A/N: I don't have a beta, so I apologize for any mistakes :3

The Mission

The morning sun lit up the bedroom of a sleeping pink haired kunoichi. With a groan the said woman pulled back the covers and rose to a sitting position on the edge of her bed. She groggily made her way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for today's mission. Once the steady stream of the shower came pouring down she made her way to her bedroom as she waited for the water to warm as she grabbed a pair of clean clothing.

Sakura entered her room wearing nothing more than her Black lacy bra, and matching panties. As a ninja her instincts are always top notch and she's always alert. In the back of her mind she felt a pair of eyes on her but ignored it as she turned back around to make her exit. She made her way back into the now steam filled bathroom and got in the dreamy shower. As the hot water ran over her she was lost in thought and mindlessly washed her hair and body.

I wonder how the mission will go. What if i can't get Kakashi to notice me. Or what if we can't get Sasuke to come home with us. What will he think when he see's me? I'm definitely not the same naive girl who would have followed him to the ends of the Earth.

Sakura was startled out of her reverie as someone began pounding on her door. She turned the now cold water off, wrapped her towel around herself, and walked to the front door. She stood on her tiptoes to look out the peep hole. She saw her blonde best friend standing there tapping her foot impatiently. Shit. I completely forgot Ino and I were supposed to hang out today.

Sakura opened the door and a blur of yellow and purple whirled beside her into her apartment. She closed the door and slowly turned to face her best friend with an apologetic smile. She knew Ino was going to blow up on her for standing her up.

"You better have a damn good reason you left me there waiting for you forehead!" Ino said through clenched teeth.

"Uhh.. Yeah, sorry about that. I was kinda assigned a last minute mission and completely forgot to tell you. I don't know how long it'll take, but I promise we'll go to the bar and get a few drinks when I come back. My treat."

"Is it another ANBU mission? Those take forever forehead. Not to mention they're also dangerous. You should have called me so we could have spent last night together…" Ino didn't bother finishing the sentence, both knew what was left hanging in thin air.

"Sounds like you actually do care about me pig" Sakura said with a smirk, but continued before the other girl could continue. "But, don't worry. It's not ANBU. I'm going with Team Seven actually. Well, with the exception of Sai. he's already out on a mission."

"Team Seven? But you guys haven't been on a mission together since Sasuke…" The blonde kunoichi's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. "Y-you d-don't mean…"

"Yes. There's been another sighting. We're supposed to meet at the gates around 8.. Shit. I'm late. I'll fill you in once I get back. Sorry, I gotta go." With that the green eyed kunoichi ran out the door and hopped over roof tops towards the cities walls.

As the gates came into view Sakura saw Naruto waiting for her to finally arrive. She jumped from a near by building and landed silently beside the blue eyed ninja.

"Hey Naruto, hope I'm not too late" Sakura inwardly sighed in relief as she noticed Kakashi was no where to be seen. She made it before the famous Copy-Ninja, so she figured she was safe.

"How nice of you to finally join us Sakura. We've been waiting." Kakashi's voiced startled Sakura and her face involuntarily turned pink.

"Yeah Sakura-chan! We've been waiting foooorreeevveer! And Sensei wouldn't even let me go get you!" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and slightly slouched.

Unbeknowingly to the younger nin, Kakashi originally went to receive Sakura .

~Flashback~

The window being the entryway of his choice, he leaped onto the window sill and was about to enter the room uninvitedly when he saw a relatively undressed Sakura enter her bedroom. His only visible eye widened slightly and his breath hitched as he took in the sight before him.

He inwardly smacked himself and told him to leave immediately. However, his feet seemed to be glued into place. He watched the girl before him in awe. Well I guess I can't really call her a girl anymore. She's a woman now. And an attractive one at that. How did I fail to notice this previously? Maybe it's because we never see each other much anymore… Yeah, that has to be it.

He continued to watch the woman in front of him for the next few seconds. His sight captivated by the way she gracefully walked about her room. The way her hips swayed, and kami. Her almost naked body had him lost in a trance. No. She definitely was no longer a little girl. No small girl had an ass as fine as hers, nor do they have her curves.

As quickly as she came into view, she disappeared into the hallway. Once she was no longer in view he came back to his senses. He leaped back down and headed back to the tree limb he was perched on waiting for Sakura with Naruto- Who had not known of his presence until his return.

~End Flashback~

"Anyways, we're all here. Let's get down to business. Our mission is to head towards Rain Country where we will follow the Uchiha, wait for his revenge to be fulfilled, then capture him and return to Konoha. Got it?" Kakashi's voiced was full of his seriousness as he focused on the job they needed to complete. The two nodded their understandings. "Good. Let's head out, we've wasted enough time as it is already." with that the trio leaped into the trees of the surrounding forest.

Hours of leaping, ducking, and dodging passed as their surroundings blurred beside them. Sakura's muscles felt tired and burned as she pushed herself to keep up with her team mates. Bored of the green blur around her she decided to rest her eyes upon a very enticing sight. Her eyes had fallen on her team leader.

She always heard rumors going around about how handsome the famous masked nin was, but never paid much attention to them, until now that is. He wore the standard jounin uniform, and even though it was baggy and left a lot to the imagination, she had seen what lies beneath on many occasions.

Hatake Kakashi was known for hating hospitals. Nurses often had to drag him in for check ups. When he was being even more stubborn than usual Tsunade, Shizune, or Sakura were sent after him. She had performed many of his check ups and had seen him shirtless on many occasions, but she was in medic mode, and never took the time to absorb what she was looking at.

Thing about it now, she could picture is lean frame, firm back, and muscular stomach that all shinobi had. Lost in her reverie she lost her footing and fell from the branch , crashing rapidly towards the hard ground below. She squeezed her eyes shut and held herself, preparing to make contact with the surface of the earth.

Something soft made contact with her body. Opening her eyes she noticed a masked face above hers looking straight on as he continued to carry her.

"Naruto, stop. We'll make camp here for tonight. We're close to the target and need to lay back anyways. Plus, our team mate here exhausted herself, she needs rest." As the words left his mouth Kakashi set the tired woman down. Naruto set his bag down and started setting up camp. "You know Sakura, you could have told us you needed a break. We would have stopped for you." Kakashi said to her.

"I didn't need you to stop for me. I can keep up."

"You exhausted yourself, I had to catch you from falling because you didn't have the energy to save yourself." Kakashi said raising a silver brow at her.

Sakura's blood began to boil. Her face became flustered from her outrage. "I'm not the child I was before Kakashi! I can handle myself, I'm no longer weak. I refuse to be pushed to the sidelines like dead weight to be protected by you and Naruto. I'm capable of protecting myself". Fire glowed in her eyes as she quickly turned on her heel and went over by Naruto. She unrolled her sleeping bag and laid down, her back towards Kakashi.

Kakashi made his way to a tree by the fire, and sat on the ground with his back resting on the tree. He absent mindedly stared passed the dancing flames to the furious kunoichi. You're right Sakura, you definitely are NOT a child anymore. You've matured into such a fine woman under the wing of your Shishou. You're almost an exact replica of her, temper included. Not to mention beautiful. Ever since this morning you won't leave my mind, and especially now. You're absolutely stunning when you're angry. I think I may have to get under your skin more often. With this final thought Kakashi's lone eye slowly shut as he drifted into slumber pleasantly dreaming of the mouth watering women in front of him.