Promises Remembered

Chapter 18

A/N Update 1/1/24 This has now been beta'd! Thank goodness as I made some silly errors lol

Chapter 18

Sakura

Five-hundred and eighteen days into the past

In the nine months since they'd married, Sakura and Kakashi managed to fall into a strange, comfortable kind of rhythm. He'd be gone for some scattering of approximately half the month, taking as long between missions as he could get away with. When he was gone, Sakura took extra shifts at the hospital. Aiko—who was still dating Genma and therefore alone whenever she was—would stay over and they'd do silly girly things like face masks and nail polish and eat all the things their men didn't like. Which lately, for Sakura, meant lots of sweets. Occasionally, they would take her landlady up on her offer for dinner.

When Kakashi was home, she cut her hours at the hospital back as far as she could, only teaching the advanced classes three days a week for four hours. They would lie in every morning, making love or reading together—or both. When they ventured from bed, Sakura made them breakfast. If it had been a love making kind of morning, she occasionally did so in nothing but her floral apron.

This usually resulted in more sex after breakfast.

After their slow mornings, Sakura—if not due at the hospital—would join his team for training. This kept her sharp for the rare mission she took, and also resulted in her getting closer to Genma and Tenzō as well. They became almost as good of friends as Naruto and Lee had been in her proper time. More importantly, Kakashi started to see them that way. Less teammates he was responsible for and friendly with to people he genuinely cared about and considered important friends. They spent quite a bit of time with Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma too.

All of that made Sakura feel like Kakashi would have the support he would need to survive without her.

She knew he would. He would live the twelve years after her with no regrets. But knowing he would have so many people around him that loved him made it just a little bit easier to bear.

Finishing her rounds at the hospital, Sakura met Aiko in the locker rooms on their way out. "You're still coming over tonight?"

Her friend grinned over at her, tucking her dark hair behind her ear. "Yes. I'm bringing that cake you love, and we can watch something funny and romantic, and drink way too much sake to worry about our men."

Sakura cringed as her gut churned. "Ew. No sake for me. That sounds disgusting right now. But I'll definitely take some cake. That sounds great." She hung her white coat in her locker and slammed it shut, turning to Aiko. "Maybe I'll make cookies or rakugan too..." She wrinkled her nose. "That's probably too much, right?"

Aiko only laughed. "I'll help you eat them. Kakashi doesn't really eat sweets, and baking for one is so annoying. Take advantage of my shared love of sweets." Both women laughed as they left together. "Dinner? It's your turn to pick."

Sakura thought for a moment. And then several more. What sounded good? "I think I want raman?"

"Salty and sweet, silly movie and... maybe a foot soak after today." Aiko leaned against Sakura as they waited on the elevator. "My feet are killing me."

"Ugh, same." Pouting, Sakura sighed. "I hope they're home on time this time. They've already been gone for four days."

Aiko gave her a sympathetic smile. "Aw, you miss your husband? Newlyweds are so sweet."

Sakura scoffed, lightly elbowing her friend. "Don't tease like you don't miss your boy toy, too."

Her friend smirked. "Hey, Genma is all man."