Another feel good piece, just for fun.

IT WAS ASECRET

THE VIGILANT SCARECROW

He was strange, he always had been. I'd watched him fail so many students over the years, sending them back to the academy and never passing a single one - until yesterday. Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura were the students in team seven. They were the first genins to ever make it past Hatake Kakashi's rigorous tests.

'Don't you have your own team?' He dropped down beside me, crouching on the tree branch that I was sitting on.

'Hokage-sama asked that I not take a team this year so that I could focus on training a few chuunins before their exams,' I answered, closing the book that I was holding.

'How's it going?'

A small shrug lifted my shoulders. 'They're all very good, though some of them are out to prove that they are better than me.'

Though I couldn't see the expression under the mask he wore, I knew that a smirk was plastered over his lips. 'How's that working out for them?'

'Not very well.'

He laughed. 'You kicked their asses, didn't you?'

'A little bit.'

'Shizuri sensei,' Sakura called. 'What are you doing here?'

I felt a smile spread over my lips as I looked down at her. 'Sakura, you know I hate it when you call me that.'

'Why do you think I call you sensei?'

I leapt from the tree, standing beside her for a moment, my hands on my hips. 'Aw, come here you.' I opened my arms to her, pulling her into a tight embrace before I released her, ruffling her pink hair.

'Hey!' she exclaimed, batting my hand away before fixing her head protector. 'Zuri-chan, why do you always do that?'

'Why? Because you don't call me sensei when I do,' I said. Sakura was the little sister I never had. Of all the students I had come to know, she was the one that I would always care most about.

'I only do it because I know you don't like it.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Oh, that's such a great reason to do it.'

'Sakura, get back to your training,' Kakashi said, still crouched in the tree above us.

'Okay,' she said, bounding back towards Sasuke and Naruto. 'See you later Zuri-chan.'

I watched her as she stood beside Sasuke, fidgeting with her hands behind her back. She'd never directly admitted it to me, but I knew she had feelings for the black haired Uchiha.

'She's a very good student.' Kakashi relaxed from his crouched position, sitting beside me as I leapt back up into the tree.

I smiled. 'You don't have to tell me that.'

'You really care about her,' he said.

I turned to look at him, trying to place the expression on his face. 'Yes, I do. She's like family.' I glanced down, staring at my feet as they dangled high above the ground. 'She's one of the only people who has really cared about me since–'

'Your dad died,' he finished. 'I know.'

I took a deep breath, fighting the pain. It still hurt, even though thirteen long years had passed since the only family I had ever known was killed, murdered right in front of me and left to die in my arms.

'I have to go. I have some things I need to do before I go home tonight.' I dropped from the tree branch, glancing up to him. 'I'll see you around.'

It was just after midnight, and I was still awake. I knew that I would never be able to go to sleep. I threw the covers aside and changed before walking over to the window to touch the cool glass. I unlatched the clasp before I jumped down onto the streets of Konoha, looking up at the moon for a moment. I didn't know where I was going, but the path I was taking felt right, familiar to me.

'What are you doing out and about so late?'

I spun on my heel, ready in a defensive stance as I looked in the direction of the voice. As soon as my eyes caught the glint of his silver hair in the moonlight, I relaxed. 'Kakashi, you startled me,' I sighed.

'That's new.' He came towards me, his hands tucked in his pockets. 'Ah…About earlier, I should apologise, I know how painful that subject is.'

I glanced to the ground. 'Don't, it's fine.'

'If you're fine, why do you always run and hide from the subject?'

I looked into his visible eye. 'Because it still hurts,' I said, my voice barely a whisper.

'Then stop keeping it locked up inside,' he said. 'We've been friends since we were little and yet you put up all these walls to block me out.'

'Walls? I'm not–'

'You are, Shizuri,' he argued, grasping my shoulders. 'And you know it.'

I stepped backwards, trying to put some distance between us. 'I…I'm not…' I almost stumbled as he stepped towards me, reaching for my hand. I pulled away from his grip as his fingers made contact with mine. I turned, running towards the alley that would lead me towards the sanctuary of my home, where I could curl up in my covers and hide from the world.

'Shizuri!' he cried, sprinting to keep up with me. 'Stop running already. Please, let me help you.'

I didn't stop, even as he continued to plead with me – I just ran faster. I leapt through my still open window, collapsing as soon as my feet had touched the floorboards, my body shaking.

'Get out,' I snarled, my hands clenching into fists as Kakashi landed behind me.

'Shizuri,'

'Get out!' My fist hit the wood so hard that it splintered, almost breaking under the force.

'Listen to me.'

'No!' I felt my skin split as I punched the wood again, but the physical pain didn't compare to what was tearing at my heart.

For a moment I felt weightless, my body lifting into the air before it came crashing to the floor. Kakashi was on top of me, pinning my arms above my head. I struggled against his iron grip but he was stronger than me. 'Please, stop.'

'Why?' I cried.

'Because if you don't, my heart will shatter.'

The words were whispered, strained as they escaped his lips, but I heard them as though they were screamed. The fight left my body, leaving me limp. I stared straight into his eyes, his head protector having been knocked off during our struggle. 'Kakashi…'

He sat to the side, pulling me onto his laps and into his arms. I rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and gripping his vest so tightly that the green fabric almost tore. His hand touched my cheek, trying to get me to look at him. 'Let me in, let me pull down the walls.'

'I…I can't.'

'Shizuri. Let. Me. In.'

I had never cried, never even shed one tear but as he wrapped me further into his embrace, I felt the first tears leave a burning trail down my cheeks. They kept coming, running in rivulets and staining the fabric of his vest dark green.

'Let it go,' he whispered, his fingers stroking my hair as he placed a kiss on my forehead, his lips so warm against my skin. 'Let it all go.'

I traced his jaw line with my fingertips, feeling the soft skin that was now exposed, the mask hanging around his slender neck. 'You're my scarecrow, always looking out for me, guarding me. You've always been here for me, whenever I needed you most.'

'And I always will be,' he whispered. I shifted to face him properly, his pale skin glowing in the moonlight that shone through my window.

'Kakashi...?'

'Yes?'

'Do you love me?'

He wiped the tears from my cheeks. 'Since the moment I met you.'

'My first day at school.'

A smile crossed his lips. 'And you handed my ass to me when I tried to fight you.'

I smirked. 'You let me win.'

'Only a little,' he laughed.

'Why haven't you ever told me before?'

'You've never asked.'

'What's the real reason?'

'It was a secret,' he whispered, kissing my forehead again. I closed my eyes. His lips felt so good. I tilted my head towards him, my fingers weaving into his soft, silver hair. The heat of his breath seemed to caress my cheek, moving slowly along my face. His fingers traced my skin as though I were made of glass before he tipped my chin up, his lips brushing mine softly.

I pulled at the fabric of his vest, desperate to get closer to him. As though reading my mind, his arms tightened around me. His hands gripped my hips as he lifted me, my legs straddling him before they wrapped around his trim waist.

His breath was ragged when he broke the kiss, his eyes closed as his forehead leant against mine. 'I shouldn't be…It'd be wrong…'

'Why?' I asked, breathlessly.

'Because I would be taking advantage of you,' he said, leaning back.

'I want this.'

'You're not thinking straight.' He tried to look away, but I gripped his chin.

'Kakashi,' I said, my voice strong as I looked into his eyes. 'I wouldn't say that unless I meant it, unless I loved you.'

'You mean–'

'Since the moment I met you.'

He smiled, his lips meeting mine again. He lifted me onto the bed, moving over me, his entire length against mine. I unzipped his vest, stripping it from his body and throwing it across the room. It hit wall with a loud thud, landing in a heap on the floor as he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing the taut, pale flesh that covered his torso. He dropped the garment to the floor and removed his gloves before his hands traced the hem of my shirt, slipping under the fabric to snake over my skin.

I shivered under his touch, his smooth fingers leaving a trail of tingling flesh. He pulled the shirt over my head and it followed his before he leant forward, giving me a fervent kiss before trailing his lips to my breasts, teasing the sensitive nipples with an insistent tongue.

I ran my hands over his chest, my fingers greedily feeling every muscle that lay beneath his creamy flesh, all the way down to the hem of his trousers. I slipped my fingers beneath the fabric and was rewarded with a moan. I moved further beneath the fabric to the perfect skin of his hips, his toned ass and then to…

The moan was louder this time, deeper as I stroked him from base to tip. 'Oh god,' he breathed, kissing me until I was dizzy. He pulled back from me, and when he returned, his trousers were gone. Soon, mine were too as he all but tore them from my body.

He shuddered as I gripped him again. 'Harder,' he groaned, his lips relentlessly caressing mine. I tightened my grip and a deep growl rumbled in his chest, growing with every stroke of my hand. He grasped my wrists, pulling my hands over my head, holding them in place with one hand.

'You're so beautiful,' he breathed as his hand traced my skin, following the line of my hips, all the way to my centre. A long finger searched within me as I lay helpless. With my arms held above my head, I could only writhe beneath his touch, wanting more.

'Kashi…' I moaned, my fingernails digging into the hands that held them. I wanted to touch him, to mark his creamy skin with the fingernails that gripped him helplessly, desperately.

'What do you need?' he asked, his eyes burning into mine.

'To feel you, your skin, every inch of your body,' I whispered, my body arching towards him.

His hand released its grip, moving down to wrap around me, his hand on the small of my back. I gripped his arms, moving over his torso to his back, right back down to his hips. A groan of protest escaped my lips as he ceased his delicious assault on my flesh, but was cut off when his flesh drove into mine, filling me until I could almost see stars.

At the first thrust, I felt my entire body crying out for him, urging him on as I moved to meet his actions. My fingernails raked his body, digging into the taut muscles of his hips as he set my body on fire.

'Again,' he growled, his fingers weaving into my hair. I followed the path again, feeling the marks from the previous onslaught on his flesh beneath my fingernails. His back arched towards my hands as I gripped his hips.

His silver hair brushed my neck as he kissed my sensitive flesh, moving along my jaw before kissing me with a hunger that I returned. His teeth grazed my bottom lip, biting, sucking as his hand cupped my breast. I moaned, my head falling back against the pillows, my hands pulling him closer until his heated skin was pressed against mine. His pace increased, his body moving faster and faster as though answering the silent plea that I couldn't put into words.

His hips ground against mine, making me want more and more as the world fell away from around us. There was nothing else, just Kakashi and a feeling of absolute fulfilment that I hadn't felt for thirteen years.

His fingers wove into my hair, tilting my head until my eyes met his. The half-lidded gaze was so powerful, so unshielded in a way that I had never seen it before. In their reflection, I could see my own, the walls stripped from them because of this silver haired man.

'God…Shizuri…' He pulled me against him as his thrusts became erratic, his muscles tensing in time with my own.

My teeth sank into his shoulder to stifle the cry that built up behind my lips as I climaxed, though it still managed to escape, tearing from my body, matched by the cry that came from him as he followed only seconds after.

I was seeing stars again. It felt like I was floating, gliding somewhere high in the sky where the moon hung, watching over me as an arm brought me slowly back to the earth. I snuggled into his embrace, a smile over my lips that only broadened when he kissed my forehead, brushing my dark hair aside to look into my eyes.

'Why was it a secret?' I asked, unsure if I would really hear the reply.

'Honestly? Because I was afraid you didn't feel the same way.'

'Of course I do,' I said, my eyes seeming to get heavier with every second.

He kissed me softly, shifting me so that my head rest on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat, still elevated. 'Sleep, love, you can tell me all about it in the morning. I'm not leaving you alone ever again.'

'Ever again,' I repeated, my eyes closing as I wrapped my arm around my vigilant scarecrow Kakashi's waist. 'I like that.'