Author's Note: Can you believe this was supposed to be one of those drabble-things? My God, its long. And dirty, too, considering its pretty Christmas-themed. But, hey! Don't fret. No overly-graphic things. And I hardly made it through a proper make-out scene, so I'm sure all you folks out there would not really mind.

Be warned, however! This fic simply wrote itself. I would have NEVER started on something like this by THINKING through and PLANNING ahead. It was literally "boom" all the way. What started off with a simple, clean NaruSaku, aged twenty-one, ended up a pretty adult-themed KakaSaku. It was also meant for my oneshot-based Sakura Christmas collection, but I found it a little too long and overated.

Anyhoo, please READ and REVIEW.

The Effects of Not Thinking

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It was Christmas eve when we caught Haruno Sakura, aged twenty-one, sitting by the window with her forehead pressed to the glass, wishing she was anywhere but where she currently was. Feeling wary, the young woman unconsciously tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and turned to face her best friend – the pretty, fair-faced blonde who, at this very moment, was grinning maliciously as she set a tray of freshly-baked turkey on the table-top.

'That grin of her's looks none too friendly,' thought Sakura, with a frown, as she studied her overly-bubbly friend and ultimate rival.

'Ino, look,' said the petal-haired maiden, finally caving in under pressure. 'I can't do this. Let me just take my coat and...'

'Oh, no you don't Forehead!' snapped said Ino, snatching her distressed childhood friend easily by the arm and hooking her into the room where Shikamaru – previously too lazy to notice the heat between both friends – lay propped up by his elbows to see what the fuss was all about. 'YOU aren't going anywhere. Its time you start acting like a ninja and face your fears!'

'Face MY fears?' cried Inner Sakura, scornfully, to herself. 'So says the woman who didn't just MAKE OUR WITH HER TEACHER!!'

Oh, yes. Upon screeching these words (in her mind, of course), Haruno Sakura was reeled back, two months ago, to the memory that brought her into this desperate situation in the first place. The memory that caused Haruno Sakura – apprentice of the Fifth Hokage, second-best only to her senpai, ultimate female ninja – to run into seclusion for weeks on end. The memory that included herself, her ex-teacher, and a bottle of vodka.

FLASHBACK:

Spin, spin, spin, went the empty bottle. Round, round, round it goes. Where it stops, nobody... WEEE!!

Sakura looked terrible as she sat over the once perfectly full bottle of vodka with a wild expression and glazed eyes. Her hair – the same one she had taken hours to perfect into a very complicated French twist – now stuck out at the oddest angles; the fringe of which was now damp with her own cool sweat.

'WEE! Spinning is fun!' thought wild, drunk Sakura, as she spun, round and round on her wheely-chair, just as her bottle had a few minutes ago.

'You okay there?'

Sakura stopped mid-turn, to face the voice which had questioned her. Her head now seemed as heavy as lead as she tried – and failed – to stop herself from throwing up all her insides.

'I'm –choke- fine,' said Sakura, her face turning green as her insides struggled for release. 'Just because I don't look so good doesn't mean I can't handle my own liquour, you know! Not all of us can drink ten gallons of beer and come out looking like a super-model, you stupid pig!'

The owner of said voice – one Hatake Kakashi's good eye widened with mild surprise. Obviously, it seemed, Sakura was no where close to being fine. The mere fact that he had been mistaken for Ino, alone, was one to question her sanity.

'Sakura, its me,' said Kakashi, feeling for his only female student. 'Remember? Kakashi-sensei?'

'Kakashi-sensei?' repeated Sakura, eyes barely opening beneath all that alchohol. 'Oh? That stupid fellow? Whats wrong with him? Other than being unable to keep track of the time, and sticking his nose under that stupid horny book of his, he's really a nice guy, you know.'

'Flattered, thanks,' said Kakashi with a sigh. 'Look, I know this is your party and all, but I think I should bring you home, and – what the hell are you doing?!'

Sakura stopped in the midst of unzipping herself out of her form-fitting red halter-top. 'I don't know why you keep making me wear these tight clothes, Ino-pig,' she said, nonchalantly, totally oblivious to the wide-eye Kakashi was currently giving her. 'Its so... HOT. I can't stand it. Do you mind if I take it off?'

'NO!' cried Kakashi, horrified. 'I mean, YES. I do mind. Leave it on,' he quickly added, trying his best to redeem himself as a half-naked Kiba sauntered pass them. 'That's it, Sakura. You're going home. Now.'

'You're such a spoil-sport!' whined Sakura, her fingers releasing themselves from the corners of her halter. 'Naruto was right about you being a total wet-blanket, Hatake!'

'Last-name basis?' thought Kakashi, quizically to himself. 'And without even the customary "sensei"? Well, atleast I can rest assured she no longer has me mixed up with a blonde woman, aged twenty-one.'

'I'll be good!' Kakashi heard Sakura suddenly exclaim, her cheeks losing their flush a little bit. 'See? I'm a bit better now! Just, please, let me stay!'

Kakashi sighed, cursing himself for being unable to handle Sakura's ultimate puppy-dog look. 'Fine. Just make sure you don't take another drink,' he said as he snatched a fresh bottle out of Sakura's drunken grip. 'How many drinks did you take in anyways?'

His student shrugged. 'I don't know,' she admitted, swaying both left and right. 'Two... seven...? Just relax. Have some drink from yourself. Just one or two – then we can go. I promise I won't touch anything alchohol-related.'

Kakashi nodded, 'Good,' he said, as he vaguely drained Sakura's bottle in one easy swing.

His eyes were getting heavy, he realized, immediately snatching every other bottle Sakura happened to break her promise and touch – taking it in carelessly, tasting relief as the heat eased down his throat.

'At least I'm keeping her from doing anything stupid,' thought the thirty-three year old joinin, oblivious to the fact that he, himself, was doing just what he had kept his student from. 'One good deed at a day, Hatake.'

END FLASHBACK

Sakura shivered; cursing herself for acquainting her master's unique ability to remember everything she had done during her drunken stage. What Sakura really didn't want to remember, however, came almost immediately after her teacher had finished atleast a dozen more alchoholic beverages:

The hot, very passionate kiss that came with all that alchohol-laced influence.

Sakura, for what seemed to be the hundredth time since the event that caused her this misery, told herself that she hated it – all of it. The grinding of their bodies as they eased into a corner. The liquid movements of his hands as he groped her back; pressing her, almost territorially against his chest. His mis-matched eyes – both completely different from one another, yet, at that moment, identical in terms of lust – hazily dragging her further into him. His tongue as he as pulled her into a play-fight. His lips – velvety smooth – as they pressed against her own, sucking, almost completely, the life out of her. His nose. His breath. His skin. His hair. His touch. His...

DING-DONG!

Sakura screamed, brushing passed Ino and running into the closest room available – a cramped little broom closet. In her rush for admittance, she had failed to see the menacing smirk on her best friend's face, the "hmmph" from her old love-interest, Uchiha Sasuke, the look of blue confusion courtesy of one Uzumaki Naruto, and the grunt of humor from Shikamaru. Chouji, too busy eying the turkey, did not even notice the event of Sakura's dissapearance at all.

'Ohaiyo!' greeted Hatake Kakashi as he stood outside Ino's doorframe, his face a mask of nonchalance, his good eye crinkled, his smile hidden beneath his mask. 'Sorry I'm late, I had to deliver some presents to the good children of the world.'

'Save it, Kakashi-Sensei!' cried Naruto, pointing an accusitory finger at his old sensei. 'Everybody knows you're not Santa Clause! You can't fool us with that old trick any longer!'

'My apologies,' laughed Kakashi, offering the host a customary door-gift. 'But I did bring presents. We can all sit around the tree and sing Christmas songs before we open them.'

Sasuke, once again, released a very hefty 'hmmph' at his own teacher – never really understanding the term, 'be nice to your elders'. 'Cut to the chase,' he said, smirking evilly (as he was known to do, for he was, whether the troupe wanted to believe it or not, working for the bad guys just a few years ago). 'She's in that room, if you must.'

Hatake, never being one for long-windedness, yet never one to get straight to the point either, simply placed his gifts in a pile for the rest of the group to handle, and headed in the direction Sasuke had been pointing at.

Mostly seen as nonchalant, uncaring Hatake Kakashi, he did, indeed, have a heart on the inside – and a conscience to go with it – and, just like his student, had taken this oppurtunity as a chance to make up for past mistakes. So when he realized Sakura had chosen a closet – of all places – to hide in, and that this particular closet hardly left any space for a regular conversation between student and teacher, he did, indeed, find this to be quite the situation.

'Sakura,' said Kakashi, with a very formal nod.

'Sensei,' replied Sakura, equally formal.

'Damn,' thought said Sensei, feeling, though his expression did not betray him, wary. 'This is going to be harder than I expected.'

'You know that... what we did before was... wrong, right?'

Sakura nodded, not too particularly impressed, though her face, unlike Kakashi who had years to perfect the look, told everything – from her fear and apprehension, to the fact that she was beginning to really feel the heat in here.

'So... since you and I both know this... do you think we can just... forget?'

'Forget,' repeated Sakura, mentally, to only herself, her fists suddenly shivering to life on either side as she fixed a most unbelievable look on he ex-Sensei. 'FORGET? How could ANYONE possibly...!'

'Because this is really starting to take a toll on the both of us, and I think we can act pretty mature on both our parts...' elaborated Kakashi, when Sakura failed to answer.

'MATURE?!'

'We were drunk. No hard feelings. Its not like it meant anything.'

'Didn't – OK, now he was going to get it.'

Outwardly, Haruno Sakura took a deep breath, counting to five before she had a chance to actually explode through the ears. 'Kakashi...' she started, ignoring the fact that her sensei was now quirking an eyebrow at her. 'Are. You. Serious.'

The question didn't have a question mark because she knew, that he knew, that they BOTH knew that it wasn't a question to begin with.

And no sooner did she ask said question that both Sakura and Kakashi found themselves in the exact same situation as before. Both equally passionate. Both equally wanting it. Pressed against the wall, equally heaving. Forgetting the fact that this was Ino's closet they were in. Forgetting the fact that he was teacher, and she his student. Forgetting the fact that tomorrow they would both regret this moment, and also, starting from tomorrow, this moment would be the memory that would once again lead both of them into seclusion, keeping them as far away from one another as humanely possible.

They also forgot one major detail: this time, there was no Vodka involved. Even if they both had heavy tolerancy against alchohol, even if they both had the ability to take in atleast a hundred bottles of beer before actually feeling its effects – both parties, from this moment onwards had nothing to blame it on.

'Well,' thought both Sakura and Kakashi at the same time, their minds linking almost as dramatically as their lips now did. 'Might as well savour it while it lasts. After all, we won't see each other again until the next official occasion.'

And both Sakura and Kakashi knew that Valentines day was just two months away from them.

'Ino,' said Shikamaru, turning to his team-mate with his usual careless expression. 'You do know what they're doing in your closet, right?'

Ino grinned, nodding as she bit into her slice of cherry pie. 'Don't worry,' she said, smiling. 'I made sure I took out all the pointy things.'

Author's Note: Phew! That was the most heated thing I have ever done – and it wasn't even that graphic. But, dear God, I've actually passed the boundary of my typical basic-cussing only, and stepped into the realm of borderline R-ratedness for – ahem – mature themes. Should I be scared or pleased, I don't know.

Please review.