Chapter 8

The Fox and the White Fang

The cool night air kissed Sakura's feverish skin, becoming a balm she desperately needed as she and Kakashi made a break from the hospital. They ran, taking a rooftop tour across Konoha until they made it to a favored canopy that overlooked the heart of the village. The Hokage tower provided a vantage point of the sprawling streets below, beautifully lit by string lanterns that zigzagged from artisan rooftops. It was a clear night, too, and the stars sparkled in the midnight canvas above them.

When they settled on top of the tower, the first thing Sakura did was pull the hood off her head, and then Kakashi was there, lifting the fox mask with the edges of his fingertips. A smile she couldn't see creased the corners of his eye. "How long were you aware it was me?" Sakura asked breathlessly.

"Oh, since the first meeting when Tora escorted you into the Commander's office," Kakashi admitted.

Sakura thought about smacking him. "You were there?!" How could she have missed that? Granted, it wasn't like anyone had moved from the table during those meetings, aside from the Commander and the man pointing out the location of the hideout on the map. "Wait a minute," Sakura said with a frown, "how did you know it was me?"

"Well," Kakashi said at length, "speaking out of turn was the first giveaway." Sakura placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. "The second, was the smell of your perfume."

Sakura felt herself blushing. "You know the smell of my perfume?"

Kakashi nodded. "Overly keen sense of smell, remember?"

"Right," she said, her tongue snapping on the 'T.' She found that little detail unnerving, but hadn't she also been aware of his scent?

"It's… flattering," he decided on the word.

"Flattering?"

"Subtle."

Gods was he eloquent? Sakura shook her head. "You didn't tell me you were still taking missions from ANBU…"

"I haven't been," he told her. "The Commander scouted me after I returned from Rain since I had intel on the Kage situation."

"Please tell me that was after I healed you…"

Kakashi rolled his single eye. "Yes. In fact, when I got home the next day, I found a scroll nearly identical to the one I found underneath your armchair. I never really saw the emblem on the wax seal before you stole it out of my hand," Kakashi noted.

"I didn't steal it… I can't steal what's already mine." Sakura tilted her head. "You know the Commander is Sasuke, right?"

Kakashi worked at a muscle in the back of his neck with his knuckles. "Ah, yeah," he admitted softly. Kakashi turned away and lowered himself to the ledge of the tower, letting his legs dangle over the side.

Sakura joined him, keeping her knees pulled to her chest and her arms braced around them. "How long have you known?"

"Since the first Baku died, about six months ago." Kakashi laid his hands on his thighs just above his knees. Hatake Kakashi had nice hands. His fingers were long and slender, limned by scar tissue, but still somehow elegant in a masculine sort of way. Sakura found herself staring at his hands as they sat. "I'm sorry if that upsets you, Sakura. I would have told you but it wasn't my place."

"I'm not upset, Kakashi." At least, she wasn't upset with him.

"Your facial expression suggests otherwise."

"Damn, can I borrow your mask?" she quipped.

Kakashi's eye creased. "You have your own mask now, Kitsune."

Sakura gripped the edges of her mask, staring down at the fox face. "I think Sasuke was trying to be clever with my codename, but it was just another clue to make me figure out he was the Commander all the more quickly…" She frowned.

"Because of Naruto and the Nine-Tails?" Kakashi guessed.

"Yeah." Below them, a couple passed in the middle of the street walking hand in hand. They seemed oblivious to the Konoha nin on top of the Hokage Tower – lost in their love for one another. "Did you come up with your codename?" Sakura turned her face towards Kakashi. "White-Fang."

"No," he said. "I never had a codename when I was in ANBU. Things were a little different when I was a kid." Kakashi paused thoughtfully. "I was the youngest ninja to ever be scouted for ANBU, and I suppose I didn't very much care if our people knew who I was. I only wore the ANBU mask on covert missions, but around town, I guess I wanted people to see me."

A line, thin as sewing thread, creased Sakura's forehead. "Then why wear this one?" She reached over, her left hand lightly brushing against the fabric of Kakashi's jaw. Apart from healing scrapes and bruises, Sakura had never touched Kakashi's face before… She didn't drop her hand right away, but instead let her fingertips trace that small curve of bone right beneath his ear. Kakashi didn't pull away or ask her to stop, but he was looking at her with an unreadable expression in his stormy gray eye. A question she didn't know how to answer seemed to linger in his gaze. Slowly, Sakura dropped her hand.

It felt like an eternity before Kakashi spoke, and when he did, his voice was so low that Sakura had to lean in to hear him. "My father suggested I wear the mask as a child to protect my identity since I looked so much like him… After he died, it didn't seem right to take it off."

She had not been expecting that answer. Sakura assumed it was just part of the mystery – part of Kakashi being Kakashi, and such a legendary ninja. "I won't tell anyone," she said just as quietly. "Your secret is safe with me."

Kakashi offered her a small smile.

"You know," she said, to lighten the mood, "the boys think it's because you want to cover up all the nose bleeds you get from reading your pervy novels."

"Is that right?"

"Uh-huh," she sang, bouncing her heels on the brick.

"That is a clever theory," he agreed.

"Do you want to hear mine?" Sakura teased.

"I don't know…" Kakashi lifted a single eyebrow. "Do I?"

Sakura grinned wickedly. "I suspected that you are just drop-dead-gorgeous and are preventing all of womankind from fainting in the streets at the sight of your god-like beauty."

Kakashi chuckled, his shoulders shaking slightly.

"Ah, you're not denying it either…" She quirked an eyebrow at him playfully.

"The world will never know." Kakashi pulled himself from the ledge and then offered a hand to Sakura to help her up. She didn't need it, but she folded her small hand within his palm and let him haul her upright. "We should probably go report our findings to the Commander," Kakashi said. "As much as I would enjoy sitting out here all night talking with you, Sasuke will want his intel."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "Or lack thereof," she corrected. "I'm going to have to go to the Land of Rivers to extract a violet-spotted salamander specimen for testing purposes now."

"Is that the next step?" Kakashi asked as they made their way down from the rooftop.

Sakura explained her plans to Kakashi and he listened intently, nodding as she talked through the medical jargon. Of course he understood perfectly what she needed to do, the man was a genius after all. "It's a good plan," he said when she'd finished. "Using a cousin antidote should buy us enough time in theory. I'm confident I can get Hattori alone, get him to–"

Sakura stopped walking dead in the path. They were in the woods now, surrounded by towering trees and night creatures that were singing to them. Moonlight filtered down through the budding canopy, washing them both in pools of liquid blue. "You're not volunteering for that," Sakura said adamantly. Her stomach had dropped, and chills were currently skating up the length of her spine from his suggestion.

"Sakura–"

"No, Kakashi." She wasn't changing her mind. "This is why I would make a shitty operative," she said under her breath, pinching the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes.

"I'm not tracking…"

"I'm not willing to risk your life on a chance that I might be right about the cousin antidote," she expressed fluidly. "Not you, Kakashi." Sakura's limbs were starting to shake, and she didn't think she could blame it on the cool night air. "Not my teammates."

Kakashi's expression softened under the moonlight as he began to understand. He took a small step forward, his palm reaching out for her arm reassuringly. "We are ninja, Sakura. We take risks to protect the people we love. To protect our home. I trust you. You're one of the brightest kunoichi this village has ever seen… whom I have had the pleasure of calling my teammate. You'll get the serum right."

Sakura still wouldn't budge. She knew she would get the antidote right for the violet-spotted salamander, but there was too much of a gap in the unknown about whether it would work against the black salamander poison. A gap of uncertainty she wasn't willing to risk with Kakashi… His faith in her was heartwarming, but it was not enough to ease the gnawing sensation in the back of her mind if she got it wrong. She was not willing to lose him – especially to her own doing. "No," she said firmly, her resolve was steel. She was hot and cold all at once. She would never dream of asking Kakashi to not do the very thing that was in his blood, the very thing that made him ninja, but she could not let him do this.

Kakashi was studying her in the moonlight with a 'V'-shaped crease forming between his eyes. His hand slid up her arm, across her shoulder, and then finally, cupped the back of her neck. "Hey," he said softly, his eye searching hers for an answer she couldn't give. "I didn't mean to upset you…"

"You didn't," she said. "I just… don't trust myself, okay?" She wished she could leave it at something as simple as that. But there was more to the story. Sakura realized that she was one hundred percent okay with allowing someone else she didn't know to risk their life for the greater good… a testament, she realized, to just how fucked her mentality had grown after all the death she'd seen and taken part in. She wasn't, however, okay with letting Kakashi volunteer because she was selfish. She was selfish and she could not bring herself to imagine her world without Kakashi's existence.

Kakashi was still lightly gripping the back of her neck, forcing her gaze to his masked face. "I won't volunteer," he told her. "If that will make–"

His words were cut off immediately as Sakura threw herself against him and wrapped her slight arms around his middle. She gripped the fabric of his flak jacket in her fingers, pressing the side of her cheek against the hard plate that was protecting Kakashi's sternum. It took a moment for him to realize what had happened, a moment to respond in kind. Gently, Kakashi lowered his arms and folded them around Sakura's back, pulling her tightly to his chest. "Thank you," she said.

oOoOo

Sasuke looked irritated that Kakashi and Sakura had taken their masks off as soon as they entered his office. "I guess I should have known it wouldn't take either of you long to figure it out," he commented as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Well, we are teammates," Sakura said by way of explanation.

"I take it the hospital didn't have the antidote?"

"Afraid not," Sakura replied, rubbing her hands together.

Sasuke nodded, seemingly unfazed. "How many people will you need to take with you to the Land of Rivers to collect this… violet-spotted salamander?" he said its name as if it were the bane of his existence. "Can you do it in a day?"

"I can certainly try, but I don't know how long it will take me to find the actual salamander," Sakura said. "And as far as a team, can you just send Kakashi with me? I mean, we already know we work well together and we wouldn't have to wear these confounded masks…"

Sakura glanced over at the Copy-nin, who was surprised by her suggestion considering she'd just shot him down moments ago about volunteering as the test subject. Kakashi didn't want to read too much into the look she had given him out there in the woods, but deep down a part of him realized that Sakura was genuinely against the idea because she was afraid to lose him… That was a curious revelation, he thought in kind. Naturally, Sakura would have been against any of her teammate's volunteering, but the way she had looked at him… well, it made him think that there was more to it.

"I can't risk anyone finding out who you are and what you're doing in River Country," Sasuke said. "The masks will still be a necessity."

"Fine." The pink-haired nin presented Sasuke with one of her most famous eyerolls and planted her hands on her hips. "Just send Kakashi with me."

"Once you obtain the salamander, how long will it take you to create an antidote to its poison?"

"A couple of days," Sakura answered.

Sasuke appeared to be absorbing this, calculating the next steps in his mind. "All right. The two of you can set out first thing in the morning. Report back to Headquarters as soon as you've obtained your target and can begin clinical procedures. Our team is still collecting intel on Hattori and his closest followers. That should buy us enough time before making our first contact."

"With any luck, our first and only contact," Sakura said.

Kakashi admired her ability to hope against the odds, it was one of Sakura's most endearing qualities, but Kakashi was more of a realist and understood that this would likely turn into a complicated endeavor. He wouldn't voice this aloud and risk dampening that spark of hope she held, because if he were being honest with himself, her optimism was nothing short of contagious. Without Sakura in his life, Kakashi wagered that he would be much more of a recluse than he already was, and considerably more inclined to lean into that side of himself. He could admit that she brought all that was light and good into their dynamic, and Kakashi was glad for it.

Sasuke nodded once. "Dismissed."

Sakura snickered at his dismissal and gave him a two-finger salute she'd copied from the Copy-nin, and then she and Kakashi were pulling their masks on and leaving the Commander's office. They passed a few masked operatives in the hall, neither pair bothering to acknowledge the other.

"Kakashi–" Sakura began, but he had cut her off.

"–Careful," he said quietly. "We're supposed to be using codenames, remember?"

"Sorry… White-Fang," she began again, "Where did that come from, by the way? You didn't tell me earlier."

Kakashi drew a breath and slowly exhaled. "My father was known as the White-Fang of the village. The Commander thought it would be a nice tribute, and potentially encourage fear in the heart of our enemies."

Sakura gave a small snort. "Encourage fear," she repeated. "He has a decent imagination; I'll give him that." Kakashi assumed she was talking about Sasuke. "Are you okay with using your father's name?"

"I am now," he said. "I think the Commander is fond of using old names as a continuation because it makes those of us who have adopted them seem like we are incapable of dying. If the names are still being used it's like we have become immortal."

"Like I said, he has a gifted imagination." Sakura paused once they exited the end of the hall and placed her hands on the railing to peer at the training arena below. It was usually empty this time of night, but the moonlight spilling on the waterfall gave it a kind of ethereal glow that even Kakashi could appreciate. "I wish we had a training arena like this for the Konoha nin."

"This was modified by Tenzo several years ago," Kakashi told her. "The stones in the water are actually floating stones, used to help with balance control."

"I shouldn't be surprised." Sakura drummed her fingertips on the railing thoughtfully. "Do you think you could teach me how to move like a ghost?"

Kakashi turned his head towards his shorter companion. "To move like a ghost?"

"Yeah," Sakura said. "That's one thing I can't quite figure out. All the ANBU elite seem to appear out of thin air, and walk as if they are incapable of making a sound."

"Ah," Kakashi said. "That's a complex jutsu that requires you to mask your chakra signature so you can't be detected by any other nin. You also must be able to absorb sound."

"Absorb sound?"

"It requires more chakra control than usually necessary in a combat situation. That's why it's not commonly taught among the other ranks. I will be happy to show you though." It had been a long while since Kakashi had to show his teammates how to do anything, and having something requested of him actually made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside… not that he would admit that out loud. Ever.

"Great, I'm looking forward to it!" The pair turned away from the railing and headed for the depot's exit. "You know," Sakura mused, "I don't think you and I have ever been on a mission by ourselves."

That little detail had also not escaped Kakashi's mind, but he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it… He couldn't. Especially while he was still feeling a tad on the delirious side with the memory of the janitors' closet and her scent tangled up in his nose. The way her slight frame had felt pressed up against his chest… Kakashi mentally shook himself. "We haven't," he noted.

"It'll be fun," she said.

Kakashi shot her a suspecting glance but chose not to remark. Fun wasn't the exact word he had in mind. It was still a serious mission, but he was looking forward to his assignment because it would give him an opportunity to spend some time with Sakura, selfish as his reasons might have been… The challenge was going to be behaving himself.

"What, no comment?"

"Retrieving a poisonous purple-spotted salamander – sure, what's not fun about that?"

"Violet," Sakura corrected him. "Violet-spotted salamander." She walked her fingers up his shoulder and then playfully flicked his mask. "With your favorite teammate no less."

"Who said anything about you being my favorite?" Kakashi's tone was entirely playful.

Sakura laughed. "It's okay, you're not exactly my favorite sensei, either…"

Kakashi feigned being crushed and cupped a palm over his plated armor vest. "Don't tell me it's Gai?"

"Well, who else would it be?"

Kakashi chuckled as they exited the depot, barely acknowledging the two guards standing post at the door as they left. It wasn't long before they were in the small expanse of woods, ensconced within the moonlight. Sakura walked beside him, her footsteps matching his as he walked with his hands nested in the pockets of his uniform pants. Kakashi was in no particular hurry to get back to his empty apartment, and Sakura seemed content to keep with his leisurely pace. When the path narrowed, her shoulder brushed against his arm, but Kakashi didn't pull away. In fact, he was rather enjoying her subtle flirtations, wondering, all the while, how long she could maintain keeping it subtle.

"You're quiet," Sakura noted.

"I'm always quiet."

"Ryo for your thoughts anyway," she countered.

Kakashi tightened his grip on the kunai in his pocket, giving his hand something to do in place of what he was thinking about doing. There were a number of good trees in this little patch of woods that would serve nice to push her up against and act out a couple of scenes from his Icha Icha books, but he certainly wasn't going to share that with her… "Ice water," he said.

Sakura lifted an eyebrow. "You're thinking of ice water?"

"I'm thirsty." He shrugged.

Sakura giggled. "You're a man of many mysteries, Hatake."

"Well, when you wear a mask as part of your identity, you kind of have to embody the stereotype." They were approaching the end of the woods now, and the Hokage Tower was coming into view. At the end of the path, Sakura and Kakashi would go their separate ways. Unconsciously, Kakashi slowed his pace, enjoying the simple pleasure of just existing in Sakura's presence. That's how he knew he was in over his head. He wanted those other things, sure… but it wasn't just some surface-level superficial desire he thought he could sate with the carnal act of sex. Sakura meant so much more to him than that. But she was also his teammate, and he wasn't going to risk jeopardizing their friendship… Right now, whatever flirting dance they were performing was seemingly harmless.

"Okay, White-Fang," Sakura said. "I guess this is where I leave you."

"Until tomorrow, Kitsune," he said in kind.

"Until tomorrow," she agreed.

oOoOo

I'm glad you liked the ending of Chapter 7 kcann17, Thereddqueen, and Moonqueer. Thank you for the reviews!

XOXO,
~Sparrow