Chapter Eleven

Decisions

He was avoiding the issue. He wouldn't let me talk to him about what happened the previous night, or what didn't happen.

The sun had risen and Sakura woke to find Kakashi swiftly dressing. She sat up and watched him silently. He didn't bother doing the modest thing, which would have been to go into the bathroom and dress in private. What would be the use of that anyway? She had already seen and enjoyed everything he had to offer. Because of that, she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from him. This disconcerted her because this was the man that she had pushed away from her. She had thought it was the right thing to do…but was it the wisest thing?

He knew she was watching him, but found it to be better not to meet her gaze. He didn't know what would happen if they happened to lock gazes. He didn't think he'd be able to control himself if he looked into those heated emerald eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi briefly closed his eyes. Sensei. That one word reminded him of just how vast the distance between them was. He wished that it would keep him grounded, but with the way things were going lately…he doubted it.

"I have to leave. They're expecting me early today."

"Don't forget, I need a hair or blood sample." Kakashi nodded his head and made a move for the door.

"Sensei…."

Kakashi paused seconds before opening the door. Against his will he turned and looked over his shoulder at her and began to curse himself the second that he did. How was it that she could look so delectable early in the morning? He'd never met a woman who could make chaos look sexy like she did. She was all tossed pink and unfinished sex. The sheets lay in disarray around her, barely leaving her modest while sending him her siren song, begging him to return to the sweet sin of her arms. He didn't want to answer her questions, but Sakura wasn't one to let sleeping dogs lie and she asked them anyway.

"What happened last night?"

"Nothing," Kakashi replied tersely, and quickly exited the room.

Sakura frowned after him. Yes, nothing had happened but in that nothingness something did happen. Sakura's body shivered at the remembrance of her old teacher's touch. She had ached all night and longed to finish what they had started…but that would be wrong, right? Sure, she had heard plenty of people say what happens on the mission stays on the mission, but she wasn't that type of girl. What happened here she would carry home with her and she had someone waiting for her...

Why was she even thinking of doing something that she could leave here and never think of?

Sakura clutched her sheets to her chest. It was just a mission. They would do whatever was necessary to get in and out. Anything else…anything else….

Sakura let out a breathy moan as she recalled the way her breast had filled Kakashi's hand. She felt things tighten low in her belly and groaned. It had been a long night but it seemed the day would be just as long.

She had to do something about this.

I put aside my thoughts of Sakura by doing the only thing I could. I focused on work.

"Copy Nin!"

Kakashi turned and looked at the pudgy little man that was moving his way. He was breathing heavily as he approached him. Sweat poured down his face and he pulled out a handkerchief, wiping away his perspiration. Kakashi had been training his three students for over an hour when the interruption occurred. He had to admit that he was glad of it. The way his new 'students' looked at him unnerved him. It was unnatural the way they watched his every movement, and while he was overjoyed to experience a team that did not scream and yell and fuss at each other in decibels that put a jackhammer to shame, the silence of this team was… unnerving. Was anything he was saying getting through to them? Not that he wanted it to...

They were all different. One was infinitely larger than him and yet to Kakashi it somehow seemed like he was the youngest. His hair was sandy brown and his eyes were so slanted the Copy Ninja couldn't see their color, but he had an innocence about him that was a lot like Naruto's. His eyes never moved away from Kakashi. It was almost like he thought he was afraid the man would disappear if he even blinked. Kakashi wondered how many people already had.

The next student's frame wiry and his eyes were an arctic blue. His hair was brown as well and he was the same height as Kakashi. He wore a black sleeveless shirt that hugged his body tightly while in contrast, his pants were extremely baggy. Throughout the lesson he constantly dragged his finger in circles on the ground. It was a constant unending motion that made Kakashi want to grab his hand to cease its movements.

The last student was a girl. She was the one that set him on edge the most. Her eyes were soulless. She appeared to be like the walking dead. She never appeared to look at him once-or anything else for that matter. She was there, but not there. Yet that wasn't the thing that bothered him. What bothered him was that her hair…was pink.

"Yo," Kakashi said, turning to meet the visitor. Kakashi didn't know the man's name. They seemed determined to keep as many things from him as possible and he didn't prod to find out. It would look as if he was fishing for information and that wouldn't fit his persona.

"How's training, going?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I don't know."

The man frowned, obviously displeased. "You're supposed to be one of the best."

"I am, but how am I supposed to know how quickly they're taking to their instructions if they don't speak?"

If anything the man's frown deepened.

"They'll speak in a few weeks."

A few weeks? Kakashi pondered. " I suppose we'll postpone training for a few weeks, then."

"No! They have to be trained now!"

"Oh?"

"Yes, this is the best time period for them to learn. If we wait any longer then they'll be useless Neanderthals."

"You've tied my hands. I can spout off words and instructions all day but if they don't respond then what is the use of it? How will I know that the training I'm giving them is taking root? What if they have questions?"

The pudgy little man grinned at Kakashi. "They may not speak, but they follow instructions well. Have them demonstrate a technique that you've taught them. Tell them what to do and they will do exactly as you say."

The man appeared sincere yet Kakashi was reluctant to take the him at his word. He had enough blood on his hands to stain them accidentally. The man nodded his encouragement and Kakashi sighed.

"Pink." He didn't know her name and it was the only thing he could think to call her. Kakashi saw her body stiffen but otherwise she didn't acknowledge him. It was enough to make him see that she was very much aware of her surroundings. "Substitution jutsu," Kakashi called out right before he tossed a kunai at her. He was mildly surprised to see his kunai lodged into a log that Pink substituted seconds later. Kakashi, sensing that the substitution wasn't all Pink had planned, pulled off a substitution of his own and was not at all surprised to see several shuriken lodged into the back on the log where he once stood.

Kakashi stayed hidden for a brief moment before revealing himself.

"Impressive," He remarked idly to his pudgy companion.

"Yes."

"I suppose I'll continue with training then."

"Please do. Later, I have someone I want to introduce you to."

Kakashi nodded his head dismissively.

He returned to me, looking grim. The expression on his face made my heart freeze and I wondered what could have put such a dark look on his normally impassive visage.

She turned the second the door opened. Sakura had remained inside the majority of the day, only leaving to get a something to eat. She was trying to keep a low profile after the spectacle she had made of herself the previous day. She didn't want anyone to remember her face at this point. Still, staying inside was rather dull. She hoped that Kakashi brought back the sample so she could have something to do in her day.

"How'd it go?"

"I suppose that depends upon who you ask."

"I'm asking you, sensei."

"Then I suppose it went bad."

"Sample?"

"No sample. They're…brilliant."

"Are you saying they can't be defeated?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"No. I'm saying that getting the sample isn't going to be as easy as I thought it would be. If these children don't want to be touched then they won't be touched."

"That's not encouraging."

"It wasn't meant to be," Kakashi said with a sigh and tossed himself onto their bed. "Sakura…this mission may take longer than I expected."

"Then…it's a good thing I'm here with you. It would suck if you were all alone." Sakura gave Kakashi a sunny smile that he half-heartedly returned. "So what happened?"

"I taught them how to do a substitution. They mastered it marvelously. There's this one girl…Sakura, she has pink hair."

Sakura shrugged and crossed the room to sit near his feet. Kakashi moved over, allowing her a bit more room and put a bit more space between them, but Sakura only closed that distance. "I suppose that means I'm not as original as I thought."

"…"

Sakura tilted her head to the side, sensing he had more to say. When he remained silent Sakura grabbed his ankle and tugged on his leg.

"Come on. Spit it out already! What's bothering you about this girl?" Sakura didn't immediately release his leg after tugging on it. Instead she found herself pushing up his pant leg and running her hand along the thick muscle of his calf. She felt the strands of hair that ran up and down his skin, liking the feel of pushing them back and forth.

"Sakura…"

"Does she remind you of me?" Sakura asked curiously. Her hand trailed higher and slid her hand to the back of his knee.

"Sakura!" Kakashi bit out harshly.

"What?" She asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Can you move your hand?"

Sakura looked down and saw that her hand was wrapped around his leg, her fingers gently caressing him. Sakura thereafter froze for three reasons. The first being hadn't realized what she was doing. The second was that she didn't really want to move. The third being she was well aware that Kakashi was certainly…excited.

"Kakashi-sensei, when we first came here you said that it was we needed to remember that this was just a mission, right?"

"Sakura…" Kakashi grit his teeth when Sakura's movements continued once more.

"I think I'm having a hard time keeping that fact clear in my mind. Are you?"

"The mission is in the forefront of my mind, Sakura," Kakashi ground out.

Sakura nodded her head. "I suppose I can understand that, but it's a bit difficult for me…because I'm here and I'm not really doing anything yet, so all I have to focus on is you."

"What do you want me to do, Sakura?"

Sakura withdrew her hand and Kakashi found that he was relieved and disappointed.

"I don't know."

"Do you not know…Or do you not want to say it?" Sakura didn't reply. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is that you need. At this point of the mission I can't think of anything I need your assistance with. You know, that as soon as I need you I'll-"

"I don't feel like you're excluding me, sensei. I know what my role in this mission is. I probably won't fulfill the majority of it until the end. However, I've been thinking-"

"About?" Kakashi prodded.

"You haven't really seemed yourself."

"I haven't?" Kakashi asked, confused.

"No," Sakura said, wondering if now she was just making up excuses for what she was about to do. "That night, the night it rained when you came back you said you had killed them all. Who were you talking about? I wouldn't normally prod but-"

Kakashi sighed. "I didn't want to talk about it, but it is information you need to know." Sakura waited quietly. "I was attacked." Sakura frowned. "There were several of them. I could tell that they had some training in the ninja arts but not enough for it to be something that I couldn't handle alone. I killed them all, Sakura. That should have been the end of it, right? You know protocol, though. I checked for the bodies in order to remove any traces of my presence and take any information I thought would be of use to Konoha. I… I checked for the bodies, but two of them disappeared. The last… was a child." Kakashi's voice trailed off and Sakura stared at him in confusion. "He wasn't a child when I fought him, Sakura. He was older…different. I planned to bring him to you…so that you could heal him, but he asked me to kill him. He begged me to. I've seen death in someone's eyes before, but never a child's. Except, he didn't really have a child's eyes. They were haunted and bloodstained, tainted with the memories and sights of those he killed. He must have killed many, many people because he was broken inside, a dead man walking. There are some ninja whose minds cannot fathom what horrible things they do, and they break. They are driven mad by their actions, and they have nightmares that follow them to their graves."

"You killed him." Sakura whispered.

"I think they let me do it. I think they all wanted to die. Maybe that's why they attacked me in the first place."

Sakura said nothing about how he had possibly jeopardized their mission by destroying a lead. She somehow knew that even though his actions haunted him he somehow felt that it was the right course to take. So, she wouldn't judge him. She'd accept his actions and they would move on from it. They'd make another way. In fact, she had a million questions that she needed to ask him about this encounter, but first-

"Tsunade-sama told me that on this mission that I am to use my body or else this mission will fail. I will keep you grounded, Kakashi-sensei. I don't want you to lose yourself in this."

"Sakura-"

"You said it yourself. I'm your lover. I won't push you away should you reach for me."

Kakashi felt all his breath leave his lungs when Sakura slowly crawled over his body to straddle his lap. She leisurely raised her hands in order to lower the mask that hid his fine features. Kakashi didn't move, only looked at her in wide-eyed wonder. Sakura lowered her head until her lips were inches away from his and whispered, "Reach for me."

Only a bad person would take what she offered, but I've never professed to be a good person. Before she could even utter the 'me' I had claimed her lips in a way that I had been aching to since the previous night.

Thanks to BlueArcticWolf for betaing this for me.