Looking back, Kakashi wasn't sure how he allowed himself to be caught up in this situation. He was far too old to be acting so short sighted, and yet here he was, standing in the kitchen doorway in Uchiha Sasuke's childhood home, watching as his three former students bickered and glared and splattered pancake batter all over the cupboards.

He sat heavily in the chair closest to the exit, ready to bolt at the smallest hint of flying cookware. Massaging his single exposed eye, the sudden aroma of fresh coffee assaulted his senses and he peered up to see his worst nightmare – a smiling Sakura holding a steaming mug out to him, dressed in nothing more than a tank top and shorts so tiny he was tempted to take Tsunade up on her offer of naming him her successor just for the sake of banning such clothing.

"Here you are, Kakashi." She chirped brightly, exposing brilliantly white teeth behind perfectly sculpted lips. At the age of seventeen, shortly after the end of the war, Sakura had dropped the sensei staple on his name, effectively dubbing them equals. Two years later and she hadn't referred to him as her teacher once. At first, Kakashi had found it another endearing factor about his cutest student, but now that all the adorable pieces of her were stacking up ever higher he wished he had something to use against the growing tension he felt around her. Like the constant reminder that he had met her when she was twelve and naive and his ward.

But she wasn't twelve anymore.

Kakashi smiled wearily, accepting the drink and allowing her to return to supervising her rather inept teammates to make sure they didn't burn the house down. That had been why she moved in with them in the first place, to make sure they didn't kill themselves. She had insisted that it was hard enough keeping the three of them alive on the battlefield and she wasn't about to let all of her past hard work go to waste over malnutrition or a simple kitchen fire.

After the war, Sasuke had followed them back to the village, intent on returning to his home at last. He had used the line again about how he intended to become Hokage, but as time wore on and it became clear that Naruto would be the one to eventually inherit that title, it seemed that Sasuke had settled for the slightly lesser role of first lady.

Of course, Kakashi had been the first to move into the Uchiha mansion with his former student. It had been a term of the boy's probation, that someone must be with him at all times, and seeing as how when Sasuke was younger he had looked up to Kakashi the most out of anyone in the village, it was no surprise how things turned out. The probationary period had ended over a year ago, but things had become so comfortable that Kakashi never left. Naruto moved in not long after Kakashi had and Sakura was always over to see them, so things were lively and entertaining. And somehow, after years of separation, none of them could bring themselves to ruin it.

Sakura took the longest, holding out two years before she decided to join them permanently. It had only been a month now, but Kakashi was sure he was going to go insane before much longer. It didn't help that she constantly walked around wearing barely anything, nor that her room just happened to be the only one on the ground floor with him, since Naruto and Sasuke shared a room on the second.

Sometimes, Kakashi was sure that since the war, Konoha had somehow become a love comedy type of story, what with the comedic love-hate relationships all around him and now the "I'm in love with my cute young roommate" dynamic that he was bringing to the table.

Taking a slow sip from his coffee, Kakashi let out an involuntary groan that had three sets of eyes settle on him curiously. The drink was black and delicious, with no sugar or cream. How could little things like Sakura remembering not to add fifty sugar cubes and a tablespoon of chocolate syrup, like she did to her own coffee, please him so?

He ignored their probing stares and Sakura's look of concern as he stood, giving a shallow nod in their direction before he slipped out of the kitchen and through the front door. He settled himself on the wooden step next to the morning paper, taking another tantalizing sip before checking the rentals section.

So, while my love for SasuSaku runs deep, my fascination with teacher-student relationships just couldn't be suppressed. And so, I present to you the "Living Together Series!" A couple of related one-shots having to do with our favorite team living with one another and Kakashi trying to keep himself from jumping his now-grown student. Not that she will make it easy on him, of course...

Read, enjoy and review, yeah?