Sakura swallowed hard, her heart having leapt into her throat when Kakashi's single visible eye opened and caught her staring at him. A nervous smile formed on her lips as she quickly looked away. After a few seconds her eyes darted back to find him still watching her but with a grin on his face.

"See something you like, Sakura?" His soft tone was just loud enough not to be overheard.

She could feel her face flushing bright red, the heat terribly uncomfortable. Almost as uncomfortable as his gaze. "Of course not," she said scornfully, saying the first thing that came to her mind. "What would I like about a dirty old man who reads porn all the time?" Her eyes darted away again and she noticed it had finally stopped raining. Scrambling to her feet, she started to gather things together, not hazarding another look at her team leader still lying reclined on the rocks. She could still feel his single black eye still on her.

Oh dear god, her heart was still racing from the surprise! It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong, watching him while he slept, but she still felt oddly guilty being caught like that. And then he had just grinned at her, like he knew what she had been thinking about!

"Sakura…" Kakashi's voice broke through her thoughts. She turned abruptly, the contents of her bag spilling to the ground. The warmth of his breath on the side of her neck sent a shiver down her spine as he whispered in her ear. "You're blushing."

For a moment, she could only stare down at her spilled clothing, her face absolutely burning in embarrassment. It was only as one of Kakashi's gloved hands reached out toward a pair of lacy pale green and black panties that she came to her senses and smacked his hand away.

"Pervert!" she whispered harshly, not wanting to draw any more attention to their interaction than necessary. Her face now the same color as her hair, she turned her head to glare at him but saw his oddly fixated gaze on her underwear and stopped. Why were men so fascinated with a girl's panties? She sighed and started to rapidly stuff her clothes back into her bag, breaking Kakashi's concentration on her underthings. Before she could say another chastising word to him, he had rapidly retreated from her side, busying himself with taking down the shelter and ignoring her completely.

Sakura could only sigh in relief, willing her still rapidly beating heart to return to its normal pace.


Kakashi was having problems of his own at that moment. The biggest one was struggling to keep from looking at the rose haired kinochi trying to pack up her bag and make sure everything else was ready to go. He really wanted to glance over just once, but he was worried he'd find her looking at him again.

Green silk panties, the same color as her eyes, trimmed with a delicate black lace that just begged him to run a finger along the opening for the leg. What the hell was she doing with such lovely underwear on a mission, knowing full well they could be destroyed with a clumsily thrown shurikin? But that would mean her lovely ass would have a wound as well and this really wasn't something he should be thinking about – he should be trying to get this goddamned knot untied. How much strength from the nine-tails had Naruto used to tie it anyway?

Kakashi sighed and took a deep breath, pulling out a kunai to work at the knot.

This mission was causing more trouble than usual for the usually stoic copy nin. Actually, the mission itself was turning out to be quite easy and those men who had attacked them earlier had been a joke. He had taken them seriously at first, but had rapidly gotten bored and pulled out his trusty remedy: his Icha Icha book.

So what was his trouble?

It was the pink haired woman walking around on those incredibly long legs wearing an entirely too brief skirt and pair of shorts. The one who just spilled her underwear out before him. He sighed and cut the rope.

Sakura. She was the problem.

What in god's name had possessed him to ask for a kiss last night? He knew better than that. The words had just kind of slipped out before he had know what he had been saying, and by then, it was too late to take them back without making her suspicious.

And what would she be suspicious of?

Oh, I don't know, the fact she seemed to be in every one of his dreams and fantasies? That he repeatedly had to check his Icha Icha book to make sure Jirariya hadn't done something incredibly stupid like drawing a certain pink haired kunoichi in his latest work?

How long now had he avoided his former student? Weeks, months, a year or more? He'd taken every mission possible just to stay away and now Tsunade-hime had decided he was needed for this joke of a mission – a joke of a mission with her.

By his account, it had been about a year and a half since that mission that had paired the two of them up for a six-weeks in Wind country. It had been a very successful mission and they worked well together, too well together, in fact. Kakashi found himself relaxing around her and it had been a very comforting feeling. They had grown closer and while he hadn't exactly opened up and spilled his life story, thank god, instead, he listened to her talk or they spent time in a comfortable silence, a good choice for a surveillance mission.

When the mission was over, he found himself left with the strangest feeling – that of loss. He also noticed he seemed to be searching her out and she had always seemed glad to see him, something he was grateful for. After one night they had spent a few hours drinking with friends at a local bar he found himself on her doorstep, seconds away from kissing her and he realized he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. Looking down into her smiling face, flushed pink from the alcohol, he couldn't help but admire how beautiful she'd become. And it was then, as he was studying her rosy red lips, that he realized exactly what a pervert he'd become and how, if he really valued her, he needed to keep away from at all costs. A young, talented konichi, and one of the best medics ever, could never find him, this old, worn out shinobi who had once been her teacher, attractive and truly, the only reason she was standing with him outside her door was because she'd had too much to drink.

This beautiful woman should be with someone her own age, someone who could give her everything she deserved in life – someone who could give freely of himself so she could have the family he knew she wanted. She could never be happy with him and as while his brain was well aware of that fact, he could feel a strange heaviness in his chest that still drew him toward her. Giving her one more glance, he poofed away from her doorstep and took every solo mission available in the following months.

Even avoiding her hadn't been enough to get her out of his mind. She was a beautiful, kind and caring woman who had once been his student. Of all the women in the world who were off limits, she was at the top of his list.

Top of the list? Hell, she was the list. Other than a few practical and logical exceptions from age and rank, Sakura was the single female he shouldn't be thinking about like this. Perhaps that was her appeal?

If so, it was just one of her many positive features. Including the way she sometimes looked at him.

Damn it, he had no right to think of her as anything but a teammate and friend. After all, friendship is all there could ever be between them. If there was one thing he was certain of, he was sure she could never see him as attractive. That night on her doorstep had only happened because she was completely drunk and he was fairly certain she didn't remember it as she had never mentioned it. He was an old man, something his team delighted in teasing him about, not only emotionally damaged but someone who had once been her teacher. She deserved better than to saddle herself with someone such as him. It just wasn't meant to be, so he would relegate her to his fantasies and as long as he continued to remind himself that fantasy was all it was, everything would be all right. After all, that would be the only place he would ever see her wearing those lacey little panties… and maybe a matching bra.

Able to unknot the final rope without cutting it, he folded the tarp and stuffed it into a bag. He was a strong man and could control his feelings. Lord knew he had to deal with desire before – and he could do it again. The object of his fantasies was just a little closer than he'd ever had it before.

He pasted a small grin on his face as he whipped out his little orange companion and propped himself up against a tree. Just because he needed to stay on his guard around her didn't mean he was going to stop giving her a hard time – oh, no, one had to take every chance he got to get her face to turn that lovely flushed color the same shade as her hair. Besides, it was just too enjoyable to pass up.


Sakura was glancing around the area, looking to see if there was anything that had been left out when Sasuke came up carrying Yasu. Easily passing the boy off to Naruto, he pulled off his shirt and turned his back to Sakura.

"Do you think you could heal this already? It's rather uncomfortable." He said, looking back at her over his shoulder.

"Uncomfortable? Does it itch or burn or what? Do you think it was the powder that caused it?" Sakura reached into her medic's pouch and pulled out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and a square of gauze. She was a little worried there was some sort of negative reaction with the powder she'd developed. Looking at it, the cut looked like it had scabbed over and was already starting to heal.

"No, it just hurts, alright? Your precious powder did its job so would you just heal me already?" he growled.

"No need to get nasty about it." She said and gave him a swipe with the alcohol soaked gauze. The muscles in his back contracted but he didn't make a sound and she felt a little better. Satisfied that she had cleaned the area surrounding the wound sufficiently, she set the alcohol and gauze aside and arranged her hands around his wound. As the healing green glow of her hands began, his muscles gradually relaxed and his breathing calmed.

Jiro's eyes widened as he saw the glow of Sakura's chakra gradually healing the cut on Sasuke's back. He remained silent until she opened her eyes and gave her patient a light smack on his back to tell him she was done before the man spoke.

"What was that you just did, Sakura-san? That green light? Can I believe my eyes when his wound healed under your touch?

Sakura, who hadn't even bothered to sit down while treating Sasuke, bent over to grab her pack and slung it up onto her back. "I'm a medic so I heal people. It's also why I was assigned to guard you and chose to hide in the bushes this morning. It was safer for you and Yasu to be somewhere hidden."

"I thought it was because you were a girl." Jiro replied picking up his own small pack.

Sakura stopped, her arms outstretched to take Yasu from Naruto's hands and she turned with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh–oh–ho, boy, are you in for it." Naruto called with a broad grin.

"Yeah. You might want to rephrase that last sentence, Jiro-san. Sakura's got a mean right hook. Just ask any of the trees or boulders near Kohona." Sasuke smirked. Even Kakashi had winced when he heard their escortee's reply, briefly wondering if he would need to step in to protect the naive man.

Jiro looked a little confused and to everyone else's surprise, Sakura took a deep breath and gave a forced smile as she drew Yasu toward her chest. "No Jiro, it wasn't because I'm a female. Some of our most deadly shinobi are female. I happen to be better at genjutsu than the others and as a medic, they all know I prefer to protect rather than fight. But that is because I'd rather heal someone than kill them. Don't misunderstand, I've done my fair share of assassinations and I'll kill to protect myself and those who are important to me."

"Ah," the man gave a nod, accepting her explanation. Even Naruto shook his head in realization that Jiro hadn't recognized his unintentional insult to Sakrua. "I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with genjutsu . What is that?"

Naruto had busied himself wrapping Yasu to Sakura's chest with the band of cloth for that purpose and Sakura soon had her arms free. "Let me show you." She said. Giving a few hand signals Sakura watched as Jiro's expression became slightly panicked.

For Jiro, the sensation was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Suddenly, the Kohona nins were gone, along with his son and all of their gear. Worried, he glanced around, looking for any sign of them in the clearing, but there wasn't anything, just a bare trail leading away from the empty area, nothing but trees, bushes and path as far as the eye could see. A low growl came from the bushes to his right. Spinning around to find where the sound was coming from, he saw a giant tiger slowly creep from the underbrush while a loud roar came from behind him. He hesitated to turn his back on the snarling creature currently in front of him, but he had to know what was behind him. Taking a deep breath to gather his courage, he slowly turned to see another large cat that must have been a lion, the mane giving it away.

His heart was now thundering in his ears, his chest heaving as he struggled for breath. Jiro swallowed hard and tried to decide what to do, which way would be the safest to run.

Then suddenly both cats rolled themselves gracefully to the ground and, to Jiro's great surprise, a loud rumbling purr came from both great creatures. In his shock, Jiro dropped to his knees with a released gasp of breath, his confusion clearly showing across his face. And suddenly, Sakura, with Yasu still strapped to her chest, was sitting next to the lion, running her hands through his mane for a few seconds before both giant cats disappeared and the rest of the team and supplies reappeared by the tree line.

"That is genjutsu – creating illusions with our chakra." Sakura explained. "It's the same sort of technique I used to create a copy of you and Yasu our attackers attempted to kidnap this morning. You wouldn't have been able to see it, but once they were a ways away, the genjutsu wore off and the figures turned back into the logs we commonly use as a base for the illusion.

"Kakashi and Sasuke are really good at it as well, but the person has to be able to see their eyes first – kind of like hypnotizing. Normal genjutsu isn't limited by viewing a person's eyes, but using their Sharingan has other advantages normal genjutsu doesn't."

Jiro remained where he had fallen to his knees, his chest still heaving as he tried to convince himself it had all been an illusion, something his brain was having trouble doing as he had seen and heard those creatures with his own senses. Hell, he could still smell the musky odor of the two giant cats lingering in the air.

"I think you might have over done it, Sakura." Sasuke's voice had a hint of amusement in it. The slightly proud look on Sakura's face turned to one of concern. Raising from her seat on the gravel path, she went over to kneel next to Jiro.

"Ah, I hope I didn't scare you too much, did I?" She asked hesitantly, extending a hand toward one of his.

With a deep breath and a forced smile, Jiro looked up into her worried face. "No, not too badly. I must say it was very convincing and had me quite worried for a minute there." his hand held onto hers with a firm grip and she tried to smile. "Lions and tigers aren't exactly everyday encounters for the rest of us, so I must say it was quite the unexpected surprise."

"Ah, well, while that had actually been the idea, scaring you to death wasn't. I just needed to show you something that couldn't possibly be true. Or at least was extremely unlikely."

"You certainly succeeded then."

"We probably ought to get going if we want to get to find a good campsite before it gets dark." Sakura easily rose to her feet and, taking Jiro's other hand in hers, pulled him up to stand next to her. Naruto and Sasuke had already started out along the path and Sakura pulled on the one of Jiro's hands she continued to hold in her own and lead him along with her. He was in no mood to disagree and followed along with the pink haired woman, all the while trying to come to terms with the whole business with the big cats being just a demonstration of what she could do with her skills. It was no wonder she objected to his earlier statement. Using that illusion skill of hers, he had no doubt she could have held off all of their attackers earlier this morning. And what was it the Uchia had said about her having a mean right hook?

He looked down at the soft hand still holding his own. It was hard to believe that such a lovely woman like her was a hardened ninja that could kill someone. Well, until he saw it with his own eyes, he wasn't going to believe it and hopefully, this trip would be uneventful and the opportunity for her to kill someone would never come up. Although, he had seen an occasional flash of anger that sure looked like she could kill one of her teammates – especially the blond one. Ah, well, hopefully he wouldn't have to see that either.

He gave a little push to his arm, sending their still clasped hands swinging gently.

Neither of them noticed the single dark eye that followed the motion momentarily before the owner's face was buried further into his dirty novel.


Kakashi unrolled the scroll with the map on it, allowing everyone to crowd around and get a look. They were all gathered around the fire after dinner and it had started raining an hour ago but the evening's thunderstorm hadn't yet begun. He could feel it coming though, the way his chakra was drawn to the outermost layer of his skin, the way the energy just hung in the air – oh, yes, he knew it was coming. And it had him just the tiniest bit on edge as well.

"This is the map your father sent us, Jiro, and it shows the major routes between yours and your father's homes. I've marked the one I plan on us taking with red and we're about half way there now. Barring any unforeseen difficulties, we should be there in another two days or so."

"It would have taken less if we had gone by one of the more direct routes." Jiro said.

"It also would have been very predictable and taken us through several villages. I want to avoid all signs of people. People tend to talk and we already know that there have been thugs sent after you."

"Ah, so that's why you chose such a long route. I must confess, I thought you had gotten lost, the way we seemed to be taking such winding paths."

"We've been walking around for a day and a half now and you've waited this long to mention it?" Sasuke spoke up, his voice quiet in the gathering darkness.

"I figured it wasn't a good idea to question the people with all the sharp weapons." Jiro said with a smile. "But I also trust you know what you are doing. Except… I've also wondered why we haven't been riding horses."

"How many ninjas have you seen riding horses?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"Besides, horses are a lot of work," Sakura chimed in. "And they're even more stubborn than Kakashi!" she said with a smile.

Kakashi hung his head. "I remember a time when you all used to respect me…"

"Now that was a long time ago!" Naruto laughed loudly. "Just kidding, Sensei - I still respect you! Usually."

"And how many times have I told you not to call me Sensei anymore?"

A sudden streak of lightning followed almost immediately by a clap of thunder startled everyone around the fire. Yasu, who had been staring with rapt attention at the crackles and sparks of the fire, burst out in tears and started wailing from his seat between Sakura and Naruto. In less than a second, Sakura had the little boy in her arms and an open palm was rubbing circles against his back soothingly. Hardly noticed by even her, she was also making soft calming noises, telling him everything would be all right.

For Kakashi, he was again amazed at how natural she made all of this seem. Perhaps it really did come to women better than men, but he wasn't going to tell her that; the thought alone probably put him in danger of being punched through the nearest tree.

Yet she really was good at it and most girls dreamed of being mothers, didn't they? Or was he being too stereotypical again? Surely she wanted children and she'd be so good with them. Kakashi smiled softly at just the thought. After all, she already looked after the three of her teammates regularly and children would be easy compared to all of them, especially Naruto.


A loud clap of thunder woke Sakura from her sound sleep. This evening, the thunder and lightning had really bothered Yasu and he hadn't wanted to fall asleep. It had probably been because he had slept for a good portion of the day. Reaching the ends of her nerves, she had resorted to asking Sasuke, who wasn't due on watch until early morning, to use the Sharingan on the boy. In a matter of seconds, the child was asleep and Sakura herself was ready to nod off.

Luckily the loud sound that woke her didn't disturb the sleeping Yasu. She was eternally grateful the boy seemed able to sleep through the night, once he finally fell asleep that is. She settled back down and snuggled into her blanket, turning over onto her other side.

Then she saw it. Even in the darkness of the tent, she saw it.

Damn that stupid man! Sitting up, she found Sasuke's pack without any sign of a cloak but Kakashi's pack a short distance away had a neatly folded, thick woolen cloak sitting nicely on top of it. With a grumble, she strapped up her sandals and shin-guards and donned her own cloak. She was going to wring his scrawny neck for making her get up out of a nice warm sleeping bag to make him wear his cloak!

Throwing open the flap of their shelter, she stopped long enough to locate Sasuke who was sitting motionless on a large nearby rock. He was even wearing his cloak. Without her even needing to come over and ask where Kakashi was, Sasuke raised an arm and pointed the direction of her quarry. With a nod of her head, she stormed off in the direction he'd pointed, Kakashi's cloak bundled up in her arms.

Sasuke shook his head in pity.

When Sakura landed on the branch next to Kakashi, he didn't even acknowledge her presence this time.

"Aren't you afraid you'll get struck by lightning?" Sakura asked with a sigh, looking over at the man leaning against the tree trunk.

"I thought you'd heard the story about me cutting a bolt of lightning in two with my Raikiri."

"Do you really want to use up all your chakra on pointless things?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Pointless things such as saving my own life?" Kakashi's eyes were still focused on the sky. The rain that was beating down was lessened slightly by the proximity of the branch above him, but he was still thoroughly wet.

"Wouldn't have to save your life if you'd just go inside the tent in the first place." She grumbled, her gaze turning to the sky, trying once again to see what fascinated him so much.

"Ah, but I'm not going to do that, now am I?"

"No," Sakura said with another sigh of resignation. "Of course not. That would be too easy, wouldn't it?"

"Absolutely… I might be convinced to wear my cloak… given the right incentive."

"Oh?" Sakura could feel her heart rate increase as her mind started to imagine the possible things he could want of her this time. She wasn't sure if she wanted it to be another kiss on the cheek or something more. Of course, something completely vulgar would land him in a three-foot crater at the base of the tree they were standing in.

He finally turned to look at her, the first time since she had jumped up next to him. Both eyes were visible and open wide, any sign of his usual laziness gone while he had watched the skies and now he was watching her with an interest that sent fire burning though her veins.

"Kakashi?" She asked when he didn't speak.

"Hmm…" he couldn't help but stare at her. Even in the near darkness, she was beautiful. She had her hood up and a few pink tendrils of loose hair framed her face. Her big green eyes were wide and questioning and her lips looked incredibly lush and soft. What would a kiss on the lips be like from her? And he meant real skin contact, not on his mask like last night.

Those lips turned downward and her eyebrows came together. Her lips moved and he completely missed what she said.

"Kakashi!" She was starting to get a bit annoyed. Why the hell was he just looking at her like that? If she didn't know better…

No he couldn't ask for that. He knew better than to try something like that.

"How about another kiss?" He asked, once again pointing to his cloth covered cheek. He had suddenly started the conversation again where he'd left off, not even acknowledging she'd been calling his name for the last minute.

Sakura sighed. She also had the oddest feeling of disappointment, something she tried to brush away quickly so she wouldn't have to acknowledge it. Sakura had a bad feeling where this was going and it while she didn't want to think about it yet, there was this niggling thought in the back of her mind, telling her nothing good could come of developing a crush on her former teacher.

"Cloak first." She demanded, forcing it into his arms. Even in the quick flash of lightning, she could see his rueful smile as he threw the cloak over his shoulders and drew it tight around his neck.

"Hood, too." She said.

"You do realize I'm already completely soaked. Putting the hood up won't do much if my hair is already wet."

"I don't care. Put the hood up."

He obediently put the hood up before leaning down closer to her. "Well, I did as you asked. Where's my kiss?"

Sakura smiled at him and leaned forward. She only meant to give him a quick peck on the cheek, but at the last second as she put more weight on her front foot, she slipped and skidded into him, her arms grabbing at his and her lips falling on the corner of his mouth.

For a moment they stood together, her clinging to him and him supporting most of their weight. Neither drew back from the kiss nor did she try to pull away from the rest of his body. Then he turned his head to the side, repositioning her kiss away from his lips; only then did she move away.

"Ah, sorry, Kakashi. I didn't mean to slip like that." she said with a rueful smile, one of her hands reaching out to straighten his cloak. "I can be so clumsy sometimes, can't I?"

He could hear the nervousness in her voice and he decided the best course of action would be to turn and ignore it had even happened. Turning his head back to the sky, he spoke softly. "Good night, Sakrua. I'll wear my cloak the rest of the night for you."

Noticing him turning away from her, she was almost ready to jump down and return to the nice and warm dryness of their shelter when she halted. "Just for tonight? No promises for tomorrow?"

"Nope, just for tonight. You'll have to come up with a more suitable bribe for tomorrow night."

She could see just the hint of smile under his mask before she leapt down and started back toward their campground. What the hell could she come up with for tomorrow night? Well, at least she had twenty-four hours to figure it out.

TBC…


I want to apologize for how long people had to wait for this chapter. One of my reviewers, Amrun, left me a review for chapter 3 with some very constructive criticism that made me question where this story was going. Ch. 1 started as a oneshot which I had written a few years back but as I worked on it, it had developed a whole storyline that I really liked and just couldn't shake. In hindsight, writing a oneshot where Sakura asks Kakashi to wear his cloak and an incentive kiss turns into sex would have been rather fun (and you may see something along those lines later, now that I've thought about it) but I kinda fell in love with the idea of expanding that oneshot into a several day trip across THUNDER, etc.

But back to my point. Amrun asked some tough questions and I've spend the past few weeks thinking about them. Specifically, what prompted this change between Kakashi and Sakura. The one about why I chose Sasuke as a character is just that when I first started writing this, he was just a fourth person for their team and it seemed possible he could come back, but so much has happened in the manga since then, it would be extremely hard for this to *really* happen. I just don't think I could substitute Sai for this and keep the story the way I imagine it and while he's just a minor character, he's really the only one I could use for this fic.

Once again, back to my point - as for Kakashi and Sakura, I decided I need to figure out what event caused this change and eventually I settled on just giving them some back-story and letting us see a bit more of Kakashi's thoughts on things. And it only took 6-8 weeks for me to figure that out (and do lots of homework, deal with my family's Halloween celebrations, the obligatory thanksgiving, the usual full time job, part time job and my new foster-puppy.) I also did a little rewriting of the first four chapters.

I want a nap.