Dancing In The Dark

Wait... What?

Sarah was getting edgier the longer the silence lengthened.  He was dressed in a tank top, loose pair of activity pants, and had splotches of paint on his clothes, arms, and hands.  She even thought she might have spotted a couple dots of paint in his silver hair.  He had obviously been in the middle of painting when he got the message.   She was excited to see the house's transformation but... she wouldn't be able to appreciate it with the brooding man next to her.

She felt like they were far enough away from the heart of the village to speak.  "I know you're mad... let me explain..."

Kakashi looked over at her with narrowed eyes.  She bit her lower lip and regretted it as it pulled on the corner of her lip that was busted from a well placed punch.  Her nose was starting to hurt and everything was a little blurry from her glasses getting destroyed.  His look was meant to silence her but she was a little annoyed.  She wasn't a child and if she got into a fight, it was for a damn good reason. She pulled her hand out of his and crossed her arms in front of her, refusing to take another step.

"Don't you give me that look.  I'm not taking another step until...." Sarah gave a startled cry as he abruptly came towards her and she found herself hanging upside down over his shoulder.  "Oh for the love of God, are you kidding me?!" she howled.  "Kakashi Hatake, you put me down this instant!"

Kakashi smirked slightly as he continued down the street with his wife over his shoulder.  It was a good thing they were close to their place so only a few of his neighbors caught the action and of those, they seemed to think it was just antics between newlyweds.  He had to admit as he got close to the house, the color she had picked really stood out.  Even with just one coat, it was bright and lively. He noticed a large parcel was outside the front door along with several tall, leafy palm plants.  Those would be rather striking with the house once it was finished.

Sarah was feeling queasy the longer she hung upside down.  She was half tempted to swat his ass since she was in a prime position for that; however, she was feeling too sick at the moment to do anything more than try to keep from throwing up.  His shoulder was digging into a spot in her stomach that was apparently very sensitive as every step he took, it would press in and nausea would follow.  She felt a moment of panic as she felt the queasiness intensify and her mouth start to watering.

"Oh god... I'm going to be sick," she suddenly said from his shoulder.  "For the love of God, let me down before I puke on you!"

Kakashi's eyes widened and he quickly set her down.  She leaned heavily against a nearby tree before losing the contents of her stomach.  He was stunned as he watched her because she looked perfectly normal a minute ago when he had tossed her over his shoulder.  Once she stopped, she turned towards him and glared.

"That was all your fault," she groaned.  "Your damn shoulder found just the right spot to make me feel super sick and hanging upside down didn't help any either."

Sarah weaved as she pushed away from the tree.  Damn man, got me all fucked up.  She slapped his hand away when he reached for her.  He tried again and she again slapped it away.  She was done with his nonsense today.  She just wanted to go and lay down on the couch.  She was feeling like hell now.  Her nose hurt, her cheek hurt. and her lip hurt.  Then to top it off, he causes her to vomit.  She shook her head, that's what she gets for trying to defend him. She let out a gasp when he abruptly swept her up bridal style and continued towards the house.  

He silently opened the door and carried her inside.  He went to the bar and set her down on one of the stools.  He gave her a look of warning to not leave that chair.  She was tempted to do it just to see what he would do about it.  He came back with a glass of ice water and set it in front of her.  She took it and gratefully drank it.  The cold liquid felt good on her throat after vomiting.

He then returned with a bowl of water, a clean rag, and some bandage wrap.  He sat across from her and started to gently clean her face.  She was surprised to see how much blood came off of his care.  His dark gray eyes were carefully examining each bruise and wound on her face.  She flinched when he touched the corner of her mouth.  He then cleaned her knuckles and wrapped up her right hand from the cut.  He gave a long sigh once he finished cleaning her up.  He pulled his mask off and set it to the side.  That couldn't be a good sign.

Kakashi steepled his fingers in front of his lips and stared at her for a long moment.  "Sarah... you have to stop being so defensive for your friend.  Melissa can take care of herself and it is my understanding, you're the one who threw the first punch."

Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose, "I didn't punch that bitch for Melissa."

"Wait... what?"

Sarah looked away from him, feeling a bit emotional now.  If that was the kind of stuff he'd been dealing with since he was a child, no wonder he didn't know just how special and wonderful a man he is.  Her eyes burned as she thought about how awful his childhood had been.

"Sarah?"

"She... disrespected you.  I couldn't let her call you the things she did.  I don't regret it at all, Kakashi, and don't expect me to.  I will do it to anyone who says anything disparaging about you.  No one will disrespect you in my presence without feeling my wrath."

Kakashi was stunned.  He thought it had been about Melissa going off the conversation from earlier but it had been about him?  She had gotten into a fight defending him?  It blew his mind.  "Baby girl..."

"I'm tired... I'm going to lay down," she muttered.  "Sorry if I embarrassed you."

It hurt seeing her face so defeated.  He reached out to her and pulled her close.  He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, trying to express the love she always gave to him.  It took him a moment to realize she was crying.

"You deserved so much better," she whispered.  "It wasn't right what happened to you or how people treated you.  You were a baby sent into war only to return to hateful, despicable people.  And somewhere along the way, you bought their lie."  She wiped her eyes, "I know that I benefited from it because you are with me now and would have been with someone more deserving and beautiful but-"

"Stop that now," Kakashi shook by her forearms.  "I love you, Sarah.  Don't you understand that?  I love you for you."

Sarah gasped and raised her eyes to his.  Her eyes started to burn more, "You love me?"

"Damn woman, why else would I marry you?" He wiped the tears from her eyes.  "I think I fell in love with you when we were dancing to that song..."

"You and Me by Lifehouse," she said softly.

Kakashi gave her a soft smile and wiped the tears from her cheeks.  "If you say so...  I decided then and there I was going to marry you."

"I thought you did it just to protect me," she whispered.

Kakashi chuckled, "I might have pushed up how quickly for that reason but I was already going to marry you, Sarah.  I love you and there is no one else I'd ever want to be with."  He kissed her softly, trying to express just how much she meant to him.