Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto is the rightful owner to the original Naruto series and characters in it; I do not own the series or its characters in any way.

Warning: This story is rated M for a reason for those under the legal age of 18.

This is my very first Kakasaku fanfiction I have written. It is set in the Shippuden age of Naruto, obviously. Please R&R! (Rate and Review for those who don't know!) The story will switch back and forth between the character's views, and there will be multiple chapters!

~Enjoy! :)~

After five years with Sakura no longer being his student after his second bell test, Kakashi quickly realizes she has become a beautiful woman and a powerful kunoichi. But their history as an ex-sensei and an ex-student keep Kakashi and Sakura from admitting the intensifying feelings between them. Will a freezing and deadly mission finally bring their feelings to light?

CHAPTER ONE: Autumn Festival

The wind chimes rang softly as they swayed gently in the chilling autumn breeze. Voices and cheerful laughter could be heard from the people below him. Kakashi rubbed his gloved hands up and down his arms, attempting to provide a little more warmth. He could already see his breath, swirling in front of him like smoke when he exhaled, even though it was still too early for winter. Maybe it would come sooner than usual this year, he thought with a famous, indifferent, Kakashi-shrug. It was already dark outside, after all.

He sat, crouched on top of one of the festival food shops, preferring the solitude of the quiet, red-tiled roof than the bustling, noisy crowd below. Despite the chill in the air, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and went about their activities as if they didn't have a care in the world other than to have fun.

Kakashi sighed, resting his masked face in the palm of his hand. He didn't hate festivals, but he wasn't particularly fond of them either. If Gai ever caught him at a celebration, such as a festival, the rest of the night would consist of endless, boring contests and games against him, which Kakashi always won, no matter how childish or ridiculous they got. While he enjoyed being challenged, he just wanted to enjoy the sights. And, maybe, even have a light, enjoyable conversation with a woman who would join him if he invited her. He knew plenty of women who would give anything to wear a yukata for him and cling on to his arm for a night like that. The realization of that only made the expression on his face turn sour.

No. He wouldn't take just anyone with him. He'd want someone who could hold an intelligent conversation with him. Someone who had class, but wasn't too flashy. Someone who, he hoped, held respect for him as an equal and could hold her own. He'd want someone who wouldn't take advantage of his kindness or generosity. Someone who... for instance, had pink hair.

The flash of cotton candy hair appeared in the corner of his eye. She stepped out from behind the curtain of one of the little shops lining the road, looking around as if trying to find someone among the crowd. Apparently she wasn't having any luck, because a sassy pout was quickly formed on her usually calm face.

Kakashi chuckled at the familiar, disgruntled expression of his ex-student. She probably didn't realize it, but she looked so cute when she made that face that Kakashi couldn't help but tease her at times. Not that doing so ever improved her mood, though, he thought to himself with a sly smile.

She hesitantly walked over to a bench not too far from below him and sat down, folding her slender hands onto her slightly shivering lap, trying to casually look around without looking lost. She wasn't doing a very good job.

'I guess I'm not the only one who is affected by the weather tonight,' he realized. He stood from his former position on the rooftop and rubbed his hands together before shoving them in his jacket pockets.

He hadn't donned on his usual green Jounin Vest that night, since it was the night of the festival. But he had, thankfully, brought a light, charcoal gray jacket and a red scarf to keep him warm as a replacement. He had forgone his ninja headband as well, leaving his scarred eye exposed, though he kept it closed at all times. Other than that, he wore the same black, long-sleeve Jounin shirt, mask, pants, and sandals.

Despite all this, he still was feeling slightly cold. He could only imagine what cotton-candy hair below was bearing against, wearing only a yukata and the traditional zori sandals that came with it.

He hopped down from the building, landing softly behind her. She didn't appear to have heard him over the noise from all the lively people. She kept looking straight ahead while Kakashi stared at her back, creeping up from behind her ever so slowly and silently...

Sakura tried to suppress another shiver as she sat impatiently on the small wooden bench. With every breath she took, she could see the vapor form in the frosty air before her. She sighed unhappily. Winter was her least favorite season. She prayed it wasn't going to come early this year...

And where on earth had Ino run off to?! That pig had wanted to stop at almost every sweets shop to see if they had her favorite treat, whatever it was. She no longer remembered what they were even looking for.

They hadn't been successful so far, and Sakura just wanted to go and do other things besides hunt for Ino's favorite festivity treat. She'd no sooner gone into another rejected shop on their checklist before Ino had stormed off again, this time leaving Sakura behind in a sea of people.

'That selfish, sweet-toothed bitch,' Sakura crossed her arms angrily. It would take hours just to find each other again, and she didn't want to just sit and wait around for Ino. She wanted to experience everything fun before the festival came to a close.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from the shadows behind her and covered her mouth, cutting off any sounds or screams of protest. The attacker's other hand grabbed her wrists and held them behind her back, preventing her from being able to fight back in any way. Already furious about how bad the night was already going for her, Sakura squirmed and kicked with all her might, and even attempted to bite at the enemy who was dragging her back into a dark alley behind the shops. It was no use, though. Whoever this stranger was, he knew how to really restrain his victims well. That thought sent a shiver which was unrelated to the cold down Sakura's spine.

She was thrown lightly against a wall, finally being released from the man in the shadows. She was about to throw a chakra-filled punch at the assaulter when a light chuckle stopped her from taking a single step. She looked up into the amused, eye-crinkled smile of a man she knew well, not sharing his humor in the joke in the slightest.

"I didn't know you were so easy to kidnap in a public place, Sakura-chan. You should know better than to be carried off so easily during such a big, open event in your own village."

"And you should know not to prank me like that of all people, Kakashi-sensei," she said venomously, giving him her sweetest, fake smile she had.

With a swift kick to the gut, he toppled over, clutching his stomach tightly and groaning lightly in unexpected pain.

He should have expected it. He should have anticipated the violent aggression she would lash out at him once he stopped his little joke. But he hadn't, and now he was paying the price for it.

'That's going to leave one ugly bruise,' he thought, looking down at his poor, abused stomach. He slowly stood back up, brushing the dirt off of him from where Sakura's zori sandals had bashed him. Once he looked back up, he noticed she still wasn't happy about the little joke he'd pulled. He sighed.

'Great, she must be having some weird thoughts right now... about how it could have been a kidnapper, or even worse, a rapist of some sort...' he thought as he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"I do feel a little bad about scaring you, Sakura," he began. "That was a little overdone, I'll admit. Dragging you into this back alley was a little much and I shouldn't have gone and done it."

"'A little much?!'" She began to shout at him. He flinched at the unwelcome outburst.

"Will you forgive me, please?" He stood next to her now, looking down at her in the sweetest, softest way he could. She merely frowned up at him.

"You never actually said sorry, sensei..."

Kakashi groaned. Was she ever going to drop the sensei after his name? He hadn't been her teacher in over five years, ever since his second bells test with her and Naruto. And he had regrettably lost against them in a rather pathetic way.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan" he emphasized on the last word. Whenever she called him sensei, he would call her the name he used when she was still just a little Genin. She didn't appreciate it when he did that to her. Maybe that would teach her to drop the old name. "Now will you forgive me?"

She tapped her coral-painted nails on her glossy, pink lips as if thinking deeply about it. Kakashi's eyes were instantly drawn to them, and his throat had dried up for some odd reason he couldn't explain. Sakura must have noticed him staring because she coughed in annoyance to grab his attention once more.

"If you've finished ogling, I've decided to forgive you and not hold it against you... on three conditions."

"You're kidding, right?" 'All for some joke?' he thought incredulously. The look she sent him shut him up at once.

"I'm serious. Now, since Ino ditched me in the crowd, and nobody can find anyone in this fucking huge festival-"

"Language, Sakura."

"I'm not a child, Kakashi. I'm twenty two, and I will speak how I want. Now, since I can't find Ino, my first condition is for you to take her place."

"Take her place as in, be your date?" He asked.

Sakura blushed becomingly, turning her face away as if looking anywhere but at him. He smiled, watching her squirm under his intense gaze.

"You could say that, since neither of us had dates for the festival originally. Now, my second condition; with you as my date, I expect you to not ruin the rest of the night, and try to make it as fun for me as possible."

"Can do," Kakashi nodded once. "And your third?"

Sakura smiled excitedly. "My third condition is you take me to the fireworks display at the end of the night!"

(~)

Kakashi didn't mind owing her three conditions, even if it was a little absurd to do so over one silly prank. But, he wasn't going to complain. He got a date, and a very beautiful and intelligent one at that, and he was going to be able to enjoy the sights of the festival without being bothered by constant challenges and games. He was more than fine with this outcome.

And speaking of fine, he found his eyes wandering over to his right side so constantly that he wondered if she had noticed him staring at her by now. He couldn't help it, the navy blue yukata she wore, which also had pink sakura flowers patterned throughout the fabric, made her look stunning. With it, she wore a complimentary red sash around her waist. Her hair was pinned up behind her head, and she had crimson beads in random strands of hair throughout the messy bun. Her emerald eyes glowed under the soft lantern light on the road, hooded by thick, black eyelashes. His eyes slowly drew down to her lips once more. They sparkled and shone a bright, neon salmon pink, and were just begging to be kissed.

Kakashi froze mid-stride. He aggressively slapped himself mentally, over and over again, closing his eyes and shaking his head back and forth. No. No. No. No. No. No. Those thoughts were heading somewhere they absolutely shouldn't. He may be a man, and it may have been completely fine to admire that Sakura had indeed become a beautiful woman, but thinking of doing certain things to her was crossing the line. He shoved his hands in his pants pockets and clenched his fists tightly, trying to think of anything to distract him.

He noticed Sakura had stopped walking a few feet ahead of him, and was watching him with a concerned look on her face. He quickly caught up to her, and held his arm out for her to take.

She looked uncertain at first, then realized what he was trying to do and smiled up at him angelically. His mouth went dry again.

"Thank you, Kakashi. I didn't realize you could be a gentleman," she said in a way that sounded as more of a surprise than an insult.

"I'm full of surprises, I guess. Either that, or maybe you just don't know me as well as you thought you did."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Sakura admitted, and the two began walking once again, passing many different stands and venders. "You were always surrounded with mystery to everyone, you know."

"You find me mysterious?" He grinned down at her.

"Well, I'm not exactly an exception to the 'everyone' part I mentioned earlier, you know. But it's not a bad thing that you are."

"Ah, so you find my being mysterious attractive then..."

"Don't go twisting my words for your own ego boost, you pervert," she jabbed him in the ribs, smiling. "I merely said it was a good thing."

"Yep, that's me; Kakashi the forever pervert and big-ego shinobi."

"Just shut up and take me to the fried calamari shop over there," she pointed in a random direction, trying her best not to laugh out loud. He rolled his eyes dramatically before suddenly taking her hand in his and leading her through the crowd. She blushed at the sudden contact, feeling how hot his hands were on hers even through the metal-plated gloves he wore. She held on tightly, letting him lead them to wherever he was taking them.

Sakura munched silently on the candied apple Kakashi had bought for her. She was surprised at how much fun she was actually having with her old sensei. She had assumed festivals weren't his thing, since she had never really seen him at one before. He had told her it was because Guy-sensei had always challenged him to a super-speed contest of games, and on who could win them all the fastest.

Because of that, he was always moving at lightning speed to beat Guy's challenge and never really had time to just enjoy the festival, let alone stop and talk to anyone he knew. She felt kind of bad for him, but he seemed to be enjoying the time he was spending with her just as much as she was enjoying spending time with him. She realized, with a bit of a shock, that she was probably having a better time with him than she would have if Ino hadn't ditched her in the first place.

She shivered slightly, rubbing her hands together to keep them warm. It didn't help much, since they were already icy cold. The temperature had dropped again within the past couple of hours, during which Kakashi and her had spent playing games as well as buying and trying each other's favorite festival foods. Those few hours had been filled with smiles, laughter, and way more enjoyable conversation than she had ever had with a date, let alone with her sensei. Sakura was also happy to find that Kakashi had enjoyed almost every festival food she liked, other than a few sweets she had made him try here and there.

She shivered again, a little more noticeably this time. Kakashi, who was sitting next to her on a bench, looked at her with concern.

"I'm alright," her voice wavered slightly as she said it. "It's just a little chilly, but it's almost time for the fireworks display, and then we can go home and warm up."

She looked over at him, reddening immediately at his smoldering, intense, one-eyed gaze. Strange butterflies fluttered in her stomach, and she grew unnervingly warm in funny places. Her eyes began to glaze over just from the way he was staring at her. Then, she thought back over what she had said and realized he was messing with her. Surprisingly, she was a little disappointed at that.

"I meant you can go home and get warmed up and I'll go to my home and try to warm up. Don't mess with me, Kakashi," she frowned at him. He grinned at her and chuckled.

"Sorry," he chuckled again. "I guess I really am a pervert," he teased.

"Everyone knows that already. Don't boast about it as if it's something to be proud of, idiot."

"Ouch. I think you managed to bruise my big ego there a little," he said with sarcasm so thick it was practically seen dripping off of his words. She rolled her eyes and failed to hide the smile that made its way into her eyes.

"We should probably get moving," she said, standing from the bench and finishing the last bite of her candied apple. "They'll start soon, and we don't want to get a bad seat."

She began to walk away, but was stopped when Kakashi quickly grabbed her wrist and spun her around into his chest. She was pressed up against him, and he was staring down at her with that gaze again. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, and she could feel heat scorch the skin on her face. She must be as red as a tomato! What was he doing?!

"K-Kakashi...?" She managed to choke out in barely a whisper. She noticed a few people stop and stared at the interaction. He leaned down until his face was only a few inches away from hers. Her breath hitched.

Then, suddenly, his thumb wiped away at the corner of her mouth and he had already released her from his hold. He walked ahead of a frozen Sakura so that his back was turned to her before he looked over his shoulder.

"You had a little caramel on the corner of your mouth," he explained, showing her the piece pf caramel on his thumb. Before she could respond, he turned away from her and pulled down his mask with lightning speed. Then he slipped it back on just as fast and turned to face her once again. "Thanks for letting me have a little taste, it was actually quite delicious."

He grinned at her, and Sakura knew he was messing with her again. Her face had only grown redder at the realization that Kakashi had just indirectly licked off the piece of caramel that had been on the corner of her mouth, even if he was only teasing. She balled her fists and looked down at the ground in complete embarrassment with her face still burning. She began to storm off ahead of Kakashi, keeping her eyes low so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Get moving you ass, or I will leave you behind," she grumbled as she passed him. From a ways back, she could hear Kakashi's amused peal of laughter echo after her.

She had beaten him to the grass-covered hillside, but only because he had let her, he told himself after he had arrived there.

After she had stormed off, Kakashi had decided it would be wise to give her some space to cool off, especially after such a daring stunt. He still didn't know why he had done it. That wasn't something friends usually did to each other as normal teasing, and he had made her turn a shade of crimson he didn't think was possible on a person before. He had unintentionally flirted with her. So, he'd decided to stay back a few feet or more, waiting until she was back to normal before he approached her.

The azure night sky was alight with stars, and a full moon shone a bit a ways above the Hokage face mountain. Kakashi stood on the grass hillside and stared up at it all for a while in deep thought, before a pair of ice-cold hands joined his at his sides. He looked down in surprise, finding his favorite, pink-haired kunoichi looking up at him in an odd way.

"Kakashi?" she said softly.

"Hm?"

"Is this where you want to sit for the fireworks?"

"No. Come with me," he said, not letting go of her hands as he led her a few yards up the hillside.

There were tall trees lining the top of the hill, where the grass was kept dry under the canopy of the tree tops. Kakashi sat and leaned against the trunk of one of the aspens, beckoning Sakura to join him. She hesitated.

"It's just, I don't want to ruin this yukata by sitting on the grass. I might stain it..." she explained. Kakashi gave her a look, and then she quickly added "Only because it belongs to Tenten! I told her I'd take good care of it since she was kind enough to lend it to me."

"I see. Guess it can't be helped then."

Before she could ask, Kakashi shrugged out of his jacket and let it slip onto the grass next to him.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that," Sakura quickly stopped him. "I don't want to sit on your jacket and get it dirty either."

"I'm not having you sit on it. Just come here for a second," he told her. Puzzled, she did as he asked and found herself being scooped into his arms before being seated comfortably on his lap.

He was sure she was pinking again at the suddenness of his actions, but he wasn't going to have her standing during the entire show. What kind of gentleman would that make him?

He grabbed his jacket and told her to lift up her arms. Since he was behind her, she couldn't see what he was doing, so she did as he said with a little reluctance. He slipped her arms into the sleeves of his jacket and wrapped his arms around her tightly to keep her from trying to take it off.

"Wait, won't you be cold without it on?" She asked, trying to find an excuse for him not to have him give up his jacket.

"I've got another shirt on under my Jounin one, I'll be completely fine."

"But what if you start to get cold?"

He pulled Sakura closer to him, having her lean back against his chest before he gently settled his hands on her lap. "Then I have you to keep me warm, don't I?"

She turned away from him again, probably in embarrassment, he guessed. Sakura was kind of different when she was like this and not in her usual Shinobi clothing. She blushed a lot more, and she actually acted like quite the shy but lovely feminine beauty most guys dreamt of. It was refreshing to see this side of her. He realized he enjoyed it quite a lot.

Once Sakura stopped protesting and actually zipped the jacket up so it fastened around her, Kakashi stopped restraining her and rested his chin comfortably on her shoulder.

More and more people began to gather onto the same hillside, laying down blankets and jackets to sit on with their loved ones. Eventually, the hill was alive with excited whispers and chatter as they all waited for the long anticipated fireworks show. Kakashi and Sakura still had the best view from the top of the hill, and weren't crowded at all like the mass of people farther down the hill from them. They had their own little, secluded spot for themselves.

Sakura began to relax considerably more after sitting on his lap for a while, only once he had reassured her he was quite comfortable and she wasn't crushing him in the slightest, of course. Why were women always self-conscious of their weight like that? If she hadn't been light enough to sit on his lap, he wouldn't have ever invited her to do so, no matter how ungentlemanly it would have been of him.

She leaned her head back on his shoulder, smiling up at the starlit sky with her eyes gently closed. He had subconsciously placed his warm hands over her icy ones to try to keep them warm, holding them against her stomach. Sakura sighed at the nice feeling, welcoming it as she let herself soak in the feeling of leaning against Kakashi's warm body.

He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter, enjoying how perfect she fit against his body. He hadn't felt so at peace and comfortable with someone in a very long time. He turned his face into the side of her neck and inhaled deeply, taking in how sweet she smelled. Normally, he would keep himself in check from doing something so silly, but it was late into the night, they were alone, and he was relaxed despite being hyperaware of his close proximity to her. He made a note to himself to go to festivals more often.

"Saaakuraaa!" A shrill voice suddenly called out from the entrance of the hillside park. Kakashi and Sakura immediately lifted their heads and sat up stiffly. They watched as Ino made her way over to them with Shikamaru, Choji, and Hinata.

Sakura started to stand up, and Kakashi wasn't going to let her get embarrassed just from her friend seeing her with him, so he didn't stop her. To his surprise, she actually stopped halfway before sitting back down on his lap, prompting him to hold her hands again. He looked at her, but she merely kept her eyes straight ahead on Ino.

Kakashi found it to be curious behavior for Sakura, but didn't bother to ask.

"Sakura-chan! I've been looking all over for you- Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had found a date," she said slyly, eyeing Kakashi with a devilish look. Kakashi merely smiled and nodded once in her direction.

"Hello Ino, Shika, Choji. You too Hinata," he greeted with a small hand wave before resting his hand on top of Sakura's again. He saw that Ino noticed their hands immediately, giving Sakura a silent questioning look. Kakashi didn't know if Sakura gave her an answering one, since his view of her wasn't the same as Ino's.

"Hey there Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan." Shikamaru waved at them.

"Are you guys here for the fireworks show, too?" Hinata asked barely above a whisper. Sakura had to crane her neck to be able to make out what she had said. Kakashi on the other hand had no problem hearing her with his sharpened senses.

"Yes, we are," Sakura told her with a smile. "And I think they're going to start soon."

"Oooh! Mind if we join you guys?" Ino asked, already sitting herself next to Kakashi. Choji and the others followed Ino's lead and sat beside her.

"Suit yourself," Sakura muttered under her breath. Kakashi chuckled, feeling flattered that she had preferred to spend time alone with him than this group.

"Eh? What was that, forehead? I couldn't quite hear ya," Ino gave her childhood friend an annoyed smile, cupping her ear as if to tell her to speak up. Sakura's eye twitched before returning the same, irritated smirk.

"Shut up Ino-pig, I didn't say anything, you deaf cow." She turned her chin up at Ino before slumping back against Kakashi. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist again, ignoring the odd stares he recieved from his ex-student's comrades at his actions.

Suddenly, bright, colorful balls of light erupted in the sky, making everyone turn and jump at the thunderous explosion. Many of them blasted spontaneously into a shower of sparks, and then faded gradually into the shape of a weeping willow. Those had always been Kakashi's favorite, though he had no idea why.

The longer the show went on, the more spectacular the fireworks and colors became. Green, red, blue, gold, purple, silver, pink; the list of colors went on and on. Sakura squeezed Kakashi's hand excitedly when fireworks in the shape of pink Sakura flowers blew up in the midnight sky. He had nodded and smiled when she turned to look at him and see if he had seen them.

Without him realizing it, more and more familiar faces had joined their little group at the top of the hill. Kakashi looked around and recognized the faces of Guy and his team, Kurenai and her team, and Naruto, who had seated himself next to Hinata. Poor girl looked like she was going to faint any second. Even Gaara and the sand siblings were there. He had been so busy watching the fireworks himself as well as the light of pure excitement on Sakura's face that he hadn't noticed the size of the group had grown. Sakura didn't seem to notice either, and she leaned back even more into Kakashi's chest, once again resting her head against his shoulder and sighing happily. Kakashi looked back up into the sky, watching the fireworks grow steadily bigger and more frequent.

"Here comes the grand finale," he heard Choji whisper to everyone. Not long after that, cheering erupted from the hillside as the finale of the fireworks display began to light up the sky above the Hokage Mountain. Firework after firework after firework blew up with less than a second between each explosion. Everyone 'oohed' and 'awed' at the fantastic show until finally, the last and biggest firework erupted into a cloud of red sparks. It was the shape of the symbol of the Leaf Village, and everyone cheered after the crimson sparks finally faded into the darkness of the night.

Kakashi was torn between getting up and leaving immediately or doing something that may not be welcomed by Sakura and, may even be regretted by him later. He decided to chance it before everyone's eyes adjusted to the darkness.

He suddenly turned to Sakura under the cover of the night, holding up her hand to his now unmasked lips before kissing it. He heard her gasp in surprise before he smiled warmly at her and whispered into her ear, "Happy last day of autumn, Sakura."

Author's Notes! :)

I will get the next chapters up as soon as I can! Go ahead and leave a review! Thanks for reading! Love you all! :B

BountyKress