When A Petal Falls

Shades of grey meaning

Okay so this door knock must be a contender for the longest one in fanfiction history, but I really wanted to get in Kakashi time aha.

A warning; my punctuation and grammar may be off, my normal proof reader is MIA right now so i did the best job of it that i could ...and i just really want to get this work to you guys. So anyway.. please forgive me, i am aware of how horrifying my unchecked work can be, if you must flee i understand aha.

Building up to the next chapter! *bounces about madly*

Here we go.. ^.^

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Kakashi stood there with his hands in his pockets staring at the wonky number 7 on Sakura's apartment door. He was to be here for the self-declared time of 4, so naturally it was going on seven at night. Recalling the time he'd kept her waiting for training last year he grew concerned over his physical being. Shuffling awkwardly on his feet, the absolute fear that had ransacked his normal calm composure during that time reached from his memory so vividly that he began to feel a most powerfully physical will to flee in wiggly terror back down the stairs and far away. Sakura was so angry that he had sought refuge in the ground and of course after searching around for him, she came quickly to the realization that he may be in the ground and had dutifully smacked a solid tiny fist of rage in to it. Uprooting him from his hiding spot like a weed, that he very much felt like after the shockwave of her chakra had dazed him. So in this present time, with the clocks of the village all reaching out a hand for the evening, the silver haired copy-nin now respectfully found himself to be rather nervous when needing to knock said door with the wonky number plate.

Kakashi could sense her charka inside but it seemed to be at the other end of the apartment; he pondered 'She's likely looking out that large living area window of hers, maybe I should have taken the window route?' Kakashi quite enjoyed sneaking up on Sakura, she always reacted 'so brilliantly' with wide eyes searching everywhere, pink hair standing on end 'and that terrific, hilarious girly scream'.

Chuckling softly to himself he reached out a gently closed fist to knock the door, thinking over the great deal of amusement she provided him. Kakashi theorized that 'one day when I'm old and not quite quick enough I'll have to rethink my tactics or else face that tiny fist of rage in all its destructive glory ...and in all honesty' the copy-nin reasoned he'd be completely finished if that day were to come. Kakashi enjoyed their goes at each other, be it her anger or his 'damnable idiocy' as she called it. This messing around over the last two years had let both sides claim a common friendly territory in what had held for so long as a vacant no man's land. It wasn't as if they didn't get on before but when she was younger it was just 'well, awkward'. They both were on different paths, 'yet maturity is a funny thing' he queried.

As he had refocused on her after the war, the girl was just gone and stood in her place was this new person who had seen so much horror and like him, desperately grappled for coping mechanisms. One such mechanism, he figured, had been her sudden onslaught towards him of 'playful fighting by her standard, but frivolously engaged combat avoidance on mines...' As her sensei, and more importantly to him than he thought it was to Sakura, her friend. Kakashi simply couldn't turn her away, regardless of his reluctance to be someone's emotional crutch; on this level of support he was comfortable anyway. There were no tears or more importantly hugs, he did not do physical affection. It was too intimate for him 'and should be retained between family and lovers' was his conclusion on the matter.

The two week mission that had stolen his time away had been so frightfully dull, that once back he had taken straight to training to flex some muscles that went unused. When Sakura had come out of the tree line and approached him afterwards he was glad to see her. Though he was in the mood to talk, his body demanded rest so his conversation had been rather limited.