Kakashi sighed when he turned on the radio in his car. Today had been Valentine's Day, and he had spent it completely alone in the calm of his apartment. It wasn't that there was no one interested in him; it was that he didn't hold the same "interest" in them. There were quite a few women whom were currently infatuated with him, and a few years ago he probably would have enjoyed it, maybe he would have even encouraged their advances… but not now.

Now his heart belonged to someone who didn't even know his affection. He knew that it was wrong and forbidden to be in love with her, but even so, it just felt so right. He loved her from afar and it had become extremely painful to do so, especially on days like today. It seemed the everywhere he looked there were happy couples, hearts, kisses and I love you's. That was the reason why he had locked himself in his apartment all day.

He had spent the entire day in solitude; he ignored phone calls, texts, emails, and shut his TV and computer off. He spent the entire day pretending the world outside his apartment didn't exist… His only entertainment all day had come from reading his novels which, unfortunately for him, were romance novels. His Valentine's Day had been spent completely in the action of reading about a romance that he dreamed of, but could not have. He thought about her also during his time of self-inflicted solitude. He had fallen hard for her, and she was always on his mind and in his heart… and yet, he knew he couldn't be with her.

He turned up the radio in hopes that a little rhythm may drown out his thoughts. The song was loud enough to begin with, but after his turning up the volume, it was loud enough to burst someone's eardrum. He liked it like that, so loud that one couldn't even hear themselves think.

"I wanted love…

I needed love…

Most of all…

Most of all…"

It was a great song, and he knew it well. As of late he had become quite a fan of the Black Keys which had surprised more than a few people. The band wasn't his usual genre of preference, but their lyrics and their sound spoke to him in a way that few other bands did. This song especially made him feel understood and less alone… Tighten Up… it was exactly the way he felt about her and his much wanted relationship with his ex-student… Sakura Haruno.

His fantasies of her had been the reason why he had been under self-imposed lock down all day. The only reason he was out right now was to avoid going completely stir crazy. Knowing that his insanity would do no good for anyone, he decided to go to his favorite local bar. At least there he would have human interaction and a drink or two. Heck maybe he would even drink himself stupid and wake up in the morning without a memory of the horrid day… either way… a man could dream…

He pulled his car up and into the parking lot of The Moonlight Grin. The place had been his favorite since its opening. It wasn't quite a club, but it wasn't exactly just a bar either. It had a bar with a large selection of drinks. They had beer, wine, liquor, mixers, shooters, shots, imports, regional specialties, and so much more. You name it, they have it… This always made it difficult for Kakashi to pick his poison. While he was usually a beer guy, the selection at the bar had caused him to explore new territories. He had found himself more and more lately drinking not a beer, but instead drinking mixed drinks and specialties mixed up and poured for him by an interesting barista named Anko.

Of course what made The Moonlight Grin more than just a bar had more to do with its entertainment than its wide selection and interesting barista. The "bar" hosted a brilliant dance floor with an amazing DJ and a great mix of music. The bar also held gigs from some popular local bands, one example was Gokage Summit. Kakashi had once, in a life now behind him, been a member of the band. He left the band to pursue a career as a teacher, and never returned. He hadn't left the band on bad terms, so he always went to the bar to hear them play. The bar also served as a pool hall and sports bar. It had about ten pool tables and countless TVs.

The bar also had another addition that made it rather odd. In the center of the room away from the bar and tables, there stood a small circular stage of sorts. On top of this "stage" there was a pole… but the funny part was that there was no full time dancer. Instead of hiring a girl to dance, the bar had a policy of giving free drinks to any girl (or man on occasion) that was brave enough to go up and dance. Because of this, the pole got a fair amount of work, the girls got free drinks, and the bar got far more male clientele.

Kakashi never visited for the dancers, though they were a bonus, he usually visited for the atmosphere, the drinks, and the game. Tonight as he pulled himself out of his car, he hoped for anything that would take away from his intense boredom.

He walked across the parking lot trying to remember whether or not there was a good game on tonight. He was open for any game, any sport, anything to take his attention away from his day. At this point he didn't care if he was watching male figure skating, if he had a drink in his hand and his mind was numb, he didn't really care. He seriously doubted that anything decent would be on anyway… it would be better to not get his hopes up…

Walking through the doors and into the bar he saw that he would have no shortage of company. It seemed as though all of Konoha's loveless had found their way to the bar tonight. Men and women alike were sitting at the bar or in the tables and booths around the room. Some were in groups, most were alone, and very few were in couples.

Finding an open and unoccupied barstool was difficult in the packed bar, but when he found one, he sat down. The bar was busy tonight and with only one bartender he didn't expect to be served quickly. It was less than a minute before he was pleasantly surprised by the face of a smiling barista.

"Hey Kakashi." Anko said with a smile. Her dark hair was falling out of its ponytail; she looked a bit disheveled, but still lovely… as usual. Kakashi was sure that she had been hit on more than a few times tonight. He also knew that she had shot down every offer. Anko wasn't the type to mix business with pleasure… except of course with him… They weren't like that though. They loved each other, but only as friends. They were far more bromance than romance, and even putting it in that terminology was incorrect because they were more like siblings. He watched over her like an older brother would, and she always knew when he was unhappy. They knew each other well, and right now she could sense there was something up with him.

"Hey Anko." He said with a smile that she could see twinkling in his mismatched eyes. He was aware that two men down the bar were glaring at him and weren't exactly pleased to see her giving him so much attention. He supposed they thought that he was competition and was lowering their chances of getting with her. He almost laughed; the poor bastards didn't even know that they had no chance.

Anko grinned wider after receiving his smile. "I don't suppose you're here to save me?" She half questioned half stated as she sheepishly looked around the bar. She was obviously over worked, and he could tell she'd love to be anywhere but this bar.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow, "Since when do you need saving?"

She chucked in response. "True." She might be tired and extremely overworked, but the last thing she needed was saving. She was a tough girl, the type that could fight their own battle and win every time even against all odds. "So, what's your pleasure?" She asked him with a sigh seeming to suddenly remember that she was working. He thought for a few moments and opened his mouth to respond, but she amended herself before he could get the words out. "Or is it pain that has you here tonight Kakashi?"

Sometimes he thought that the way she could read him was an amazing thing. Right now was not one of those times. Anko of course knew that Kakashi was in love with Sakura. She also knew that in Kakashi's mind they could never be together. To bring it up now would be to rub salt into his open and bleeding wounds. He knew that she would never intentionally hurt him, but he also knew that she would do so if she thought that she was helping him. "Not tonight Anko… please." he pleaded in a low and serious voice. He wouldn't be able to deal with it tonight, and the last thing he wanted was to yell at Anko.

"Alright Kakashi…" she said lightly as she walked back behind the bar to take orders. Tonight she seemed to be serving up a lot of liquid courage to lonely men. Kakashi noticed a lot of hard liquor as he looked down the bar, and a returning Anko showed him that he was no exception. She handed him a glass full of what he identified as rum. They both knew that he didn't order it, but he kindle slid her the cash for it anyway. She always knew what he needed.

As he downed the shot she spoke to him in a hushed tone. "Your real pleasure is really working it tonight." She nodded her head in the general direction of the area behind him and smiled as she walked away. He knew that anything that made her smile mischievously like that was probably bad for him, but for a reason he couldn't quite explain, he looked anyway.

Behind him there were many thing; groups of lonely people wandered, some people watched TV, others played pool, still others danced, but one group was different. The group was gathered around the pole, and they were obviously excited about something. Some were shouting, others were whistling, but what made it really odd was that they were all women. He recognized the majority of them; they were mostly past students and their classmates. He recognized Ino, TenTen, and Temari as well as some girls he knew by looks but not by name from surrounding villages. He would have wondered where Hinata was if it weren't for the fact that he knew full well that she was spending tonight with Naruto. He'd only been planning and talking about tonight for weeks. He was going to propose to her, and whether she said yes or not, Kakashi knew he would never hear the end of it.

A few of the girls shifted positions and Kakashi was able to see what all the excitement was about. There was a girl working the pole… but not in the way most of the women around here did… no this girl wasn't just walking and grinding… she was going all out. She made it look like an art form the way she twisted around with her legs around the pole. It was like a beautiful vertical flying ballet, she was using her entire body and a tremendous amount of strength to keep herself from touching the ground. He would have sworn she was a professional, but she was slightly too clad to be one. When she turned her body and dropped into a split Kakashi felt his jaw hit the ground, it wasn't just any girl on that pole… a flash of pink hair was all it took for him to see that she wasn't an ordinary everyday girl… no this woman was obviously Sakura Haruno. He supposed he should have guessed from the extraordinary display of strength, but he had been too amazed to even begin to wonder who it was.

"Take my badge but my heart remainsloving you, baby child

Tighten up on your reigns

You're running wild, running wild, it's true"

He couldn't help but to gawk and stare at her as she finished her dance. He knew he should have turned away, but he couldn't stop watching. To look away meant that it may not have been real and that he may have just imaged the whole thing. He needed to know that he wasn't going crazy and that it actually was his pure, sweet, ex-student up there working the pole like she owned it. She finished off her wicked dance by spiraling down the pole to a perfect landing on both feet.

Her friends whistled harder and clapped for her, and it was all Kakashi could do to not join in himself. He knew he was letting his libido get the better of him, but now more than ever, he wanted to break the bonds that held them in their teacher-student relationship. When he saw her glance in his direction he quickly turned around… the last thing he needed at the moment was for Sakura and all her friends to think that he was some old creepy pervert. He put his hand up and asked Anko for more rum just as the object of his affection and lust came to sit next to him at the bar.

"Living just to keep going
Going just to be sane
All the while live knowing
Such a shame"

As Anko returned with his drink, Sakura made herself comfortable. Kakashi wondered whether or not she had seen him look at her. There weren't that many open seats at the bar tonight, but there were a few others open that were far away from him. He wasn't sure whether or not it was a good sign that she had chosen to sit by him, but he knew that either way, they would have to speak to each other at some point.

"Wicked work on the pole Sakura!" Anko congratulated her cheerfully and with a smile. "I wish we had more girls that earned their drinks that well! What'll you have?"

"Thanks!" Sakura said with a blush and a smile, "I don't know… something fruity sounds good… hook me up?"

"You know it!" Anko responded and returned to work mixing and serving drinks.

Kakashi was taken by surprise, he had never seen Sakura here before, but the way she spoke and walked made her seem as if she was an old veteran of the place. Especially the way she and Anko seemed to know each other… he supposed they could have met and become friends around the village, but it seemed a bit unlikely to him considering their very different friends and schedules. "Come here often?" He questioned simply while putting on his best smile.

She returned his smile, "Almost every afternoon. I stop by to get lunch on my break from the hospital… they've got great fries here and I've become addicted." She laughed lightly, "I'm just lucky I haven't gotten fat from them yet!"

He laughed a bit too; he knew how amazing not only the fries, but all the food here was. His favorite was probably their buffalo chicken club. He knew it was terrible for him, but it tasted so good that he couldn't help himself. He almost laughed at her weight concerns… anyone that worked a pole like that could never ever get "fat". But of course to tell her that would be to admit that he had watched her, and he was trying to avoid that admission.

It was then that Anko returned from getting her drink. She had mixed her up what looked to Kakashi like a Pina-Collada. He figured that it wasn't virgin and that it probably contained rum, which seemed to be a theme tonight. "What's got you here tonight?" She asked Sakura as she set the mixture of pineapple and coconut in front of her, "No date?"

Sakura sighed, sometimes Anko just knew her. Anko seemed to have that effect on a lot of people, so rather than lie she just told the truth, "Yeah, another lonely valentine's day here… Shizune's with Genma and Tsunade's with Jiraiya, so it ended up as a girl's night out for me and the single ladies of Konoha… what about you Anko? You lonely too?"

Anko smiled back at her younger friend, "Yeah Kiddo, we're in the same boat… guess some men just can't get the nerve up to ask us out." She glanced at Kakashi quickly, then back to Sakura.

"I guess that's the curse of being a strong woman." She said as she pulled open her purse and pulled out a few bills, "I'd rather go Dutch tonight if you don't mind Anko."

"It's no problem; we'll just save up the free drink for another time." Anko said ask she took the money that Sakura handed to her, "For now I'll leave you too alone… I think 'hungry eyes' down the bar needs to learn the hard way that the only thing I'm selling is drinks." She walked away leaving them both chucking in her wake.

"She's definitely something different…" Sakura said with a smile and a laugh to her ex-teacher.

"I don't know if words can even describe just how different she is." Kakashi agreed with a smile that showed his amusement.

"I admire her though." Sakura responded.

This caught Kakashi off guard a bit, so he asked the obvious question, "What is it that you admire about her?"

"She's strong… independent, and always gets what she wants…" She replied with a shrug. She acted as if the question he asked had been just a routine question she was used to answering, like her name or favorite flavor of ice-cream.

"Well, you're strong and independent too… you always have been and always will be…" He paused when he saw that her statement made her blush, "What then is it that you're wanting but not getting?" He asked in the most open ended way possible. He left the question open, no pressure… she could answer it or not, it was her choice.

"You…" she said so low that he almost couldn't hear it. Immediately after saying it she blushed crimson and hung her head low. She couldn't believe that she had just said that to him… had she lost her mind? He used to be her teacher; they were fourteen years apart, and she had said that she wanted him. It was true, but she couldn't believe that the words had come out of her mouth.

Kakashi was equally as amazed… if he hadn't just heard it with his own ears he wouldn't have believed it… had Anko poured some kind of truth serum or drugs into their drinks? Was it even possible that that had just happened naturally? He almost couldn't believe it, but he responded with the words he knew she wanted to hear. He told her the truth, "I want you too…"

It must have been a Valentine's Day miracle because the two of them had finally laid everything out on the table. They could see the years of suppressed and repressed feelings they had both felt, and the fact that they had both always loved each other on levels higher than that acceptable for a student and teacher. Then without another moment or another word, they both stood up and walked out to his car. He probably shouldn't have driven after drinking, but there were a hell of a lot of things he had done in his lifetime that he probably shouldn't have. All that was on either of their minds was making up for lost time…

Still behind the bar, Anko smiled, "My work here is done."

"I wanted love, I needed love,
Most of all, most of all
Someone said true love was dead
And I'm bound to fall, bound to fall
For you
Oh, what can I do?
Yeah"