Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto.

Enjoy!

The next week passed without incident. Kakashi and Sakura didn't spend much time together since exams were coming up. It meant more work for both of them; Sakura had to study and Kakashi actually had to make the test.

A week to the day after Sakura visited him he woke in agonizing pain. His leg was seizing from the thigh up.

He groaned. It had been a long time since he'd had a day like this. It had been like this in the beginning, almost every day. As the years had passed the frequency of the days had diminished, but not the intensity.

He hadn't told Sakura the details, just the important stuff. His thigh to the left side of his groin ached and throbbed now. Usually it was just his thigh, but on days like this…

Surgery hadn't been kind to him. He'd almost lost his leg, and saving it had caused him a lot of pain. It always would.

Sometimes he wondered whether it was worth it.

He staggered out of bed to limp to his kitchen, grabbing his pills and his cell phone. He leaned heavily on the wall and pressed eight on the speed dial.

"Hello?" said Asuma's voice.

"It's me, Kakashi." said Kakashi hoarsely.

"What's wrong?" said Asuma, concerned.

"It's one of those days." moaned Kakashi as his leg throbbed. "I can't come in. I'll probably be good by tomorrow."

"Should I come over?"

"No." muttered Kakashi. "I don't want anyone here. All I'm going to do all day is sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." replied Kakashi. "Just tell your dad."

"See you tomorrow."

"You too." Kakashi hung up on him and hobbled back into bed. He pulled the covers over his head and drifted in and out of sleep for hours. It didn't come easily when you were in pain, but oh well.

xXx

Kakashi wasn't in school that day.

That fact registered in Sakura's mind as soon as she saw Anko sitting in Kakashi's seat.

"Where's Ka-Mr. Hatake?" she asked, correcting herself.

Anko gave her a strange look and Sakura remembered her penchant for gossip. She resolved to be careful around this woman.

"He's sick or something." said Anko. "Asuma all but ordered me to watch the class today."

"Can we have another day where we just talk?" asked Haku eagerly.

"Aren't exams coming up?" asked Anko sweetly. "You forgot I'm a teacher too."

Kankuro cursed foully and she pretended not to notice.

"But…" said Anko, smiling coyly, "I guess, since he didn't leave a lesson plan, I could let you guys talk."

Everyone but Sakura and Shikamaru cheered. He just lifted his arm half-heartedly. Sometimes Sakura wondered if he would ever have children with the minimal amount of effort he put into everything.

"How're you and your boyfriend doing?" asked Shikamaru.

Sakura glanced at Anko, who was chatting with Samui and Haku.

"Be careful around her." she hissed.

"I know, I know."

"Did I hear that right?" asked Yugao. "You've got a boyfriend?"

"Yeah." said Sakura, her cheeks reddening.

"Who is it?"

"I can't tell you," said Sakura. "He's older."

Yugao's eyebrows rose. "Forbidden love, huh?"

"That's what I said." muttered Shikamaru from under his arms.

"You know, Hayate and I aren't technically allowed to be together." said Yugao thoughtfully. "I'm still seventeen."

"Why, is he eighteen?" asked Sakura.

"Nineteen," replied Yugao. "He got sick so much last year he had to repeat the grade."

"That sucks." said Sakura.

"Not really. This way I get to spend another year with Hayate. In fact, both of us have had Hatake for three years now."

"Hasn't he only been here three years?"

"Yeah." said Yugao, smiling. "We're his oldest students. So I can tell you that he's changed over the past few months."

"He has?" asked Sakura, surprised. "We're still getting tons of homework."

"Not compared to years past." smirked Yugao. "Am I right, though? Is he your boyfriend?"

"Who?" asked Sakura innocently.

"Hatake." said Yugao, exasperated.

"Yeah," admitted Sakura. "But you can't tell anyone!" she added fiercely.

"All right, I won't!" said Yugao. "I don't want anything to happen to Hatake, anyway. He is my favourite teacher."

"What, do you think I'm going to murder him when he's not looking?" asked Sakura teasingly.

"No," said Yugao, smiling. "I think you might break his heart. And god knows what that'd do to him."

Shikamaru nodded. Sakura swatted him.

"I'm not going to break his heart." reassured Sakura. "We've only been together a week or so."

"You'd better remember your anniversary." said Yugao. "Because he will. He's got a photographic memory, you know."

"Seriously?" asked Sakura. "Isn't that really rare?"

"Yeah," shrugged Yugao. "He's a very rare kind of guy. He should be making billions in some high security government job, but he's here, teaching kids English."

"Circumstances led him here." said Sakura softly. "But I think he likes it nonetheless."

Yugao smiled. "I think so too."

After school Sakura called her mom, hoping for a ride. She didn't answer, which meant she was at a bar. Sakura went home with Naruto instead.

She stopped at her door. She wanted to know why Kakashi hadn't been in school that day.

Walking up the steps, she contemplated him once again. She was beginning to realize how much she cared for him just by the worry she felt whenever he wasn't in school.

She knocked on the door. There was no response, but he knew he had to be there. His car was there, and Genma had told her that he had stayed home.

She knocked again, and she heard footsteps that had to be Kakashi's, judging by the limp she could actually hear.

He opened the door halfway and leaned against the doorframe.

"Hello?" he said drowsily.

His hair was skewered everywhere and he was dressed in his pyjamas. She felt a little ill just looking at the bags under his eyes.

"Kakashi?"

"Sakura." he said slowly. "Sorry I didn't call you this morning."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"My leg." he groaned. Sakura realized his hand was gripping his thigh. "Bad day."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

His voice was grittier and lower than usual, and Sakura guessed that he was in a lot of pain.

She walked in and shut the door, dropping her backpack on the floor. Kakashi staggered into his bedroom and collapsed on his bed.

"How bad is it?"

He groaned in pain. "It hurts."

His eyes were screwed shut and he was breathing heavily.

"Is it always like this?" whispered Sakura.

He squinted at her through one opened eye. "Of course not. If it was I'd probably never leave my apartment."

She clambered onto the bed next to him and put her head on his shoulder. "How long will it last?"

"A few more hours."

"That's good." said Sakura encouragingly.

"Or all night."

He put his head back on the wall, banging it slightly. "Ow." he whimpered.

Sakura felt a pang of sympathy. "Have you been in bed all day?"

"To painful to do anything else." he muttered.

"Is there anything I can do?"

He shrugged.

"Have you eaten at all today?" asked Sakura, trying to figure out some way to help him.

He shook his head.

"I'll make something." she said, getting out of the bed and going to the kitchenette.

She found some miso and beef stock in his cabinets and set to making a soup. She wasn't sure if those two were supposed to mix, but whatever.

She served the soup with some tea she'd found and he ate gratefully. "Thanks."

She didn't press him to say anything. It was obvious that doing anything more than necessary hurt him.

He passed the bowl to her from slightly shaking hands. "Sorry."

"For what?" she said as she returned the bowl and glass to the sink.

"I'm not much company today."

"So?" shrugged Sakura. "Being in a relationship isn't about being good company. It's about being with each other. I don't really care if you're in pain."

"That's very kind of you." he said through gritted teeth.

She sat back down on the bed and glanced at his leg. "Can I see it?"

"My leg?"

"I'm not trying to be insensitive, I just…" Sakura trailed off.

"Go ahead." grunted Kakashi.

"What?"

"You can look at my leg. Go ahead."

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "How? I'm not about to take off your pants."

"Why? I'm wearing boxers."

He obviously wasn't thinking straight because of the pain, but Sakura couldn't help but grin.

"If you insist."

She pried his hand off his leg and pulled down the pyjama bottoms. He was wearing gray boxers and Sakura bit her lip at seeing his well-muscled legs. He must have worked out a lot in order to make up for his leg.

She'd glimpsed his leg before when he'd gotten injured, but not until now had she actually had a chance to really look at it. There were three scars on his leg. One was long and raised and went from his lower thigh and disappeared into his boxers. The second one was a puckered surgery scar that crossed it at the place where the muscle should have reconnected, the result of a failed surgery. And the third was the stab wound the Akatsuki had given him.

She pressed her hand to his leg and he winced. "Cold." She withdrew it immediately.

"Sorry." she whispered.

"I didn't say stop." said Kakashi slowly. "Your hand is cold, that's all."

"And that's not a bad thing?"

"I think I have a fever. I'm really hot."

Sakura smiled. "You sure are." she murmured.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Sakura put her hands back on Kakashi's leg and he let out a breath through clenched teeth.

"Better?" she asked. He nodded slowly.

She didn't know what to do next, so she kept her hands on his leg while she leaned on his shoulder.

Her face brushed his chin and she smiled again as she realized he hadn't shaved.

He turned his head towards her, both of his eyes open for once. He leaned down and she smelled more of the musky scent that was usually masked by his aftershave. She leaned up and they kissed. His eyes closed as he groaned from the pain of his leg and she tried to comfort him by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Don't stop." He groaned. Tears were starting to show through his injured eye. "Please."

He was almost begging and Sakura opened her mouth so that they could start making-out. When she drew away he was panting and her gaze travelled down to his neck. She pressed her lips to his throat and he moaned. She bit down and he arched his head.

Then she let go. He smiled at her vaguely. "You didn't have to go that far." he said, sounding slightly shy.

"I know." she replied.

He slumped back down on the bed and pulled the comforter up. "I'm tired."

"I can't blame you."

He was tired; he didn't even pull up his pyjamas and fell asleep in the next couple of minutes. She curled up next to him and yawned. Maybe she would take a nap.

xXx

Kakashi woke some hours later to find Sakura curled up next to him. His leg still throbbed but was much less painful than it had been and he could think clearly now.

He shifted his leg and realized that his pants were down. His memories from when Sakura had come in were fuzzy, and he flushed bright red, wondering what had happened.

"Kakashi?" said Sakura blearily, waking up.

"Yeah." he said, smiling awkwardly.

"How're you feeling?"

He chuckled at her concern. "Much better. My memories are a bit blurry though. Could you, er, tell me what happened?"

Sakura giggled when she realized that he was talking about how his pants got around his knees. "I just wanted to see your leg. Nothing happened."

"I know. There's no way I could have done anything like that with my leg…" he trailed off, not finishing his sentence because of the blush they both had.

She decided not to tell him about the purple mark that was forming on his neck from when she had bitten and sucked on it. Maybe he wouldn't notice it.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Around eight-thirty." replied Kakashi. "Do you want to go home?"

"How did you know it was eight-thirty without checking?" asked Sakura curiously.

"Internal clock." shrugged Kakashi.

Sakura dug her phone out of her pocket. "I guess I'll call and see if my mom is home."

"Good. I don't want you getting in trouble." He winced as he shifted again.

She called her mom and she picked up on the third ring.

"Sakura?" she said blearily.

"Yeah, it's me." replied Sakura.

"I was asleep. Where are you?"

"A friend's."

"Of course." muttered Tsunade. "You spend more time at your friends' house than ours."

Sakura heard a loud noise in the background that sounded like music.

"You hypocrite!" said Sakura sharply. "You're not home either, are you?"

"No, I'm not." snapped Tsunade. "You obviously don't care."

"I'd care more if you were actually home some of the time." growled Sakura.

"Well too bad, because I'm not going to be home at all tonight. You can stay at your little friend's house for all I care."

"Fine, I will!"

Sakura hung up her phone, fuming. Kakashi was looking at her sadly.

"It didn't go well, I take it?" said Kakashi knowingly. Sakura wished for once that he wasn't so smart.

"No." said Sakura sullenly. Then again, you didn't have to be a genius to figure out what was going on between Sakura and Tsunade.

"Can I…" she didn't finish her sentence, wondering if what she was about to ask would be imposing on him.

"Spend the night?" finished Kakashi. "Sure."

"I'll sleep on the couch again." said Sakura, preparing to move. Kakashi stopped her.

"You don't have to. I'm not going to try anything, you know."

Sakura smiled. "I know. I trust you. I just thought…"

"That I wouldn't want you around?"

"Well…yeah, I guess."

Kakashi took her jaw in his hand and kissed her on the lips. "Don't say that. I'll always want you around, just so I can have someone to talk to.

"Is that your way of saying I'm not a good kisser?" asked Sakura, a smile curling at her lips.

"Of course not. You have no idea how much effort it takes for me not to kiss you in public."

Sakura bit her lip and blushed a little. He could be very romantic, and she wondered how he could have fallen for her of all people. He smiled back. "I'm not tired after that nap. Do you want to watch TV or something?"

The moment was gone the moment she had thought about it, and she nodded her agreement.

They watched another movie from his selection, Sakura's hand lingering on his injured leg in an attempty to ward off the pain she knew he was hiding.

xXx

Kakashi drove Sakura back to school the next day, his leg completely back to its normal pain. The day continued normally and Kakashi found it exceedingly boring. By the time it was sixth period so many of his brain cells were fried from intense under-stimulation he had about as much inclination to do anything as Shikamaru.

"How's your leg holding up?" asked Sakura as she entered the classroom.

"Fine." replied Kakashi. "No different than usual."

"That's good." she said, and then her eyes saw something just below his jaw line that made her blush. His brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what.

"Hey, Mr. Hatake." said Hayate as he walked in. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." said Kakashi truthfully.

Then Hayate sniggered and Kakashi felt the seed of annoyance alight.

"What happened to your neck?"

Kakashi's hand flew to his neck and he blushed. Looking down, he saw a purple mark that could only be…a hickey. Sakura must have done it the night before. He glanced at her quickly and found her trying not to laugh.

"I must have bumped something." replied Kakashi evenly.

Hayate laughed. "I can't believe you of all people…" he trailed off. "God, that sounded mean. Um, can I try that again?"

Kakashi's eyebrow rose. "By all means."

"Now we know why you weren't in school yesterday." said Hayate.

"That had nothing to do with why I wasn't in school." snapped Kakashi. "Sit down."

He turned his collar up to hide the purple mark, but it was too late. Hayate's loud voice had alerted the rest of the class to Kakashi's "lovebite".

He had to endure several minutes of ribbing and teasing before he managed to get his class under control. It turned out to be pointless, however, because three people interrupted them before they could get to the actual learning part of the class.

It was two men and one woman. She had red hair and red eyes, and her hair was unkempt on one side and combed on the other. She had an obvious attitude by the way she stood, her hands on her hips. One man had white hair and eyes of the same colour, with pointed teeth and was drinking out of a water bottle as he stood there looking at them. The third was over a foot taller than the other two, with bright orange hair and eyes.

"Hello." said the woman. "I'm Karin from the Otagakure College of Linguistics. Are you Kakashi Hatake?"

Kakashi turned to face the visitors. "Yes, I am. I'm also teaching a class right now and I don't want to be interrupted."

Karin scoffed, "Teaching them? They're high school students! I'm sure you of all people have better things to be doing."

"Actually, I don't," said Kakashi pointedly. "Why are you here?"

"This is Suigetsu Hozuki and Jugo from Kiragakure University. Can you guess why we're here, sir?"

Kakashi groaned. "Can't you wait until after class?"

Karin rolled her eyes. "Actually, I'd rather you anwser a question of mine. Why did it it take us so long to fine you? And why are you here, teaching these kids when you should be doing something so much better?"

"That's two questions." said Kakashi sharply.

Karin continued without stopping, turning to the class. "Do you have an idea who your teacher is?"

The class looked at her with interest as a whole. The only one who wasn't looking at Karin was Sakura, who had her eyes on Kakashi's stony face.

"You're being taught by the man who not only has the highest known I.Q. in the western hemisphere but is also the youngest person to have more than one Ph.D. He's known globally for his work in translating several lost documents from ancient Greek to English and his interpretation of many modern works of the day. That is, until his disappearance three years ago." said Karin snottily, acting like it was her who had achieved everything she had said.

Kakashi ran his hands over his face. "Shut up."

"Excuse me?" said Karin, offended.

"I told you to shut up," snarled Kakashi. "I didn't ask you to come and brag about me. I don't care if Sarutobi himself let you in here, which he probably did, but I usually like for my visitors to have some modesty, even if they're not talking about themselves."

Kakashi stood up as he said this, the expression on his face dark. Karin took a step back and Suigetsu came to the forefront.

"I'm sorry about her." he siad, shooting Karin a nasty look. "The reason we're here is that we were sent by the heads of our colleges to request your presence for the annual Linguistics, Language and Writing Art convention in Hawaii."

"No." replied Kakashi sharply. "I'm not going."

"Every professor of language around the world will be there." said Suigetsu, exasperated.

"Every one except me."

"Kakashi." said Sarutobi's voice from the door. "I need to speak to you for a moment."

The class stared at their principal, watching the drama unfold in front of them.

"Of course, sir." said Kakashi, adding the sir just for the intruders' benefit.

He limped to the door, watching with relish the shocked look on Karin's face. He gave her a crooked, malicious grin.

"I bet all you read about me didn't tell you about that, did it?" he whispered as he passed her.

She didn't respond.

Kakashi leaned against the wall as Sarutobi addressed him.

"I need you to go on that trip." said Sarutobi sternly.

"I'm not going." replied Kakashi, just as forcefully.

"This isn't about you." said the principal fiercly. "Do you have any idea how much publicity we'll get if you go to that convention? You're world-renowned and you managed to disappear for three years, so you going there will make the news, for sure."

"That's exactly what I don't want, and you know it." said Kakashi.

"I know, Kakashi, but our school is in a lot of danger. Our biggest donor just dropped us and we have no money. They dropped us because they said our school didn't have good enough academics," said Sarutobi. "You're a testament to that not being true. I promise you we'll take the nessacary precations and make sure that your father won't find you."

"And how do you proprose doing that?" asked Kakashi.

Sarutobi smirked. "I've lived a long time, Hatake. I may not be as smart as you but I know a hell of a lot more people."

"I'll go on one condition."

"And that is?"

"That my Advanced Lit. class goes with me."

Sarutobi's jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right?"

"It's an all expense paid trip, isn't it? If these colleges want me to go so badly they can pay a little extra to take seven kids to Hawaii. We both know any college could pay for that."

Sarutoib shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder about you, Hatake. Fine, I'll agree as long as they pay for it."

Kakashi nodded and limped back into his classroom while Sarutobi went back to his office, muttering to himself about crazy teachers.

He entered to find tension rolling off the walls in waves.

The entire class was staring at Karin unblinkingly, unnerving her. Suigetsu and the silent Jugo seemed to be having trouble keeping themselves from laughing.

"I'm back." said Kakashi cheerfully.

He turned to Karin, who flinched as his right eye crinkled into a smile. His abrupt change in manner seemed to scare her a little.

"I'm agreed to go if you do one thing for me." said Kakashi.

Karin nodded hastily.

"My students are in the Advanced Literature class, and I'm sure they would appreciate coming to the convention too," said Kakashi. "Oh, not in the actual convention itself," he added as Karin opened her mouth to complain, "Just to Hawaii with me. I'm sure it would be a great learning experience."

Karin and Suigetsu exchanged glances and began to talk to themselves. Before they could say anything, however, Jugo said, "Yes, I'm sure that would do. At no cost to yourselves, of course."

Karin looked furious with Jugo, who smiled.

"Yes, thank you." said Kakashi. "I'd appreciate it if you'd leave now. Class is still in session."

"But we still have things to discuss!" objected Karin.

"I don't care." retorted Kakashi. "You can wait downstairs in the principal's office. My class comes first."

Jugo and Suigetsu dragged Karin away before she could complain some more.

He class just stared at him as he took his seat.

"Wow." said Kankuro. "That was entertaining."

"Is that all you can say?" said Kakashi. "I get you a trip to Hawaii and all you can say is 'that was entertaining'?"

Shikamaru actually laughed. "Cool, Hawaii."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "And you all call yourselves literate."

"We're still getting over the fact that you're a genius." said Samui.

"Yeah, pretty much." agreed Haku.

"Well, get over it." replied Kakashi. "I did."

"So, when are we going to Hawaii anyway?" asked Yugao.

"That convention traditionally takes places three days after Christmas. It's a week long." Kakashi sighed. "It's also really boring."

"Haha." said Hayate. "You get to go to Hawaii and you don't even get to enjoy it."

Kakashi glared at him. "Don't remind me. You're making me think twice about taking you all."

"Thank you." said Sakura, smiling. "They're grateful too, you know."

"I know." chuckled Kakashi. He caught his students' attention. "What're you looking at? Get back to work."

The rest of the class time was spent in silence, Kakashi thinking about his misfortune that he had to go to this stupid convention. At least Sakura would be going with him.

Kakashi shook his head as the music went off. He'd better have a good Christmas to make up for this, damn it.

1. Wow. I'm actually starting my author's notes ahead of time so that I don't forget what I wanted to write. Anyway, have you ever wanted to go into your favourite series or fan fiction and tell the characters something so you could clear up a lot of angst? Like, "Holly, don't go in there or Commander Root'll be killed", or "Lupin, Tonks will love you no matter what you do, there's nothing in this fucking world that will change her mind", or "Kakashi, the reason you got that chick pregnant was because it was actually Iruka and you need to get over the fact that you thought you'd never have children".

2. ….I'm dead serious about that last one. God, I hate KakaIru. I feel like I was either ranting or waxing poetic. If you knew what all of those were rant/poetry thingies were from, please tell me so. I will award you a cookie. Or, if it's a really spectacular review that includes the correct answers and humour, I'll give you a commission.

3. That reminds me, happy New Year! It won't be the New Year when I post it, but it is now, so I have every right to wish you a happy New Year. I also have every right to say….

4. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIGHT GUY!

5. Is it possible to wax poetic about cheese?

6. Anyway, Hawaii! It was originally Boston, but I changed it to Hawaii. Hawaii's cooler. Figuratively speaking, of course. I'd hate to be in Boston in the winter. Brr. Not that it's any less cold here…..

7. Random plot twist! I seriously didn't plan that until halfway through the chapter.

8. Sakura is NOT getting pregnant. I specifically stated that last chapter and I'm reiterating it now. SHE'S NOT GETTING PREGNANT! I'm not angry, I'm just making it clear. Kakashi is sterlie, he can't reproduce, his baby-making nessaities are nonexistant, to put it bluntly enough. And Sakura's not going to cheat on him. Besides, he would know immediently and she'd get kicked out on her ass.

9. I'm really sad because I only got ONE review for my other fanfiction I'm writing (It's A Small World After All). Please make it up to me by reviewing this fanfiction. :) ...Please?