Fifty-Two: Crescendo

A heart-to-heart was inevitable, or at least some sort of conversation. If Sakura had her way, they would just forget about what had happened, but leaving something like that wasn't really Kakashi's personality—despite his usual avoidance of anything awkward, difficult, or otherwise uncomfortable.

Still, she knew they had crossed a line last night. It was a line they had been flirting with for awhile, and sometimes it was a pretty blurry line, but until then, they'd stayed firmly on one side—the side that was clearly "close teammates" but nothing more.

Oh come on, Inner Sakura chimed in. It's not like you guys did anything exciting. You wouldn't even know how to do anything exciting.

"Shut up," she muttered, putting the unused blanket back on her bed. It wasn't her fault that she'd been too busy with slightly psychotic, often missing teammates, a war, her medical studies, ANBU and just regular shinobi life to have time for romance or casual flings.

Footsteps from down the hall signaled that someone was coming, and the pink-haired medic had a fairly good idea of who it was.

"Kakashi?" Sakura asked, as the silver-haired man came to stand in her doorway.

"Sakura, we really need to talk."

The pink-haired medic sighed. She had known this would be coming, but that didn't mean she was looking forward to it.

"All right. Come in."

"Let's go for a walk," he offered. Sakura shrugged. It didn't make any difference to her where they had their little talk. But maybe the bedroom wasn't the best idea.

Sakura tugged on her boots and made her way outside to the courtyard next to their houses. No one else was out there, they were all alone, and Sakura wondered why more people didn't take advantage of the beautiful gardens that she found herself in.

She closed her eyes, a small smile dancing across her lips. For the first time in nearly three weeks, she felt at peace, walking amongst the flowers with Kakashi right with her. She could almost pretend that there was nothing wrong.

He'd rarely left her side since he'd rescued her and brought her back. Sakura was grateful. She didn't know what she would have done without him there. In all her years as a medic, she'd treated her fair share of patients with forms of PTSD, but she realized quickly that she didn't know what to do when she was the onewho was suffering from it. At least, she hadn't until she opened up to Kakashi.

But for all she knew, that could be about to change.

"Kakashi? You wanted to talk?"

"About last night…"

"I'm sorry," Sakura said quickly. "I wasn't really thinking, and I realize I put you in an awkward position."

"It's not your fault, Sakura. I'm not mad. I just didn't want you to think I was taking advantage of you."

"Taking advantage of me? Is that what this is about?" She laughed. "You had me worried there. I thought you were going to make a big deal about this."

"It is a big deal, though. We slept together, Sakura. Well, not slept together slept together, but you know what I meant!"

"Yes I know what you meant. We spent the night. Together. In the same bed. Fully clothed. I've done that with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai thousands of times on missions over the years. Where do you think all those rumors back home come from?"

"That's not the point."

"Does this have something to do with our age? Or the fact that you were my teacher?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No. I was just worried that you weren't thinking straight, and I took advantage of that."

Sakura wanted to scream in frustration. What was the big deal? Why did it matter? She didn't understand. So she asked him that.

"It just does." Kakashi sounded exasperated, like he didn't understand why she couldn't grasp his point.

To be fair, Sakura didn't grasp his point. What was he so worked up about? They hadn't done anything wrong. She was going through a lot, and she had sought him out for comfort. He helped her through it. It wasn't like they had done anything illegal or even wrong. She was nineteen for Kami's sake!

"So we slept in the same bed, big deal. I don't get why you're so worked up about it. It's not like we had sex."

"It's still enough!" Kakashi yelled, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "This wasn't how I wanted to show you I—"

All the frustration Sakura had been feeling slowly trickled away.

"How you what?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Nothing," Kakashi grumbled, looking away from her.

"How you what, Hatake?" she growled. The frustration, he noticed, was back.

She wasn't going to let him get away with ignoring her this time. Not when she had her first hint that the past week might have meant something to him, and not just her. That the moments they'd had together as teammates in ANBU hadn't been nothing either.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does to me," she said.

"Well, it shouldn't."

Sakura glared, and Kakashi almost gasped. For the first time since she'd been rescued, Sakura's emerald eyes were beginning to show some of the fire that he had so often associated her with.

"Well it does. So why don't you tell me how that sentence was going to end."

"I can't," he said, but at this point they both knew it was only for show. Both shinobi knew exactly what he had been about to say.

"You were going to say you loved me, weren't you?" she asked.

"Sakura," he warned, but she held up a hand, cutting him off.

"Is this about our age or something? The fact that you're fourteen years older than me?"

She was starting to get actually mad now, because who was he to think that there would be something wrong with them if they happened to be attracted to each other romantically?

"Because we're both ninja, both jonin. We risk our lives every day for the village, so who are they to say we can't love each other, hm?"

"It's not—"

"So what is it then? The fact that you were my teacher? Once? Like six years ago? Or is it the fact that you're my superior now? Big deal. Captains screw their subordinates all the time and it never bothers anyone."

"Sakura, you know it would never work. The village wouldn't accept it," Kakashi said, but he wasn't so sure of his words. Sure there were marks against them, if they lived a normal life—him being her former teacher was a big one—but they didn't live a normal life, so would anyone in the village really look down on them if they did say they were in love?

"Screw the village!" Sakura snarled. "If we can risk our lives and make life-or-death decisions on a daily basis for that goddamned village, then I think we can decide who we want to be in a relationship with! We can decide who we want to love!"

She sighed. Kakashi was looking at her like she'd grown two heads, and Sakura briefly wondered if she was completely off base. She'd assumed he was going to confess his feelings for her, because even though neither of them had admitted it, she'd felt that this had been a long time coming, even before her capture.

"Say something?" she asked, softer this time, and Kakashi realized he'd just been staring at her for probably a minute. "Please?"

He couldn't help it. He'd been taken aback. She was acting so much like the old Sakura—the one who hadn't been held captive and tortured for weeks for information, the Sakura he'd fallen in love with. She seemed so much like her normal self that he wanted to rush over and take her into his arms and never let her go.

That fire would never leave her eyes again as long as he had something to say about it.

She was right, of course. All of the arguments she'd made were correct. He knew their relationship was somewhat unconventional, and civilians might think it scandalous, but Kakashi knew for a fact that none of their fellow shinobi friends would judge them. Shinobi weren't the kind to begrudge other shinobi their happiness.

If he wanted to, he could march right over there, tilt her head back, and kiss her until he was breathless. He could hold her to his chest and marvel at how well her soft pink hair matched the flowers around them. He could pull her close and finish the sentence that he'd started to say earlier.

There was only one thing holding him back from doing just that.

"You realize what you're saying?" he asked, still wanting to make sure that this wasn't just her emotions talking. After all, he'd been the one to rescue her from a traumatic experience, and, he had to tell himself, it was entirely possible that she was just latching onto him because of that.

"Kakashi, were you there for our ANBU missions? You can't tell me you honestly didn't notice it, didn't feel it, even back then? We make a good team. And we could make an even better one if we—"

Sakura didn't get to finish her thought, because suddenly Kakashi's lips were pressed against hers, gently coaxing her mouth open. One gloved wrapped around her waist, pulling her tight against his chest, while the other found its way behind her neck, cradling her head for support.

Sakura closed her eyes and melted into him, deepening the kiss as she let everything else go. She was there. With him. She didn't have to worry about anything else. Not when they were together like that.

Her hands reached up around his neck, tugging him down farther as she stood on her tiptoes to account for their height difference. She felt, rather than saw, Kakashi smile as he bent down a bit more.

Sakura didn't know how long they stayed like that, but finally her lungs started screaming for oxygen.

"How's that for a first kiss?" Kakashi asked, eye twinkling when he finally pulled away for breath.

"Well, I don't have anything to compare it to, but I'm willing to bet that it was pretty good," Sakura said, just as breathless as he was.

Then she inhaled, taking in the sight that she and her teammates had dreamed about seeing for so many years.

"Your face," she breathed.

Kakashi gave her a crooked half-smile. "Worth the wait?"

Sakura nodded enthusiastically as she took in the narrow jawline, slightly crooked nose, and perfectly straight—too straight for any ninja—teeth. She bet in his youth he had been a bit of a pretty-boy, although he had certainly grown out of that stage. He was definitely good-looking, although Sakura supposed she was probably biased.

"Hmm, maybe not better than Genma…"

Kakashi pouted, and Sakura laughed, amused at how the expression appeared to shave ten years off his already young-looking face. She imagined this was much like how he'd look as a child.

"Just kidding! Definitely worth the wait. Wait until I tell Naruto… A—About your face, I mean."

"I don't want to keep this a secret, Sakura."

"No, I don't either."

"I just hope the boys don't beat me up too bad," Kakashi grinned, reaching out to take her into his arms again.

"Don't worry, I can always heal you," Sakura soothed, resting her head against his chest. "And besides, I hit harder than they do anyway. Well, at least when Naruto isn't in his Kyuubi form."

Kakashi stiffened. "Don't remind me."

Sakura laughed. "Oh, he'll get over it. This is Naruto we're talking about."

"Sai will probably ask uncomfortable questions."

She gave him a pointed look. "And whose fault is that? If I remember correctly, you're the one who gave him that book that talked about uncomfortable things."

Kakashi shrugged, smiling sheepishly. Sakura didn't think she'd ever get used to seeing his face.

"The poor kid needed some help, and I'm his team leader. What was I supposed to do?"

Sakura laughed sarcastically. "You poor man. Always trying to help."

His smile widened. "You know me too well."

Sakura grinned, and pulled his face down so it was level with hers and kissed him on the forehead—he'd forgone the forehead protector since they were just out walking, preferring instead to let his hair hang down over his face. Sakura decided she liked the sight.

Kakashi straightened, and Sakura thought that he was going to pull away and say they had to go back or something, but instead he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her up so she was sitting on one of the garden's stone walls, eyes level with his. She gave him a small smile, and Kakashi one again pressed his lips to hers.

This time, they started out innocently. They each knew that the other wasn't going anywhere, so there was no need to rush. When it was just the two of them there, holding each other amongst the flowers, it seemed like they had all the time in the world.

And it was just how they liked it.

A/N: So there it finally is. And it's been how long? Hahaha sorry guys, I wanted a basis for their relationship but then stuff just kept coming to me as I was writing, but we finally made it to where I wanted to go for them to get together. Hope it was worth it.

A bit of housekeeping stuff, I tried really hard to get a few extra chapters done ahead of time here and there so I wouldn't have to do this, but I've run out of my reserves, so I think I'm going to have to go to publishing every other week for the next couple months. School is getting really hectic this semester, and I stupidly took on another course last minute, so this will hopefully give me a chance to get back on track while still being able to get my schoolwork done. And this way I shouldn't have to miss an update. Anyway, hope you guys understand, and thanks for reading!