Chapter 7

Work was a bit of a blur for Sakura, after her little make out session with Kakashi in her office. She stayed busy, which she was happy about… but she felt scattered. She felt the need to double check every blood test and reread the chart of every patient, lest she let her mind wander and make some rookie mistake. Luckily, no one noticed her scattered behavior… but all the nurses noticed when Kakashi arrived to pick her up. They noticed because he was fifteen minutes early. Of course, they didn't tell Sakura about his early arrival: they wanted to see Sakura's reaction.

"So make sure Takeshi-san gets his evening medication, and tell Umina-san she needs to do her exercises tonight and every night, or she won't regain proper control of her arm and leg," Sakura told the night staff doctors as she handed the case files in question over. (Author's Note: my knowledge of proper suffixes in Japanese language only goes as far as those little information sheets in manga and stuff like that. I'm not sure what is the proper suffix a doctor would use to address patient, so I used "-san." If anyone reading this knows better, please let me know!)

"Of course, Haruno-sensei."

"Ukano-san, I told you: call me Sakura-san. I don't mind at all."

The doctor taking over the night shift smiled shyly and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but you are my boss, Haruno-sensei. I would feel very odd addressing you in any other way."

"Well, try it sometime. You might really like it! Have a good night, and see you tomorrow afternoon." Sakura waved as she walked towards the main entrance of the hospital. Kakashi stood before she saw him, and watched as she said her goodbyes to the nurses and administrative staff at the information desk.

"Hey, you." Kakashi said as she approached him, smiling under his mask.

"Hey. How was your afternoon?" she asked as he opened the door for her, not noticing the nurses' gasps and giggles.

"It was fine. A bit long. I had my new team train for a while, then took them to the Memorial Shrine to teach the cocky one a lesson. She wants to be a hero, and I wanted her to learn what a hero is."

"That's a hard lesson for the cocky ones. How did they take it?"

"She took it hard. She started crying and yelled at me for taking her there, and then took off to her home."

"Wow." Sakura said. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to let her be for tonight and try to talk to her tomorrow. I think there is a possibility that she thinks she can't be heroic while alive –- that is how so many people are saved in the village."

"It's a hard lesson for a kid to learn, I suppose: that it is possible to be a hero, but being a hero often requires choosing to sacrifice a lot. If anyone can teach her that, it's you."

Kakashi smiled and twined his fingers with Sakura's as they rounded a corner. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. So, what's the plan for this evening?"

"I thought we could have a private dinner at your house." Kakashi lifted the bag in his other hand so Sakura could see it. "That way, if you feel like showering and relaxing a bit before dinner, you can. And we can talk about some of what you mentioned earlier today without anyone disrupting us."

"That's a good idea. I always like to shower after a day when I help in the coroner's office."

The two continued walking until they got to Sakura's apartment. Once they got into her apartment, Sakura excused herself for a quick shower and Kakashi began to set up their dinner.

When Sakura got out, she cursed herself. She had forgotten her clean clothes in her bedroom. If she used the Body Flicker Technique to get to her room, it would be both a waste of chakra (who used that technique just to travel a few feet?) and Kakashi would sense her and think something was wrong. But if he were to see her moving across the hall, only in a towel…. Sakura hated being embarrassed. Then again, she was in a towel, and he couldn't see anything if she made sure to wrap herself right. And, based on his actions, he would be a gentleman about it, and would turn his back.

Wrapping the towel tight around her frame, Sakura took a deep breath and opened the door leading to the hall. As she started to cross, the door behind her swung closed, catching her towel. Sakura cursed and gasped as the towel began to slip from her body.

"Is everything all right, Sakura?" Kakashi called from the kitchen. Sakura, completely panicked, began to jerk at the towel stuck in the door.

"I'm fine! Just keep cooking, okay?" Sakura yelled back. She tugged at the towel a couple more times, then realized it was caught in the door. She turned the knob and jerked the towel out of the gap, then ran into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. She leaned against the door, breathing deeply and trying to will her cheeks to stop blushing. He didn't see her. He did ask if she was okay, but he let her be and didn't push the matter.

He was so different from other boyfriends she had had. Any one of them would have ignored her request and rushed into the hall to see what was going on, which would have broken her boundary and also would have embarrassed her to no end. Some would have teased her afterwards or tried to turn it into a sexual situation. With Kakashi, she realized she could trust him—not only as a fellow ninja or a trusted teammate, but also as a friend… and maybe as a lover. Maybe he could even be more…

Sakura dried off and quickly got dressed in comfy clothes. As much as she liked Kakashi (and possibly more than liked him), she didn't want to sleep with him just yet. She had to be sure that he would keep respecting her boundaries and wouldn't change into something she didn't like, like some of her other boyfriends had done. Sakura wanted this to work.

Sorry I didn't get this posted sooner! Work got hectic and I had final papers and exams to study for, so this got pushed onto my backburner. I promise the next chapter won't take nearly so long to be published. Thank you for your continued support and reviews/favorites/follows.