Kakashi perched on Sakura's windowsill, looking in intently. The woman was perched on the corner of her bed, one leg bent up and out, her ankle resting on the thigh of the other. She had clearly bathed as her reed silk pyjamas were accessorized by the fluffy white towel containing her hair. A couple of dripping pink tendrils had escaped, and the droplets were cascading down, causing clear pathways along her smooth neck, but not raising chills. She had a book open and held forward so that no water would drip on it. Engulfed as she was, Kakashi was certain that she would not notice him.

It was pitch back now outside and Kakashi's thankfully hidden nose was slightly pink form the cold. He shifted from his crouch to a sitting position and wrapped his arms around his knees.

"I'd have liked to believe that you would notice me." Kakashi tilted his head back to glance at the dark haired man.

"Barely recognised you without the bat cape." He jumped down and landed directly in front of his comrade. He held his hand out. The report was handed over and after a quick once over was placed into his jacket.

"If you could find out anything more on Ichigo that would be great."

"There's another village around 80 miles north. Try there."

And with that Itachi disintegrated in a mass of crows. Second later, they too were gone.

To everyone's dismay, they next day was spent travelling.

888

"This could be exactly the same as the last village we were in!" Sakura sighed. Naruto's stupidity really knew no bounds.

"If you look slightly more carefully you would see a totally different landscape. The trees here are healthier and the ground is slightly moe moist; there is more rain here than the previous town." Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah, the huge mountains over there could be a good indicator too." Kakashi gave Naruto a happy eye crease.

"You should be slightly more observant you know."

"Wha-!"

Sasuke and Sakura groaned.

They couldn't get to the hotel fast enough, and when it finally came into view the sight was met by three happy exhales of breath and one excited "Believe it!" Followed by four sets of feet speeding up.

This hotel was slightly better kept than the last one; there was no damp and the walls were fully painted. Bathroom was larger too, Sakura noted with a smile.

After a long shower, where the hot water didn't run out Sakura wrapped a towel around herself and went back into the bedroom. Sakura laid back on her bed with one leg propped up holding a brown paper bag. She had already glanced at the first one, and one of the two she had bought during her second trip to the shop but hadn't got t o the third; the one with the picture that she had admired so completely. Sakura had not realised when she picked up the book that the cover image was one if similar excellence.

The cover image contained a couple, but was certainly suitable for the general public's eye. A man with closed eyes had his head turned in profile, his lips pressed lovingly to the neck of the woman he held in his arms. He had her hand entwined loosely in his hair, and her shoulders were hunched inwards slightly, holding him to her. Her head was thrown back and her face serene. Her eyes were shut rather than scrunched and her moist red lips were parted. She was positioned face on, but her body was hidden by the man's. The background was a washed out red.

Sakura opened it to the first page and began to read, the images and words conflicting with her mind.

His eyes roved over her body intensely, sending shivers down her spine and heat to her core.

"You're beautiful." He proclaimed truthfully, his hands moving appreciatively over her soft skin, his mouth dipping to kiss her sweet mouth. His tongue pressed against her lower lip, begging for entrance. She parted her lips hesitantly and their tongues entwined, fanning the flames up to new heights and sending both or them delirious with desire.

She's heard from friends and colleagues about their sex lives, but had always tried to zone out and nod along, not allowing them to see through to her silent dispute. How could an act of violence and selfishness be pleasurable for both parties, if either? How could stealing something from someone so intimately be an act of loving?

She did not scream anymore.

"Come for me, Harriet." He breathed intimately against her ear, his mouth tugging insistently on her lobe. "I want to feel your pleasure." Moments later, Harriet let loose around him, her body convulsing around his stiff, throbbing cock, her head bent back as she cried out his name.

Sakura kept reading a while longer, not really keeping track of time. When she realised that the sky had turned to ebony with an opal gem, she closed her book and shivered, her arms curling around her body. She scrubbed herself down quickly and dressed, swapping her usual camisole and short for a long sleeved top and baggy sweatpants. When the boys came charging in due to Naruto's midnight munchies, Sakura stayed in bed. She wasn't very hungry.

888

Kakashi was sat on the roof. It was odd, he realised, that the only real plus side to this mission was that they could spend some time in hotels sleeping rather than camping with someone on watch and he found himself sitting outside in the cold. He ought to be taking advantage of the accommodations as much as possible, especially since this mission was borderline S-rank, and all expenses would be billed to Tsunade, who he needed revenge against anyway; she had told him that he needed to be there six hours earlier than he actually did, just so that he wouldn't be late. Of course, he still had been.

So he might as well go find some food as he hadn't felt like a Naruto rampage earlier, and he doubted his pink haired team mate had either. Naruto was difficult to deal with on a good day, and today was certainly not one of those. Paired with Sakura's current demeanour, he would place bets on her pretending to be asleep. No one sane could blame her.

Though the village was small, there was some choice, and Sakura was woken up to a mixture of Chinese, Indian and Pizza by her rather insistent Sensei who was claiming that he hadn't seen her eat properly in almost a week. He was definitely exaggerating, but his point got across and they enjoyed a rather lengthy brinner (breakfast and dinner; after eating all of that neither of them would be able to manage breakfast) with some light hearted conversation and pleasant company. By the time they had finished, both of them were much more relaxed, and when Kakashi got back to his bed, he was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Breakfast was still a lengthy event the next day; Naruto could only inhale food so fast. And this was probably good thing - the longer he spent eating, the longer they went without his input.

"We'll only have two more days here at most, so if we could spend this morning picking up supplies…" Kakashi shrugged form behind his book. He glanced sideways at Naruto. "Especially you, Naruto."

"I'll just get stuff on the way back."

"Then we'll leave you behind."

"I'll catch you up." Sasuke smirked at him.

"You probably wouldn't' be able to."

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go get a head start. Remember to keep your eyes and ears open for information."

And with that, Kakashi left in a poof of smoke.

A/N - Teehee, another chapter J I couldn't help but giggle when I wrote the book extracts :P Whenever I read anything like that it seems exaggerated for shits 'n' giggles. This probably shows through when I write it. Looking back, my chapters all seem incredibly short, so I will probably try and lengthen future ones.

R&R Guys J