This first chapter, which I actually consider just a prologue, was originally written for #KakaSakuDevotion's Summer 2015 Contest. Unfortunately RL kicked me in the butt and I never finished the story. I've found new inspiration for it lately, though, so with any luck a new chapter will be added soon-ish. I'm hoping I can update next week, but please don't hold me to it.

(Seriously, I've got two teenage boys at home and daughter just settling in at college; time is a luxury right now)

Warnings: profanity

[ Friday, August 12, 2:05 pm – MST ]

Having sixth hour as his planning period was the best part of his schedule, Kakashi decided. Most days he lamented the fact, wishing for the coveted first hour time-slot instead. Seriously, that would be the life – the freedom to sleep in without Principal Senju breathing down his neck about arriving late. But as he headed back from the teacher's lounge – where he'd procured a spicy beef ramen cup, a vending machine brownie, and a nap on the room's lumpy couch – Kakashi had reassessed the situation.

Yes, this was better, especially since he'd skipped lunch.

Sakura sidled up to him, a blur of pink and white in the corner of his eye, and matched his stride while deftly maneuvering through the tight press of bodies. He cast her a quick glance as she curled her hand around his forearm, the grip strong enough that he could feel her quickened pulse through her fingertips. "We were interrupted earlier."

Kakashi hummed, the best imitation of his usual laid-back demeanor he could affect while caught in the throes of nervous anticipation.

After a couple dozen paces, Sakura dodged in front of Kakashi and shoved him in the chest, his back pressed flat against the wall. "So, Mr. Hatake, what are we now, exactly?"

Kakashi stayed silent as he waited for the late bell to ring. A couple students, freshmen if their hassled expressions were anything to go by, rushed past them without sparing the adults a glance.

"I don't know, Doctor Haruno." Kakashi leaned in close, his lips grazing the outer shell of her ear and his hand gently gripping her bicep, as he lead her out of the chaos of the school hallway and into the entryway of an empty classroom; Gai had no assigned class during seventh period and was, conveniently, in the gym. "Shouldn't the question be: what do you want us to be?"

Sakura let him back her up against the jamb, his hands now on her hips. Her gaze darted about, looking for any stray students lingering in the area, and when she found none, she yanked him forward by his shirt. The action caused him to press fully into her, chest to chest, and her smiled turned feral. "I think–"

A sharp buzzing noise sounded from the pocket of her white lab coat.

"Sorry," she said with an apologetic grimace, twisting in his hold to grab her phone. After a quick glance at the screen, Sakura expelled all the air from her lungs in one frustrated huff. "Shit. Naruto flagged it as private and high priority. Give me a second?"

"Everything's high priority with him." Kakashi rolled his eyes as he took a couple steps back, giving her a small bubble of privacy.

After a beat, an expression of sheer, dumbfounded delight spread across her face.

"Oh my god, I have to go. I have to go. Like right now," she said through a haze of rosy excitement, still staring at the screen of her phone. "Do you mind if we finish this later?"

Her glee was infectious, causing him to grin. "Yeah, sure. Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy."

"Thanks." She pocketed her phone, giving him her full attention, then stood on her tiptoes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. "Monday, okay? I don't think I'll be back until then."

"Can I ask where you're going?"

"Nope." Sakura waggled her pointer finger with fake sternness. "Top-secret, or so the text says."

"Playing mysterious, eh? I like it." He returned her kiss with one of his own, placed gently on her forehead. "Monday, it is. Now get going. You're distracting me, and I have my seventh hour class to teach."

"You're already late, Sensei."

[ Sunday, August 14, 5:37 pm - PDT ]

If Sakura's off-hand comment wasn't a pretty piece of foreshadowing, he didn't know what was.

Two days.

Two fucking days.

That's what it'd taken for it all to come crashing down around him. Friday afternoon Kakashi'd had Sakura in his life – in his arms, on his lips, canoodling with him in secluded corners of the school like those stupid, horny teenagers he was paid to teach – and now it was Sunday, and she was about to be someone else's wife forever.

(Or at least until she realized – if; if she ever realized, Kakashi begrudgingly corrected himself – that the asshole wasn't worth her time, effort, or love and divorced the smug bastard).

But Kakashi wasn't going to hold his breath and wait for that to happen.

They had a history.

(Oh, the irony. Mr. Hatake, the local high school history teacher, foiled by a shadow from Sakura's past. Surely there was a joke to found in there somewhere).

Kakashi knew better than most exactly how much affection her heart still held for Sasuke Uchiha, in spite of the hell he'd put her through. Sakura's devotion to her childhood friend and first love was unwavering, and the timing of this 'coincidence' was damn near cosmic.

Time was a bitch, Kakashi decided from the backseat of the grimy cab currently speeding him down the freeway towards Las Vegas, and Fate was her ugly little sister. But he was going to stop them from screwing him over.

If only he could make it to the chapel on time.