Authors Note: Hey there, again! Hope you guys are liking where this is headed. It's definitely starting to pick up again. :D

I'm really happy with the reviews. And I am reading, and re-reading them all to keep me motivated. So, as always, Review PLEASE! :D

Enjoy!


The Inn, as Lady Tsunade had so called it, was not what they were expecting. It could more accurately be described as a giant, x-rated bath house. Everything in the facility was ornate. All the decorations were elaborate, and expensive. The walls themselves were gilded. Demure women in full Kimono greeted them upon arrival, hurrying forward to try and relieve their guests of their belongings and change out their shoes.

The bath-house was massive. Sakura had never seen anything quite like it. It was far larger than the old Hokage Tower and was a mix between traditional bath-house and modern spa. As they were led through to the office of the owner they passed cute courtyards, small gardens, a teahouse, and many couples cuddling up beneath the cherry-blossom trees that seemed to line the entire hotel. This mission was turning out to be weird, to say the least.

They soon came to a pair of large ornate mahogany doors with two rough looking men stationed out front. The woman who had guided Kakashi and Sakura quickly walked up and whispered in one of their ears before falling back behind them.

"You the Konoha-nin?" the older of the two asked. He was a very large man with lightly graying auburn hair. His face was scarred and held himself like a true warrior. There was a sword attached to his hip that he now played with as he eyed Kakashi up and down, seeming to ignore Sakura as a threat. The other man was significantly younger, and rather than ignore Sakura completely seemed fixated on her instead.

He was not as rough as his older companion. Sakura would even go as far as to say he had roguish good looks. He wasn't effeminate, or pretty-handsome, but was clearly a man. The stubble on his face denoted a lack of shaving for a few weeks, but it was far from unkempt. His hair was the messy-bedhead look that so many failed to make look natural. All in all, Sakura saw one thing and one thing only. A deadly trained, playboy, with a devilish grin.

"You're the Hokage's apprentice, ain't ya?" the younger of the two said. Sakura tried not to let her shock show, after all how many kunoichi had pink hair? She simply nodded back at the man.

"Takeo!" the older man said gruffly. His gaze never left the Copy-nins. "Answer."

Sakura glanced over at her partner who was lazily staring back at the man in front of her. Sakura knew better than to think that he wasn't taking the situation seriously. Kakashi was just playing the man before them, and didn't take well to receiving orders from random mercenaries.

"We don't like to keep our employers waiting." Kakashi said lazily.

"Shigeo! Let them in." A booming voice from behind the door commanded. Shigeo paused, and continued to stare down at Kakashi before moving to the side and opening the large doors behind him.

Sakura and Kakashi walked into the room. It was a large office with walls of bookshelves, a couple ornate couches and lounge chairs, and a small bar. Behind the large desk in the center of the room was a large man seated on a high-backed chair. Next to him stood a gorgeous, shrewd looking woman who eyed the pair up with disdain as they entered.

"Welcome, Konoha-nin, to my wonderful establishment." The portly man behind the desk said, rubbing his chubby hands together. "This is Yoshino, she manages all the servant girls. You've already met Shigeo and Takeo. I trust your journey was uneventful?"

Kakashi simply nodded, almost imperceptibly, at the mans question.

"My name is Sadao Takahishi, the benefactor of this humble Inn." Sadao stood up from his chair and made his way to the small bar in the corner. He poured three glasses of amber coloured liquid, passed two to Sakura and Kakashi respectively, and seated himself on one of the couches with his own. He motioned for the Shinobi to take a seat. Sakura immediately probed the drink in her hand with her chakra, searching for any poisons or hidden elements before taking a drink. Kakashi waited for Sakura to drink first, knowing that she would search the alcohol for any hidden substances.

Sakura noticed that the shrewd woman, Yoshino, had never left her position next to the desk and continued to glare at them both. Sakura had an instant dislike for the woman. Sadao grinned at them happily, eyeing them both up in turn. Paying particular attention to Sakura's assets. Sakura suppressed the urge to glare at the man and managed to keep her face blank.

"You both don't seem like... much. Considering the price I paid."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, and opened her mouth to retort but Kakashi was faster. "I hope you don't mean to imply that the Hokage's Apprentice doesn't seem like much. I'm sure her reputation has reached even out to a country hotel like this."

Sakura blushed from the compliment. Sadao's eye twitched for a moment before his fake smile stretched back across his face again. "Of course, no insult implied. Now, on to business." He took a particularly large swig of his whisky and wiped his forehead briefly. "Lately, some of our servant girls have been getting harassed by customers. To the point that they have been injured, and a few of them have left before they completed the duration of their contracts."

"Why not just ban those customers from coming here?" Sakura asked.

"Ah, well," Sadao's eyes briefly shifted to Yoshino. "It's not any one instance from any particular customer. Just some, er, clients that get too rowdy in certain situations. Ultimately we rely on them for our main source of business, a part from the couples who come for a unique get-a-way. We don't want to deter some of our eccentric patrons but rather want to ensure the staff that they are safe. We just, um, wanted to have the presence of strong Shinobi here while we recruit a more, er, permanent solution."

"So we are supposed to just stand around?" Sakura asked slowly.

"Hmm, yes. In places where you are easily visible for the employees. Just to make them feel safer for now. You can get started in the morning, and Takeo will show you to your room."


"The nerve of that guy!" Sakura angrily slammed the bathroom door behind her as she reentered the room.

"Hmm?" Kakashi barely looked up from the book he currently had his nose in.

"That slime-ball. Absolutely disgusting. Suggesting that. To a Kunoichi!" Sakura roughly pulled the top drawer of a dresser open and began shoving clothes in. "I should have broke his damn hand."

"I'm rather glad you didn't."

"Pshaw. You could have stopped him at the very least, Captain." Sakura began unloading medical supplies into a different drawer. "His hands. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that. Why didn't you stop him!? What he whispered in my ear was bad enough but his hand!" She let out a disgusted grunt.

Kakashi looked up from his book, and idly watched Sakura empty out the rest of her bag into the last remaining drawer in the dresser before turning, with a huff, to stare back at him. "And risk your wrath after that lecture about you being an adult? Nuh uh." He looked back down and pretended to continue reading.

In all honesty it had taken every fiber of his being not to rip the mercenaries hand off. Kakashi had seen it coming the moment they began their trek to their room. Takeo had walked too closely, been too friendly, and eyed her up too intimately. But Kakashi knew it was better for them in the long run if Sakura could manipulate Takeo and prayed that she didn't lash out in her typical fashion when the man's hand moved in for what Takeo thought was a subtle grab.

"So, being an adult means that I have to be groped by random men without any help?"

Kakashi's eyes glanced at her from the pages of his novel. She was now seated at the end of her bed on the far side of the room. The room they had been given was nothing special. A small, 2 bed and 1 bath with a window that overlooked a small courtyard. They were close to the servants wing which served the purpose of their mission. The room was decorated modestly - a stark contrast to the rest of the hotel. Sakura looked anxious. One leg crossed underneath her, and her hands twisted in her lap. Her mood swings had always fascinated Kakashi, especially lately. She could be fearsome one minute, shy the next and a minx when you turned back around. She was unpredictable and being with her was never boring.

"You told me to stay out of it earlier. How am I to know who you want to defile you? Maybe he was going to give you a mind-blowing orgasm?" His mouth twitched into a grin that Sakura, thankfully, was unable to see.

Sakura's cheeks darkened at the reference. "I think it's pretty obvious that Takeo would be incapable of doing that."

Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow at the young pink-haired girl. He set his book down beside him and moved to the corner of his bed closest to where Sakura was seated. "Don't judge a book by it's cover, Sakura." He said lowly. "I thought you would have learnt that by now, hn?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at her former sensei. "Who are you referring to? You?" Sakura laughed. "I'm sorry, Kakashi, but I'd say that the cover fits you."

His gaze darkened as he watched Sakura from hooded eyelids. "I look like a man that can give mind-blowing orgasms?"

To his surprise instead of a chastising slap, or an embarrassed exclamation of his name, Sakura laughed loudly with only the subtlest hint of peach to her cheeks. "In a way, I guess. More that your choice of literature tells others that you have a kinky side. That you're a pervert. That you love -"

"I get it." He said with a chuckle. He knew this conversation was going in the wrong direction. Their dynamic had definitely changed, but at least it wasn't awkward anymore. The only problem was this type of, well, blatant flirting had the potential to lead him back down the path he was so adamantly against. Kakashi rose from the bed, deciding to take a very cold shower instead. As he walked past Sakura his nose couldn't help but revel in her scent. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that underneath the smell of strawberries and shampoo was the smallest hint of her arousal. Even just talking about this with him had started to turn her on. Even more of a reason for him to get into the shower. An ice-cold shower.

His body, and mouth, had other ideas it seemed as he bent down right by her ear in a quick languid movement. He heard her breath catch in her throat. "All of that's true, of course." He didn't know why he was doing this to himself, it was torture but he just couldn't help it. He made sure that his breath fanned her neck slightly, and watched her body shiver.

"You," he chuckled lowly, "look like a woman who likes it hard." He pulled himself upright, gathering his resolve before he let his libido get the better of him, again, and forced himself into the bathroom without so much as a backwards glance. The spiking scent of her arousal followed him as he walked and he knew, had he not been sporting his mask, she would have witnessed the biggest shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

As it was, she was too distracted by his smell, and the way just his voice made her feel, to really register what he had said before he was already locked away in the bathroom. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest and an aching throb at began deep in her core. Sakura flopped backwards onto the bed and glanced towards the bathroom door. This was going to be a long mission. She couldn't help the smile that lay on her features, or the butterflies that fluttered around madly in her chest. Her face scrunched up in concentration as she took a few deep breaths. Willing her heart to slow down. Even after their discussion, after they had both agreed that it was a horrible idea, she still couldn't stop her body from reacting this way. She really needed to get laid, soon. To get her mind on someone that wasn't absolutely off limits.