A/N: Inspired by Cashmeritan's Shunkan. First time writing Kakasaku in months. My god, I suck now. I feel like I've sinned in writing so badly. SOMEONE KILL ME!

Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.

A Steady Foundation
by moodiful819

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It has been said that any lasting relationship is built on a solid foundation. The first person who said that, of course, neglected to mention what that foundation was, and over the years, the gap was filled with whatever was deemed fit. Sometimes it was friendship, sometimes it was just plain love, and Sakura could suppose that the basis for the relationship between her and Kakashi was based on such foundations.

They had started with a clearly-marked relationship as teacher-and-student that grew into a close friendship. Now just dating (Secretly, of course. They both knew Kakashi could kiss his reproductive organs goodbye if Tsunade found out, and Sakura quite liked "little Kakashi"), Sakura pondered their transition and their current whereabouts. She had been asked by Kakashi not too long ago why she decided to go after a man like him, causing her current train of thought as she waited for her lover to leave sleep's cradle.

She had always admired him, even as a child. His loyalty to his teammates and his ability to protect and think under pressure was inspiring, and it was a comfort to know this was the man leading her into the ninja world (though his questionable literature made her wary many, many times).

As she grew older, she began to appreciate more of the qualities she had overlooked when she was younger. His patience, his guidance in times of hardship, his respect of her independence, and his constant presence helped build her own confidence and abilities, and she was supremely thankful for all that he had done for her.

Still, that was not what made her fall for him. What did make her fall for him was an innocent bowl of ramen.

It all started last year in the hospital. Kakashi had just returned with his team from an Anbu mission, and had sustained a broken leg as a result. Though it could've easily been fixed by a medic, Tsunade refused to heal it since Kakashi had been taking missions back-to-back for months and needed to rest, and what better way to make him rest than to have him stuck in a cast for a few weeks? After all, even she knew he wasn't foolish enough to try and escape with a cast on (if he did, he'd be easy to find at least).

Of course, just because Tsunade wouldn't heal it, didn't mean another medic wouldn't. And knowing Kakashi's penchant for digging up his charm long enough to get out of the hospital, Tsunade threatened any medic foolish enough to attempt healing Kakashi's leg with not only a severe pay-cut to themselves, but to the entire medic department as well. (Kakashi might have been a sweet-talker, but flattery didn't the bills, or save you from the fiery ire of your ninja coworkers.)

And so, Kakashi was unwillingly confined to a hospital bed. Of course, he wasn't pleased by this turn of events (he'd heard of Tsunade's countermeasure to his plans) and spent the first few days formulating ways of stealthy escape. However, he quickly gave up. Not only was his room far from the ground, making a safe landing iffy, any attempts to remove his leg from the sling it was placed in alerted any passing nurse to his tries at freedom. Sure, he could just make a run for it, but the cast made it hard to move efficiently. The added weight, plus the decreased traction would make any misstep on a rooftop fatal. And while he had traveled on a broken leg before (without a cast, no less), he had also been 19 when it happened. Now much older, age was becoming a factor in what he did. Just that morning, he had woken up with a sore back.

He shared this with Sakura when she came in to do his checkup. By this time, he was well on the way to a natural recovery and she had no worries that he would try escaping from his hospital room window (yet). Of course, Sakura would just find him if he did, since she always knew how to find Kakashi and it was for this reason that Tsunade gave her the job as Kakashi's personal medic. Luckily, Kakashi didn't mind. He liked having at least one ally during his stay, and would often talk with her as she did the checkup.

After telling Kakashi his back pain was probably due to the bed and she would try to schedule some more exercise time for him to get away from it, Sakura picked up a small container by her side. It was an order of plain ramen from Ichiraku, grabbed as she was picking up her lunch from home. Kakashi had complained about the hospital food and she made an effort to get him food from the outside whenever she could.

Handing him the container, she would usually leave at this point to eat her lunch and do her rounds around the hospital. However, he had complained about his eye as well as his back and she had agreed to look at the problem after he ate.

As he untied the bow at the top of the plastic bag, Sakura realized she had never seen how Kakashi ate. Though they had been on many missions together and had eaten lunch together on many occasions, either Kakashi would already be done with his food or Sakura would never pay enough mind to notice.

As she wondered in the back of her mind if he was as messy as Naruto or as poised as Sasuke when they had been growing up, she watched as he pushed himself up higher on the bed to be more level with the food he had placed on the moving bedside table. She knew that normally he would've been done by now, but the table was so easily moved that Kakashi had to be careful or end up with a lap full of hot broth.

Ignoring the small, opened bento she had packed for herself that morning, she stared with rapt attention as Kakashi bowed his head for a quiet 'itadakimasu.' Deftly splitting his wooden chopsticks, he pinched the fabric of his mask and slowly pulled down to reveal his face.

'Oh…my…' And after seeing the handsome features hidden behind his mask, Sakura knew she could never look at her former teacher the same way again.

In retrospect, she supposed falling for looks was a bit shallow of her. After all, if it was only a pretty face she was after, she could've gone after any other man, and the same applied for his physique as well since any ninja could boast the same toned, muscular body as Kakashi, or the number of scars. However, it was more than the sum of his parts that made Sakura fall in love with him. Yes, he had an amazingly pretty face and mouth-watering physique, but he was also intelligent and loyal and charming in his own way, despite his many faults. She knew his vices, she knew his fears, but she also knew his warm beating heart as well as her own, and the knowledge that he felt the same was all she needed.

So perhaps their relationship had not started on the most stable of foundations—beauty rarely lasted the test of time—however, the foundations for their relationship had long been established; their friendship and long history together had attested to that. And had Sakura never seen his face that day, she probably would've never stepped on the path to realize that long-established foundation.

So she contented herself with looking at his sleeping face, letting her finger trace the faded Anbu tattoo on his arm, the long thin scar on his shoulder, the angle of his slightly crooked nose as she marveled in how such an insignificant thing like his appearance managed to draw her in and make her learn so much about the man she fell in love with. But she had the feeling that she was making a mountain out of a mole hill. In fact, Sakura felt like she knew the real reason all along.

Her musings were cut short when her pillow moved from under her and she found a pair of sleepy, mismatched eyes looking back at her. "What are you looking at?" he murmured teasingly, voice hoarse and still heavy with sleep.

At this, Sakura merely smiled and pressed her lips to his forehead. "Oh nothing," she told him as she slipped into his warm embrace.

In the end, Sakura was just a sucker for a pretty face.

Because I think as much as we would like to think of ourselves as better people, looks do matter to a certain degree. And I do prescribe somewhat to the idea that it's attraction at first sight, and not love. Thank you reading, and if you liked it, drop a review.