Sakura yearned for love, relentlessly pursuing it only to find it slipping further away. Meanwhile, Kakashi, immersed in the demands of life, had never carved out the time or emotional space for such sentiments. Fate, however, wove a twist, entangli...
It's been five days since Kakashi & Sakura went on that mission. Sakura was a lot better than before. She had a new upbeat energy and focused her mind on work and things that she loved to do.
It was noon, she was strolling around the hospital wards to supervise if everything was fine, when her eyes fell on those peculiar silver hair from the little window on the diagnosis room door.
She knocked lightly on the door before entering, "Kakashi Sensei, what's wrong?"
The scarecrow looked embarrassed, "Oh, nothing I'm just here for a routine check-up." The medic performing his diagnosis was startled at his lies.
"Is it so? Why didn't you call me? I know all your medical history well.", Sakura questioned.
"Ahhh... it's nothing so serious for the lead medic to engage her time.", Kakashi scratched the back of his head.
"He is having gastric problems.", the medic in charge blurted out.
"There goes my dignity!", Kakashi murmured in a flustered tone.
"Sensei, grow up already. Nothing is embarrassing about it. What was the cause? Did you eat outside again?"
"Not just one time, he's been eating outside food every day and has an ulcer in his stomach due to excessive acid concentration that's ruining his gastral lining, amongst other digestive problems.", the female medic reported to Sakura.
Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief. She grabbed the report from her hand and asked to leave the office. "Thanks Akira, for your diagnosis, I'm gonna have to take this over, you may resume your other duties." Kakashi shivered to hear her stern voice, he knew he was going to encounter the pink wrath. She was scary after all.
"Be well soon, Hokage Sama.", she bowed to him in a blush and left staring at him all the way.
"Channnaarooo!!? You've been eating outside every day, so much that you have an ulcer!? And on top of it, you tried to hide it from me?? What is going on Kakashi Sensei??!! How can you be so careless about your health? "
"Aye Aye, you're worrying too much. I am just fine. The ulcer will cure itself soon, won't it?", he was sweating a bit worried, that other people would hear the Hokage being yelled at.
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After getting an earful of scolding, he apologized to her. "The work pressure does not allow me to cook at home at night and therefore, I have to rely on outside or packed food."
"Are you working that late every night?", she asked in a worried tone.
"I have to, else the work keeps piling up."
"Hmm.. I'm sorry I yelled at you like that... But you can't harm yourself anymore, you're too precious.", her words softened his heart for a second.
"I will be issuing some medicines for you and ask Shikamaru to make you have it on time. But there are also dietary restrictions that you must follow... what can be done??", she thought for a minute, "Haah!! I will send you dinner every evening, food that will help you recover easily."
"Sakura.. you don't have to do that. I don't wanna burden you with any more responsibilities"
"Why not? I cook for myself anyway when I get back home, I can sure make some more for you."
"Would you do that for me?"
"If not for you, then for whom? Stop making it a big deal, sensei!", she sounded so much more mature than her age there.
"Arigato!", he smiled in a way that made him look so much younger than his age. "You're so much of a reflection of your master.."
"You're not referring to the yelling part are you!?", that's exactly what he was referring to. So he laughed.
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That evening, Kakashi was dug behind a pile of documents on his desk and a knotting pain in his stomach. He was struggling, although Sakura's medicines had given him much relief since the morning. As the clock struck eight, the pinkette peeked into his office, "May I come in, Ho-ka-ge Sa-ma?"
"SAKURA!!! Enough with it already... You can just walk right in any time."
"Hahaha, here's your bento! Have it before it gets cold."
"You should eat with me too."
"I would have, but dinner's the only time I spend with my parents these days, so I prefer having it at home. Besides, there's no space on your table for two to dine.."
"Ahh.. that's another problem. Are you sure it's not a problem for you to walk here just to drop that bento? I can send Inari to collect."
"Ie ie.. I like taking a walk after work, it's the time I meet with Ino to rekindle some gossip. So don't worry. And all things apart, I'm still your Kunoichi, isn't it?"
Kakashi smiled at her with so much awe.
"How's the pain now?"
For a moment all the pain had vanished from his body magically, even he wondered how. "Much better now Sakura."
After she left, Kakashi opened the box, to find fresh veggies cut into perfect cubes, with a side of yogurt dressing and a porridge as the main meal. He thanked her from his heart, he had never received such care ever since his dad passed away. It sure has been a long time.
Thereafter every night, Sakura would drop by his office around 7.30-8 in the evening and hand him a bento box filled with so much goodness. Kakashi would usually be working alone at that time of the night. These small encounters soon became a habit for the two.
They would share a small exchange on how their day was, or pass on the gossip she heard from Ino to him. Soon they knew pretty much everything that was going on in each other's lives, the relationship molded into a friendship rather than a student-teacher bond.
Every night on his way back home almost around midnight, Kakashi would drop off the bento at her doorstep with a note to go with it. Initially, he wrote a thank you note or a compliment on her cooking, but as days passed, and they got more comfortable around each other he would just mention a random joke, a critique on her food choices(asking her to send him tempura sometimes, he just loved to trouble her), an information exchange, some snarky comment on her recent hairstyle, or even just some random syllables put together that meant nothing at all, for instance - "geeegii gaaga guuguu".
But he never missed to send her a note. Every morning, she anticipated some mischievous text from the scarecrow, it became a muse to start her day off. For no reason in particular, she thought it would be a good idea to store all those small chits and she collected them in a jar on her bedside table.
It was still very platonic at their ends. The thing is they did not realize how they shifted from being teacher-student to each other's closest friends in a short while. At this point, they were just happy to have a person to care for and share with.
