Turning her head, she looked around the room and her memory flooded back with embarrassing clarity. Suddenly Kakashi was moving over her, pressing her into the bed, stroking her naked skin…. She sat up abruptly and looked at the empty place beside her.

Tracing her hand over the sheets, she sighed when they were cool. She supposed she couldn’t expect him to shirk his ‘duties’ in the compound, just to wake up with her, but she was vaguely wishing he would have at least woken her up before he left.

Pushing her tousled and knotted hair back, she sighed and slipped from the bed and wandered to the bathing area. She ran a warm bath and settled into it with a soft groan. She was sore in a few places that she hadn’t ever been sore in before. The warm water seeped into her aching muscles, soothing and lulling her into a light doze. She knew she should probably be getting to work on her new duties, but it was hard to think about making beds and washing clothes when she’d just had one of the most erotic nights of her life.

She was idly contemplating the events of the night before when her door opened suddenly and the object of her thoughts strolled in, tray in hand. Sakura squeaked in surprise and clamped her arms around her body, before she registered who it was. She blushed and smiled sheepishly as he grinned at her response.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he murmured, kicking the door closed.

“I thought you were out with the men,” she admitted, unwinding her body and standing up from the water.

Kakashi eyed her naked flesh, dripping with water, appreciatively. He grinned. “I was, but how could I miss a sight like this?” he teased.

She reached for a towel and arched a brow at him. “So you just came to gawk?”

“Partially,” he admitted with a laugh. “Actually I was hoping to get back before you woke up. I didn’t mean to be gone,” he murmured honestly, setting his tray on the bed and gather her into his arms.

She snuggled her head against his chest and hummed softly. “It’s okay. Shojiro and Zuiken don’t know the extent of our relationship.” She peered around him at the tray. Her belly growled at the site of rice and fruit and eggs. “Is that for me?” she asked curiously.

“Yes,” he said, laughing at how quickly she got distracted. “You have a long day, so eat everything.”

“Yes Sensei,” she teased, pulling away from him and settling on the bed cross-legged.

Kakashi decided that before he was tempted to peek up the bottom of her gaping towel, he’d better get back to training the mercenaries. He was teaching them to throw knives that morning. “I need to get back and rescue the men from Naruto and Sasuke,” he sighed.

She grinned. “Alright Kakashi. I should get to work soon too.”

He smiled and pulled down his mask. Leaning in, he kissed her gently, his lips lingering for a moment. He pulled back and tugged up his black mask. Winking he turned and wan
dered to the door. “Be careful Sakura. I don’t trust any of these men, not around you.”

She saluted him with a chunk of apple. “I promise. Have a nice day Kakashi.” She watched him nod and then leave. Grinning to herself she finished up the breakfast he’d brought for her, before getting ready for the day.

***

Sakura blew a chunk of hair out of her face and dumped the pile of sheets on the grass, next to the washtub. She hated hand-washing clothing and sheets, but Shojiro had ‘apologized’ for the lack of proper machines and pointed her in the direction of the tub. “Woman’s work, my ass,” she grumbled. “Backward pigs.”

She tugged off her tunic and pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, settling in for a long afternoon bent over a washtub. At least the sheets were relatively clean and didn’t require much scrubbing, except for her own, perhaps.

She blushed at the telltale stains on the soft sheet in her hands. Kakashi had woken her up once during the night for another slow session of love making and the evidence of both encounters was quite clear. She quickly dunked the sheet into the soapy water, not wanting anyone to see what was so glaring obvious, especially someone like Naruto or Sasuke. They didn’t know it was all real now.

Sakura was deep in thought about how to tell her two long-time friends the truth, when a crunch of gravel from behind startled her. Her deeply ingrained ninja training kicked in immediately and she was on her feet, crouched in her natural fighting stance, ready to face down the intruder.

Three rough looking men were grinning down at her, from their considerable heights. Apparently they’d wandered away from the pack. Kakashi wouldn’t be pleased. “You picked the wrong place to work, washer woman,” an ugly, scarred blond purred. He grinned at his friends, sharing a knowing look with both.

She rolled her eyes at them and sighed. As if any woman would ever be so stupid as to ‘accidentally stumble’ into a mercenary compound. They must have missed her arrival.

It was one thing to play stupid with Shojiro or Zuiken, but with these morons it would just be insulting. A firm hand was all that worked with assholes like these…or a knife perhaps. She wished she could pull the kunai from her leg holster, but held off. “And you picked the wrong washer woman to harass. Go back to your training before you get hurt.”

The blonde’s dark haired friends laughed outright and he growled. Past the three men she could see her teammates approaching the scene with caution. Each knew she could easily take three civilians, but it didn’t make them any less protective. Kakashi looked like he was ready to remove limbs. “Bitch,” the blond snarled, reaching for her arm, disregarding the wicked kunai on her leg completely.

“Remove your hand,” she said firmly, her temper flaring instantly at the insult, “Or I will remove it for you.” When he simply smirked at her and yanked her towards him, she snapped her knee up. The delicate flesh between his thighs was crushed upward, and he dropped like a stone at her feet. His howl of agony was rather satisfying.

She didn’t have time to gloat, however, as his friends snarled and jumped for her. One was caught by his outstretched arm and helped through the air into the trunk of a nearby tree, while the other found himself face first in her wash water. He thrashed for a few moments until she drew him out and dumped him, coughing and choking to the grass. He scrambled away, hacking up water and soap in the grass.

“Any one else want to try?” she snarled at the crowd of men that had drawn slightly closer to the scene. “No? Don’t touch me and we’ll get along just fine. Touch me and you’ll be fishing your balls out of your throat like him!” she screamed in very uncharacteristic fury, pointing at the whimpering blond man at her feet. Her team mates were watching her carefully, surprised both by her anger and how quickly she’d dispatch the three big men. The rest of the group looked similarly stunned.

She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. “Who’s going to clean up this garbage?”

Five men jumped forward immediately and hurried around her, gathering up their fallen comrades. Another brave soul stepped forward and spoke up curiously. “Your name ma’am?”

“Sakura,” she grunted, folding her arms across her mesh covered chest. She had no doubt they were getting an eye full of feminine flesh, but she was too mad to care. How dare they try to touch her? Didn’t they have any manners? It was just common curtsey for crying out loud.

“Sakura is my wife,” Kakashi said softly from the back of the group. Dozens of eyes turned back to him and several men shuffled nervously at the look in his single smoldering eye. Most of them had learned the hard way that Kakashi didn’t feel the least bit guilty about doling out punishments. “You will refer to her as Mistress Sakura or Sakura Sensei. You’d do well to listen to her words and respect her threats.”

He flicked his gaze over the fuming woman and smiled slightly. Maybe Zuiken’s ‘wildcat’ nickname was appropriate, if for a different reason. He hadn’t seen her so angry before, even at Naruto or Sasuke. “She looks sweet and delicate, but in our former village she was regarded as a genius and a master of genjutsu and medical techniques. You wouldn’t like to see what she can do to your mind and body with a few hand seals.” He paused for a moment as men muttered curiously amongst themselves.

“Plus if you touch her, I’ll kill you,” he finished in a soft, ominous voice. The men blanched and nodded their understanding.

He turned back to Naruto and Sasuke, who were eyeing Sakura with both pride and alarm. Sometimes even they forgot how much she’d changed over the years. “Naruto, Sasuke, take those three to Shojiro to deal with. This kind of disobedience will not be tolerated on my watch. I will have absolute order and discipline in this compound! Distractions mean death in battle. If you want to be even halfway decent soldiers, you’d do well to remember that,” he growled moodily. Naruto and Sasuke nodded their agreement and beckoned for the five men to drag their comrades into the main building with them.

Once they were gone and the men started to disperse, Kakashi walked over to his fuming wife and gently put his hands over her trembling shoulders. “Are you alright?” he asked softly.

“Of course,” she huffed. “But really, what gives them the right? I’m not the camp whore! There is no excuse for behaving like that!”

He sighed. “Shojiro forbids them from keeping their own wives and women, so some of them may not act properly. Most of them have grown up thinking a woman is only useful for a few activities. We did not grow up in a village like that. The women of Konoha can choose their own paths and these men aren’t used to that. I would imagine that a few of them would wet themselves if they saw Tsunade bring down a solid wall with one good punch or if they saw your friend, Ino, take over a comrade’s body. Don’t let yourself be baited into irrational anger by their ignorance or crudeness.”

She sagged slightly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have treated them so harshly,” she murmured, blushing. She probably had overreacted a bit.

“That’s not what I mean. They were out of line, those three. They provided an excellent example to the others. I don’t think you’ll have further problems, but don’t seek any out either,” he murmured, pushing her chin up. “We have other goals at the moment. Single-handedly stomping out sexism is not one of them.”

“I understand. I will be careful and even polite, but if one of them touches me again, I will make good on my threat,” she said firmly.

“I assure you that even Naruto, Sasuke and I were properly terrified when you realigned the blond. I doubt children are in his future,” he murmured in both pity and amusement. “At least look at your attacker first before reacting. I don’t think I’d care to sneak up on you and end up ‘fishing my balls out of my throat’,” he murmured in soft amusement, teasing her with her own words.

She blushed lightly. “I didn’t handle that very well.” Normally she could control her anger, but those three had triggered something in her. Maybe it was because she was surrounded by men and feeling just a tad vulnerable. She hated feeling like that, and decided, deep down, she was trying a little too hard to prove herself to them. She slipped into his arms and sighed. “I’m okay. I’ll handle it better if it happens again. And don’t worry about sneaking up on me. I always know when it’s you.”

He chuckled softly and kissed the top of her head. “I’d better get back to work before our bosses come to investigate.” He pulled gently away from her and turned to see dozens of men milling around, trying not to notice the interlude. “Maybe not all of them are so bad,” he allowed.

She smiled and nodded. A few of them even smiled tentatively back. Maybe she could deal with this. Her boundaries were clearly set and hopefully they’d respect them. If so, they’d all get along just fine.

***

Shojiro turned away from his window and regarded his younger brother with a small smile. “Kakashi wasn’t jesting when he said his little bride knew how to keep men in line.”

Zuiken glanced over at his brother before turning his eyes back to the interlude between man and wife. “Oh? Did he say that?”

“Mm,” Shojiro grunted. “Apparently she is the glue and discipline that holds the little group together. She’s the reason the boys followed, not Kakashi, I’d bet on it. It’s curious to see a woman with so much power over three men like that. One of her ‘mean right hooks’ must have scrambled their wits,” he murmured, remembering what Kakashi had said about her method of control over the boys.

Zuiken looked at him oddly. “Pardon?”

“Nothing,” Shojiro said with a small smile. “Keep an eye on her. She may not be as stupid as she acts.”

“Wish I could have heard what she was screaming,” Zuiken mused after a moment.

“She said that if any other man touched her, she’d knock his delicates up into his head,” came Sasuke’s deadpan reply from the door. Both men turned and saw Sakura’s three attackers at his feet and Naruto hovering at his shoulder. “Delivery,” he murmured. “Kakashi sends them for your judgment.” Sasuke nudged at Naruto and the two young men disappeared down the hallway.

Zuiken gazed at the three dazed men. “What do we do with them?”

“Turn them loose or kill them. I don’t care. I don’t have use for men who can’t control themselves around a woman. That isn’t helpful in fulfilling our plans,” Shojiro said, turning his back on the three pathetic fools and looking out at the woman bent over her washing tub. “We’ll make our move soon, if Kakashi’s training methods continue progressing at the current pace.”

***

Sakura sat back against a low wall and sighed in relief. She was finally done with all of the major cleaning. Fortunately she only had to deal with three bedrooms and two offices. She hadn’t started sorting papers yet, but that could wait until tomorrow. Kakashi was hopeful she’d find something useful for them to take home, and the sooner the better.

She heard a soft rustle and opened her eyes. Bright orange assaulted her senses in the fading light. “Good evening Naruto,” she murmured with a soft smile.

“Hey Sakura,” he said with a cheerful grin.

“Where’s your counterpart?” she asked as he settled next to her and crossed his legs at the ankles. She leaned sideways and snuggled her head against his shoulder. Over the past ten years the three had formed a tight bond under Kakashi’s guidance and through battles and hardships. She thoroughly enjoyed these quiet chats with Naruto, especially now that he’d calmed down a bit.

“Getting a snack for all of us,” he murmured. He was quiet for a moment and then sighed. “Sakura…you can tell us you know.”

“Tell you what?” she asked picking at the grass by his knee.

“That you and Kakashi are together now,” he said so softly she barely heard. “Sasuke and I were walking back from the showers last night…a while after we left your room.”

She blushed furiously and turned her face into his shoulder. How embarrassing. “You heard something?”

“Briefly,” he admitted, his face turning pink. “Did we hear wrong?”

“No,” she said shyly. “We didn’t mean for things to end up this way…it just happened,” she murmured softly.

“Do you love him?” he asked after another pause.

“I think so,” she admitted softly.

He sighed and turned to give her a peck on the forehead. “Sakura?” he murmured in a soft, serious voice.

“Hmm?” she responded looking up into his sweet, handsome face.

“I’d leave the village again for you,” he vowed.

“I would too,” Sasuke said from above. They glanced up and saw him crouched on the low wall behind them. He dropped apples to them and leapt down from the wall. “But only if you were serious about what you were getting into,” he amended. “Is it serious enough to give up everything else Sakura?”

She turned the apple nervously over in her hands, biting her lip. “I don’t know yet,” she admitted. “I think maybe it is or it will be.”

“Good, I don’t want to abandoned the village for nothing,” Sasuke grunted.

“Just for friendship, power or vengeance,” Naruto drawled in a dry voice, rolling his eyes. Sasuke popped Naruto in the head and settled next to the grumbling young man with a sigh. She felt her eyes tear slightly at the familiar sight and quickly concentrated on eating her apple to hide it. She didn’t think she’d be able to live a happy life without any one of her three men.

***

The next week flew by, with Sakura busily tended the living quarters while her teammates trained the mercenaries for some unknown purpose. The four were positive that the mercenaries weren’t simply being trained to hire out, but Sakura had yet to find any positive proof of that. Shojiro must keep his plans in a secret place or entirely in his head. She hoped it wasn’t the latter.

Just in case she was missing something important, she noted everything that happened in a secret journal; one she kept in a hidden pocket in her pack. Tsunade required her to note EVERYTHING. She kept track of her emotions on a mission, her health, her relationships with teammates, everything. It helped Tsunade to track Sakura’s training needs and to assign her to missions. Turning the journal in would be humiliating, when Tsunade read about what had happened with Kakashi, but Sakura wasn’t one to outright disobey her leader.

She sighed and leafed through the papers on the desk in front of her. Shojiro was meticulous about dating his material and numbering pages, so organizing everything really wasn’t much of a chore. She was pretty sure it was just busy work. After all she could only sweep the floors so many times before the wood started to wear.

As she dropped the pile of papers into the file drawer of the desk, she accidentally knocked a black book to the floor. It flipped open as it tumbled and came to rest face up. Sighing in exasperation she bent to pick it up and nearly dropped it again when she saw what was in it. It was some kind of calendar or journal, she wasn’t sure. She only had to the chance to read the words, ‘will move in on the village before harvest’, before heavy footfalls fell in the hallway.

Sakura jerked upright and scrambled to re-place the book as one of the mercenaries filled the doorway. He didn’t seem to notice her flustered state and smiled hesitantly at her. The men were still a bit unsure how to act around her. They didn’t quite know what would set her off.

“Your husband wanted to know if you could join him in the training yard ma’am…Mistress Sakura,” he said nervously. She suspected he wasn’t really scared of her, just unsure around women. She’d discovered that many of the men had come from boys’ homes or prisons, where women weren’t really present. Perhaps that was part of their hesitancy around her. They didn’t know what would set off her temper, because they didn’t understand women in general.

“Sure,” she said nodding. “I’m done here. Do you think it looks nice?”

He ducked his head, “Yes ma’am it does. You do a nice job around here, if you don’t mind me sayin’. We all agreed…the other men and me…you make it nicer bein’ here, ma’am.”

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “I wonder why a nice man like you is even here.”

“Same reason as you, I reckon,” he offered shyly. “Most of us don’t have any place to go and all…so we came here. Pay’s good and food’s decent.”

“But don’t you wonder what you’re training for?” she asked, hoping he’d spill something.

“Not really,” he said with a shrug. “We figure if Shojiro and Zuiken take us in, well we’ll return the favor with hard work. Don’t much care what the work is if I get three meals and a bed,” he murmured.

“Of course,” she agreed. “What’s your name?”

“Goro, ma’am,” he replied with a smile.

She smiled and sighed. “Well let’s see what my husband needs Goro. Did he say?”

“Sasuke Sensei twisted his ankle,” Goro said with a frown. “He says he is fine, but Kakashi Sensei wanted you to look at it anyway.”

“Oh,” she said perking up. “And here I was just chatting away with you. I’m sure he’ll be fine, but let’s hurry out there anyway,” she said moving past him into the hallway. It was unusual for Sasuke to get hurt, even when he fought Naruto, barring any life or death battles at least. They’d had a few of those.

When she got out into the yard, she found several of the men crowded around her teammates. Sasuke was sitting on the ground looking rather pale and cross. It always irked him to admit he was hurt. She suspected this time would be no different. “What happened?” she asked in concern as she crouched down at his side.

“He fell out of a tree,” Naruto snorted, pointing to a group of trees a few feet away. “Clumsy bastard,” he murmured under his breath.

“Hush,” she replied, eyeing Sasuke’s left ankle. It was already starting to swell. “Somehow I think you’re partially responsible for this Naruto.” Sasuke growled in irritation at the blond and crossed his arms. Deciding no one was going to properly explain, she decided to start on Sasuke’s injury anyway.

She closed her eyes, reaching gently for the swollen flesh. Her chakra seeped out in a soft blue wave, weaving around his ankle, searching for the injury. Her delicate mouth turned into a soft frown. “You have a slight break. It’s only a crack, but I’ll bet it hurts,” she said softly. When Sasuke just grunted his agreement, she sighed and concentrated on mending the break. He hissed painfully as bone started to mesh together, but didn’t move until she was finished.

“There, all better. Don’t strain it for the rest of the day and you’ll be as good as new tomorrow,” she said beaming at him. Several of the men were gaping at her. Most medics that they’d come across would just slap on a bandage and hand you a bill.

“How’d you do that ma’am?” Goro asked in surprise. “You two aren’t trickin’ us are you?”

“No,” Kakashi said from behind the small crowd. “Like I said before,” he murmured as they turned. “Sakura is a genius when it comes to medical techniques and genjutsu. A cracked bone requires very little energy for her to heal.”

“Genjutsu? What does that do?” Goro asked curiously. “Ma’am.”

“I can trick your mind into thinking something is happening, when it’s not,” Sakura murmured, a little uncomfortable with all of the attention. She’d never been one to want the spotlight, not like Naruto or Sasuke.

“Show them,” Kakashi suggested, helping Sasuke to his feet and standing back.

She looked at him hesitantly but nodded and turned to face the crowd. “This won’t hurt, but it might be alarming. Try not to panic please,” she suggested softly. Taking a deep breath she focused her chakra and performed a quick hand seal.

The group of men cried out, startled, when the ground suddenly began to give way and the sky turned a deep read color. They watched in horror as one after the other, their comrades fell away into the growing pit around them. A few screamed that they didn’t want to die and then suddenly they were back on solid ground, blinking up at a clear blue sky.

Goro, looking rather sickly and pale, swallowed and spoke up. “That’s really some trick you got there. I don’t think I’d like to repeat that experience,” he admitted. The men around him agreed softly, most too shaken to say much else. It was one thing to be told it was all fake and quite another to remember that when the ground was collapsing under you.

Sakura nodded and smiled tightly. “It is scary and in battle it will disable any man with a weak mind. Of course it’s nothing compared to what the Sharingan can do to a man. Sasuke can trap you in a horrible place in you mind, where a minute is like a thousand years and every second of it is filled with pain and torture.”

Sasuke frowned softly and flicked his eyes to the ground so no one would be tempted to stare into his dark eyes. He didn’t like the Sakura was being so chatty about his blood limit ability, but in a way it enforced his authority a bit more in the end. What man would want to defy his orders knowing he could trick them into thinking they were stabbed repeatedly for a few days?

“Kakashi too?” a dark haired man asked from the crowd.

“Yes,” Kakashi murmured softly. “Though, neither of us likes to use that one. It’s unnecessarily cruel.” Sasuke sighed softly. There went that leverage.

“So you haven’t ever experienced it?” Goro asked Sakura curiously.

She grinned at Kakashi and winked, “No, he uses it for something much more enjoyable.” The men blinked for a moment, not quite understanding. When Kakashi blushed lightly above his mask and smiled slightly, the men started laughing. They weren’t clear on what exactly it was he could do, just that the surprising female was flirting outrageously with her husband.

Sakura wasn’t quite sure what she was thinking, flirting with her husband so publicly, but seeing his blushing reaction was worth it. Of course when he tugged up his headband and opened his red eye, she knew she’d chosen wrong. “Don’t you dare,” she murmured backing away. “Not out here in front of everyone.” Naruto perked up and Sasuke smiled slightly as Kakashi continued to advance, a teasing glint in his eyes.

“No?” he murmured. “But I haven’t done it in so long.” He wrapped his arms around her and tilted her chin back.

“Kakashi,” she murmured uncertainly. Would he really embarrass her like this?

“Hmm?” he murmured lazily.

“Don’t you dare use that trick on her, you pervert!” Naruto groused, pointing an accusing finger.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto suddenly lost ten years off his age. “He’s her husband you moron. He can do whatever he wants with her…within reason of course.”

“Yes of course…within reason,” Kakashi murmured with a slight grin showing through his mask. He’d lost control of the men for a moment, but there wasn’t anything wrong with a little fun and bonding with students…even if he had to pretend they weren’t really ruthless mercenaries and the targets of his mission.

“What did you call me you bastard?” Naruto growled.

Sakura sighed and pushed away from Kakashi a little. “Here it goes,” she murmured, relieved Naruto had ‘saved’ her, but annoyed that they had never gotten completely past the tendency to yell like little boys and then beat the tar out of each other.

“You heard me…idiot,” Sasuke murmured with a slow smile.

“Bastard,” Naruto growled again, launching himself at his smirking friend.

“What about Sasuke’s injury?” Sakura muttered. “I’m going to have to heal him all over again if this fight turns out like all of the others.”

“Let them play,” Kakashi said with a wave, as the two young men rolled across the ground, mercenaries jumping out of their path. “I need a moment to chat with my wife anyway,” he said teasingly.

She remembered what she’d seen in Shojiro’s office and moved in, wrapping her arms around him so she could whisper in his ear. “I have information,” she murmured softly, her face set in a teasing, flirtatious smile, just in case she was being watched.

If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. Instead he tugged her toward the small group of trees, out of the direct sight of the men. They’d still be seen, but at least it wasn’t quite so public. Tugging his mask down, he leaned in and kissed her, reaching down to pull her legs up around his hip and pressing her back into a tree. “Tell me,” he murmured softly against her mouth.

“I saw a black journal in his office. It fell and opened to a page that said ‘will move in on the village before harvest’. I didn’t read more because Goro came in at that moment. I will try to see more later,” she murmured back fluttering kisses over his lips and jaw.

“Interesting. I’ll see if any of the men know what’s happening and maybe even try to get something out of Zuiken. He’s not the brighter of the two, so maybe he’ll let something slip. Shojiro definitely won’t,” he grunted softly. “I don’t think he trusts us much.”

“He shouldn’t,” she admitted, leaning in for another kiss.

He groaned softly as her tongue tickled over his lips and slid against his own, dancing tongue. “What was with the flirting out there?” he murmured flexing his hips slowly against her soft, feminine flesh.

She shivered and swallowed. He was picking on her about teasing while doing it himself? That didn’t seem very fair. “Didn’t you like it?” she asked running her lips over his jaw.

“I did,” he admitted. “It killed a little of my credibility with these men, but was fun none-the-less.”

She reached up to nibbled gently on his ear and murmured, “I’ve been thinking that we might be able to gain the true loyalty of some of these men. If it comes down to actually fighting the brothers, it would be nice to avoid fighting off fifty men to get to them. Goro will be easy and so will several of the other men. Most of them aren’t bad, at least those that are left here,” she advised.

“I agree. Do what you need to do,” he murmured. He could still hear Sasuke and Naruto shouting at each other and the occasional laughter of the men. “We need to go separate them before I lose all credibility with my employers,” he grunted, pulling gently back and settling her on her feet. “But we’ll most definitely continue this later,” he murmured, leaning in to kiss her a deep, parting kiss.

“Tonight?” she asked hopefully. Since the first night together, he’d come to bed so late, she’d always been asleep. It had been nearly a week since he’d made love to her.

“I promise,” he said gently, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Go and see what you can find in that book, but be careful,” he advised, tugging his mask up. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

She nodded and watched as he wandered away and barked orders at Naruto and Sasuke, who immediately rolled apart and apologized. They didn’t look very apologetic though. Both looked more amused than anything. She smiled, realizing they’d simply been providing a distraction from her and Kakashi. She shook her head and began to walk back across the training yard, wondering how she could get to the journal long enough to read everything it had in it.

***