The tall iron gates of Konoha slowly but surely open as Kakashi and Sakura wait patiently to pass through into their home village.
It's been four months. One hundred and twenty days exactly since he'd planned on telling her. Since he'd chickened out. He wonders if she'd had any idea, any inkling at all of his dilemma that night, and had simply chosen to give him the easy way out rather than make himself uncomfortable by bearing his heart on his sleeve. Could she have known all along? Of course, he'll never know for certain.
This had been he and Sakura's first mission together since Okigawa, a relatively easy and light experience compared to the last. Sure, they'd had to travel to Sand, and put up with the blazing sun and blistering heat, not to mention the freezing nights. But there were no assassination plots or poison kunai to deal with, and for that, both were thankful. Of course, nearly the whole time being there reminded him of the last time they'd been in Sand together, and Sakura had made her first inappropriate comment towards him in jest. He can't help but chuckle silently to himself at the memory.
The gates open fully and Kakashi and Sakura walk through, crossing the threshold into Konohagakure. The two stroll side by side, Sakura's elbows flailing with each step as she hangs onto the straps of her backpack, while Kakashi pretends to delve into Makeout Paradise; he hasn't been able to actually read when she's around for a while now.
They walk further into the village and pass a few fellow ninja, wave their greetings, and continue on to report to Tsunade. It isn't until someone calls their names that Kakashi bothers to look up from his book.
"Heeeey, Kakashi! Sakura! Nice seeing you two again!"
Teacher and medical prodigy stop to look over towards the voice, finding Yamato leaning back on a barstool and waving jovially at them.
Kakashi wants to keep moving - he's clearly buzzed, and Yamato's mouth is not to be trusted while under the influence - but Sakura waves back and struts over to him, her long beautiful legs working their magic, and he reluctantly follows.
"Hey, Yamato, what's up?" Sakura asks brightly, completely oblivious to Kakashi's warning glare to the other man.
But Yamato is drunk (well, sort of) and he either doesn't catch the hint or just decides to completely ignore it as he smiles somewhat sloppily back at his ex-student.
"Oh, nothing much, jus' celebrating a bit is all. You and Kakashi are welcome to join. You're of age, right Sakura?" Kakashi steps forward to politely pass for the both of them, but Yamato opens his mouth once again. "You know, you two look like an old married couple, walking together the way you do. It's adorable! Haha!"
The copy ninja's breath is caught in his throat, and he hopes with all his might that he won't say anything else and that Sakura will just ignore it-
The pinkette's hands leave her backpack straps, one going around Kakashi's waist while the other rests on her hip. "You know it! He might be old, but he sure does have experience, if ya know what I mean."
She even winks for good measure, and Kakashi is so frozen in place that he can't move, much less formulate a sentence. Yamato's face is one of surprise, clearly having not expected her to actually play along with the joke, and Kakashi is reminded of the comment she'd made the last time they'd been in Sand on shinobi business.
Oh, yes, please, master! Do show me how?
He wants to laugh to lighten the mood, but instead he internally cringes. Oh, geez.
Yamato is the one to break the silence, and even in his inebriated state, he looks meaningfully to Kakashi as he says, "Oh wow, you've got yourself a spunky one, Kakashi. Nice job!"
He raises his glass and gives a winking smile, and recognizing the escape route being offered, Kakashi finally snaps out of it and attempts to save face.
"U- uh, yes. Yes, she's something else, alright. The Fifth did an excellent job; there'll never be another one like her! Haha." He numbly raises his arm to rest at Sakura's hip and mirror her own pose, giving a light squeeze. "Thank you so much for the kind words, Yamato, we're quite happy."
There's a single beat of silence, and for a moment, Kakashi thinks he's gone too far playing along with the joke, but then Yamato reels his head back and starts laughing like the buzzed man that he is. "HAHA! That's great stuff right there. You two crack me up! I'll see ya around!"
They turn in unison, and Sakura smiles and waves goodbye. "Bye, Yamato! See ya."
They're a good twenty feet away now, and Kakashi realizes they're still holding each other. Even though she doesn't seem to mind in the least, his arm pulls back regardless. They're in public, and he doesn't want to soil the Fifth's apprentice's reputation. Sakura gradually lowers her arm as well, not saying anything in response to his actions.
He sucks in a breath when their hands cross, her pinky curling around his in a loose form of handholding, but it lasts a mere second before her hand drops and returns to her side.
He looks over at her as they walk, trying to read her face, find something, anything, that would tell him it was an action done purposely, that it meant something, but her face turns away to look at a group of children playing, or so he thinks; perhaps she'd sensed his inquisitive stare and didn't want to own up to what she'd just attempted. Maybe he should hold her hand again? Let her know it's okay? But then what would the point of that be? They still weren't an actual couple. Maybe it had just been an accident and she didn't want him to read too much into it. Lord knew he overthought enough as it was. Maybe that was it.
...Or maybe he's under-thinking it. Maybe she had meant it completely and he'd just accidentally blown her off...
He doesn't know.
He can't decide.
His brain hurts.
They make it to Tsunade's office for debriefing, but Kakashi doesn't hear a word of it; he's too busy thinking about the amazing and befuddling young woman standing beside him.
