A/N: Konichiwa! Ok so first off to any of my fans/reviewers whatever you wonderful people want to consider yourselves. Please do not panic. I have not given up on Shattered Dreams. Just this fic has been in my head for almost as long and I finally got so PO'd I had to get it out so I could concentrate on SD properly.

Now then I am hoping people will like this fic as much as SD, to any readers of this story please note I will update as soon as possible but right now my main priority is to finish what I started with my first ever fic Shattered Dreams, so this story is secondary to that. Sorry but thats the way it is. I should be able to update fairly regularly though as I have most of this thing planned out already I just need to type it up. Anywho without further ado please enjoy!

Sorry the song words just seemed to fit Kakashi's thoughts so I had to put em in. lol

Disclaimer: DO. NOT. OWN. I wish I did but Masashi-sama claims those rights sadly. I do however own this fanfic. It's mine not terry's mine. I mean mine, not yours, mine! Chocolate on the brain. lol

Characters: Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and Genma thrown in as a friend and occasional annoyance to them both. ;)

Ages: Kakashi: 31, Sakura: 16, but she turns 17 over the course of the fic. Genma: 34.

Plot: A new female Anbu gains the attentions of one Kakashi Hatake. But what happens when they're sent on a mission together? What will he do when he finds out the woman he's been eyeing up is none other than Sakura Haruno? And just what are Tsunade's plans? All will be revealed eventually. Mwahahaha!

Rating: M for lemon in later chapters, some mentions of sexual matters and innuendo's later on and swears are contained within as well. So if your underage then why one earth are you here reading mah fic huh?

Um i think thats it if I missed anything then um tough crackers! Nah just kidding I'll come back and change it if I did wrong.

Ps: This chapter contains spoilers from the Kakashi Gaiden so if that is something you dont wish to know about don't read. Sorry I intended to say this before and forgot so I'm adding it now.

xXx

I'm sure you know
I'll care for you
This time we know
I'll be waiting
Just like a dream
of love, that's past
We seem to be hesitating

I wanna touch you
I wanna be with you
I wanna hold you in my arms

I'll never regret you
Never forget you
Don't wanna ever fall apart

Ultrabeat - I Wanna Touch You

xXx

xXx

Kakashi sat in Anbu headquarters, familiar orange jacketed book attached to his hand as always, whilst his eyes scanned the pages. Genma sat next to the silver haired jounin, occasionally glancing at his friend and shaking his head in worry almost. His friend hadn't had any actual interaction with the opposite sex since he'd taken on his genin team just over three years ago. Shaking his head Genma turned to view the doors to the 'chill out room' as the Anbu called it, swing open and a wonderful sight met his eyes.

There making her way through the doors was a young female Anbu operative, although her face was covered with the typical red and white Anbu mask in the shape of a… he looked closer, 'A Panther! Hmm interesting.' He thought with a mischievous smirk. 'A nice wildcat...' His thoughts trailed off as his eyes scanned over the rest of her feminine form, her hair was hidden by a black cowl placed over head, so he had no idea what colour hair she had but as his eyes traced the outline of her curves Kakashi's head whipped up to view the newcomer as well.

'She's masking her chakra even in here? What is she hiding?' Kakashi wondered unable to pick up just whom she was, before his own eyes betrayed his attempts not to stare. His gaze fell over her long shapely legs, bound in black knee high ninja boots, that had a… 'Heeled boots? What the hell…? She must have the most amazing chakra control to be able to work in those things.' Kakashi thought as he viewed the skin tight boots following the curve of her shapely, toned legs perfectly. The heel only about two inches high certainly added an added hint of sexiness to an already appealing form but they seemed totally inappropriate for their line of work, never the less Kakashi allowed his gaze to skim higher as he admired her tight, firm thighs joined to rounded, curvy hips that looked like they were made to be gripped hard from behind, round peachy buttocks were followed by a small dainty waist that led up to a pair of pert breasts hidden partially under her silvery white armoured plate, but even that didn't completely disguise the shape of her bosom and her long slender arms while feminine hinted at a hidden power as the trace of defined muscles could clearly be seen under her pale, porcelain skin, the standard Anbu tattoo on her right bicep looked perfectly at home on her body. When you combined everything together even though Kakashi couldn't see her face or hair she had a very appealing appearance, a body just made for watching and Kakashi found the book in his hand completely ignored as he continued to stare at her shapely body, wrapped up in that skin tight black lycra uniform. The silvery white arm and shin guards and the long black gloves with the metal plates only served to make her arms look more delicate and her long, slim fingers were finished off with painted nails coated in black nail polish. 'Nail polish? On an Anbu? Who the hell is this woman?' He wondered confused.

"Panther!" A deep voice barked as he walked up to the female in question. "You're wanted by the Hokage. Seems you have your first mission and on your first day to. Wolf! Porcupine! You've been summoned as well." The tall black haired Anbu announced turning to Kakashi and Genma.

Panther nodded and headed out of the door before Kakashi and Genma even had a chance to move off the chairs they were currently occupying. They nodded their acceptance to the Anbu in the Chimp mask who'd given them their orders and headed out to door only to find Panther was already out of sight. Shrugging their shoulders at each other they nodded and disappeared in two puffs of smoke.

xXx

Re-appearing in the Hokage's office they received a nod from both the Hokage herself and the female operative next to them.

"On time for once I see Hatake, is the sky falling or the world ending possibly?" Lady Tsunade said with something akin to shock in her voice, but a smirk written across her beautiful, young looking face as she teased him.

Kakashi ignored the slight snicker from the from the black and white clad female next to him and instead faced ahead after throwing what would have been a withering glance at the female had it not been for his porcelain mask still covering his face before he turned the same look upon the Godaime.

"Lady Hokage. Might I remind you I am in full Anbu gear therefore I should be addressed as such. And in answer to your not so amusing question I just happened to have been taking a break in head quarters at the time I was summoned." He said with a bite to his normally lazy voice.

"Oh come on Hatake, sorry I mean Wolf, everyone knows it's you. With that shock of silver hair and that damn orange book permanently instilled in your hand even the most inexperienced genin would know it was you."

"Hmph." He replied in a very un-amused tone.

Panther and Genma however gave out a snort of derision at his obvious annoyance. He sighed, placed the book back in his weapons pouch and adopted his usual slouching posture as he looked straight into the golden eyes of the Hokage.

"You summoned us Lady Hokage?" Geman asked from behind his porcupine mask.

"And you have a new Anbu going with us?" Kakashi asked curiously, tilting his head in the petite woman's direction. He was intrigued to know more about this unfamiliar woman who still somehow seemed to hold some semblance of recognition for him however despite his genius he just couldn't understand who she was just yet.

"Yes and yes. You have been given an intelligence gathering and later assignation mission, the Daimyo of Valley has requested an Anbu team to try and catch out whom ever it is that is threatening his life and trying to kill him. He requests our assistance since he has been informed we have some of the best shinobi around and he would like to call in outside help just in case it could possibly be his one of his own men trying to install himself as the new Daimyo. He trusts no one at this point, which is where you three come in, you three are the best team I have, not only available but all round, you are without doubt three of Konoha's most able shinobi. Panther here…" She flicked her gaze to indicate the woman beside Kakashi. "…Is a new Anbu, it's her first day today. I can however promise you she is more than capable of completing the mission required of her and she will be a most valuable asset to your team."

"Very well." Kakashi replied giving Panther another once over before turning back to the blonde sannin before him. "And when are we to leave for this mission?"

"Immediately, Hatake is leader so you both report to him." She replied handing over the scroll and looking at him with her hands pressed together, fingers interlaced through each other and her head resting above them. "So gather your things and get on your way as soon as possible." She told them with a curt dismissal.

"Hai, Lady Hokage." Kakashi and Genma replied with a nod, Panther just nodded her understanding staying completely silent as she had done throughout their entire briefing and made for the door as Tsunade's voice called them all back.

"Oh and one more thing, Wolf, Porcupine…"

"Lady Hokage?" They asked in unison.

"I would advise you not to try Panther's patience or anything else with her for that matter, or you will be hearing about it from me and… Sakura."

"Sakura?" Kakashi asked confused, his brows knitting together as his face crunched in surprise behind his two well placed masks. He was extremely grateful for their presence for it wouldn't do for Sharingan Kakashi to show a shocked expression to anyone.

"Oh yes, Sakura is… Well let's just say very close to Panther. I'd watch what you do around the girl." Tsunade replied a hint of smirk creeping across her face but she hid it quickly by taking a sip of her sake.

Kakashi and Genma gulped and looked at each other before turning to view Panther. 'This is going to be a bad mission.' Kakashi mused to himself as he swallowed hard and then answered Tsunade.

"We will be professional at all times Hokage-sama. I can promise you that, it's not the first time we've been on a mission with a kunoichi as you well know."

Tsunade nodded at him "Good, I should hope so. I'd hate for Sakura to find out something happened to Panther." She said almost giving out a snicker of amusement, whilst looking at Kakashi and Genma before adding under her breath "We'll see how long you both last, and which one breaks their control first."

Her evil smirk was hidden from their view as she swirled her chair around to face the window so that it wouldn't be noticed by either of the Anbu. Panther however hid a large smirk of her own underneath her red and white mask and nodding at Kakashi and Genma she moved towards the door to exit the building and prepare for the mission.

Genma moved to follow the girl, knowing full well the woman's hatred of people coming and going in her office in clouds of smoke so decided against doing it a second time in one day, especially after the hidden undertones evident in her little speech just now.

"How is Sakura?" Kakashi asked, a hint of sadness in his voice. He'd seen Sakura since she became the Hokage's apprentice, sure he had but seeing as she spent most of her time in the hospital and he was busy on many missions since rejoining Anbu they didn't exactly spend much time together and he still felt guilty for not giving Sakura the attention he should have given her when she was his student.

"She is very well Kakashi. She will surpass me in skill one of these days and I am certain that given the chance she'd make a fine Hokage one day to. But as I say she is doing very well, she is healthy, doing an excellent job at the hospital and is one of the village's greatest ninja." She told him turning her chair back round to face him with a fond smile stretching her glossy pink lips. "I sometimes worry about her being lonely…" Here her gaze flickered over Panther's form for just a second before returning to Kakashi's. "…but that is something we can discuss when you come back from this mission." 'You'll see why.' She added in her head as she gave another evil smirk covered by the raising of her sake glass to her lips.

Kakashi who had been thinking of his pink haired former student hadn't noticed the subtle glance as his gaze was upon the ceiling. "Thank you Lady Hokage." He replied finally, grateful for any news of his brightest student.

"Now leave, you're giving me a headache Hatake." She said waving a hand at the door and returning her attentions to the half empty bottle of sake on her desk.

Kakashi, Panther and Genma bowed to their Hokage before slipping out of the doors to her office and shutting them behind them. Once outside the copy nin turned to his two team mates and spoke.

"Grab your ninjatō and any other gear you may need and meet me at the gates in one hour, we leave then."

"Hai." Genma replied before a cloud of smoke enveloped him and he was gone from sight.

Panther meanwhile looked at Kakashi, nodded her acceptance and walked out of Hokage tower, leaving Kakashi stood there in a daze as he watched her feminine body disappear from view.

"In the words of that Nara boy, this mission is going to be troublesome." Kakashi muttered shaking his head, before he to, vanished in a cloud of silvery grey smoke.

xXx

An hour later Panther arrived at the planned meeting place, not surprised to find neither of her male team mates had arrived yet. She jumped into a tree and leaned against it to rest, her legs stretched out and crossed over each other still clad in her two inch heeled specially adapted Anbu boots. She leaned her head back and despite the slight discomfort of her ninjatō strapped to her back and the back pack filled with the equipment she figured she'd need for the month or so long mission she managed to find some semblance of comfort and gazed up at the sky.

"This is going to be an interesting mission." She spoke quietly to herself as she awaited the arrival of her team mates, and grinning when she thought back at the looks on their faces as Tsunade had mentioned the name Sakura.

Not long after she had made herself comfortable in the tree, she felt a familiar chakra signal appear and looked down from her perch to see Porcupine leaning against the large green gates leading into Konoha, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for their team leader.

Half an hour later, only running forty five minutes late, he appeared next to Genma and looked around for the third member of their trio. She chuckled as her chakra was masked so well even the Great Sharingan Warrior couldn't detect her.

"Panther's not here yet." Kakashi said with a growl, it was more a statement than a question.

Genma simply nodded over Kakashi's shoulder and he turned to watch as the slender woman from earlier jumped down from a branch high up in the tree and landed perfectly on her feet, knees bent one hand touching the ground for balance before she stood up straight and walked over to them. Kakashi's esteem of her went up a notch at the way she could land so perfectly even in heels from such a height. Ok so they weren't exactly stiletto's more a wedge heel but still her chakra control was impressive to have done such a feat with the minimum of effort.

'Now that's what you call a woman.' He thought to himself as she nodded at the pair of them, moving to stand next to them both. Not that she could really be truly called a full grown woman she still seemed pretty young to him. Early twenties maybe or possibly even late teens was his guess at her age. But that was beside the point, normally a woman wouldn't intrigue him so but there was something special about Panther, he could tell he just didn't know what, but she fascinated him that much was clear and Genma… Well he was Genma, she was female, of course she interested him.

"Ready?" He asked looking at both his long time friend and the new female just brought into the equation.

"Hai." Genma answered without hesitation.

Panther merely nodded and prepared to spring into the trees once more.

'Why is she so secretive?' Kakashi thought to himself for the second time that day. 'She hasn't said a word all morning and I can tell theirs something going on but what it is I don't know. I'm Kakashi the Copy Nin for crying out loud how can I not know?!' He berated himself mentally before breathing out a sigh and turning to his comrades once more. "Let's go then." He said with a weary voice. 'This could all be very dangerous' he decided, planning to keep a close eye on their new silent partner.

He watched as she leapt from the floor to a branch high in the nearest tree with an almost acrobatic ease, her calf and thigh muscles stretching beautifully before relaxing once more as her feet touched the bark of the solid looking branch. Genma nodded at him and then took off landing perfectly next to her. The female of their small group turned to look at him and he sighed before springing up and landing on her other side with not a sound nor a shake of the branch.

She looked left to Genma, then right to Kakashi before leaping forward and springing through the foliage at a quick pace. Genma smirked at her lithe body hopping from branch to branch with ease before springing after her. Kakashi's mismatched gaze lingered on the alluring form of his female team mate before he shook himself and followed the pair in front, quickly catching up and then over taking them with ease, his stamina was renowned both in battle and in the bedroom and he refused to allow either of his team mates to beat him. 'I am team leader, I should be out in front after all.' He said determined to reason his way out of his petty attitude of rivalry.

Genma followed closely behind, Panther at his side, and every now and again she could feel his eyes skimming over her body and she knew he was almost dying to flirt with her. She snorted quietly at that, Genma was a nice enough shinobi but boyfriend material? Oh no definitely not, Genma was to much a player and a flirt to be anything than a casual fling or a friend with and that was the way she determined things would stay. Not that her trusty captain was any better mind you. Porn addicted, habitually late, grumpy, extremely sarcastic, a heart now turned to stone due to too many loses, a reputation almost as bad as Genma's when it came to the act of sex and his staying powers, no he was just not the type to take a woman for his girlfriend or wife, although she had to admit that as she'd grown older she had noticed his handsome features and that wave of silver hair made you just want to bury your hands in it and pull him closer… Shaking her head she dismissed the thoughts that had just begun to swirl around her head and looked ahead, determined to be the picture of professionalism on this mission. She would not let her captain or her other team member down.

They travelled silently through the remainder of the morning, the sun moving high within the sky as the three figures swept towards their destination, blurs and shadows to anyone who cared to look up into the trees. 'A figment of an over active imagination' would be the thoughts going through anyone's mind who did manage to catch a glimpse of them, as they moved with ease, not faltering once. Even Panther, in her heeled boots made not a single slip. As the noon day sun passed over head and then began to slip down towards the west Kakashi noticed that both Genma and the female of their group were beginning to slow down due to the fact that they hadn't stopped for lunch that day to refuel and re-energise and neither of them possessed the stamina he did anyway. With a nod at the two of them he slipped from view as he leapt from the branch he'd landed on and sprang gracefully to the ground. Genma and Panther upon reaching the branch followed suit and copied his descent, landing in a crouch, one on either side of him before they straightened up.

"Panther, fetch some wood for the fire. Porcupine go see if you can catch some fish from the small stream I sensed over to the east about ten minutes away."

They nodded their acknowledgement of his orders and dashed off, Panther going right as Genma flew to the left. Kakashi moved forward and began to set up sensors and traps, to keep away any enemy's who may stumble upon their temporary rest area, he'd finish the circle once the other two returned. Fifteen minutes later he sat down not to far from the area he'd prepared for the fire and waited for the other two to return, leaning against the nearest tree. Almost as an after thought, he slipped his book from his weapons pouch and began to read his precious Icha Icha novel as his thoughts turned once more to their mysterious new Anbu member.

'What on earth could she be hiding and how the hell has she managed to hide her chakra even from me?' He wondered half in awe, half pissed off. He was shaken from his thoughts as Panther herself returned, stepping from the nearby tree line opposite him and placing the large pile of wood she'd collected down on the place he'd indicated. She did so without a single noise passing her lips before she stood up once more and moved to lean against the tree she'd just passed. She rested her back against the rough bark, and slipped off her pack, pulling her ninjatō from behind her and placed it on the ground next to her before pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

Kakashi watched her every move under the pretence of reading his book of course, and once more grew angry that he didn't know who his subordinate was. He decided to wait until Genma was back before they teamed up to get some information out of the silent, mysterious kunoichi. As if the thought of his name had summoned him Genma appeared between the trees and stepped out carrying half a dozen dead fish on a string. Kakashi nodded at him and made a few hand signals, blowing a medium sized fireball onto the logs and sticks Panther had collected earlier. Setting up a simple turn spit he took the fish from Genma and stuck three of the fish upon it to cook. He was glad that Genma had already cleaned and prepared the fish, he hated doing it. He looked up at his friend and they both turned to the kunoichi.

She looked up to see the stares of the two shinobi burning holes into her and she shuddered. Watching as Kakashi stood and moved side by side with Genma until they were looming above her. 'Well here we go.' she thought with a sigh as Kakashi looked down about to speak.

"I think it's about time you introduced yourself." He said with a growl, his posture indicating the threat that was absent from his sentence.

"Come on girly, I won't let him hurt you. We just wanna know who we're working with. A few words every now and again wouldn't go a miss either."

She nodded wearily and moved to stand up, keeping her back to the tree she'd been relaxing against. The two men took a step back to give her some breathing room and her hands slid up to slowly remove both the cowl covering her hair and the porcelain mask hiding her identity.

"Hello Kakashi." Sakura said as she grinned at him from behind her jade green eyes.

Kakashi looked back in shock at the vision before him. 'Oh kami! I've been eyeing up Sakura! That's about as bad as it could be! How could I do that to her?!' He scolded himself bitterly. 'Hey, it's not like you knew who she was.' The rational side of him reasoned. 'But I should have known! She's my ex-student for kami's sake!' He spat back.

"Sakura?" He asked the uncertainty and something neither of the other two ninja could pick up on evident in his voice, as he stepped back a little.

"Is it that bad to see me Kakashi?" She asked regarding him worriedly the happiness at being with her former sensei falling from her face and her heart as an almost scared expression took its place.

"No, of course not. I just didn't expect it to be you…" He trailed off giving his former student the once over from a teachers point of view this time. "I didn't even know you'd applied to be in Anbu, let alone that you got in." He finished finally.

"Shishou didn't want anyone knowing until I was in and neither did I. I knew Naruto would forbid me to join, saying it was far too dangerous among other things, Sasuke even if he was here would never have cared what I did, I learnt that fact along time ago. Sai well it's not like he'd care much if I died or lived either, I'm sure of that. Yamato, well he'd just spend kami knows how long talking me out of it or trying to, and you…" She said looking directly at him. "You'd probably chain me to a tree or knock me out with your sharingan to prevent me from making it to, let alone passing my test. You'd happily have put me in the hospital if it meant I'd miss doing something so dangerous." She told him sadly, the fact that she thought he wouldn't trust her to be able to cope with something like this written clearly on her beautiful face.

"You shouldn't be here Sakura." Kakashi replied giving her the exact response she'd known would come from his lips. "What if you got hurt?" He asked regretting that Tsunade would do this to him, and knowing full well she'd done this for a reason but that reason eluded him in his anger right now.

"What if you did?!" She shot back, her fiery temper building within her.

"I… Uh… I should go check the fish…"Genma said hurriedly backing away from the imminent explosion that was sure to erupt between his two friends.

Neither of them paid him any mind as they continued to glare at each other. Kakashi finally ripped the red and white mask from his face leaving him in just his black skin tight mask, so similar to the navy blue one he always wore when in standard Jounin clothing. Her pale eyes took in his dark, mismatched gaze, so familiar and comforting normally, now filled with fury and another emotion she couldn't place.

"If I got hurt I'd die happy that I was serving my village like always, like I've done for years." He finally answered his voice now almost devoid of any emotion.

"Then you have my answer to, don't you!"

"But you're sixteen!" He yelled back.

"So now your ageist?! I never figured you one for any kind of prejudice Kakashi. Aren't you the one who hates to be called old just because you have silver hair?" She asked incredulously, literally spitting with rage at his attitude. "I'm almost seventeen Kakashi! I've been alone with no one but Shishou and Shizune since my parents died last year! I'm old enough to have sex, old enough to live on my own, old enough to know what I want and I'm definitely old enough to be in Anbu! It's not your decision to make! It's mine and I'll do what I like, thank you very much!"

"Like hell you will!" Kakashi ground out, gripping her wrist. "You're going back to the village! Now! I will not have you along on this mission!"

"Why? Because you like everyone else thinks I'll screw up? Or that I'll get hurt? Or is it because you just cant handle the fact that the one team member, the girl you ignored all those years ago has grown into someone who can take care of herself despite your lack of help and ineptitude?!" She spun out of his grip and stomped off towards the tree once more.

'Ouch! Well that was a little below the belt.' Genma thought to himself as he breathed in sharply. 'They'll figure this out soon enough, best to stay out of the firing line for now.' He huffed and slid the fish off the spit, replacing them with the other three he'd caught, careful to keep his gaze and hearing off the pair opposite.

Sakura hunched over once more, her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them as silent tears slipped down her cheeks. Kakahi stood stiff and silent for a split second, as her words sunk in. With a defeated sigh he slunk forward and crouched down in front of her, using his hand he reached out to raise her chin upwards. She reacted and hit out, smacking his hand away, but looked up none the less. Her jade green eyes normally shining with light and life, now almost lifeless and glistening only with unshed tears. He sighed once more before reaching out again, this time her hand remained in place as his calloused thumb gently swept away the tears leaking from her eyes.

"I'm sorry." He whispered gently, his one dark eye and one crimson meeting her pale green ones, as they hinted at an unsaid desire to apologise for all the times he'd abandoned her. "I let you down at every turn. I was never there for you when you needed me and by the time I was you'd already moved on to someone who could give the care and attention you deserved. Tsunade did more for you in letting you join Anbu and helping you get here than I ever did in all the years I was around." He said with regret as he sat down opposite her, his hand still sweeping softly over her tear stained skin. Sakura hiccupped and continued to gaze into his almost hypnotic gaze.

"I should have spent more time with you, given you what you deserved from a teacher. Been the one to help you grow into one of the strongest kunoichi in the village, I should have recognised that despite your talent and amazing abilities you actually needed me just as much as Naruto and Sasuke did, if not more. I'd like to have the chance to at least be your friend now, and teach you anything I still can. If you'll let me that is." He said his eyes pleading as he ceased all movement and his hand cradled her cheek.

"I forgive you and I'd really like that." She whispered as her tears began to dry up and a soft smile appeared on her lips. "You've always been one of my closest friends Kakashi, even when you weren't there I felt safe just knowing you were around somewhere."

Kakashi picked his mask up off the floor and held out his other hand to her, asking her to take it and come with him. She hauled herself off the floor and slipped her delicate hand into his as he led her over to the Genma and the fire. He sat down leaning against the tree he'd left earlier and Sakura moved to sit next to him, her shoulder resting against his. Genma decided he may as well make himself known so slowly he reached up and removed his own mask, popping a fresh toothpick between his lips and gave Sakura a wink and a smirk.

"Hey Pinky." He grinned.

"Genma." She said with a nod and an eye roll at his use of the hated nickname.

"Hungry?" He asked holding out one of the fish to her.

"Starving." She said with a growl as she leaned forward and ripped the fish from his hands and bit into it.

Kakashi and Genma laughed at her and Genma took his own fish and began to eat slowly as Sakura wolfed hers down. "Can I have my other one now please?"

"Sure doll." Genma said handing it over with another smirk.

The rest of the meal passed in silence as the night began to draw in. After finishing her meal and throwing the bones back into the fire she stood up and walked over to her pack. Shouldering it once more she looked at Kakashi and Genma, speaking quietly.

"It's ok if I go take a dip in the stream right?" She asked looking at Kakashi.

"Sure, just don't take to long." Kakashi said looking at up her from behind his book once more.

She skipped away from the pair of them and headed towards the stream. Taking note of where the deepest part of it was she placed her pack on the ground, and opened it pulling out her towel, soap and shampoo. Once that was done, she pulled her long gloves off, unlatched her breast plate, placing that on top of her neatly folded gloves, pulled her boots and shin guards off leaving her in nothing but her skin tight black lycra cat suit. Giving the surrounding area a quick once over she satisfied herself that Genma was not in the surrounding area, she slipped out of her suit and folded it on top of the rest of her clothing along with her panties she'd just removed. She then proceeded to unwrap the bindings from her chest before eventually slipping quickly and silently into the cool water. She let out a small sigh of pleasure as the tension in her muscles eased into relaxation.

xXx

Kakashi watched out of the corner of his eye as Genma began to stand and walk away.

"Genma." He growled a warning, his eyes still focused on his book.

"What? Someone has to make sure our precious Cherry Blossom is safe." He said with a shrug as he went to move off again.

"Genma! Stay… away… from… her!" Kakashi snarled having moved so fast even Genma couldn't detect it and he was now in front of the orally fixated Anbu, a dark look on his normally even face.

"Ok, ok Kakashi. Sheesh! It's not like she's your woman." He said moving to sit back down.

"…" Kakashi opened his mouth to retort but no words came and suddenly a shriek erupted through the forest.

"Sakura!" They both yelled in unison as they darted towards the stream.

"Agh! Kakashi! Genma! What the hell are you doing?" She yelled covering her top half with her arms and grateful that her bottom half was still covered by the water.

"We heard you scream. What happened Sakura?" Kakashi asked appearing waist deep in the water in front of her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his chest to cover her more fully.

She pushed herself tight against him so that Genma couldn't catch a glimpse of her naked chest. "I… I… Well I washed and then I washed my hair and I ducked my head under the water to rinse out the soap and… and as I came up from under the water a frog jumped on my head!" She screeched, shivering slightly.

"A frog?" Kakashi asked with a smirk as he began to chuckle.

Sakura shivered once more at the memory of the slimy creature nestling into her wet hair and moved to step away from Kakashi, swatting him on the arm. "It's not funny Kakashi!" She yelped with an indignant look.

"Um… Sakura?" He asked with a hint of amusement.

"What?!" She snapped annoyed that he was making fun of her, as Genma laughed loudly from the shore as well.

"You're still naked Sakura." He deadpanned.

"Eeek!" She squealed, burying herself in Kakashi's chest once more as she turned her head away to hide the dark crimson blush staining her cheeks.

She felt rather than heard Kakashi chuckle at her embarrassment once more, as he turned to Genma. "You should leave now."

"Aw come on Kakashi, how come you get to stay and see her naked?" He whined playfully.

"Genma…" He growled once more. "I'm not sticking around to see her naked either but I'm telling you to go now so she can get dressed again. So go!" His voice deepening and containing a hidden threat of violence if the brunette Anbu didn't leave that second.

"Fine, fine. Out of all the eligible Bachelors in the village though I never thought you'd be the first to see Konoha's innocent little Blossom in all her glory…" He trailed off and vanished from sight as one of Kakashi's kunai embedded itself in the tree just behind his ear.

"I'll go now, hurry up and get dressed though ok?" He asked pointedly looking away from her at all times and trying desperately to ignore the fact the she was pressed up tight against him.

"Ok." She whispered keeping her gaze from his as she flushed again.

And with those words Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke leaving her alone in the middle of the stream once more. Her arms were now crossed across her bare chest again as she searched for their chakra signals. She found them right where they said they'd be next to the fire and she breathed a sigh of relief. Stepping out of the water her eyes still wary she snatched up her small towel and dried herself quickly, she slipped her black underwear back on and wrapped her bindings over her breasts once more, slipping her black one piece back on, she pulled her gloves up over her arms, and latched her armour plate and boots back in place. She squeezed every last drop of moisture out of her towel and folded it once more, placing it on top of her bag along with her toiletries. Bending down she picked up her pack once more, hefted it onto her back and made her way back to the sleeping area as the moonlight guided her way.

Arriving back at their resting spot she picked up her cowl and mask, glad that the tension from earlier had finally completely dissipated and he was allowing her to stay on this mission. As she thought this she moved next to the fire, noticing Kakashi had finally eaten his food. 'So he's still keeping his face hidden from me?' She thought disappointedly. Then a wicked idea hit her and a malevolent smile lit her face. Kakashi looked up as she walked towards him and an odd feeling of fear hit him. She was planning something, and he was going to be on the receiving end of it, he didn't like that gleam in her eyes. 'Afraid? Why am I afraid of Sakura?' he thought to himself but one look at the grin spread across Sakura's sweet features told him he had every right to be afraid and he was, he truly was.

"Kakashi?" She asked, her voice sugary sweet, set even Genma on the alert as he shuddered at the dark look in her eyes. But of course she ignored him completely, her sights set on Kakashi alone.

"Sakura?" He asked warily, backing up as much as possible whilst pressed against the tree.

She crawled forward on her hands and knees, eyeing him with a glint shining within the depths. She stopped before him her hands resting on his knees as she rose to meet his gaze. He placed his book down and crossed his arms across his chest, looking deep into her pale green orbs. Reaching out he gripped her wrists in his large, strong hands and held her at arms length as he tried to figure out exactly what she was planning, but even his genius mind couldn't come up with a single thing and he shrugged at Genma as the older jounin raised an eyebrow pointedly at him.

"Kakashi. I think it's only fair…" She began with a smirk before Kakashi's voice broke in.

"Sakura. I don't know what you're planning but whatever it is, the answers no." He told her with certainty.

"I just want a quick peek under your mask. I swear I won't tell Naruto or anyone else." She wheedled, gently smiling at him.

"No Sakura." He told her firmly.

"Pleeeeaaassseee…" She whined, pouting sadly.

"No." He replied turning away, the pout had almost caused him to yield but he was resolute.

It was then that Sakura played her trump card. "You saw me naked." She said pointing a finger at him accusingly.

"No… I wasn't… I didn't…" He spluttered extremely grateful for the presence of his trusty mask right now. Truth was he had caught a view of her naked body in it's entirety, even below the water thanks to his sharingan, but he hadn't meant to look, he'd tried desperately not to but he had caught a glimpse of her and he'd been unable to get the image completely out of his head ever since, even Icha Icha hadn't quite provided the level of distraction as usual.

"Well now I think that proves my point don't you? It's only fair Kakashi." She told him moving forward and pushing his legs apart to kneel between them.

"Sakura…" He growled warningly his hands moving up to push her away a little.

"Don't be stingy Kakashi, it's a fair trade, in fact you got a much better deal than I did. Now don't be such a grump and just hold still." She told him slapping his hands away before pulling closer and kneeling up once more as her hands moved slowly up to the edge of his mask.

Genma watched the entire interaction with a wide grin on his face. 'Poor Kakashi.' He thought almost laughing out loud at his friend. 'It's obvious he'll never be able to resist that girl's requests and a whole month or more of this? He'll have a nervous breakdown before it's time to return home.' Genma chuckled.

The couple near him didn't even notice his quiet laughter as Sakura's heart began to beat furiously when her fingers slipped beneath the rim of Kakashi's black mask. His hands slid up to grip her waist but neither paid much attention as they both held their breath, slowly inch by inch she rolled down his mask, their eyes locked onto each others as it slipped over his straight slim nose and down over his cheeks coming to rest bunched up under his chin. Sakura finally pulled her gaze from Kakashi's and leaned back to view his newly revealed face.

'He's… he's so…' Sakura gasped in her head.

'He's so handsome!' Her inner voice yelled punching the air in happiness. 'Cha! This was so worth him glimpsing our body!'

'It damn well was not!' Sakura moaned in mortification. 'Shut up and let me enjoy this!' She snarled at her inner self.

'Hmph! Fine whatever…' Her inner voice said angrily.

Sakura quickly drank in every detail of his handsome face, from the ragged scar trailing down from above his left eyebrow, over his left eye and finishing upon his cheek. To the square, masculine, clean shaven jaw line. The pale otherwise flawless skin, high cheek bones that set off his slim cheeks giving him a look that most noble men would kill to have and the difference between his dark droopy eye and his sharingan one set off his face perfectly. It was easy to see why he'd had so many conquests in his past. He was the kind of man most women would dream about being with. Sakura made sure to save and memorize every last detail in case she didn't get to see it for a long time.

"Um guys?" Genma said half worried, half amused.

"Hmm?" Kakashi asked finally noticing him once more.

"Um breathe?" Genma said with a smirk.

Sakura and Kakashi turned back to look at each other, taking a deep cleansing breath, the spell now broken. Kakashi's hands flew off her waist, as she ripped hers away from holding his face. She scrambled backwards, falling on her butt with a yelp as Kakashi's hands quickly pulled his mask back up in place. Sakura sat on the opposite side of the fire from them her porcelain mask back in place to hide the raging blush that refused to fade from her otherwise pale features.

Kakashi cleared his throat and unrolled the scroll he'd been given that morning and outlined their mission. They listened intently as he explained the job more fully.

"Matsuhara Yamakeshi, the current Daimyo of Valley has had three assassination attempts on his life already, the country is in unrest. His family are scared, his two young children have been sent to stay with relatives, and they have as yet no idea who is behind the attempts. Every one of the attempts has either failed or been foiled by means of his personal bodyguards. One of whom is now dead, due to stepping in the way of a poisoned arrow, intended for Matsuhara-san himself of course. Our job is to ascertain exactly whom is behind these attempts, and if possible why they are doing so before we execute them ourselves. Is any of this unclear?" He asked looking at the two ninja around the fire.

"Understood Taichou." Genma nodded. 'Every mission we've been on since I became an Anbu it feels so strange to call someone younger Taichou but I have to admit he was Anbu way before I was and he is far more skilled.'

"Panther?" Kakashi turned to her smaller form and asked her the same question. "Understand the mission?"

"H... hai Senpai!" She replied breaking out of her daze and going over everything he'd said once more.

Kakashi's eyebrow twitched at that. 'Senpai? When the hell did she start calling me senpai?' He wondered. 'Not that it's a bad thing but it does kind of make me feel old to hear it from Sakura's lips. At least it's better than her calling me Sensei like Naruto still insists on doing.' He almost sighed but with a shake of his head those thoughts drifted further away at least for now.

"Very well, you should both get some rest now. I'll take first watch and we'll be leaving first thing in the morning." He said with a nod in both their directions before leaping into a tree, bouncing from branch to branch until her reached a height he deemed suitable to keep watch on his two subordinates and the surrounding forest for dangers. He settled down to a comfortable position, long wiry muscled legs out stretched before him, orange book in hand as he made to start reading.

Sakura and Genma nodded at each other muttered a quiet goodnight then each reached into their packs pulled out their bed rolls, spread them on the ground and lay down upon them, masks and armour discarded for the sake comfort, ninjatō's within easy reach as they settled down for the night, one on either side of the fire. Both keeping as close as possible to the fire without being in danger of catching fire themselves.

xXx

Sakura fell asleep almost immediately due to the exhausting pace from earlier, her head resting on her arms as a make shift pillow, as she lay on her side. Genma meanwhile stretched out comfortably on his back, one arm up and around the back of his head, the other at his side as he used his pack as a pillow. Kakashi watched as his long time friends breathing eventually became shallow and steady indicating he had indeed fallen asleep. Once he was sure he wasn't being watched he shifted his gaze to their only female team mate.

His mind ran through everything that had occurred that day, from looking her up and down when she first entered Anbu headquarters, to being given this mission, then her silent travel all day without a hint of complaint at the fact that the hadn't stopped travelling since they first set off, finally finding out it was Sakura, his Sakura behind that mask and that seductive figure….

"Ara kamisama!" He groaned as he realised he'd been doing it again. "The one woman I could have finally taken an interest in after so long being celibate and she turns out to be my former student!" 'Someone up there must be laughing at me so hard right now.' He thought with a clenching of his fist. 'Tsunade knew it was Sakura and she deliberately sent her on this mission with me and Genma… but why?' Then a thought struck him like a bolt of clear blue lighting. 'What purpose can me having some kind of attraction to Sakura possibly have for the Hokage? What the hell is she thinking?!' He wondered as he rattled his brain for an answer.

He was sure now that that was her plan, he'd seen the hidden smirks, the ones she thought he hadn't noticed and heard the hints at innuendo she'd made, but whatever her game was he wouldn't fall into her trap. He was determined to maintain a perfectly professional relationship with Sakura, no matter how frustrated it may leave him, he wouldn't allow it to develop any further than a subtle glance every now and again. He'd allow himself a hidden look every now and again, after all if the Hokage deemed it ok for something to possibly happen then a harmless look was permitted.

With that in mind he chanced a quick look at the pink haired teen once more and was shocked to see her eyes were open again and she was looking up at him. He gave her a small nod as an indication he knew she was watching and patted the branch next to him. Sakura took the hint immediately and bending into a crouch she made it to the branch in one swift movement. He raised an eyebrow at what should have been an almost impossible feat for even the most skilled Anbu, yet Sakura had made it seem as if she were merely scaling a five foot wall not an ten foot vertical jump onto a branch not much wider then her petite frame itself.

Raising from her crouch she moved to sit as close to Kakashi as possible, her hip resting against his feet. "What's up?" He asked her after a few moments of silence in which she fidgeted uncomfortably, her slim legs dangling over the edge of the branch.

"Oh nothing." She answered flippantly giving him a smile that was obviously fake.

"Sakura." He warned in his stern, teacher's voice. The same one he'd used time and again on Sasuke and Naruto when they were arguing over something trivial back in their genin days.

"I was just wondering why you let me stay after you found out it was me." She said sneaking a glance at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Would you have listened even if I carried you back to Hokage tower myself?" He asked realising this would turn into a full on discussion, he closed his book reluctantly and replaced it in his weapons holster, looking at her seriously.

"Kakashi that's not an answer." She sagged at his avoidance of her question.

He sighed deeply at the hurt in her voice and made a decision, generally not one for close contact or contact at all for that matter he'd only done so earlier to protect Sakura from Genma's leering but right now it seemed the right thing to do. It wasn't like they weren't close anyway after everything the team had gone through.

"Come here." He said motioning for her to join him.

"What?" She hissed uncertain of what he was doing.

"Don't question me, just come here." He answered a hint of annoyance mixed in with a soft commanding tone.

She looked up at him and did as she was told, moving towards him. She sat between his now open legs, in the same position as when they'd argued earlier, arms going round raised up knees. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and pulled her to him, her back now flush against his hard, defined chest, then he placed his legs around her smaller frame and crossed them at the ankle, as he leaned his head back gazing at the star strewn sky.

"Honestly?" He asked her unsure quite why himself.

"Yes, honestly." She told him raising her head to look at his profile as he watched the moon slip behind a cloud.

"I don't completely know." He sighed shifting his gaze back down to her. "I just wanted to have the time to make up for all the times I failed you in the past and I enjoyed seeing you again. I've missed the team more than I let on." He answered simply with a shrug.

"See I knew you were a big softy really." She teased with a giggle.

"Am not." He ground out, but ending up chuckling half way through despite his insistence.

"Oh yes you are Kakashi, I don't know why you wear that mask so much though." She began changing the subject and giving him a gentle tickle type poke in the ribs causing him to squirm a little before continuing. "It's not like you're ugly or anything."

He sighed and leaned his head back once more, his gaze glancing up at the midnight blue sky dotted with white shinning stars. "It's complicated." He replied keeping his gaze from meeting with hers.

"So humour me, it's not like I have anywhere else to be." She answered raising her self and twisting around to face him with determination on her face. "We're friends aren't we? You said it yourself earlier or was that just a line to make me stop crying?"

"Sakura." He said sadly before it changed to resignation. "We're friends, I wasn't just saying it."

"So tell me. You always seemed to know everything about me back when we were a team, so don't you think its time you return the favour?"

"You're a tough woman to beat Sakura Haruno." He said teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah I know that's why you love me. Now spill." She shot back with a grin.

Kakashi chuckled at that comment outwardly but inwardly he groaned. 'Did she have to use that choice of words?' He asked himself.

"Fine. I'll tell you but you might wanna sit back down before you fall." He answered with a grin.

"I will if you take off that stupid mask." She parried.

With a huff his slim, calloused fingers reached up to the edge of his constant barrier between his facial expressions and the rest of the world. One tug and it slid down his face and coiled around his neck once more.

"Happy now?" He asked her with a raise of his right eyebrow.

"Very." She replied with a grin.

"Good. Now sit the hell down before you give me a heart attack." He answered his voice tainted with worry. She had perfect chakra control but that didn't mean he would stop worrying about her.

She did as he asked and snuggled back into his torso, her head resting on his shoulder as he slipped his arms back around her, feeling safer with her in his arms.

"Sooo?" She asked awaiting an answer to her earlier question.

His gaze fixed on the sky as the reasons he wore it slipped from his lips. "You know who my father was right?" He asked her unsure whether she actually did or not.

"Of course, I've heard his story. I… Um… I looked through his file one day when Tsunade asked me to put it back in place…" She said uncertainty creeping into her words as she hoped he wouldn't be mad at her.

His only reaction however was a smirk now so clearly evident, not just by the crinkle of his right eye but the actual upturn of his lips as the moonlight shone upon his handsome face.

"Well then you know why he fell from grace in our village and how he was shunned by all before finally commiting suicide when I was young and how even after his death most people considered him a disgrace."

Sakura nodded and looked up at him whispering. "You don't have to talk about this Kakashi. I'm sorry I forced you to." She told him deeply regretting this line of questioning. 'Why couldn't you keep your mouth shut Haruno?' She berated herself.

"It's ok, were friends right? Friends are supposed to talk about things, even the painful things."

"Yeah I guess so." She answered back happy that he was still talking to her after what she'd made him confess.

"Well after he died I was tired of people comparing the two of us, saying how alike in personality and appearance we were. So I donned the mask and became the picture of perfection as far as shinobi are concerned, making myself as little like him as humanly possible. I followed every letter in the book to a fault refusing to differ from it. Except things changed when I became a jounin at thirteen, my team was given a mission, my other team members Minato Namikaze our team leader, and Rin, our medic gave me gifts for becoming a jounin. Obito Uchiha, well he arrived late with an excuse about some old lady… I told him he was useless. We had much the same relationship as Naruto and Sasuke did." He said shifting a little to get more comfy before continuing his story, no longer really relating to the reasons behind his mask but he wanted to finish the tale before moving onto the other reason he wore it, and he just felt it right to tell Sakura something about his past and share the reasons for his many idiosyncrasies' with her.

"Well we were sent on a mission that day, we were sent to destroy a bridge and as we made our way to our target, we noticed we were being followed. Being the stubborn, foolhardy teen that I was I targeted the Iwagakure nin and rushed head first into an attack with my newly developed technique…"

"Chidori." She breathed listening intently to every word but unable to keep silent at that point.

"Precisely." He replied before continuing. "The guy used shadow clones, I attacked them uselessly and got myself stabbed in the shoulder for my troubles and stupidity. I only survived thanks to Minato-sama diving at the man in time to save my life, earning me a katana in the shoulder rather then ending up dead. He took us somewhere safe, Rin treated my wounds and when Minato came back it was to find me and Obito at each others throats with me calling him a coward for freezing up on the battle field and then Minato-sama began berating me for using the Chidori when my eyes weren't fast enough to react to it. That night Obito couldn't sleep, he spoke to Minato-sama and he explained to him about my father and why I was the way I was and the next day we split up, Minato going one way, Rin, Obito and I heading the other with me as leader."

Sakura fidgeted a little, uncomfortable against the rough bark of the tree. Once she'd resumed her previous still, silence Kakashi spoke up again.

"We were ambushed, they captured Rin and Obito said he was going after her. Being the uptight prick that I was and determined not to follow in my fathers footsteps I told him our mission was more important than saving a friend, he then hit me and told me my father was a true hero when he stopped to save his friends even at the detriment to his mission. He went one way to save Rin, I walked the other to our mission. Obito found where they were keeping Rin while I continued to think on his words, he began to plan his attack but he was observed by an Iwagakure Nin using an invisibility justu, I arrived in time to save Obito from being hit by a Kunai with the crappy excuse that I believed he couldn't do it alone and took the hit intended for him. I lost my left eye, Obito was scared but finally activated his sharingan for the first time, saw the attacker and killed him. We worked together to save Rin, hitting the other Iwagakure Nin and saving her in the process but he caused the weakened cave to collapse in the hopes of killing us off. As the rocks fell Obito pushed me out of the way saving my life but effectively ending his own in the process as his entire right side was crushed under the deluge. He offered me his left eye along with his sharingan as a gift for reaching jounin and a final present. And once Rin had implanted it successfully we had to leave Obito's body behind due to another rock fall. Minato-sama arrived and saved us both and after that I kinda adopted all the habits that I'd always berated Obito for, being late due to spending time at the memorial stone, the bad excuses are something else from him and I became like my father and Obito once more, adopting the fact that team work should come before the rules." He finished sadly.

"So that's why you're always late, why you come up with such pitiful excuses for your tardiness, why you have that scar over your eye, how you got your sharingan and why you tried so hard to get Sasuke and Naruto to work as team, and me to of course."

"Yeah." He answered his eyes still glued to the sky above them.

"So you wore the mask so you wouldn't be constantly compared to your father, who by the way I think was very heroic, but I don't understand why you still wear it."

"Well it was always fun to hear you guys guess what lay beneath it and there is another reason." He teased attempting to lighten the mood once more.

"And that would be?" She asked picking up on the change.

"Women." He replied simply.

"What?!" She asked loudly.

"Shh, not so loud." He chuckled watching as Genma's slumbering form returned to a perfect stillness before he elaborated. "Every time I take this mask off women seem to swoon or stare, most of the time a bit of both. Rather like you did earlier actually, forgetting to breath and all."

"You forgot too baka!" She snapped with a swat of his arm. "Besides big headed much?" She teased digging a finger into his side once again.

"Oh but you certainly seemed to like what you saw Sakura-chan, so I don't think it's all in my mind do you?" He retorted the smirk on his face widening until it turned into an actual smile.

"Shut up." She huffed. "Hey. I've never seen you smile before. Mind you I've never seen you smirk or any other kind of facial expression except in your right eye, but you should definitely smile more, it suits you." She told him, her eyes currently saving every last inch of his smile to memory, something to remember for the future.

His laughter rumbled from his chest as he hugged her just a little tighter, bringing his gaze back down to meet hers he locked his mismatched eyes with hers before speaking again.

"You should get some sleep. You'll be dead to the world in the morning otherwise and I don't think me carrying you for the entire day would be good for either of us."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not that much of a weakling you know. I'm an Anbu aren't I?"

"Yes you are, but you're also my charge and I say you need sleep, so go."

"Superiority complex anyone?" She smirked at him dashing forward and out of his grip before he could tickle her mercilessly. "Good night Kakashi."

"Good night Sakura-chan." He replied with a grin as he pulled the black material pooled under his chin back up over his face and over most of his nose.

Kakashi watched as she jumped to a branch about five foot below, quickly swinging around it as a gymnast would a bar and landing on her feet in a perfect landing, gentle as the breeze and quiet as a mouse. She raised a hand in one last acknowledgement before slipping back into her sleeping bag and snuggling under the covers, falling asleep almost immediately, the warm, fuzzy feeling from Kakashi's arms keeping her content.

Resting his head back against the tree his mind whirled with a million thoughts. 'What the hell is Tsunda playing at?' Being the main one but other things flitted through his mind to such as 'Ara kami! I spent all morning eyeing up Sakura, then I saw her naked! We argued, we sorted it out and now after seeing every last inch of her uncovered body I have to spend close to a month or possibly more in her company! I'm doomed, completely doomed, not to mention I'm going straight to hell for my thoughts.'

Kakashi groaned, running his hand through his spiky silver hair as he spoke quietly to nobody but himself. "Tsunade you're a cruel torturer. I'd rather face Ibiki than what you're putting me through right now. You knew exactly what would happen, I have no doubt of that now, as for your reasoning however I'm at a total loss when it comes to that. I'm sure you'll explain at some point but until then I don't want to hear your name mentioned again. You have a dark heart Lady Hokage."

That said he slouched down making himself comfy and retrieved his book, determined to wipe any thoughts of Sakura from his mind as he concentrated on the pages before him. He was in for a restless night and he knew it.

xXx

"Hey Pinky." Came Genma's voice in the morning, rousing Sakura from her dream world and back to reality. "Time to get up."

"Don't call me Pinky." She growled sitting up groggily and fixing him with an intent glare.

"Now, now Sakura, no assassination attempts on your team mates." Came Kakashi's overly cheery voice from behind her as he handed her a coffee.

Sakura growled at his happy face, snatched the coffee and drank it gratefully. "Still not a morning person then I take it, Sakura-chan?" He asked amused at her grumpiness.

"Sod off Kakashi!" She snarled sipping her coffee and turning round to fix him with her stare instead.

"I'm hurt Sakura, how could you talk to me like that after all these years?" He asked feigning distress.

"Hurt?! You?!" She spat pointing a black painted nail at him. "The only thing that would hurt you was if I took that damn book from you and threw it into the fire! You're almost as bad as Sai! The only time you're ever upset or show any kind of emotions is if someone threatens your precious porn!" She shrieked in earnest.

"Kakashi my man, I think she knows you better than even you guessed." Genma chuckled looking between the pair of them.

"It would seem so." Kakashi said a look of thoughtfulness crossing his face but then his eye swept into a crinkle as he smirked. Leaning closer to Sakura and whispering in her ear he spoke so quietly that Genma couldn't hear what he was saying. "There are other things that would scare me a lot more than that though. So don't think you know me completely, just yet Blossom. You'll have to earn that."

The breath coasting over her neck as he whispered almost lovingly over the shell of her ear sent shivers down her spine and she tingled almost with excitement at his words. "And how do I earn it then?" She scoffed.

"Oh I don't know yet, but we'll figure something out." He grinned leaning away from her once more. Grabbing an apple from his pack he checked it for any bruising before tossing it at her.

She caught it and viciously bit a chunk out of it, causing both men to glance at each other and back away from the violent kunoichi slightly. Sakura felt a small smirk tug at her lips at that, Genma the worlds biggest flirt and self proclaimed play boy and the great Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake were scared of her just because of her morning personality? She found that to be most amusing. Giving another giggle she set down her apple core and empty coffee cup, turning to her pack she reached in, grabbed her hair brush and set about brushing her just below shoulder length, bubble gum coloured hair. Once brushed free of any knots she tied it in a French plait, leaving the bangs that hung over her face to cascade down the front, then flipping the braid in half she secured it with another hair tie, making sure it was tight, so that the plait now looped back up towards her head and was fully out of her way.

Taking out her toothbrush and toothpaste she rinsed out her coffee mug, filled it with clean water and set about brushing her teeth, spitting out the remains and pouring the now soiled water on top of it and replaced her hygiene tools back in their special pouches. Once she'd tied her bag back up having made sure to tidy away every last thing she had brought with her she picked up her ninjatō and hefted her pack onto her shoulder looking expectantly at the two men before her.

"Are we going then?" She asked with a grin.

Having made sure to leave no trace of their temporary rest area, Kakashi nodded his head at Genma, then back at Sakura before slipping his mask into place. Sakura and Genma followed suit and they took off into the trees, once more, Kakashi out in front, Sakura behind him and Genma bringing up the rear. The entire time they travelled that morning Sakura could feel Genma's eyes shifting to her body every now and again. With a groan she turned to him, whilst still keeping an eye out on her way ahead.

"Porcupine, if you don't quit looking at my ass, I'm going to end up shoving my foot up yours! Understand?" She snarled.

"I got it Panther." He answered voice sounding a little unsure, missing his normally upbeat, teasing manner.

Sakura moved up to keep pace with Kakashi and felt his gaze shift to her for a split second before turning back ahead as if nothing had happened that was until he spoke.

"Would you have said the same thing to me?" He asked sounding as though he were just asking for the time of day.

"You weren't checking out my ass!" She hissed chancing a look at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Humour me." He replied, voice blasé, the look on his face underneath both his masks however was teasing and highly amused.

"Ok fine. If you were looking at my ass, I wouldn't have threatened you. I'd probably have just gone ahead and done it." She replied with a small smirk.

"Oh I highly doubt that Sakura, you'd never hurt your ex-sensei. We both know that.." He answered, his head turning to hers again.

"I hate you Kakashi-senpai." She whispered almost inaudibly.

"I like you to Sakura-chan." He whispered back with a chuckle before moving forward to be out in front once more. Sakura fell back in line, purposefully ignoring Genma's glances every now and again.

The rest of the morning passed in silence as the trees they were travelling through slowly changing from large green Sycamores to stately Pine trees as they got closer with every step to their destination. The sun rose higher in the sky as they continued, beating down on them and causing even Kakashi to feel the growing tiredness and heat exhaustion his two team mates were beginning to suffer from. With a glance back he leapt onto the largest branch he could see ahead of him and stopped. Sakura and Genma landed a few seconds behind him, crouched down on the large stiff branch before raising themselves straight beside him.

"We'll stop here for lunch." Kakashi told them, scanning the surrounding area.

Gemna sat down on the branch above them, leaning back against the tree and pulling his rations from his pack along with a bottle of water, raising his mask above his head as he gulped down the cold fluid gratefully.

Sakura leaned back against the large tree and was just about to shift around to pull her own water from her pack, when a hand reached out and passed her a bottle. She looked up to see Kakashi extending his bottle towards her. She took it with a nod before she pulled off her mask and drank down half the bottle rather quickly.

Kakashi's hand reached out and stopped her at that point. "You should go careful, you'll get sick if you drink like that."

"I know Senpai, I am a medic nin in case you'd forgotten."

"I hadn't forgotten." He said sounding weary.

"What's the matter Wolf?" Genma asked looking down at him curiously.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Kakashi replied flippantly brushing his worries aside.

"Senpai?" Sakura's sweet voice asked.

"It's nothing. Both of you I'm fine, don't worry ok?" He told them taking the bottle from Sakura's hands and drinking the cool fluid down.

Kakashi pulled his well thumbed book from his pocket and crouched on the branch a little away from Sakura giving both her and Genma time to eat their energy bars while he tried hard to keep his thoughts from the conversation with Sakura earlier by engaging in his favourite past time, Icha Icha. 'Fact is you were checking out her ass just yesterday weren't you chikan?' His own voice resounded in his head. 'I am not a pervert!' He argued back knowing that was the whole truth seeing as he had even called himself that just yesterday, but he wasn't in any mood to admit it just now.

Sakura tilted her head to the side as she watched the internal struggle obviously going on in his head, as his unoccupied hand bunched into a fist. 'I don't know what's going on Kakashi but something's wrong and I will find out what!' She thought determinedly. Getting up from her seated position she moved forward and leaned over Kakashi trying to catch a quick peak at the books he always seemed to be so fascinated with. She'd always wondered why they held such reverence in his eyes and well she just plain wanted to see what all the fuss was about, but being to scared to buy a copy herself and she certainly wasn't about to ask the Pervy Sage for a copy, this was the best way she decided.

Kakashi sensed her behind him and when she leaned over, obviously trying to catch a glimpse of his book, he moved quickly to shut it and put it away from her eyes. Sakura had anticipated this however and before he had a chance to do so, her hand shot out and gripped his wrist holding it still. Her eyes widened and she gasped, letting go of his hand she backed away her hand covering her mouth as she pressed her back against the trunk of the tree. Kakashi sighed and replaced his book in his weapons pouch turning to look at her. The look of pure shock on her face made him feel pretty bad, he should have stopped her from reading the page. 'Why the hell did I let her look at it?' He admonished himself as he moved towards her.

Standing in front of her, he moved forward a step and she visibly stiffened. She pointed at him then dropped her arm back to her side too shaken to say or do anything more. He pushed forward till they were inches apart and reached his hand out to hers. She jumped as if stung and turned her flushed face from his. Gripping her other wrist in his hand he looked at her for a second before speaking to her.

"You weren't meant to see that." He said quietly.

"You shouldn't be reading that filth and in public! It's…. It's…." Unable to finish she sunk back into silence, her face still resolutely turned away from him.

"I shouldn't have let you see that. I'm sorry, that was my fault."

"It's ok." She said waving his hand away. "I just wasn't expecting that!" She pointed distractedly in his vague direction.

"Aww is the big bad Wolf corrupting the sweet little kitty cat with his porn?" Genma asked jumping down to the branch the pair were currently on, mask once more in place, hiding his very amused grin.

Kakashi turned round and snarled deeply at him, while Sakura just flushed a deeper shade of red and refused to look at either of them. Kakashi sighed and figured he'd just make it up to her later. 'Just one more thing I've done wrong.' He thought before speaking.

"We should get going now, we should reach the Daimyo's mansion by tomorrow morning so lets make the most of the rest of the day shall we?"

"Hai Senpai." Sakura said returning to some form of normality and moving around Kakashi and Gemna to move off once more.

"After you Taichou." Genma said waiting for Kakashi to move off.

With a last look at Sakura he leapt forward and was quickly swallowed by the foliage ahead of them. Sakura nodded once at Genma, pulled her mask back on and slipped her cowl back over her pink hair and dashed off after their silver haired captain. Genma shook his head, 'You'd almost think they were a couple.' He thought to himself before following Sakura's slowly disappearing form.

Kakashi pulled out his book and read as they travelled, his head occasionally turning to view Sakura, but every time he did she turned her head and pretended to be viewing the leaves of some far off tree or watching her footing as she either landed on a new branch or leapt from a previous one. He huffed after the tenth time of that and finally gave up for the rest of the journey.

As night slipped across the sky he decided they might as well bed down now, they were close to their destination and he didn't see the point in pushing themselves when they would be at the Daimyo's door before the sun even finished rising in the sky tomorrow. With a hand signal he directed the pair of them to follow him to the forest floor and they obligingly did so. All three landing on the springy, moss covered ground in unison before moving off to do the exact same things they had done the night before, Sakura gathering wood for the fire, Genma catching their supper and Kakashi setting up their primary defences.

Once all three were done with their respective tasks the three of them sat around the fire, cooking their fish and relaxing as much as possible for they knew their true mission began tomorrow, the minute they arrived at the Daimyo's mansion in the morning. Kakashi leaned against a tree, his legs stretched out flat in front of him and his trusty book in his hand, his Anbu mask still in place as his eyes scanned the pages. Sakura shook her head and ignored him, opting instead to clean and sharpen her ninjatō. She slid it from its saya and slid the cloth from inside her pack and ran it very carefully over the blade of it. After that was done she pulled her whetstone from her pack and began to run it over the blade of her ninjatō. Genma watched her do this with admiration.

'The girl takes her job seriously.' He thought to himself. 'Hatake can't fault her for that.'

Once it was sharpened to her satisfaction, she slid her weapon back into its saya and lay her bedroll down flat and sat down upon it. Genma decided he might as well do the same, and set about making up his own bed roll. Kakashi glanced over his book at the pair of them and moved to stand up.

"I'll take first watch." He informed them as he moved to take up a perch in the nearest tree with the thickest branches.

They nodded their understanding and both settled down to rest, Genma rolled over to face away from the fire and Sakura who was on the opposite side and relaxed into a comfortable position quickly. Sakura on the other hand, lay down and appeared to be resting but Kakashi could see she was clearly not going to be sleeping anytime soon. He turned his attention back to his book and began to read when he felt eyes watching him, he looked down and sure enough Sakura was watching him again. With a soft sigh he put his book away and tilted his head as an invitation for her to join him.

Silently she leapt to the branch he was currently resting on and promptly sat down in his lap. He raised an eyebrow at her under his red and white mask and he heard a quiet giggle escape her lips as she raised her masked face to view his. With another sigh he whipped his red and white off and looked down at her expectantly. She pulled her own mask off and then pointed to his black, skin tight one.

"That one to Kakashi." She said in an almost sing song voice.

"Sakura…" He sighed with an annoyed glance at her.

"Think of it as my compensation for reading that filth you call a novel earlier." She told him with a grin.

"Every little thing I do wrong you're going to turn it round on me and use it to get what you want aren't you?" He asked her with a groan.

"Hell yeah!" She replied.

He shook his head and pulled the tight black material down over his face, to rest under his chin. She smiled up at him sweetly and he rolled his eyes at her turning his gaze to the night sky.

"My books aren't that bad you know." He sighed.

"Really? Could have fooled me. What I read was pretty bad." She mumbled as her face flushed crimson at the memory of what she'd read earlier.

"And yet you held my hand steady in order to read it." He replied with an eyebrow raise.

"I wouldn't have done if I'd known it would be that bad!" She squeaked back, moving away from him.

"Sakura, come back." She settled back down in his lap almost reluctantly and he slipped an arm around her waist. "I'm sorry I let you see that. I should have known better."

"It was my fault not yours. I just didn't expect that!" Her blush deepened at that statement.

"Does this mean you'll stay away from my books from now on?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Go away!" She growled quietly.

He pulled her back to lie flat against his chest and the pair of them lay still and silent with their eyes closed for a while.

"Kakashi?"

"Hmm?"

"Do I really have to refrain from killing Genma if he keeps staring at my ass?"

Kakashi laughed loudly at that and she could feel the vibrations rumbling through his chest, against her back. "I don't think Lady Hokage would be best pleased if I had to report that Genma was killed as a result of her beloved apprentice taking offence to his wandering eyes now do you?"

She sighed. "No, but he keeps staring and I'm going to do something to him if he tries anything more than that."

"Ok fair enough, if he tries anything more than just looking I'll allow you to give him a beating, maybe I'll even join in. But he's a man and a very dirty minded one, you can't blame him for staring when there's a pretty female in the room. It's a natural reaction for someone like him."

"Hmph." She replied causing him the chuckle again.

'Yare! She hasn't noticed me watching her yet. I best quit while I'm ahead, or rather while I still have a head attached to my shoulders.' He sighed in relief.

"What's the plan for the mission?"

"Well we'll meet with the Daimyo first thing in the morning, I've been informed in the scroll that they have two rooms for us to sleep in, one for Genma and I, the other for you. Rooms in the same corridor as the Daimyo himself, I might add. We'll deposit our packs and set up traps and things to make sure our belongings are safe and not tampered with, then we'll split up and scout out the area and every piece of security they have. At lunch time we'll meet up, discuss what we've found. We'll have to at least have a clone watching over the Daimyo at all times."

"Ok." She replied with a smile.

"You should…"

"Yeah, yeah. I know Kakashi-senpai. I should go to sleep." She cut in with a sarcastic response.

"Smart girl." He chuckled back.

"Will you ever see me as an adult or at least something close to an equal or will I always be that annoying little 12 year old you met so long ago?"

"Sakura-chan, you are not annoying and I already do see you as an adult. But I worry about you, you can't blame me for that." He said hugging her a little tighter.

"Yeah, yeah. One day you might actually start treating me as the adult you say you see me as you know." She answered as got up and prepared to leap from the branch.

"Don't be like that Sakura." He said snaking his hand out and gripping her wrist tightly before tugging her back to him.

"Kakashi. I don't to be a burden to you, or be around you when you don't really want me to, just let me go. You just let me stick around because you feel guilty for the past. Just forget about it, I have."

"Don't pull away from me Sakura, and don't lie to me either." He said his voice lower and almost angry as he felt another argument coming on. He sighed before continuing on. "You haven't forgotten about it, I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice anytime the subject comes up. I hurt you, pushed you away and you hate me for it. I don't blame you, I was a bad teacher and a terrible friend, but I'm trying to atone for that. Give me the chance to make it right without throwing it back in my face every five minutes Sakura."

"I don't hate you Kakashi, I'm just disappointed that you cant treat me the way you always treated Naruto and Sasuke and practically everyone else for that matter, everyone but me. You always tried to show them that they were important, they could do what needed to be done to make them strong, but with me you just ignored me or thought of me only as chasing after Sasuke, a lovesick lost little puppy with no true future as a Shinobi."

"I'll admit that I did." He answered bluntly. "But that isn't how I see you now. Don't you get it Sakura? I haven't cared about anyone the way I care for you in a long time. You're the only one I've let close in years, you're the only one who knows anything about me. Don't you see that?" His voice rose a little as it took on darker tone.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start another argument." She whispered burying her face in his chest.

"Hey friends argue right? How can we be friends if we don't have a disagreement every now and again? It's what happens, forget about it. Go to sleep Sakura." He answered, his arms slipping around her smaller frame and shifting her to lie against him comfortably.

"Good night Kakashi." She uttered snuggling into his warm hold.

"Good night Sakura-chan." He replied placing a chaste kiss to the top of her head before pulling his mask back over the bottom half of his face.

'This isn't a good idea.' His mind screamed at him. 'Oh shut up. It's not like I'm going to molest her or anything!' He snapped back. 'You just might…' 'Like hell I will!'

Keeping his arms resolutely on her waist, he kept his senses off the fact that she was curled up in his lap and smelled so sweet as she slept. 'What would a sixteen year old want with a thirty one year old anyway?' He sighed and settled back to keep watch as the sky darkened overhead and he once more pulled out his Icha Icha volume in the hopes of distracting himself from the fact that the female he had been fantasying about for the last two days was pressed tight against him.

xXx

A/N II: Now then reviews are loved and much needed, cos they keep me going. You know how people say chocolate is important to some women? Well reviews are my chocolate and believe me I have a major love for chocolate sooooo. You get my meaning right? ;)

Let me know what yall think will ya? I'll love you much if you do. Okie dokies Buh bye for now. I will be back with another chapter ASAP!