The Spaces In-Between

Throwing the Gauntlet

"I can take care of myself," Y/N said with a tilt of her chin.  "Stop treating me like I'm still four years old and a victim. I'm your wife and partner, damn it, not that scared little girl that wandered into your dream!"

Kakashi's eyes darkened and his hand clinched and un-clinched at his side.  His eyes were burning with his anger as he peeled his gloves off in a slow almost menacing way, tossing them on the table next to her drink.  He then reached up and pulled off his mask.  She felt a small shiver go down her spine as she noticed how red his face was becoming as he looked at her.  This was not an embarrassed redness, it was a furious redness.  He then pulled his vest off to toss it on the couch.  She could see the moment he finally lost the battle to hold his anger in check as she looked into his eyes.  Those eyes reminded her of when she had first seen him in the dream after he had become an ANBU.

"I could not protect you then but I damn well will protect you now!" He yelled as he ripped his headband off his forehead and hurled it across the room.  "But did you trust me? No!  You went off on a little adventure and almost ended up a living sacrifice!"

"You should have told me what is going on, Kakashi!" she yelled back.  "I've felt like I've been in a damn cage and have had no idea why!  If you would have told me, I wouldn't have snuck out like I did!"

Kakashi raked his fingers through his hair in and angry manner.  He then turned towards her and grabbed her by her upper arms. She almost triggered by the contact coupled with the anger but reminded herself that this was Kakashi, not her ex-stepfather.  She half expected him to shake her but instead he squeezed his eyes shut tight as he tried to gain control of his anger.  

"Damn it, Y/N, I didn't want you to know anything until I was completely certain.  If I was wrong, you would have been scared for nothing and that wouldn't be good for the-" He stopped abruptly and then rested his forehead against her own.  "I have to protect you, Y/N.  I failed you in the past but I can't fail you now.  If I don't tell you something, it's for this reason.  I can't... I just can't... lose you or watch you harmed ever again.  If I don't tell you something, it's for this reason.  Why can't you trust me to protect you?"

"This has nothing to do with me trusting you, Kakashi.  It has everything to do with you trusting me.  When you don't tell me what is happening, you're telling me that you don't trust me enough to handle whatever it is." She placed her hands on either side of his face, "You're my husband, my best friend... keeping secrets from me will only drive a wedge between us.  Even if you think it is for the best.  I'm your partner that means we must be open with each other about everything."

Y/N was shocked as she saw tears in his eyes as he raised his gaze to look at her.  "I'm terrified for you, Y/N," he whispered.  "If I lost you... I couldn't go on, I just couldn't."

"Then trust me to fight alongside you," she answered him.  "We've been together all our lives, if we can't defeat whatever this together than you can't defeat it alone."

Kakashi threaded his fingers through her hair and kissed her like he was dying.  It was not like his kisses in the past, it was desperate and unyielding. He pressed her back, taking her down to the couch as he covered her.  His hands slipped from her face and down to her clothes, stripping her as he devoured her mouth.  Y/N could not help but respond to that desperateness.  She pulled his shirt out of his pants and then unbuttoned them, slipping her hand inside to wrap around his engorged cock.  He groaned against her releasing her lips only for a second to pull her top off before lowering them to her pants and pulling them down.  He slipped his long fingers between her legs into her core, stroking her the way that had her pulling her lips free as she dragged in a ragged breath.  He only lowered his pants enough to free himself before slamming into her core with a deep groan.  It was a hard pounding fueled by fear and desperation.  He took her hands, threaded his fingers through them before locking them above her head.  His hips driving into her again and again, the mingled moans and groans making their own intoxicating sound.  He slammed harder into her as her body shook and her core quaked around him, her juices flowing over him at the release.  He cried out against her lips as he released into her and she could taste his tears on her lips as he moaned her name almost brokenly.

Y/N felt crushed beneath his body but she held onto him tightly.  Her strong husband, who feared nothing, was terrified he was not going to be able to protect her.  His actions had been based on that inner terror.  She stroked his back and his soft hair in comfort.  She was not sure what else she could do for him in that moment.  She was reeling herself.  For Kakashi to be this horrified, it had to be pretty bad.  He was not a weak man, never had been.  She held and stroked him for a long time before the tremors in his body stopped.  When he finally raised his head to look down at her, she could see the raw emotions churning inside.

She wiped his tears from his cheeks, trying to impart her love to him silently as she looked back at him.  Those eyes had seen many horrors.  She knew she would never fully understand just how much horror he had seen and experienced in life.  She had horror too but his, he had kept deeply buried within himself for so long.  They would have said he had severe PTSD if they had been in her world.  He had stood alone for so long with his darkness, he did not fully know how to be open as he had been about how he was feeling.

"It's time, Kakashi, that you let me help to carry your burdens," she said softly.  "You are no longer alone and this fight is ours, not yours alone."

He closed his eyes, pressing his forehead to hers for a long moment before nodding.  She kissed him softly over his scarred eye.  

They both cleaned up before sitting own together at the table.  He folded his hands together as he looked at her.  "They're called the Akumu Yume.  They worship an ancient beast that is a red eyed dragon.  It is a powerful creature, possibly as powerful as the tailed beasts.  It supposedly has the power to give whomever serves it to rule the earth.  They were active several hundred years ago and the lands of wind, earth, and fire came together to destroy them.  However, just before the fourth shinobi war, they suddenly appeared again.  Due to the war, they were forgotten and have been active all this time."

"What does that have to do with me?" she asked patiently.

"This beast demands human sacrifice as the price for this power.  The blood must be unique to be accepted by the beast.  Through the years they have sacrificed a number of those with unique genetic lines to no avail."  He gave her an intense look, "There is no blood more unique than someone not from this world.  At least, that is what they are hoping.  They want to sacrifice you, Y/N, to this beast.  Your dream was an omen of what is coming if they get their hands on you."

Y/N felt her face pale as she remembered the horror of being before that very monster.  She swallowed hard before giving a nod of her head.  "So what are we going to do to stop them?"

"Naruto has Sai and Yamato leading two teams trying to locate their current location.  If we can find them before they get their hands on you, we can wipe them out once and for all."  He clinched his fists, "They came into the village, got past all our defenses here, and almost got ahold of you already.  It means they've been watching us this whole time, waiting for a moment to grab you."

Y/N reached across the table and put her hand over his.  "That gives us the advantage now, we know they are watching."

Kakashi nodded slowly, "Naruto was going to put a team of ANBU on keeping watch over you until we locate them.  If we are lucky, if any are still in the village, they will leave to regroup and think of another plan."

Y/N looked him in the eyes, "We should go on the offensive.  Draw them out."

"No," he responded sharply.  "We will wait to see what Sai and Yamato turns up."

"But Kakashi... we could lay a trap for them with me being the bait."

"Absolutely not!  I won't follow that line of thought any further.  Traps have a way of backfiring and I'll be damned if they get their hands on you." Kakashi responded adamantly.  "We wait for Sai and Yamato."

Y/N gave a heavy sigh then smiled at him, "Okay.  I'll trust your judgment in this.  We'll wait."