AN Hey guys thanks for the reviews. I enjoy reading your constructive criticism as well as your kind words. Please keep it up! Even though my new semester just started (lunar calendar sucks) I'm already bedridden with a pretty wicked sinus infection. So lift my spirits with the warm embrace of your thoughts! For the record, the drink I mentioned in this is a favourite of mine, I strongly recommend it and would be happy to divulge the recipe. R&R xoxo

Carried Away: Chapter Three: Beginners

Hatake Kakashi had to be losing his mind because there was no way, no fucking way, that he would get saddled down with seeing the object of his turmoil nearly every day of the school week. He truly believe the gods could not be so cruel. No, it had to be him. She was just some figment of his imagination he had conjured up in a guilt-induced haze to punish himself.

Sparing a glance away from the pages of his beloved but forgotten novel, the silver-haired professor let his gaze first travel upwards, then slightly to the right. There she was, Haruno Sakura, in her unimpressive (he tried to convince himself) glory. He had to admit that at first, the sight of her in a uniform had been quite jarring. But since then he had grown rather accustomed to it, and truthfully a little bit fond of the view.

Unlike the other girls at the academy, Miss Haruno actually wore her uniform in the appropriate manner, her black skirt fell just above her knees and fastened just above the line of her slender hips. She hadn't taken in the uniform to make it more form-fitting, but rather donned it as is, giving her slight frame a box-like appearance. And even though this look definitely took her inherent sex appeal down a great many pegs, Kakashi found himself admiring her adherence to the rules.

Something about not needing to show oneself off had always been a characteristic he had felt attracted to. This probably had a lot to do with growing up in an incredibly traditional family where women's femininity was displayed through acts of grace and understanding rather than beauty. Of course, he hadn't talked to said family in years, which probably further explained how he ended up sleeping with a bikini-clad, seventeen year old girl.

Kakashi watched enraptured as the petal-haired girl ran her small, pink tongue over her thumb then rubbed her thumb and forefinger together before flipping a page of The Little Brown Book, her thin eyebrows knitting together in concentration.

The older man knew it was a little bit cruel to have her spend-what should have been two hours of free study-time grading her classmate's essays, using the most tedious grading method known to man, no less. But he worried that if he watched her pour over her medical textbooks for her dual-enrollment courses at the local university, then he would lose it. She just looked far too adorable when studying for her desired profession. The way her eyes lit up and her pretty mouth curled into a small, excited smile was torture and Kakashi would have none of it.

"Kakashi? I mean.. Um.. Professor?" Sakura spoke softly and Kakashi winced slightly. Using the house key in his pocket, said man scratched a notch into the side of his desk to represent that this was the fifteenth time since school started she had slipped up and called him by name, and Kakashi was a sucker for keeping track. Focusing his attention on her now blushing face, the silver-haired man took a deep breath.

"Yes, Miss Haruno?" He answered, seemingly bored.

"I have a question about the use of this comma, will you check it out for me?"

"Sure, bring it here."

Now, most people would get up, then walk to stand in front of their teacher's desk. Sakura, however, had a very bad habit of walking behind his desk to look over his shoulder. As she did just that, Kakashi gripped the keys tightly in his hand, relishing for a moment in the way the metal nearly cut into his palm before trading them for a red pen.

He could smell the subtle scent of her expensive perfume. The soft, sensual aroma of fruit and silvery floral top notes tickled his nose, making it impossible to ignore her proximity. But what Kakashi really liked was the way he could still smell a hint of chlorine on her skin from her morning swimming class.

Sakura's hand rested beside Kakashi's forearm and he noticed that this week her fingernails were painted an obnoxious shade of purple, something her little blonde friend had picked out, no doubt. Kakashi realized then that the fact he knew so much about Sakura's social circles, schedule, and perfume may be a bit creepy, but he shook the intrusive thoughts away immediately and focused on the task before him.

Clearing his throat, Kakashi decided it best she point out the conundrum because he was in no way fit to deduce anything with her standing so close. "So, what is the problem?"

Picking up her hand, Sakura leaned more forward, causing the round curve of her breast to brush against Kakashi's shoulder, his heart jumping slightly as a dull heat erupted inside of him. Controlling his breathing, Kakashi scolded himself for being so easily flustered and watched as a perfectly manicured fingernail tapped at a sentence in the middle of the page. "Here, I looked in the book, but I've not studied grammar since freshman year when it's required, so I'm not sure if this is a comma splice or not."

Kakashi read over the sentence a few times and tilted his head slightly in confusion. This was elementary. Not to mention she had already marked it correctly. It was an obviously superfluous use of a comma, something a fifth grader would notice. That was when Kakashi got a tad suspicious of her intentions. Sakura had only done this a couple of other times. She never showed any distinct interest in him. Aside from occasionally forgetting to address him properly, the rosette usually kept all interaction between them strictly professional, always honoring the obvious line dividing them. Yet, the silver-haired professor was beginning to think that the accidental contact was anything but innocent. She wasn't a terribly naive girl, but going out of her way to touch him didn't seem unlikely. Under any different circumstance, Kakashi would have found it charming. In fact, he had once found it very charming, which was why he so easily overlooked the implications.

"Sakura." He spoke suddenly, causing his student to jump a little before taking a step back. Kakashi stood and folded his arms over his chest. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"About what?" Her voice cracked slightly and Kakashi could see the way she cursed under her breath at her nerves.

Kakashi took a step forward, causing the pinkette to take another step back. This went on for only a few more strides until Sakura's back collided with the short bookshelf that lined the walls beneath the windows. The emotions dancing across her features were crystal clear. Embarrassment quickly molded into excitement, her cheeks and rosy lips flushed a shade deeper, and when her sparkling, viridian eyes began to burn a dark forest green, Kakashi then began to question what the fuck he was doing.

"About how you are far too intelligent to be playing dumb." His voice was even, but low and husky and he unfolded his arms to lean his hands against the window behind her head, thankful that the freezing temperatures coated the city in a dense layer of fog, hiding the pair from any passersby.

Okay, if he wasn't absolutely mad before, he had lost it now. He could hear the logical part of his brain screaming, something it never did, to stop what he was doing, but the irrational part was driven by desire and if this girl did not stop trying his patience he was going to make a terrible, terrible mistake. A mistake that could be the best mistake he had ever made, or the worst. It really depended entirely on her because he couldn't seem to make decisions for himself in his current state.

He felt her slender fingers wrap around his thin, black tie. Kakashi looked down to see dark eyes watching him with an expression not unlike his own, as if they were both waiting for someone to do something, anything. Like they had both been waiting for a month for the other one to crack. Slowly tugging at his tie, Sakura pulled the silver-haired professor towards her, the heat of his covered mouth inches from her own.

Then, just as Kakashi's hand moved to cup her cheek, the chime of a bell sounded overhead, causing the pair to stop and stare at one another with wide eyes. Kakashi took a step back and searched for the right words to say, but nothing came. Instead he just stood shock still as she scurried to grab her bag and sweater, then disappear into a throng of students.

...

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my-

"Forehead! Jesus H. Christ!" Sakura turned to see a pair of oceanic eyes glaring at her. "I called your name like six times! Are you trying to kill me, making me chase you down like that?"

Think Sakura. Say something normal. "Yes." Nailed it.

The blonde girl just stared at her best friend, wearing a look of shock and confusion. "Well why in hell would you wanna do that? I mean, I know you're jealous, but murder? Geez."

Forgetting her current predicament, Sakura felt her exasperation with her friend's antics become more pressing. "Oh, can it, Ino-Pig. Don't you have some junk food to scarf down? Maybe some damn skirts to hem?"

"Hey now!" Ino called when Sakura turned to keep walking towards their shared dorm. The honey-haired girl threw an arm around Sakura's shoulders and bumped her hip into her friend forcefully. "What's got you all pissy today? This is like, your easiest day of the week. I mean, fuck, all of your school days are pretty 'lax."

"That is because, Piglet, unlike you, I've actually been doing school work and taking extra classes so I could have an easy schedule."

"Pfft, please. We both know you spend at least half the time doing that bastard blond Naruto's homework for him."

"You're still angry I didn't let you cheat off my paper last week and no I do not do his homework. I'm sure either Hinata or Sasuke do though." Sakura laughed quietly, glad to have her mind anywhere else but where it wanted to be.

"Hmm, yeah. They are like super in love with him. I wonder if he'll ever notice. But that's beside the point, Forehead. Are you okay?"

The pinkette eyed her friend. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know." Ino shrugged. "You just always seem out of it on Thursdays, you're at the hospital all day Friday, so by the time Saturday rolls around and I get a chance to ask you about it, you're over it."

Shit. Distract her. She's so easily distracted. "Is that why you chased me down to walk me back to the dorms instead of going to Civics?"

"Ugh, Asuma-sensei is just so nosy and nit-picky and smokes during class!"

"Ino, he's your advisor, so of course he's nosy. And I think he's allowed to be nit-picky and maybe even smoke during class. He's probably the best teacher in the school." Sakura pointed out in true know-it-all fashion.

"Which is why I texted him to say I was having lady cramps and needed to be in bed."

Finally arriving to their building, Sakura scanned her student i.d. card at the door and the two girls made their way inside and quickly grabbed the most coveted seat in the common room: a large, leather sofa seated right beside the fireplace. Once they were comfortably nestled into the sofa, Sakura took the remote and began flipping through channels.

"Anyways, we both know that for you, lady cramps means you wanna drink, so just go get whatever it is you're dying to show me before the next class lets out and the place fills up. I don't have work until tomorrow afternoon." That's a lie, but at least she'll be distracted. Unless her plan is to loosen my lips. Damn it.

Ino squealed with delight and grabbed both of their backpacks before sprinting up the hall. Not too minutes later, the blonde bombshell appeared with large jar of some red, pulpy liquid, sweet tea lemonade, two glasses, and a huge bag of chocolate biscuits.

"So what's the poison tonight, Pig?"

"Strawberry infused vodka. I've been letting it sit for nearly two weeks." Setting everything on the polished coffee table in front of them, Ino went about pouring the drinks and sat back to hand one over to Sakura before grabbing a handful of biscuits. "So spill it, Forehead. Before I drug you and force you to talk."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura took a long sip of her drink and sighed in contentment. So bitter but so sweet. Ino knew how to make a girly cocktail. "It's nothing, Ino."

"Bullshit. You get all nervous every Thursday. You only have two classes on Today. So either you're really anxious about perfecting your backstroke or it has something to do with that new teacher you're assisting."

Damn. She's smarter than I thought, Has Ino always been this quick? Oh of course she has. You don't become the resident gossip by not being able to read people. "I just don't like him all that much."

"How can that be true? He's the easiest teacher I have."

"That's because you have him for some remedial English class. I have him for A.P. Lit, not to mention I'm stuck being his bitch for two hours every Thursday grading papers and fetching coffee."

"You're lying."

Sakura tried to ignore her best friend's piercing gaze and instead focused on drinking her glass dry. She wanted to tell Ino. Hell, she needed to tell someone, anyone. But Ino wasn't always the most trustworthy. Sakura knew she wanted to be, but her pretty blonde friend had a horrible habit of being tactless and manipulative, so sometimes secrets slipped out every now and again.

Oh fuck it. "Okay, you can't tell anyone, I mean anyone."

Sakura watched as Ino seemed to weigh the options before nodding in agreement. "Okay, fine. But only because you still haven't told anyone about Sai and I."

"Good choice. So today while I was helping out Kaka- I mean Professor Hatake.. I may have... I mean not really but I sort of.. If you can call it that.."

"Spit it out, Sakura!"

"I almost kissed him.."

"You WHAT?"

...