A Bad Idea

"Remember that time I curled up in your lap and you gave me advice about boys?" Sakura spoke up, looking over at Kakashi who had been reading quietly by the fire. They had been sent on a mission alone together and had fought a criminal with such seamless teamwork, it had her thinking about their friendship. She had been pleasantly reminiscing about the progression of their relationship from a professional teacher and student to a point of being friends and equals. She hadn't thought about that moment of kindness and care he had offered her in years.
Kakashi didn't look up from his book immediately when she brought up that memory, but curiously she noticed his fingers tighten on the pages. He sighed and met her eyes with his right one. There was a depth in that one-eyed gaze that she didn't quite understand. It looked sad and tired, but not only sad and tired. There was something else to it she couldn't place.
"I remember telling you the boys that matter are the ones who will stick with you through anything." He said without breaking their gaze. She noticed his voice was slightly huskier than usual. Maybe he was catching a cold or something.
"Well, I don't think I learned my lesson. I still cry over men when they're jerks who don't stick around." She murmured as her eyes wandered to the stars. Kakashi was silent. she looked back to him, assuming he'd gone back to his book. He hadn't. He met her eyes and then shrugged and shook his head.
"No, don't look at me. You're much too old to sit in my lap now," he said, feigning seriousness. She giggled girlishly and blushed at the thought of sitting in Kakashi-sensei's lap. Wait! Blushed at what now?!
Kakashi cleared his throat gruffly. "But I'll still tell you the same thing. If he's willing to walk out, he's not worth crying over."
Sakura smiled warmly. "I'm glad you always stick with me, Kakashi." Had she just said that?! She was comparing him to the boyfriends she'd had! She felt like she should've added "sensei" to that even though she had stopped using the suffix years ago. It would've made it less weird.
Kakashi's knuckles were white from his grip on the orange paperback and he stared at them as if trying to will them to loosen. He took a deep breath and quickly mumbled, "I'd never abandon you, Sakura." Suddenly Sakura was very aware of the fact that they were in the middle of the woods by themselves. Just the two of them. All alone. Her eyes briefly glanced over his long frame, noting the way his bulky clothing never could completely hide his well-sculpted muscles.
Sakura mentally scolded herself for such thoughts when she had vowed not to fall into this daydreaming again! She just smiled without even looking at him and said a simple, "thanks." She was proud of her casual response.
On the other hand, she and Kakashi rarely ever had time together by themselves. If there was anything she wanted to say to him in private, this was her chance! She might want to let him know how hard she'd been training for the last several years at the art of ignoring her stupid crush on him! No! She certainly didn't have anything to tell him in private! What was she thinking?!
But this was her chance. She could tell him his hair was cool... She wanted to touch it. No! That was a stupid thought! She could just state that she'd paid VERY close attention and could tell he was hiding godlike beauty beneath that mask. That was worse. What if she just mentioned how she loved it when the planets aligned and he took his vest off to train, the sweat made his shirt cling to his abs, and the sun happened to hit his torso just right for viewing what was beneath? That wouldn't ruin their friendship at all. She sighed angrily. This was harder to control than any jutsu she'd ever learned.
Kakashi had been waiting for her to grow out of this crush for years. He remembered starting to see signs of it when she was 14 or 15. She would blush at any attention he paid her. She became uncomfortable and awkward around him. She would stutter when she tried to talk to him. He started to notice her working to manipulate things so she could be near him. She trained until she collapsed to make him proud and trusted him wholeheartedly. He had thought it was cute when it started, but didn't expect it to last. When she began to get older, and her face began to mature into the face of a women, and he had to try and ignore the rest of her turning into a women, he was shocked to find her still blushing at his attention.
Sure, she would go on dates with men her age, but her heart never seemed to be in it. It kind of worried him that she was too stuck on him to move on. There was one jounin who had really swept her off her feet, to Kakashi's unbidden dismay. But as soon as Sakura had fallen for said ninja, Another older woman began paying him attention and he had dropped Sakura. Kakashi had watched him publicly dump her at a bar and had fumed silently in a corner all night. He still found himself wondering often what kind of man would treat a girl that way. He felt a little angrier than he should have felt about that and there was no reasoning it away. Every time he thought about it, the thought that came without his permission was, "how dare he hurt MY Sakura?!" And he could never get rid of the "my."
Now here they sat in the woods all alone and she had just said some rather troublesome things. He could just get up, walk over to where she was sitting, bury his fingers in her pink locks, and kiss her like she deserved to be kissed. No one would know. She obviously had feelings for him, so she would likely go along with it. He could even come up with some bogus excuse so it could just be a one time thing without having to face the issues and difficulty of a relationship between him and his former student who was 13 years younger than him.
"I am a bad person," he thought. He sighed. But he couldn't stop the gears of his mind from turning. He had heard Sakura brag on multiple occasions about the kissing abilities of her numerous boyfriends. He also noticed her glancing at him every few seconds. He would see if she'd take the bait.
He gazed intently at the book in front of him and let a warm smile spread across his face. It took a few moments but...
"Ew! Kakashi, what are you smiling at?" She asked as if she were afraid to know. He had to hold back a chuckle.
"Calm down. It's just the best kiss in the entire series," He lied.
"Kiss? Just a kiss?" She asked doubtfully.
"Yes. A real kiss."
"What do you mean 'a REAL kiss?'"
"Nothing," he said casually. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."
She seemed to grow irritated by that statement. "Perfect," he thought with a satisfied breath.
"I know what a real kiss is!" She argued.
"How would you know what a real kiss is?" Oh, she looked so deliciously mad after that comment.
"I'll have you know I've been kissed by some of the most desirable men in Konoha!"
"What? All those boys who chase you around? I bet Guy is a better kisser than all of them put together. You've never been kissed by a man, Sakura." Kakashi tried not to smile at the mixture of confusion and frustration on her blushing face. "Oh, I'm a bad person," he thought without conviction.
"Oh, because being a few years older makes you a god, huh? What's the difference?"
He looked away from his book and met her gaze with a mischievous grin and a seductive glint in his eye. "Experience."
Her face grew a deeper shade of red and shock seemed to take over her expression, but only for a moment before it was replaced by anger and determination. He had her right where he wanted her. "Do you want me to prove it to you, Sakura?" He murmured, looking casually back to the book in his hand.
"Yes! But I don't think you can prove it because-" suddenly she realized what he was proposing. He saw her expression go completely blank. She blinked once and it seemed to completely erase the shock. She wasn't going to back down now. He knew her so well. "Because I think you're making that up," she finished with dignity.
"Ok, if you really want proof," he sighed, trying to sound indifferent. His heart was pounding and his stomach was doing summersaults as he stood and crossed their small campsite. Why had he done this? Now there was no backing out. This was such a bad idea. He was such a bad person.
Sakura stood up and rested her hands on her hips in order to convey some attitude to make up for her wide eyed expression. She was trying to seem cocky and indifferent but it wasn't working for her. Kakashi was going to kiss her. She kept replaying that one sentence in her head, trying to determine if this was a dream or reality. Her heart raced as He walked closer until he was within an inch of her. She could feel the warmth of his body. She could feel his breath slightly tousle her hair. He was so close. She felt the backs of his long fingers brush against her wrist and gently move up her arm leaving goosebumps in their wake. His hand moved across her shoulder, up her neck and rested at her jawline. He tilted her head up and she gazed into his lone, dark eye. Her heart lodged in her throat at the level of emotion she saw there. She hadn't expected that.
His breathing accelerated slightly as he opened his hand and moved his fingers up into her hair. Using his other hand, he reached up and grabbed his mask. Sakura panicked and closed her eyes, not wanting to take advantage of his strangely transparent state.
"No," he murmured in soft protest. "Look at me, Sakura." She slowly opened her eyes to find the godlike beauty she had expected. Her lips parted in awe and for a moment, she forgot to breathe. She remembered her need for oxygen when his eyes drifted to her lips and he began to lower his mouth to hers.
Her chest rose and fell with her shallow, rapid breaths. It felt like eternity of waiting before she suddenly felt his lips brush against hers. Chills ran down her spine at the gentleness of his touch and the softness of his lips. The kiss was so soft and distant, it was tantalizing. She needed more. She reached up to his chest and ran her hands up his neck, to the back of his head and pulled him closer. He responded and deepened the kiss. She grabbed a handful of his silver locks to pull him closer still and he let out a soft whimper. She'd never heard Kakashi whimper. Goosebumps spread all over her body at the sound. She felt him hesitate. This wasn't a meaningless kiss to settle a petty argument. Sakura suddenly realized she was really kissing her Kakashi-sensei. She pulled her hand out of his hair and quickly pushed him away, breathing heavily. "What was that?" She demanded.
"That was a bad idea," he said huskily between breaths. He pulled his mask back up and shoved his hands in his pockets. He couldn't look her in the face. How had that gotten so out of hand? He was so vulnerable now. Oh, Lord! He hated being vulnerable! He absolutely had to lighten this moment. "Well, you gotta admit that I was right about older men being better kissers."
Sakura's look of confusion was replaced with slight amusement. "Ok, sure. You win," she said with a grin. She was silent for a moment before adding, "but now you've ruined me. How can I go back to kissing boys now?"
"I don't know, Sakura. That is definitely a problem."

Author's note: If there are grammatical errors, someone should let me know. :)