Chapter 10, up and running. Enjoy!

Day Zero

Sakura woke up early next morning and prepared herself for her shift at the hospital. Despite all the amount of time she spent in bed last night, she had managed to get very little sleep. She tossed and turned as Kakashi's words repeated in her mind, his eye smiling at her reassuring her every time she cried, his arms wrapped around her waist when they danced, his soft masked lips gently pressed against her forehead as he kissed her goodnight.

Somewhere close by, a silver haired jonin could be easily mistaken as a zombie. His single visible eye was half closed a dark ring hung below it, his usually visible quarter of his face was unusually pale. Despite all his efforts, he spent the night tossing and turning in his bed. The image of her crying burnt itself in his mind, haunting him. Putting on his usual uniform, he decided to take a walk to clear his mind.

That afternoon, Genma, who have yet to catch onto what has been happening, decided try his luck again. He wandered towards Konoha Hospital in search for a certain pink haired medic. He approached her desk and place a bunch of roses in her vase.

"So, free tonight?" The master of pickup lines started.

"I could be. But now that you've asked, I'm not." Smooth talking was one of the attributes that she picked up from all the years of training and learning under Hatake Kakashi.

"So I've booked you up eh?" Luck was probably on his side.

"Actually I've booked her up." A low voice came from behind Genma. "How 'bout lunch for starters?"

"Fine by me. I'll just finish off the paper work here. Won't take more than two minutes." Sakura was glad that he showed up to keep Genma at bay.

Two minutes later, Sakura rose from her desk and stood beside Kakashi.

"Dango?"

"Hn." With that said, the two made off to the dango restaurant and sat at their usual table.

"Sakura, you're still upset."

"No, I'm not. Why were you at the hospital anyway?"

"I was in the area."

"Liar! You never go to the hospital even if you're in the area or half dead."

"Well, talk about lying. You're still upset." He repeated himself slightly clearer. He watched as a lone tear trickled down her porcelain cheek and before he could stop himself, his hand automatically shot forward and cupped her cheek, his thumb gently wiping away that lone tear.

"I'm full." She stiffened up as she slammed down the money onto the table and ran out of the store as more tears streamed down her face. She ran as fast as she could in some vague direction and was suddenly stopped by someone pulling on her wrist from behind. She froze on the spot as she realised who stopped her. Her friend approached her tentatively afraid that he will scare her away but she remained rooted on the spot. He stopped right behind her and wrapped his arms around her fragile body, pulling her towards him. He didn't care what passersby would think as they stood in the forest, enveloped by silence, only her sharp breathing could be heard.

"Kakashi." She finally managed to breathe out, leaning back onto his chest.

"I can't let anyone else have you, I have realised that." He spoke as he leant down and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

The two stood in the quiet woods, not caring for the amount of time that passed by between them.

"So we're a secret?" She whispered after some time.

"Yes, I suppose so." He whispered back as he released her from his hold and kissed her.

"Kakashi…why do you hide yourface?" She remembered the time when team 7 went through the trouble to find out what was behind his mask only to find that there was another mask beneath. Kakashi lifted her hand and placed it onto his forehead protector covering his left eye, while his other eye creased up encouraging her to lift his forehead protector upwards. When the forehead protector slipped off his head, gripped tightly in Sakura's hand as she stared at the top half of his face in amazement.

"We'll never get to the bottom half if the top half amazes you so much." He teased as he placed her hand onto his cheek. With the tip of her fingers tucked beneath the mask, she slowly peeled it off to slowly reveal the bottom half of his face, gasping as the mystery was revealed. Sakura blushed deeply after finally seeing her sensei's face.

"Am I really that handsome?" He teased her again as he closed in resting his forehead on hers, his unmasked lips felt smooth on hers.

When they left the forest, they checked for signs of anyone following or nearby as they headed towards Kakashi's apartment for some dinner followed by some light reading on the couch. Kakashi's left eye scanned the page before him, occasionally nudging Sakura to tell her to turn the page, earning a small groan and a nudge back to tell him that she wasn't finished with the page. They felt at peace how they have found each other in the dark and brought light to each other. As reading became an increasingly tiring task, Sakura declared that she was going home and was about to walk out of his apartment when he stopped her in her tracks by pulling on her wrist and carried her into his room, gently lowering her onto his bed.

"Stay." He pleaded. He didn't get much sleep last night and was quite sure that he would sleep much better now that he have confessed his sins to her.

"I…alright." She was too tired to say no.

"Plus, you're not going away without giving me a kiss." He leaned in receiving a small kiss. He closed the curtains to his window, making sure that the window was actually locked for once and laid down beside Sakura. The two slept soundly for the rest of the night in each other's arms.

By morning, Kakashi was woken up by the loud banging on his door. Lazily, he made his way to his door and creaked it open to find a rather out of breath Asuma.

"Ino went to find Sakura since the people at the hospital said that she left after her morning shift was over and haven't seen her since and couldn't find her at her apartment. She got worried so she sent me to see if you've seen her." As he spoke, his eyes darted around Kakashi's apartment, partially blocked by Kakashi's body.

"Well, I saw her, but she's not here. I'm not sure where she went either, good luck!" Just as he was about to close the door, Asuma charged past him.

"Liar! These are her shoes!" Kakashi swore to himself for not hiding her shoes before he opened his door and went after his bearded friend, who was heading straight for his bedroom.

"You know better than running into my pigsty." He spoke softly as Asuma reached the bedroom door; he was unstoppable.

"Kakashi, you…you…and Sakura. I thought you said that you guys weren't going out!" Asuma exclaimed.

"Well, you see…Sakura was over here and she was rather tired so I let her sleep in my bed for the night."

"Yeah right. This is big news, Kakashi, big news! I must tell Kurenai!" He squealed as he ran out of the apartment, waking up the sleepy Sakura.

After some reassurance and persuasion, Kakashi finally managed to get Sakura to get out of the apartment for some fresh air with him. They admit that today's weather was too good to be indoors and it would be a waste not to go out. As the walked down the street, stares and glances were cast on them. In the dango shop, Asuma and Kurenai spotted the couple and waved them over to their table, who accepted the invitation.

"So…Kakashi. Explain." Asuma put on one of his sternest faces and his most serious tone, only to earn a playful slap on the arm from Kurenai.

"What is there to explain?" His arm subtly snaked around Sakura's waist.

"Ten days, Kakashi, ten days." Asuma shook his head faking disapproval. "How many days did it take you?"

"Days? I've barely started. It has always been day zero." Kakashi blurted out before he could control himself, causing Sakura to blush.

"Day zero?" Kurenai joined in, confused.

"Yeah, that's right. I taught this guy that if in ten days you still can't do it, you don't like her enough. But if in ten days she hasn't ignored or rejected you, she likes you. Just that he's just as hopeless as before even after everything I've taught him. Just kiss her in public already, Kakashi, before Genma or other guys want to press their luck."

Kakashi's eye twitched slightly as Asuma lectured him on being affectionate in public, but soon he just could not take the non-stop tips and advice. Ignoring Asuma, he turned to Sakura, who nodded slightly to reassure him. In a swift motion, he tipped her head up slightly and place his masked lips on hers, a pure display of affection in broad day light. When they broke the kiss to catch their breath, taking note that Asuma and Kurenai were both shocked and speechless, they laughed at the couple before them bid them a good day.

"There is no way I would let you see the rest of my face." Kakashi teased his friend as he left the table with a giggling Sakura.

Well, this is the end of the longwinded story that started when I got bored in the break during lectures. I hope you enjoyed it and do feel very free to write me a review!