Story: Flower Child

Author: MizukiYukiko

Rated: M (Warning: Sexual content. Lots of it.)

Pairing: KakashiXSakura

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Her life had been hard. His life had been harder. She was a small child collecting flowers when he first met her, but she was a woman blooming when he fell in love with her.

Notes: 50_shinobi themed challenge #22: Cathedral. So this is an embarrassingly late birthday fic for my best friend and beta, Mary. I can't even admit how late this is – it's like, months late. Anyway, she supplied the general idea and the quote I used for the story. I hope you enjoy this.

I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors- especially in the later part of this story. I've been staring at it for two days straight while I chug away at this and the final chapter of Nothing but the Truth, and I think my eyes have given up on me. When I can blink again, I'll go back and edit. For now, do enjoy.

If you're wondering where I've been for the past few months, please take a look at my profile. I can't even begin to apologize to my readers for how horrible I've been about updating. Thank you to those who are sticking with me. I love you all.

Please review! Love you all so much!

Happy (super super super late) birthday, MARY!

Flower Child

How many times have I met you?

The church was beautiful.

Ivy wound around towers of old, gray brick that ran high into the air. The smell of old musky wood and faded velvet upholstery is washed out by the overpowering aroma of flowers as the ancient cathedral is dressed in plumes of white and yellow daisies – the epitome of a late spring wedding. Reams of tulle and silk cascaded from every surface, from the pillars that hold up the decorated ceiling to the tables and tables of gifts that wound their way around the church and the reception hall in the back.

It was one of the few buildings that had survived the Third Shinobi World War, and as seventeen-year-old Hatake Kakashi stood in the back of the church in a semi-formal men's kimono – mask still in place, much to his date's chagrin – he took a moment to appreciate that such an old building had been able to survive such a devastating time.

Hundreds of guests crowded the large cathedral, and normally anti-social Kakashi stood in the back, quietly people-watching while he waited for the proceedings to begin. Since he was sleeping with – er, dating – the bride's younger cousin, he had been forced to attend this event as her escort. Almost every shinobi and civilian had been invited, and apparently decided to attend, the wedding of the Fire Daimyo's eldest daughter to the middle son of Wind Country's Daimyo.

It was supposed to officially commemorate the end of the war and the beginning of a time of peace between the two feuding countries, but Kakashi wasn't so convinced. The Kazekage and Wind Country's Daimyo were shady, selfish, and greedy individuals that couldn't be trusted. He had even heard that Wind Country's current Kazekage had tried to murder his own son after experimenting on the boy using a bijuu.

Stupid, selfish, power-hungry men.

But that was beside the point, Kakashi decided as he watched the Wind Daimyo's large family march ceremoniously into the hall in the very beginnings of the wedding, an odd combination of a traditional and modern ceremony, while both countries also mixed their own traditions and customs. The Kazekage and the Third Hokage stood at the front of the long aisle where the bride and her father would soon be marching down. Their smiles were strained and fake, and there had probably been words, nasty ones, exchanged between the two.

Looking around at all the impressively dressed royals, Kakashi cringed internally and ducked out of the main hall into a small foyer at the front of the church. Even most of the working class civilians and shinobi were dressed in their finest robes, but Kakashi hadn't bothered. A simple black men's kimono to go over his mask, his headband still falling over his Sharingan eye, paled in comparison to many of the well-dressed upper crust of the shinobi world.

In short, he was painfully underdressed.

Now alone in the back of the church, standing quietly in the small, but elaborately decorated walkway between the dressing rooms and the actual hall, Kakashi was pulled from his reclusive brooding by the sound of a small crash and a tiny, fragile, and surprised wail from a young girl that he hadn't even noticed.

At seventeen, Kakashi was already an acclaimed ninja, especially after acquiring his Sharingan. He was the student of Konoha's Yellow Flash, the Fourth Hokage and praised hero in death. Already in ANBU Black Ops, he had been on missions of every kind and had garnered quite a name for himself. He had even heard that enemy countries have honored him with the name 'The Copy-Cat Ninja' but didn't put too much stock in such accolade.

So how, how, had he not noticed the presence of a little girl running from the dressing room into the small foyer of the church – especially a little girl with pink hair? Her short wail of distress had pulled him from his brooding, and he observed the scene quietly with analytical eyes. The small heels on the little girl, who could be no older than three or four, were obviously a size too big which must have caused her fall while she was running through the room.

However, the little girl did not cry out again. Instead, she bit her bottom lips as large, clear emerald eyes filled up with tears that she was trying her best to repress. Taking a look around the room and deciding that there were no parents nearby to console the injured child, Kakashi kneelt down on one knee in front of the fragile pixie of a girl, meeting his single black eye with her doe-like green ones.

"Hi," he said simply. The child looked at him distrustfully – smart girl, he thought – and bit down on her lip a little harder. Large eyes, set in an even larger, slightly disproportionate forehead, drifted down to her knee for a moment before flashing back up to meet his.

"Hi," the little sprite replied in a quiet voice. Pink was rising from the back of her neck and onto her face; her embarrassment was clear.

"Did you hurt your knee when you fell?" he asked rather obviously. The little girl stiffened, as if she thought she had been hiding it so well, and then glanced back down at her scuffed kimono; red in color with an unfamiliar family crest on the back. Tilting his head a bit, Kakashi smiled a bit at the quivering child, allowing his single visible eye to crinkle. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

That when he noticed the stacks of flowers in her hands, all white and yellow daisies that had been crushed in the fall, clenched in her tiny, chubby fingers.

"Ah, stealing flowers, I see," he observed with another grin, keeping his tone light and playful.

The young girl looked at him distrustfully for many moments, holding his soft gaze with a defiant one of her own.

"Please don't tell my mommy," she finally whispered when her defiance finally broke. Staring down at her feet ashamedly, her small bottom lip began to quiver all over again.

"Don't cry, little flower child. This can be our little secret," he promised. The little pixie was really quite adorable. Her eyes lit up with gratitude and a small amount of mischievousness. "What's your name?"

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura!" she announced proudly. Kakashi grinned in surprise, her new little nickname fitting her much better than he had originally anticipated. Then, to Kakashi's surprise, her little hand reached out and patted his cheek before sliding the stem of one of the flowers that hadn't been crushed behind his ear. Looking to his right, he could see the small edge of a white daisy set behind his one free ear that surely made him look ridiculous.

Hatake Kakashi. Copy-cat ninja. Fearless assassin. Loyal Konoha shinobi. One of the youngest Black-ops members to date. And lover of small children and flowers.

"Thank you, Sakura," he said with another genuine smile that the little girl couldn't see behind his black mask. She seemed pleased, though, and flashed her small, even white teeth in an excited grin.

"You're welcome Kakashi-san! Don't take off my flower, or I'll be really mad," she exclaimed in excitement as she tried to remain serious with her threat all at the same time. Her face was wrinkled into an adorable little pout, but her eyes were clear as day, and her happiness from meeting someone new was pure. Kakashi's smile got a little bit bigger. It was then that they heard the little girl's name being called from inside the hall, most likely her mother, and loud music began to emanate from the orchestra inside the cathedral. "It was nice to meet you!"

Then, Sakura, in her small red kimono with her big emerald eyes and silky pink hair ran into the church.

X

Kakashi forgot about green eyes and pink hair and red kimonos for many years; eight years, in fact, until the day he arrived in the Academy classroom to meet his new genin team.

He had been surprised to meet his little flower child as a young girl because time never changes the image that we have for a person. To him, the little sprite was still three or four years old, running around and collecting flowers. It had surprised him that the young girl that he had met, a young girl in pink and red with big green eyes, had chosen to become a ninja. He hadn't understood why until he actually heard his new genin team talk. Clearly enamored with the dark-haired Uchiha on their team, Kakashi did his best to handle his band of misfits for a year.

They trained. They went on missions. He watched his team grow up within that year. He watched them search for an allusive, violent cat. He watched them paint houses and water plants. He watched them grow and learn. He fought with them on the Great Naruto Bridge.

When that particular mission was over, he knew that they would be ready for the next phase in their lives.

What Kakashi would never admit to anyone was that the student he had been most proud of during the chunin exams was the sole female on his team. Between her reluctance and then eventual compliance to participate, just to help her team, the harrowing tale of the defense of her boys in the Forest of Death, and the match he saw when she versed her childhood friend, Kakashi knew that it was perhaps the little kunoichi who had grown up the most over the year they were under his tutelage.

Sakura had never really needed his help for anything, so he had always favored the boys in terms of his attention. They were the emotionally damaged, inexperienced, and immature ones on the team, and Sakura had taken everything in stride. Kakashi was largely able to explain theories to her and watch her implement them in practice with no more than some verbal instruction.

Later, he would see how much it must have seemed like he ignored her, how much it must have hurt the little flower child that needed a mentor as much as the boys, but he never gave it a single thought at the time. He could leave her to her studies and practice while he tried to keep Naruto and Sasuke from killing each other.

Heh. That didn't work out so well.

Sasuke ran away with Orochimaru. Naruto went off with Jiraiya. Sakura became Tsunade's apprentice.

Calling himself a failure as a teacher would be an understatement. All of his students went on to seek guidance from another teacher after the chunin exams, while he watched the rest the jounin teachers stay with their students through thick and thin. Once again, he wasn't good enough to save his team – this time he had just lost them in a different way. So, as the guilt weighed on him and he was left alone once again, Kakashi did what he always did – his instant reflex, his muscle memory.

He disappeared.

Of course, he didn't really disappear. Missions were executed, mostly dangerous S-ranked missions that were unspeakable and confidential. Icha Icha's were read, mostly the same ones over and over again because it had been years since Jiraiya had come out with a new novel. Most of his time was spent lazing about the training grounds, reading his books and training with Gai when he wasn't on a mission.

He heard about Sakura's success the second time she took her chunin exams, knocking out her opponent in the final round of the tournament in seven seconds flat. He was proud of her, but never told her. Jiraiya would send the occasional letter to Tsunade, detailing Naruto's progress. She would always tell Kakashi, and he would feel proud of his former student for a moment before the guilt would overcome him again. So he would just nod his head and walk away, ready to take on another mission.

He would see his little flower child around too, her hair now short, her eyes serious and grim while she studied under her fierce new teacher. Rumors of her strength and progress spread, and Kakashi couldn't believe all of the praise his little kunoichi, the physically weakest of his team, was receiving. Some of the shinobi around the village were even calling her Tsunade number two.

Then, three years later, they came back to him.

Naruto returned, and for the first time in their lives, they were able to beat the famous copy ninja. He had never felt so delighted and so sad at the same time because he wasn't the one who had made them so strong, but he was supposed to be.

They were both so different, but Kakashi couldn't help but notice that Sakura was the one to change the most of his students again. Not just physically – he could see the way that she had grown into a lovely young woman – but mentally and emotionally as well. There was so much strength and determination behind her clear green eyes that it almost took Kakashi aback the first time they sparred.

Time went on. The Akatsuki emerged, Pein attacked, friends were lost, and they all kept marching on. Sasuke broke their hearts, over and over, and finally he saw his students close themselves off to him. He had tried to kill Sakura, Naruto, and even Kakashi himself. He had done so many unspeakable and hurtful things that they couldn't forgive him, so Kakashi heard that the Konoha Eleven had agreed that they would kill him.

Then Obito, Obito who was supposed to be dead, came back into Kakashi's life like he had never thought possible. They fought. Obito broke Kakashi's heart again and again. Finally, while he watched his three former students stand up to the greatest threat the shinobi world had ever encountered, Kakashi couldn't help but feel confused and lost.

Torn apart in so many different directions, Kakashi could only support his former students as they all, one by one, proved that they had surpassed him; that they had never needed him in the first place.

How many times have I fought in the sky?

The bar was loud.

It smelled of alcohol and sweat. The room was crowded, as it always was on a Friday night, and it was filled mostly with shinobi. The outer appearance of the small shackled bar and rough crowd of ninja usually kept most civilians away, but that was how most of them liked it. It sustained the anonymity of their work and kept prying ears of residents out of the bar so that they were mostly able to talk freely with each other about missions or the tough world that they lived in. Tables were settled all around the large bar that sat squarely in the middle of the spacious room, and there was a small space cleared out in the back for a dance floor that most of the younger shinobi in the establishment were utilizing. The older, more experienced ninja were mostly talking amongst themselves in small groups, enjoying their time off before they had to face the realities of life the next morning.

Nineteen-year-old Haruno Sakura sat at the bar with her best friend next to her. Ino's attention was elsewhere, though; namely the good-looking jounin sitting on her other side that had offered to buy her a drink. Sakura swirled her own drink in her hand before tilting her head back and letting the burning liquid fill her throat and settle in her belly. Heat rose to her face, and she could feel the familiar flush of alcohol-induced redness and smiled a little as the tension seeped from her body after a hard day at work.

Instead of chatting with her friend and having a 'girl's night out' as Ino had called it when she had forced Sakura out of her apartment that evening, Sakura sat aloof, by herself, wondering how the hell she had gotten roped into coming here in the first place. Motioning to the bartender for another round, she remembered that she had ditched Ino three times before tonight and had promised her a night out before Sakura went on an extended mission in a week – border patrol, standard for all new Black-Ops. But now, as she watched her friend drunkenly hit on some nameless jounin, she recalled why she never wanted to come out with her flirtatious blonde bestie in the first place.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura grimaced before downing her newly poured drunk, plastered on her most convincing smile, and turned around in her seat, using the bar stool's swivel head to face the men calling her. Naruto was waving at her exultantly in a plea for her to join them, Sai gave her the same fake smile he always did, Kakashi raised a single hand in greeting while his lone eye crinkled, showing his smile, and Sasuke didn't even bother to pull his eyes away from his drink as he swirled it in his hands.

The last Uchiha had decided to come home after the war and the battle with the Juubi, under the conditions that he would only be in contact with Team Seven and the Hokage and that he would not have to work with any other team – not that any other team wanted him anyway.

He worked off his debt to society in many ways, including a full year in prison and several months' parole after; he also gave up all of his information on Orochimaru and led several teams to Sound so they could go through all of the former sannin's bases. After he was released from prison, he slowly began earning his privileges back and was eventually reinstated as a Konoha shinobi – on Team Seven. Squads were either three or four man units, which left them with one too many.

The most logical thing would have been to have Sai return to ANBU, as the other four were the original Team Seven, and he had simply been a stand in. But Sakura had other plans.

How could she even think of back tracking to be part of the same cycle she had been in when she was twelve? How could she even think of returning to the same team, just to watch them leave her behind again? Plus, unlike Naruto and Kakashi, she didn't think she could forgive Sasuke. At the very least, she could never trust him again, and how could one work as a cohesive unit when they couldn't even trust their teammates? She wasn't stupid – she was a strong kunoichi, one of the best medics in the world, and was an acclaimed tactical genius – but she would never beat Naruto and Sasuke. Even if she could, they would never acknowledge it.

So she quietly left the team, saying that she wanted to follow other passions and opened up room for Sai on the squad.

"Good," Sasuke had said when she announced that she wouldn't be rejoining the newly formed squad. "The battlefield doesn't suit you."

Naruto had agreed with Sasuke, of all people, but also expressed remorse that Team Seven would never return to their former glory. Kakashi had just looked at the newly seventeen-year-old – that's how old Sakura had been when she had left the team – for a long time, appraising her decision, but he didn't say anything. If she hadn't been so hurt, she would have clobbered them all into next week; those stupid, foolish, insensitive boys. Instead, she turned away so they wouldn't see her tears and walked off the small bridge, never to return to that life.

What former glory did they have to return to anyway?

Slowly, she cut off contact with her former teammates, just remaining general acquaintances and greeting them if she ever passed them in the streets or saw them in the Hokage Tower and the hospital. It wasn't a complete lie when she told them that she wanted to pursue other areas of the shinobi world. Shikamaru was more than happy to have her join the tactical division, and she eventually made it into ANBU.

Of course, nobody besides her and her Black-Ops comrades knew that, but she couldn't help but feel a little smug – her two former teammates were still technically chunin, having had to pass the exams (and doing so rather easily) after the war. They had to wait until after Sasuke was finished with his jail time and parole before he was even eligible to take the exams, but they weren't even jounin yet and she had moved on to become an ANBU.

Naruto called to her again, and bracing herself for another stupid conversation with these idiots, she stood effortlessly from the stool, not giving away that she was really quite tipsy after several drinks at the bar. She motioned to her old teammates to Ino, who rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well that Sakura had no interest in going to speak with Team Seven. But Ino just gave her a reassuring smile and turned back to the man buying her drinks and making pointless conversation.

Smoothing out her short, midnight blue dress, she walked over to the men sitting at a table at the edge of the bar. A fake smile was plastered on her face as she easily stopped in front of their table. Her smile never reached her eyes when she greeted each one.

"How have you been, Sakura-chan? We haven't seen you for a while," Naruto asked happily, but his eyes were trained on her hard and the sadness in them wasn't hard to miss. Cutting herself off from him had been the hardest; they had been through so much together, and Sakura had considered him to be like a brother to her, but this time his stupidity had been too much and he had crossed a line. They just couldn't go back. Naruto, in a sense, had picked Sasuke over her, and she had never stabbed Naruto in the back – never tried to hurt or kill him.

It hurt – it had hurt so bad that she couldn't even describe it.

Snapping back to her senses after a line of melancholy thoughts, it occurred to Sakura that it had been months since she had even caught a glimpse of any of them; she only trained in the special ANBU training grounds and never even passed Ichiraku in order to avoid her former comrades.

Sasuke grunted his affirmation to Naruto's question, which was more of a reaction that anyone could get out of him – meaning he was perhaps interested in hearing what she had to say, and even Sai seemed to be listening for her answer. Turning to Kakashi, Sakura saw that his masked face was hidden behind a copy of Icha Icha Tactics. Her mouth pursed for a moment.

Was it weird that she was perhaps angriest at him of them all? He had, for her entire career as a kunoichi, cast her aside. She never learned a jutsu from him, never heard his praise. Whenever she would fight, she would do so to impress him just as much as she had wanted to impress Naruto and Sasuke back then. He ignored her just like the rest of them.

When she had started learning from Tsunade and understood what a real mentor was supposed to be like, she had become even more upset with her former sensei. The cherry on top of the cake, the straw that broke the camel's back, was the day she announced her intentions to leave Team Seven. Instead of sticking up for her when Naruto and Sasuke had told her she wasn't suited for battle, he hadn't defended her, even when he knew that it was damn well wrong.

He had done nothing for her.

Sakura's smile became a little more strained from the sudden flood of memories and emotions.

"I've been fine," she responded, her tone audibly tense, after taking a breath to collect herself. Finally deciding that they needed to understand her place in the village, she smiled and playfully flipped her hair over her shoulder and added flippantly, "I'm heading out on a rotation next week for the northern border, so I'm hanging out with Ino for the last time."

Their faces all showed their shock in varying degrees, with the exception of Kakashi, of course, because she may as well have been talking to a wall. It was common knowledge among ninja that ANBU were the only ones who patrolled the northern border since it connected with both Sound and the small country where the Akatsuki had been located that was known to still cause trouble on occasion.

Announcing this was the only way that Sakura could subtly gloat to her former comrades. She could never out and out say that she was in ANBU, but this way they would know it. The alcohol in her system made her tongue a little loose and her responses all the more candid, and Sakura couldn't bring herself to feel bad for telling them the truth.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared at his drink, and for the first time in many months, he dragged his eyes up and met hers, holding them for a moment. Sakura held his gaze, meeting his fierce scrutiny head on. Now she just had something to prove.

"Well, we'll miss you Sakura-chan," Naruto murmured. The young man was clearly trying to be happy for his former teammate and friend, but his eyes were troubled and disbelieving when she had told them the news.

Sakura was in ANBU? That's why she had left Team Seven – she had said she wanted to explore other options, but Naruto figured it was to get off the battlefield after the cataclysmic fight with Uchiha Obito and the Ten-Tails. That fight had affected them all emotionally as well as physically, and he had just figured that Sakura had wanted to be out of the fray for a while. If he had known she was just going to run off and put herself back in the field, he would have begged for her to stay on the team.

"It'll be a long year," Sakura agreed quietly. She glanced back at Ino. Her blonde friend was now all over the jounin, apparently wasted enough to let his hands slide up her dress and he was groping her ass quite suggestively. "I better get back to Ino before she does something stupid. I'll see you guys around!"

X

The early morning chill had created an even layer of frost on the ground. Small white puffs of condensation clouded his vision which each breath he took, so he adjusted his breathing so that his vision would not be obscured again. Shivering slightly, he pulled his thick traveling cloak around him a little tighter and watched the other nine people he would be spending the next year with walk up in small groups or by themselves. Normally, they wouldn't be out in the open without their ANBU masks, but it was well before dawn and not even the gate guards were at their posts right now. Only other ANBU were guarding the walls of the village, so Kakashi was sure that their identities were safe.

He watched her from the front gate as his now-grown flower child walked up to the group by herself; he and his co-captain stood on top of small pillars that rested next to the gate, observing their new charges. His dog mask was strapped to his belt and he was in full ANBU regalia for the first time in almost ten years. Tenzou stood next to him, leaning against the wall from atop his pillar and watching the same kunoichi walk to meet their ten-man squad that would be patrolling the border for the next year.

Her legs were longer and leaner in her all black ANBU uniform. She had extra pouches in the back for her medical supplies, and her cat-shaped ANBU mask was resting on top of her head, allowing them to see her round face, sharp nose, feminine lips, and sparkling green eyes. Walking at an even pace, she strapped on her arm guards over her mesh shirt that covered a regulation black jounin shirt before pulling her own travel cloak on.

She didn't see him until she had met with the other eight members and had greeted the other recruits that she would be working with over the next year. Her eyes widened, almost imperceptivity, in shock for a moment when they drifted up to their two captains, still as clear and beautiful with emotion as the first day they had met, but then she schooled her features and gave him a tentative smile before greeting one of the other men on the squad that had walked up right behind her. She had grown up so much.

They were all men, Kakashi realized, with the exception of her. It would be a long year for his fellow shinobi, both men and woman, due to the close quarters and lack of any other human contact outside of the squad. Hormones were going to be running high, and the men would have to learn a new level of self-control that they probably have ever had to before.

Border patrol was required for all new ANBU recruits, so most of the 10 man team were new to ANBU and between the ages of 18 and 25. Also required of all ANBU was that one would go on border patrol for a year and then lead border patrol for a year at some point during their career as a shinobi.

Kakashi just happened to take a longer break than most between his first border patrol when he was fourteen and leading a patrol when he was 33. He had, in all honesty, forgotten that he had to complete one. That was until Tsunade informed him that he needed to complete his rounds as a captain before he, as his Hokage had so eloquently put it, 'kicked the bucket.'

That's why he was standing next to Yamato, his co-captain for the mission, on this cold fall morning. He took a long look at the eight green ANBU in front of him, and it struck him that it was so much different, yet not so different, from meeting his genin for the first time. His eyes drew to Sakura for a moment, who was flipping through her medical pouches one more time before looking out of the gates.

"Let's go," he announced without any warning or preface, without even greeting them. They had an entire year to become acquainted with one another. Without any more explanation, they were off into the forests heading for the northeastern border station at a rapid pace. The group would stay there for a week before five of them, forming a sub-squad of sorts, would set out for the northwestern station. Anywhere between one and three days later – keeping it random to make sure their enemies weren't sure when they were coming – the other five would set off and meet up with them at the northwestern station. Then they would wait a few days and run north once again.

It was a long, tedious year, filled with shitty dry rations, unpredictable weather, and a lot of running, but Kakashi held fond memories of his border patrol when he was younger. The group always became like a family and for the most part, there was never any trouble.

Kakashi led the group, the eight new recruits following him in stride, and Yamato took up the rear. Sakura stayed closer to the back, talking quietly with her proxy-team leader in hushed tones as they made the one day journey to the northeastern border.

Border stations were set up the same. Protected by several layers of genjutsu and weaponry traps, anywhere from 5 to 10 single cottages – containing nothing more than two small futons and two dressers along with a desk and a night stand – sat in a circular formation around one larger building in the center. The mess hall contained a kitchen, a dining area, a recreation area, a small room that was dubbed 'the clinic,' and two large bathrooms. There were training areas between the cabins and the mess hall, and that was it. The accommodations were meager at best, but it was better than living out in the wild for an entire year on patrol. The only reasons why they got real cabins were because they would freeze to death in the winter if they tried to hunker down in tents.

When they finally arrived, they split off into groups of two to bunk down at the cabin – with the exception of Kakashi and Yamato – as captains, they got their own cottages. Sakura, as the lone female, was also awarded her own cabin – which was much more for the other men's comfort as it was her own.

Kakashi, from his position from the kitchen, watched as she set her things down in the small cottage outside, not ten yards away, and then head right over to the mess hall. Her eyes found his through the thick pane of the window but then quickly flitted away. The other medic on the squad – a male a few years older than her named Hisoka (at least, that was his ANBU code name) found her somewhere between her cottage and the mess hall and the duo veered off in the direction of the outside entrance to the clinic.

Kakashi continued to stare out the window, not even bothering to make a show if reading his Icha Icha, for several minutes before someone finally found him.

"Senpai?" Yamato – Tenzou, on this mission, Kakashi reminded himself – greeted from the doorway. Kakashi's lone charcoal eye lazily made its way to the lanky man leaning against the open doorframe that lead to the recreation and dining areas. Kakashi crinkled his eyes without smiling under the mask in greeting.

"Tenzou," he welcomed quietly. The brunette made his way into the kitchen without further invitation and took a seat on the counter next to him. A long stretch of contemplative silence followed before Tenzou looked at Kakashi for several moments before finally speaking.

"Have you worked with her recently?" he asked. Kakashi looked at him, returning his contemplative gaze without answering. He knew who his co-captain was referring to, of course, but he played dumb by tilting his head.

"Sakura," his partner clarified with the most minute of eye rolls.

"Botan," Kakashi corrected quietly. They were now in full duty, and they would have to refer to each other by their ANBU names for the remainder of the year, even in the safety of their own base.

"Right," Tenzou acquiesced with a small chuckle, "Botan. Have you worked with her since she left Squad Seven?"

Another long silence stretched between them before Kakashi sighed deeply. Both he and Tenzou were relatively quiet by nature, so when the conversation veered off the regular topics of work and duty, conversations could be difficult to get through and tended to hail long silences between the two while one or both contemplated the next piece.

"No." Intelligent reply, Kakashi, the copy-nin thought to himself with the barest hints of sarcasm in his head-voice.

"She's gotten a lot stronger. Her time in ANBU has done her a lot of good." His comment stopped short, purposely so, and Kakashi looked back outside. There was an implied 'but' at the end of Tenzou's observations that he didn't need to complete because Kakashi understood. For any good that ANBU brought, it brought the bad, usually twofold, back on the operative. In almost a whisper, Tenzou continued, "She went on her first seduction mission last month. Tsunade thought it would be good to get her out of Konoha for a while after that."

Kakashi nodded in understanding, but the thought of his small flower child being on one of those missions sent his stomach lurching and hammering into his throat. He had no claim over her – as a teacher, a friend, or even a lover, but the fury that spread throughout his body in that moment was all consuming. It didn't take much to suppress it, and to an onlooker, it didn't look like he had reacted to the news at all.

"I see. Was the mission successful?" he asked as impassively as he could, but his tone was darker, more foreboding than he would have liked it to be.

"Yes," Tenzou nodded. "She seemed okay afterward, but Tsunade just wanted to give her time out of the village so she could cope with everything."

Kakashi shot him a look and stood to leave. "I understand." Tenzou just nodded goodbye and watched thoughtfully as Kakashi walked out of the kitchen.

"Mamoru-taichou," Kakashi heard from the other end of the room. The feminine voice that greeted him was soft, refined, and incredibly familiar. He mused for a moment that it was so different from the squeaky voice of the small child that he had met all those years ago, but as he turned around at the mention of his own ANBU codename, he realized that the woman standing in front of him was hardly the same little girl.

Sakura was dressed now in a pair of loose-fitting black shinobi pants and an oversized green sweater that fell to her knees. Although she was a woman now, and a full-fledged, successful kunoichi to boot, she still looked so achingly young and innocent with large green eyes and a small body that was swimming in her choice of clothes. Kakashi stepped closer to her, so he was less than an arm's length from her and crinkled an eye in what he hoped she would perceive as a smile. "I didn't realize you would be one of the captains on this rotation."

Kakashi's mouth frowned underneath his black mask. "Not excited to see me, Botan-chan?" he asked quietly, trying to force at list the smallest hint of humor into his voice, but they both knew that he failed miserably.

Sakura looked at him for a long moment, her eyes widening from the comment. Then her lips thinned in frustration, and Kakashi fought a smirk. She was still vivacious Sakura that he remembered from before. "It's not that, sensei," she practically sneered, and Kakashi wasn't sure whether to frown from her impudence or smirk from her flustered reaction, "I was just surprised."

Her face seemed to calm again, and Kakashi stayed quiet while Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself. "Anyway, it'll be nice to work with you again, taichou," she finally conceded.

She went to move past him, but Kakashi's hand wrapped around her elbow lightly. Muscles tensed underneath his hands, and her chakra seemed to flare automatically. It was a visceral reaction, her body preparing for battle the moment anyone touched her without her foreseeing the action.

"I've missed you, Sakura-chan. Your absence from our missions and our life the past few years has been strongly felt. By everyone," he murmured quietly in a rare moment of candor. Not even Kakashi understood why he felt the need to tell her this. He supposed he just wanted her to know that he had never wanted her off Team Seven, but he just hadn't known how to ask her to stay. Jaw tight and muscles tense, Sakura turned to meet him in the eye, her jade orbs shining with her mistrust and unease. Kakashi had used her real name. "It'll be nice to see how much you've grown over the past two years, even if it wasn't because of my instruction."

Kakashi allowed his one visible eye to crinkle at her and he walked away slowly, releasing her arm and flipping open his familiar orange book before his former student could say anything else.

X

Slowly, very slowly, over the next six months, Sakura and Kakashi began to grow closer. It started with little things – Sakura was assigned as the medic to Kakashi's five-man sub-squad for border patrol while the male medic and three other men stayed with Yamato. They ate meals together, slept in the same outside clearing when they ran from station to station, played shogi when they were at one of the bases, and discussed the finer points of the Icha Icha series. Sakura being a fan of the late sannin's masterpieces was a shock, especially since a good chunk of her youth was spent calling his beloved books smut, but he accepted the change happily. It was nice to have someone around who understood him.

She opened up more, showed him the girl he once knew, showed him that she wasn't dead, just different, and showed him how that girl had turned into a young woman with great power, finesse, and abilities. Sakura recounted the last two years of her life – her time at the hospital, the strategies department, and finally ANBU. It took several months, but she finally confided about the seduction mission.

Apparently, it had been one of the easier of seduction missions allocated to kunoichi; Tsunade had tried to protect her apprentice from the worst of the missions. A rich wife wanted to test her husband's loyalty because she thought he may be cheating on her with his secretary. And if he was cheating, she wanted proof so she could divorce him and get a fair share of his wealth. It was petty, but the mission was a success and Sakura managed to sleep with the husband and get proof of it. Kakashi was grateful that she glanced over the more salacious details of the mission, and Sakura didn't seem ready to share them anyway.

In return, Kakashi filled her in on Team Seven's antics. Recounting mission after mission, he spoke of their inability to take orders and the stupid things that Naruto and Sasuke would do, and then he and Sai would have to swoop in and bail them out of whatever trouble they were in. Some of the stories had Sakura in tears, rolling on the ground of his cabin in fits of laughter, clutching her stomach as her melodic, boisterous mirth filled the cabin.

He told her of how they planned on taking the jounin exams and then Sasuke planned on joining ANBU. Naruto didn't seem to have the same wish as he thought the business too dirty for him. Sakura smiled and laughed when Kakashi told her that Naruto intended on being a jounin-sensei after taking missions for a few years.

Sakura told him that she was planning on doing the same thing, and Kakashi couldn't agree more with her choice. Sakura would be an amazing jounin-sensei – much better than he ever was.

Although she could slip into the cold-hearted ANBU façade at a moment's notice, Sakura was still all compassion and love and loyalty. She was beautiful and powerful, but she wasn't perfect.

X

"I hate you sometimes, you know. And I blame you for not paying more attention to me. For letting me fade in the background of your team."

He looked up at her from his book. She was lying on the other cot in his room, back propped up against the wall. There was a notebook in front of her where she was taking notes on medical provisions they would need to buy on their next trip to the nearest village.

"I know. I'm sorry," he answered. He knew what she was saying. Sakura turned and smiled at him, the gesture speaking clearly – she understood why as well. And because they were them, that was enough.

X

Sakura realized she was falling madly in love with her former sensei seven months after her rotation began. She had appreciated his looks, his finely tuned, perfect shinobi body, and the air of mystery that surrounded his covered face for many years, but it wasn't until this rotation that Kakashi bothered to look at her as an equal.

With the exception of their budding friendship, he treated her as he treated everyone else. She was an ANBU operative and a field medic – not a young girl that needed to be protected by her team.

It was something deeper, now. It wasn't just the girlish fantasies of what her sensei looked like underneath his mask, but it was a mutual emotional connection. She found herself seeking him out in the mornings for a spar, in the afternoon for a shogi match, and in the evening for dinner and just to talk. He never deterred her from finding him, and sometimes, if she got caught up in the clinic or working on a mission report, he would find her and bring her dinner if she missed it or dessert if she had eaten.

Every moment with him was spent smiling or talking happily about something and nothing all at once. When they were apart, she found herself missing him, wishing for his conversations or just his quiet company. Just his presence made her feel at ease and comfortable, like she was safe. Storing everything that had happened to her or that she wanted to discuss with him in her mind, she would rattle on about the details of everything to him when they finally caught up. He would always listen, even if he didn't look like he was, and talk back to her as a friend.

The signs were all there, but Sakura ignored them, shrugging of the mounting feelings as nothing more than friendship.

They had been running westward along the border, sticking a little closer to the coast of Sound Country than usual. There had been some rogue activity and Konoha didn't want them to cross into Fire Country. The other three members of their five-man sub-squad had already gone back to the base; Sakura and Kakashi had decided to do one more run by the border to check everything out before returning to their squad when Kakashi sensed something a fraction of a second before Sakura.

Grabbing her around the waist, Kakashi slammed Sakura's body into the trunk of a large tree nearby, pressing his tall, lanky framed fully against hers and hiding them in the shadows of the tall trees. His finger went up to the lips that were painted on his mask, imploring her to be quiet, and the slightest tilt of Sakura's head told him that she understood.

Sakura's breathing hitched when she felt Kakashi press his body into her tighter, hiding them both in the shadows, but it wasn't because of the fear of being discovered by the group of rogue nin's that was coming straight for them. It had been over seven months since Sakura had last had sex, and while the physical act was hardly necessary for her to function, the feeling of a tight, toned male pressed so intimately to her made her entire body warm subconsciously.

She looked up from her place and saw the edge of Kakashi's jaw under the mask, set in determination while his miss matched eyes peered off into the distance. Suddenly her insides were burning up again and her stomach was doing flip-flops. When had this started? When had just the sight of him turned her insides to jelly? And then, when his hand found her waist again and he pulled her closer while they moved around the tree stealthily to avoid detection, Sakura's breathing hitched again and this time Kakashi stilled.

He glanced down at her and cocked his head to the side, as if questioning her reaction. The realization seemed to dawn on him because his masked face quickly tilted upward and the hand on her waist disappeared. He took a step back, and Sakura instantly missed his body heat, the feeling of him against her.

The rogue ninja who had been searching for them disappeared after a few minutes, and they made their way back to the base in a contentious silence.

X

Kakashi didn't know what to do. As he sat in his quietly in his bunker, head cradled in his hands while he reflected on the day's events, he couldn't help but wonder when this had happened. When had his feelings for Sakura changed? Were these just the hormones of not having a woman for over six months?

No, that couldn't be it. His feelings for Sakura were more than just sexual. He found himself seeking her out when they went more than a few hours without seeing each other. He found distinct comfort in her company, and one the few occasions when she had went on patrol with Tenzou's squad, he even missed her.

When the other men on the squad would flirt with her, or sometimes, even blatantly ask her for more, he would feel something dangerously close to jealously. Satisfaction would wash over him when she would always, always, rebuff their attempts either overtly or just as blatantly (and sometimes, Kakashi would secretly pretend that she was rebuffing them because the right person hadn't asked her yet). Then she would turn and meet his eyes and his entire body would set on fire with excitement, but he had always just thought he was being protective of her like he had been when she was younger. These feelings, these emotions, had been easy to dismiss prior to today.

But when he had pushed into that tree, trapping her body beneath him and feeling her strong form coiled below him, his entire body had reacted. Although he had hid it well, he could see that she was similarly affected by the hitch in her breathing and her uncomfortable squirming. But was it just her body that was reacting to him, or did she feel the same? Did she see him as more than just a friend and former teacher, or was her reaction to him simply her body craving the contact that adults desire naturally?

These were all questions that needed to be answered, but Kakashi didn't have the nerve to go seek them himself. He would have to do what he had always done – he would have to disappear from Sakura's life because it was just wrong.

He was fourteen years older, her former sensei, and her squad captain. They couldn't embark in something like this. There would be no going back.

Luckily, he didn't have to run. Sakura did it for him.

The next day, Tenzou approached him after breakfast while the others went out to train before the next squad would set out for the southeastern station. Their breaks between runs were closer together now due to the increased traffic of rogue nin trying to find a way through the border.

"Mamoru-taichou," he greeted levelly. There was something disconcerting in his dark eyes, and Kakashi couldn't quite find it in himself to square his eyes with his co-captain. His gaze was penetrating, accusatory.

"Botan-chan is going to be coming with my squad on this round," he announced rather defiantly, as if challenging Kakashi to say any different; the air of his statement was definite and certain. Kakashi looked up at him with the barest bit of surprise crowning his features before smoothing his shock over. Both Tenzou's proclamation and tone surprised him – and bothered him.

"Is that so?" he asked rather blandly in his usual deadpan, but he couldn't help but inject some sarcasm. Technically he and Tenzou were equals on this mission, but Kakashi had generally taken the lead during their seven months on duty due to superiority and experience.

Tenzou could only sigh in response. The rebelliousness dropped from his face and he suddenly just looked tired. "Kakashi, what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Kakashi replied.

Tenzou walked through the room and into the kitchen where there would be more privacy. Kakashi followed.

"Last night, Sakura-chan came to my cabin and requested a transfer. She wouldn't tell me why or what happened, but all she did say was that she didn't think she could work with you objectively anymore," Tenzou explained solemnly when they finally reached the kitchen and knew it was secure.

"Hm."

Tenzou, although rather calm on the outside, was getting exasperated. "So?" he prompted. His arms folded over his chest and leaned against the counter farthest from Kakashi. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Kakashi replied nonchalantly, but he knew that his partner was far from convinced.

"Nothing?" Tenzou parroted. "Listen, Kakashi, some of the other men have been talking. There's gossip about the nature of your relationship with Sakura."

Ah, so that was is. "Is there now?"

Tenzou's left eyebrow twitched. "Yes," Tenzou affirmed. "And I don't care if there is. Really, I don't. I think you and Sakura-chan would actually be good for each other."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him. That was a surprise. Leave it to Tenzou to look past all the political bullshit and see two people, two personalities, which would fit well together and love each other. However, Kakashi was getting ahead of himself. He didn't even know if Sakura reciprocated such feelings, or if she was just avoiding him because of her physical reaction to their proximity the day before.

"But," Tenzou's continuation of his speech snapped Kakashi out of his mini-daydream, "If your…relationship…affects the safety of your squad and this unit as a hole…I'll have no choice but to report it…"

"Yamato," Kakashi interrupted. They had been using first names thus far because of the delicate nature of the conversation, and it was more important for Kakashi to speak as a friend right now instead of a fellow captain. "Sakura and I aren't in a relationship, physical or otherwise. If we were, I promise you, I would not allow it to affect either of our performances."

Tenzou seemed to deflate in relief. "Then what should we do about her request for a transfer?"

"If Sakura wishes to join your squad, then let her," Kakashi conceded. "If she feels that she can't perform at her best with me as her team captain, then she should switch."

Tenzou nodded and slipped his professional mask back on, both figuratively and literally as the cat mask slowly covered his eyes, nose, and then mouth and chin, and he left the room without further word. Kakashi just continued to stare out the window. Over the past many months, he had grown accustomed to, even fond of, Sakura's company. What would the next five months be like without her?

X

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMORU-TAICHOU!"

Pure. Hell.

Kakashi faked a smile beneath his mask as he looked at the small crowd of his teammates. There was a cake with a single candle sitting on the dining room table and the entire squad was huddled into the small room.

"Ah, thank you, thank you," Kakashi waved at them. He wasn't much of a party person, but he had dealt with many birthdays throughout the year that he had been here, and this team was always willing to celebrate. That didn't mean that Kakashi wanted his own birthday party – especially one that now marked he was thirty-four. God he was getting old.

One of the members of his sub-squad approached him with a small brown bag. "It isn't much, taichou, but it was all we could find when we stopped in town on our last run."

Kakashi pulled the small copy of "Icha Icha Paradise: Deluxe Edition" from the bag and smiled genuinely. Naruto had gone through all of Jiraiya's old notes and published them in a deluxe series of the books. This was the first one released, but it had been sent to stores while Kakashi was on rotation and couldn't buy a copy.

"Thank you, really," he said again. His eyes scanned the room and finally landed on Sakura, who was sitting in the corner of the room with a glass of sake in her hand. She raised it up to him in a silent toast and gave him a soft smile. It made his stomach flip, so he silently cursed the girl that managed to get him like no one else had before.

The hours passed. Sake was drunk, games were played, everyone socialized and laughed, and for a few hours, everyone was happy and carefree – blissfully ignoring the fact that tomorrow, they would be out running again. Kakashi managed to stay relatively sober despite it being his birthday. So did Sakura, he noticed. She had a few glasses before stopping several hours ago and now seemed to be very content with watching their drunken teammates try act out one embarrassing conquest after another as they challenged each other to increasingly stupid tasks.

Finally, when the attention had finally wavered from him and onto his squad's drunken antics, Kakashi stood up and slipped from the room quietly, heading straight for his cabin for some much needed shut eye. He knew he wasn't alone, though, and he knew exactly what the person following him wanted.

"Sakura," he greeted when she entered his cabin behind him and shut the door quietly.

"Kakashi," she greeted. He was standing at the edge of his bed, removing his hitai-ate and running his hands through his hair. "You left your own birthday party early."

"Ah, well I'm not one for parties," he replied sheepishly. Afraid of turning and facing her, he quietly pulled off his flak jacket that he wore when not on a run and set it on the bed.

"Me either," Sakura said quietly. She was closer now, approaching him from behind. "I…"

"Why'd you come here?" Kakashi interrupted sternly with the most authority he could manage. Now Sakura was right behind him, and he could feel her heat on his back, making him rather agitated. She was close, close enough to feel. This was wrong, he told himself over and over again.

"You know why I came here," Sakura replied. She touched him. It was innocent, a hand on his shoulder, imploring him to turn and face her, but Kakashi stiffened under the feather light contact. "I've…missed you."

"Sakura," Kakashi warned, but his voice was strained. "This is wrong."

"I…I don't think it is. Kakashi…these feelings…" Sakura murmured. Finally, the light pressure on his shoulder made him turn to face her. What he saw made his breath hitch, mostly because he understood her – understood what she was trying to say. Her eyes were luminescent in the darkness of his cabin, making them larger and greener than he had ever seen them. He could still see their innocence, despite Sakura's maturation in the past few years, and it tugged at his soul and his will.

"I… You feel it too, right? These feelings can't be wrong," she asked in a quiet, timid voice. She had tried to portray herself as strong and unwavering, but right now she was so afraid of being rejected. Again.

"Sakura–"

His words were cut off when she hooked her hand around his neck and pulled him down so that their lips met. All logical thought flew out the window when his body reacted immediately. His hands snaked around her waist and he pulled her to him, and he suddenly realized their height difference when she was lifted cleanly off the floor and her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. Their mouths were moving frantically and his mask was suddenly too stifling. He pulled his mask down with one finger and before she could even realize what happened, his lips were once again molding against hers.

Mouths parted and tongues danced for what seemed like hours. When Sakura let out a breathy moan, Kakashi was done for. He shifted quickly and without disconnecting their mouths, he laid her on the bed softly. Sakura quickly pulled the zipper of the dark green running jacket she had been wearing and divested herself of the article. Kakashi noted she now was only wearing a black, lacey bra.

He pulled his mouth back from hers just long enough to tug his own black shirt of his head and the mask along with it. Now that their torsos were naked, he leaned down against her and felt her hot skin rub against his own. He groaned into her went down to bite the hallow of her neck, sucking on it gently and lathering it with his tongue. Sakura mewled herself and her hips automatically pushed upwards, creating a delicious friction in their groins.

Kakashi gasped and pulled himself up once again to stare at her. Sakura got a good look at his face for the first time. He was ruggedly handsome. There was a small mole on the side of his jaw and stubble from a few days without shaving. He wasn't the most striking man she had seen, but he was incredibly good looking nonetheless.

"No stupid comments about how I don't have buck teeth or fish lips?" he joked. Sakura merely smiled devilishly and rolled her hips upwards so they came in contact with the large, hard erection that was growing under his loose shinobi pants. A swell of female satisfaction swelled within her when Kakashi threw his head back and groaned.

Getting up quickly, Sakura moved towards him and had pulled down his pants and boxers quickly to reveal his length. She took in a moment to admire the fine specimen that Kakashi was before hooking her arm around his waist and forcing his penis into her mouth. Kakashi threw his head back and groaned loudly when she began to pump his length into her mouth. When it had gone in as far as it could, Sakura began to stroke the part that couldn't fit. She alternated between squeezing his balls and stroking him as her mouth did the rest of the work.

It wasn't long before Kakashi was groaning loudly, and Sakura knew it wouldn't be long before he came. On her hands and knees while Kakashi kneeled above her, Sakura took great pleasure in turning her former sensei into a pile of mush.

One of the most powerful and famous shinobi in the five great nations was at her complete mercy, and it felt good. Finally, Sakura began to feel him tremble under her mouth and she let out a long hum onto his cock when it hit the back of her throat.

Kakashi lasted two more frantic thrusts into before succumbing to the pleasure and shooting his cum straight into her mouth. Sakura had prepared for it and swallowed most of the bitter tasting liquid. While it wasn't her favorite thing to do, it didn't taste horrible and she knew that it would help Kakashi's ego.

When his member left her mouth, Sakura let the remnants drip down her chin and looked up at him with big green eyes. He stared at her when her small pink tongue danced from her mouth and scooped the liquid back onto her tongue and back into her mouth. It was possibly the most erotic thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

"Happy birthday, Kakashi," she whispered. She may not have been the most experienced woman, but she had enough practice to know what was considered attractive and sexy. The dark glint in Kakashi's eye as he looked at her like a predator told her she had done something seriously right. Her adrenaline coursed through her when Kakashi approached her once again.

After taking a few deep breaths, he pushed her down by her shoulders and covered her completely. Leaning down, he captured her lips in his and gave her a long, languid kiss. His tongue pervaded her mouth for a few moments before he began placing butterfly kisses down her jaw and towards her ear.

He knew she wanted more – more touching, faster. But he was going to enjoy this. This was the woman he was in love with – he could admit as much now. This wasn't just sex to him. For perhaps the first time in his life, Hatake Kakashi was making love, and he wanted to enjoy – and wanted her to enjoy – every second of it.

His lips reached her neck and he planted kisses across the soft skin. Her rugged finger nails were scratching down his back as she mewled and groaned and gasped his name, begging for more contact. Still sucking on her neck, Kakashi brought his palm up to her bra-covered breast and took the entire globe into his larger hand.

She gasped and wriggled beneath him, and he could feel his penis begin to harden again after her earlier treatment. He was still determined to make this last though, so he bit her neck a little roughly to get her to calm down. To his shock, she did the exact opposite. A heady moan escaped her, and Kakashi belatedly realized that perhaps his sweet little flower child liked to play rough.

He bit her again, a little harder, and this time Sakura called out his name wantonly. Grinning into her neck, he began to knead her breast in his palm. She gasped again, and Kakashi felt he was at the threshold of his patience. His member was rock solid again and the feeling of the exquisite female beneath him, crying out his name as he fondled her was too much. He pulled her up from her place and unclipped her bra without further warning. At the same time, his other hand began working both her underwear and pants down her legs. She pushed her hips up to aid the endeavor, and before she could even settle them back onto the bed, his fingers and mouth were all over her.

His tongue took a long lick, from the bottom of her slit to the bundle of nerves at the top of her opening. Sakura practically screamed, digging her fingers into his messy silver hair. He winced at the pain, but delved back into her womanhood with fervor. If she would pleasure him in this way, then he would do the same for her.

Kakashi tried to be a fair man, and he gave as good as he got. Her entrance was dripping and took his first digit easily when he thrust it into her, all the way to the third knuckle. She cried out again and bucked her hips to meet his slender digit. When he pulled it out, he replaced it with both his index and his middle finger. She rode his hand for a few moments, and when he found a comfortable rhythm, he changed it around. His fingers began to curl inside her, and her cries became more desperate.

She was nearing release, he could tell. So with a final thrust, Kakashi took her precious clit into his mouth and sucked hard. Hips raised off the bed, her muscles contracted around him as her head threw back into the pillow in a moment of bliss. Her muscles pumped around his two fingers mercilessly until her hips finally collapsed and she let out several shuttering moans as her orgasm finished.

He climbed back over her and placed his throbbing head at her sensitive entrance. He rubbed her a few times and she moaned again. It took another moment for her glossy eyes to come back to reality and realize that Kakashi hadn't entered her yet.

His Sharingan eye was spinning as her jade eyes locked his mismatched pair. While the wanton lust of a predator gleamed in Kakashi's eyes, Sakura saw something deeper, more serious in him.

"I only play for keeps, Sakura," he said quietly, but his voice was serious and stern. She nodded at him. "I don't do one night stands with women I care about. This is not a casual encounter, do you understand?"

She smiled at him. Covered in sweat and panting heavily as her breasts bounced with each inhale and exhale, Kakashi swore he had never seen anything so beautiful.

"Yeah, Kakashi. I understand. I only play for keeps too." Her reply and soft smile were enough. He entered her in one swift thrust just as he bent his head to kiss her. Her strong legs wrapped around his waist tightly while her arms clenched his shoulders.

He alternated between short, rapid thrusts and long, languid pushes. He brought her to the edge over and over just to deny her. When it seemed like she couldn't take it anymore – and she couldn't either – he forced himself into her roughly and pressed down on her clit with his thumb. Her head threw back as she screamed his name one final time, and he shuttered, pushing into her all the way, and emptied inside of her.

They collapsed in a boneless heap, Kakashi pulling her close and throwing the blankets around them. Her head leaned against his arm as he enclosed himself around her, and it was mere moments before they fell asleep.

X

"Mamoru-senpai," Tenzou called. Kakashi, wearing only his mask and sleeveless shirt, turned to look at the man standing in the kitchen doorway. Kakashi grunted in recognition as he made Sakura and himself a simple breakfast of toast, fruit, and coffee. "You look like you got into a fight with a wild animal last night."

Kakashi turned and looked at what Yamato was talking about. Scratches lined down his upper arms, and he knew that they were down his back as well.

"Ah," Kakashi replied with an eye crinkle, "Well, in a sense, I did."

Tenzou had the grace to blush and look embarrassed when he let out a nervous chuckle.

How many times have I loved you, I wonder.

The living room was silent.

But peacefully so. It wasn't an awkward or uncomfortable silence. It was quiet, sans the comfortable purr of the overhead fan and the drip of the coffee machine in the other room. Sakura would be home soon, and Kakashi made a point to have caffeine ready for her return or his girlfriend tended to get cranky very quickly after a long shift at the hospital.

She had been taking more of those recently as opposed to long or dangerous ANBU missions that she used to love so much. When Kakashi had asked her about it, she had just shrugged nonchalantly and said that she was needed at the hospital and that she enjoyed being home more now than ever.

It made sense, especially since he now spent less time in the field now that Sasuke had joined ANBU with Sai and Naruto was the proud jounin sensei of three rugrats of his own. Either way, seeing Sakura more hardly bothered Kakashi, and he found it impossible to complain that she was home on a regular basis.

Kakashi slouched into Sakura's couch with familiarity. The living room of her small, one-bedroom apartment was now incredibly comfortable to him. Painted in earthy tones, it was relatively spacious and decorated more elegantly than a twenty-two year old should. It spoke miles of her maturity.

Two years. Two full years that they had been together. Although she had come home from her rotation and essentially told everyone that they were together, the duo didn't go out much and preferred to spend most of their time in the privacy of one of their apartments – mostly hers.

It had surprised him that nobody made a big deal of their budding romance. Naruto and Sasuke were the most surprised, and he was sure that there were whispers behind their backs, but their friends and colleagues accepted them quickly. In the shinobi world, there wasn't time to argue over things like the nature of two of their fellow shinobi's relationships. Sakura was a grown woman and he a grown man. She was ANBU and he was a jounin and one of the most respected ninja in the five great nations.

Tsunade had blessed them, and he had even met Sakura's parents once or twice. Her mother seemed to like him well enough, and her father appreciated his reputation in the village, so if he had any complaints, he kept them to himself.

Kakashi took a moment to scan the room. The bookshelf in the corner of the room housed both her medical tombs and entertainment reading material, but the bottom shelf had been cleared out and copies of his favorite Icha Icha now sat there. Several of his favorite coffee mugs were stacked neatly in the cupboard. Two full drawers in the bedroom as well as a quarter of the closet were also now dedicated to his weaponry, personal affects, and clothes.

Recently, he had even been staying here while she was on missions and Kakashi found himself contemplating why he bothered to pay for his apartment anymore. The next logical step in their relationship was to move in together.

It was simple for him now, even though, at the beginning, it seemed much more complicated than it should have. She was it. Nobody else compared to her in any other way, and he didn't want or need anyone else. Once, Naruto had asked if he was scared that a younger man would come and take her away, but Kakashi was hardly unconfident, and he knew that Sakura felt the same way for him that he did for her. They rarely spoke of it or expressed these feelings verbally, but she had to know, right?

The door clicked open quietly and then shut just as quietly. He was going to greet her when her own greeting cut him off.

"Kakashi, I'm pregnant."

She looked a little nervous when his book dropped into his lap and one wide eye stared at her in a dazed shock. Her proclamation had been resolute and confidence, but his stunned reaction or silence seemed to make her confidence waver.

"And I'm keeping it," she continued more cautiously. This seemed to snap him from his shocked daze and he blinked a few times. She was keeping it?

What did she mean? Of course they were keeping the baby. His thoughts were running through his analytical mind a mile a minute. Did she not know that this was a good thing? Judging by the look on her face – scared and worried – she did not know. They had never spoken about having children. She was just still so young and so busy, it never seemed to come up.

Kakashi was also hardly the commitment type of guy. Being in a relationship with Sakura was the largest commitment he had ever made. Many shinobi – seeing as temporary as their lives were – would have been married and onto their second child in the amount of time that the two had been together. So maybe she didn't know that this was a good thing. He had never even thought to bring it up.

So, being the unflappable shinobi he was, Kakashi (for perhaps the first time in his life) gulped in nervousness and met his girlfriend's eye. "Of course, we're keeping it Sakura. This is a good thing, isn't it?"

She blinked a few times before the tears started rolling down her face. At first, Kakashi thought that there was some sort of bad news – something was wrong with the baby, she was breaking up with him, the kid wasn't his. But they all ended when she lunged across the room and fell onto his lap. Straddling his thighs, Sakura put her around his head and stuffed her face into his neck. She let out a few sobs before Kakashi reciprocated the hug tentatively.

"Sakura?" he questioned quietly.

"You're not mad?" she asked tentatively. Her saliva was thick from her crying, but Kakashi didn't care. Perhaps he didn't express his feelings to her enough if she thought he would be angry about this. It took two to tango, as it were, and this was half his burden.

"Of course I'm not mad," he hummed. He gripped her a little harder. "I'm happy about this, really."

Sakura pulled back, and before he could say anything more, kissed him deeply. It was a thorough and passionate kiss, and then there was this sudden shift in the air that Kakashi knew so well. If he wasn't sure, her hips grinding into his groin was indication enough of where this afternoon would go.

There was something desperate about her actions and when she shifted to hike up her skirt, he quickly realized that she was very ready for him already. If she was this horny this early in the pregnancy, he surmised he would enjoy her libido even more now. Unzipping his pants quickly, he rubbed her pearl a few times and basked in her utter wetness. She planted her hands on her shoulders and sank onto him with a long, lusty groan while he held her panties to the side so he could enter her.

He let out a similar sound as he pulled off her medic's coat and unclipped her bra in one motion. She began her languid pace as she threw her head back and rode him easily.

It was slow enough to allow him to form coherent thoughts, so he couldn't help, due to their current positions, think of something. "Which time was it?" he asked.

Sakura looked at him, but her pace never wavered. Cocking her head to the side, she silently asked him what he meant. He pulled her pert nipple between his fingers and sucked the other breast for a moment. Her head lolled back and she whimpered.

"Which time did we make the baby?" he clarified. "I thought you used the birth control jutsu Tsunade taught you every morning."

Sakura contemplated for a moment before speaking. "It was that time you came home early for a mission about two months ago. I hadn't used the jutsu that week because I was having really bad aches in my stomach and I didn't want to aggravate it with a jutsu I didn't need since you weren't here."

"Ah," Kakashi recalled. "I do remember now. I found a package outside the apartment door so I henged myself to look like a delivery man."

Sakura giggled and picked up her pace. That particular memory was one of their more erotic role-playing scenarios that she never thought she would like. He knocked on the door, and when she opened it, she knew exactly who it was under that henge. She smiled and flirted with the delivery man and offered him tea. Kakashi, of course, accepted. When she went to make the tea, the 'delivery man' had come up behind her and fondled her breasts roughly before bending her over the counter and taking her right there.

The memory made Sakura clench her muscles. Kakashi shuttered underneath her and knew he wouldn't last long. Taking her hips in his bruising grip, he began to control their pace and set it quicker. His dominance did her in. Her core contracted around him and she screamed his name, clutching his neck tightly as she rode her orgasm. Kakashi came within her almost instantly.

He had the sense to pull them off the couch and onto the ground, grabbing a throw blanket they had on the back of the long couch. He tucked his lover under his arm and stroked her back as she began to doze off after their intense love making.

Kakashi smiled. He was going to be a father, and while that scared the living shit out of him, he knew he was ready for it. He was thirty-six after all. It was probably time he settled down.

"Mm," Sakura murmured beneath him, "We should probably find a house, or a bigger apartment."

Kakashi mulled it over. She was right, but she was forgetting something more important.

"We should get married."

X

The cathedral was beautiful.

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and so was the blushing bride-to-be. Her gown was a mix of traditional kimono and western style. While it wrapped around her snugly, it was made of a softer lace and trailed behind her. She had also chosen to forgo the common embroidering on the kimono. It was white with small peony blossoms around the bottom. She thought it was fitting, since when they fell in love, her name was Boton.

Her father walked her down the aisle. Her belly was burgeoning under the gown, but it was hard to tell under the layers of fabric.

Naruto and Sasuke stood at the altar, and she caught a sight of her groom when her father led her into the ceremony. Ino and Hinata were both already at the front, having been lead in by Sasuke and Naruto respectively.

But her attention was on the man at the front of the hall. The wedding was supposed to be small with just close friends and family. But when Ino got wind of her best friend's engagement, she went into a rampage.

Soon, five-hundred guests had been invited, scores of flowers had been ordered, and Sakura was being dragged around Konoha to choose place settings and color schemes. In less than three months, the two of them had managed to plan one of the largest weddings Sakura had ever seen.

She had never thought that she would be in the wedding – no, the most important part – of the largest wedding Konoha had hosted in over a decade. Luckily, people loved Sakura so the gargantuan wedding was hardly costing her a dime. The Yamanaka's donated the flowers, the Akamichi clan the food, the Nara clan offered to hold the reception in their largest field.

The owner of the cathedral allowed Sakura to rent the hall for the day because she had saved his son's life in battle. Another man kindly donated all of the decorations because Kakashi had helped rebuild his home after the Third Shinobi World War.

Then, between the two of them, Gaara and Tsunade had swooped in a paid the rest, citing it as both her wedding gift and the fact that the shinobi of the world needed something to look forward to, so it was their prerogative to help out.

If Sakura calculated correctly, she may just come out of her wedding filthy rich.

But that wasn't important right now. What was important was the man beaming at her. Her walk down the aisle had been amazingly fast, and it wasn't long before she was blinking at her groom and listening to Tsunade read off their vows.

"I do," she said through tears and she swore Kakashi was crying too.

When he tugged the hem of his mask to kiss her properly, there was an audilbe shush and gasp in the room. Sakura surmised that many people came just to see if Hatake Kakashi would reveal his face for the big kiss.

But Sakura had other plans. At the last moment, just as his mask was about to come down, she pulled out a hand fan and flipped it open, just enough to cover their faces. Naruto groaned and Sasuke sighed. Apparently, Kakashi's two male students had been hoping for the same thing.

Kakashi pulled back from the chaste kiss and looked at the mischievous glint in his wife's eye – his pink and green flower child.

Yes, life would be alright from now on, he knew. It would be an interesting life, but it would be a good one.

Who could hope for more?

Every day could be your last.

Live life like there's no tomorrow.

The Sky Crawlers

*Botan means 'peony' in Japanese. It is another pink flower that is native and symbolic in Asia and the culture, and I thought it would be appropriate for Sakura's codename. So no, I'm not referring to the Yuyu Hakusho character, who ironically, had bright blue hair.

*Mamoru means 'protector' in Japanese. Once again, I thought it was a fitting codename for Kakashi.

A/N: So the original plan was for this to be about five to six thousand words.

Yeah…Please review! Thank you guys for your patience with me.

You can expect updates very soon on all three of my chaptered stories – plus the second installments of Geisha and Magic Carpet Ride. I'm working on it, guys!

Right now, you should review and encourage Mary to beta the final chapter of Nothing but the Truth that she has ;)