"Kakashi."

The man let out a grunt and continued to stomp through the forest, frightening small animals and Genma alike.

"Kakashi."

"What?" He hissed, turning down to glare at the small weight in his arms.

"You can put me down now."

Ah, he was still holding her. Somewhere between dragging her out of the compound (and Genma's arms) and his blazing path of fury through the terrain of Kumo, he'd forgotten to actually let go of his former student.

Said woman was perched in his arms, clutching to his bicep like a small, furious marmoset and glaring right back up at him.

"Ah," he said by way of agreement, making no move to remedy the fact.

"Kakashi," she scowled, and he marveled at the way she could convey such anger just by saying his name.

"Yes?" He asked, keeping his tone light.

"Put me down."

Kakashi kept his gaze resolutely ahead.

"I can't."

She raised a single brow in the way he knew meant he was a hair's breadth away from the pointy end of her temper.

"And why not?"

He creased his visible eye in a smile down at her.

"Well, the last time I let you out of my sight I found you six inches deep in Genma."

He ignored the rage slowly beginning to register on her face and gave a soft noise of contemplation.

"Or was it the other way around?"

"Kakashi," she said in a low, threatening voice.

"Hm?" He hummed.

"I order you to put me down, now."

Kakashi scoffed quietly, leaning down close enough to brush her nose against his.

"Or what, captain?"

The pinkette visibly gnashed her teeth and did the only thing that seemed logical to her at the time- mercilessly slap her palms against his chest.

"Put me down!" She shrieked.

"Fuck, alright, alright!" Kakashi cursed and stumbled, quickly setting her down a safe distance away on the nearest branch.

Sakura huffed and made a show of straightening her (still ridiculously short) attire.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" She demanded.

Kakashi stuffed his hands into the safety of his pockets lest they get any ideas about snatching up his former student again and put on an air of innocence.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You have no idea?" She gaped, neck flushing an attractive shade of red in her fury.

Sensing trouble but knowing he was too far gone to back out now, he gave a half-hearted shrug.

"Perhaps I was being a little over protective."

"Over protective? Over protective?" She shrieked, voice bordering on hysterical. "You barged into a compound full of dangerous criminals, dragged me halfway through Kumo, and fucked up our entire mission just because I had fake sex with Genma!"

Kakashi opened his mouth to protest but the ANBU captain stomped forward and poked a menacing finger into his chest before he could get a word out.

"You've disrespected my authority and undermined my decisions this entire mission! Now I order you to tell me what's wrong!"

The older man made a noise of sheer frustration, ripped his mask down, and slammed his lips against hers. The pinkette froze and for a moment Kakashi's mind reeled, helpfully providing a very long list of insecurities and doubts to explain the reaction, until her lips slowly started to move against his. Hesitantly at first, and then with a bruising force to match his own, until they were forced to separate for air.

"Oh," Sakura blinked, staring at his lips with a mixture of fascination and mild bewilderment.

He grunted in response, letting the implication sink in.

"Oh," she repeated.

He took her lack of violent reaction as an invitation to pull her into another kiss, this time slow and deliberate in his intentions. The kunoichi made a small noise in the back of her throat when he swept his tongue along her lower lip and Kakashi's chest rumbled in response.

Somewhere in between clutching the small of her waist to drag her further into him and shivering at the feeling of her nails scraping against his scalp, it occurred to Kakashi that they had an audience.

"Oh no, please don't stop on our account," Kotetsu drawled from a branch above them.

"And here I thought we had something special, Sakura-chan," pouted Genma.

Sakura (looking a little breathless to Kakashi's smug satisfaction) shot them both a warning look and unraveled herself from his grip.

"Shut it, you two. We've still got a few miles to go before we're in the clear, we need to get going," she huffed, smoothing her hair and avoiding eye contact with the involved party.

"Yes, ma'am," Kotetsu grinned.

Kakashi pulled his mask back into place and shot a snickering Genma a glare. If anyone asked, he would have completely denied that he was blushing.

"So...what does this make us?"

"It's gonna make you dead in about ten seconds if you don't shut up, Shiranui," Sakura growled.

Kakashi seconded that notion.

"Was one night of passion all I was to you, Captain? I feel so used."

"I swear to god, Genma. Ten seconds."

"At least tell me the sex was good- ack!"

Kotetsu rolled his eyes as he dragged the senbon-chewing ANBU agent away by the collar, raising a hand in farewell.

"We'll meet again, my love!" Genma yelled as the pair rounded a corner, followed by the echoing sound of Kotetsu's palm meeting his head.

Sakura turned after a few beats of silence, and Kakashi rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck, his thoughts becoming more disjointed by the second.

The prolonged quiet quickly became heavy, but it seemed his spiteful little student wasn't going to say anything to help the situation, and Kakashi was hard-pressed to vomit out the jumbled mess of feelings in his chest before it drove him quietly insane.

"Maa, Sakura, you know I'm not good at expressing things like this."

She put on an expression of practiced innocence.

"Like what?"

His only response was a doleful look, but apparently it was enough for her to take pity on him.

"It's alright, you don't have to say anything," she said, a sweet smile on her lips, "I understand."

Kakashi's heart did funny things in his chest at that, and he stepped forward to wrap his arms around her waist, flattening his palm against her lower back.

"You do?" He asked, feeling a bit uncertain and far too much like a nervous teenager for someone his age.

In lieu of responding, she reached up and hooked her thumbs underneath his mask. The material slid inch by inch down his face, and she let out a little breath when it pulled free of his lips and pooled under his chin. Her index finger brushed against the little freckle on the bottom corner of his mouth and she smiled, pressing a soft kiss against it before standing on her tiptoes to leave a lingering one on his lips.

He was quick to reciprocate, cradling her face with both hands and angling his head down to more fully move his lips against hers. Her fingers curled in his hair and combed through the mess, sending shivers down his spine, and he tightened his grip on her waist.

Kakashi let out out a quiet sigh of contentment when they finally pulled apart, feeling warm and flushed all over.

"Soo," Sakura hummed conversationally, eyes lidded and lips swollen, "no fish lips."

Kakashi chuckled, resting his forehead against hers.

"No fish lips," he agreed.

1. Wooo! We're done!

2. Sorry for the slight delay, I moved house and things got a little bit crazy.

3. Of course Kakashi would somehow manage to confess without actually you know, confessing.

4. Is everybody else as in love with Kakashi's lil chin freckle as I am?

5. Thanks so much for all the really sweet reviews and support! I hope you guys enjoyed the ending.

6. Feel free to review or message me with ideas or pairings you'd like me to write next, or check out my other, much longer akasaku/peinsaku story Hachimenreirou.