Chapter 21

Sakura woke up a few minutes before her alarm clock went off like she usually did, but unlike usual, she was surprised to see something silvery and spiky on one side of her bed. Sakura's breath caught and she jolted a little in fear until she realized...

Sakura brought her face in closer.

Kaka-sensei? she thought.

Yes, apparently it was. He had his head pillowed on his folded arms on the mattress while the rest of him hung off the side of the bed, his legs tucked underneath him in a kneeling position.

Did he sleep like that all night? Sakura wondered. It couldn't have been very comfortable and yet here he was sleeping peacefully. Then again, this was the same man who could read his book up in a tree or on top of a rooftop and be completely comfortable with it. Kakashi's standard for comfort was much different from that of other people.

Sakura considered waking him up, but found herself carefully studying his face instead. It was one thing to look at him while he was wide awake in broad daylight, but it was another to look at him in the soft gray light of early morning while he lay fast asleep.

She took that opportunity to get a good look at his scar which ran over his left eye, noticing how it also cut through his eyebrow and ran halfway down his cheek. It should have marred his face, but on him it actually looked kind of rugged and dashing, a badge of honor of his adventures out on the field.

With her eyes, she traced the profile of his nose which she could still see despite his mask. Surely he was hit in the face several times during decades of fighting with the enemy, yet his nose wasn't crooked at all. It was still perfectly straight and intact, fit for a marble statue...or apparently, a multistory carving up on the Hokage Monument.

And finally, she thought about how young he looked when he was completely relaxed like this. Kakashi didn't really look his age to begin with, barely a wrinkle to be found on his face, but sleep still managed to erase whatever burdens he carried with him during his waking hours. It occurred to Sakura that here was one of the most powerful men in the world and yet Kakashi was laying completely vulnerable at the side of her bed.

Waking up to a sleeping Kaka-sensei is something that I can get used to, Sakura thought, then blushed for thinking that way.

Sakura was still mesmerized by Kakashi's sleeping face when Kakashi's eyes slowly started to open.

Sakura's own eyes widened in surprise and she wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want him to catch her staring at him, but it's not like she could suddenly throw herself back down on the bed and pretend to be still asleep without looking like a big idiot, so she just smiled and said "Good morning" to him instead.

"Good morning," Kakashi replied back, returning her smile.

"So, I see you decided to spend the night."

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I wasn't planning to."

"It's okay, but you could have at least gone into the guest bedroom."

But then I wouldn't have fallen asleep with you being the last thing that I saw, Kakashi thought.

"I guess I was more tired than I thought and just never made it that far." Kakashi said instead. As he started to get up, he immediately regretted it. "Oh my god," he grimaced.

"What, what is it? Are you okay?" Sakura asked concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. It just feels like ants are crawling up my legs," Kakashi said, bending down to massage his aching legs.

"That's what happens when you sleep on them all night! I still can't believe you slept like that! What happened anyway? You put me to bed and then suddenly collapsed by the side of it?"

Kakashi blushed. The last thing he wanted to tell her was that he was watching her sleep before falling asleep himself.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so." Kakashi said lamely.

Sakura raised an eyebrow up at him suspiciously, but decided to let it go because she wasn't really sure that she wanted to know what actually happened. "Here," she said, getting out of bed and going over to him. "I can take care of that for you," she said, kneeling in front of him and hovering her hands over his legs as she used her chakra to ease away the pins and needles.

Kakashi's face relaxed as he felt the pain subside. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," Sakura said, getting up. "So are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast before we both leave for work?"

"Yes, breakfast sounds good, thank you."

"No problem. Come on, I'll fix you something," she said as she led the way out of the bedroom.

After eating, Sakura felt like she needed to apologize to Kakashi.

"I'm so sorry about falling asleep on you again last night! I don't know what's wrong with me! And the funny thing is that I usually have the hardest time falling asleep at night!" Sakura said embarrassed.

"It's okay. Like I told you before, I don't mind carrying you up to bed. I'm more worried that I might be boring you to sleep."

"No, of course not! If that were the case, I would have fallen asleep on you every time we went out to lunch, but I never did. I think it's more of a combination of me being really tired after work and you putting my mind at ease when we talk during the evenings. If it weren't for you, my mind would probably still be running wild at night and I'd still be getting only a few hours of sleep. In fact, I should probably keep you around just so that I can keep getting a full night's sleep every night!" Sakura laughed.

"Yeah, I probably should!" Kakashi also laughed.

But as their laughter died down, something occurred to Sakura. "You know what? I had meant it as a joke, but now that I think about it, would you seriously consider doing something like that for me?" she asked.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "What, stick around so that I can help you fall asleep?"

Sakura blushed and began to quickly explain.

"It's just that it's been a real problem for me falling asleep at night and that's not a good thing when you're in charge of patients and running an entire hospital. I mean, you wouldn't be doing anything differently, just coming over for dinner and talking to me like you have been. You don't even have to stay the entire night, just until I fall-"

"I'll do it." Kakashi said without hesitation.

"Really?"

"Yes, of course. We've been wanting to spend more time with each other anyway, so why not?"

"Thank you, Kaka-sensei! It really means a lot to me!"

"I'm happy to do it, but you do know that the paparazzi are going to have a heyday with this. It's one thing for you to accidentally fall asleep at my place and I help sneak you out in the morning, but it's another thing to have me come to your place and stay over night after night."

"I keep forgetting about the paparazzi!" Sakura groaned. "You know what? Screw it. Let them think whatever they want to think. Like you said, they think that we've been sleeping with each other for a long time anyway, so whatever. I give up." Sakura said in surrender.

"Are you sure about this, Sakura?" Kakashi asked skeptically.

"No, but we're dating and-" that makes the odds of sleeping with him that much greater! Sakura's mom's voice rang in her head.

"And I don't want to keep stopping myself from doing something that I would want to do just because of what other people might think," Sakura said out loud instead.

"I think you're finally getting the hang of this," Kakashi said, smiling proudly at Sakura.

"Not caring about what other people think?"

"Exactly. It's actually kind of attractive," Kakashi admitted.

"Really?" Sakura asked, pleased. At the same time, she realized that she was already contradicting herself by at least caring about what Kakashi thought about her.

"Yes, quite."

Sakura blushed at the half hooded gaze Kakashi was directing at her. Who knew what was running through his mind right now? Then again, this was Kakashi, the reader of smut. Sakura had a strong idea of what was going through his mind right now and it only made her blush even more.

"And the blushing only adds to it," Kakashi said, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her towards him before kissing her on the lips.

Sakura gave into it wholeheartedly like she always did and just as she thought that he was going to push things a little bit further, Kakashi pulled away from her, a smile crinkling his eyes.

"Have a good day at work today, okay? I'll see you at lunch and I look forward to seeing you again tonight," Kakashi said. Then he gave her one last quick goodbye kiss on the lips before leaving through her front door, not even caring if the paparazzi were out there waiting for him to do the Walk of Shame even if nothing happened between them last night.

After the door closed shut behind him, Sakura rested her lower back against the kitchen counter to keep her steady.

When she had proposed for Kakashi to keep coming to her place at night, she had genuinely meant it just as a means for getting a better night's sleep. She liked talking to him and it made sleep that much easier to come by, but after seeing the way Kakashi had just looked at her and reacted to her this morning, Sakura realized that she may have just increased the odds of sleeping with him, just like her mother had warned, and Sakura wondered what she had just gotten herself into.

To be continued...