All the Comforts of Home

Kagura had not liked the idea of leaving Akari, who was in a wheelchair for crying out loud, by herself for that stupid clan meeting.  She knew how important it was, and didn’t argue the fact that Akari felt the need to attend, but she definitely wanted to come in with her and stay by her side, push her around in the wheelchair and not let her out of the brunette’s sight.  It had only been three weeks, but it had felt like an eternity of worrying, hoping, praying to any god that would listen for her to wake up.  And all the while, a war had started amongst the villages, and one of their strongest fighters had been sidelined because the brunette refused to leave her lover’s side.  Without Akari, it was like the fire inside her soul had been brought from a roaring inferno to a candle’s flame, always on the verge of being extinguished entirely.  But the woman had finally gotten Kagura to budge when she said she wanted her to go home and get it ready for when she was done, and instantly Kagura’s mind had switched gears; she hadn’t cleaned their home in quite some time, sleeping in the hospital more often than not, only leaving when absolutely necessary.

Idly, she wondered if Akari could feel the kisses she gave her in secret every day?  She waived off the concerned staff indicating that she was simply the most loyal of students mourning her Sensei, but it was so much deeper than that.  But she couldn’t reveal things… not yet.  Even as a Jounin, she didn’t know what she could say yet.  She wanted to wait and have that conversation with Akari, because after this scare, she was done with hiding her feelings when in public if she could help it at all… they had lost too much time already.

But for the moment, Kagura was busy cleaning the house and cooking one of the largest feasts she had ever constructed.  Dozens of clones cleaned the home, trimmed the yard, every single chore that hadn’t been done down to the smallest detail.  She had enough mind to ensure the plants hadn’t died, occasionally stopping by the home to water them, but that had been about it.  Every time she walked through the home had been painful while Akari wasn’t in it.  It was simply too empty, which was nothing like now.  The chores, when using the Mass Shadow Clones, were done in a snap, and with the eight of Kagura in the kitchen, cooking was fully prepared for.  She had planned to try to cook a bit of everything; breakfast items, simple sandwiches, grand dishes, steak, fish, chicken, pork, rice… everything.

There had to be small temporary tables set up in the dining room area to simply house all the plates of food she had prepared, with a special seat of honor awaiting Akari at the head of the table so she could sit and enjoy anything she wanted.  Anything not eaten would be getting donated to the families she knew were in need, the hospital, and anywhere else people were hungry so it wasn’t an issue if she didn’t eat everything, but this way she could have a little bit of anything she might want.  Soon, all the clones dispersed, and Kagura was by the front door in her cooking outfit as Akari arrived.  “Welcome home,” she said, trying to hold back tears.

[1]

Akari was tired.

Which was odd considering she had effectively just woken up after sleeping for a fucking month. However she was far too smart to put stock into that theory. She was starving, and a coma wasn't really resting. She needed to sleep properly, preferably in a comfortable environment. Which of course was why it was fortunate she was currently rolling her wheelchair home. The meeting on gone on for a while, but hadn't lasted as late as some she'd had while she was Hokage. So at least Kagura wouldn't be waiting up for her or anything. In speaking of the brunette, Akari fully expected Kagura to have prepared an absolutely absurd amount of food. So much food that Akari and her lover couldn't possibly eat it all if they tried. 'Maybe I should have invited the rest of the clan over for food after the meeting...' She thought, oh well, hindsight was 20/20 and all. Besides, more than sleep, more than food, Akari wanted, no, needed to be alone with Kagura.

She wanted to hug the woman tight and not let go, wanted to kiss her and not worry that others could see. Wanted to cuddle up with her and lay around lazily, enjoying each others presence. She wanted that and so much more, and she briefly marveled at her ability to want Kagura so badly that she briefly considered skipping dinner altogether and going straight for desert. However that was both unwise, and incredibly inconsiderate, even if in the end she doubted Kagura would mind. Still, Akari had promised no strenuous activity so if they did take things to the more..physical aspects of their relationship, they would have to be a bit more reserved. That was alright with Akari either way, but she mostly just wanted to be with Kagura again in general. So with strong emotions of desire, for Kagura, caution, at how 'enthusiastic' Kagura would be in greeting her, and anxious, at the prospect of seeing how much food that brunette had prepared in the time she had, Akari steered her wheel chair up to the door of her home. Of course when she got to the stairs up to the front she made two clones, one to lift her out of the chair, and another to pull the wheelchair up. Akari had promised Dr. Miyamoto that she would stay in the wheelchair when not resting for the next few days. Akari intended to honour that promise, as she did all others.

'Your physical body doesn't require that precaution. I've ensured it didn't atrophy as I said. At best you'll need the energy from food, and a nights rest. Then you can ignore the thing' Shivarra said within her mind. The ice spirit voice cold and emotionless. Akari nodded mentally, accepting that as truth. However she had promised Dr. Miyamoto, and she was an Uchiha, they didn't break a promise when made. Still, she might cheat a bit and only use it outside of her own home. Which if Kagura missed her as much as she expected, would probably take a few days for her to manage to leave anyway. Now that she was up the stairs however, she rolled to the door and opened it, and was greeted by a visage of beauty. It wasn't that her outfit was overwhelmingly attractive, although nothing looked bad on her. It wasn't that she was stunningly attractive, although she was. It was the fact that the woman welcoming her home right at that moment was hers, and Akari herself was hers in return. A small smile touched the dark haired woman's features as she saw her love. "Glad to be home." She would say, before rolling in and having one of the still active clones close the door before dispersing.

Once the door was closed she would reach out and take Kagura's hand before pulling the woman to her and hugging her tight. Her arms wrapping around the brunettes waist as she held her before moving her head back with the intent to take the woman she loved into a deep and longing kiss. Once that ended after who knows how long, she would nuzzle her head against Kagura's. "Admittedly I'm barely keeping it together. I probably shouldn't have gone to that meeting after just waking up. I'm hungry, exhausted, and couldn't feasibly tell you what I wanted more right now. Food, sleep, cuddling with you, with and without clothes on, or a week in a hot spring." She would say, a subtle emphasis on the word 'without' which would tell Kagura exactly what she meant by it. Still, sex wasn't the only part of their relationship, it wasn't even the most important. She mostly just wanted her lover there with her, holding her as they slowly dozed and fell into a deep sleep. First however would come the food. "Since however you have probably exhausted a large effort in preparing what I am going to assume is an absolutely unnecessary amount of sustenance and it would be travesty to let any of it get cold. I'm going to use my mighty intellect to say 'food'." She would say, her expression almost deadpan through the entire statement which would further underscore the fact the joke in it. It was important to do that right now, when she was as frazzled as she was. Jokes, humour in general, kept one grounded in situations where one would normally fall to the wayside.

Had the plague been solely involved? Or had stress from the position been a factor? She had done well in turning the village around in the short time she had been Kage. Remarkably so by anyone's measure. Had the pace been too high for her mind and body to handle? The evermounting pressure too much for her to handle? She didn't know, she probably never would. What she knew was that she had fallen, not permanently, but had fallen. By a 'disease' of all things, and it was something Akari had no intention of letting happen again. She would need to start training, soon, and she would need to through everything she had into the effort. She didn't have the responsibility of leading the village anymore. So she had that going for her in terms of free time. They were however at war, which only underscored the urgency of the matter. No waiting, no procrastination, and no games. For now though, she needed to rest, and recover. So she would, and she would relish in the succor provided by her lover in times such as this. For she needed it more than ever now.

Kagura returned the small smile, watching as the door was closed soundly before moving forward into the embrace of the one she loved, holding her tightly but not quite the full squeeze she wanted to give her.  There were too many unknowns just yet; she didn’t know if the woman’s body had been dealt any serious complications for being asleep for nearly a month, even though as she watched over her every day since she collapsed, she didn’t seem to get any thinner or paler thankfully.  Hopefully the road to recovery for her would be short and sweet, and they could feel whole yet again soon.

The moment that their lips met, it was like the brunette could feel her heart’s armor melting yet again.  Weeks of pain, worry and sadness were slowly but surely thawing, and this was the first step in that process for her to heal.  The kiss was returned with passion, but it was held in check, careful and controlled.  She was holding back for the moment, despite wanting to simply scoop her into her own arms and bring her to bed right then and there.  She had a few surprises in store, but for the moment, it depended greatly on the information she was about to receive.  Even then, the kiss lasted more minutes, at least, and Kagura was in tears with happiness that she had her soulmate yet again.

Hearing her speak she smiled.  “Already made a reservation for the hot spring tomorrow, and we aren’t scheduled for anything until next week.”  She had anticipated taking this week to take care of Akari and help her get back on her feet, at least, that was what she told everyone else.  The truth of the matter was that she was selfishly wanting as much time with the woman as humanly possible, having missed her terribly.  She had felt hollow without Akari, devoid of a soul and simply going through the motions day by day, unable to function with any enthusiasm whatsoever.  She knew that Akari would have hated that, but the brunette simply could not help it.

The woman emphasizing the word ‘without’ in her sentence though gave Kagura the mental green light for her surprise later.

Hearing her declaration about going overboard with the food, however, she smiled widely.  “I couldn’t decide on what to make, so I made everything.”  She stepped to the side and then behind Akari, pushing her into the dining room where the massive assortment of dishes were presented, all covered with small metal lids.  Kagura took her time and put Akari at the head of the table, then moved around and plucked each cover off, revealing the still piping hot food and treats, which nearly overflowed out of the room from all the small stands to hold them all.  As she finished revealing everything, a vast assortments of different foods, breakfast, lunch and dinner, hot and cold, pies, cakes and everything else you could think of were revealed, Kagura would set down the stack of lids into a corner and hold her hands out to her sides.

“Where would you like to start?” she asked, a touch of red on her cheeks at how ‘overboard’ she might have gone.

[2]

The kiss lasted quite a while but it still ended too soon for Akari’s taste however they could address that later and the dark haired woman was certain that Kagura would be more than willing to humour her to her heart's content. At her expressed desire for a hot spring Kagura would inform her that she’d already made reservations to go to one tomorrow. Akari would smile slyly at her lover before speaking. “I was thinking more of the on-suite bathtub really, hot water, assorted bath oils, salts, and other such goodies, candles, you, me, privacy..” She would say, leading the words on slowly as she slowly teased Kagura in her own way. It was one of her favorite things to do. To be honest Akari did have one guilty pleasure that most might not pick out immediately. They might guess some kind of puzzle game, or research, or a favorite food. Really though, Akari’s guilty pleasure was bath time. She had all kinds of compounds, oils, and mixtures that would add scent to a hot both and make it feel wonderful. It was also one of the few times where she would actually drink. Laying back in her enormous bathtub with a glass of wine and enjoying the comfort of the hot water. To share something like that with Kagura would probably be amongst the most intimate and enjoyable things she could imagine.

Thoughts of bath time aside, it was time to eat and true to form as Kagura pushed her up to the table with multitudes of covered trays and platters Akari would sigh audibly. “I knew you’d go overboard, I just knew it. I should’ve invited the entire clan over after the meeting for dinner. Although then I wouldn’t be able to be alone with you until they all left.” She would say, trailing off at the end as she looked over the assortment of food. She looked around carefully, noting each dish and letting her stomach decide what she wanted. She was starving frankly so she doubted she would stop at one tray. “You better be eating with me, if you expect me to eat alone with you here I’ll get out of this wheelchair and tie you to a chair.” She would say idly as she looked around. “Although please do get us some drinks my love, I don’t care what, wine, water, soda, I’m taking the next week off anyway and I’m not Hokage at the moment. So I have no qualms with anything.” She would say afterwards, noting that while there was an absolutely insane amount of food there wasn’t really a lot of drink options, none, really, but Kagura was probably so focused on cooking food for Akari’s empty stomach that she didn’t think of it. It was one of the many many things the crystal eyed girl loved about Kagura.

Deciding finally on taking a few sandwiches to start Akari placed a few on her plate. They were close by so it wasn’t difficult to reach them. The sandwiches would be a good starting point as while Akari saw a great many foods she loved she needed to pace herself and start slow. Many of her favorite dishes were fairly rich foods and in order to ensure that she didn’t get sick she needed something in her stomach to buffer such things. The sandwiches would act as a place for this to start. Taking her first bite of a sandwich, a simple thing that was easily prepared she looked around at all the options and decided on what she’d eat next. Kagura had made steak, and Akari loved a good, medium rare steak and today was her first day home from the hospital. It was a good day to celebrate and a plate full of steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans sounded delicious. It wasn’t your typical fare around here, but it was one of Akari’s favorite meals. She continued to eat, and provided Kagura brought drinks for them she would take hers with a smile of thanks before taking a drink of it and setting it aside. “So, I know you’ve been super productive these past weeks and not at all hung up over my hospital bed trying to be there the moment I open my eyes. What have you been doing?” She would ask idly, it was half joke, and half serious. Akari knew full well that Kagura wouldn’t be much else other than near Akari when she was in the hospital just as Akari wouldn’t be much else other than near Kagura herself. However, three weeks was a long time to wait around. It was Akari’s subtle way of asking Kagura if she had done anything else.

Kagura’s eyes widened a little bit and her smile grew as the woman claimed to want their home to have such a facility because it was so damn difficult to do anything for her that she didn’t already have. Her mind swam through ideas ranging from hiring a professional to looking up designs and building it her damn self. She was not a professional engineer, but it was too easy to work with one to come up with a design and then follow instructions, and she felt it would mean more if she built it by hand rather than had someone come into their home to do so. This place was sacred to their relationship; without both of them in it, it felt cursed, but now that they had reunited, it felt like she didn’t want just anyone else in this space. She would make sure to keep the candles and such in mind in the design too. “That can be arranged…” she said with a smile.

Truth be told, unless they knew about Akari and Kagura, she didn’t want anyone in here. She didn’t want to be forced to wear a metaphorical mask in her own home.

She however fervently shook her head side to side at the idea of bringing over the entire clan, nodding instead once she started speaking about how it would mean they couldn’t be alone. Kagura wanted this time to be just for them, no one else. She wanted to spend as much time as humanly possible with the woman before they both went back to work, so if she had anything to say about it, she was going to arrange it to meet those criteria as long as she could. Hell, even when they did get back to work, she was planning to try to make it to where they went on missions together instead of apart. With her promotion to Jounin already planned, and Akari no longer being the Hokage, for the moment anyway, it should be possible for them to stick together for such.

As far as eating with her, she answered the best way she could. She moved over slightly in front of where Akari was sitting in her wheelchair, ensured the wheels where locked, and then bent over and placed her hands firmly underneath the woman’s thighs for a moment and lifted her up. Then she sat down and put Akari in her lap while two clones came into existence beside her. “Don’t get up… I will make sure anything you want is in arm’s reach… and I’ll help you eat whatever looks tastiest.” One of the clones scampered off to get an assortment of drinks, coming back moments later with literally every option the woman had listed off, a bucket of ice, and a large glass with two straws. Once she made a selection, Shadow-Kagura would pour it and make it easy to reach, while the other began to fetch whatever dish the black-haired woman desired and place it before her. This was full service, with a Kagura-chair to boot. Kagura would take a bite whenever Akari presented her with something to eat, keeping her arms wrapped around the woman’s waist in a gentle and relaxed hug like a seatbelt. This would continue for a bit as the sandwiches started things off, but then the question that she knew was coming rose to the top, and she would feel Kagura squirm a little bit beneath her.

“Oh no, totally didn’t spend every moment possible, awake and asleep, sitting in the chair next to you praying for you to wake up and only leaving to grab something bare minimum to eat and drink. Definitely was a fully productive member of the village and didn’t tell multiple people to buzz off when they asked me to do things.” She finished the sarcasm with a giggle, but then the humor faded from her tone and there was a long deliberate pause. “I… I felt like I didn’t have a soul anymore. I couldn’t even be angry… just… nothing. Like there was a void where my heart used to be, and I was already dead.” The words were pained, and Akari could probably feel Kagura’s head tilt downwards, and small bits of water hit the back of her neck. The grip on Akari tightened slightly, a more proper hug as she cried, refusing to let herself sob.

“You are my everything. Don’t you do that to me again.” It was more of a desperate plea than anything.

[3]

Akari would chuckle at Kagura before using a seal to form a shadow clone. Her doppelganger poofed into existence only standing it was a useful technique that was helping her even more so now. Especially since it would allow her to spend more time near Kagura while she had the clone go do things. "Go run a hot bath, it takes a while to fill the tub." She would say to her clone who nodded and immediately went to fulfill the task. The bathroom was on the other side of the house from the kitchen and dining room, not far from the bedrooms and right off of the master where both Akari and Kagura slept. Although if Akari was right Kagura wouldn't have done much sleeping here while she was in the coma. The dark haired girl wondered if perhaps her brunette lover had slept much at all and if so where that might have been. Akari didn't actually need to finish recovering according to Shivarra, who as angry as she was with Akari for falling prey to such a disease in the first place probably wouldn't like to her about recovering from it. She would have to do what she could to help Kagura get rest during their week off too. Technically, Akari had been resting for a month, it was Kagura's turn now, and Akari would pamper and love the woman until she never wanted the leave the house again.

When Kagura lifted her up and set her in her lap Akari as the decency to blush and gave out a small 'eep'. Her response would be to look at one of the two clones nearby, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Her voice however would be directed toward the real Kagura. "I am perfectly capable of sitting you know..." She would say, although her words had no bite in them and her physical actions said far more. She wormed her way closer to Kagura, wanting the feel the woman's presence against her as she sat and she leaned her head back to lay upon the woman's shoulder for a moment before turning her head up and giving her neck a gentle, loving kiss before sitting up once more. The kiss hadn't been meant to kiss, just to show her love and she would return her attention to dinner.

Picking up a sandwich she would hold it up for Kagura to take a bite, or simply to take if she wanted, it's not like she actually needed to hold Akari against her. The crystal eyed girl had meant what she said about her love eating with her and she had every intention of making sure it happened. "Shall your clones fix you a plate for me to feed you off of my love or are you just going to have me feed you from mine?" She would ask, a curious eyebrow raised as she reached forward and took another sandwich for herself and eating it. Kagura could order one of the clones to make her a plate and it wasn't like that would be a daunting task for them. For all intents and purposes they were Kagura too and so had the same tastes. Akari would also contemplate which of the drinks she would want before speaking aloud to one of the clones. "Could I have a glass of wine please?" She would ask, her hit tilting to one side and a small smile upon her features at the clone as she asked.

In response to Kagura's words Akari would attempt against all physical limitations to wiggle even closer to Kagura, one hand reaching back to cup the woman's cheek. "You know something could happen any time..You can't go all to pieces just because something happens to me my love. I would never forgive myself if you stopped living just because something bad happened to me and I know you'd feel the same." She would say gently, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "I certainly don't intend to get an illness again, promise." She would say, a mild sarcastic edge to it. It's not like she planned it or something. Searching for a way to break the somber moment Akari would look toward the second clone "May I get a plate full of steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans please?" She would ask politely, giving it the same head tilt and smile as she had the first one. Kagura and Akari both loved it when the other acted cute and if the clones were going to be waitresses the least Akari could do would be to make them smile while they did it.

Kagura watched silently as Akari made a clone and gave it instructions for the tub to be filled, only smiling lightly at the idea of a nice warm bath with her love once again. The cute little squeak she uttered at the brunette placing the blue-eyed woman in her lap made her smile anew, and she completely ignored the comment about her being able to sit on her own, despite wiggling to get closer, only leaning a little to give the smaller woman a better angle to make more contact with her own body, and then leaning into the kiss on her neck in appreciation before turning her attention to the meal they were about to consume.

The bronze-eyed woman didn’t need to be told twice; she took a decent sized bite out of the sandwich and enjoyed the fruits of her labor as well. “I’m jush gonna share wif you,” she managed, still chewing before finally swallowing it down. “And if you think I’m going to be letting you go if I don’t have to, you are sorely mistaken…” she finished, taking a moment to kiss the woman on the back of the head, and giving her a gentle squeeze with her arms that were still wrapped around her. The glass of wine was promptly filled, the Shadow Kagura in charge of drinks ensuring that it was to her preferred tastes, and filled just right to where it had maximum content without being in danger of spilling.

Kagura’s warm embrace seemed to freeze over as the woman explained that she couldn’t simply lose all faith in living if something happened to Akari, and she hid her face in the woman’s black hair a bit. “If someone hurt you… I’d hunt them down. But this… it was a disease. I can’t fight that. I just didn’t have the drive to do anything.” It was admitting that she hadn’t been very productive outright. If Akari had been paying close attention to her hospital room, a single comfortable chair would have a very familiar imprint of Kagura’s rump that would likely never re-shape back to normal from the extensive amount of time she had spent in it. Slowly, the brunette took a deep breath and unhid herself from the woman’s hair, but only after rubbing into it a little to rid herself of the tears that lingered in her eyes.

The Food Shadow Kagura was quick to respond, and all the items that she listed were grouped together, making it a simple process to make a plate of the food Akari asked for, as though they had anticipated such. It was grilled just right to Akari’s liking, with just the right amount of seasoning to make it flavorful and juicy. The potatoes had a hint of garlic and butter mixed in, and the green beans had freshly cooked and diced bacon and butter with just a pinch of salt and pepper. Everything was just right, and once the plate was fully loaded, it was placed in front of her with a fork and knife, ready.

[4]

Akari felt the kiss upon the back of her head as Kagura openly stated she wasn't letting go anytime soon and Akari smiled. When she explained that the woman couldn't let herself go all to pieces because of her she would seem to freeze over however. Which was interesting since as far as Akari knew, Kagura wasn't aware of Akari's tenant yet. She'd been comatose before she had even told anyone. She wondered what the brunette would think of the dark haired girl being the prison of an ancient ice spirit. That conversation thought could wait, right now all Akari wanted to do was eat, hand feed her lover, and then go to the bath that was being drawn. Akari wouldn't respond to Kagura's words about her not being to fight a disease. What could she say? Once the plate of food she requested was before her she cut a piece of steak and ate it, taking a moment to enjoy the flavor before cutting off another and angling the fork for Kagura to get a piece. This would continue on with Akari alternating between the two of them until the plate was gone. "Another plate please?" She asked the reasoning simple enough, if Kagura and Akari were sharing Akari's then effectively each plate was cut in half, so it would probably take two to fill them up.

To be honest, it would probably take even more than that given their respective levels of stamina. Kagura was a chakra powerhouse all on her own and Akari, who was no slouch in that department herself, also had Shivarra kicking her metabolism up into such a high gear that she could probably eat all day and never feel full. Reaching over and taking a sip from her wine she would offer the glass to Kagura. This was something the woman would probably have to take into one of her hands as trying to give someone a drink of something that wasn't in a bottle or a straw was asking for a mess to be made so the crystalline eyed girl simply offered it to her. "Unless you'd rather have something non-alcoholic of course." She would say, an eyebrow raised in question. Small talk was of little value to them at this point as what did Akari have to make small talk about? The wonders of dreamless sleep? So Akari figured she would just get through the meal, and then they could both head upstairs and enjoy the bath that was soon to be awaiting them.

It wasn’t long, between the two of them, for the first plate to be polished off. The Shadow Kagura who was serving food noticed it emptying quickly and had a fresh replacement plate already made up, switching the empty plate with the one that was loaded quickly and easily, handing it off to another clone that was waiting to receive the dishes to be cleaned. Sure, there was a strong chance that she could have left that for another time, but Kagura was nothing if not efficient. She wanted to enjoy this time with Akari, and would let nothing get in the way, but she wasn’t going to let herself slack on the chores either, especially when there was something soothing about doing something so mundane and simple. She also took a decent sip from the wine, smiling. “Oh no, this is a celebration. If you want it, we can drink wine all night.” There was a note that the woman didn’t care about alcohol anymore, something that had changed since last time they had been together. “Life is too short not to indulge in things we enjoy.” The implications were clear; worrying about little stuff wasn’t going to matter when you could turn around and die from a simple disease, regardless of how powerful you were.

Now would be a good time to bring her up to speed too. “And I wasn’t completely idle while you were asleep. The time I spent in the hospital was mostly spent in intense meditation; I have vastly expanded my Chakra Reserves and efficiency, and taken Mass Shadow Clone a step further into my own new technique. It’s called Mirror Image. My Images can cross the entire country and have a reasonable amount of durability. Maybe someday I’ll be able to teach it to you. I doubt even your Sharingan could copy it properly because it involves more than simply molding chakra.” She gave the woman a smile again, thinking about how she finally felt like she was close to the same level as Akari. She had never stopped improving, even when the entire world thought she had. “No one knows about it though. You are the first person I have told about it.” She nuzzled into Akari’s neck for a moment, kissing it gently before looking up for another bite of food. This was nice, and for the first time in forever, Kagura felt whole and complete.

[5]