Almost a week after Team Ro's mission to the missing-nin hideout, Kakashi found his way to the Hokage Tower. They'd been given a guard rotation for the entire week after their return, and Kakashi was just returning from one of the guard shifts when he was summoned by Tsunade. He hoped they would be getting a more difficult mission soon—although guard rotations were considered a sort of vacation for black ops agents, Kakashi found that the boring shifts just gave him more time to be aware of Sakura, and his growing attraction to her. A good away mission was exactly the kind of distraction he needed.

A hush fell over the ninja gathered in the Hokage's office as Kakashi entered the room. They all appeared to be no higher ranked than chunin, and seeing Kakashi fully decked out in his ANBU gear, complete with hound mask, was apparently enough to make them nervous. Sighing quietly, Kakashi stopped before Tsunade's desk, taking a knee in the usual fashion of a black ops agent reporting to the Hokage.

"Alright, all of you, stop gaping. You have your orders," Tsunade said, and the lower-ranked shinobi scurried out of the room. When one of them didn't leave fast enough for her liking, she barked, "Move, damn it! Act like you have somewhere to be! And shut the door behind you!"

As the door shut, Tsunade smirked a little in Kakashi's direction. "Aren't you glad that you only have three subordinates?"

"Very," Kakashi said.

A thoughtful look crossed Tsunade's face, and she mused, "I think you could handle more if you wanted to."

Kakashi frowned slightly beneath his mask, unsure as to what she meant, but she changed the subject before he could think of a respectful way to ask her.

"The information you brought me from that missing-nin hideout is very interesting," Tsunade continued as she gestured to the open file on her desk. "The clerk who brought it to me said you'd compiled the dossier yourself, so I assume I don't have to explain anything to you."

"No, Lady Hokage." The information he'd gathered from the hideout was incomplete, but it hadn't even been in code, so he'd been able to glean a lot. It turned out that the hideout they'd raided was one of several within a network that was working in and around the borders of Fire Country. They seemed to be working toward some greater goal, but the specific hideout they'd found seemed to be on the lower end of the power structure, so the details were murky.

"I want the leader of this group," Tsunade said as she rested her elbows on her desk, leaning forward. "I'm making it your team's top priority, so I hope you enjoy the guard duty this week, because it's the last break you're going to have for a while. Your mission will begin at the end of the week."

"Yes, Lady Hokage." Kakashi waited, expecting to be dismissed, but Tsunade hesitated for a moment before she spoke again.

"I'm surprised you haven't been back in here to complain about Sakura." Her eyes were sharply focused on him, as if she could read his expression even through his hound mask.

"She's..." Kakashi trailed off uncharacteristically, at a loss for words. Sakura was a lot of things, including a big pain in his ass. But he didn't say that. Maybe it was just that he resented Tsunade for using Sakura to try and get him to retire from ANBU. Maybe it was that Sakura had begun to feel like a real member of his team and was therefore deserving of his loyalty. Maybe it was those damn green eyes of hers. For whatever reason, when he finally finished his sentence, he simply said, "She's working out better than I thought she would."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed and one of her eyebrows quirked up slightly. "I'm glad to hear it," she said, in a pleasant tone that he didn't quite believe. When he didn't add anything more, she finished, "You're dismissed."

Rising from his kneeling position, Kakashi left the room. As he exited the building, he told himself that the way he'd defended Sakura to Tsunade was still well within the bounds of professionalism. He'd only stood up for her because she was a teammate.

...Right?

Something very, very disturbing was happening to Sakura... and it involved her captain.

If she could trace it back, it had probably happened sometime around when she'd cried, and he'd held her. And then, the night when she'd gone to thank him, he'd been kind of awkward and kind of sweet, and she realized that something had shifted in the way that she looked at him.

Who knew Captain Hardass could be cute?

And that's when things got disturbing—when she realized there was a possibility that she really was developing actual feelings for Kakashi. No matter how much she tried to deny it to herself, the evidence was all there. And she did try to deny it. She'd remind herself of what an uptight asshole he could be, or how he'd rather read his porny books than actually talk to them at the bar, or how much of a taskmaster he could be during their training sessions. Not to mention he was so much older than her. Nothing about him made him seem like her type at all.

But her stupid, traitorous brain would counter with mental images of the way he'd gently washed the blood off her hands while she'd been in shock, the way his arms had held her hesitantly, and then tighter, while she cried. She'd remember the way little creases appeared at the corners of his eyes to let her know that his mask was covering a rare smile, or the way that his voice sounded when it was low and full of humor. And she definitely hadn't forgotten the way his body had felt against hers the time she'd been forced to sleep with him to keep them warm.

Those thoughts, and her reaction to them, were more than enough proof that she was attracted to him. So, the question became: what was she going to do about it?

The smart answer was to do nothing. He was her superior, and the fact that she'd been given the ability to veto him in the field had only increased the tension between them. Adding sexual tension to professional tension was a horrible idea, even Sakura knew that, and she certainly didn't want to be the kind of person who had a reputation for sleeping with her captain.

It was this resolve to be professional that was at the forefront of Sakura's mind as Team Ro performed their guard shifts that week. Most of them had been the same kind of boring shifts they'd had when Sakura had first joined the team, when they'd spent most of their time practicing sign language. Those shifts generally involved them being assigned to guard the Hokage Tower or ANBU headquarters, and they tended to pass uneventfully.

Today, however there was a special meeting between Tsunade and a representative from the Land of Hot Water that required a higher detail of security. It seemed that there were rumors of Konoha ANBU being sighted within their borders—rumors that were almost certainly connected to Team Ro's recent trip through their country. Sakura could only assume that being assigned to guard the meeting was Tsunade's punishment to them for not being stealthy enough.

The room that the meeting was taking place in was large, with a vaulted ceiling. The rafters near the ceiling provided the perfect place for them to spy from, so Kakashi had them staggered along the length of the room: Genma and Tenzo posted above each of the room's doors, with Kakashi and Sakura both closer to the center of the room, where they could easily drop to any side of the circular table below if they were required to protect the Hokage.

The meeting was normal enough at first. Tsunade sat on one side of the table while the leader of Hot Water and his hired ninja were on the other side. They began civilly, albeit not without tension. But as the meeting slowly turned into an argument, the tension grew until Tsunade was gripping the table hard enough for it to crack as she argued her side. Two of the shinobi aides were letting their hands linger close to their thigh holsters as their master argued back.

As Sakura was already positioned right above the two twitchy nin, Kakashi approached her and crouched beside her, nodding toward them and signing, Possible problem.

I see them, Sakura confirmed.

Wait until I act, he signed. Back me up if necessary. Sakura nodded her assent and then turned her attention back to the scene below.

The tense atmosphere persisted for about five minutes, but fortunately, Tsunade's sometimes surprising ability to manipulate—or, more kindly put, be diplomatic—seemed to be working. Eventually the ninja below them began to relax, their hands moving away from their weapons. Sakura relaxed slightly, too, and the slight movement made her shoulder brush against Kakashi's.

It was nothing, really—she was barely touching him. But she froze, neither pulling away nor moving closer to him, just letting that briefest of contacts send little electric thrills down her arm. His skin felt so warm against hers. She tried to tell herself to calm down, to be a professional and not act like such a schoolgirl—but when he didn't pull away either, that same schoolgirl part of her was pleased. Trying to remind herself that she'd had much more contact with Kakashi before and that this shouldn't be such a big deal, she returned her focus to the meeting below.

Tsunade and the leader of Hot Water finally made an agreement: Fire Country would not officially admit to having agents in a foreign land, but they would sign a deal to increase tourism traffic between the two countries as a sign of goodwill. The relief was palpable as contracts were signed and agreements were made. Kakashi turned toward her and leaned in, murmuring, "We'll stay here until Tsunade's regular guard comes to pick her up."

Sakura couldn't help herself—her whole body tensed at the quiet tenor of his voice so close to her ear. She was grateful for the way her mask hid the heat rising to her face, but it didn't hide the embarrassingly breathy quality to her voice as she whispered, "Yes, Captain."

Kakashi stiffened, and she could see the dim flash of his Sharingan as he straightened, his arm no longer touching hers. His voice was clipped as he said, "I'll let the others know." He stood and soundlessly darted across the rafters to where Genma stood in his fox mask.

Her whole face was burning now as Sakura held in a frustrated groan. She'd sounded like she was ready to swoon over him—he had definitely heard that tone in her voice, and it had to have made him uncomfortable. There was no way she was imagining that.

She was an idiot.

Sakura spent the rest of their guard shift furiously focused on what was going on below and trying not to think about how absolutely stupid it was to have a crush on your captain. When Tsunade's regular guards came to relieve them, she was more than happy to leave the building with her teammates.

Outside, she was ready to say goodbye and make a quick retreat, but Kakashi cleared his throat to get their attention. "Our week of guard duty is almost up. The Hokage has given us new orders. We'll be leaving for an away mission the day after tomorrow."

"Guess that means we need to drink tonight!" Genma suggested, his amused tone of voice perfectly matching the curling mouth of his fox mask.

"I'm sick of drinking," Tenzo complained. "Can't we just do dinner or something? I know a good take-out place."

There was a little bickering between Tenzo and Genma, but eventually dinner at Tenzo's apartment was agreed upon. Neither Kakashi nor Sakura argued when Tenzo announced that they should all change out of their uniforms and then meet back at his place.

"Don't worry," Genma added, bumping his fist against Sakura's shoulder. "I'm still going to bring some sake. Maybe you can stop being so uptight."

Scowling beneath her mask, Sakura made a rude gesture—actually, it was the sign for "douchebag" that Kakashi had taught her when she was first learning sign language. She tried not to be thrilled by the little huff of laughter that came out of Kakashi's mask, and she turned and flashstepped away toward home.

As Kakashi arrived outside of Tenzo's apartment, he took a moment to ask himself just what he was doing there. Eating with his team wasn't required of him and spending extra time around Sakura right now wasn't smart. Sure, Genma would pester him if he didn't join in—but he was the captain of Team Ro, not Genma. He needed to keep things professional.

Right now, things were not professional. He definitely hadn't missed the chemistry between him and Sakura during their guard shift. Just the feeling of her shoulder briefly brushing against his was enough to make his entire body acutely aware of hers, and the husky sound of her whispered voice had made him feel like he had gotten several degrees hotter.

It was completely unacceptable for him to be so affected by her, and he'd renewed his vow to himself to treat her the same as any other person on his team. In fact, it would probably be better if he ceased seeing her outside of work completely.

Yes. Exactly. He should stop seeing her outside of work. So, what was he doing there?

Sighing—and neatly avoiding answering himself—Kakashi let himself in to Tenzo's apartment. It was roomy and modestly furnished, featuring a surprisingly spacious kitchen with a large table in the center. Genma and Sakura were both already seated at it, with Genma enthusiastically pouring cups of sake as Sakura rummaged through the bags of take-out that Tenzo had provided.

As Kakashi approached the table, he maintained a careful distance from Sakura. He had just finished reminding himself to be aloof and treat her like any other teammate when she looked up at him, smiling as she held out a pair of chopsticks. His fingers accidentally brushed hers as he took them, and he was pretty sure he didn't imagine the slight flush to her cheeks.

Right. That was what he was doing here. Damn it.

The whole night was like that. Kakashi attempting to be aloof and treat Sakura with the same bored and vaguely amused manner that he treated his other subordinates, and Sakura ruining everything by looking at him with thosegoddamn green eyes and being annoyingly attractive. He knew it was juvenile to blame her for the fact that he was attracted to her, but he did it anyway. He vacillated between thinking about things like how good she smelled and getting irritated with himself because he could not stop thinking about her.

Luckily, eating dinner provided a good reason for Kakashi to lapse into silence. They all shared the food, passing the various containers around the table and taking what they wanted. Genma and Sakura predictably talked the most, with Tenzo interjecting occasionally. Whenever they were distracted, Kakashi quickly shoved mouthfuls of food under his mask. The rest of the time he just sat quietly and listened—and did his best not to look at Sakura.

After they'd all eaten, they moved over to the small living area and continued to chat. Genma drank the most sake, but they all ended up indulging a little, and after about an hour Kakashi felt warm and relaxed. Too relaxed, if the way his eyes kept drifting toward Sakura was anything to judge by. If he didn't leave soon, he was probably going to become too obvious about his attraction to her, and that couldn't happen.

Clearing his throat, he stood. "We train at 6:00 tomorrow. It's the last session before our mission, so don't be late. I'm leaving."

He'd hoped he'd be able to slip out alone while the rest of them continued drinking, but to his great dismay, Sakura stood as well. "Yeah, I think it's about time to call it a night."

Genma yawned from where he'd drunkenly stretched out on Tenzo's couch, putting his hands behind his head. "I'm not going anywhere. This couch is mine."

Tenzo rolled his eyes and said, "You're so annoying." There was a beat, and then he sighed, adding, "I'll get you a blanket."

As Sakura moved toward the kitchen to grab some of the leftovers and Tenzo left to fetch a blanket, Genma murmured in a voice that only Kakashi could hear, "Better go walk our little medic home." When Kakashi glared at him, Genma just grinned lazily.

Hoping that he could still make it out before Sakura finished her goodbyes, Kakashi sped to the door. But when he turned to say a quick "later" over his shoulder, she was already there, calling something snarky to Genma as she followed Kakashi out—something snarky that he completely missed because she was standing very, very close to him and smelled very, very good. Quickly, he pushed the door out of his way and stepped out into the cool night air, taking a deep breath.

Kakashi shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk down the street in the direction of his apartment. When she trotted up beside him and then began walking at his pace, he told himself that this was perfectly normal—her apartment was in the same direction as his. She was walking home, and he was walking home.

He was not 'walking her home.'

"Genma's going to be so hungover," Sakura said in an amused voice, interrupting his thoughts.

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "He'll be fine."

"I'm going to have to remember to be really loud in the morning," Sakura said with great relish, making him laugh quietly in spite of himself.

They walked on in silence, and Kakashi wondered if the air seemed as charged to her as it did to him. When they reach her apartment building, he lifted his hand in a wave over his shoulder as he continued walking past it, hoping to avoid any further conversation. He didn't make it far.

"Kakashi?"

Cursing the fact that he'd ever told her to use his name, he stopped in his tracks and turned slowly, fighting the urge to step back when he saw how close she was to him. "Hm?"

Her eyes were serious, almost fierce. "Do you still regret having me on the team?"

Why was she asking him that? Feeling panic and striving to appear aloof, he said, "I think the jury is still out on that one." As soon as it was out of his mouth, he knew he sounded like an ass.

Being an ass to Sakura when she'd been drinking was never wise. She scowled, clearly insulted, and stepped forward to shove his chest with both hands. "Jerk!" It had only been a light shove, but he caught her by the wrists anyway, ready to stop her from doing it again.

There was one problem with that—Kakashi had been drinking, too, and it was making 'aloof' very hard to pull off. His brain was screaming at him to get away from her, put some space between them, something, but the rest of his body was humming with her nearness. She pulled slightly against his grip, but it only brought her closer to him. He opened his mouth to say something appropriately commanding, but that's not what came out. Instead, his voice was soft as he murmured, "Don't."

"Why not?" she asked, and she had that slightly breathy tone again that she'd had during their guard shift. This time there were no ANBU masks between them and he could easily see just how damnably green her eyes were.

He wanted to tell her that she didn't want to hit him because there were much better things they could be doing. He wanted to pull his mask down and kiss her until her lips were swollen, pull her body against his. But his brain finally cut through the fog of sake and desire: she was his teammate. His subordinate. Getting involved with her wasn't just stupid and unprofessional, it would be dangerous if it caused distractions in the field. He couldn't let that happen.

The weight of his duty came crashing down on him, like it always did, and he opened his hands, letting her arms drop. In a quietly firm voice, he said, "Because I'm your captain."

He caught only a glimpse of the disappointment on her face as he turned back toward home. With forced casualness he said, "I'll see you in the morning," leaving her standing in front of her building.

And if his feet seemed heavier, and his chest seemed tighter, he told himself it was because he was tired—and not because of the woman he was leaving behind.

A/N: Next time - a new mission and a familiar face!