"It started with a bang; a big, big bang and everything in the universe came into being. That's what they say. It's kind of sad don't you think?"

Orange tiles scraped against each other as Sakura rocked forward a little, resting her chin on her knees and looking over at Kakashi. Icha Icha Tactics was out but it was covering his face as he lay on his back. He hadn't moved, not even to look over as she hopped up on the old hotel's roof to join him.

"What's sad? And who are 'they'?" he said, voice muffled by mask and book. He sounded a little irritated that she was disturbing his nap to talk about cosmology. She knew she should get to the point.

It was easy enough to ignore his vexed tone - she wouldn't even be contemplating the stars if he'd been inside when she went looking for him. But there was only one room and the other members of their team - two nin she barely knew, but knew each other well enough and they were bickering. It was almost midnight, she didn't know why he didn't just order them to shut up.

At least it was nice out, warm on the edge of hot, but not muggy and a dark clear sky. The stars were so bright because of how far from civilization they had traveled. Any further north and they'd be in the Waterfall Country.

"My science books. Think about it, all this matter just flying apart, stars and galaxies just getting farther and farther away from each other forever."

Kakashi pulled the book down far enough to rest against his chin, but he still wasn't looking at her. "I guess it just depends on which theory you support. Entropy is pretty hard to get around, but who knows, maybe it'll all get sucked together again. Who cares anyway? On that sort of scale we're just ants on a log. It's not happy or sad, it just is."

She thought he might be understanding, but he was displaying his pragmatic side instead of the romantic one tonight. "But think about how relationships are like that. Once you've gotten as close as you can to someone, all your hearts can do is move apart from each other from that point on."

He finally looked over at her. "Heh. Interesting analogy, but ultimately untrue. There are lots of people in my life I know way, way too well and they haven't gone anywhere. So what happened?"

He was as perceptive as he was full of shit. "What makes you think something happened?"

"The last time you talked to me like this you were still a genin and your friends were trying to kill each other. So I'll repeat the question. What happened?"

"Well, um. I did it." Sakura hoped her meaning would carry over in her tone, so she didn't have to be too explicit. She was already taking a big enough risk coming to him.

"It? Oh that," he said. "With who?"

"Sadowara Yuki. You probably don't know him. He's a medical nin – mostly does surgery." Her teacher probably didn't want to know how gorgeous Yuki was, how amazing his hands were, all the naughty sex-related chakra tricks he'd shown her, or that he was six years older than she was.

"Don't be so sure about that, I know a lot of people. Especially in the hospital," he said. "So was it any good?"

"How am I supposed to know? It was my first time," she said, surprised as his calm acceptance.

"Did you come home crying or smiling?"

"I don't know, a little of both maybe. Well, I wasn't thinking very clearly – why are you asking me that anyway?" she asked, flustered.

"You're the one who brought it up. I just wanted to know if I had to kill him," he laughed, but there was an edge to his voice that made her wonder if he might be serious.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"You tell me something like this, what am I supposed to say? Congratulations, you lost your cherry to some useless guy I probably don't approve of." His eye was narrowed as if he was irritated.

If she hadn't been so desperate to talk she never would have come to him. "Iruka-sensei is a lot more sensitive than you. I should have waited and talked to him instead."

"You should have. He likes kids."

"I'm fifteen, I am not a kid. After what I just told you, you still think I'm a kid?" She heard her voice go a little high, and backed off, realizing she was not helping her own case.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Sex doesn't make you mature, it doesn't make you an adult – and it certainly doesn't make you smarter. You did use protection, right?" he asked.

"I'm not a moron."

"Excellent, the Hokage won't have to get involved," he said, rolling his head back to look at the stars.

"You wouldn't!" Sakura grasped the rough tiles under her as she sat up sharply.

"I would and I still might. Why did you think you had to talk to me about this and not her?"

"I don't know. It would be weird. I don't think she respects me at all."

"And you think I do?"

"Why do you always ask so many questions?"

He laughed. "After my own heart. I'm glad you think so highly of me though - I hardly deserve it."

"Sensei-"

"Sakura, honestly. What do you know about me?" he asked, looking back at her, his eyebrow arched in open interest.

"Ummm, you're one of the five best shinobi in the village, you're a horrible teacher and you're a huge pervert. Does that about cover it?"

"I guess that last part is why you're interrupting my valuable reading time? You thought it wouldn't bother me?"

"Pretty much, yeah," she said.

"Hmh, interesting." Kakashi fidgeted with his book.

"Is it?"

"Yes, because I think it does bother me, and I'm not sure why." He scratched the back of his head, like he was annoyed or puzzled or both.

"Jealous?" A smile twitched at her lips.

"Sakura, you're my student. I could never even think of you in that way," he said.

Sakura half-snorted, half-laughed. "I'll believe that the same day you sell your dirty books, shave your head and join a monastery."

He covered his face with the book again for a moment and then held the battered volume up at her. "Let me put it another way. I'd rather keep such notions in the realm of fantasy. Much less complicated."

"See, this is why you get told all the stuff you don't want to hear. You've always been honest with me," she said with a smile.

"You don't know whether I'm lying."

"Are you?"

"I might be," he said. "What kind of shinobi would I be if I didn't cultivate a secretive and mysterious aura?"

"You mean your attempts to convince people they're talking to a wall, so they'll leave you alone?"

"So observant. Are you trying to get me to kick you off this roof?" He inched over and put his foot square against her rear.

"Sensei!" Sakura yelped.

"Don't 'sensei' me. I was here first. Come back when you've got a real story," he said. His foot dug into her backside hard enough to force a louder squeal out of her, and she was pushed down the tiles almost to the edge.

Gathering her dignity, Sakura hopped away and found a perch of her own on a nearby warehouse watertower. She could see Kakashi's shadowy profile as he laid back down, resting Icha Icha Tactics over his nose again. She thought she could almost hear him sigh in exasperation, and smiled to herself. Wondering what he considered a real story, kept her mind occupied for a long time after, but she never stooped to reading his dirty books.