Chapter Fifteen

No More Barriers

The cool spring breeze was scented with heavy floral notes of blossoming flowers and tree buds. It was a warm day in Konoha; the golden sun shone down from a cloudless sky, warming the back of Sakura's neck as she tried to concentrate. 'Tried' being the operative word, because Sakura was struggling to make her mind stay on task… She and Kakashi had gone to Konoha's training grounds after lunch, dressed in their normal attire, and it felt good to be back in civilian clothing. They'd stayed at ANBU Headquarters late into the evening the night prior, mixing batches of calcium chloride and atropine sulfate for the next wave of violet-spotted salamander antidotes, checked on the serum's progress this morning, and waited around to find out if any of the spy team had come back from Rain Country with new intel… Since they hadn't, the two nin decided to take the afternoon off and aspired to relax and enjoy the warmth of the day until they were inevitably summoned to return to Headquarters.

For Sakura and Kakashi, the word 'relax' wasn't something either nin were capable of doing for very long, especially with the weight of a mission looming on the proverbial horizon. They'd taken a stroll through the park, and stopped by the lake to watch a couple of sailboats passing through the bay, all the while exchanging pleasant, casual conversation as well as their typical playful banter. After, they'd wound up in the training grounds so Sakura could practice ANBU wraith-mode, as she'd begun to call it, under the careful instruction of her former sensei.

Gods, that was weird to think about…

They had been considered equals for quite a while, but every so often, circumstances like this arose and pulled Sakura back into the nostalgia of adolescence, making her think of the young man Kakashi had been when he'd been assigned as her squad leader and sensei. She'd been so intimidated of him back then, and far too wrapped up in all things Sasuke to appreciate Kakashi properly.

"Relax your facial expression, Sakura," Kakashi said in his instructing tone; a tone, she noted, that was now doing funny things to her insides. She'd always been fond of his voice, admired the way it shifted depending on the circumstance. Like his voice was a weapon, crafted to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies, or desire into the heart of a pink-haired woman… "Feel the flow of chakra naturally from everything around you and pull it into yourself. Become one with it."

What she wanted was to become one with him. "This is harder than I thought it would be," Sakura admitted.

"You're not used to the meditation part of it, that's all. Your natural chakra powers are large and in-charge and used to being an outward force of presence. It's always harder to work from within – to pull on those outward energies and absorb them."

She knew he had a point, but it wasn't making the lesson any easier. It also wasn't helping that Kakashi was walking in slow circles around her, and when the breeze caught him just right, it carried the delectable scent of his essence straight to her nose. "You're distracting me."

"How so?"

"Your voice. Your scent," she said.

Kakashi's laughter was a husky rumble in his throat. Also not helping. Ever since that night in River Country, when Kakashi had pulled her into his arms to save her from the snake that frightened her, and the morning after, when he'd cuddled with her in bed for a few, tender (albeit electrically charged) moments – to the night he'd blindfolded her so he could pull his mask down and kiss her neck – to the intoxicating moment that happened in her kitchen before Ino interrupted them – Sakura had been a livewire, completely consumed by her need for Kakashi to put an end to her misery… She didn't even know it was possible to ache for a person the way she was aching for him – to touch her, to kiss her, to perform acts of service in her bedroom…

"You're not concentrating," Kakashi said a moment later.

Sakura released a heavy exhale and opened her eyes. He was less than a foot in front of her, so Sakura took a small step forward, running her palms up the hard planes of his sternum and held her hands to his chest. "I can't concentrate, there's a difference."

Kakashi offered her a grin, that, though hidden behind his mask, caused the corner of his eye to crease, and placed both hands on her tiny waist. He stood there, hesitantly at first, as if he were unsure of the touch and what it conveyed to the outside world. To explore their feelings privately was one thing, but to have them out in the open for everyone to see was another. Sakura didn't care who was looking and only closed the distance between them as she slid her palms up his muscled chest and looped them around his neck.

"Mm…" Kakashi murmured, slightly angling his head as a silver eyebrow shot towards his hairline.

Sakura only met his look with a smile. "It could be hours before we're summoned back to HQ," she said, slipping her fingers into the hair at his nape.

"It could," Kakashi agreed, "but it could also be minutes."

Sakura dropped her arms from his neck and rolled her eyes. "You're giving me a complex here," she said, and then turned away from him – walking towards the pull-up bars where she could take out some of her physical aggression. It was becoming clear that her mental pathways were not going to open to meditation right now, and she needed an outlet.

Kakashi caught her, and pulled her back into the wall of his chest; his arm sliding over her chest and keeping her caged against him. He lowered his head so that his chin was at Sakura's ear. "Sweetheart," he started, "please don't for a single second believe that I don't want you, because it's all I can do to keep from throwing you over my shoulder and hauling you into those woods over there to have my way with you…"

A bolt of lightning went straight through Sakura's core. "You should do that. Immediately," Sakura encouraged.

Kakashi chuckled darkly. His hand traced the curve of her ribs, sliding over her hip to where Sakura's shirt had risen just a little. His thumb found that small spot of skin and gently brushed over it. "What is this to you, Sakura?"

She froze against him, yielding to the weighted question lingering between them. She heard the note of worry in his tone, of fear that what was happening between them might just be a flirtatious fling. He had to know her better than that… "This isn't just for fun, Kakashi… You have to know that I care about you." She tilted her head towards his, looking up at the masked Copy-nin. "It isn't… fleeting," she decided on the word. "Not to me."

Kakashi brushed his masked lips over her temple and said, "It isn't fleeting for me, either."

"Good." She smiled up at him. "Now that we have that established, what were you saying about those woods over there?" Sakura jerked her chin in the general direction of the patch of trees to their right and Kakashi laughed. Unfortunately, for both of them, a masked operative slipped out from the shadows behind a training wall. Sakura recognized Tora's mask instantly. "Oh man," she drawled.

"The Commander is requesting your presence in half an hour. The team from Rain has just returned," he said.

"Terrific timing," Sakura quipped with an air of sarcasm, and Kakashi reached down to pinch her ass. She jumped, covering the swell of excitement with a blindingly bright smile, and shot Kakashi a pointed look over her shoulder.

"Behave," he told her as Tora started walking away.

"You're the one who pinched me," she whisper-hissed so Tora wouldn't overhear.

Kakashi only grinned, placing his hand on her lower back and guided her out of the training grounds. "Tora will think you don't care about the mission."

"I don't like being summoned by Sasuke," she said, bumping into his side and sweeping her hand into his. Kakashi adjusted effortlessly, lacing his fingers with hers. Their hands meshed naturally, as if they were always intended to fit together. Sakura smiled to herself, enjoying the simple comfort of holding his hand. "I'm surprised we're being summoned in the daylight." ANBU were almost always in uniform, coming and going from the depot at all hours, but this particular mission had almost exclusively been operating under nightfall.

"The Commander probably just wants the entire team present for the debriefing." Kakashi shrugged.

"Think they found a way into Hattori's hideout?" Sakura looked up at him from the side.

"Only one way to find out."

Half an hour later, Sakura and Kakashi were dressed in the ANBU black and gray, masks on, and seated around the Commander's table in his office. The two spies who had been sent to follow the unit of Hattori's rebels into Rain were standing at the map, marking out territories and had identified the entrance to the rebellion's campsite.

"There's an abandoned factory outside of the village, just two miles south of the campsite. Our team of spies found an underground tunnel system that leads to Hattori's camp. We believe that's how his rebels are getting in and out of the city without being seen," an Op with an owl mask said.

"I see," said the Commander, "and how did our team find the tunnel?"

"The byakugan, Sir."

Neji, thought Sakura, eyeing the operative in the bird mask whose mannerisms were quite telling of the Hyuga she'd grown up with… She'd heard rumors of him volunteering for elite missions with the ANBU on occasion, but whether he'd officially joined was still in question.

"How many tunnels?" asked Sasuke.

"Three," Owl Mask answered. "One that leads to the factory, and two that fork off. One is a dead end, and the other spills out into the forest, halfway to Grass Country."

"That would explain a lack of visible aboveground movement," Sasuke said.

Sakura's mind was reeling… If the mission objective was to gather stores of the black salamander poison without being seen, the ninja selected would have to have stealth abilities – prioritized over strength. The byakugan would certainly come in handy for that… So would Shino and his creepy bugs. It would also be handy to have Yamato on the team in case they needed someone to re-route the tunnel systems. Sakura blinked, forcing her attention back on Sasuke.

"How soon until the antidotes are ready?" Sasuke asked.

"They'll be ready to go tonight," she told him.

Sasuke nodded. He assembled a team of six operatives for the retrieval of the black salamander poison, calling them out by their codenames. The bird and owl masked members were among them, and Sakura was willing to bet that Bird Mask was Neji. She couldn't begin to guess the others, but was relieved that Sasuke had not called Kakashi's codename. She knew, because of her role in this part of the mission, that she would not be permitted to go, and couldn't bear the thought of him being assigned where she couldn't follow.

"Try to remember this is a stealth and retrieval mission," Sasuke told them. "Lean into your abilities and stay safe out there."

Sakura lifted her eyebrows at the sentiment… Sasuke really sounded like he meant it.

By nightfall, the ANBU unit gathered in the laboratory, taking the only form of protection Sakura could offer them – two doses each of the violet-spotted salamander antidote. As she doled out the syringes, she said a silent prayer to the gods that the team wouldn't have to use them… There was a stillness hanging in the balance as Sakura looked at the group. Seeing them dressed in full uniform, the glint of metal from their weapons shining in the dimness, reminded her of the lethal abilities hidden among the elite in their eerie calm presences. The promise of death imbued in every weapon – in every line in their armor. In the very way they held themselves.

Sakura shivered.

When it was Bird Mask's turn in line, Sakura handed over the small black pouch with the antidotes inside, and didn't immediately let go when the Op tugged on the case. Sakura whispered, "Be careful out there, Neji,"

Neji snickered. "Thanks, Sakura."

The spray from the waterfall in the training arena wasn't nearly as cold as Sakura thought it would be. The depot had gone eerily quiet after the six set out on their mission, and the beautifully crafted training arena at the base of the mountain was blessedly empty. Moonlight like liquid opal shone down from the mountaintop's opening, and lit the training arena in an ethereal luminescence of milky-blue light and inky shadow. Sakura had an unhealthy amount of pent-up energy humming below her skin, tightening her muscles. Between her worry and anxiety for the six, and her body aching for Kakashi, the build up of that energy was demanding to be released… And if Kakashi wasn't going to take her to bed, then she was determined to take him to the mats.

She sank into a familiar fighting stance on one of the balancing stones, holding a long wooden bo staff in her hands as she faced off with Kakashi. He was wearing the loose-fitting black pants of the ANBU uniform and a sleeveless black shirt that conformed to the lean musculature of his body – a torture in its own right. Sakura was wearing a pair of black leggings and one of her favorite burgundy sports bras with pink threading that zipped up in the front. And because they were standing on balancing stones in the water, neither nin were wearing shoes.

They bowed, each kicking the end of their staff up into their hands and lifting it into the position of attack. Sakura made the first move, slamming her staff down above Kakashi's head, but he lifted his own staff and effortlessly blocked her attack. The sound of wood cracking echoed across the training arena, muffled in part by the sound of the waterfall. Sakura twirled her staff, swinging it at an angle that was meant to take Kakashi out at the knees. He jumped over it, the water below his balancing stone swishing as he landed and steadied his feet. He swung his staff towards Sakura's ribs, but she met his blow, pushing back against his power as the stone she was standing upon threatened to upturn her.

Kakashi looked at ease, completely at home in this environment. Even with his stone swaying beneath him, he adjusted his footwork and didn't so much as stumble as he twirled the staff in a series of loops in front of his chest, showing off before attempting to take Sakura out at the ankles. She jumped, barely dodging the attack before landing unsteadily on her balancing stone. "And how did you become the aggressor that easily?" she ground out through her teeth.

Kakashi chuckled. "These were my playgrounds, Sakura." For show, Kakashi rolled his balancing stone beneath his feet, his hips swaying in what looked to Sakura like more of a dance move than a balancing act, and she bit down on her bottom lip – her expression hidden by her gods-damned fox mask.

She took advantage of him showing off and swiped up at the underside of his chin with her staff. Kakashi knocked it out of the way, bringing his around towards her ribs. Sakura blocked that too, anticipating his next move by watching his hips. They parried, exchanging blow for blow as Sakura found an easy rhythm, and quickly became one with the balancing stone. She allowed herself to move with it; the muscles in her thighs burning as she twisted and stepped, feeling the vibration of the blows Kakashi was doling out clear down her arms.

"You're doing really well," Kakashi told her, half grunting as he fended off one of her attacks.

"Don't placate me, Kakashi." She brought her staff down hard above him, and he lifted his and blocked her attack – wood cracking.

"I meant it," he said.

Sakura's muscles were rejoicing in the exertion, her blood warming her whole body despite the spray from the waterfall soaking her skin. She twisted after blocking one of his attacks and jumped forward – arcing through the air like a graceful cat – and landed on Kakashi's balancing stone. There wasn't enough room for the two of them and Kakashi stumbled backwards, using his staff to catapult to the next stone, and barely had enough time to fend off Sakura's next blow. She continued to advance, forcing him to the next stone, and the next, until they were approaching the end of the pond and encroaching on the makeshift forest of wooden beams and arches that stretched up the mountain.

Back on land, Sakura released a feminine bellow and brought her staff down towards Kakashi's neck. He raised his staff, blocking her blow, but the force had been so great that the wood cracked and splintered, rendering both their staffs unusable.

"I thought we agreed on not using any chakra," Kakashi said.

"I wasn't," Sakura panted. She dropped the broken ends of her staff and ran at Kakashi. He dropped his own broken pieces, and quickly sank into a defensive stance as he blocked and dodged a series of hand-to-hand combat moves she began doling out. Sakura knew that without using her chakra, she was no real match against Kakashi where strength was concerned, but she was small and speed was on her side. She was grinning below her fox mask; this little sparring session was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Sakura saw a small opening and adjusted her stance so she could throw a punch at Kakashi's ribs. She knew the moment she reeled her arm back that she had made a mistake... Kakashi swept his leg between hers, kicking at her heel as he caught her wrist and immediately twisted it behind her back. Before Sakura could even take a breath, Kakashi had pushed her up against one of Yamato's fake trees. Her legs were spread and Kakashi's knee was pressed to her inner thigh, keeping her from being able to move. "Do you concede?" Kakashi purred in her ear, sending a little jolt of electricity through her core from the feel of his warm breath on her neck.

Gods, this was hot… But she wasn't going down that easily. "Never." Sakura leaned back into his chest, twisting to use her one free leg, and managed to push off the leg that Kakashi was using to pin her thigh. It forced him to break his hold on her wrists, and Sakura used a small – miniscule amount of chakra to use his leg as a springboard and jumped up into the tree high above.

"Cheater," Kakashi said, his tone alight with amusement.

Sakura was climbing, using the canopy to conceal her moves as she leapt from limb to beam, from beam to limb until she was entirely out of Kakashi's line of sight below. She focused her energy, using the training method Kakashi had been trying to show her earlier in the park, and attempted to pull the outward energies within her, absorbing the sound of her footwork.

"I'm not coming up there after you, Sakura," Kakashi said, walking around the base of the tree near the waterfall. "You win. I'm tired."

Sakura didn't make a sound. There was nothing but the deep lapping of the waterfall spilling into the pond, and the moonlight dancing on its surface. Kakashi stilled, slowly turning his head as if having realized that the training arena had become too silent.

Had she done it? Had she really managed to mask her entire chakra signature?

Sakura moved across the limb, chillingly silent like the elite, and grinned as she moved into position above Kakashi – and jumped.

The Copy-nin spun at the last second, snatching Sakura right out of the air and grunting as she managed to knock some air from his lungs. Sakura laughed, locking her arms around Kakashi's neck because her knees were cradled against his forearms. "Nicely done," Kakashi complemented.

"You still heard me," Sakura said, toying with the back of his headband. Because of how he'd caught her, Sakura's face was hovering above his, and Kakashi had to look up to see her. She could feel his heartbeat through the thin layer of his shirt, thrumming against her bare abdomen. He walked her back against the tree, making it a little easier to hold her in this position – to free one of his arms.

"Masking your chakra signature around me won't do you any good, Sakura. I'm always aware of your presence," Kakashi said, his tone low and deliciously dark.

Sakura pulled his ANBU mask from his face and let it fall to the ground beside them, and in turn, Kakashi removed her mask. "Someone might see," he warned her, though the two nin were hidden beneath the shadow of the living tree.

"I don't care," Sakura said, sweeping her fingers through Kakashi's hair. Gods, she loved the feel of him – of being able to touch him and have him so close. His body was firm against hers, warm and inviting. The way she fit against him was heavenly – as if the divine had made her specifically to mold to his shape. The scent of his skin was inhabiting her nose and awakening a new wave of desire. Sakura untied the ends of his headband and slipped the fabric out of his hair. She watched the luxurious moonlight-strands fall free and spill over his forehead. In her right hand, she held up the headband and said, "How about you do that thing I like and put me out of my misery?" She waved the fabric, praying to the gods he would oblige and turn it into a blindfold.

"I have a better idea." Kakashi hooked an index finger into the crease of his mask below his eye and tugged the fabric below his chin.

Sakura's heart skittered and slammed behind her ribcage. Before she could even think, she shoved the heels of her palms into her eye sockets. Outside of her view, Kakashi was chuckling. "Gods, Kakashi…"

"Yes?" His hands were on her arms, slowly tracing a path to her wrists and gently pried her hands from her face, and laughed when he found her eyelids squeezed tightly shut. "Now you're giving me a complex."

Sakura's heart was going to detonate.

He'd surprised her – removed a barrier that had been between them for her entire life and she'd idiotically reacted by covering her eyes?! She wanted to crawl into a hole and die, reincarnate, and die again… Sakura had been so afraid of seeing him differently, of him somehow not being him without the mask, but it was the most unintelligent thought she'd ever allowed herself to think. Kakashi was still Kakashi… Just, unabashedly, remarkably, and ridiculously handsome. "I would have appreciated a warning," she managed to get out.

"Open your eyes, Sakura."

"I need a minute."

Kakashi said nothing, but Sakura felt a tug at the front of her sports bra, followed by a too-sharp sound of the zipper slowly inching down.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked down to see Kakashi's teeth on her zipper, his storm-gray eye fixed on her face. Fire. Her insides were on fire. She was going to burn from the inside out and disintegrate into ash.

"I can think of no other reason why they would put the zipper in the front." He smiled at her.

Sakura knew she was staring – knew she needed to say something because she was making this a thousand times more awkward than it needed to be, but she couldn't think with all that fire in her system. She did the only thing she could, and reached out to touch his face – to trace the straight line of his nose, the hollow of his cheek, and the blade-sharp line of his jaw. She let her thumb glide across his lower lip, marveling at the perfect shape of his mouth as Kakashi watched her take in the details.

"Do I meet your approval?" he wondered aloud.

"Shut up," Sakura said, and pulled his mouth to hers.

Hello my loves,

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thank you for the comments/reviews!

XOXO,
~Sparrow