Running for his life was an act Kakashi had grown quite accustomed as a shinobi. Admittedly though he was a bit out of practice considering it had been a number of years since having to genuinely flee for his life.

What made the situation worse however was that he had no idea to where Sakura had disappeared. They were separated shortly after fleeing the sight of their botched mission and Kakashi could only hope she had found safety, or that the missing-nin currently pursuing him hadn't made short work of her.

Blame for the mission's failure rested squarely on his shoulders. For the past four months Kakashi and Sakura had been seeing each other on a frequent basis, it was even common gossip that the former student and teacher were dating. While the couple had yet to do anything to confirm these suspicions, Kakashi couldn't deny to himself that he was growing attached to Sakura, to the point where his emotions were strong enough to be deemed compromised when it came to decisions regarding the pink-haired medic.

Which is exactly what happened. The seasoned jounin had foolishly allowed his emotions to get the better of him, leading him to act impulsively. The snap decision had blown their cover and forced them to beat a hasty retreat into the forest with an S-class criminal hot on their trail.

Absorbed in his self-deprecation, the Copy-nin was taken by surprise when the long tendril of a whip sliced the branch he had just landed on in two. He caught himself in time to avoid slamming into the ground but he couldn't avoid the whip as it snapped forward and wrapped around his leg. Immediately the sensation of electricity tingled up his limb but what would have been a crippling jolt of current for many other ninja had almost no affect on Kakashi who had grown quite used to electricity throughout his life.

"What the hell?" the missing-nin exclaimed.

"Not very smart, are you?" Kakashi replied as Raikiri slowly chirped to life.

He advanced on the missing-nin quickly but before he could strike the criminal jerked his whip backwards, attempting to take Kakashi's leg out from underneath him. Wobbling, the copy-nin did not fall but it stalled his advance, giving his opponent enough time to form a hand seal and shout "Kai!"

The whip that Kakashi had been ignoring as an ineffective weapon suddenly exploded sending him sideways and crying out pain as the bones in his leg shattered from the impact.

"Who's the dumb one now?" the criminal sneered.

Before he could advance on the jounin a flash of pink appeared behind the man and then the ground beneath his feet shattered. Sakura was on the enemy shinobi before he had a moment to recover, smashing a chakra charged fist into his stomach. Flying into a tree he staggered and wiped blood from the side of his mouth as he glared at the kunoichi.

"Bitch, you're gonna pay for that." With a flick of his wrist another whip unfurled from the depths of his sleeve. With a snap that sounded like a crack of thunder he lashed out at Sakura who flipped backwards out of the way. The ninja was quick with his weapon however and managed to bring it around for another strike hitting her cheek and drawing blood in a long, thin line.

Slowly Sakura fixed the criminal with a piercing gaze as she wiped the blood away with the back of her glove. Undeterred he lashed out again and this time the cherry blossom didn't even bother to dodge, instead she extended her arm and allowed the whip to wrap around her limb only flinching against the sting of the leather.

"Sakura, be careful!" Kakashi was on his feet now, struggling against the pain to rejoin the battle.

The rouge-nin was grinning widely as he began to curl his fingers into a seal "Ka-" Jerking her arm backward, the ninja was pulled forward and into another charka laden fist that met directly with the bridge of his nose. With a sickening crunch the shinobi's skull cracked and he fell bonelessly to the ground.

Turning from the dead enemy Sakura jogged towards Kakashi who smiled at her happily through his mask.

"Sakura, I'm so glad your okay."

"You idiot!" she smacked him lightly over the head as soon as she was within range.

"Some elite shinobi you are!" another smack. "I had the target in the perfect position to subdue and you have to step in because of your STUPID MALE PRIDE!" The last three words were punctuated by a series of consequential slaps to his head.

"Hey, hey take it easy Sakura. I'm injured." This didn't seem to inspire any pity from the woman who grabbed him by the scruff on his collar and ungracefully flung him over her shoulder.

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?"

Saying nothing, she started off through the forest muttering to herself and pinching the back of his thigh in annoyance whenever he became the subject of her rant.

"Really Sakura-chan, this can't be good for my leg."

"Well your actions weren't very good for our mission, now were they?" She dumped him onto the ground none to gently, causing him to hiss in pain.

"How the hell are we going to explain this to Tsunade-shishou?" Still sulking she grabbed his leg roughly as green chakra enveloped her hands and she set to work mending his leg.

He let her work in silence, afraid that if he said anything else she would refuse to heal his leg all together. The jounin wasn't going to argue with her anyway because she was right, the entire mess had been his fault. Sakura had cornered their target in a hotel room, utilizing seduction as a means to neutralize him to take back to the village for interrogation. The sight of that man's greasy hands pawing at her curves and the sounds of her moans, fake or not, through the ear-piece had driven him to near insanity. When it looked as though the man was about to take advantage of his cherry blossom Kakashi had jumped in through the window to save her, completely forgetting that she was a jounin capable of uprooting a tree and using it as a weapon to bludgeon the man to death.

Rocking back on her heels the medic-nin wiped sweat from her brow that was beginning to run down her face and cause the wound on her check to sting. Finally daring to look at her face, Kakashi locked eyes with her before reaching forward and running his fingers through her hair, tucking a stray strand behind her ear. "I'm sorry." He whispered softly and sincerely.

Slowly a smile was coaxed onto her lips but her eyes were still full of worry. Wanting to chase that look from her jade orbs he leaned forward and pressed a tender, masked kiss to her lips. She responded softly at first, then as she ran her hands along his arms and up into his wild mess of hair she began to press harder against his mouth, nibbling at his lips behind the cloth. All at once the flames that had been smoldering in his loins since watching her in the hotel room roared to life. His mask was discarded and when their naked lips met for the first time, both of them groaned in pleasure.

Before long their tongues were battling for dominance as Kakashi's hands made short work of her vest. Her breasts were perky and supply beneath his strong hands, her nipples hardening at the slightest brush of his palms. At some point she had slid into his lap, her long legs wrapped tightly around his waist as she covered his neck is rough kisses. Kakashi was trying to be gentle, struggling to remember that she was a virgin but when she began to grind her hips against his waist his mind was consumed by the lust and desire that had been eating at him for the past few months.

Cloths were gone before they could register who had done the undressing and Kakashi's greedy mouth was soon sucking at her rosey nipples while his hand wandered down her thigh to stroke and tease her sex. The cherry blossom stood no chance of conscious thought against the pleasure a simple kiss against her bare flesh incited. His fingers between her legs were setting her blood a flame as desire and need drove her to pull the jounin down on top of her, once again claiming his lips with her own.

With her sex so close and the way she kept wiggling her naked body against his, Kakashi couldn't wait any longer. Burying one hand into her hair and bracing the other against her shoulder he began to push into her tight, wet folds as he continued to lick and kiss her lips. Sakura moaned loudly into their kiss, the feeling of him slowly filling her was maddening. She needed all of him and she needed it now. Grabbing his hips she forced them forward to meet her own, taking the Copy-nin by surprise. The sensation of being so fully claimed by Kakashi caused the cherry blossom to cry out in ecstasy.

She had been told losing her virginity would be a painful experience but this feeling was nothing close to pain. Sakura felt full and stretched but the small stinging of her body adjusting to his invasion was nothing compared some of the pains she had suffered throughout her career as a kunoichi. Longing for another taste of the pleasure that had washed across her skin once they were fully joined, she began to rock her hips once more.

Kakashi had gone still above her, consumed in memorizing the feel of his hard length encased so perfectly in her warmth. Her hips moving against his pulled him from his haze of pleasure and he once again focused on the girl beneath him. Her face was flushed, her hair was tangled with twigs and leaves but her eyes were rolled back in pleasure. Perhaps without realizing it she was begging him to go faster, to go deeper and what kind of man would Kakashi be if he didn't oblige?

Sliding one hand under her behind and the other her back, he lifted the cherry blossom into a sitting position and began to thrust his hips forward, using his arms to pull her down to meet him. Her moans soon became screams of bliss as he continued to ravage her. She was already beginning to tighten around him and the copy-nin knew he wouldn't last much longer. Their first time would not be a lengthy affair but he would be damned if he didn't give her the pleasure she deserved.

Again Sakura found herself on her back with Kakashi pounding deep and hard into her depths, except this time he would pause between each thrust and grind his hips into hers, teasing her clitoris with his pelvis. That small sensation was enough to unravel the knot of pleasure that had settled deep in her lower stomach. A warm, tingling sensation swept across her skin and stole away her breath, leaving her gasping and unable to cry out against the torrent of pure ecstasy that set every fiber of her being ablaze.

As her sex tightened and spasmed around Kakashi's his own orgasm consumed him with one final pump forward. His nails dug crescent shaped impressions into the unmarred skin of her hips as he cried her name to the inky heavens above them.

For several long moments neither of them spoke or moved, each still basking in the afterglow of their union. Slowly the realization of what they had just done dawned on Kakashi and he looked down at her with a start, fearing what he might find reflected on her face.

Instead of seeing anger or regret like he had feared, he saw only a content smile. Her first time had been a primal, lust filled affair on the bottom of a dirty forest floor yet he could find no hint of regret in her glowing features. With a shaking hand, Sakura cupped his cheek and smiled happily causing Kakashi's heart to swell with what he could only label as love.

It was clear to him now that she had truly meant her words about living her life with no regret. If she was willing to so bravely face her future and live her life around her profession, not chained to it, then he would find the courage to do so himself. It wasn't about doing it simply because she could, he wanted to do it. Looking down at the beautiful, pink-haired woman beneath he realized that if he continued on the path he had lived for so many years he would end up with a regret he would never be able to let go. Spending the rest of his life without her.

Covering her hand with his, he squeezed it tightly and returned her smile. They were shinobi, their lives were fraught with untold perils that could claim their mortality in a blink of an eye. Regret was a common thing in their profession but for these two ninja, regret was now a thing of the past.

Author's Note: I want to thank everyone who has stuck by this story as I took my sweet time getting it done. It only took me a year! I hope this ending was everything people were hoping it would be.

Looking back at the first chapter it seems to me like my writing style has improved and I've gotten to a point where I don't hate what I write but I'm still highly critical of myself.

If you enjoyed this story, stop by my profile and check out the new Kakashi/Sakura story I started called 'Gears'.

Thanks for putting up with me guys! Now on to the next fic! J