Hello, and welcome back to those of you that are still reading. :-)

disclaimer - I do not own Naruto. I am doing this for "fun", characters may be OOC.

Thanks to TDotShia for the encouragement to finish the story!

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Chapter 7

Alone at last, Kakashi turned back to the young woman sitting on the bed. Words were not needed as he pulled the mask down, took her in his arms and kissed her soundly.

Sakura lost herself in the moment. Damn, but he was a good kisser. Ok, it wasn't exactly the scenario she'd had in mind for their first kiss, but given the circumstances she didn't really care.

They carried on in the same vein for a few moments until they heard the door open. They broke apart slightly, Sakura pulled Kakashi's mask back up and they looked around to see Naruto and Sasuke stood in the doorway.

"EHH! Sasuke, look! He's doing perverted things to her!" Naruto shouted.

"Moron," Sasuke muttered.

Kakashi adjusted his mask and decided to ask Naruto a question, "Naruto, why do you say this is perverted? I thought you were married. Don't tell me that you've never even kissed Hinata?" He was obviously extremely amused at the thought. It seemed hard to fathom that the young man could even be in a serious relationship, never mind married, but Hinata was good for him and he had calmed down a lot after they had got together. He still had his moments though, and this was one of them.

Naruto went red for a moment, knowing that he'd done a lot more than kissing. "But that's different," he said

"How?"

"Well, we are married..."

"I don't think that has much bearing between two consenting adults," the masked man said.

"But you are OLD…"

Sakura sighed, "Naruto…" He looked at her exasperated expression and shut up.

Because Naruto was silent for a few moments, having seemingly run out of arguments, Sasuke decided to speak. "I think he's being like that because Sakura is the nearest thing to a sister that we've got and we don't want to see her hurt," he gestured toward Naruto, "and he's just an idiot."

Naruto sent Sasuke a filthy look. "Don't call me an idiot, asshole!" Sometimes it was hard to see how the two young men were such good friends.

"Naruto, Sasuke, that's really sweet of you, but I think I can look after myself," Sakura smiled at them.

Sasuke decided not to press the point any further and changed the subject, "Gai-Sensei told us what's been going on." He crossed his arms, "You should have said that Lee was being a problem." He was nothing if not to the point.

"Well, things only came to a head over the last few weeks," Sakura explained. "Besides, I didn't want you two going and doing some number on him and getting yourselves into trouble."

"I do hope that you two aren't planning anything." Kakashi interjected, "It's all over now and if Gai has spoken to you then you know it wasn't Lee's fault. I'm not saying that I'm happy about it, but…" He shrugged.

The two boys had the grace to look a little sheepish. Kakashi had certainly got their number. Shizune appeared at the door.

"How are you feeling now Sakura?" She asked.

"I don't have a headache, I'm just a little sore."

"Ok, then. I'll let you go home now, as long as someone responsible is going to be with you for a while." Shizune eyed Naruto warily.

"I'll be going with her," Kakashi spoke up.

Naruto looked as if he was going to say something to that, so Sasuke bopped him on the head to shut him up.

"Well, I'll be glad to get out of here anyway," Sakura said, "The food here sucks…" she tailed off, then looked up in alarm. "I completely forgot. The groceries got ruined!"

"That's no problem," Shizune said, "Tsunade-Sama had Naruto and Sasuke here collect them up and she replaced what was beyond saving. The bag is waiting in reception for when you leave." She had given the boys that task to keep them from being underfoot whilst things were being sorted out.

"We'll carry it home for you Sakura-Chan!" Naruto enthused.

"Thank you Naruto, Sasuke," Sakura said,"Let's go then. Thank you Shizune, and please thank Tsunade-Sama for me,"

Then, assisted by Kakashi, she got up and Team Seven left the building.

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Back at Sakura's apartment, Naruto and Sasuke were in the kitchen putting the groceries away. Sakura and Kakashi were sat on the couch, Sakura wincing at every crash or bang. After Sasuke had called Naruto a moron for about the 20th time amidst the crashes, she tried to get up, only to be stopped by the masked man.

"Come on, Kakashi," she groaned, "let me go and see what they are up to. They are probably putting everything in the wrong places and wrecking things."

He sighed, "No, you stay here. I'll go and see what they are doing." With that he got up and left Sakura on the couch alone.

As she was left there she pondered the events of the last 24 hours. Things had certainly been hectic. It felt like more like a week had passed than just one day, but finally it felt as though things could be going right for her. Lee was going to get the help he needed and was no longer going to harass her and she had finally got together with Kakashi, which was something she had never thought would happen.

She did feel a bit guilty about Lee. If she had gone to Tsunade sooner then perhaps things would not have got so bad. But then, if things hadn't got so bad then maybe she wouldn't have got together with Kakashi. She sighed. Sometimes life was complicated, but at least now it seemed to be working out ok.

She came out of her contemplation as the three returned from the kitchen.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, "they haven't wrecked anything have they?"

"No no," Kakashi said, "Everything is alright. They were about to leave so you can get some rest."

"We were?" this was of course from Naruto, which was rewarded by a "Dobe" from Sasuke.

"But, but…" Everyone seemed to know what Naruto was trying to say.

Sakura beckoned Naruto over and spoke quietly to him, "How about this? I promise that I won't let him do anything that I don't want him to? Will that do?"

"Ah, Ok Sakura-Chan," Naruto said just as quietly, "But if he does then you come and tell me. Promise?"

"I promise." Sakura smiled at Naruto's natural over-protectiveness, hoping that he'd just get the point and go.

"Ok, Sasuke, our work here is done! Bye Sakura-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed in his usual exuberant way as he left. Sasuke didn't say anything, but waved to Sakura as he followed.

After he'd seen them out, Kakashi sat back next to Sakura. "I thought they were never going to leave," he said.

"Yeah, no kidding. Hinata must have the patience of a saint. What were they doing in there anyway?"

"They were arguing about what went where and the usual stuff for those two, and Sasuke was telling Naruto that they should leave." Kakashi was curious, "Just what did you say to Naruto to convince him to go?"

"I promised him that I'd tell him if you did anything I didn't want you to."

"So what do you want me to do?" He leaned toward her,

Sakura didn't answer. She just pulled the mask down and brought him in for a kiss.

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Much later on, Sakura was lying in bed regarding the shock of silver hair on the pillow next to her, thinking about what had happened since that kiss.

Obviously, neither of them had intended to go this far so soon, but the events of the afternoon had changed things between them considerably. Initially Kakashi had been doing his best to resist, not wanting to rush her into anything andbecause he was worriedabout hurting her because of her injuries. Sakura had made it clear that she wsa more than willing, and once she'd reassured him that she wouldn't break and everything would be alright, he'd hesitated for a few more moments then helped her up and let her lead him into the bedroom.

In the end he was even more gentle with her than he had needed to be. She flushed as she remembered how he had traced butterfly kisses over every single scrape she had picked up, and all around the large bruise she sported thanks to her encounter with Lee, then how, a little later, they had ridden the waves of passion together, then collapsed sated and content in the soft sheets of her bed.

She looked across at him again, this time finding mismatched eyes staring back at her. She took in the sight of his face, knowing that she could never get enough of it.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine. You didn't hurt me."

"That's good." He drew her into an embrace.

Sakura settled herself into his arms. She could get used to this.

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Over the next couple of weeks, things slowly got back to normal. After a few days rest, Sakura returned to working at the medical centre and Kakashi took a few short missions.

During this time, the truth of Lee's problem came out. As far as Tsunade could make out, the woman that he had attracted the attention of had used a specialised mind-jutsu on him, causing him to see the person he most desired, and making him bold enough to act on it. Lee had reacted particularly badly afterwards, causing the obsession that had been so much trouble for the pink haired girl. Tsunade was confident that he would recover from it over time,and she was still annoyed at Gai for not including the pertinent facts in his mission report.

Sakura was relieved. She couldn't hate Lee for what had happened, but she knew that she wouldn't want to see him any time soon.

Of course, Kakashi and Sakura were the subject of quite a bit of gossip. Most people who heard about the relationship between the pink haired woman and the masked man were actually quite supportive. Even Naruto had come around, which was important to Sakura. However, there had been a few malicious whispers along the lines of it being wrong for a relationship to have such a large age gap, wondering whether they had been at it back when she was still his student, and other equally distasteful things.

When Kakashi expressed concern to Sakura, worried that she might be upset about it, she brushed the concerns aside.

"Look, we are just this week's news," she said, "Before longsomething else will happen and the gossips will move on."

Kakashi nodded, accepting this to be true, and let the matter drop.

They spent whatever time they could together, each night ending up at either Sakura's apartment or his own. One morning he'd woken up surprised to see Sakura reading one of his books. She'd looked at him and asked if what they were doing in the book was actually possible, and now that she was fully healed, he'd taken great pleasure in showing her that it was.

Early one morning, a couple of days after that, Kakashi had been called away by a knock at the door.

"Tsunade wants me for something," he said as he returned, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Are you going now?" she asked.

"Of course not, she will expect me to be late. I can't disappoint now can I?"

Sakura smirked. That was so typical of the masked man.

After he left her there a little while later, she decided to amuse herself before she had to go to the medical centre by taking another look at one of his books. Actually, she wasn't sure that she wanted to go in today. She was feeling a little sick and out of sorts. She shrugged to herself as she decided which book to take. It was probably just worry over what Tsunade wanted Kakashi for.

Eventually she chose a book, and as she opened it a piece of paper fell to the floor. Curious, she picked it up and smoothed it out. She read the contents several times, unable to believe what she was reading, her face ashen.

It was the bet.

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Kakashi sighed as he walked along the road back to his apartment. Tsunade had asked him to go on a mission that would take at least a month. He only had time to tell Sakura before he left, and he hoped that she would take it well.

Well, she had known what she was getting into when they started seeing each other. She should be ok with it.

He opened his apartment door. "Sakura?" he called. He could not sense her anywhere in the apartment. He knew it was not quite time for her to go yet, so he was surprised.

He wandered into the bedroom and stopped dead.

On the bed, next to the book he had put it in for 'safekeeping' and the key he had convinced Sakura to keep way back when all this had started, was the bet.

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Sakura ran back to her apartment, shame filling her.

She had been the subject of a sickening bet, and she had fallen for it hook, line and sinker!

She slammed the door behind her, and threw herself onto her bed, tears running down her cheeks despite her best effort to stop them.

She had trusted him. How could he do this to her? She felt sicker than ever at what she had just discovered. There was no way she would be undertaking her work and studies today.

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After gathering the last of the things he would need for his mission, Kakashi headed over to Sakura's apartment. He cursed himself for not throwing that thing away after Gai had finally let him out of it, but he had forgotten that he had put it there.

He knew that hehad really messed up. If it had just been the book and the bet that were left like that he wouldn't have been feeling anywhere near as bad, but she had left the key too, and the significance of that had caused an ache in his chest like he'd never felt before.

He hesitated as he reached her door. He had to try to explain before he had to leave, but he was sure she was upset and wouldn't listen. If he'd had more time he would probably have left her to calm down for a while, but time was a luxury he didn't have. He knocked loudly.

After waiting a minute or so, he knocked again. There was a faint "Who is it?" from the other side of the door. Damn, but she sounded upset. "Sakura?" he asked.

"Go away!" she shouted.

"But Sakura…"

"I said go away! How could you do that to me, I don't want to see you!"

He sighed, "It's not like that..."

"Go away, Kakashi-San."

He stared at the door and sighed again. He knew he had no choice but to go now or he would miss the window of opportunity for his mission. He just hoped that she would be more willing to talk to him after his mission was over, and he steeled himself to put his emotions aside for the duration.

It was just such bad timing.

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A while after Kakashi had left, and once she was in a more rational state of mind, Sakura got to thinking about what she had read.

As she remembered it, the paper only said that he had to get her to be his girlfriend within a month. If, as she suspected, the bet had been made on the day that Kakashi and Gai had got drunk then that month was long over. She did vaguely remember trying to pull a piece of paper out of Kakashi's hand on the night she had taken him home, and she knew that it had probably been the bet.

On top of that, it didn't say that he had to sleep with her. She was sure that he would never have done such a thing if he weren't serious and the sick feeling returned tenfold as she realized that she should have waited to talk to him instead of running away.

Knowing that she needed to find and talk to the masked man, she headed for the medicine cabinet to find something to help settle her stomach. She needed to be calm for this and an upset stomach would not help matters.

As she opened the cabinet and searched for what she wanted, she noted a set of bottles to one side. She stopped as she realized that she was due to take the contents of one of them, and something didn't look quite right. She counted them with a feeling of dread…It didn't take long and, as she suspected, there was one too many. She had been certain that she had taken it but she had obviously forgotten…

…to take her contraceptive last month.

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Authors Note.

I'm sorry, but as I explained to Freakenout in a previous chapter, I'm not writing any lemons. Actually I did try to write one, but I found that I couldn't do it. (blush). I think what I did write was probably as far as I could go and still keep it "PG-13" - if anyone thinks it's rated too low after that, then let me know and I'll up the rating.

I have no clue what they use for contraception in the Narutoverse, so I made something up. I think it sort of fits in with the kind of thing they would do, but you'll have to give me poetic license on it XD

Also, I know I've been a bit vague on time elapsed in places, but it has been longer than a month since the beginning of the story. I did a check to make sure.

Thanks to -

Freakenout - I suppose it is a bit weird, but then, it isn't over yet! When I started writing this story Lee was not supposed to be such a huge part of it, it just seemed to end up that way. I wanted to resolve his storyline, so that is what I came up with. It might not be all that good, but it's still nowhere near as bad as the first time I wrote it!

Firefox - I'm glad you enjoyed it so far. I know that some people love him, but I find Lee strange to say the least. He looks like a Beatles reject. (oh man - what if they give him a Liverpudlian accent in the dub... ((Shudder)) that would be too freaky!) and all that burning youth stuff freaks me out. I'm hoping that this chapter and the next one don't come off as too lame XD, although I must say that they were probably the easiest chapters of the whole fic (barring the prologue) to write! And yup, there wouldn't have been any point to having a bet in the first place if it didn't come back to bite him in the ass at least a little bit. :-)

Also thanks to Senx2, December Jewel, Rinna (scary :-P) and Hao'sAnjul. Every positive review makes it worthwhile.

I also notice that I've been added to a few more favorites lists, so thank you for that. :-)

Just one more chapter plus epilogue to go.

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