Fireflies
Oneshot, KakaSaku
Summary: Her first kiss . . . and her last. I can see the moon . . . and the stars . . . KakaSaku

Disclaimer: Oh great, now I have to say that I don't own Naruto either.

AAOTD: Ah, my first Naruto fic is finally done!
Amon: Your last hopefully?
AAOTD: Nope!
Takara: Remember, she's probably going to do a SasuSaku, and maybe even a GenmaSakura.
AAOTD: Yeppy, Takara-kun is so smart! (strangles aka 'hugs' him)
Takara: Can't...breathe...

Why had this happened? It was his mistake, it was his fault that she had ended up like this. He should have been protecting her. After she had received the fatal blow, Kakashi had quickly disposed of the other missing-nins. He had promised himself that he would never let another comrade die, and yet here was another one, another Rin.

There was nothing he could do as blood pooled around them, he watched helplessly as the pink haired chuunin tried to buy herself more time. She coughed and lost her concentration, crimson caked her ever paling face, covered her lips.

And the ninja who had over a thousand jutsus couldn't do a thing but watch, he scrambled his wits trying to think up of a way to help her but could come up with nothing. There was no one but them. And it was all his fault.

They had been on an information gathering mission , nothing too hard but the mission before that was to protect a high official from assassinations. They did their job but at the cost of too much wasted chakra, then as soon as it was over Sakura had insisted that they return home. If only he hadn't given in.

Kakashi bent down to Sakura, who had given up healing herself. They both knew the outcome of this night. He saw out of the corner of his eyes her lips moving. The nonexistent wind was louder than her voice at the moment. Slowly, hesitantly, Kakashi picked up her limp body and held her closer.

So many things were being left unsaid between them, emotions were bubbling behind the mask of indifference he always wore. He let his eye soften, roaming over the girl of only sixteen. Shinobis lived fast, and most died young. She had had a bright future ahead of her, and to his dismay, she was attracting too many suitors for either his or Naruto's likings.

"Ka," she managed to choke out, pulling the older ninja out of his stupor.

He leaned in closer to hear her, "What is it?" When she didn't speak, he looked at her, fearing that she may have left him. An ache filled him at the realization that these were in fact her final moments. He was relieved to see that she was still breathing, that her heart was still pounding even if it was light and labored. His onyx eye looked into her unfocused emerald ones. She wasn't look at him, but something behind him.

He turned to see flickering lights landing on the grass growing around a small pond. Fireflies. He smiled lightly, even if she couldn't see it through the mask.

"F-fireflies . . . They're so beau 'cough' . . ." Sakura wasn't able to finish her sentence, but he got the message.

"We don't see them around the village, there aren't any good places for them to live," somehow he was able to keep his tone sounding bored, he was somehow able to keep his voice neutral and deprived of any emotion. A shinobi must never show emotions.

They watched in a peaceful silence as the light bugs shone brightly, a few of them were going out. A strong gust of wind blew, the clouds overhead moved out to reveal a glowing full moon. The fireflies, disturbed from their nesting spot danced away. Orbs of light charmed themselves around the two, the orange-yellow flares were going out one by one, flying to somewhere distance.

The lingering insects seemed to feel death hanging thick around the two bodies, and acting like Kakashi, they danced around the two would be lovers, comforting the tense kunoichi. He felt her eyes on him then, he felt her tense in his arms. He didn't want to look at her, he didn't want to see her in her weakest moments, on the verge of death.

"Please look at me," her voice sounded stronger, there was no pain laced in her words. She must have shut down the pulses her nerves to avoid any more pain, Kakashi thought to himself before obliging to her wish.

His breath caught, she was dancing on the line of the living and the dead and yet, she never looked more beautiful, smiling at him, firelight dancing in her eyes drew him in. He forgot everything, lost in an emerald forest that was quickly burning away, time stopped for them.

He pulled down his mask, he had long ago crossed the line between student and teacher, but now he was close to breaking one of the rules. He didn't care though as he pulled her closer to him. Their faces were less than an inch apart, he could feel her even, slow breaths on his face, hear blood pumping in his ears. Already Kakashi had fallen into her green eyes, he could almost taste her lips, fine like wine.She was spellbound by the unmasked passion surfacing within the depths of his bi-colored eyes, of his smooth face that Team Seven had worked so hard to uncover so many years ago.His thumb gently brushed over her cold lips, she closed her eyes for only a second before forcing them open, not wanting to fall into darkness just yet. They were a breath away from Eden and yet they were both fools, if only they had crossed the bridge sooner, then maybe this could have been avoided.

Sakura was the one to close the distance between them, they both savored and cherished the moment. Her first kiss, but unfortunately her last one as well. He tasted her, strawberries like he always imagined, she had ripened and grown into such a beautiful woman, but now she was fading away like cherry blossoms at the end of their season. So many emotions swelled in both of them, triggered by different things.

Tears slipped down Sakura's face for the empty life she had led, chasing after someone who may never had cared for her when the people who cared for her most, Naruto and Kakashi were in front of her. She had taken them for granted, she had taken life for granted and now hers was over before she even had a chance to truly live it. This kiss . . . it may have been the best thing she could ever hope for, and she would remember it always, all the way to her next life and beyond that.

Kakashi tasted it, a taste, a look that the one in his arms should never have to pull off. The irony taste awoke a part in him that he had buried deep down, it had finally, truly hit home. She was dying. She was dying. All too soon their moment ended, but he held her closer. If he held her closer, maybe she would stay with him longer, a childish part of him pestered. He took in her scent and was a bit surprised that she didn't smell like the cherry blossoms she was named after, but instead of the wild blossoms of the night.

"Look . . . Kakashi, the moon," Sakura said suddenly, softly, her eyes closing with every word as she liefted her hand to point at the sky above."I can see the moon . . . and stars . . ." He grasped her hand in his and held it.

Kakashi looked up, in his arms he felt her body give up, her breathing stopped, her hand in his went limp. Fireflies danced, moving in to unheard music as old as time. One by one they left him as the sun chased away the moon. Kakashi swore that as Sakura left him, another star had burned out.

He bent his head and kissed her forehead, still not looking at her but the fading moon. "It's because . . . I think I love you," he answered his question from before.

Fireflies dance all around them, charming the air.
Their orange-yellow pulses silently, extinguish then flare.
It's a pattern - nature's design; life and death.
In her, he's seeing enchantment personified.
The firelight dances in her eyes, drawing him in.
And he's gone again, he's fallen into an emerald forest that are her eyes.
She's spellbound, the passion surfacing within the depths of his own eyes.
He takes in her scent, wild blossoms in the night.
And the distance between begin to close in.
His thumb brushes over her lips.
And she can't help but close her eyes . . .
They are but a breath away from Eden.