A CALL TO OPS - Chapter 10 SPOILER.
Kakashi’s whole body went still at once. He was hunched in the water, his arms hidden beneath the surface. Sakura saw the light from his flashlight click on, and felt her lips parting as her stomach bottomed out in anticipation. Slowly, Kakashi began to remove the tongs from his pocket, and when he emerged from the water, he held a violet-spotted salamander between the two spatula-like ends.
The salamander was about as long as Sakura’s forearm, black in color, and covered in small violet spots containing the creature’s poison. It squirmed halfheartedly in capture, still half-stunned from the light Kakashi was shining on it. “Well,” he said, “guess we don’t have to turn over every rock after all.”
“I could kiss you right now!” A rush of dopamine ignited Sakura’s system, flushing her body with a burst of adrenaline. “I was beginning to lose hope. Kakashi, you’re the most wonderful human on the whole continent!” She danced in the water, squealing in excitement.
Kakashi was laughing as he waded towards the bank. “Well if I’d known catching a salamander was going to make you this happy…” he trailed off, grinning, as he placed the salamander on the scroll that Sakura had already prepared along with special handling instructions.
Sakura weaved the proper hand-signals that would send the scroll straight to the ANBU Headquarters laboratory, and promptly screamed at a pitch she didn’t know she was even capable of when the scroll vanished in a cloud of smoke. An enormous water snake had curled up beneath it, lunging at Sakura with a hiss that had her jumping backwards! She crashed into Kakashi with enough force to knock the air from his lungs, and the two nin fell backwards into the deeper part of the river.
“IS IT IN THE WATER!?” Sakura began flailing, her toes unable to reach the bottom of the riverbed. Kakashi recovered in an instant, scooping the pink-haired woman up out of the water, and hoisting her into his arms. She locked her legs around his waist, half climbing him like a tree to put as much space between herself and the snake she’d lost track of.
“Shh, Sakura, hold still,” Kakashi braced a solid arm around her back, pinning her to his chest in attempt to keep her from panicking. “It’s okay, it’s gone. The snake is gone.”
“What do you mean gone?!”
“It swam down the river.” Kakashi jerked his chin in the direction of the current, away from where they were standing in the water. “I think it was afraid of you.” Kakashi chuckled.
There was something about his laughter that brought Sakura back to the moment at present. Sakura’s hands were clutching the fabric of Kakashi’s sleeveless shirt, her legs were wrapped tightly around his hips and were locked at the ankles. The gentle current pushed at their twined bodies, the water lapping around them like a cold caress.
“Since when are you terrified of snakes?” Kakashi’s arms were buttoned around her waist, pressing her flush against his chest.
“You mean nope ropes?” Sakura released the death grip on his vest, relaxing her hands and letting them go around his neck for better purchase.
Kakashi laughed, his thumb sweeping along the side of her ribs.
“I haven’t liked them since Orochimaru,” Sakura admitted, shivering a little, but not because she was cold. Kakashi could have walked them back to the bank, but he seemed to be in no particular hurry to release her from his arms. She felt weightless in the water, aware of her body in only the places it was touching Kakashi’s. Aware that she could feel his heartbeat through the thin, soaked material of his shirt. That was a really nice feeling… The moment seemed amplified somehow, slowed by the all-encompassing cadence of the lifeforce between them. It was a gift, Sakura realized, to feel the pulse of someone else’s heartbeat – if only because of the exchange in vulnerability.
Sakura arched in his arms, just a little – just enough to sweep her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. Kakashi closed his eye at her touch, tipping his head until their faces were touching at the temples. Sakura pushed her fingers further into his hair, gently dragging her nails across his scalp. Her breath quickened, spurred by the acceleration of her pulse.
Sakura’s eyebrows furrowed as she closed her eyes, pressing her face against Kakashi’s masked cheekbone. Gods it felt good to be this close…
What was happening here? Did she dare to name it?
She could easily see herself letting go and giving in to the desire that was sparking in her veins, but Sakura was not a heedless woman. If she let go… it would change her friendship with Kakashi forever… and she wasn’t sure she could handle losing him if… if whatever was happening turned out to be a mistake. He was too important to her.
“Sakura.” Her name left the back of Kakashi’s throat like a raw plea, and the sound of it nearly broke her… She shifted her grip, her hand skating down his ribs and tracing a path towards his thigh… Kakashi groaned when her hand came between them, the tip of a kunai pressed to the tender skin of his jugular. “You don’t fight fair,” he said, tipping his chin up to avoid the sharp bite of the blade.
“Ninja,” Sakura replied, and pressed her lips to the underside of his masked jaw, right where the kunai had been.
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I loved writing the end of this chapter. <3
A Call to Ops Chapter 1 - Out from the Shadows, a naruto fanfic | FanFiction
Sakura and Kakashi and the real VIP in the story. 😉
