Born Anew

Chapter 23

Kakashi POV

I head over to Lady Tsunade's office. She's up to her neck in paperwork and the air in the office is tense. As soon as I enter her office, she grows an anime vein and spits out, "What?"

"Sorry to bother you, Lady Hokage but I have a request."

"What?" she snarls.

"Would Karin be able to stay behind in the Intel Unit while we're out fighting in the war?"

She pauses and gives me a weird look, something similar to the one that Shikaku gave me. "Why?"

I tell her the same reason I gave to Shikaku and wait for her to think about it.

"Okay, fine," she concedes. "But have her know that she isn't just going there on a field trip. She's going to actually do work."

I nod. "Of course."

"Good, now get out of my office before I make you do all this paperwork for me."

I know how serious she is so that gets me flying out her office fast enough.

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Karin POV

With the upcoming war, Kakashi was barely ever home and if he was, he was usually working. I'm not sure what he was working on exactly but he was always dead tired when he got home.

One night, after I finish making food, I go to Kakashi's door, where he's scribbling something down in a scroll, looking very intent on his work. I watch him silently, a gentle smile creeping up on my face.

Kakashi doesn't even sense my presence until he lifts his head to stretch. When he sees me watching him, a smile graces that beautiful face of his. "How long have you been standing there, watching me?" he asks in a teasing voice. He gets up and stretches his hands over his head. His back arches so much that I see a sliver of his stomach peeking from underneath his shirt and my mouth goes dry. "For a while," I croak.

He prowls toward me with a wicked gleam in his eyes and that dryness from before becomes a damned desert. He backs me into the wall right outside his room and cages me in between his arms. That smile of his becomes hungry and I swallow hard as he leans forward and kisses me, lips hot through his mask.

"Kakashi," I whisper.

"Hm?" The rumble of his voice passes through me where our chests touch and for some reason, that turns me on even more.

"Get rid of the damn mask," I growl.

His lips curl up into an amused smile but he doesn't take the mask off. Instead, he nuzzles my neck with his nose.

Suddenly we're moving and he's backing me into his room until the back of my knees hit his bed. He nudges my shoulder and I fall back onto his bed.

He lowers himself on me but before he can kiss me again, I put some space between us.

Disappointment floods through his face but I snatch the bottom of his shirt-mask combo and yank it up, over his head. Even though I've seen his face before, the stunning handsomeness of it makes my heart beat even faster than it is right now. I plant a kiss on his lips and he groans, pushing me so that my head touches his pillow.

He wastes no time in stripping me but when I go to reach for him, he threatens to tie my hands to the bed post if I make any more movements to get him as naked as me.

So I take him in in all his sexy shirtless glory. His abs are sculpted so perfectly I'd think I were looking at a professionally made sculpture. I run my fingers over them and the muscles beneath them quiver. "I thought I said I'd tie you up," he rumbles.