A/N: This is an age-swap AU, Sakura is Team 7's sensei, Kakashi is her student. I've played with the manga canon a bit here and there as necessary - also Naruto is Naruko (female) in this, though doesn't get a speaking role. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

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Written In Reverse

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Footsore and exhausted, Kakashi glanced back at the two ANBU running like swift pack dogs with him. The route for their current mission had them passing through Hot Springs Country. The air was thick and warm here, with a metallic scent, the ground soft and overgrown with huge ferns and cloud-scraping evergreens. He didn't dislike it, but the forests of Fire Country were to be preferred.

With two good days worth of travel in front of them to the Lightning Country, and one long day behind them since they'd set out from Konoha, he knew everyone had to be near their limit for non-stop travel over the course of one day. Their team leader, Sakura, who was a red, black and pink streak well ahead of them, was the only one in their group not wearing a mask or in ANBU garb. She also continued setting a brutal pace. He vaguely wondered if she was angry about something. He supposed Tsunade had dropped this mission on her rather out of nowhere.

Well that, and things between them had been a bit awkward since that incident three months ago. Kakashi supposed there were a lot of things that could happen between two people traveling together, occasionally sheltering for the night in a small tent. It really wasn't all that erotic, but he blushed just thinking about waking up with her arm wrapped around him, with her hand under his shirt. As many times as Sakura had already apologized, it seemed like every time she saw him she wanted to apologize again.

Behind him, misjudging the footing in the darkness, Yamato stumbled over a boulder but recovered before either he or Sai could stop to help. Kakashi decided it was time to break the informal silence and called out ahead. "Sakura-sensei, we passed a good campsite just a few minutes ago. Can we stop?"

Sakura didn't look back at him, and her pace didn't falter. "One more hour and we'll be in Frost Country," she said, her voice flat and brooking no argument.

A little over an hour later, they were at the base of a coastal mountain, the last in a long string of jagged peaks, which bore a massive, groaning, crackling glacier; large chunks of ice broke off of it and crashed into the water below with startling frequency. From above, the waxing moon gave the water and ice an ethereal quality and the combined view of sharp mountains, cold, ice-specked sea and dark sky it took his breath away. Kakashi had seen few signs of habitation on land, but out on the water in the distance, he could see the lights glimmering on a pair of fishing boats.

Yamato used his Four-Pillars House jutsu on a sparsely vegetated, ice-smoothed ridge, and once inside they made a dinner of dry rations. Sai went and sat outside the front door and doodled moonlit crags, while munching on that flavorless granola only former Root members seemed to like. Yamato crawled into his bedroll without eating, since he had second watch and was visibly exhausted. Kakashi watched as Sakura set her things in the middle of the main room while she studiously ignored them all. She pulled out a lantern from her supply scroll then sorted through her hip pack for something to eat. He couldn't manage to catch her eye, and her avoidance made the unfurnished hollowness of their temporary shelter feel deeper.

Kakashi unstrapped his katana and unbuckled his armor, stacking it neatly, unknotted his porcelain wolf mask, set it aside leaving the black mask underneath up and laid back on top of his bedroll. He looked over at Sakura's things set out near his again, and wondered if she'd manage to complete the entire mission without speaking directly to anyone on the team. If that was her intent she was making a good start of it.

There were a number of things they could communicate without speaking, though. Any good team was like that, but Sakura was usually the first to talk and the last to hide how she was feeling. That she'd been so terse since they'd left, made him unhappy and likely had Yamato on edge as well; their whole team was used to her sharing everything she thought about things, especially where they were going and what they'd be doing there.

As he drifted off, his thoughts took him back to when he'd first met her, a little over six years ago. He was a rather grim twelve-year-old on the verge of taking the Chuunin exams, with those two bickering idiots, Naruko and Sasuke on his team and no clue just how badly he needed people, friends, and someone he could trust besides his dogs. It all seemed like such a long time ago.

For all that he'd suffered before losing his father, losing his eye. Kakashi knew Sakura had gone through things just as bad if not worse. Yet, somehow, her heart was not hardened to the world. Only months after she had met him, she'd given Kakashi the only thing she had left of one of her most precious friends. An eye from a cursed family, from a dead friend or lover or whatever that guy had been to her. Uchiha Obito's eye was a dubious gift, but he'd already made quite a reputation with it. Kakashi seldom uncovered it outside of combat when Sakura was near, afraid of an awkward look or a sad smile that wasn't directed at him.

He knew he hadn't been asleep long when he woke to the sound of soft, almost imperceptible footsteps moving across the hard floorboards of the cabin. He turned his head to see Sakura disappear out the door.

"Is it just me, or is Sakura-taicho acting odd?" Yamato said in a half-whisper across from him, though he didn't sit up.

Kakashi sighed. "How long has it been since she's been to the Lightning Country, do you think? That might have something to do with it." If her behavior was nothing to do with him, there were plenty of other things it might be. It was a bit arrogant of him to assume she was angry Tsunade put them on a team together again, not knowing what had occurred.

"Not for a couple of years," Yamato said, running his hand back over his spiky hair, which was still damp with sweat. He'd known and worked with Sakura far longer than Kakashi, and Kakashi suspected he held a particular regard for her that she had never acknowledged nor returned. "She doesn't talk about it."

Not to you, Kakashi gloated to himself, though usually she only spoke of the war to him in the context of their work. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Much of the fight against Uchiha Madara and his allies had happened in the Lightning Country, leaving behind mass graves, memorials and blasted, empty plains littered with rusty kunai. There were plenty of people in the village who still woke up every night in a cold sweat, or went quiet and stared into the distance at random intervals, their mind going somewhere impenetrable and full of terror. Kakashi got around his worst memories by drowning them in escapist literature. Mainly pornography, but it was good porn – the sort with a plot. One of the books, Icha Icha Paradise was the best birthday gift Naruko had ever given him. He was tempted to pull the book out right now.

"Tsunade might have given her a side job, too. It wouldn't be the first time. S-rank missions are always more complicated," Yamato said, between yawns.

"We're supposed to be her escort, I doubt she'd neglect to mention that."

With Yamato's laugh, Kakashi sat back up and reached for the nearest sharp object, cutting his thumb on a shuriken in his hip pouch. Sending Pakkun after her might not do much to resolve his unease, but he did the seals anyway and summoned the pug nin-ken.

Pakkun appeared in a puff of smoke, and his watery, round eyes were bleary and heavy like he'd been sleeping. "I hope this is important," he said, yawning and stretching out his back legs.

Kakashi rolled his eye. "It is to me. Sorry if you were asleep. Go find Sakura-sensei, and come back before she does. Don't let her see you."

"Should you be spying on her?" Pakkun admonished.

"Pakkun."

"I'm going," he said, waving his curly-tailed rear at Kakashi.

As they waited for the pug to return, Yamato passed out, snoring through the back of his throat and making little wheezing sounds. If he were trying to sleep, Kakashi would probably have kicked him in the side by now, senpai or not. It wasn't long before Pakkun returned, his claws clacking against the wood as he scurried, with the scent of wet grass and ice following him in. Kakashi sat up, hunched over his crossed legs, waiting for the report.

"She went down to the shoreline. There was a white-haired guy with no insignias on his clothes standing in the water waiting. Then they traded scrolls. He had those shark teeth Water Country people sometimes have."

The man he described sounded familiar. "Damn it, why would she-"

Pakkun lifted his paw in a sort of shrug. "Sai followed her with a bunshin, too. I think she knows you guys pretty well. She didn't even try to hide her tracks. I don't think Sakura-san felt threatened."

"She should have asked one of us to come along." He knew now why she wanted to get here so badly, but not why it was a secret. Or maybe it wasn't a secret and this was just more of her acting strange.

"It was a pretty straightforward exchange. The guy grinned and left waving, as soon as he had what he wanted." Pakkun chuckled.

"Hmmm. I think Sasuke used to run with a someone matching that description. The only thing he was interested in were the swords of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist though." Trading secrets for a sword was a possibility, since he was still a missing-nin, and as a free agent could take on certain jobs that shinobi from the Hidden Villages could not without breaking certain treaties.

"Well I can't tell you what was in the scrolls, you'll have to ask her that. Need me for anything else Kakashi-san? I'm pretty sleepy."

Kakashi sensed Sakura approaching the cabin and he slipped into his bedroll. "No, you can go," he said, laying back, debating whether to try tonight or corner her in the morning and attempt to wheedle information out of her then; exhaustion chose for him.

The shuffle of feet between Yamato getting up and Sai laying down to sleep, woke Kakashi again. He blinked his right eye - holding the left closed was second-nature. Across from him Sakura was awake, sprawled on top of her bedroll and reading. The lantern light wasn't strong but it was steady and painted their surroundings a warm amber color. He blinked again and tugged his mask back up over his nose, hiding his frown.

Sakura watched him as he came over to sit next to her, lowering the scroll. Her eyebrow rose when he didn't say anything, just stared at her, glancing down at her reading and then back up to her face.

"Is two hours enough rest? You seemed pretty tired," she said.

"It's enough. Usually you need more sleep than I do. I can take your watch," he said, keeping his voice low though he knew Sai could hear him perfectly well if he wanted to listen.

Her expression shifted from tolerant, to annoyed. "Perhaps I should phrase this differently. Go back to sleep, Kakashi."

"Not until you tell me what you were doing with Hozuki Suigetsu out on the shore," he said, crossing his arms, smug but not without a bit of anger behind his voice.

"Brat. It's nothing that will cause you any problems, if anything it will help us. This mission is primarily diplomatic – and diplomacy is easier when you have a grip on the political situation you are jumping into," she explained, as if he were a rookie on his first trip outside of the Fire Country.

"There are many less expensive ways of getting that sort of information than from a dangerous missing-nin like that guy. Who the hell set up the drop?" he asked, genuinely curious. There were only a few people in Konoha that he knew of close enough to Suigetsu to even be able to contact him.

"You aren't going to let this go, are you?"

"Underneath the underneath, Sakura-sensei. You're the one who taught me that. I'm doing my job," he said, matching her annoyed glare.

She looked at him for a moment and reached up and ruffled his hair, smiling at him fondly. "Why couldn't you have been born ten years earlier?" she laughed. Sakura rolled up the scroll in front of her, stowing it in one of her pouches, and drew out a different one which was still sealed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" There was really only one thing it could mean in conjunction with that affectionate smile. His heart thudded in his chest, as thoughts and feelings he kept well tamped down inside, surged forward and formed a single, unspeakable thought:

I want you.

"I'm just teasing," she said.

No you're not. Kakashi said nothing, vaguely regretting the moment he'd decided to stay awake. If her intention was to completely throw his mind off the topic of interest and onto a different track though, she'd succeeded.

Sakura continued to hold his gaze, paying no mind to his flustered expression as she held out the sealed scroll to him. "If you're going to be up, you might as well be useful. This is the information the independent agent acquired for us. It's all in code of course, so if you don't mind..."

He took it from her hand, making a face at the phrase 'independent agent'. "Do you want me to copy it out or memorize it?" At least he had something to think about now besides how much he wanted to fuck his former teacher, hard on the floor of a cabin in the middle of nowhere - and in full view of their comrades. He did the hand seals for a high-level unsealing jutsu over the small scroll, and as the seal evaporated, the edge of the silk-wrapped rice paper flopped loose.

"You can read it to me once you have it worked out, then destroy it," she said. "I'll take a nap in the meantime. Like you suggested." Sakura grinned. She laid her head on her folded arms and closed her eyes, her long pink hair sliding off of her shoulders and onto the floor - begging to be stroked or caught up in his hands as he–

Kakashi bit his lip and forced himself to look back down at the task he'd been assigned; it took him the better part of an hour to complete. When he was done, he sat quiet and thoughtful, watching Sakura sleep and wondering how much she already knew about what he'd just read. Soon, Yamato would be back from walking the perimeter, and it would be his turn to stalk around in the cold, guarding their camp.

For a moment he debated on how to rouse his troublesome team leader. He was not above a well-played prank, particularly where Naruko was concerned, but what he wanted more than anything was to beguile Sakura the way she did him. Doing so might only make their relationship more awkward, but it wouldn't be the first time he jumped into something head first.

"Sakura," he whispered, close to her ear, dropping her title if only to try out not saying it. He pulled his mask down far enough to kiss her on the neck, and whispered again, "Sakura, wake up." She caught him by the collar before he could move away, and pulled him down.

When Yamato returned, neither Kakashi nor Sakura heard him enter. Caught up in Sakura, her smell, her lips on his as she kissed him, her body pressing against his as she pinned him against the floor; Kakashi doubted he'd have felt a knife pierce his flesh he was so high on her.

"Uh... maybe I should go back outside." Yamato said, turning on his heel, while they froze in place in embarrassment. Kakashi pushed up on his elbows, Sakura still leaning on his chest, and looked over to see Sai still asleep. He really wasn't kidding when he said he didn't care about interpersonal relationships. It was all academic to Sai.

Sakura glanced at the door, chewing at her lower lip, her expression unreadable. "We shouldn't have done that," she said moving away from him, to sit cross-legged on her bedroll. She didn't sound like she regretted it. "You have the decoded message for me, correct?"

"Whenever you're ready," Kakashi replied, watching Yamato return, expecting him to be glaring at them in disapproval. His face was as smooth and as peaceful as the cat mask he wore as an ANBU, however. Kakashi got the subtle hint that they should all remember how to act like professionals before they reached Kumo, if they wanted this mission to be successful. He took this to heart as he started reciting from memory the captured correspondence from a group strongly suspected in the recent murder of the Lightning Country's Daimiyo.

Hours later, having claimed Sakura's shift, Kakashi got to see the sun rise, blinding light washing over the mountain and the rivers of ice upon it, tinted in pink and yellow and palest blue. Every now and then he caught himself touching the part of his mask over his mouth, his lips still tingling from that reckless moment. He deeply hoped he would find a way to garner a repeat.