Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Chronicles of Kakashi & the Kunoichi from Thunder Country ❯ EPILOGUE ( Chapter 22 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

EPILOGUE

He had forgiven her so easily even though she had invaded his memories. She knew his privacy meant everything to him, his perpetual mask was a clear indication of that. So why? Because he felt guilty for killing her parents? Because he thought he loved her? Because he was loyal to a fault? Because he was a fool? Because he was a good person and good people were forgiving.

How long had she been standing there with his comforting arms around her? How much time had passed since she started reevaluating her life? Was she wrong all this time? All her life? Not to trust anyone, not even her parents. But it was too late to take back her actions. She knew of no time jutsu to turn back the clock. 'No regrets, I will have no regrets,' she insisted. 'But what do I do now?'

Rikako was at a lost now that her lifelong goal had been fulfilled - she had finally completed the puzzle of her past and the basis for her nightmares. Her tunnel vision had prevented her from thinking beyond that. She had not seriously considered that he would still want her or that she would still want him. Either possibility seemed so unlikely that she had dismissed the idea long ago. But now she stood there thinking silently in his strong embrace, with him holding her until the tension in her body dissipated. She rested her head against his chest despite its cloying dampness. That feeling, that elusive feeling from the time before she left crept back to her, tugged at her, reminded her what could be if she let it.

'I've been faithful. I've held no one else since you left,' her lover thought tenderly. 'Can you say the same?' he wondered. 'It doesn't matter - you're mine now.'

One hand stayed on her waist while the other rose to cup her chin, tilting it up so he could easily lower his lips to her forehead (or rather the hair covering it), nose (such an impertinent one), and finally her lips (they still needed lotion). She did not pull away but allowed his lips to gently massage hers. Taking her lack of resistance as an encouraging sign, he lowered his hand to encircle her waist again and to pull her closer. Still she allowed him this privilege. He licked her dry lips and they parted in invitation - warm deep kisses, but gentle and tentative, testing her response.

It was as if he were kissing her for the first time. And in a way it was for she was not playing a part nor did she have a particular plan of seduction or vengeance. If anything, she was surprised that he still wanted her at all. So she stood there, little more than a statue, unsure what to do, allowing him to touch her but not fully reciprocating. But it felt nice and as he continued his caresses she started to relax and recall how much she loved his touch.

It felt good to hold her again, to feel the warmth of another living soul, someone to care about. `I won't let her go again. I won't make the same mistake I did with Rin,' Kakashi thought as he moved his hands lower, then boldly grabbed her buttocks to pull her hips against his, showing her what he wanted next. That was her limit as she now pushed him roughly away.

“Your clothes are still wet. You should go change,” she said more brusquely than she meant. 'These feelings - I can't control these feelings. But I can control my actions.' She touched her own shirt and noted with irritation that it was quite damp.

“Only if you'll help me,” he teased as he tried to pull her close again.

“You're a grown man aren't you?” `Though he often acts like a child.' She blushed as she noticed he was already aroused, despite the baggy shinobi pants.

“Yeah, but who doused me with water? And my shoulders still hurt.”

She nodded guiltily at his accusation, but he laughed lightly and kissed her again while trying to guide her to his bed.

“I thought you said your shoulders hurt,” she said when she got a chance to breathe.

“They don't hurt in this position, only if I try to raise them over my head,” he explained with a twinkle in his dark eye. As usual he kept his left eye closed.

“Yeah right. How convenient,” she responded in mock annoyance but had to smile at his excuse. But even as she returned his kisses now, internally she was still divided. Her brain was telling her 'No, it's too soon - you don't know what you want' but for now her heart won out with its advice 'You want to feel like you did before - you want him.'

He had expertly directed her to his bed without looking. Now sitting down on top of his blanket, she reached over to tug at his shirt, pulling him down to sit next to her. “I'll help you take this off now,” she offered as she carefully removed his bandages then slowly pulled up his shirt, gradually revealing pale scarred flesh. She impulsively bent down to kiss the hollow of his midriff, just to see if it felt and tasted the same as before, firm and warm and a bit salty. Then she finished pulling the sleeves over his arms and the rest of the shirt over his head. The wounds where her needles had pierced were no longer bleeding and the flesh had mostly knitted. The medic in her instinctively took over and she began to examine each puncture and to concentrate her chakra to expedite the healing process, but Kakashi could wait no longer.

He gripped her wrists a bit roughly and said, “I'm fine, really.” Then he lowered himself on top of her, forcing her to lie down, kissing her all the while. A hand slipped under her shirt but this time he did not want to wait to unwrap ten tiers of bandages. `She's going to yell at me for this but…'

He concentrated his chakra into scalpel form and quickly cut away the bandages along with her shirt.

“What the hell are you doing?” she was about to say, but her breath was suddenly and purposely sucked out of her by his deep kisses.

Her chest was now exposed and he released her mouth to trail little kisses from her neck down.

- kiss the hollow where the neck met the shoulder blade 'You're mine...'

- lick just underneath the blade 'mine...'

-nip above her left breast 'mine...'

-kiss near the auerole 'all mine...'

-lick near its center 'mine...'

-nip at the center 'just mine...'

Now that she could breathe normally, she took in a large gulp of air and held it to clear her head. While he enjoyed her body, she thought more about her life than his caresses. The role that she had played all these years was no longer necessary and as the facade fell away she felt she needed to replace it with something else, something to redeem herself. 'This man has led a hard life. All those he loved are gone. He has no one. I will be what he needs - someone to love and protect, someone to love and protect him, someone to heal him.'

The mid afternoon sun sensually streamed in through the gaps in the shades. This time she saw his nude torso in the sun's golden light, not the silver light of the moon. Objects tend to look different under different lighting and now her analytical brain took over and she started to study his body again, noticing how much harsher and more painful his scars looked now that they were under the sun's hard glare rather the moon's soft rays. It had been over a month since she left and she noticed new scars. The observation saddened her; how regrettable to have such a beautiful, strong body, marred so badly. And for what? Another futile mission? Then she felt doubly guilty that she was the cause of the most recent injuries.

He noticed from his exploration of her body, that she had gained some weight, put on some more muscle, and filled out nicely. Her pale skin had acquired a healthier pink hue; now her complexion was better than his (his remained almost unnaturally pale). He deduced that after her visit to her birth country, finding out about the origin of her green chakra, and exorcising the demon in her dreams, she was sleeping better, resulting in better health - and a sexier body.

Her hands played randomly with his hair, which still felt damp, twirling it, pulling it, petting it, as his head moved further down. She could feel the cool evaporation from the trail of wet kisses on her skin. The tingling sensation excited her and she realized just how much she missed him.

His mouth lingered around her breasts, kissing around the aureoles and licking their center. This time she was the one who started to feel impatient, wondering how long it would take him to travel further down, where she felt the wet warmth building.

As he licked the area around her navel, his hands finally moved down to her pants. Realizing his intention, she ordered him to take them off properly, not cutting them to pieces. She could use one of his shirts when she left, but not his pants, she reasoned.

He sighed at the delay in satisfaction but moved to obey her as he sat up and properly undid her belt. To help him reduce the time aspect, she shimmied off her pants and then helped him remove his.

This time, as his body merged with hers, there was no longer that sense of urgency, that this would be the one and only chance he had with her, that she would leave him soon afterwards. There were no lies between them now, no hidden secrets. Or so he thought.

'This feeling of completeness, of satiety when he is within me, is that love?' she wondered. Although her body instinctively arched in response to his thrusts, her attention was still focused on what she was or should be feeling and how she should be responding. She moaned appropriately and clutched his buttocks to encourage him and when the telltale shudder ran through his body, she responded in kind.

“I missed you,” he whispered afterwards in her ear as he caressed her long dark hair carelessly spread out on the pillow. He chose these three innocuous words rather than the more meaningful trio, knowing these were more likely to get a reciprocal response.

But instead she said cynically, “Yeah right, you just missed the sex.” And though she laughed as she said it, it seemed she did believe it, at least in part, or why else would the thought have entered her mind. Her words hurt a bit as he had romantically imagined her professing her undying love like most of the other women in his life.

He chuckled half-heartedly and replied, “Well, yeah, there is that of course…”

She then noticed the blood on the sheets. “What's that? Blood? Is that…? That's disgusting! When's the last time you changed your sheets?”

Kakashi shrugged sheepishly.

Freaked out by the thought of just having lain on bloody, dirty sheets, Rikako got up abruptly and started looking for her clothes, or their remnants.

“I thought maybe you could spend the night. I promise I'll change the sheets,” her lover offered. He wanted very badly for her to stay, to wake up with her by his side, to feel her warm body next to his.

“No, I have to see my parents tonight and the Hokage in the morning.” She frowned at the thought.

Kakashi sighed, “Well, I guess I should meet my genin now. I'm a bit late.”

“You had an appointment? How late are you?” Her voice rose in disapproval.

He shrugged again before answering, “Just a couple of hours.”

“A couple of...You mean you wasted time sleeping with me instead of meeting with your team? How irresponsible! Wait…was that why you were always late back then?" Rikako accused her former sensei.

“Well…er…only a few times, ha-ha,” the perpetually late shinobi admitted. `It wasn't a waste of time! Seemed she enjoyed it just as much.'

She shook her head at his laxity and seriously wondered why she still wanted him.

“But remember, I'm late because you attacked me and knocked me out,” Kakashi pointed out, purposely making her feel guilty again. She was nicer when she felt guilty.

“Yes, I suppose this time it was my fault, but I won't have you being late ever again because of me. One of us has to be responsible.”

` “Us” that's a nice word isn't it?' he thought with a smile.

Ultimately, he needed someone to love and she needed someone to love her.

-...-...-END of BOOK 1-...-...

Author's Notes: The other chapter was the original ending, but I wrote this epilogue as a bridge to the next story.

To be continued in “Kakashi's Stolen Sharingan”

Summary: Rikako steals Kakashi's sharingan and becomes a missing-nin then joins up with a gang with plans to take over Grass and Rain. He gets her eye in exchange which allows him to find out what people really think about him.