AN: I just wanted to thank everyone who has read this story that I started on a whim, hopefully you enjoyed it. Anyway, for those that are interested, I'm planning on writing a short companion piece to this (a sequel/prequel type thing), along with some other things with a Kakasaku pairing. Well, here is the last chapter, let me know what you think. I hope that you enjoy! I do not own the characters.

As the late morning sunlight streamed in through the window, Kakashi gazed down at the woman lying peacefully in his arms. Her hair was an utter disaster, tangled and ticking out in every direction like a pink explosion.

She was the loveliest sight he had ever seen.

All that warmth and strength and passion, her larger than life personality, wrapped up in such a tiny package with intelligent green eyes. Eyes that were currently shut as she blissfully slumbered the day away. Unfortunately for him, that also meant that she was oblivious to the fact that the arm she was sleeping on top of had long since fallen asleep.

Deciding to wake her, he lightly rubbed his stubbly cheek against hers while pulling his arm out from under her, needles of sensation stinging his limb as he moved it. Moments later, her nose twitched adorably as her eyes opened sleepily. "Kashi, stop," she said with a laugh, "that tickles!"

"Does it now?" he asked, a smile warming his tone as he merely continued what he had been doing.

After a few moments, he ceased his actions, and her lighthearted giggles similarly subsided. Sakura turned on her side, facing him. He tucked her hair behind her ear, trailing his fingers down to her jaw. In as serious a tone as he could manage, he asked, "are we not going to talk about the fact that you have novelty condoms decorated with kunai?"

"What? I teach sex ed at the academy, don't judge."

And, like the incredibly serious people they were, they dissolved into laughter, his forehead pressed to hers. He was about to press his lips to hers for a kiss when she interrupted. "I don't think that I can do this," she said softly.

Kakashi pulled back abruptly, and he swore that his heart stopped briefly. "What?" he bit out gruffly.

The cold panic that had swiftly taken up residence within him was dispelled when the medic shot him a teasing smile. "I'm not sure if I can handle being with someone prettier than me," she clarified.

He rolled off of her, falling back onto the mattress in relief. "You," he declared, "are a terrible person. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

But the moment that she rested her warm hands on his chest, right above his racing heart, and placed a quick peck on his bare cheek, he knew that he had already forgiven her. "I'm sorry, that was cruel of me," she laughed.

"Besides," he grumbled, "I'm pretty and ruggedly handsome."

"Alright, you're pretty and ruggedly handsome," she conceded as she leaned over the edge of the bed, presumably searching for clothes.

Apparently the first article Sakura found was his shirt, slipping it on before attempting to leave the bed. Wrapping his arms around her middle, he tugged her back onto the bed, closing his eyes as he burrowed them under the covers. "It's too early to get up," he mumbled into her hair.

He felt a playful slap against his chest as she laughed again. "You're the one that woke me up in the first place."

"Only out of concern that I couldn't feel my arm."

Just then, his stomach growled loudly. "You were saying?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, amusement obvious in her eyes.

He reluctantly rolled out of the warm bed with a dramatic sigh, resisting the urge to wince as his bare feet touched the icy floor. "I suppose that I should eat something other than you," he drawled, his back to her as he searched for his pants. He couldn't help but chuckle when he dodged a flying pillow with looking, hearing a muffled, "well, no one's forcing you to."

Kakashi, tugging his pants on, turned to face her. He was met with an adorable sight. Sakura stood before him, drowning in his shirt that hung down to her thighs, the red scarf he had knitted wrapped around her to resemble his mask. "Ah," he told her, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her close, "now I see why you call me pretty."

Her eyes held a delighted look as he tugged down her make-shift mask for a , they made it to the kitchen, having the takeout that they had never gotten around to eating last night for breakfast. In between flinging noodles at one another and actually consuming the food, their conversation flowed as easily as ever, broken only by their laughter. Now that he thought about it, he'd laughed more in the past few hours than he had in years. At least, those years prior to the last few, in which he and Sakura had become close.

Once they were finished eating, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before heading to the washer and dryer. He then proceeded to wash the dishes with a smile that he was convinced might become permanent. "Kakashi," he heard her call from the other side of the apartment. "Did you wash my clothes last night?"

"Yeah, they should be in the dryer."

It didn't take long for him to hear her walk back into the kitchen. Setting down the plate he had been rinsing, he dried his wet hands on a towel as he turned to face her. "Let me guess, since you only own uniforms, you forgot that you can't wash whites with reds, right?"

She had something pink dangled from her fingers. It took a few seconds for him to realize that she was holding the bandages he used to secure his kunai pouch to his leg. "Uh, maybe?" he offered sheepishly, self-consciously grabbing the back of his neck.

He thought about the other articles of clothing that he had tossed in the washer. Though, judging by her amused expression, she hadn't yet discovered the now pink items that he had secretly tossed in with the other laundry. He finished drying the dishes while she brought the rest of the clean clothes into the bedroom to fold. It was with eager anticipation that he waited for the kunoichi to discover his spoils of the bet. Kakashi happily set aside the dish towel he'd been using when he heard her yell his name in disbelief. He was powerless to prevent the grin that took over as he followed her into the bedroom. "What's this?" she demanded, waving around a pale pink shirt that had originally been white.

"A shirt." At her unamused stare, he quickly amended his dry statement. "Consider it your punishment for losing the bet."

He had to hold back a chuckle when he saw the horrified glance she shot at the clothing. "I thought you were implying something else, not matching shirts!" He shrugged in response, trying to hide just how much he was enjoying this. "No," she said flatly.

"Yes."

"I'd like to change my answer and role play as Himitsu, instead."

His thoughts momentarily derailed as his mind conjured up enticing images of Sakura wearing a certain scanty outfit. Taking in the sight of her suddenly smiling face and shining jade eyes, he found himself having difficulty resisting her, something she was damn well aware of. And, while he would be more than happy to laze around in bed all day with her, he wasn't about to inform Sakura of that fact just yet. She'd use that knowledge to get out of her public announcement of her love for Icha Icha.

"And I plan on holding you to that," he said, clearing his throat, "but that wouldn't really be much of a punishment, now would it?"

The heated look he gave her caused a slight blush to spread on her cheeks, sending smug satisfaction through him. The medic held the t-shirt disdainfully in front of her. "Kashi," she complained with a tempting pout that he would love nothing more than to kiss away, but then she'd know that she held the advantage here.

"Well," he began, grabbing his half of the Icha Icha themed couple's shirts, "they're not that bad."

The glare that Sakura directed at him claimed otherwise. That, and the dramatic way she flung herself onto the bed. He couldn't contain his laughter at that, but it was short lived as he drew a deep breath, bracing himself for the words he was about to say. "Would it help if I said that I love you?"

The brevity of his tone belied the nervous churning of his stomach. The fact that she was silent, face buried in a pillow, didn't do much to stem the growing panic within him. "Sakura…" he began hesitantly.

Worried that he had ruined everything by admitting it too fast, despite it being the truth for a few years now, he nervously waited. "Damn it, now I have to wear that ridiculous shirt, don't I?" she asked, turning to face him, pouting.

Kakashi was sure that his sigh of relief was audible all the way in Suna.

While reclining on the bed, Sakura came to a conclusion. The Copy Nin, wearing nothing other than pants that rested dangerously low on his hips, was a distracting sight.

Incredibly distracting.

She watched, arrested, as he lazily stretched his arms above his head. The flex of muscles within his biceps—and everywhere else—was…captivating, to say the least. It didn't help that her eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the silver line of hair that bisected his lower abdomen. And lower, as thoughts of last night—and earlier that morning—merely made her hungry for more. She shook her head in a vain attempt to clear her heated thoughts. "Go put a shirt on, or we'll never be able to leave," she ordered.

Of course, this only prompted Kakashi to pause in his actions of picking up said shirt to direct a cocky grin in her direction as he ran a hand through his already tousled hair. "See something you like?" The tone of his voice was not helping her think of anything other than pulling him back into bed. "Besides, you're not exactly helping things yourself," he told her.

She glanced down at herself, clad only in his shirt as she lay on her back. The kunoichi was decidedly pleased that she could elicit the same reaction from him that he could from her. She caught the pink shirt he tossed towards her reflexively, her elated mood dimming ever so slightly as she was reminded of what exactly her "punishment" consisted of.

Nothing like a little bit of impending public humiliation to kill the mood.

With an exaggerated sigh, she left the bed to search for panties and a bra to wear. A brand-new pair of large, pink socks with a shuriken pattern rested on the top of her dresser. She tossed them to Kakashi, knowing that he would catch them. After fishing around in a drawer, she found a navy pair of uniform pants to tug on. All that was left was to pull on the dreaded shirt. The pale pink top—which she suspected had originally been white—proclaimed "he's my Hiro" in reference to the main male protagonist of the book series. A large Icha Icha logo rested on the back.

She turned to face Kakashi, who was similarly dressed. "Only you would use a confession of feelings as a means to blackmail someone into publically announcing their appreciation for Icha Icha," she grumbled without any real bite.

"It worked though, didn't it?"

He walked over to her and they gazed at themselves in the mirror that hung on the wall. She secretly admitted that they looked adorable in their matching outfits, the only difference being the mask and tilted hitai-ate that he wore. "Only because I love you, too, you idiot," she told him softly.

When she glanced up to see his reaction, Sakura was met by eyes widened slightly in shock before a subtle, pleased expression entered his usually impassive face. "Thank god," she heard him mutter.

The utter warmth in his eyes prompted her to kiss him. When they finally parted, she removed her hand from where it had tangled in his hair. The medic laughed from within the confines of his embrace, admitting, "that was cruel of me to not tell you sooner."

"Unnecessarily cruel," he agreed.

She glanced down at his shirt, which read, "she's my Himitsu."

"So, you're saying that I'm the busty blond of your dreams?" she asked, gesturing to his shirt.

"No, I'm saying that you're the lovely and talented pink-haired kunoichi of my dreams," he told her, pausing to tap the diamond seal on her forehead. "A kunoichi that could punch me and my fragile bones through a wall if she wanted to."

"Good answer," she said with a smile, rewarding him with another less than chaste kiss.

Eventually, his forehead rested against hers as he asked softly, "are you sure you're not disappointed? I'm not exactly your tall, dark, and handsome model of perfection."

"Kakashi," she reassured, "I love you. Besides, has it ever occurred to you that sometimes reality is better than fantasy?"

Any uncertainties now stripped away, she reveled in the heat that entered his eyes when she licked her lips, his own lowering to meet hers. His hands slipped under the hem of her shirt, and the medic couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath at the delightful sensation of his calloused hands skimming across her bare skin. Before she realized it, the back of her legs thudded against the bed. With a frustrated groan, she tore her mouth from his, dropping her head to rest against his chest. "If we're going to leave the apartment, we need to do it now," she stated, ignoring how out of breath she sounded.

"Are you sure that you want to wear these in public? People will realize what happened."

Something within her warmed at the concern that had crept into his voice on her behalf. She squeezed his arm with a smile "I'm sure. Besides, half of Konoha already thinks we're sleeping together."

"I think it's actually more than half, considering how people reacted to you wearing my clothes last night."

"Well, regardless, if they have a problem with us, then screw them."

"I'd prefer it if you only screwed me," he told her wryly with a faint smirk.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "I think that can be arranged," she told him as they headed to the door of the apartment.
The instant she set foot on the streets of Konoha, she began to regret not taking the out he had offered her. Her change of mind—and embarrassment—probably had something to with the not so subtle stares they were on the receiving end of. But, judging by the occasional snicker, it was due to the fact that the pair of them were wearing Icha Icha shirts, not that they were admitting to being in a relationship. That, or some of the pedestrians found the sight of the infamous Copy Nin decked out in pink to be hilarious.

Oddly enough, the kunoichi felt more trepidation walking around her village in a ridiculous shirt than she normally did while on covert missions in enemy territory. She glanced over at Kakashi, who seemed to be enjoying himself. As they strolled around the village, Sakura finally getting her mortification under control, they happened to pass by Lucky's. While she determinedly avoided looking at the store's flashing neon sign, he asked suggestively, "want to pick out a new toy together?"

Furtively looking around to see if anyone had overheard him, she was relieved to see that no one had. "Absolutely not," she hissed. "It's broad daylight, anyone could see!"

"So…when the streets are less crowded, it's fair game?" he asked far too innocently considering the topic being discussed. He took her lack of outright denial as a prompt to continue. "I get a frequent customer discount."

"Why? Because you're the only one who purchases their Icha Icha merchandise in bulk?"

"Exactly."

The kunoichi couldn't help but laugh. Eventually, they wandered over to Ichiraku, deciding to eat after walking around for a while. Teuchi winked when he saw the two of them, proclaiming, "it's about time."

The medic felt herself blush against her will, while Kakashi merely smiled in response. Just as their orders were set before them, a certain Hokage candidate pushed through the flaps of the stand's entrance. Considering where they were, they shouldn't have been surprised. But, in the instant it took for Kakashi to tug his mask back into place, she watched as the cheerful look Naruto had changed into one of shock as he took in the sight of their matching outfits. She opened her mouth to speak, but the blond cut her off before she had the chance. "What!" he shouted. "Why didn't anyone tell me sooner?"

He slammed a hand down on the counter, and she watched as the broth in the ramen bowls came dangerously close to spilling. The fact that Naruto didn't even notice that the wellbeing of ramen was threatened made it clear more than anything else could that he was upset. "Calm down, Naruto," she said, raising her hands in a placating manner. "We were going to tell you, but we were just waiting for the right—"

"Not that. Everyone knew you two would end up together. I'm mad that these two idiots," he said, pausing to drag their dark-haired teammates in from outside, "waited until this morning to tell me about the betting pool going on."

"Betting pool...?" Sakura trailed off, confused.

"About when you and that pervert," he paused again, this time to point at Kakashi, who feigned hurt, "would finally get together. I could have made a fortune!"

Sakura had been dreading informing Tsunade about her and her former sensei making things official, but now the medic had the sneaking suspicion that the hokage had been the one to start the betting in the first place. Still, she wasn't sure what surprised her more. That Naruto wasn't upset by their relationship, or that he had actually predicted that they would end up together. "The idiot was oblivious to how close you and Kakashi were until we explained it to him," Sasuke explained drolly.

Ah, that explained it.

They all ignored the blond shinobi as he yelled at the Uchiha for calling him an idiot, having long since become used to their squabbling. "In order to determine the winner of the bet we need to know the date and approximate hour of the first time you two engaged in inter—"

Sakura glared and pointed a menacing finger at the artist at the same instant that Naruto slapped a hand over Sai's mouth in an effort to prolong his life expectancy. "Don't make her angry," the blond whispered none too quietly, "we already have to let Granny Tsunade know that she lost the bet."

Suspicions confirmed.

She watched as the trio left with an excess of insults and shouting—the later coming only from Naruto. Yet, Sakura couldn't help but smile at their antics. They were a part of her family, after all. Her incredibly eccentric and equally deadly family of shinobi possessing a surplus of social ineptitude.

"Unbelievable," she muttered, shaking her head as she turned back to face Kakashi. Seeing the empty bowl in front of him, she realized that he had used the others' distraction to scarf down his meal. "Unbelievable," she repeated.

"Did you want me to wait?" he asked with false innocence.

"I still can't believe that everyone placed bets about us getting together," the medic mentioned in between bites of her meal. She stopped to make a face, chopsticks held aloft. "Never mind, I can definitely imagine Tsunade doing that."

He looked pointedly at her shirt before adding, "I think you might have inherited her terrible luck at betting."

She laughed. "Rude."

"I know," he agreed cheerfully, discreetly taking her free hand in his own, hands hidden beneath the counter.

After she finished eating and had paid for their meals, the kunoichi tugged him by the hand out into the street. Glancing back, she wasn't surprised to see him lifting a copy of Icha Icha Tactics to his face, as if trying to hide the fact that he was holding hands with her in the middle of the village. An indulgent smile spread across her lips even as a familiar warmth filled her.

The man was perfectly at ease with reading porn in public, but awkward when it came to public displays of affection. Taking pity on him, Sakura released his hand. Still, she couldn't resist placing a quick peck on his masked cheek. The medic couldn't help but giggle as the typically stoic Copy Nin blushed furiously behind the pages of his book. He cleared his throat before commenting, "you've been laughing a lot today."

"I can't help it. You make me happy."

She shot him a smile over her shoulder. He responded in kind, the eye creases she adored so much making their appearance. They strolled at a leisurely pace over to the market district, garnering knowing looks along the way. Sakura browsed a selection of kunai, but didn't really see anything that she needed. Just as they were about to wander further, a familiar voice called out her name. Turning, she saw Mrs. Ito waving from beside a stand selling a variety of yarn.

Crossing the street, she and Kakashi went to greet her. Self-conscious about the shirt she was wearing, Sakura crossed her arms to cover up the words, hoping that the Kakashi's neighbor hadn't read them. "Hello, Mrs. Ito. How are you today?" the medic asked as Kakashi lifted his hand in greeting.

"It's so wonderful to see you again, dear. I'm doing just fine, and the weather today was lovely, so I decided to pick up more supplies for the next knitting circle meeting."

With great care, Sakura made sure to keep the back of her shirt—with the large Icha Icha logo plastered on it—from being seen by Mrs. Ito as the woman showed them the balls of yarn she was selecting. "Oh!" the elderly exclaimed, picking up a skein of pale green yarn as she turned to face Kakashi. "You should knit Sakura a scarf with this, it would look lovely on her. Besides, I've never seen anyone that was more of a natural when it comes to knitting."

The medic watched, incredibly amused, as he grabbed the back of his neck awkwardly. His neighbor placed the yarn in his free hand, giving him a gentle push to send him in the direction of the merchant so he could—reluctantly—pay. "We'll be sure to attend the next meeting, won't we?" Sakura said, laughing as she nudged the silver-haired shinobi when he returned from making his purchase.

"It was nice to see that you've taken young Hatake here out," the elderly woman told her. "He's been looking a little pale lately, and needed some color."

She pulled the medic into a hug before doing the same to Kakashi. It never failed to amuse Sakura when she saw the delicately built elderly woman manhandle the infamous shinobi, especially since he towered over her. As Mrs. Ito left, she turned to Sakura, saying, "it's so much fun to act out your favorite scenes from the Icha Icha series, isn't it?" She winked before dropping another bombshell. "I just wish that you young ones had made things official sooner so I could have won the bet."

Sakura was left gaping in disbelief as the woman walked away, heat creeping into her cheeks. With a glance, she confirmed that even Kakashi was blushing a little, the faintest of red creeping above the edge of his mask. Their stunned silence was brought to an end when he turned to her. "So, what is your favorite scene?" he asked with a smirk, causing her to roll her eyes in response. "Page sixty-nine, perhaps?" he added, waggling the eyebrow not hidden behind his hitai-ate.

The kunoichi playfully shoved her ridiculous best friend, sending him flying a few feet away. Jiraiya had taken that page quite literally, after all. Kakashi rubbed his arm, humor evident in his visible eye. "Humor me?" he asked.

She pretended to consider the request for a little while, before acquiescing. The thought of taking Mrs. Ito's advice was too tempting to pass up, after all. "Fine."

She whispered her answer in his ear before continuing to walk past other market stalls. It took a few seconds for her to realize that Kakashi was still standing where she had made her reveal. The dumbfounded expression on his face quickly changed into that predatory smile she'd come to anticipate. Sakura smiled back at him, knowing that later that night would prove to be…interesting.

Walking alongside his favorite medic, Kakashi glanced down at his feet. His open toe sandals revealed a surprising amount of the pink shuriken socks that he wore. He didn't mind at all, especially since he was matching her. He had stopped caring what others—at least those who were not close to him—thought of him a long time ago. Therefore, he would proudly and unabashedly display the gift that his lovely girlfriend had given him. Also, he was confident that he could still strike terror into the heart of any enemy even while wearing cutesy, pink socks.

After their recent encounter with Mrs. Ito, their conversation turned to the topic of knitting briefly before it quickly derailed. "Don't forget, I've copied more than jutsu over the years," he said, suggestively raising an eyebrow.

"What," the medic teased, "are you saying that you're into voyeurism?"

"And you claim that I'm the corrupting influence," Kakashi replied, tone laden with sarcasm.

"I didn't say that, Pakkun did."

She shot him a cheeky smile. "Why do you hurt me like this?" he asked teasingly, head hanging down comically.

Later, he looked on indulgently as Sakura browsed a selection of dog toys—she spoiled his ninken enough already. He couldn't help but listen to a conversation that he doubted he was supposed to overhear. "Nice socks."

Turning, he faced two civilians that had begun to snicker after one of them had made the comment. Honestly, he was surprised that that the man had taken issue with his innocuous socks when he was wearing a shirt that declared his love of a—wrongly—ill-reputed book series. "I can direct you to the nearest store that sells them, since you seem to like them so much," he interrupted flatly, startling the two men.

They recognized who he was and scurried away just as Sakura walked over to him. "They looked like they were in a hurry," she commented, a bag full of rope toys dangling from her wrist.

"I think they were frightened by the realization that their hair will never look as great as mine."

She laughed, and he fought the urge to close his eyes in bliss when one of her hands played with his hair. "I think they were frightened by your hair."

As they made their way through the rest of the market, he spotted an unfortunately familiar figure in an ANBU uniform. He witnessed the second that Hansa first noticed Sakura's distinctive pink hair. And, as the eager boy tried to make his way over to her, hindered by all the foot traffic, Kakashi casually stepped closer to Sakura while pretending to read his book. A perverse sense of enjoyment filled him as he saw the boy's crestfallen expression when he finally noticed what the two of them were wearing. The silver-haired shinobi had to admit that he enjoyed this unintentional benefit of the couple's shirts.

Eventually, they made their way to their preferred training grounds. He summoned his pack, and the air was suddenly filled with the sounds of excited yips and barks as Sakura handed out their new toys. Sitting down, they stretched their legs out, resting their backs against Bull, who was content to lay in the grass, gnawing away at his new chew toy. He felt nothing less than utterly content when his girlfriend rested her head on his shoulder.

Girlfriend.

The term struck him as a bit odd after being alone for so long. Mostly, though, it seemed like such an inconsequential word in regard to what they meant to one another

"It's a good thing that you like pink," she said, gesturing to their shirts and socks.

"Of course I do, I have a far superior fashion sense to Gai's."

They both laughed when she said, "I wonder if he'll dehydrate himself from too many tears of joy when he finds out about us."

He had told her once that his favorite color was pink, but that wasn't entirely true. Kakashi could never quite decide if he favored pink or jade green. The same shade as the eyes he found himself gazing into. "Do I make you happy?" she asked.

Dryly, he responded, "what do you think?"

Sakura quirked a smile. "Happier than Icha Icha makes you?"

"You make me happier than dogs do," he whispered, leaning in close.

But, just as their lips were about to meet, his ninken ruined the moment. Bull abruptly lifted his head from where it rested on his paws to shoot Kakashi an affronted look. Pakkun, who apparently was still within earshot, paused in his antics to gripe, "yeah, well she makes us happier than you do, Boss."

"I doubt that."

"Don't forget that I'm cuter than you," the pug warned. "If I ever want to, I can easily steal her attention away from you."

"Stop it, you two," Sakura told them sternly as possible.

Though, she ruined the effect by dissolving in laughter. Warmth flooded him at the sight.

He couldn't recall when exactly his feelings for her had begun to change into what they were today. Maybe it had been right around the time that his longing for her slowly changed from just fantasizing about passionate encounters to wanting passionate encounters and to wake up in each other's arms.

Saturdays spent in.

Laughing over takeout.

Throwing soap foam at one another while washing his dogs.

Years ago, if asked, Kakashi would have said that his ideal woman would be one straight from the pages of his beloved books. Now, however, he realized that his ideal woman was the pink-haired one that held the same undying appreciation for the Icha Icha series that he did. One with whom he could act out their favorite scenes. Talk with about anything. Get through hard times with. The one that he would like to spend all of life's embarrassing moments with.

Falling victim to a problem that had been occurring with increasing frequency over the past few years, he found that he couldn't take his eyes off of Sakura.

She was better than perfect.

She was real.

Warm and flawed and so dedicated to helping others.

He briefly glanced down at the abandoned copy of Icha Icha Tactics beside him before wrapping an arm around his favorite medic's—his favorite everything, really—shoulders, resting his head against hers as she sighed happily. She couldn't have been more right when she had said that reality was sometimes better than fantasy.

He tightened his hold on her, gazing out and watching his dogs running and playing in the grass. Kakashi couldn't remember ever being happier. Pressing a kiss to Sakura's temple, he felt that he was the luckiest man in the world to have fallen in love with his best friend.