A/N: Don't be discouraged by the title. Not smutty. I don't know if this is a Sakura/Kakashi fic or a feel-good fic about everyone's favorite future Hokage. Either way, it's not very good. Just trying to remind myself of the good in people, I guess.
Disclaimer: I don't make any money off Naruto.
It had been an accident, actually. A little too long in a little orange book, a little too much sake for a girl who didn't usually drink, and a lack of inhibition stemming from a successful mission had set the stage; Kakashi and Sakura just had to stumble onstage and start the show…which they did.
The mask had slipped that night. The black cloth drooped just enough to reveal Kakashi's whole nose—not an event that most sane girls would find sexy. "Oh my god, you can see his whole nose, nostrils and everything!"! isn't and shouldn't be a common phrase for swooning females.
Her emotional mask had slipped. The pink haired girl's jade eyes had come back to life just for the evening. She'd reverted to the happy, temperamental girl Kakashi used to know, leaving the hardened ANBU medic somewhere in the hospital.
It had been enough to bring them together. They woke up together, in Kakashi's flat--not feeling confused, thankfully, but definitely feeling a little awkward. Two weeks of avoiding each other had ensued, despite the promises Kakashi made to himself that he wouldn't give in to the immature instinct. Sakura's hair seemed paler every time she saw him because the tint of her blushing face made all other cerise pale in comparison.
Then, the awkwardness began to fade, diluted by the strife of daily life. They became just friends again…only occasionally slipping into something more.
Those were rare times, rare nights that both of them promised would never happen again.
But they would keep slipping up, and both of them knew that they didn't regret their empty promises to stop.
The only problem was blonde, and care-free, and suddenly (and unfortunately) rather perceptive.
"You two smell like sex" he'd say, grinning slyly at the water below the bridge.
Sakura and Kakashi would glance at each other, and then at Sai, and then at their reflections in the water--the ones that rippled on either side of Naruto's smirking image.
They would always come from different sides of the bridge, would never show affection publicly, and would certainly never tell anyone about their relationship, but Naruto knew. He knew every time.
"Can't put anything past this nose, no matter how much shampoo you use!" he'd laugh loudly, grinning at his friends.
He didn't judge them. He didn't judge them, or Sasuke, or Sai. It's what made Sakura and Kakashi—and the rest of the village—love Naruto. He made it to darn easy to love everybody else.