This story is based on the Australian driving system, as it's the only one I know. Also, the car in this story is a manual so here's a brief explanation if you don't know what I'm talking about. This is just for people who don't drive, or have their automatic licence, so if you know manual you can skip straight to the story!

Manual cars have a clutch (which you push in with your left foot) and a gearstick (which you change with your left hand). You need to push in the clutch when you start and when you change gears. If you stop without putting the clutch in, the car will stall. You start using first gear and change gears as the car gets faster and when it slows down. Note: everything is reversed in American cars because they drive on the opposite side of the road, so you use your right hand and right foot.

o.O.o

Kakashi Hatake, Driving Instructor

Kakashi Hatake was an average man. He lived in an apartment with his husband Iruka and worked as a driving instructor, while Iruka was a teacher at the local high school. They received an average income and were talking about getting a house and a dog. Sometimes Kakashi wished that he worked a better job with more reasonable hours, but he wanted a job that helped people. Teaching sixteen-year-olds to drive seemed like a pretty good way to help people.

As soon as he pulled up in the middle-class neighbourhood outside the designated house, Kakashi checked the time on his phone. It was three-thirty in the afternoon, exactly as he'd planned. He grabbed his day planner and flicked through the pages to today's date, running his finger over his appointments. At three-thirty was Sakura Haruno, five was Sasuke Uchiha and six-thirty was Naruto Uzumaki. He made a small note beside Sakura's name and glanced up at the front door, watching the pink-haired girl lock the door behind her.

She still wore her school uniform – knee-high navy-blue skirt, striped white blouse, white socks, black shoes and a blue tie – and crossed her front yard with logbook, phone and licence in hand. Kakashi tossed his planner into the back seat and climbed out the driver's side, walking around the front of the car and climbing into the passenger's seat. He yawned behind his half-mask as Sakura sat in the driver's seat and look at him expectantly.

"Good afternoon Miss Haruno," he said easily.

"Afternoon," she replied, handing over her logbook. Kakashi accepted it and flipped to a fresh page, writing down the date, car registration, kilometres travelled and time while he spoke.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake and I'll be your driving instructor for as long as you need."

She brushed her hair behind her ears and smiled. "This is my first lesson, so go easy."

He looked down at the logbook and noted her half-filled page of driving times. "Your book says you've done six hours already. Were you driving manual?"

"Yes. I'm okay with changing the gears while moving, but I have a lot of trouble with starting and stopping."

He nodded. "It's the hardest thing to get right. Now, are your mirrors in the right spot?"

She checked all three. "Yes."

"And there's no one coming?"

"No."

"Well, since we're not on a hill I'll get you to do the standard start."

Sakura nodded and pushed the clutch down with her left foot while flicking the gearstick into first gear. Then she pushed the accelerator with her right foot and released the pressure on the clutch slowly until she felt the vibrations of the car change. She fully released the clutch and pressed the accelerator, wincing as the car skidded forward, the tyres squealing horribly on the tarmac.

"We will need to practice that," Kakashi said under his breath. He glanced down at his feet, where identical pedals lay. These pedals allowed him to brake and accelerate if Sakura found herself unable to control the car and he'd had to fight the urge to use them quite a few times over the previous months while teaching others.

"How long have you been an instructor for?" she asked.

"A few months." He shrugged and drummed his fingers on the glove box. "You're not doing badly. You just need to relax your grip on the steering wheel." She glanced at her hands and complied. "So how was school?"

He immediately regretted asking, because she launched into a detailed explanation about her day. "Oh my God, so my friend Ino decided to ask Sasuke out today, and he brutally refused her! He was like 'I'm not interested, so back off'. It was cruel! And Shikamaru had the gall to say 'I told you so'. I swear everyone at my school is an idiot."

"Sounds like it," Kakashi said absently.

Sakura nodded violently, her eyes wandering along the road. "I could swear Sasuke is gay. He doesn't talk to anyone but Naruto, and when he does, they argue like an old married couple."

Kakashi recognised the names Sasuke and Naruto and smirked behind his mask. Sakura's guess wasn't far off the mark. Since Kakashi taught both boys, it was inevitable that some personal details would slip out. Sasuke was indeed gay, and so was Naruto. Arguing was how they expressed their affection for each other in public and Kakashi had no intention of telling Sakura any of that. It was something that the boys would say when they were ready.

"You just ran a Stop sign," he said mildly. Sakura twisted in her seat to look behind her and the wheel moved with her body. Kakashi grabbed the wheel to stop the car from driving into the nearest fence and Sakura faced the front, blushing.

"You learn from your mistakes," she muttered.

Kakashi's phone buzzed from his breast pocket and he pulled it out, checking the message.

Ramen 4 dinner. Luv Iruka xo.

He smiled at the message and typed back: Can't wait. B home at 7. Luv u 2.

Sakura had craned her neck to read the messages. "Who's Iruka?"

"My husband," Kakashi replied. "That was a Give Way sign. He's a teacher at your school."

"Oh, Iruka Umino?"

"Eyes on the road. Yes, Iruka Umino. We've been married for six months."

This time she saw the Give Way sign and slowed down in time to clutch-stop. "I didn't know Iruka-sensei was gay," she said, glancing left and right. She went into first gear and started hesitantly, moving forward slower than she should.

"He is. Remember to indicate when you reach the roundabout. We'll be going all the way around and heading back up the road." She followed his instructions obediently and began heading up the street again, this time moving north instead of south.

"He's mentioned you a few times in class," she began.

"Watch for the Give Way sign!" Kakashi sighed.

She glanced in her mirror and saw that he was correct. "Oops."

"You shouldn't get distracted so easily. Focus on the road."

She immediately sobered up and lost the unfocused expression, opting for a determined one. Kakashi noted that she was hunched close to the wheel, clearly tense. Honestly, Sasuke and Naruto were better drivers than her, but they'd had a lot more practice. It was Kakashi's job to make her a good, responsible driver and judging by her current attention span, he had his work cut out for him.

He decided to test her and see how easily she was distracted, so he waited for her to move through the next Give Way sign before scooping his planner. Smirking behind his mask, he flipped to today's date. "Hm. My next appointment goes to your school. I think you mentioned him before. Sasuke, wasn't it?"

Sakura blanched and tightened her grip on the wheel. "Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yes." He peered at her pale face. "Don't tell me you're part of his fan club."

She spluttered indignantly, her focus broken. "I… no- why would I be?"

He nodded thoughtfully, hiding his annoyance at her lack of attention on the road. "You also mentioned another client who goes to your school, Naruto."

"Yeah, he's so annoying!" she declared, sobering at the mention of Naruto. But her attention still wasn't on the road and she went straight past a Stop sign without seeing it, also forgetting to indicate when she turned a corner. Kakashi was silent for a few long moments, allowing the silence to draw out before-

"Sasuke!" he shouted, pointing to the left.

"Where?" Sakura cried, glancing around wildly. Her hands jerked on the steering wheel and the car skidded to a halt without her urging. It took Sakura a moment to realise that Kakashi had used his back-up set of brakes to stop the car.

"Sakura," he said quietly, "you have to stop becoming distracted. As soon as I brought up Sasuke your focus was shattered and that's dangerous. You didn't even notice the Stop sign you ran or your failure to indicate at the corner. Then I gave you a distraction and you took the bait, allowing your attention to stray from the road. If this had been a more populated area, you could have killed someone."

She lowered her head embarrassedly. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, smiling behind the mask. "That's what driving lessons are for. Now you hopefully won't make the same mistake in the future." Sakura started up the car again and he settled back, smirking. "Besides, you don't have a chance with Sasuke."

The car stopped. "What?"

"I'll let him tell you on his own terms." As Kakashi was also gay, it had made it easier for both Sasuke and Naruto to reveal their relationship. They'd even asked Kakashi and Iruka for relationship advice and guidance on how to tell their families.

"But Kakashi-sensei, that's teasing! You're not allowed to tell me something and not explain why!"

"Eyes on the road!"

Sakura looked ahead again and squeaked as a bird landed right in her path. She slammed her foot on the brakes, forgetting about the clutch, and the car stalled. "Uh… what did I do wrong?"

"Firstly, did you look in your mirror? There could have been someone behind you and they could have hit you."

"No, I didn't."

"Secondly, this is a manual. You need to push in the clutch when you stop, though you should know that by now. Turn the key."

She turned the key in the ignition and started the car again, clutch-starting shakily. A car approached behind her and overtook the Learner car with ease, which was perfectly okay along an empty suburban road. Kakashi wouldn't take Sakura onto more populated roads for a while.

He checked the time on his phone. "We've got ten minutes left. Just do another lap of the road and then we'll head back."

They didn't talk for about five minutes as Sakura diverted all her attention to driving, although she sent a glare or two in Kakashi's direction. He was finally relaxing in his seat as she'd seen and stopped at every Give Way and Stop sign, as well as slowing down for the speed bumps and indicating at every corner. It looked like she was actually improving. He opened his mouth to say so, but she let out a shout:

"Iruka!"

Kakashi darted forward in his seat and nearly smashed his face against the window. He peered outside for a few moments before slumping back in annoyance. "That was cruel."

"You're cruel."

"I regret accepting you as a student."

It was her turn to smirk as she pulled up outside her house, her hour up. Kakashi wrote a few notes in her logbook and handed it back along with her phone and licence. They both got out of the car and Sakura waved in farewell before heading into her house. Kakashi climbed into the driver's seat and pulled away without glancing back. A slow smile stretched across his face as he drove to the wealthier part of town where Sasuke lived.

Driving lessons with Sakura were going to be a lot of fun.

o.O.o

Owari