Chapter 23 - Epilogue

She was staring at him as if he had just grown three heads. Or four.

Or a multitude of them.

Five seconds.

She turned to stare at the thing he was holding in his hand, mouth agape. Her stance was frozen, so still that it was almost like looking at a statue. A flesh-like statue, with creamy skin, and flushed cheeks, and wide green eyes and soft lips and—

Ten seconds.

She still kept on staring.

He began to grow very, very nervous.

"Sakura."

"You're—you're proposing to me," she finally spoke—or rather, more like blurted out.

With an inward sigh, Kakashi inclined his head, and gave her a small nod.

"Yes."

"In an alleyway."

"Yes."

"With your pants unzipped."

Surprised, Kakashi looked down. Damn. He had forgotten about the pants. As quick as lightning, he immediately pulled it up, and zipped it, before turning his attention back to her.

Yep. She was still staring.

"Yes," he mumbled—for lack of anything better to say.

She merely looked at him as if he were crazy.

Five seconds.

Then...

"Where's the ring?"

He was so taken aback, all he could do at the moment was stare back at her.

Five seconds.

"I'll buy you one. I'll buy you the most beautiful one there is."

She gazed at the item in his hand once more.

Then she gave him a very, very weirded-out look.

"Is that the special Icha-Icha edition?"

He smiled slightly. "Yes."

Her own mouth frowned. "And that's all you're offering me?"

His smile faltered. "...the ring, too."

Her eyes narrowed. "That's it?"

Kakashi should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

"No, that's not just it."

He had never been one for saying what he felt—he was Kakashi, one of the greatest shinobi in the village. Great, because he was able to hide his emotions well. Great, because he was always, always putting his missions first, above anything else.

He was a damn wall, who no one dared penetrate. No one dared climb. Cross.

Sakura didn't do any of those things.

Instead, she pummeled her way right through it.

And slowly...she inched her way to the center of his heart.

Maybe the jealousy was the trigger. Or maybe it was the sex. Either way, Kakashi knew one thing now, something that he had been denying himself for so long now—something that would probably have never crossed his mind, or opened his being, had it not been for that one fateful morning, where he was hung over and she was oblivious. Where dreams had ensnared him, and he had woken up with the feel of her all around. One kiss.

One kiss was all it took.

Years of caring suddenly took on a whole different meaning.

"That's not just it," he repeated, stepping closer. Sakura eyed him warily, looking very, very vulnerable—gone was the defiance, along with the surprise and the shock. Her eyes darkened, lightened...darkened again.

He realized he never wanted to not see those eyes ever again.

"I'm offering you my protection. And my care."

She opened her mouth in protest. He stepped closer. Tilted her chin.

"And my love, Sakura."

Her jaw trembled. Her mouth closed, then opened, then closed again, when his thumb traced it, and moved to her cheek. She closed her eyes—almost as if shutting out something.

"You left me," she whispered, her voice sounding so small. So hurt. His heart ached, and guilt immediately set in, telling him how stupid he'd been, how callous.

He'd been an idiot.

He'd been a damn idiot.

"I won't leave again," he simply said.

Slowly, Sakura opened her eyes, and gazed at him solemnly. "But the Council—your reputation—if this is just because you want fantastic sex—"

"I can have fantastic sex with anybody."

Her eyes fired up at that. "Well, fine!" she shot out, glaring at him almost murderously. "If you think you're such a catch, then go shove your ass—"

"But I don't want to. I want to have it only with you."

Her ranting stopped. The glare slowly faded.

It always was a wonder to him how her mood could shift from one to another so rapidly.

So beautiful.

"I—Kakashi, I—you're—"

Firmly—impatiently—he tilted her chin again, and stared straight at her. "I love you, Sakura."

Her eyes once again softened.

"...you do?"

"Yes."

Silence.

"Kakashi?" Her mouth quirked.

"Yes?"

She was gonna say yes. She was gonna say yes, and end him this agony that he was feeling—agony from missing her touch, her sight, her simple company too damn much. She was gonna—

"You are such a stupid baboon."

He stopped thinking. And the next thing he knew, a fist was suddenly inching towards his face. There was a flash of pain, a big whoosh of breath.

Haruno Sakura had punched him.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

And the next second...she was on him, and jumping him, and hugging him tight, and raining kisses all over his swollen face. He had fallen on his behind, in the damp, cold ground, with the beloved Icha-Icha crushed beneath him.

"But you're my baboon," she murmured, kissing his cheek. His ear. His nose. His mouth. "And I love you, too, you big idiot."

He felt himself drowning, and slowly giving in. Taking hold.

Holding on.

"Kakashi?"

He kissed her back, long and sweet and hungry, and made her moan. "Yeah?"

More kissing. More touching.

"...you smell."

She wrinkled her nose.

He made it disappear, by kissing her harder.

To hell with Icha-Icha.

He had Haruno Sakura now.

And she was much, much better.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Twenty-four hours later

Tsunade looked at the mission report that Kakashi had just submitted earlier in the morning. It was written in his usual scratchy, barely-able-to-be-read handwriting—nothing surprising there. The only surprising thing, probably, was the fact that he, Mr. Late-for-Everything, had actually managed to submit a report early, for the first time in his life.

And the fact that the last few statements on the so-called report were not something the Hokage had been expecting.

P.S. I will not be taking missions in a week. Or a month. It depends on the girl I'm planning to marry—you know how feisty your apprentice is when it comes to decision-making.

P.P.S. It's not about the sex. So don't forbid her to marry me. If you do, I'll take all your sake away. And I'll elope with her in a faraway place.

P.P.P.S. And you won't be named godmother to our babies if that happens.

Frowning (particularly at the sake part), the blond Sannin looked up from the report. She blinked, as if trying to process the information in. Slowly, she took out her last stock of sake, which had been hidden in a secret compartment (it was that time of the month for Shizune—which meant the girl was stricter than usual in monitoring Tsunade's alcohol intake) for quite a while now.

She sighed.

Then she smiled.

"About damn time that stupid genius figured it out."

Tsunade took a huge gulp of the drink, before her smile suddenly turned into a wide, gleeful grin.

Oh, that stick-in-the-ass Council is so gonna get it.

She couldn't wait to throw this in their faces.

I'm glad I am Hokage.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

One month later

"Mister Hatake? Your check-up is on now."

"Thank you."

With his precious orange book in his hand, Kakashi stood up from the waiting room, and silently headed for the examination room where he was instructed to proceed to.

Casually, he opened the door.

"Why, hello, Kakashi."

"Yo...Missus."

Green eyes narrowed.

"You know...that sounds really irritating."

He shrugged. "It sounds cool."

Hands went to rest on hips, and the narrowed stare became a glare.

"Do you want me to punch you?"

Kakashi sighed, and scratched his head in defeat. "Fine. Sakura. Happy now?"

"Of course I am. Your lazy ass is mine now, isn't it?" The glare became a happy stare, and green eyes immediately twinkled. "And I don't plan on sharing."

Beaming at him, Sakura turned around, and began to prepare the examination table with as little fuss as possible. "Alright, Kakashi, I want you to sit down here and—"

Her little speech stopped, when she felt a pair of arms encircle her waist, and something warm and soft settling on her hair. In an instant, she was suddenly turned around, her back on the table.

The look on his now-bare face (and eyes) alone was enough to make her knees become almost like jelly. She tried giving him a stern look.

"Kakashi," she warned, "Whatever you're planning to do, stop it or—" Her voice faltered, when the soft and warm contact (turned out it was his lips) turned their attention to the side of her jaw, and started nipping there. "—or I will make sure you—" The nipping turned to licking. "—er, not be able—" Licking to downright kissing. "—I—I—you—" Kisses trailing down to her neck. "—I...Oh, kami."

Her thoughts flying out the window, Sakura yanked his hair up, and crashed her lips to his impatiently. He responded easily, and soon enough, she was pretty much out of breath, and he was already making her moan. Loudly.

She tried to tone down the moans, and yanked his hair again—this time away from her.

"Darn it, Kakashi!" she hissed through her heavy breathing, trying to glare at him. "We're in a hos—" She swatted his wandering hands away. "—pital!"

"So?" Those hands persisted, and started cupping her butt (one hand) and her breast (the other).

"What do you mean—" She tried to stifle another moan as said hands kneaded. "—so?? It's—" The thumb started sensually flicking a nipple, while the other started trailing down the skirt. "—highly unethical—" The thumb disappeared, her buttons suddenly getting undone. "—especially—" His palm started sliding up and down her thigh. "—on my—" He started rubbing through her panties—she arched into him, despite her protests. "—first day back on the job."

"This won't take long," he promised huskily.

Then his hand moved.

And in instant, there was a loud rip, as her underwear was suddenly pulled away.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"Hey! That was silk, you idio—"

He crushed his mouth on hers, hungrily.

Then he swiftly and surely entered her.

Kyah! When did he unzip himself? Why didn't we see it? It's...oh...oh...Kakashi! Yes! Knead my breasts! You delicious man—oh, Kami! More! ...MORE!

Inner Sakura's words became incoherent blabs and demands, before dying down, as Kakashi started the pace, and began moving against her. Her legs wrapped around his waist. His arms hoisted her higher, bumping her against the table again.

And the passion built. And built. And built. Higher. Higher. ­So, so high. It was wonderful, and it was delicious, and it was so, so unbelievably good and—

CLICK.

—interrupted.

Quite abruptly, in fact.

"Oh, dear hell. I cannot believe I just walked in on this."

The noise had been soft—but it could have been an atomic bomb, from their reactions alone.

Kakashi froze, stopping his movements.

Sakura froze, at the sound of the oh-so-familiar voice.

Oh, hell.

From where the doorway was, a blond female stood, hands on hips and blue eyes very, very widened. And shocked. In a few seconds, shock turned into embarrassment.

But not as huge as the embarrassment of one pink-haired medic nin.

Sakura's cheeks reddened. Immediately, she started unwrapping her legs around him and pushing him away, quite desperately.

Naturally, he didn't budge (even when she subjected him to another one of her deadly glares). He kept her—and her legs—firmly in place.

"Hello, Ino," Kakashi mused easily.

Ino's embarrassment was fading, as she regarded them with a rather interested expression. She ended up smiling at Kakashi's back (which was facing her).

"Hello, Kakashi-san."

"Kakashi," he corrected.

She beamed. "Kakashi."

From her almost-hidden position, Sakura peeked over Kakashi's shoulder at her best friend, her cheeks still tinged pink. "Er, Ino, sorry about this. We were going to have a chat, weren't we? Just give me a second to—" Glaring at Kakashi again, she tried to budge. He didn't move. "—um, disentangle—" She tried pushing again, using strength this time. He stubbornly countered it with his own chakra. "—from—"

Suddenly Sakura stopped speaking, when something happened.

He moved, alright.

He moved inside her.

She squeaked, as a particularly hot sensation came shooting up inside her. "Kami! I—"

He kept on moving.

"I—you—I—Ino—Kakashi—" His name came out in a moan, as her pupils nearly dilated at one particularly deliberate thrust. She clutched his shoulder in a hard grip.

"Ino?" Kakashi muttered, through gritted teeth.

Ino's widened eyes stared, a bit enthralled, at his moving, really firm ass. "Er—yes?"

"Could you come back in twenty minutes?"

Ino rolled her eyes, and sighed. "Well, sure," she complained lightly. "Since everybody around here in the hospital seems to be in some sort of mating ritual. First I walk in on dog boy eagerly sending Hinata to pleasured oblivion, and then Sasuke making that Tina girl blush madly—not that anything was happening between them or anything, that could have been one-sided for all I knew, but still—and then I walk in on you and—"

"Pig?"

"What, Forehead?"

"Go away."

Ino smirked. "Fine. And here I was thinking the honeymoon was over already!"

Sakura's answer was a long, loud moan.

"And make it an hour," Kakashi chimed in, turning his head to the side to show Ino half a profile (yes, a very clear profile) of his slightly smiling face, and his half-closed eye.

Her blue eyes pretty much glazed over at the sight. "Er...sure. Urr...bye..."

Then, without further ado, she shut the door (more like stumbled hastily and dazedly through it)—deliberately locking it as she did so.

And the activities resumed inside.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto, Lee, Sai and Genma were happily (or greedily, in Naruto's case) eating ramen to their heart's content, when a certain blond walked in. She planted her feet on the ground, her hands fisted at her sides. She was breathing very, very heavily.

They all turned to look at her.

She only looked at one of them.

"Naruto?"

Naruto regarded her in confusion. "Ino-chan?"

"I'm horny."

A bowl upturned, and someone choked (Genma) loudly. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wh—what?" he stuttered out, his cheeks reddening violently.

"Really, really horny." Her voice was husky, and trembling. Her eyes depicted a certain kind of hunger in them.

His own eyes practically bugged out of their sockets.

"This is all your fault, by the way," she accused. "For kissing me like that. For making me feel things I shouldn't be feeling."

His own breathing became suddenly labored.

"Ino-chan! You—I—You—"

She cut him off, by coming closer. "If you don't take me right now, I swear to Kami I will explode right here, right now, in front of all these people—"

Genma's ears perked up at that.

"—and it isn't going to be pleasant because I have a really loud moan, and I'll probably be saying your name in a scream and—oofh!"

She didn't get to finish her sentence—because the next second, he was suddenly on her, kissing her quite madly, his one arm on her waist and his other hand everywhere. With a very loud poof (and a long, long moan from both Ino and Naruto), they both disappeared in a puff of purple and orange smoke.

Leaving Genma with his mouth hanging wide open (his senbon falling off), and Lee with a certain light of youth in his eyes.

And Sai beaming quite, quite happily.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

An hour later

And two earth-shattering orgasms after

"Sakura?"

"...yeah?"

He smirked, voice smug. "Tired?"

She gave out a huge sigh. "Shut. Up." She snuggled closer in his embrace.

He grinned. Sakura grimaced, before giving him a very contented smile.

They stayed in silence for a while, staring at the white, plain ceiling. Her eyes drifted, and came to rest at her finger he was softly rubbing—the one which had a very pretty diamond ring in it. She smiled wider at the memory.

-

"Do you like rocks?"

Sakura scowled. "What kind of question is that? We're having sex in the—"

"Making love," he corrected.

"—making love in the middle of the shower and you ask me if I like something from the ground—oh."

She stared at the beautiful ring he held out to her, glistening under the sprinkles of shower water (she had no idea where he whipped it out from, considering they were both very naked and their clothes were already discarded minutes ago in who-knows-where).

"Sometimes you need to learn to shut up, woman," he murmured.

"And sometimes you need to learn how to proprose properly, idiot," she murmured back.

He slipped the ring solemnly on her finger.

"So...you like rocks?"

She smiled. Then she kissed him very, very sweetly.

"I like rocks just fine."

-

"You know," Kakashi said after a while, "I like Ino."

Sakura grimaced again. "You would. She likes you, too."

"Yeah."

Silence.

"Naruto does, too, by the way. Likes her, I mean."

Sakura smiled at that. "True. But they've been avoiding each other for weeks now."

"...so?"

She began to think about it.

"She wants to be happy," she murmured. "She deserves to be."

"Exactly."

His meaning came on, crystal clear. Slowly, a grin started showing on her flushed, glowing face. "Alright. I'll start with the matchmaking tonight."

"No, not tonight. Start tomorrow."

Green eyes gazed away from the ceiling, and into his curiously. "Why?"

His arm around her tightened. "Because we're going to dinner tonight. To discuss something."

"And what will this something be?"

He smirked. Smiled. Grinned.

"Baby-making."

The surprise almost had her choking. But, before she could say something, or do something, she was suddenly being flipped, until her back was on the examination table (filled with blankets now), and his naked (and very hot) form was hovering above her, his elbows at the sides of her face and his lips inches away from her own.

"What?" she whispered, after a muted delay.

"Let's make babies tonight, Hatake Sakura," he whispered back, before kissing her softly, gently. With so much love, and so much emotion.

Her heart melted. Her smile came, into the kiss.

"Okay."

And the one hour became two, as their lovemaking ensued once again.

I love you.

I need you.

We're each other's now.

Maybe they should start making those babies now instead of tonight.

Yep.

That would suit her just fine.

THE END

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

a/n: Oh. My. God. I can't believe it's finally finished. I'm so sad (I had fun writing this!), and so happy (I actually finished my first multichaptered fic!) at the same time. Wow. I feel so...wow. Overwhelmed, I guess. In between my hectic and weird (and frustrating) school life, this is the one thing that's always made me smile.

Guys...I cannot thank you enough. You, all of you,are amazing. Thank you. For the reviews, for the adds, for simply reading...thanks a lot for everything!

Happy reading on the epilogue. And finally...review! (since it's already the last! hehe.)

P.S. No, I am not stopping on the KakaSaku fics. I'll be writing another one, entitled Slave Driver, next (a KakaSakuSasu) (see my poll - it's the most voted pairing there. The voting is still open, by the way, in case you want a different pairing to be written). So...stay tuned for it! :)

LOVE YOU ALL!