Chapter Eighteen: Fifteen Minutes Alone

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Kakashi wasted no time in whisking away with Sakura as soon as Itachi and Sasuke needed some privacy. For the past week and a half, he'd wanted to be around Sakura Haruno his every waking moment as well as his sleeping ones. He knew it wasn't healthy. He'd never been this obsessed about anyone before. It was probably because in the back of his mind — he knew this wasn't going to last. Like everyone else he cared about — she would soon vanish from his life and his very memories.

This woman was magnetic and knowing that his older, hopefully wiser self trusted her — he'd allowed himself to trust as well. She was hot, strong, fun, snarky, intelligent and talented. Sakura was the packaged deal — he'd obviously thought so in the future or he wouldn't have given her those bangles. The day before, outside the waterfall, he'd spied on Sakura and his older self. If he didn't know what a smitten shinobi looked like — his future self was the very definition.

As soon as Sakura's future teammates arrived, he'd been unable to spend any time with her privately. Though, part of that was his own fault. Maybe he shouldn't have warned his future self about his attachment. But, aside from the waterfall with his older self, she'd either had Sasuke or Naruto practically glued to her hip. The smart thing to do, would be to have his memories wiped now, let her future teammates take care of her mission and go back to his simple life as an assassin. It was easier when he didn't have to feel — complete the mission, keep his teammates from dying. Those were his two objectives.

But he'd been tasked with a separate mission from Lord Third and he'd already recruited Sakura. His older self would just have to accept that this wasn't his time and he wasn't the Hokage here.

"Finally," Kakashi huffed when he and Sakura landed at the base of a large centurion tree. He wasn't a tree guy like Tenzo, but he knew enough to realize this tree was at least three centuries old. Konoha had only been established as a village for the last eighty years. However, the Hatake, his clan, had been living in this forest for the last half-millennia. "I thought I'd never get to talk to you without some sort of supervision."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Sakura's cheeks tinted a pretty shade of pink that would normally match her hair. Once again, he was annoyed by the yellow dye. It reminded him too much of his sensei and that was a total buzz kill. "I can't blame them for not trusting me. I did basically run away into the past without permission."

"Hokage, huh?" Kakashi asked. That wasn't something he'd ever aspired to, but Sarutobi's conversation a few days ago came to mind. He crouched down and pulled out a scroll from his pouch. He unsealed it and a half dozen mice made out of ink scattered on the forest floor. They headed south in the direction of Anbu and Root operations. He'd been skeptical at first, but when he shared watch duty with Sai, he'd learned of the man's past. He knew exactly where to send his ink creatures due to his familiarity with both facilities.

And Sai had told him about his experience in Root in such detail, that Kakashi was surprised that Tenzo wasn't even more awkward. He had a good idea of the layout of the secret facility. He had no intention of shutting Root down, the Third could do that himself — it was his job. But, he was going to learn everything he could about it and get back Shisui's eye. He would need an ally of the prodigy's abilities in the village when this was all said and done. And he did want to eliminate the Tiger-masked Abarame that poisoned Shisui. If he couldn't eliminate Danzo, he could at least crippled him.

"Maybe we can't take down Root — I suppose that is a bit too ambitious," Sakura started, as if she were reading his mind. "But you better steer clear of Danzo, Kakashi. He's a dishonorable man who will stoop to any level." Sakura sat on the ground, her legs crossed Lotus style and placed her hands flat on her knees in a meditative position.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi leaned against the back of the tree and stared down at her. Her nose crinkled just so when she was concentrating. It was kind of cute. His mind wandered and he imagined her expression if she were to go down on him. Would her eyes be open or closed? He really wanted to find out. He was obsessed with finding out. He shook his head to clear the direction of those thoughts. Maybe he should visit Anko, she never had any strings attached and was always up for a good time.

Kakashi crouched in front of Sakura, elbows braced on his knees and his hands loose. He detected a faint disturbance of earth chakra radiating in all directions with her as the epicenter. He pushed aside his forehead protector and sucked in a breath in astonishment. It was a brilliant ninjutsu and perfect for one with an affinity for earth chakra!

"It's the sensory technique I created," Sakura explained. She opened her eyes and relaxed, dispelling the chakra. "I can map out the area. I was seeing if there was anyone aside from our party in the proximity." She smiled shyly. "I'm still working out the kinks. I guess you'll know a thousand and one ninjutsus now?"

Okay, that was hot as hell. Anko who? "We still have about fifteen minutes. You wanna make out?" Kakashi grinned at her through his mask.

Sakura giggled. "I don't think anyone in their right mind would turn down a make out session with you." Her smile faded. "Though, I need to tell you something."

Kakashi groaned and fell back to stretch out over the ground. "What now? I didn't groom you when I was your Sensei did I? I don't think I'd ever stoop so low. I have a very strict moral code." He glanced over at her with one eye open. "Unless I was extremely bored.

"Strict moral code says the man whom reads porn in public," Sakura murmured. "And no. I was a very annoying little girl. You could barely tolerate me. I think you might have felt older brother protective vibes to your Genin. And you were definitely bored. You're terrible with children."

He didn't read porn in public, but that would be a fun way to make people avoid him whenever he had to take the streets. "Considering I didn't get a chance to be a kid myself, I wouldn't know how to relate." He reached over and laid his hand lightly over her thigh, he started to walk his fingers up towards her hip. "I don't feel brotherly at the moment."

Sakura sucked in a breath when he started to trace the juncture where her hip met her groin. "A few years later, we became friends after I trained under my Master. I'd matured by then and you became Team Captain rather than Sensei." Sakura reached down and caught his hand when he started creeping towards her groin. "And I'm only telling you this because you agreed to have your memories suppressed."

"Ah." Kakashi closed his eyes. If they weren't going to make out, he might as well rest. She was still holding his hand, and he had a brief flash to their first spar when she'd fractured his wrist. That had bloody hurt!

Sakura threatened their fingers together and continued to hold his hand — he let her. "How did you feel seeing an older version of yourself?"

His older version had a gravitas about him that was palpable. It reminded Kakashi of the dignity his father once possessed when he'd been the hero of Konoha. "I'm an asshole."

Sakura choked on a laugh. "Not the answer I was expecting." She squeezed his hand and a surge of healing chakra made him tingle in all the right places. Sakura breathed out a loud, frustrated sigh. "But what I need to tell you is — we can't have any more sex."

He peered at her from his right eye. That nice healing chakra was quickly forgotten as he could feel his irritation grow. Her friends from the future were definitely screwing with the nice little routine he'd come to enjoy the last few days. "Did you not enjoy having sex with me? You don't have to worry about future me being jealous — we're the same fucking person, Sakura."

She shook her head. "It's not that — or not only that. I admit, that part is very confusing. My IUD failed. We don't need any additional complications and it's distracting from the mission. If we're not infiltrating Root, it's not necessary."

"Forgive my ignorance, but what's an IUD and why does that matter?" Kakashi shifted so that his hands were on either side of her head and he peered down at her. He could smell her arousal. "Sex is not a distraction. It's stress relief."

"It's my birth control device," Sakura explained. "And it's definitely a distraction for me."

"Ah." She was probably feeling this way because of what happened with fucking Jiraiya. He was going to kill that pervert. "We're still due to meet the Hokage tomorrow, regarding our Anbu assignment. You were approved, on a probationary clause, if you'll remember and we still have some work to do together."

"Future you has ordered that I either have him, Sasuke, or Naruto with me at all times," Sakura explained.

"Then my vote is Sasuke. His teleportation abilities make him an unique and capable ally." Kakashi leaned down until his masked lips brushed over Sakura's. "It's his clan you're saving, so he'd be the most agreeable." She squirmed underneath his body and it took more will power than he wanted to admit to not do anything about that. "Or, I could just kidnap you."

Sakura's arms looped around his neck, her fingers slid into the short hairs at the back of his head. Her pale green eyes began to glisten with tears. "I'm sorry for disrupting your life, Kakashi."

He stared down at those eyes for a moment, then kept his weight braced by his left hand and ran his right thumb across her cheek to wipe away the fallen tears. "It's been a long time since anyone shed a tear for me, Sakura. Remember when I warned you not to fall in love with me. Well, I'm glad you didn't listen."

Sakura's soft laughter morphed into a sob. "Well, I'm glad you're going to forget about me — at least for a little while. I would never want to be a distraction to you."

Kakashi's jaw clenched. Was it wise to lose his memories? Was Shisui still capable of doing so with one Sharingan? Or would the responsibility come to Itachi. "I think I'll ask Itachi to be the one to lock them away. He knows me better than Shisui and he's empathetic to our situation."

"You will cross paths over the years," Sakura agreed. "He's a good choice. I think we should do it after we get back Shisui's eye."

Kakashi rolled onto his back and dragged Sakura over on top of him. Her hair fell in a curtain around their faces. "So, you're thirteen and a half years younger than me. And in five years I'll be your Sensei, huh? And in ten years, you'll be old enough to fall in love with your dashing older team leader?'

Sakura leaned down a pressed a kiss to his forehead, the bridge of his nose, the exposed part of his cheeks. "You're hot, Kakashi. And just my type. I have a feeling I'll be crushing on you in no time — making a fool of myself trying to get you to notice me."

"You're beautiful," Kakashi pointed out. "I'm sure I'll be vaguely aware. But if you want me to notice you — it will be your big heart, your intelligence, and your talent on the field."

Sakura laid flat against Kakashi, her curves pressed against his hard muscles, face tucked under his chin, hands clutched on his chest. His left hand ran up and down her back while his right settled possessively over her ass, grasping the firm cheek.

"You smell different," Sakura murmured. "Like Earth and Forest. Not like sandalwood."

"Can't exactly go broadcasting myself when I'm on missions, can I?" He sighed. "Your friend is on his way back here. He's being kind enough to walk and give us time."

"Yeah, Sasuke just wants me to be happy. We tried to be happy together, but it just wasn't quite right. I think we could have made it work, but that's just it, it would have been work. It felt different than how I feel with you." She lifted up her face to meet his eyes. "With you— I just am."

"I want one more night with you — no missions. No friends. Before you go," Kakashi requested. "The two of us, at my family estate. Itachi can tuck away my memories afterwards."

Sakura nodded. "Okay, Kakashi." She smiled at him, a sad smile. "But, we'd have to be careful. I don't have any birth control now."

He sat up abruptly, cradling Sakura in his lap and nuzzled the junction between her neck and shoulder. "And would that really be so bad?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted before she could say one way or another.

"I gave you guys thirty minutes," Sasuke's deep, almost bored tone called out. "We still have a lot to discuss, let's go."

Kakashi groaned, but stood and helped Sakura to her feet. "Who put him in charge?" He grumbled under his breath.

"I did," Sakura answered with an amused smile. "It's his family."

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