Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the relating characters.

Author's Notes: This is the prequel to Morning Rituals. I am going to warn about the poorly written lemon in this. Sorry all.

(I really had a hard time coming up with a title and when I finally did put the title in after writing this the first thing that popped into my head was Edwin McCain's song I'll Be, just a funny little side note, because I could see a songfic working with that song, and, no, this is not it and I will not be doing one. Just watch me change the title later, though, lol.)

I'll Be

At age thirty was when Kakashi had begun to notice his former female student. She was now at the glorious age of sixteen and heading on her way down the road of adulthood. She was taking solo missions. Not many, but it was still impressive enough for him to notice.

They had grown closer. Not too close, being as how Kakashi still tried to remain at an arm's distance from everyone including himself, but close enough that they had fallen into a somewhat habit with each other.

When Kakashi ventured back from each mission Sakura seemed to always be there, right on his doorstep, within ten minutes time to patch him up, then they'd talk, have a cup of jasmine tea and she would be on her merry way.

Of course when Sakura would come home from a long day at work Kakashi would arrive with food in hand at her office, and the same would progress as follows.

It wasn't much, but it was the closest Kakashi had allowed himself to become to anyone, least of all female, in a long time.

He of course would never admit it to anyone, least of all Sakura, but somewhere along the way he had fallen in love with her. The Copy Ninja was a brilliant man, but when it came to sordid feeling from the heart he was quite the dunce, so in turn he decided it was best to leave well enough alone and never mention anything to her.

This routine, if you could call it that, continued on until one night after an overly extended mission of three months Kakashi had come back from, tired and beaten all the hell up, but alive and missing his constant in recent life.

As if on cue a knock sounded at his door and opened on its own accord.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm letting myself in," a familiar voice called in.

"It's quite alright, I don't know if I can move much more." Kakashi groaned out in pain.

She closed the door and quickly went to his side pulling open her medical kit as she sat down. "What did you do to yourself this time, Kashi?"

"Nothing I can't handle," he quipped.

"I'm sure that's the case," she replied only half listening as she scanned his cracked ribs with her chakra. "Did you mean to do this?" she asked prodding at a slightly bruised rib.

"No, not that one," he ground out through clenched teeth. "And here I thought I was going to enjoy our time together, Sakura-chan."

She glared at him then went back to work.

Once done, she closed up her kit and went to the kitchen to fix the kettle for some tea. He sat upright on the couch and rubbed his stiff neck. In the process of healing him Sakura had removed his jonin shirt and head band; his shoes and bindings had been discarded before she had even arrived.

The Silver haired jonin stretched and stood fully, turning this way and that as he worked out all of the kinks. He then finally turned and looked over at his kitchen, and as he looked he noticed something. He wasn't sure what something it was, but it was certainly something entirely unfamiliar about Sakura. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Was it her hair? It was down tonight, but that couldn't possibly be it. Kakashi had seen her hair down countless times.

Maybe it was makeup. She usually wore mascara, but had forgone it tonight, probably because it was late and she was getting ready for bed before coming here.

It was something to do with her appearance, but there was also an almost glow forming around her. Not literally or visually, but she seemed…different, and he just couldn't tell what it was!

"Sakura…" he started.

"Yes?" she turned around smiling with the kettle full of cold water in one hand and a tea canister in the other.

"Is there… that is… are you alright?" he continued to stop himself in mid sentence.

She smiled more gently now, "of course, why wouldn't I be?" Sakura turned the flame up for the kettle and set it down. "You're home Kakashi. What else could I be happy about?"

A sudden urge came over him and before he could stop himself he was pulling the medic-nin close into his embrace, and when she sighed he held her tighter.

That's when it struck him…hard. Her stomach was protruding.

With the loose fitting top she was currently wearing he really couldn't visually see it, but he could certainly feel it now.

"Sakura, what the-"

She held a hand up to stop his question. "Kakashi let's go out to the living room and sit down."

"No, I want to know what happened while I was gone." His tone had become harsher than he had expected it to, and so he back tracked a little, "I'm sorry, please, just tell me what happened, so that I can make this boy do right by you." More like he wanted to maim and kill any man that had even touched her just because he was away.

"It happened on the last mission I was sent on. I know who it was and I also allowed it."

"You wha-"

"Would you let me finish?"

He bowed his head, "I'm sorry."

"He doesn't know, and it will probably remain that way. It's not like he's going to be coming back to find me. He wouldn't be welcomed back by the village anyways."

Kakashi knew without even the mention of a name who the father was.

The Copy-nin studied her hard. The matter of" why" didn't even seem to cross his mind. He knew why, but the worry that seemed to seep through her slowly dying smile had him more concerned with the "what and how" of the situation.

"Sakura-"

Her smile brightened again, though somewhat forced, "I've already got it figured out. I'm going to live in the house that my father left me when he died. I don't need anyone to help me. I can raise a child on my own. After all, my father raised me well enough after my mother died."

"It's not always the same with Shinobi. Civilians can always be there, but just as my last mission proves, sometimes we are away from home and the ones we love for longer than a day."

He raised his hand to her face, slowly brushing his fingers across her cheek.

She pulled away, her smile gone now completely. "Kakashi, don't."

"I want to. I have the right to at least try."

Sakura dropped her head once again, so low this time that her bangs fell down to shadow her face.

"Sakura, please look at me," he begged. She refused to look up still. "I think it's time I go," she mumbled, trying to maneuver past him in the small kitchen. Before she could even take two steps he swung her around and lifted her to the counter.

"Just because Sasuke can't be there for you doesn't mean that you should push away everyone else who can!"

Before she could respond his mask was down and his lips on hers, but rather than rejecting it she draped her arms over and around his neck and shoulders urging him to move deeper. His hand grasped her hips with such a force that she shuttered and opened her moth just the slightest bit. He took the opening and delved his tongue into her hot cavern. Their tongues clashed for dominance, each one not being able to get enough access to the other.

Kakashi's hands moved along her roughly, as though he couldn't feel her enough. The hands pulled and tugged at her shirt but unfortunately he knew that he would be forced to separate from her lips if he wanted the damned blouse off of her.

The medic-nin let out a small sigh of frustration when he finally pulled a few inches away, but she allowed him to pull the blouse up over her pink hair and set it gently on the kitchen counter.

Now Kakashi could see her fully, the swell of the life growing inside of her. He delicately stroked the sides of the growing belly and Sakura giggled. "That tickles," she swatted at him, so he stopped and just held her there.

Her smile fell for the millionth time that night upon his words, "I want to be the father." He wasn't looking directly at her, but instead at her stomach.

"Why?" was all she could say.

"Because you both deserve better than single parenthood," his fingers moved up to trace the underside of her bra. Apparently her breasts were also growing he noted.

Sakura shuttered when his finger passed over her left nipple, "Is that your only reason, Kakashi?" He words were coming out breathy and needy.

He cupped her left breast fully with one hand and splayed his fingers out along her lower back. She arched into his hand as he leaned over and replied, "I believe I am in love with you."

His thumb grazed over her cover nipple again and she let out a soft whimper.

"Please, Kakashi, just don't hurt me."

"Never ever, my love," the Copy-Nin responded as he reached to unhook her bra. It fell from her like petals on a cherry tree.

The glow that the medic-nin in front of him was radiating made her even more exquisite than ever before, and if Kakashi wasn't hard before, he certainly was now as he leaned his head down to slowly traces her nipple with the tip of his tongue.

Sakura's hands unconsciously went for his long silver strands as she moaned out his name. Hearing her explicit moans was driving him to the edge.

The whistle of the kettle sounded, but Sakura paid it no attention, Kakashi on the other hand reached over and turned it off while he continued to move further down her body.

"You have no idea how long I have been wanting to do this with you, Sakura." He punctuated each word with a kiss until he reached his destination. With his honed shinobi skills he quickly removed her skirt and underwear and was delving his tongue deep into her core before she could even breathe.

Her moans were growing increasing louder and he could hear one of his neighbors pounding on the wall behind them; too bad he didn't care.

Slowly but surely he made his way from one end of her womanhood to the other, gently stroking her, making her moan and writhe beneath the hands that held her firmly in place. Every few strokes he would dip in and suck ever so tenderly on her pearl, and just when Sakura thought she couldn't take much more of it Kakashi inserted his first finger into her, groaning at how tight she was. He pumped in and out of her curling his finger every now and again. Then he added a second and a third. His pumping continued to increase as her ragged breathing became more erratic.

The neighbor's pounding started up again and this time a pan fell off of the wall, landing with a loud clang in the sink. They still continued on ignoring it.

Kakashi's fingers and tongue continued to work the pink haired woman into a frenzy, slowly driving her to oblivion.

Her orgasm came down hard as her head fell back and her mouth open yet no audible sound was uttered. Her grip had long ago released his hair and instead had found refuge on the counter under her, which was now starting to crack beneath her iron grip.

Sakura not so gracefully fell back on the long counter, her breathing heavy. Kakashi wasn't sure how much longer he could contain himself, so he removed his shirt and pulled himself out of his jonin pants, "Sakura."

She looked up over her wide spread legs at him, hearing the plea in his voice and nodded tiredly. With one hand holding his cock in place and the other adjusting her positioning slightly on the edge of the counter he pressed himself at her entrance, sliding his head up and down her slit. Sakura bucked her hips at him, already hoping for more. He continued to be gentle with her as much as it pained him. As slowly as he could he slid himself inside of her; first with his head then inch by agonizing inch he was in her fully, buried up to the hilt.

The copy-nin pulled himself back out slowly and slammed into her hard this time, eliciting a moan from her lips once again. "More" she whimpered at him.

He didn't respond, only grunted and repeated the action. Over and over again Kakashi slammed into her tight center drawing out erotic moans from the kunoichi sprawled out on his kitchen counter. Her finger nails dug groves into the wood below her. The heat of the pleasurable waves cascaded over her body until finally she gave in and arched clear off the counter tossing her head back and moaning out his name. Kakashi slowed down his pumping to allow her to relax, but Sakura shook her head at him, "keep going, please."

She didn't have to ask twice as he fired up his speed. Her walls clamped down on his member with a death vice. The short fast strokes to her walls were making her buck again. He held her hips in place, wanting to make the feeling go as deep as he could. The sounds of their grunts, groans and moans coinciding with the fantastic feel of her walls tightening once again had become too much for Kakashi as he gripped her hips so tightly that dark bruises would appear there later. The Copy-Nin came with one last deep thrust into her. He panted and groaned with tightly closed eyes as her cavern squeezed every last drop out of him.

By the second slow stoke before he stopped entirely she came for a third time that night. He hit her both inside and out; pressing his thumb to her center of nerves. Kakashi leaned over her, as to avoid completely collapsing on her stomach, bracing himself on her knees.

"Sakura, marry me, please? I'll be the baby's father."

All she did was nod at him again, still stuck in a euphoric state to relay in words her answer to him.

"Good," he nodded.

After a minute or so passed Kakashi finally pulled himself out of her and resituated his pants. Sakura whimpered at the loss, but slowly sat up with the Copy-Nin's help. He pulled her naked form close and buried his nose deep in her strawberry pink locks.

"I was almost afraid to tell you," she whispered near his ear.

"I know, but you don't have to worry."

Yes, Kakashi realized that he was reacting to the situation as though he iwas/i the biological father, but as far as Kakashi was concerned the child would always recognize him as such. If he has acted on his feeling sooner, he might have been, but what mattered now was that things would work out for the best, Sakura would not be forced to raise the child alone and Kakashi, well, he knew now, that he would not be holding the ones he loved at arm's length any longer…mostly because Sakura probably wouldn't let him.

End