Author's notes: I just finished reading all the reviews from the last chapter I shoved in, and I just couldn't help but update sooner than I anticipated :D. I love the reviews you send me, they really help with my confidence in writing more and more everyday, but unfortunately, I've hit a dead end with the very lemon part of my story; I can't get myself to carry on because...well, I suppose a lot of you feel the same when writing juicy, graphic, lemony, smutty and detailed scenes of what goes bump in the night :S, but I'll try. So here we are, chapter ten, and things are back to normal with Sakura and Kakashi, or so we think. They are now back in their normal daily routine, regular missions, hospital work, crappy weather, the usual. Enjoy XD.

Kakashi: hmm, almost seems like it's the end of the story already

Sakura: yeah, but you can definately tell it's not

Kakashi: how so?

Sakura: the fact that there's still chapters being uploaded

Kakashi: not that, I mean the actual plot, not the chapters

Sakura: oh, well I suppose it's because there's still a few things not mentioned, and still have to be said, which I'm guessing will be said later on

Kakashi: hmm guess so...I really wanna know what happens next

Sakura: so does whoever reads these chapters, but have patience, we can't spoil it for the others

Kakashi: I know, but the suspense is killing me

Sakura: lol, keep your pants on man, lets just get through this chapter and we'll chat later

Kakashi: right...enjoy

CHAPTER TEN: WHAT COMES NEXT

"And Sakura made a full recovery and left the day before yesterday at about noon."

"I see."

Kakashi stood in front of Tsunade's desk where behind the weight-suffering table sat Tsunade, who was tiredly working on overdue scrolls. She did ask a mission scroll from the man when she announced it, and so she had to take it.

The Jounin cleared his throat, "I decided to check up on Sakura yesterday to make sure she was able to go through her normal routine, but she didn't go to the hospital for work," he held his usual stance, lazy as always with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Tsunade nodded, "well I haven't given her the thumbs up to go working at the hospital again, which explains why, but perhaps she is also making sure she really is able to take care of herself in her current state."

Another mute nod, "so I can go on standard missions now?" he wondered, keeping his toneless voice in check and holding back the eagerness to get out of the village.

"Well you can go on standard missions again, but that won't happen until the weather clears up," the blonde put simply, closing her eyes as to think about something not related to work or alcohol.

Kakashi sighed, slumping forward a bit. Much to his disappointment, Kakashi understood his given orders and nodded, "though I want you to do one more thing for me Kakashi," Tsunade spoke up a little louder to get his attention back on her.

"I want you to keep an eye on Sakura for me; she's been a bit stressed since before the accident, and I don't want her hurting herself again," Tsunade scratched her cheek, opening another scroll to skim read and sign off, "Sakura is like a daughter to me, and seeing her depressed or hurt only adds to the pain I've already had to go through, especially when her parents died that day," the Hokage frowned at the sad memories of having two ANBU report to her two dead people by the name of Haruno within civilian homes.

She shook her head lightly, "now go, this is the after-mission, a little something extra so you don't die of boredom," she told him, waving her hands dismissively.

Kakashi sighed again, 'as if I wasn't bored on my last mission,' "understood," was all he answered and went for the door.

"I take it you decided to leave out a few other details," Tsunade deadpanned with a thoughtful grin on her features.

Kakashi froze in front of the door, turning to face the Hokage and was shocked to realise how much he did miss out, purposely for his own reputation, "how did you know?" he wondered, a little worried at how much information Tsunade could be receiving.

"It's pretty obvious that you have feelings for her; I'm not stupid," she replied with her smile still constant.

Kakashi was amazed she managed to figure his emotions so quickly and so easily. He spent the majority of his life keeping his emotions under control and making sure no one could know what he was feeling. Now he guessed he could just give up on that attempt because everyone started to figure him out.

Tsunade leaned forward against the desk, her hands propped under her chin, "I don't care whether you like Sakura or not, just as long as you guys live your life to the fullest; I don't want you depending on me all the time so you don't get your head bitten off by old, rule-driven farts," her grin widened at Kakashi's sudden reaction to her words, "if you want her, pursue her; just don't do anything stupid."

She waved her hands to motion him out the door so she could do her work and Kakashi silently left the room. After closing the door, said Jounin leaned against the wall beside the door and stared blankly with wide eyes at the wall opposite him, allowing all the newly given information to actually register.

He gave out a long sigh, trying to maintain the shock, 'how the hell did she find out?' he asked himself as he made his way out of the Hokage tower and into the rain.

This question however lingered in his mind until Kakashi's feet had directed him down the empty streets until he ended up in the far reaches of the village, soaking wet and in front of a bar.

He was puzzled at his train of thought and entered the building where he found his friends Genma and Gai. Both were surprised to see Kakashi at this time, "Kakashi! What brings you here?" Genma asked, his senbon juggling around in his mouth as he spoke.

The silver haired man shrugged, "I just passed by I guess," he took a seat in between the two males and was immediately given a glass of sake.

All three Shinobi bantered on about what happened during the past few weeks, well, it was mainly Genma and Gai who were exchanging that sort of conversation, Kakashi was simply half-listening to it all and was thinking about other things.

"So where have you been lately?" Genma asked, rubbing the cast of his broken wrist before sculling back another shot of sake.

"I've been taking care of Sakura for the past two weeks and a bit," Kakashi confessed; the mission was over, so might as well spill the news.

Both Genma and Gai sat up in their current state of alcohol intake and eyed the Copy Nin suspiciously, "so that's where she disappeared off to," Genma said to no one in particular and poured himself another glass of the clear liquid.

Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly and sipped away at the glass of his drink, "keeping up with all the youth you can huh Kakashi?" Gai declared boldly as he heavily pat his lifelong friend on the back, making him nearly blurt and cough when the sake was only halfway down his throat.

Clearing his throat, Kakashi gasped a little before staring at his green-clad rival, "actually no, I was playing nurse for Sakura-chan for the past few weeks, which explains why I haven't been seen since," he promptly regretted saying those words and closed his eyes, waiting for the humiliation to hit him.

"You sly dog Kakashi, I didn't know you were so bold as to play games together with Sakura, in fact, I didn't even know you two were seeing each other in the bedroom, let alone anywhere in general," the senbon-wielding man grinned devilishly at his Jounin friend.

Kakashi gave him a lazy glare, though signalling that he did nothing of the sort, "no Genma, that's what you would've done," he said simply and took another sip of his beverage.

"I was given a mission to take care of Sakura-chan because of an injury she received. I found her in the rain with a metal rod in her leg and helped her, so since then, Sakura was practically imprisoned in my house because she was too injured to take care of herself at the time."

Genma and Gai looked at each other expectantly before returning their attention on their silver haired comrade, "all that time together and you didn't make a move on her?" Genma exclaimed a little too loud and was grabbed by Kakashi, who clearly wasn't in the mood to be questioned, especially about him and his former student.

Kakashi had a firm grip on the brown haired man's shirt and sent him a warning glare, "I don't think you should say that in front of Kakashi, Genma," Gai suggested, staring at the silver haired Jounin sceptically.

Kakashi said nothing to Genma and slowly loosened his grip on the man and shot back his drink and instantly refilling it to take another swig. This usually signalled how irritated or angry Kakashi was, which was a rare sight for most of his friends.

"You really care about Sakura-san don't you Kakashi-san," Gai said calmly, having sympathy for his friend and downed another shot.

Kakashi nodded silently, admitting he did have feelings for his former student and sipped away. Genma, finally deciding to be the smart one of the three and asked, "why not ask her out or something; let her know you like her," Kakashi wanted to beat the lecherous man senseless for saying that, but it wasn't like he was saying anything offensive, so there wasn't any point in doing so.

The point was however, Genma was right in a moronic way.

"Why can't you just face something you want, and I dunno, ask her out or something," Genma pressed on, hoping his shirt wouldn't get abused again by his silver haired friend.

Kakashi's brows creased together, frowning in thought, "what's the point in asking her out in the first place; it's known taboo if a student and a teacher have a relationship," he sighed meekly, feeling rather hopeless in his state and downed his shot of sake.

But Tsunade told him straight off that if Kakashi liked Sakura, he should just go for it, right?

There was no harm in liking someone, even if the age difference is a bit ridiculous; it was still possible, right?

"Kakashi-san," Gai began in monotonic voice, closing his eyes as if he was about to tell a heartfelt poem, "you and Sakura-san have already been in a relationship together," Kakashi felt a little disturbed at the way Gai said that to him.

Had he died for some period in time and he was some how dating Sakura already?

"Your bond as student and teacher had created a new bond between friends, and if I'm not mistaken, the bond could even be more than just friendship," Gai could all but smile at his own words as Kakashi sighed in the sheer defeat of words alone.

But Gai was right, and he only corrected his own protests when he remembered Tsunade's statement about dating team mates. According to Genma before the mission had gone off, students and teachers were starting to hook up more often, as if it was the new rage, but Kakashi didn't want to complicate things, which was most likely why he never had a girlfriend of his own.

He was always prodded about getting laid (usually by Genma), but that wasn't the problem. Kakashi could easily get a woman into bed with him if he really wanted to, all he had to do was show up and he would be asked by several drunk women, wanting a good bang. But he only rarely did one-night stands, usually if he was really desperate, which wasn't very normal for him, so he didn't do it as much as Genma tried.

Apparently Genma went through women the same way he went through his underwear, but that wasn't any surprise to Kakashi. In fact, it was one of the first things that went through his head whenever he saw his senbon-sucking friend with a woman or two in his arms.

But Kakashi wasn't here to think about Genma's sex life; he was here to think about his. Well, mainly his feelings towards Sakura; he just needed help and perhaps a few ideas to boost his confidence and grow the balls to confess his love towards Sakura.

The only thing that troubled Kakashi was, did he really love Sakura? One thing was for sure, and that was Kakashi hadn't a clue; he had never really fallen in love with anyone except his beloved Icha Icha books, but that was just a perverted interest and hobby he always gladly carried in the confines of his pocket.

"Maybe you're right," Kakashi mumbled with his hand against his chin while holding his glass of spirits.

"Of course I'm right, love doesn't lie, and nor does the power of youth," Gai said evenly, showing off a cheesy grin and patting his friend on the back.

Kakashi felt the need to pull a mighty Gai pose for the hell of admitting said green Jounin was right from the start, but he never did and of course never will. He simply remained almost unfazed and gave the guys a low "mm," as his answer and sighed, getting off his stool and slowly making his way to the exit, raising his hand just above the shoulder so that the two Jounin companions would know he meant to say "later."

It was a little difficult considering the alcohol he had just consumed, but he managed to make it out in one piece without falling over. He hadn't realised he had been at the bar for so long. The sky was already dimming, but that didn't stop the rain from bucketing down on the village.

Kakashi had only just dried off during his time with Genma and Gai, and now he was completely soaked again, but he really didn't care at the moment. With all these new thoughts and decisions, he was barely aware of his surroundings until his own feet had led him to Sakura's home. Somewhat surprised, Kakashi couldn't get himself from walking away; he just stood there, swaying a little from the alcohol and sighed audibly.

Why was he led there in the first place? Was there something deep in his head that just needed to be released? Was he going to force himself to confess his feelings to Sakura? All these things were going through the man's head until he was in front of the medic's front door.

Freezing and forcing himself to refrain from knocking on the door, Kakashi just stared at the wooden access, but he tensed when he didn't sense Sakura's chakra. As far as he was concerned, Sakura wasn't even home, but that confused the older Jounin a little because he was told Sakura probably wouldn't go back to the hospital for another day or so, so why would she not be at home right now, especially when she was probably getting used to living alone again and getting her body back into shape. I mean really, after about two weeks, Sakura's body had gone a bit sloppy, but Kakashi hadn't really taken any notice of it.

Relieving himself with a sigh, Kakashi stepped down the steps, missing one accidentally and hurling himself forward in an embarrassing trip into a nearby puddle. Luckily, the Copy Nin had long legs, so all he had to do was leap a little and he was on solid ground. Her certainly wouldn't want to make a fool of himself if he were to face-plant into a muddy puddle where he was the only one there.

"Damn alcohol…" he grunted to himself as he stumbled down the rainy and wet streets of Konoha, towards his house.

He took to the roofs, thinking it would be a much faster way than taking the roads.

Sakura was out of luck; she stood there in front of his door, about to knock when something in her head said otherwise. For some reason she just wanted to pop by and say "hi" but her efforts were in vain when she couldn't sense Kakashi's chakra signal.

With a sigh of disappointment, Sakura leisurely walked into the rain, having not bothered about staying dry anymore.

Her days alone at home now were so boring, and she felt pretty lonely now. Even though she was used to living by herself for a while since her parents died, Sakura still felt the need to have someone else in the same building with her to keep her company. She wanted someone to share random jokes with; someone who would be willing to put up with her. Someone she knew well and would always listen to her even if it was something completely boring. Hell, she even wanted someone to cry on when she had a hard day of work or a near-death mission where she met someone from outside the village who was killed later on.

All these suggestions were marked down until one name came up in her head. Kakashi. Sakura had lived in Kakashi's house for about two weeks, and throughout that time, she learned about Kakashi as a person, not as a Shinobi. She saw the human side in him and realised just how much of a good person he was. Not to mention he was incredibly good looking according to Sakura.

'I guess I like Kakashi a little too much now…' she said to herself as she tucked a dripping lock behind her ear.

'It's not too late you know,' Inner Sakura reminded, having hope for both their sakes.

Sakura sighed as she flicked her bangs back and started running when she rounded the next corner, 'I suppose you're right; I've liked him so much, but…do I love him?' her thoughts didn't lead her anywhere as she raced down the streets, making sure she wouldn't fall over and hurt herself again.

Kakashi leapt to the next rooftop and froze when he felt a familiar chakra presence, 'could that be…?' he thought to himself as he slowed down on the roof, furrowing his brows in thought.

The presence soon faded and Kakashi just shrugged, "must be my imagination playing tricks on me," he muttered and jumped off to the next building and headed straight home.

Sakura could have sworn she felt a recognizable chakra signal coming from somewhere, but she could've also been mistaken for something else. She'd been thinking about that silver haired man ever since she went back to her normal life, and she guessed it was probably her imagination playing up.

She shook the thought from her head and sprinted home; it couldn't have been Kakashi just then, could it? Nah, he probably doesn't bother anymore. Seriously, it was just a mission he had to do, right? Nothing more. But then again, Kakashi gave Sakura so much attention, even when it wasn't completely necessary, especially when he started teasing her with kisses. Was that part of the mission? Most likely not.

As Sakura neared her own home, she hadn't realised that she had been right at that point when she sensed Kakashi's chakra signal. In fact, Kakashi had passed above her, and neither of them had taken any notice of it and ignored it, thinking it was just their own thoughts.

Sakura returned home, soaking wet but could care less; she was tired so she couldn't be bothered to worry about her state. She took a long shower, enjoying the feeling of warm water soothing her nerves and washed up. After Sakura showered, she jumped into her pyjamas. They were pink; the pants had little pictures of bunnies scattered in different poses and on the low-cut tank top there was a cute white bunny on the front, holding a carrot possessively as it looked cutely at whoever owned it.

The medic snuggled under the covers of her bed and sighed, still not over the fact that she was alone again, and probably would be like that until she found herself a boyfriend; which was most likely a long way away.

But pushing her doubts aside to deal with later, Sakura allowed sleep to take over and she was fast asleep within seconds; dreaming peacefully of past time memories of her friends, and then it became memories of her and Kakashi. The dream got a little out of hand as she replayed that little thought when Kakashi was teasing her with kisses, where he was shirtless and Sakura was urging him to keep going. Even though it was a bit of a disturbing and wrong thought, Sakura let it linger, not bothering to wake up as a smile played on her features.

It had been the first time in about two weeks since Sakura had been at the hospital, tending to patients non-stop, but she was glad to go back because she wanted to go back to the way things were before she hurt herself.

During the day, Sakura was in her office, swallowed up in the paperwork that had slowly been piling up during her absence. With a long and audible sigh, Sakura let her forehead hit the table repeatedly under the stress of signing medical scrolls and having to read through them.

She gazed out the window momentarily; the rain had stopped and there was a sprinkle of sunlight peeking through the grey clouds. Perhaps things will turn good today; the fact that it wasn't raining anymore could've been a sign, but then again, she could be wrong.

"Sakura-san, Tsunade-shishou wants to talk to you," a nurse called from beyond the door.

Sakura sighed, "okay, I'll be there," she told the nurse and signed one last scroll before getting up and striding to the door.

Upon reaching Tsunade's office, the pink haired medic wondered what she would be wanting of her at a time like this. It was almost noon, meaning it was almost her lunch break. She was pleased to notice lunch was not long off and she would be able to leave the hospital for two hours and eat something and perhaps catch up with her friends.

Almost hesitantly, Sakura knocked on the door. There was an abrupt shuffling and then a, "come in," from Tsunade. Sakura rolled her eyes, suspecting her medic teacher was doing a quick tidy up before allowing anyone to see her. Sakura entered the office and found Tsunade leaning over to stuff some scrolls and other paperwork in a box at her feet. It was pretty amusing to see the Hokage almost drowning under all that paper; there must've been at least two whole trees on the desk.

"You wanted to see me, Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura broke the silence.

Tsunade sat up, rubbing her head a little, "yeah, I just wanted to make sure you are fit enough to be back at the hospital; I wasn't really expecting you for another week," she said, leaning back on her chair and let out a long sigh.

Sakura nodded, "I didn't want to remain at home for a whole week when I feel perfectly fine," she said firmly, keeping her emotions in check to make sure she wouldn't snap at the Hokage.

The hazel eyed woman let out another sigh and propped her elbows on the desk with her head resting on her hands, "I suppose I can trust you with that, but if your leg is bothering you, let me know and I'll allow you to go home," she gave her former apprentice a warming smile before getting serious again.

"I trust Kakashi treated you well?" Tsunade asked, although knowing about everything already, she just felt the need to ask.

A nod was Sakura's answer, "yes, though I felt kind of lazy because of my leg, but I had my reasons," she smiled sweetly at the blonde woman behind the desk.

"Good," she closed her eyes, "alright then, that's all I need to hear from you for now; go and have your lunch break and then I want you to get straight back to work when you return."

Sakura gave a firm nod and was excused from the room. She slumped forward in a sigh, 'what was that all about?' she asked herself, frowning a little but shook the worries from her head and made her way down the hallway and into the reception area of the hospital. She detoured across the hallway and into her office. Sakura took off her long white coat and tossed in on her chair as she took a gulp of her now cold coffee. Just before leaving, Sakura noticed a beige coloured piece of paper folded neatly on her desk. She hadn't noticed that before, so she guessed it was put there when she was talking with Tsunade. She picked up the small scrap paper and unfolded it to reveal a message:

"Go to the hot springs with your friends and have a good time on your lunch break."

Sakura pondered over the message for a while before she smiled, agreeing with the message that she needed her lunch break to relax, especially with her friends. She also wondered who sent her this memo, but it was answered when she noticed a smiley face drawing with a line going over the left eye. Sakura smiled at the parchment, reminding herself to thank Kakashi later.

She easily recognised who wrote this because of the chicken scratch writing; it was a wonder Sakura could even make out what it said.

Tossing the note in the drawer of her desk, Sakura grabbed her jacket and made a quick phone call at the main office of the building to call her friends. Having done that, Sakura exited the hospital and made her way to the public hot springs a few blocks down. She told her friends to meet her at the hot springs, so she didn't have to go pick them up at each location they were in. On her way there, Sakura stopped by a small bakery and picked up something to eat before heading to her destination.

There she met up with Ino, Tenten and Hinata who had just made it there before Sakura did. Sakura was glad to see her friends again after a while; she just felt the need to be with them, and now she finally got the chance, thanks to the note she received from Kakashi.

"Hey Forehead, haven't seen you in a while," Ino exclaimed in her boisterous manner as she gave her pink haired friend a hug.

"It's great to see you too, Ino-pig," Sakura replied evenly with a smile.

Sakura then greeted Tenten and Hinata with a hug and they entered the building. Getting themselves a bathrobe each, the girls made their way to the steamy hot springs. They were thankful the hot springs were divided for men and woman because next door to the woman's side they could hear the med discussing their personal assets and comparing their ego with other males around them.

The four girls rolled their eyes in unison and stripped down from their clothes and slipped on their robes and entered the open area of the hot springs. They sighed as they entered the hot waters of the natural springs and they gathered in a small group, all surrounding Sakura so they could hear the real reason why she was absent.

"So tell us Sakura, where've you been these past two weeks?" Hinata asked. Thanks to Naruto, the Hyuuga heiress finally stopped stuttering when she spoke and was more confident about herself.

Sakura felt unsure whether she wanted to tell them what really happened and sighed, "I injured myself and Kakashi was forced to take care of me until I got better," she breathed, submerging her body deeper in the water. All three other girls gasped, "no way," Tenten exclaimed.

Ino's mouth dropped open, and if it hung any further down, her jaw would snap off, "you so have to tell us what happened," she demanded, grinning evilly as she neared her pink haired companion.

"Yeah, please tell us," the weapons mistress pressed on, nudging Hinata, who nodded in agreement.

Sakura sighed, "alright," she muttered, which got her friends to crowd around her even more to hear the story.

And so, the pink haired Kunoichi told her best friends what had happened at Kakashi's house; down to the final moment together, where she blushed a deep shade of scarlet when she thought back to when Kakashi was smothering her with his lips.

All the girls were surprised, staring at their green eyed friend in disbelief, "you saw his face?" Hinata asked, her eyes almost bugging out of their sockets at the news.

Sakura nodded.

"You saw his hot and well-toned body?" Tenten asked in the same tone as the Hyuuga girl.

Sakura nodded.

"He kissed you?" Ino exclaimed, obvious jealousy present in her voice.

Sakura nodded.

All girls scoffed, "you lucky bitch," Ino spat, though not to insult. Sakura couldn't help but smirk at all of their envious stares; even some of the other women in the baths around them were looking at her with a hint of an evil glare. They must've overheard.

Sakura had to expect it from her friends that neither of them asked if she was feeling better now and worrying about the possible ambush of those rogue ninjas that drugged Kakashi and hurt her in the process, all just to kill Kakashi.

"But are you okay now?" Hinata asked.

Sakura nodded, feeling thankful that at least someone cared about her safety, "yeah, I just got back to working at the hospital today," she added. The pink haired medic noticed the covetousness practically radiating off Ino. Again, she smirked but put those thoughts aside and smiled sweetly at her friends and she elaborated on the events that had taken place, receiving gasps and stares of awe from her friends as she spoke.

Author's notes: haha, I liked the statement Kakashi made about Genma "he goes through women the same way he goes through his underwear," I just had to put that one in :P, but it is true though, with all the fanfics I've read about Genma, it's a very true statement. Again, I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing, it really helps me when I'm writing. At the moment, I'm still working on Chapter Twelve, and, as I've mentioned earlier, I've hit a dead end, and I'm really trying to get through this scene without messing up, so when it's uploaded, I apologise if it's crap.

Sakura: I'm sure that scene will be fine

Kakashi: yeah, if anything, it'll probably be better than the other scenes you've written

Yan: you really think so?

Kakashi and Sakura: yeah

Yan: yay! Ego boost

Kakashi: so...Sakura...you and the girls in the bath house huh?

Sakura: pfft...you're such a hentai oi

Kakashi: no I'm not...ha, I'm not nearly as much of a hentai as Genma; he's worse than me

Sakura: I suppose you got me on that one

Kakashi: yeah, I bet he reads Icha Icha right before he goes to bed just to have fancy dreams about it

Sakura: I bet you do too

Kakashi: ...no I don't (shifty look)...I would never

Sakura: whatever, anyway, hope you liked this chapter

Kakashi: we'll update as soon as we can, so until then, laters, and leave some comments if you want :D