A/N – This is a collection of one-shots that are not related with one another (unless I post at the very start of them that they are, which is a slim possibility depending on whether anyone requests a sequel). I'm still accepting requests, so if you have any, share them!

Just Like Fire

Story 1
Prompt: Behind the mask. Own prompt, just to get the ball rolling.
Rating: M (just to be on the safe side)

"I'm in position."

Lowering herself into a crouch, Sakura's eyes narrowed and she raised a hand to her earpiece, making sure to keep her voice extra quiet as she murmured, "So am I."

The tree she was hiding in was large and, much to her amusement, it happened to be a tree filled with fully bloomed cherry blossoms. They were in the middle of spring and they would soon be filling the streets with their fallen petals, but for now, it meant she blended in with the tree rather well for once. Her pink hair would be masked within the flowers.

It was another dull day, one without a mission and as it just so happened, she was also unneeded at the hospital, too, meaning she had a day that had to be filled in one way or another. What better way than to track down her teammates and goad them into another one of their personal missions?

What kind of mission was that?

Her third teammates voice came through, soft, yet still clear, into her ear as he replied, "Operation mask… begin."

Not for the first time in the past hour, she winced, rubbing her sore head as she contemplated healing herself to be rid of the ache. However, it was a minor injury and a total waste of chakra.

By her sides, her teammates were in no better condition. They all sat defeated, breathing out sighs as they ate their late night supper at Ichiraku's.

"That is the last time we go along with your plan, idiot," came Sasuke's haughty snarl.

"Eh?" It was a reaction Sakura should have been expecting, but she still winced as his yell of discontent echoed loudly down her ears, slamming around her already aching head. "We were doing fine until he got serious!"

Oh and she wondered why that was. Maybe it was because, out of nowhere, Hatake Kakashi's home had been invaded by his three beloved, adorable students, or maybe, just maybe, it was because he'd been about to go and shower after a month long mission and had been completely unaware of their presence until they burst into his apartment, due to being so exhausted.

They had gone along with Sasuke's sneak attack. They had gone along with Naruto's, as he dubbed it, going in with all guns blazing attack, with her leading the way due to her strength.

Next it would be her turn to come with a strategy.

But first…

"Ow, ow, ow!" She winced, hand once more grabbing her head.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Next time we'll show no mercy."

It had been three years.

In that time, there had been many failed attempts at unmasking their sensei – former sensei, rather. Each and every time, no matter how long they spent strategizing and bringing in outside help, they failed spectacularly. Hatake Kakashi was simply on a whole other level to them and it felt like they would never catch up. Deep down, however, Sakura knew it was merely because of how well he knew them. He knew how they would think, how they would plan their next attack.

Even at twenty years old…

Sakura smirked.

Old habits die hard.

Red and black eyes met hers and her smirk widened at the discreet nod the man gave her before dashing off out of sight, his presence going undetected. He was, after all, Sasuke's older brother. Uchiha Itachi did not do things half-assed.

The genjutsu was in place, so strong that she knew she wouldn't have been able to sense it, let alone release herself from it. The same would go for her former sensei, who was currently on strict orders not to use his Sharingan, which was heavily bandaged courtesy of her beloved shishou. There had been a horror story or two thrown in there for good measure before forcing him to have it bandaged up.

All she needed now was…

Her eyes shot to the left, narrowing fractionally.

It was time for the next stage of her plan.

She reeled in her composure, breathing in deeply and then letting out a loud cry of, "Stop it, you two!" Tears filled her eyes and she clutched her chest, desperation obvious. "Stop it!"

The genjutsu was showing a vicious battle to the death between her two teammates. It showed them tearing chunks out of each other and using their most lethal jutsu against one another. In reality, they were both in a tree behind her, masking their presence and remaining silent.

"What the hell happened?" Kakashi demanded, skidding to a halt beside her with his single eye wide. "I was gone for five minutes!"

Oh her poor, unsuspecting sensei. Holding back a smirk, she faced him, brow puckering and features pleading. "You've got to stop them, sensei! They started arguing about who was stronger and then… Then Naruto said he'd like to see Sasuke-kun's Chidori try to outdo his Rasengan!"

If Kakashi's eye wasn't wide before, then it was now. In fact, he looked awfully pale and pure terror was etched deeply on the only part of his face revealed. "Those idiots, they'll kill each other."

"We've got to stop them!" she yelled. Daringly, she stepped forward, but Kakashi grabbed her arm, yanking her back and further away from the two men. The surrounding area rumbled as a Rasengan collided with the ground and in the genjutsu, it created a large crater. "Kakashi-sensei…!"

"Stay out of the way, Sakura."

Just as he was about to get involved, the two men ricocheted off one another's attacks, falling several feet away from each other. Slowly, shakily, they clambered to their feet, with Sasuke gripping his arm and gritting his teeth, while Naruto clutched his middle and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Teme…!"

"Now, Kakashi-sensei. Do it while they've stopped!"

Like she had known he would, Kakashi intervened, putting himself right into the centre of them both. With his eye narrowed and anger pooling from him in waves, he unleashed hell on the two fakes. All the while she stood in the back, almost falling apart with laughter, but somehow managing to keep it together. Oh, why hadn't they ever involved Uchiha Itachi before? That genjutsu was flawless!

"Get out of my sight, the pair of you," he muttered darkly.

Slowly, for she knew that his bad mood would be real even though it was a genjutsu, Sakura approached Kakashi, eyes worried. "Sensei?"

As always, he did his best to cheer her up as he turned to face her, plastering another fake smile on that creased his single eye. Then, his hand fell to her shoulder. "Don't worry, Sakura. It's okay now."

Before he could remove his hand, she grabbed onto it, holding his hand. It was a bold move and she saw the surprise in his eye. "Kakashi-sensei…" She gazed down at the grass, feigning embarrassment and fright. "Please… can I stay with you? I don't want to be alone."

There was a sudden softness to him that she couldn't understand and hesitantly, Sakura glanced back up at him, but was unprepared for the weight of his stare. Where had this come from? This felt… different from all the times before.

"You're never alone, Sakura," he murmured.

Something in her chest clenched. "Sensei?"

And then he chuckled, hand slipping out from beneath hers and scratching the back of his head. "Sorry. That probably sounded a little creepy." Due to his eye being closed, she was unable to read his expression – though probably wouldn't have been able to, anyway. "How about I walk you home?"

She did her best to smile, grateful that the situation required her to be a little shaken up. "Thank you."

The walk was relatively quiet and the entire time, there was a respectful distance between them, one that was only closed when they had to go through the market. Sakura only sent one glance over her shoulder to try and see if her boys were following, but didn't risk more than the one, since her former sensei was no idiot and would have surely caught on. She could only hope they were following and ready for the next step.

Ten minutes later, they were stood at the top of the stairs, just outside of her door. If her teammates knew what was good for them, then they would be on the other side of that door. They had planned on Sasuke being the one to spy through the peephole, since he had the Sharingan and was capable of storing it all to memory. After, he was able to share the image like they were experiencing it for themselves.

That idiot Naruto had better not screw the plan up!

"Thank you for walking me home, Kakashi-sensei."

He smiled down at her. "It's fine. Well, I should be on my way-"

"Wait."

There was obvious surprise as he halted in his exit, looking back to her. "What is it?"

"I have to thank you properly, sensei!" She laughed like it was obvious, rolling her eyes in a playful manner. "Otherwise it would be considered bad manners."

"Is that so?" Hand coming up to cup his chin, he seemed to consider the words, but then smiled again, hand dropping to his side. "I think a 'thank you' is good enough for me."

Shit, he was leaving!

Sakura acted completely on instinct as she grabbed the front of his flak jacket with both hands and yanked on it, pulling Kakashi to her. There was a sound of utter surprise and his hands fell to the door loudly, nearly enough to startle her, but she didn't falter. She refused to.

And then she snatched his mask, but only a second before his lips were against hers.

This time she did falter, especially when her back thudded against the door.

No, this was all wrong! She hadn't pulled him that hard. She knew she hadn't. And a kiss hadn't been a part of the plan. It had come from… It had been…

The feeling of his soft, bare lips brushing against hers had her involuntarily sighing and after a moment, her fingers loosened, releasing his flak jacket, but just as they were about to slip away completely, Sakura was surprised to feel rough fingertips grazing them, their fingers lacing until they were being pressed to the door.

"Sakura…" he breathed against her lips. They parted by a scant few millimetres.

Her body felt much too warm. Her lips were tingling. Her heart was clenching and skipping beats and her stomach was in knots, but not painful ones.

Just as her eyes were about to open, something fell over them and she suddenly snapped back to herself as she realised it was her own forehead protector. More space grew between their lips and it left her feeling cold.

"My, my, Sakura." There was a smirk to his voice and it was downright sinful, melting her insides and had his knee not been in the way, she would have clenched her thighs together – and she hadn't even seen what the smirk looked like yet. "You didn't think I would fall for such a dirty trick, did you?" Their joined hands touched the top of her head and in that moment, she realised her flaw. "You are much too tall for Sasuke to be able to see through the peephole."

On the other side of the door, she heard Naruto curse loudly, not even trying to stay quiet about it.

All the while, she continued to remain wide eyed and stunned. Goosebumps had broken out over her skin and she shivered.

"Tell Itachi-san that the genjutsu was flawless, as was your acting. I almost fell for it." Kakashi leaned forward and this time, she felt his smirk on her cheek as he breathed into her ear, "But you're forgetting how strong my sense of smell is, Sakura."

Shit!

He could tell where the real two were!

"How many failures is this now?" he teased, nosing her ear and causing another shiver to take over. "Forty-seven, right?"

"Forty-nine," she admitted with embarrassment. Sakura was pretty certain that her face was bright red by now. "Kakashi-sensei…"

"I'm no longer your sensei, Sakura," came his softened reply.

A defeated smirk lifted her lips. "Apparently there's still a lot I need to learn from you." About you. "Therefore, you're still my sensei."

He chuckled.

And then the safety behind her disappeared as the door swung open, but Sakura didn't fall, even when the hold on her hands vanished in a cloud of smoke. Naruto caught her on instinct, growling angrily about Kakashi's dirty tactics.

Her hand came to her lips.

They were still tingling.

It was a week later when Sakura found herself standing outside of her former sensei's apartment, hand hesitating to knock on his door.

Never before… She bit her lip and lowered her hand again, glancing back down at the ground in shame. Never before had she ever seen her sensei as more than, well, her sensei, but that kiss last week was still playing through her mind and if she thought about it for too long, then there was the disturbing reminder of how her lips had tingled.

Part of her foolishly hoped that it was some kind of jutsu, that he had infused his chakra into making their kiss electric somehow, because it definitely couldn't be like one of the passionate kisses she'd read about – it had been a simple kiss! Kakashi's signature jutsu used the lightning element. Somehow, he sneakily shocked her lips with-

The door swung open and the man who was plaguing her thoughts leaned against the door jamb, arms folded over his chest and eyebrow raised expectantly.

"Are you going to stand there all day?"

Why she was suddenly so defensive, she wasn't sure, but Sakura couldn't stop herself from snapping, "Don't be stupid!"

"Oh?" he drawled, eye glancing upwards before he sighed. "Then what is it, Sakura? I can't focus on my book with all the hard thinking going on out here."

Oh, he was such a smart ass! It was infuriating. He was infuriating. "You kissed me."

He didn't so much as bat an eyelash. "I suppose I did."

Suppose? "There's no supposing about it! Your lips were in full contact with mine. You kissed me."

"Yeah, but that could hardly be considered a kiss, don't you think?"

Something clenched in her chest. It didn't…? She tried to smile, but found she was unable to meet his eye. "I guess you're right."

Kakashi sighed again and all pretences left. "Why are you really here, Sakura?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly, rubbing her arm in a nervous gesture.

It was at least eight in the evening now. Had her venture to his apartment been any later and had other villagers not known that she was his teammate, then her visit would have been deemed as inappropriate. They would have looked down their noses on her, and their suspicious, spiteful tongues would have begun spouting lies and rumours, one after another.

There was a sound of resignation before he stepped to the side, allowing her entry. Was he thinking along the same lines as herself? Was he wary of what others would be thinking?

Sakura glanced around his apartment to distract herself as she heard the door shutting quietly behind them. It wasn't her first time there – they'd ambushed him here several times when they knew he was at his most vulnerable and they always had their asses handed to them.

Still, it never failed to amaze her. Despite the constant flow of missions that he received, Kakashi remained in a small apartment, with only the bare minimum of furniture. There were hardly any personal items to be seen other than the odd photograph of himself and his teams, meaning even in his own home, he was a mystery. Stupid man. Did he get off on being hard to understand?

The only thing that stood out to her was the bookcase that seemed to dominate the room. It was too big considering how small the place was and had it been her own apartment, Sakura would have decided to buy two separate book cases, two small ones instead of one huge one. Other than the filled to the brim bookcase and the odd photographs here and there, however, the apartment was almost empty in terms of personal items (not including clothing, of course).

The kitchen was a part of the living room, separated by a mere half-wall that dragged across the middle of the room, but there were two doors that were left ajar at the very back of the place. Sakura knew they would lead to the bathroom and his bedroom.

For such a lazy man, his apartment was almost squeaky clean.

"I don't have much in," he told her without hesitation. "Water?"

That didn't surprise her. He was a stingy bastard. "Please."

She slowly sat down on his single sofa, eyes drawn to the little orange book sitting on the coffee table before her. It was open, cover facing upwards and Sakura found it brought a small bout of comfort to her. Constant. It was one of her constants, just like Kakashi was.

Two glasses were placed down onto the coffee table and she held back her cringe at the fact that there were no placemats. Her mother had always scolded her for never using them back at home, for the liquid ruined the wood.

Kakashi sat down beside her, heaving out a sigh like everything was such a taxing challenge to him.

"You know, I'm still shocked that Itachi-san helped you out." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I never would have pegged him as they type to get involved in something like that."

It had taken some persuasion, but they managed to sway him with offerings of unlimited dango for three months. One month, it would be on her, then Sasuke and then Naruto. Really, though, she ought to retract that considering the fact Kakashi still managed to see through the genjutsu somehow.

Her arms came around her middle in a nearly defensive manner, like she was trying to block out his presence. Why was he make her so uncomfortable all of a sudden?

Yet another sigh. Geez, did he do anything but? "Just get it out, Sakura."

Fine. "What's your idea of a real kiss?"

There was a pause, but she didn't dare look up at him to read his reaction to her question, as she could already guess what he was thinking. Did she seriously just ask that? What a stupid question. Shouldn't she already know, since she's twenty years old?

"A real kiss is when it is consensual on both ends," Kakashi replied after a moment, shrugging carelessly. "You were tense, though I can't understand why if you were going to do it anyway."

"I wasn't!" she argued hotly, cheeks burning. Finally, Sakura managed to pluck up the courage to look at him, glaring angrily as she did so. "I was going to duck out of the way…"

"I see," came his quiet murmur. "Meaning Sasuke would've been able to see out of the peephole, after all."

"Yeah…" She shot to her feet, nearly knocking the coffee table as she did so before turning to continue glaring at him. "Why would I…?" Shaking her head, she ran her hands through her hair, tugging on the ends. "You're fourteen years my senior. You were my sensei!"

He frowned. "Sakura-"

Just as he was about to stand, too, she threw herself down, taking his breath away as she pinned him to the sofa. Thighs resting on either side of his and her hands splayed out across his chest, her frown deepened, her heart palpitating strangely at the feeling of his hands on her hips.

"Despite that…" Green eyes watched his masked lips in confusion. "I still want to…" Hesitantly, she leaned a little bit closer. "I want to feel a real kiss from you."

It wasn't a sigh this time, but it sounded like one as Kakashi breath left him harshly. It stunned her when his grip tightened on her hips, fingers digging into her flesh.

His head fell forward and his mop of hair shielded his only visible eye. Vaguely, Sakura wondered if he still thought his Sharingan was out of bounds, but decided not to mention it. The moment between them felt fragile, like one wrong word would shatter it beyond repair. They had to tread carefully.

"You fight dirty, Sakura," he muttered.

"I'm not fighting," was her whispered reply. "If I was fighting, I wouldn't be here."

Head tipping back until it thudded against the backrest of the sofa, Kakashi shut his eye, eyebrow creased and Sakura had no doubt that, had it not been covered by his forehead protector, his other would be doing the exact same thing.

He chuckled, surprising her with how tired he sounded all of a sudden. "Of all people, why would you want a kiss from me?"

Was he rejecting her? She pulled back slightly, though didn't move from his lap. "I…" Words failed her and Sakura frowned again. "You still have a lot to teach me, sensei."

This time, she was stunned by his groan. It made him sound like he was in pain. And then it occurred to her why that was and she was certain she'd never blushed so hard before. She would have stood up and left and called him a shameful pervert, however, his hands continued to keep a tight grip of her hips, keeping them close to his and her blush deepened further at how forward she had been.

"You want to feel a real kiss?"

She was hesitant to meet his eye, the air around them feeling heavy with an unbelievable kind of tension that had her swallowing hard. It was almost suffocating. "Yeah."

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know," he warned.

A small smirk played on her lips. "It's a good thing cats have nine lives then, right?"

A hand left her hip, reaching for the back of her head where it fisted in her hair. It surprised her, making her gasp in shock, but that was forgotten about completely when Kakashi suddenly pulled her head down, bringing her lips down until they were mere millimetres from his.

"Would you really go so far, Sakura?"

Something was wrong. Her eyes felt heavy and her breathing was shallow. Something warm was filling her stomach and it made her want to clench her thighs together, but she couldn't due to the fact she was straddling Kakashi.

"Are you really that desperate to see beneath my mask?"

As though in a trance, she shook her head softly. "Cover my eyes again, if you must."

Slowly, the fist in her hair unclenched, trailing upwards until it was dragging the forehead protector down over her eyes, shielding her view of the world. It only made the warmth in her stomach grow, however and her thighs shifted restlessly on either side of his, breathing turning shaky.

"Are you sure you want this, Sakura?" She leaned forward when she felt an incredibly faint brush of his lips. Bare lips, might she add. "There's no going back if we do this. Even if it is just a kiss, you'll see me in a new light. I'd never be ordinary Kakashi-sensei again."

She smiled softly, forehead thudding against his and it took her a moment to realise his own forehead protector was gone. "You've never been ordinary, Kakashi."

It felt so odd on her tongue, yet so natural at the same time.

"Good."

It was safe to say she was totally unprepared for his sudden kiss, though she supposed part of her had been expecting it to be something like this. His lips moved against hers insistently, hungrily and she could feel his hot breath mingling with her own. Again, her thighs clenched around his and her brow puckered, fingers tangling in his shirt to try and steady herself, but it was pointless. The kiss was a total assault on her senses. It felt like Kakashi was everywhere. All she could smell was him. All she could taste was him.

With her mouth already parted due to the kisses, it didn't take him long to add his tongue into the mix, coaxing hers to get more involved, too. Hands coming up to his hair, in the same way he had done her own earlier, she grabbed it, fists tightening and forcing his head to tilt backwards, giving her better access.

A real kiss…

She could see what he meant now.

The hands on her hips guided her, bringing her forward and her breath left her in a rush when she found something that eased the ache between her thighs, if only a little, and so she didn't argue when he continued to drag her hips forward and back, in short intervals that soon grew rushed.

By now the ache was practically throbbing, but it wasn't unpleasant and at a particularly rough thrust of his hips, her head fell backwards, hair tumbling down her spine.

Kakashi took full advantage of her exposed neck, lips immediately trailing hot, open mouthed kisses against the skin and Sakura couldn't help but shiver as his teeth grazed her throat.

Oh, Gods.

She could understand what he meant by a real kiss.

Forget the tingling that had only affected her lips. Now it felt as though it was rushing throughout her entire body, like hot flames were taking over the warmth that had been in her belly. Sakura was certain that, should she have wanted to, she wouldn't be able to stand, either.

"Last chance, Sakura." Kakashi's voice was almost strained.

Idiot. Like she was going to turn down something that felt so… so right. So natural.

Apparently her reply of a kiss wasn't enough, because he parted their lips and there was a pause. Was he looking at her? What was he thinking?

"Not enough, Sakura," he murmured and she felt his lips hovering over hers. "Think about what you're doing. This is… too sudden." There was reluctance in his voice, like he was inwardly calling himself every name he could think of. "You've never done anything like this, have you?"

Hesitantly, she shook her head.

In their line of work, with every day possibly being their last, Sakura had… She had thought that something like this would be okay.

For the past week, she'd been warring with herself, internally struggling with the idea of kissing her former sensei and then the realisation of enjoying said kiss had completely thrown her off balance. But as soon as she realised that, she also realised that they were shinobi and in their line of work, anything could happen. It was what had brought her to his door, though that small voice in the back of her mind had stopped her from knocking.

Now, probably without even trying, Kakashi had given her the courage and the strength to actually voice her wants. Who knows what would come of it? Maybe it would eventually lead to a white picket fence life, with children and pets and grandchildren when those children grew up. Or maybe it would simply be a one-night stand. All they could do was find out.

"You've always done what you can to look out for me and you've always protected me." A small, hesitant smile pulled at her lips and after a short pause, Sakura's hands came out from his hair, slowly trailing down to his chest. "I'd be lucky to be able to give myself to someone who's always had my back, someone I trust with my life."

She felt his sigh on her lips. "I was hoping you'd say that."

A squeal of surprise left her as they were suddenly standing, her legs wrapped around his waist and his hands on her ass – she knew he was using the opportunity to his advantage, squeezing it. Such a pervert, she thought with a rare giggle. Why didn't it disgust her like it usually did? Why didn't it piss her off?

"I hope you don't have any plans for tonight or tomorrow," he told her and she could tell that they were moving. Going to the bedroom, more than likely. "I plan on keeping you in here all day, where I'm going to make love to you until you can't even walk."

There was no stopping her burst of laughter, mouth splitting open and then she bit her lip. He was such a pervert, but a romantic one at that. Those books seemed to have had some kind of influence on him and Sakura was wondering if perhaps that influence ran into the bedroom, also.

Surprise shook her as her back fell against the mattress and Kakashi was right on top of her, body pressing down on hers and lips brushing against hers briefly.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this," he breathed between kisses. "Ever since that mission in Suna, the one where you sprained your ankle and I had to carry you all the way home."

Forget feeling surprised. The admission left her practically floored and she stilled despite his pleasant ministrations, eyes going wide beneath the forehead protector.

Talk about sudden, the hypocrite…

That mission had been a year ago, not long after her nineteenth birthday. It had been just the two of them for once and they'd been in Suna for a prolonged period of time, going possibly months without seeing their friends or their beloved village. It was the first time she'd been away from home for so long, but with Kakashi, he'd made it seem like nothing, like time was flying by.

Just as his lips were about to move in again, Sakura placed a hand over them and forced him back so that she could sit up. Even though she wanted to, she didn't make a single move to take away the forehead protector covering her eyes.

"For a whole year…?" she whispered, unable to make her voice any louder. "Why didn't you…?"

"Say anything?" Kakashi sighed and she felt a shift on the bed. How would he be sitting? Would he be on his knees, sitting back onto his legs? Was he even sitting down? What was his expression like? "It's like you said earlier: there's an age gap-"

"Who gives a crap about age gaps?" Sakura snapped in reply. It felt like her heart was in her throat! "Kakashi, you…" Damn it. Why couldn't she think of anything to say? Why did it feel as though her body was on fire? "You should have told me."

He chuckled at that. "What good would it have done? What would it have changed?"

"Everything!" came her yell of disbelief. There was a considerable amount of distance between them because when she threw her arm out, she didn't feel him. "It changes everything!"

"Sakura-"

"I'm stupid when it comes to things like this, Kakashi. I'm stupid and impulsive and it takes a punch to the face for things to make any sense for me." Her hands twitched, about to yank off the cover over her eyes, but she stopped herself at the last second. Shattering the shaky trust between them couldn't happen. "It wasn't until that… that kiss that I realised-" Cutting herself off, she breathed out with an angered sigh. "I wouldn't mind it." But then she shook her head, throwing herself back against his pillows with an aggravated sound. "But I thought you'd just be in it for the sex, if it even got that far."

A pause. "I see."

Damn it. What fucking expression was he wearing? What was he thinking? Why the hell did he always have to be such a mystery? "I don't know if I'm ready for all this, Kakashi." It still felt strange not adding sensei to his name, for crying out loud! "I'm not scared of commitment, or of people knowing about… us, if that's what you want."

There was no movement from him that she could sense and she had no idea what expression he was wearing. "What is it?"

That wasn't a disagreement, was it? Did that mean he wanted something to happen between them? Something more serious? "What if it turns out to only be lust between us? What if… somewhere down the line, only one of us has stronger feelings?"

More hesitation. Was he having second thoughts? Was he having the same thoughts as her own? The worries and the doubts?

A deep sigh and finally, when it felt like minutes had gone by, she felt his hands on the sides of her head, making her flinch ever so slightly. Damn it. Only Kakashi was capable of moving without her sensing a damn thing. Anybody else and she would have been able to feel the shifts in the air, but not Kakashi.

Slowly, much to her astonishment, his hands joined at the back of her head and after a split second, Sakura felt the forehead protector loosening.

"I have always kept people at arms-length." Another tug and it loosened further. "And I have always held back when it came to big changes in my life, changes that involved other people. Perhaps one day I'll be able to tell you about it and about my life, about my mistakes and my regrets, but right now, I want nothing more than to make love to the woman who has been unknowingly making my life hell for the past year."

And then the forehead protector fell to her lap and she could see everything, her eyes wide as they stayed glued to Kakashi's. That was by far the most emotional speech she'd heard him say and it left her breathless that he was willing to open his heart for her.

Green eyes greedily roamed his features suddenly, drinking them all in and she was stunned to find that they had all been wrong in their assumptions. There was no horrendous overbite, or fish lips, or acne or even scars (other than the one they already knew about, the one that went straight through his eyes and down his cheek). The only minor defect was the mole on his chin and even then, that could hardly be considered a blemish or defect.

The mole, the scar and the messy mop of hair all came together to give him ruggedly handsome appearance. Not only that, but he definitely looked ten years younger than his supposed age of thirty-four, going onto thirty-five!

"How do you know I'm not doing this to see beneath the mask?" she asked almost breathlessly.

Oh, Gods. Even his smile made her insides warm. "You don't have it in you to hurt someone who is at their most vulnerable."

She laughed at that. "You're never vulnerable, Kakashi."

"I'm vulnerable now."

Her eyes snapped back to his, a fraction wider than usual. "You are?"

"What do you say, Sakura?" There was that cheery smile again. She recognised the creasing of his eyes. "Would you like to take the leap with me?"

Sakura bit her lip, but her mind was made up within moments. In every relationship there was always the risk of things not working out. Like Kakashi said: they would be taking a leap. They would be willingly risking their hearts to try and find out if they would work.

She folded her arms over her chest and looked away, putting on a haughty expression. "Fine, fine. But you better take me out for dinner!"

He was suddenly above her once more, a sinfully beautiful smirk pulling up the corner of his lips. "It'll even be my treat for once."

There was no stopping her laugh at that, memories flashing through her mind of all the times he'd skipped out on the bill, forcing a member of Team Seven to pay his half. It was aggravating, sure, but it was something that made Kakashi, well, Kakashi.

And then something occurred to her and she slapped his arm, making him wince and pull back.

"What was that-"

"You sneaky man!" she scolded, eyes narrowed and dangerous. "You're Sukea-san – the photographer from that mission years ago!"

He chuckled sheepishly.

A/N – I don't know, I just see Kakashi as the type to really cherish his other half, should he ever take the leap. Like, treat them like they're royalty kind of cherishing, you know?

I was planning on this being more of a PWP but it took a mind of its own as I was writing it. Perhaps it could've been drawn out into a multi-chaptered story, that way it wouldn't have seemed as rushed, but I honestly wanted to keep it as a one-shot. Maybe I'll think of making it more one day, but for now I'm happy with it the way it is.