Learning To Love

Summary: He watched her grow. He saw her worst times, and he saw her best times. He saw her change. He watched her get her heart broken, and he watched her get stronger. She blossomed in front of him, and all he could do was watch. Now, there is nothing left to do, but move forward. Kakashi/Sakura!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto or Shippuuden (basically the same ne?) And no matter how much I want to, it isn't going to happen…sigh….

NOTE: I know it starts at the beginning of the Shippuuden, but since it's a fanfiction, I can alter their ages all I want! I am still keeping them the same years apart and stuff, But I am saying Sakura is 18 now when Naruto comes back and he is 18 two and kakashi…well he is 32…; I love this couple…but when you add ages in…it soooo seems wrong….; owell!

Chapter one: Nostalgia

He stared at the water under the bridge. He wasn't in the mood to read today. It had been so long since it happened…three years? Had it already been three years since Sasuke left? Kakashi couldn't remember. For some reason everything had just gone downhill after he left. Sakura had fallen into a depression that no one could shake her out of. Naruto had tried…and failed. The tall man looked at his reflection as a leaf scattered it in ripples.

"Kakashi-san." Kurenai caught his attention but he didn't move. She leaned against the railing, next to him, and looked down at his reflection. "Kakashi-san…Tsunade-sama requests your presence." She said quietly. She closed her eyes as he walked away, feeling sorry for him. Ever since Sakura went to train under Tsunade, herself, and Naruto was training under Jiraiya, Kakashi had been so distant. Not to mention Sasuke was now training under Orochimaru. It seemed that, without his team, Kakashi just wasn't himself. Kurenai sighed and walked back to her home.

Tsunade looked up over the paperwork piled on her desk to see none other than Kakashi staring back with his bored eye. "Kakashi-san. I have a surprise for you." She smirked and stood up, walking over to the window she clasped hands behind her back. He looked at her with a curious expression. "And?"

"I want you to wait out the window until I say." He nodded and followed the Hokage's strange orders without comment. He blinked as she slammed the window shut and pulled the curtains, making hearing or looking impossible. He sweatdropped. "Tsunade-sama sure is strange.." He shook his head and pulled out his Come Come Paradise…

"Tsunade-sama!" A pink-haired kunoichi entered the room with a small knock. "Guess who is back?" She pulled in a yellow-haired boy. Tsunade looked at the tall guy with a confused look. "Sakura…he looks familiar!"

"Tsunade-baa-sama! You don't recognize me? You must be getting Alzheimer's, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled at the woman. "Naruto? Oh! Welcome back!" She grinned.

"Ah still the same, aren't we Tsunade?" An elder man walked in behind Naruto. "Jiraiya! You haven't changed a bit either you ol' lecher!" The older woman yelled at the white-haired man.

Clearing her throat, Tsunade turned to Sakura and Naruto. "Well, now that you are back, I suppose I should assign you to a team." She pointed to a window. "Go out there." She said forcefully. Naruto looked at the window and blinked. Sighing he decided he had nothing better to lose and climbed out the window.

Kakashi was laying on the roof of the hokage's office, watching the clouds. He was bored. But then he heard the window slide open.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" A loud, annoying, familiar voice cried out. Kakashi looked up. "Oh. Hey Naruto!" He smiled and climbed back inside. "Welcome back!" He patted Naruto on the back. "You've grown!"

"You betchya!" Naruto grinned. "But you haven't changed!" Kakashi looked down at himself. "Nope…guess not."

"Same ol' guys…" Sakura smiled nostalgically at her two former teammates. Kakashi looked over to her and something in him made him do a double take. "Sakura…you've grown too…" He said in a quiet voice, still smiling. She looked at him and then to Tsunade, who 'ahem'ed again.

"Well I see you've met your new teammates!" She grinned. "You will be acting as a three-man squad." Kakashi blinked and Naruto cheered. "Just like old times, eh Kakashi-sensei?"

That was three months ago.

They were now on a mission. Retrieve a crystal orb from the Wind country and transport it back to Leaf. Summer had sunk its teeth into the countries and the team had to take a break. Sakura and Naruto were in the river, trying to catch fish, and Kakashi watched them from his place under the tree. He looked down at his new book, courtesy of Naruto and Jiraiya. He actually finished it a long time ago, and just uses it to keep his calm.

"Naruto-kun! Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura pulled up a large fish that was about the same size as her. "I think I won the bet Naruto-kun!" She grinned at the surprised Naruto.

Coming out of the water, Kakashi felt his eye follow her, she set the fish down a ways away from the water and started wringing out her shirt. He felt horrible for what he was feeling…but none the less, he was feeling it. "Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura had noticed him watching her. He blinked then smiled. "Just looking at the fish." He said. 'Whew! Good save!' he mentally cheered. Naruto looked between the two and felt a pang of jealousy. 'Why am I jealous? Kakashi-sensei was just looking at the fish!'

Kakashi hadn't lied when he told Sakura that she'd grown. She looked little like the young love-struck twelve-year-old that would chase his other student around. Sakura was taller and more mature looking. She had an air of confidence around her that he never saw when she was younger. She kept her hair short and tied back with her headband. Her shirt seemed to be the same as always, but the skirt was much more...mature… She had indeed blossomed into a beautiful young woman. He wondered if she still thought only of Sasuke…she hadn't mentioned him at all since they regrouped.

"Sakura-chan!!!!!! Is the fish almost done? I'm huuuuuuuuuuuuuungry!" Naruto broke into Kakashi's thoughts and he became more aware of his surroundings and noticed that Sakura was cooking the already chopped up fish over a fire she made herself. "Gah Naruto! I told you not to lean in so close!" Now she was swatting at a flaming Naruto, who's arm was on fire. "GOMEN! GOMEN! GOMEN!" He was crying. "I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN! JUST PUT IT OUT!"

Naruto really hadn't changed at all…Kakashi smiled at his two friends. Sakura finally managed to get Naruto to stop moving so she could put the fire out and then he watched in surprise as she healed him with her chakra. He hadn't known that she was such a good medic-nin. She kept surprising him.

Sakura smiled at him and waved to him. "Kakashi-san! The fish is done!" She called to him. He noticed the lack of the suffix 'sensei'. He liked it. He didn't feel like he was so much older than her that way. Thus making him feel slightly better about the strange feelings forming when he watched her. "Coming!" He called and got up. Walking over and sitting down, she handed him a large piece of fish on a stick. He bit into it and she smiled at him.

Sakura looked at her former sensei and her current team member. She knew that he was staring at her as she dried off, and the lame fish excuse was obviously a lie. She turned around to start cooking to hide her blush. She felt guilty and dirty for that. Sakura knew that she was starting to have that feeling for her former sensei that she never wanted to have again. Sasuke's face appeared in her mind and she shook her head, trying to get his face to leave…but it stuck. She saw it happen again. She saw him leaving. She watched him disappear, only to reappear behind her. The voice echoed with the breeze… "Sakura…thank you…" She felt the tears come as she stared into the fire. She looked over at Kakashi, who was currently keeping Naruto away from his fish with a foot, while one hand held the fish and the other held his damned book. She smiled at him, but he wasn't looking. Naruto was shouting at him, asking how come Kakashi never took down his mask, and Kakashi was ignoring him. He looked over at Sakura, she saw him look at her and quickly adverted her eyes back to the fire. 'Sasuke-kun…' she felt like she was betraying Sasuke…but… 'He betrayed us…' Her eyes widened as inner Sakura made her point known. And a valid point it was.

"Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked, noticing the serious and spaced face she had. She looked up at him and blinked, acknowledging him. "I'm fine, Kakashi-sensei!" she replied with a fake smile. He saw right through it and immediately one person came to mind. 'Sasuke…So he is still on her mind after all this time…' He was surprised, but not at the same time, that he felt a twinge of jealousy and pain. She went back to eating her fish, going back deep in thought. "KAKASHI-SENSEI!!!!! What do you really look like…" Naruto was still complaining and trying to get him to remove his mask.

Sakura stared at her hand in her lap and smiled slightly. 'Sasuke-kun…I wonder what he would say if he found out I am having these strange feelings…for…Kakashi-sensei…' she felt herself smile as Inner Sakura chimed in, imitating Sasuke, 'You are annoying. How anyone can put up with you is beyond me. You are just like a school girl with your constantly changing crushes!' Sakura chuckled at herself. She looked over at her two companions and sweatdropped. Naruto was already asleep, his legs up in the air as if he just fell backwards off the log they were sitting on…and Kakashi…he was also asleep, leaning up against the tree he was watching them fish from. Sighing, she prodded the fire and laid down, resting her head on her pack. Sleep soon caught her and she fell into her dream…

"SASUKE-KUN! IF YOU LEAVE…I'LL…I'LL SCREAM!" a younger Sakura stood there holding her hands to her chest as tears streamed down her face. Sasuke turned his head and looked at her for a second before disappearing and reappearing behind her back.

This was all too familiar. Sakura knew this wasn't just a dream…it was a memory…a terrible memory. But then something changed…

"You have Kakashi-sensei now…you don't need me anyway. Save your tears for him." Sasuke's voice was full of malice and venom. Her eyes widened and she turned to look at him. His curse seal was active, crawling all over his body. "Sasuke-kun!" She gasped. He glared at her through his sharingan. "Go! Crawl into Kakashi's arms! Pleasure yourself in his comfort! You sick bitch!" He spat at her. She reached out for him, but suddenly he was changing… His right eye turned black, but the sharringon remained in his left eye and a scar formed over that eye. His hair rose and turned to a pale silver color and he grew. Before she knew what happened, Kakashi now stood where Sasuke was.

"Sakura…" He called for her, his arms outstretched. She looked at him, tears still falling from her eyes. "Sakura, let me fix the pain…" She took his hands and he pulled her into an embrace, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thank you…Kakashi."

Kakashi opened his eye and looked over at the sleeping girl. She had tears on her face and he felt bad for her. Crawling over to her, he gently wiped the tears away, and stared at her face as it suddenly became calm. He felt himself stroking her hair. It was really soft. She mumbled something in her sleep and Kakashi could only make out "Thank you…Kakashi…" He smiled underneath his mask and looked fondly at the girl. "Sakura…" He caught himself mumble.

"Hey!" Naruto's voice made Kakashi jump slightly and he turned to look at the younger male, only to sweatdrop. "THAT'S MY RAMEN, SASUKE!" Naruto was still fast asleep, punching a dream Sasuke. Kakashi chuckled at the boy and turned back to Sakura, only to see her emerald eyes staring back at him. He realized he was still in a rather intimate position with the younger girl, and she was just staring at him. "uh…um…" He was at a loss for an excuse. Sakura surprised him, though, by sitting up and lunging into his arms. No words were exchanged, but they stayed in that fond embrace for a couple minutes, before breaking apart.

Sakura placed a hand on his cheek and looked into his eye. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. She moved her hand to finger the base of the mask. He stared into her eyes and made no objection as she slowly pulled the mask down. Kakashi watched as her eyes took in the sight of his full, uncovered face. He lifted the headband off of his left eye, exposing the rest of his face. Sakura didn't say anything, she just stared at his face, her hand still on the mask that was now around his neck. He placed his hand on top of hers. A blush slowly crept across her face as he stared into her eyes. "Ka…ka…sh-" Sakura didn't get a chance to finish the name before Kakashi leaned forward and cut her off. Her eyes widened as his lips pressed against hers, but she made no protest and her eyes slowly flitted shut. They broke apart and Kakashi quickly pulled his mask back up and pulled his headband down. She barely had a chance to react before he was gone. She looked around, but he had vanished. Sakura knew that he was just going to find a place to think for the rest of the night. After all, she needed to think too.

Kakashi finally stopped not too far from camp, but far enough away. Sitting down on the branch he landed on, he looked down at his hands. They were shaking. 'What am I doing?' he mentally cursed to himself. 'She's…it's…we're 14 years apart!' He sighed and leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. Sighing he said out loud, "I shouldn't be feeling like this…"

Sakura sighed and put her head in her hands. "I shouldn't be feeling like this…"

b Well there is the chapter! Sorry it isn't longer but Ma is yelling at me to clean my room…after she made me mess it up! Grrr…well anyway, I know it is a weird pairing, and it is really different than my normal writing style, but hey! I LIKE HOW THIS CHAPTER TURNED OUT! There! That said,

REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!! Go on…push the little button…you know you wanna….doo it…doooooooooooooooooooooooooo it….mwahaha

-Amori