The Anatomy of Love

by Banana007

KakaSaku/College AU: Arranged to marry the Uchiha company heir since she was little, Sakura's always known her future. Now ready to start her first year of college, life decides to throw her a curveball in the form of Professor Hatake, the new & mysterious Anatomy instructor. She knows what to expect from his syllabus, but it didn't mention anything about falling in love!

36. Where Wolves Fear to Prey

The Anatomy of Love

Written By: Banana007

Chapter 36: Love Finds a Way Where Wolves Fear to Prey

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A/N: Sorry for the delay! I forgot I had a surgery on Saturday and I've been too doped on meds to post, but I'm feeling better now so here is the chapter!

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Saturday – 1:03 AM

Pain bloomed across Kakashi's knuckles, but he hardly felt it as a cold rage numbed him from the inside-out.

He watched the boy—Touma—crash to the ground at Sakura's feet, forcing her playful swinging to a stop. The other boys stumbled back in surprise of their unwelcome guest, having not noticed Kakashi slip through the shadows and right by them.

"You know, I'm something of a teacher myself," Kakashi said, still grinning cheerily at Touma while cracking his knuckles aloud. Crack!—Crack!—Crack! "I'd love to teach you all a lesson, but I think it's best if I demonstrate it."

Crack!—Crack!—Crack!

"Any volunteers?" Kakashi asked. His smile widened when Touma, still clutching his swelling cheek, scrambled to his feet and whipped out a switchblade, prompting the other boys to follow suit. "Good."

He allowed them a second to flourish their blades in a show of ego. The pale light of the full moon caught against the steel, the light flashing across Kakashi's face as their blades spun around... and around... and around...

This was the part where everything became a blur. Where reality bled into the past and suddenly Kakashi was standing before enemy soldiers, each wielding a knife as long as his forearm. This was the part where his mind went blank and his body numb as he moved out of pure instinct and training.

There was wind and rain roaring in his ears, although Kakashi vaguely remembered that the night had been dry if a little chilly just earlier. But there were child soldiers threatening to kill him—him and his loved ones—and he had to do something about it. He had to stop them. He had to kill them.

That cold rage within him grew like a weed. It numbed his limbs and blanked out his mind so that all Kakashi could hear was the clap of thunder splitting his head open. All he could taste was the tang of blood on his lips. All he could smell were singed corpses and the veil of smoke that shrouded him. All he could feel was his fist beating down on his enemy's face and that cold rage threatening to drown him.

But no matter how many blows Kakashi landed, the little boy pinned beneath him giggled through a gurgle of blood and asked, 'Hey mister, wanna play a game?'

Why? Why did you do it? Kakashi tried to say—to shout or scream. But the wind seemed to choke him of his words, and the thunderstorm seemed to rain down blood all over him.

His head was aching, and in the haze of his rage, Kakashi picked up the knife the child soldier had dropped (when had that happened?).

Everything was a blur. He couldn't even feel himself raising the knife above the boy.

He couldn't feel anything. Not anymore.

"Don't hurt him!" a girl screamed.

A girl... That was strange. Kakashi didn't remember there being a girl in this scene. All the children he'd killed had been boys.

His body seemed to move at a sluggish pace as Kakashi raised his head and blinked at the change in scenery before him.

There was no thunderstorm. No blood. No child soldiers.

All he saw through the darkness of his tunnel vision was Sakura. Her hair was a frazzled mess of waves like the petals of a wild cherry blossom in full bloom. And the piercing jade of her gaze cut across each of the boys like a sharp blade of grass.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Sakura screamed again.

Kakashi almost thought she was talking to him until she suddenly leapt on the back of the third boy who stood closest to her.

The boy's hoodie fell down as he shoved Sakura off himself. "Shut it, Shortcake!"

She crashed to the ground with hardly a wince before hopping back onto the boy to pull at his hair. "Don't! You! Fucking! Hurt! Him!" Sakura hissed and screeched like a wild cat, shaking the guy's head by the roots of his hair and prompting him to drop his switchblade to shake her off.

Kakashi swore a chunk of hair went flying in the air when the second boy grabbed Sakura by the shoulder and yanked her off his friend. "I'm telling you to—" the boy started to command her, but he was cut off by a defiant screech from Sakura who threw him over her shoulder.

Exactly how Kakashi had taught her during her self-defense lessons.

Without pause, Sakura whirled around and shut the boy up with a punch to his groin. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed beside his friend who was still wailing over his sudden hair loss.

There was no time for Kakashi to utter a word of praise for his student, however. Touma had rolled out from beneath him to trip his way over to the post of the swing. His white baseball cap hung on desperately to his head, unable to shade the bloody pulp that was now the boy's face.

"Pl... ease..." Touma rasped out as he clutched the metal post to support himself. "Please... we was just... playing a game..."

Playing a game?

Kakashi stepped closer to him, his hands curling in and out as he struggled to control himself.

Playing a game?!

'Hey mister,' that little boy's voice rang painfully through his head once more, 'wanna play a game?'

There it was again. That cold, mind-numbing rage that washed over Kakashi and filled his veins with ice. His body moved of its own accord again, driven by that killer instinct he'd honed since he was a child.

In the blink of an eye, Kakashi found himself staring down at the boy whose eyes were bulging out and face paling quickly under the streaks of blood. There was the sound of chains rattling and Kakashi faintly realized he'd somehow wrapped the chain of one of the swings around Touma's neck. Without thinking, he pulled the chains harder with a sharp 'snap!'

Touma croaked out, his own neck threatening to snap as well.

"Why did you do it?" Kakashi hissed over the pounding pain wracking his head. "Why did you kill them?!"

"The fuck... you... sayin'..." Touma squawked. His face was turning blue and his lips flapped open and close for air, but nothing came out anymore except for spittle.

"Professor, stop it! You're going to kill him!"

Rin was tugging on his arm, pleading for him to stop. To show mercy because the boy was just a child who didn't know any better.

"Professor, stop!"

Kakashi ignored her. It was easy to do so when her voice was a fading cry similar to that of a ghost.

Touma's eyes started to flutter, signaling that the boy was starting to lose consciousness. He was going to die. He had to.

"Kakashi!"

Slim arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind and pulled him away from the boy. Pulled him back to reality. But it was really the call of his name on her lips that snapped Kakashi out of the cold numbness he'd almost drowned in.

He raked in a deep breath as the shock ebbed away like a receding tide, slowly but surely until he was left dazed with the consequences of his actions.

Touma collapsed to the floor already clutching his throat and wheezing for air.

Those slim but strong arms still wrapped around Kakashi's waist gently tugged him around. He blinked at the sight of Rin standing before him, but when he blinked again it was Sakura instead. She reached up and cupped his cheek with her small hands, murmuring his name and calling him back from the cold fog of his mind.

His knees buckled and Kakashi was sure he would've fallen had it not been for Sakura. She held him up as if he weighed nothing. Her warm breath tickled his ear as she whispered that everything was all right and that he was safe now.

Funny. The reason he was here in the first place was because her own safety had been in jeopardy, but now she was the one assuaging him.

The brief sound of shuffling almost interrupted their moment, but Kakashi decided to let Touma and his friends go. At least for the moment. Right now, his priority was Sakura and as soon as he felt his mind was clear enough and the ringing in his ears had subsided, he stepped back to check her for any injuries.

She was still half-naked with only those flower pasties to cover her breasts, but he saw no signs of assault. Not even a speck of blood. Kakashi's shoulders drooped in relief and he released a long, weary sigh before lifting a hand to pat her reassuringly on the head.

He stopped short of touching Sakura when he glimpsed the blood smeared across his knuckles though. He opted to crinkle his eyes at her instead, hoping he didn't look like a crazed killer. "Status report? Ah, I-I mean... are you all right?"

"Yeah, but what are you doing here?" Sakura tilted her head at him.

Kakashi was floored by her response. She seemed more bewildered by his appearance rather than the fact that she had just been about to get assaulted!

"What am I... What am I doing here?" Kakashi stood tall before her, angered now by her lackadaisical attitude. "What are you doing here?!"

"I left the party early."

"Why? Why were you even with these boys?" Kakashi demanded, snarling now because he was just too pissed and worried to keep his composure.

Sakura shrugged so nonchalantly, missing the way he clenched his jaw. "They took me here because they said they wanted to have some fun with me."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"They took you here to... Do you have any idea what they were doing to you?! What they were about to do?!" Kakashi grabbed her wrist and pulled her sharply to haul her back to the apartment. "Damn it, Sakura, I told you to be careful!"

He couldn't take his eyes off her! It seemed she was always getting caught up in some sort of trouble every time he turned his back!

"Professor, it hurts!"

That forced him to lurch to a stop and Kakashi glanced back to find his hand wrapped so tightly around Sakura's thin wrist that it drew a wince from her. The sight of her pained expression instantly drained his anger away. He immediately released her, gently taking her hand in his instead and soothing her sore wrist with a stroke of his thumb.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi murmured. He lifted her wrist to his lips and kissed the remaining pain away, feeling her pulse flutter as he did so. "Are you sure you're not hurt anywhere? Did they do anything to you?"

"They just told me to take off my clothes and... to open my legs," she answered. Her brows began to knit together as if Sakura had just remembered something. Without hesitation, she suddenly reached beneath her skirt only to be stopped by Kakashi when he realized she was tugging down her panties.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you drunk?!"

"I'm taking off my clothes?" Sakura blinked innocently at him as if there was nothing wrong with walking around naked at a playground in the middle of the night. "And no, I didn't touch any alcohol. All I had was a cup of fruit punch. Neji set up some non-alcoholic drinks and one of the pledges kept an eye on it."

That still didn't explain her erratic behavior. "Did you keep an eye on your cup the whole time?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I can't just stare at my cup the whole time. I've got faces to look at too."

"Look at me." Kakashi took her by the chin and tilted her face back to study her eyes. Her jade gaze seemed dull and lacking the usual sparkle in them. Upon closer inspection, he noted that her pupils seemed small despite the poor lighting of the park.

He took out his phone and flashed a light in her face. She winced from the harsh brightness, but her pupils didn't dilate nor constrict. He lowered the light and still the result was the same.

It seems she's under the influence of some sort of drug, Kakashi speculated.

He directed her to open her mouth wide so that he could lean in for a whiff of her breath. All he could detect were the fruity notes of the punch she claimed to have drunk. There was no trace of alcohol or any hint of a drug though.

But she's definitely been drugged. She seems normal at first, but she's acting abnormally obedient...

Kakashi drew back with a sigh. "You're not drunk, but there's definitely something wrong with you."

Sakura's brows drew together with worry. "What's wrong with me?"

She looked to him as if he held all the answers, but all Kakashi knew for certain was that she had been drugged. One of the boys had likely slipped something into her cup the instant she looked away. What the drug was, Kakashi was not yet sure. It was too early to tell and honestly Kakashi hadn't initially thought something was wrong with Sakura. Not until he'd noticed how complacent she'd been around those boys. How obedient she was behaving when she was normally insolent and rebellious.

Sadness weighed in Kakashi's heart as he gazed down at Sakura who remained unaware of her current state. He reached over and brushed aside her bangs, watching as she smiled warmly and leaned into his touch.

"You're not well at the moment, but it's going to be all right," he reassured her. "C'mere."

He beckoned her closer as he shrugged off his jacket to give to Sakura. She giggled as he helped her arms through the sleeves and Kakashi fought back a blush when her breasts jiggled too close to his face, the little flowers dancing tantalizingly. He forced his eyes on her shoulder as he zipped his jacket all the way up to her collarbone, reminding himself that now was not the time to ogle Sakura when she was in no position to defend herself.

"Are you warm enough?" Kakashi asked once he finished securing his jacket on her.

With a nod, Sakura raised her arms and gave a happy twirl for her new outfit but it was too large and heavy to billow like her skirt. It reached all the way to her knees, and his sleeves flapped around as she waved her arms playfully like a bird. His jacket was much too large on her petite figure, but at least it would keep her warm and covered.

"Hehe, it smells like you, Professor Hatake!" Sakura giggled and raised the collar of his jacket for a deep whiff of his scent. She closed her eyes and hummed in contentment. "Mm, I love your smell. I hope it stays on my body the whole night!"

That comment stirred something deep in Kakashi, followed by a swell of satisfaction at the thought of his scent on her bare skin. The sight of his jacket enveloping her small figure and the knowledge that she was half-naked underneath only continued to stir that primal urge in Kakashi, so he quickly looked away to survey their surroundings.

Specks of blood stained the black rubber surface of the playground's flooring but Kakashi doubted the kids would think much of it in the middle of their play. Thankfully, there was nobody else around to witness this whole scene because he would rather keep this whole thing discrete and not spend the night in jail for assumably attempting to kidnap an incapacitated girl.

"Okay, let's take you home," Kakashi said as he swept Sakura up into his arms.

She squealed with laughter and surprise but quickly wrapped her arms around his neck to hold onto him. At the moment, she seemed perfectly fine to walk. Whatever drug running in her system didn't stunt her motor functions, but Kakashi hadn't observed Sakura long enough to decide if she was well enough to walk on her own.

Still smiling innocently, Sakura shot him a curious look. "So does this mean I'm not well enough to kiss either?"

So she seems complacent under the drug's influence, but bother her motor functions and cognitive abilities work just fine, Kakashi noted to himself. She's able to pay attention to what people say, and her working memory retains the information even while she's occupied by something else. That's why she seems normal at first glance...

"Yes," Kakashi finally answered her question. And because he was dying with curiosity himself, he asked, "Did you... kiss anyone?"

He had to know. Those lips he'd wanted to claim for himself—had it been his mistake to wait too long? Had those boys stolen her first kiss and he'd arrived too late to stop it? To stop them from taking advantage of her? He felt awful for worrying about that when there were far more pressing concerns at hand.

"No," Sakura assured him with a shake of her head. "I didn't want to. None of the boys at the party interest me like you do."

"Not even your date?"

Sakura's smile widened. "He's sexy—I'll admit that... but not as sexy as you," she confessed, giggling when the blush on his face spread to the tips of his ears. "Plus, he... he doesn't make me feel the way that I do when I'm with you."

Kakashi almost tripped while crossing the street. His heart was beating so frantically in his chest, he was worried Sakura could feel it—feel the way she made him feel. And right now he felt like a schoolboy nervously escorting his crush home.

He swallowed lightly. "And... how do you feel when you're with me...?"

She sighed and leaned her cheek against his chest as if to listen to his frenzied heartbeat. "Safe... Happy... Warm, and like... like I matter."

The latter remark perplexed Kakashi but he decided not to press her about it. At least not in her current state. "And how do you feel right now?"

Did she feel safe, happy, and warm in his arms too?

"Sad!" Sakura suddenly wailed out. "Oh, I feel so sad!"

"Eh?! Wh-Why?!"

"Because I just realized summer is ending and that means I won't be able to lick the sweat off your abs anymore!" Sakura sobbed pitifully against his chest. "This is awful!"

"A-Ah, that is... tragic," Kakashi said, unsure of how else to respond to that. The Sakura he knew normally would've been too shy to admit such a thing to his face. He guessed this was just another effect of the drug and sighed wearily at the strange circumstance they were both stuck in. "Listen, I need you to be a good girl—I mean good student for me, okay? Can you do that?"

"No, I can't! I'm tired of always being a good student!" Sakura whined out with a kick of her feet.

Where did her complacency from earlier go? Now Kakashi was confused but he supposed he needed to observe her longer.

"I wanna be bad, Professor Hatake," Sakura continued, ignorant of Kakashi's own internal conflict. "I like making things hard for you... and I like making you hard for me!" she admitted with a smile that was far too sweet and innocent for her words.

That primal hunger from earlier stirred low and warm in Kakashi's stomach, roused by Sakura's sweet smell and emboldened by her casual confession. He grit his teeth and suppressed those depraved urges with every ounce of his willpower. Now would be the worst time to be popping a boner, especially when carrying his drugged and clearly underage student home.

"Are you mad?" Sakura questioned him, misinterpreting his clenched jaw for anger.

"I'm frustrated."

"Sexually?" she asked too happily.

Kakashi gave her a dry look. "Whatever those boys slipped you, it's certainly making you more..."

"Honest?" Sakura suggested before smiling slyly at him. "Or maybe you were thinking of a naughty word."

He let out an exasperated sigh and silently prayed for his sake or else this girl would be the death of him. Sakura merely giggled at his reaction.

"If this is the real you when you're being completely honest..." Kakashi trailed off, surmising that her blatant candor was probably another effect of the drug. Honesty and complacency went well in hand together, making the victim perfectly submissive for anything.

Sakura still beamed up at him as if nothing was wrong. "Sorry, I'll be a good girl for you a little longer," she promised with a teasing wink.

With her poor rap, Kakashi had a hard time believing her. She already had a knack for getting into trouble as it was.

Still, Sakura's submissiveness towards those boys had been atypical of her usual behavior. It was worrisome to see her fiery streak so subdued—almost to the point that it seemed entirely extinguished earlier.

The drug that came to Kakashi's mind was the Sharingan, but perhaps it was too early in his observation to make that judgment. He knew the Sharingan left users completely submissive, but Sakura defied that idea with the occasional rebuttal or spark of rebellion as she displayed earlier. Besides, he couldn't fathom that a drug as lethal and high-end as the Sharingan would just fall into the hands of a random college boy. The Akatsuki would never risk a foolish move like that.

"Hehe! This reminds me of the night we met," Sakura commented once they passed the exact street corner where Kakashi had run into her. "Except you were giving me a piggyback ride last time."

Let's just hope you don't vomit on me again, he thought to himself.

"Mm, but I like you carrying me this way too," Sakura continued, snuggling her face against his chest. "I get to see your face better, and I can hear your heartbeat too. Why's it always beating so fast?"

Because of you, Kakashi wanted to tell her but he was too embarrassed. How could a girl be so smart that she could memorize the entire process of a muscle contraction verbatim, but she was so oblivious when it came to men? But he supposed that innocent part of her was also what made Sakura so endearing in the first place.

"Sakura..." Kakashi began to say, "I... I never thanked you for what you did for me that night we met."

"You mean the sushi tie? You already thanked me for that—and that's actually my thanks for you."

"No, not for the sushi tie. I mean..." He sucked in a deep breath. "... For saving my life."

There was a brief pause, and for a moment, Kakashi thought she'd figured out what he meant. It wasn't exactly something he could put into words—at least not yet. He wasn't quite ready to say the morbid word itself and he wasn't certain if Sakura was ready to hear it aloud either. But if she knew even a hint of what he was talking about, then that was enough for him.

But Sakura just frowned in confusion. "As I recall that night, you were the one who saved me."

So she still doesn't know...

Kakashi smiled wryly at her. "No, it was definitely you who saved me first," he said softly. "I'm just trying my best to repay the debt that I owe you."

Sakura remained frowning, still puzzled by his cryptic language, but she was soon distracted by the sight of her apartment complex once it came into view. Kakashi distracted her further by asking for her apartment number even though he remembered exactly what floor and number she lived on.

She probably had no clue just how indebted he felt towards her for saving his life that night. Neither did Kakashi want to tell her because it felt like no matter what he did, it would never be enough to pay her back. The only way he knew how was to offer his own life in return.

That was how they did it in the military after all. If someone took a bullet for you, it was only right that you did the same for them. Either literally or figuratively. And since Sakura had saved his life first, it was his duty to ensure the safety of hers.

He owed her that much. He owed her his life.

"All right, we're here," Kakashi announced once they reached the door to her apartment. He set her down to survey the threshold for any hidden key although he doubted Sakura would be foolish enough to hide her spare in such an obvious spot. "Now we've got to figure out how to get in. I suppose we could go to the landlady. She might still remember me from when Guy and Asuma lived here, so if I ask her—"

The sound of metal tinkling against cement interrupted him and Kakashi peered back, pleasantly surprised to see a key on the floor by Sakura's feet as well as a pair of lacy black panties.

He didn't know where she'd been holding that key but Kakashi swiped the key off the floor, hesitated for a hot second, and then grabbed her panties too.

She really did wear a thong tonight, he managed to think despite the hot blood rushing up to his face and down to his dick. He felt lightheaded as he hurriedly stuffed her panties in his pocket. To hold on for her, he told himself. Obviously not for perverse reasons.

From the corner of his eye, he caught Sakura already starting to tug down the zipper of his jacket even though they were still standing in the middle of the hallway. His hands shook with both nerves and panic to the point that he struggled to jam the key into the doorknob for an embarrassing moment. If any of Sakura's neighbors came out right now and witnessed them, Kakashi was certain the cops would be over in a minute.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the door swung open and quickly pulled Sakura inside before anyone could see them and their 'suspicious activity'

He had only just closed the door and locked it when Sakura dropped her skirt to the floor. When she made to shrug off his jacket, Kakashi quickly pried her hands away to stop her.

"Hey!" she protested when he tied the drawstrings of the hood into a tight knot.

It wouldn't be enough to stop her but at least it would slow her down. At least until Kakashi could get her to bed.

"When can I take off my clothes?" Sakura whined, struggling half-heartedly against him when Kakashi lifted her into his arms again (because he didn't trust her to not strip his jacket off on the way).

"You already took them off," Kakashi grunted back when he bumped his hip against the corner of the dining table.

"But I still have this jacket and the nipple pasties on!"

"Let's get you to bed first," Kakashi said, but saying such a thing aloud only served to make his dick harden. Which made his walking more stiff too. Which meant the longer he had to carry this beautiful, half-naked girl in his arms... to bed... where she could be fully naked.

What could possibly go wrong?

Unexpectedly, Sakura stopped struggling to take off his jacket. He felt her relax in his arms, slowly but gradually as if she'd suddenly had all her energy sapped.

She pressed her face to the crook of his neck, taking shelter under his jaw to let out a big, hearty yawn. "Professor Hatake, I'm feelin' sleepy," Sakura mumbled.

"We're almost there," Kakashi reassured her.

Strange. She had so much energy earlier and now all of a sudden she was ready to crash?

As soon as he set her down on her bed, he glanced at his watch to check the time. It'd only been maybe ten minutes tops since leaving Kage park, but he didn't know how long ago she'd been drugged nor the dosage given to her.

Not that there was much time to even guesstimate as Kakashi was soon distracted by Sakura peeling his jacket off. Then her flower pasties were sailing through the air and he barely had the sense to catch them when half of his focus was now on the ceiling.

"I don't mind you looking, Professor Hatake," Sakura hummed teasingly, mildly amused by his sudden fascination with her ceiling. In the middle of getting herself comfortable in bed, she paused briefly in contemplation. "But... I-I guess I'm still a little shy with showing my body..."

A little too late for that, Kakashi couldn't help but think. He'd already gotten a good look at her during the college's naked run event. Copped a good feel of her breasts too, even though it was only for a split second.

He scrubbed a hand down his face in a desperate urge to wipe away his more salacious thoughts. "Listen, I want you to sleep this off and then e-mail me first thing in the morning, okay? Or better yet, call me. Do you remember my phone number from my course syllabus?"

"Yup! I memorized it on the very first day of class!"

A smile twitched on Kakashi's lips and he grabbed the corner of the comforter to tuck Sakura in bed, all while making sure to keep his eyes trained on the ceiling and not on the very pretty and very naked girl stretched out on the bed before him. "You sure you don't want to put some pajamas on?"

"Nah, I like sleeping naked," Sakura sighed out, nuzzling her cheek against the pillow.

Kakashi swallowed hard. "I-I see..."

Well, the image she just gave him really wasn't helping him fight off his erection.

He grabbed the edge of the nightstand, letting it dig into his palm to let the pain snap him out of it. It was then that he noticed the bit of blood smeared across his knuckles, reminding Kakashi of his current mission.

"We don't know what drug your drink was spiked with, and those men were assaulting you. This is a serious matter, Sakura," Kakashi reminded her, returning to the matters at hand. "I shouldn't have let that guy go. The one with the white baseball cap. He's the one who drugged you, wasn't he?"

A rhetorical question. He doubted Sakura knew the answer to that.

But to his surprise, she nodded. "Yes, I think it was him. He followed me into the kitchen after I punched his friend."

Kakashi leaned in, invested in this new morsel of information. "Why did you punch his friend?"

Sakura pulled the comforter higher until it reached just below her nose, seemingly shy now as she said, "Because he... he called me Barbie... and Hello Kitty... a-and I think I heard him call me Strawberry Shortcake too! And then he asked if my carpet matches my drapes!"

Kakashi blinked. "If your... what?"

"If my carpet matches my drapes!" Sakura pulled the comforter down to reveal the little pout scrunching her face. "Of course it does! I can even prove it"

Without warning, she whipped the comforter back and it was only thanks to Kakashi's lightning reflexes that he was able to clap a hand over his eyes just in the nick of time. Even though he was admittedly a pervert himself, he wasn't the kind of pervert who ogled a naked girl who was under the influence of something. He still had his morals.

Which Sakura continued to test as she tugged insistently on his shirt. "Professor Hatake, you're not looking!" she continued to pout at him.

I swear this girl is going to be the death of me. Death by blue balls. I can already hear Obito laughing his ass off in his grave...

"You have nothing to prove to me, Sakura," Kakashi replied. He gripped the comforter harder than needed to make sure his hands didn't stray to places they didn't belong, and successfully tucked her back beneath the blanket. "I believe you. I think that guy was just hoping you would prove it to him too."

"Oh..." She sunk back into her pillows, frowning now. "Still a stupid question though."

"It is," Kakashi smiled wryly, taking the moment to stroke her hair back. "I should find that guy and teach him not to ask stupid questions like that ever again. Along with that guy who drugged your drink."

He was serious about it, but Sakura smiled at him like she thought it was a joke. Her smile faded when she realized he wasn't joking one bit.

"Are you going to hurt him again?" She started to sit up but Kakashi gently nudged her back to lay against the pillows. She continued to stare at him, worried now if a little scared. "I didn't like it when you were punching him like that... Or when you were... choking him."

Clamping a hand across the back of his neck, Kakashi looked away. "I didn't mean to scare you, but he deserved it."

His words sounded colder than he'd intended, and he worried that would only push Sakura away from him.

"I'm not scared of you," Sakura shook her head. "I'm scared for you."

She slipped a hand out of the blanket to touch his, letting her fingertips brush across his knuckles in assurance. That she would still touch him—touch the blood coating his hands—despite witnessing the brutality of his actions just earlier... Kakashi couldn't deny the warm fuzzy feeling in his chest.

The adrenaline still running through his veins seemed to settle down as he was soothed by her caressing touches. Finally sitting himself on the edge of the bed, he watched Sakura take his hand wholly in hers and let their fingers spread against each other.

"When you were hurting him, I could see that it was hurting you too," Sakura told him as she pressed her hand flat against his, eyeing the stark difference in their hand size. "I don't like seeing you hurt."

'Don't! You! Fucking! Hurt! Him!' she had screamed before ripping a chunk of that boy's hair out.

Kakashi smiled at Sakura even as she frowned at his hand upon closer inspection.

"See? The skin on your knuckles is split," she clucked her tongue and gave him a stern, reprimanding look that only made his smile widen. "What did I tell you about rheumatoid arthritis, Professor? You have to take better care of yourself."

He chuckled at that, finding it ironic that the one who had been in danger just earlier was the one lecturing him about self-care. Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed each of her five knuckles that were slightly red from punching one of the boys in the dick.

"Your knuckles aren't looking so good either," Kakashi chided her with a gentle nip to the tip of her thumb.

That pretty pink shade he had long since grown fond of began to spread across Sakura's cheeks as she watched him skim his masked lips all across her palm and up and down each dainty finger.

"I-I'm serious," she insisted even as her blush spread to her ears. "Don't be such a reckless knucklehead. It makes me worry."

He grinned. "Do you always worry about me?"

"More than I should," Sakura snorted, but she ducked further under the covers as if embarrassed to admit such a thing.

Still smiling at her coyness, Kakashi forced himself to a stand. "Even so, I can't stand by and let them get away with what they did to you. What they planned to do to you."

"You're going to leave me?" Sakura asked, the panic clear in her question as she watched him shrug his jacket back on.

"I can't stay here," Kakashi said, checking his watch again. "I should at least go back to the park and retrieve your clothes. There's still time to track down those boys too."

A hand grabbed his, pulling his attention away from his watch and back onto Sakura who shook her head pleadingly with him. "No, please don't go."

His heart squeezed and Kakashi hesitated. "I... I have to. If I don't leave now, I can't track down the ones who did this to you."

He took hold of her hand, but somehow he just didn't have the courage to pry her off.

"I don't want you to go," Sakura begged him in a whisper, her fingers clutching desperately onto his. "I don't want to be alone. Can't you stay with me until I fall asleep? Please, Professor Hatake?"

His eyes trailed down to the small hand gripping his, reminding Kakashi of the very night he had met Rin in the orphanage. How that little girl had asked him to hold her hand until she fell asleep because she didn't want to be alone in a place she didn't call home. Because she had no parents to tuck her in bed and make sure she was safe and sound.

He raised his gaze back to Sakura's, recognizing the same lonely girl in her—a girl who went to bed in a place she couldn't call home, with no parents to tuck her in or check under the bed for monsters. And deep down, Kakashi recognized himself in Sakura too. Because once upon a time, he too had been that same lonely child with no home and no parents.

With a sigh, Kakashi sat himself back down, prompting a grateful smile from Sakura.

"Is there anything you need?" he offered, gesturing around the room. "A glass of water? A foot massage? Or maybe you'd rather I check under the bed for monsters?"

This time, he was partly joking, and he chuckled in return when Sakura giggled and nodded.

In a show of grandeur, he got down on his hands and knees, pressing his cheek to the cold hardwood floor to peek at the darkness beneath her bed. A part of him wanted to stick his hand in the darkness and fake a pained yelp—see if Sakura would hop off the bed and rip into the 'monster' just like she did with the boys at the park.

But, knowing she wasn't in the best condition for pranks, Kakashi gave her the thumbs up to signal the coast was clear. He stood up, pausing when he noticed his basketball further down at the foot of the bed. It sat in the shadows, cozied up beside her own basketball.

She's keeping it safe, Kakashi smiled to himself.

"Anything else you need?" he asked her once he stood back up.

Sakura nodded and looked pointedly at the comforter draped low across her collarbone. "Tuck me in!"

With a tilt of his brow, Kakashi obliged her, tucking the comforter over her shoulders nice and tight so that the cold wouldn't seep in. He knew this apartment complex was too old and cheap to offer its tenants their own thermostats, so he wanted to make sure Sakura wouldn't get chilly in her sleep.

"Anything else, my Queen?" Kakashi proposed with a mock bow.

Biting her bottom lip, Sakura hummed in contemplation for a moment. "Hmm... now I need you to tell me a bedtime story! Not your porny Make-Out series—I want to hear a... a fairytale."

Kakashi froze at the request. A fairytale? Telling bedtime stories wasn't something typically found on his agenda. She probably expected a simple story any child would recognize. Probably one involving a fierce princess and a dashing prince.

The problem was that Kakashi didn't know any bedtime stories let alone fairytales. He was the kind of kid who'd grown up reading adult romance novels under the covers or in a tree. There had been no parent to supervise his reading materials or even tell him bedtime stories at night, so his options for Sakura were severely limited to... well, there was one story he could tell her.

He wasn't sure if this story could count as a fairytale, but it was the only one he remembered from his father.

Sitting himself beside her, Kakashi inhaled deeply, dredging up the faint memory of his father and recalling his words. Like any fairytale, he began with the words, "Once upon a time..."

In a land far, far away where the skies were forever black and constant strife had eaten away most of civilization, there lived a white wolf who had no pack of his own. He had no name, for neither his father nor mother had lived long enough to bless him with one. All he had to remember his parents by was the tale of a legendary flower that was said to have survived the scourge that plagued the land.

This was no ordinary flower. Legends told that a single petal could grant any wish of the one who plucked it. It was just a myth, of course, but countless dreamers—both creature and human alike—were spurned by the greed nesting in their hearts. Power, wealth, kingdoms, and godhood, they wanted it all. And so they wanted the flower to grant their wishes.

But what the lone wolf wanted was not power, or money, or to rule a kingdom or become a god. No, what the wolf sought was happiness.

Happiness was not a word the wolf was familiar with. It was merely a word he'd heard his mother say with her dying breath.

'I wish you happiness'

But what was happiness? It was a feeling, the wolf knew that much, but he didn't know how it felt. Because how could a thing such as happiness exist in a desolate world rife with pain, hunger, and dissidence?

With nothing else to lose and nothing else to gain, the wolf set out on a journey in pursuit of this flower that could grant him his wish for this so-called happiness.

For miles and miles, the wolf did not stop to eat, rest, or even sleep. The more he roamed across the world, the more he was consumed by his desire for happiness. It awakened something primal within him. Whether it was the same greed that infected humans and other creatures, the wolf did not know. Nor did he care.

All he cared for was finding the flower that could grant his wishes.

The hours bled into days, and the more the world died a little.

He treaded across graveyards where the corpses had been pilfered by ravenous animals and looted by covetous men. He swam through lakes polluted with the blood of the fallen. He took shelter under trees whose branches remained naked of fruit and rotting with pestilence.

Many times, the wolf grazed the jaws of Death. Many times, the wolf escaped Death for one more day. Today was one of those days when he found his foot caught in a trap. The one who'd caught him was a fierce huntress with flaming red hair braided long to count the number of beasts she'd slew.

'Your fur is thick, young wolf,' the huntress grinned, brandishing her wicked sharp knife. 'And I am freezing. Be glad that your sacrifice will save the life of another.'

But the wolf had yet to find the wish-granting flower, so he bartered with the proud huntress. 'My fur is coated in mud and blood. First help me find the flower that grants wishes and then you will have the most beautiful, shiny, and softest pelt to decorate your shoulders."

The huntress liked this idea, and so she joined the wolf on his pursuit of happiness.

Days bled into weeks, and the more the world died a little.

They made an unusual duo at first, but soon they learned to become an efficient team. Where the huntress lacked with her human limits, the wolf compensated with his keen nose, tall ears, and sharp eyes. They caught many prey, most of which weren't enough to fill their aching bellies, but it was better than nothing.

Until one day, they themselves were made the prey of a large golden cat. The night had been long and weary for both the wolf and the huntress. Neither of them had noticed the pair of eyes glowing in the dark. Neither of them saw the large paw swipe aside the huntress and her blade until it was too late.

The cat was far older and much larger than the wolf, and he purred in delight as he pinned the wolf to the floor.

'You smell tasty, young wolf,' the cat growled, raising his claws and letting them glint in the firelight. "And I am starving. Be glad that your sacrifice will save the life of another.'

But the wolf had yet to find the wish-granting flower, so he negotiated with the hungry cat. 'My meat is sparse on my bones. First help me find the flower that grants wishes and then you will have the fattest, most delicious meat to glean off me."

The cat liked this idea, and so he joined the wolf on his pursuit of happiness.

Weeks bled into months, and the more the world died a little.

They made the strangest trio at first, but the wolf liked it. He liked it when the proud huntress gave him belly rubs or head scratches whenever he had a big catch for dinner. He liked it when the hungry cat purred loud so that it vibrated all the way to his heart when they snuggled up together for sleep. He liked having his companions to keep him company when all his life he had been so alone with no pack to call his own. He liked having what he would soon call his friends... and eventually, he would call them his family—his pack.

Over time, the months started to bleed into years of toiling away and searching for the flower that could grant wishes. The huntress's fiery hair grew wiry and white, the cat's eyes no longer glowed as bright and keen, and the wolf's legs had become sluggish and weak.

Still, they pressed forward through the dark curse of the land, braving lashes of rain, sleets of snow, and lightning that cracked the earth open like an egg. It seemed nigh impossible, this search for a mythical flower in a land of scourge and shadows. Yet still, the trio pressed forward in pursuit of the wolf's happiness.

None of them really knew why they were risking their lives for some fable. Maybe it was because the thought that, in this godforsaken world, there might still be something good worth fighting for had inspired hope in their heavy, weary hearts. After all, in a world plagued by death and misery, hope was a fragile little thing.

They clutched desperately onto that hope one terrible winter storm, huddling in a hollow tree together to preserve their warmth. The proud huntress wept silently when she tried to light a fire to no avail. The hungry cat whimpered sadly when he dug the snow for food only to find rocks. And the young wolf, no longer as young as he was before, howled at the angry storm for mercy. If not for him then at least for his friends.

But the night wore on and still the storm did not relent. Instead, it bellowed in anger, furious at the young wolf who had tried to disrupt the order of the world—furious that such a small creature would dare to find a thing like happiness in a world that gave none.

Happiness is a lie! The storm warned the old pup with a strike of lightning.

Happiness does not exist! The wind shrieked at him, pelting their shelter with hail.

You will never find happiness, the earth rumbled in agreement.

The wolf tried to howl back in defiance, but his cries were swallowed up by the storm, and thus his heart sank heavier in despair.

His mind was hazy with sleep, his blood ran cold like ice, his bones ached with every movement, and his belly growled painfully in protest. And as the wolf watched his friends suffer the same fate, he now found himself wishing for death instead.

This whole journey had been pointless, he realized too late. He had led everyone to their early graves, and for what? For a flower that did not even exist?

This was the end of the line for them, and it was all his fault.

I'm sorry, the wolf tried to say to the huntress and to the cat, but he now lacked the strength to do so. Everything felt so heavy, and he was so awfully tired that his eyes started to fall shut on their own accord.

The huntress was the one who stopped him with her blade to his throat. Her arms were thin and her face was wan, but there was still pride in her wrinkled gaze as she frowned down upon him. They had come too far to stop now, she lectured the wolf, and he still owed her his glossy coat of fur.

'But I am too hungry to go on," the wolf said weakly.

'Then eat my flesh," the huntress demanded. "I will give you strength, and you will find the flower that grants wishes.'

And so the proud huntress took the blade to her own throat and offered her flesh with a single cut.

'I wish you happiness, young wolf,' the huntress said with her dying breath, repeating the last words the wolf's mother had told him.

The wolf wept for his fallen friend—the one he had come to see as his sister. His tears turned to ice crystals, freezing on his numb cheeks so that he shivered even harder from the cold bite of the storm.

The cat was the one who stopped his weeping with a swipe of his paw, though his claws were too dull to hurt anything anymore. His golden coat hung from his skeletal frame, but there was still a sharp gleam in his eyes as he glared sternly at the wolf. They had sacrificed too much to stop now, he lectured the pitiful wolf, and he was still owed the meat from the wolf's bones.

'But I am too cold to go on,' the wolf said sadly.

'Then take my coat,' the cat growled. 'I will give you shelter, and you will find the flower that grants wishes.'

And so the hungry cat took the blade to his own throat and offered his coat with a single cut.

'I wish you happiness, young wolf,' the cat purred out with his dying breath, repeating the last words the wolf's father had told him.

Saddened by the loss of his fallen friend—the one he had come to see as his brother—the wolf howled in mourning. The storm tried to swallow his song of lament, but the wolf howled only louder, letting his wails ring across the land.

A quiet rage filled the old wolf anew, dispelling his despair with the need for vengeance.

So he ate the warm flesh of his sister, donned the golden coat of his brother, and set out to continue his journey for the mythical flower that was said to grant any wish to the one who plucked its petals.

Time seemed to flow on endlessly for the wolf as his fur grew wiry with silver hairs, but on and on, he continued to run like Death was on his heels. He ran, and ran, and ran until—finally, he reached the ends of the world.

What he saw at the very edge was not death nor darkness, but a light that emitted a warmth the wolf had not felt since the death of his parents. The light seemed to heal the blurriness of the wolf's vision and soothe the cold ache in his bones. He thought it was the sun at first, or at least a fragment of it. He had never seen the sun before, but he imagined that this was what it looked like—what it felt like. Beautiful and... loving.

'Hello,' the light suddenly greeted him. Her voice was soft and docile, almost shy but still very welcoming.

Tired of being alone, the wolf was pleased to have someone to talk to, so he approached the warm light if only to greet her in return. A few steps in and he stopped, frozen in awe of the sight before him.

This was no sun speaking to him, but a flower. A flower so tiny that he could crush her with a paw or snap her up in his jaws. But she was far too beautiful with five pale pink petals and two jade leaves. Her stem was short, but she swayed side to side, her leaves rising and falling and pretty pink petals shaking and bouncing.

For a moment, the wolf was mesmerized by the flower's little dance. He'd never seen anyone dance before—not in a world full of sobs and screams rather than music. And though there was no music around to accompany her, the flower continued dancing contentedly, as if innocent of the horrible world she lived in.

Weary of his travels, the wolf sat before the flower and watched her dance. The longer he watched her, the less his heart felt heavy although he could not understand why.

'Are you the flower who grants wishes?' the wolf eventually asked her.

'I am,' the flower answered with an excited shake of her petals.

The wolf nearly wept in relief. He had searched far and wide and had lost a great deal for such a tiny little thing.

'Will you grant me my wish?'

'Will you pluck my petals?'

The question stumped the wolf momentarily. He'd expected a simple yes for an answer—not a question in response to his own. He was even more bewildered that the flower seemed to possess a will of her own as her leaves seemed to droop at the thought of her petals being plucked.

Come to think of it, it would be a shame to destroy such a beautiful creation...

The wolf bowed his head, humbled by the shame that sprouted within him. He had been so consumed by the same greed that had brought the world to ruin that he had never considered the lives of those who would have to be sacrificed. First the huntress, then the cat, and now this flower?

Innocent lives given for the sake of his own... happiness?

'Tell me your wish,' the flower said, spreading her leaves welcomingly.

'And you will grant it?'

'My consent is not needed. You need only to take.'

The wolf hesitated. 'That sounds selfish.'

'Is that not the point of a wish? To be selfish?' the flower rebutted although there was no malice in her words.

'I only wish... to be happy,' the wolf confessed. 'Since I was a young pup, I have searched far and wide for it. And in my pursuit for happiness, I lost the ones dearest to me.'

'Then you need only to take my petal,' the flower replied, bending forward to offer herself to him.

The wolf deliberately raised his paw to take a pretty pink petal. Just one, he promised them both. It wouldn't hurt her too much, right? She would still have four other petals and then... and then someone else might come and take one for themselves... and then another... and another—until she would be stripped bare of everything. Of her innocence, her beauty, and even her own happiness.

It was then the wolf realized the flower had stopped dancing. She remained still and waiting for him—or rather as if deep down she was actually frozen in terror of her fate.

And what a sad fate this flower had. To be robbed of her own happiness for the sake of making others happy.

There was a sharp twinge in the wolf's breast and he closed his eyes for a deep breath. The air here was clean, he noted. Sweet and purified as if the flower's presence was the only thing that kept the darkness and corruption at bay.

'I cannot take your petal,' the wolf declared with a shake of his head. 'I cannot take your happiness and exchange it for mine.'

The flower was silent for a moment, but then she started to sway again, slow and deliberate like she was weighing his words. 'I see you are no longer a young pup. You are an old wolf whose legs creak, whose snout runs dry, and whose eyes have turned a milky white. You have spent your whole life in pursuit of me—in pursuit of happiness. And once it is within your grasp, you refuse to take it?'

'... Yes.'

At his answer, the flower preened her leaves wide, fanning them out like emerald curtains. 'So then... I will give it to you.'

The wolf whined in protest but the flower shook insistently.

'You would sacrifice yourself to save the life of another. Now I shall repay the favor,' she spoke warmly, beckoning him closer with a curl of her leaf. "Come. I will grant you the happiness you wish for..."

With his weary paws, the wolf struggled to his feet and trotted closer to the beautiful flower. Her warmth melted away all doubt in his heart, and when she offered her leaf to him, he did not hesitate to take it in his paw. The little thorn hidden along the stem of the leaf was painless when it pricked him.

Only a single drop of blood was drawn, along with all the cold, misery, grief, and hunger.

And so the old wolf closed his eyes, sighed his last breath, and gladly passed away.

The end.

"... Wait, that's it?"

"Yeah."

"But I don't get it," Sakura spoke up, her little pout nearly hidden by the blanket pulled up to her chin. "So did the wolf die? Why did the flower kill him when what he wished for was happiness? And what even was this happiness that he was looking for?"

Kakashi braced a hand on the bed to lean back and contemplate Sakura's questions. They were the exact same questions he had asked his father the very first and last time he'd heard this story. And yet...

"My old man never explained it to me," he admitted. "He said he would tell me once I was old enough to understand but..."

But he killed himself before he could explain the story to me.

"But he never did," Kakashi simply said, shrugging helplessly.

"Then... the next time you tell me that story, could you give the wolf a happy ending?" Sakura implored him as she picked glumly at a loose thread. "Fairytales are usually supposed to have happy endings..."

Kakashi scratched his head at that. He didn't know all that much about happy endings in fairytales let alone happy-ever-afters.

So instead of answering Sakura, he stroked back her hair, watching her lashes flutter as drowsiness crept upon her. "Is there anything else you need?"

She gave him a nod, and then a slow, sleepy smile. "A goodnight kiss."

Kakashi's hand stilled over her temple. She stared up at him expectantly through a slitted gaze, fighting off her drowsiness through sheer willpower. Sakura was stubborn like that, and he knew that she wouldn't rest until he gave her what she wanted.

Swallowing lightly, he dipped down and pressed a kiss over her brow. When he peeled back, her pout had only deepened.

"I need a real goodnight kiss," Sakura insisted.

Kakashi pressed his lips together to withhold a sigh. "You know I can't do that."

"Because... I'm underage?"

"And because I'm still your professor and you're still my student," he gently reminded her even as his own heart ached in protest. "We promised not to cross the line... not yet."

Besides, he wasn't sure if her mind was still addled by the drug at this point. Even though she seemed to be acting normal for the most part, it was difficult to tell what part of her behavior could he still attribute to the drug's effects. And it was also still difficult to ascertain what drug she was under. While complete complacency and honesty were trademark symptoms of the Sharingan, Sakura had displayed a divergent behavior in the way her rebellious streak still came out at times.

Like when she'd defended him against those boys.

And like... right now as she cupped his cheek in her hand.

"Then why not teach me how to kiss, Professor Hatake?" Sakura proposed, her voice having dropped to such a soft whisper that he had to lean in closer to hear her. "Isn't that your job? To teach me things about my body?"

He gritted his teeth, willing himself to hold onto the last of his restraint even as Sakura smiled coyly and beckoned him with a quiet hum. Like a siren calling him to his doom... or rather, his salvation.

"I won't tell," she promised him—enticed him. "It'll be a private lesson between us. Please..."

It wasn't fair for Sakura to ask him of this right now of all the times. It wasn't fair that she was probably still under the influence and was in no condition to make such a promise. It wasn't fair that Kakashi, no matter how hard he tried to be a man of morals, was finding his convictions weakening the more Sakura beseeched him. It wasn't fair that he was trying so hard to be chivalrous and do the right thing while she was enticing him with those soft words pouring past those soft lips. And it really wasn't fair that Kakashi no longer knew how to say no to her.

But nothing about their relationship had been fair to begin with.

From the very start, the both of them had been at a disadvantage, limited by the roles they had to play and weighed down by the baggage they carried.

None of this was fair!

The corner of the bedsheet bunched under his fist as he struggled to fight temptation just a little longer. But 'a little longer' lasted for only a second before he released the bedsheet and lifted his hand to the mask that concealed his face.

Sakura's eyes were so large and catlike as she watched him deliberately peel his mask down. Her eyes widened as the soft cotton glided down his mouth, then down his chin, and settled at the bottom of his throat.

Despite it being room temperature, the fresh air felt cool against his bare skin, leaving Kakashi feeling almost naked before Sakura. There was nobody alive who had seen him without his mask. Nobody except now for Sakura who blushed as she studied every inch of the bottom half of his face. She gazed upon him like he was a map of wonder, and then raised a finger to lovingly trace the outline of his lips like a cartographer would.

There was something she saw that drew a pleased smile across her rosy cheeks.

Kakashi could take it no longer. He kissed the tip of her finger first, hearing her let out a small gasp of surprise. He didn't stop there as he lowered his mouth to press a kiss to her palm as well, and then trailed his lips down her arm until he reached her cheek and kissed her there too.

Her skin was already so flush with heat, and he savored that warmth of hers as he skimmed more kisses across her cheek and towards the corner of her mouth.

Her breath tickled his face, heavy and shaky with nerves. Kakashi drew back to look at Sakura, meeting her wide-eyed gaze with his own heady stare. Even though she was the one who had asked him for this, she clearly hadn't expected him to go through with it. And now she laid against her pillows, watching for his next move, waiting for him to make it.

"Do you really want this?" he whispered against her lips.

Do you really want me?

The tip of her tongue darted out and swept along her bottom lip, tasting his question and searching for the answer to it. "... I do."

Just hearing her breathe out those two words was more than enough to extinguish that last spark of fear, doubt and guilt in Kakashi's heart.

He smiled, feeling himself break free of his morals like a man freed of his shackles, and brought his mouth down on hers. Her lips met his, softly, shyly—but just as eager and fervent that Kakashi almost wondered if this was all just a dream. Because how could a kiss feel so plush and taste so sinfully sweet? How could it leave him starving for more?

Kakashi had never been a greedy person, but right now there was a voracious hunger in him, urging him to press his mouth harder against Sakura's. If only to steal away more of her sweet sighs, taste more of those cherry-sweet lips, and let her scent cloy his lungs so that he drowned himself in her.

Even when she started to whimper against him, begging for air, Kakashi broke away to give her only a second of rest before he dove back in to capture her lips, groaning as he did so. His hands fisted the bed sheet on either side of her head and the bed creaked aloud in warning as he pressed a knee to the mattress for a better angle.

When Sakura again whimpered for air, Kakashi decided to give her a longer pause and reluctantly peeled his lips from hers. A thin string of saliva connected the small distance between their mouths, stretching until it broke and the tail of it landed on Sakura's chin.

Slowly, she lifted a hand to touch her already bruising lips.

The light blush dusting across her cheeks had deepened in color to a rosy shade, matching well with the emerald green of her doe eyes. Still tracing her mouth, Sakura smiled sweetly at him and murmured, "Your lips are warm."

So she said, but everything about him felt scorching hot. His blood ran like fire in his veins, driving Kakashi desperate with the need for relief even as he struggled to quell that raging inferno within him. His shorts were stretching painfully tight across his lap as he swelled. He tried to focus on the pace of his breathing, but when Sakura licked her lips to taste his kiss, it was all Kakashi could do to keep from wincing as he twitched harder in his shorts.

That primal urge was stirring in his gut again, so profound and ravenous that he barely caught himself leaning in to kiss Sakura more. His lips hovered mere centimeters over hers, their breaths hot and tickling as Kakashi called upon the last vestiges of his restraint. Although his fists trembled on either side of Sakura's head, he wasn't so much of an animal that he would mindlessly ravage her like one.

Kakashi squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that blocking out the sight of Sakura would provide him the break he needed to find some sense of rationale.

It didn't.

The image of her laying beneath him with her hair fanned out like a cherry blossom in full bloom only heightened his cravings. It took the phrase 'a dream come true' to a whole new level for him.

"We... We have to stop," Kakashi rasped out, finding it harder to think let alone speak when all his blood was rushing hot in his cock right now. He had just enough willpower to keep himself from rutting the bed like a depraved beast. Every second, however, his control slipped further and further. "

"Stop? But... why?"

It was such a genuinely innocent question that it lured Kakashi into opening his eyes. That was a huge mistake. Sakura was the very picture of temptation by innocence as she stared up at him with a half-lidded gaze darkened with lust and confusion. Her hands rested just below where his hands were, her dainty fingers curled loosely in comparison to his tight fists.

Kakashi was at a loss for words. All his strength had gone to holding himself back for her sake. Helplessly, he peered down and she followed his gaze to the sharp, prominent tent stretching out his running shorts.

There was her answer as to why.

Since Sakura was the kind of person who wore her heart on her sleeve, it was easy to see the array of emotions flit across her face—a split second of fear, then apprehension followed by sheer amazement and wonder, and finally, curiosity.

"Oh," she breathed out shakily. "That's... big."

His cock answered with a weep of precum, making Kakashi want to weep as well. He didn't know if she was still under the influence of the drug, but her having no filter really wasn't helping either of them. This was absolute torture, and the worst part was that Sakura was completely oblivious to it.

And she remained oblivious to his agony as she suddenly reached out and touched the tip of the tent with the tip of her finger. The experimental touch had been so brief—shorter than a split second—but it was more than enough to prompt an audible hiss from Kakashi who swore he was just one stroke away from coming in his shorts.

He clenched the bed sheets harder, afraid that if he released them now that he would be unable to stop himself from jerking his cock out and fucking Sakura's mouth—that mouth she now parted open in surprise of how stiff he was.

"Damn it, Sakura!" he growled out, feverishly hot from frustration and skin sticky with fresh sweat again. "You're going to ruin me."

But not before he would ruin her first.

His restraint slipped again and Kakashi dove in to kiss her once more, but this time his lips met hot skin as he kissed her by the neck instead. She yelped out in astonishment, her hands reaching around to bury themselves at the base of his head, her fingers tugging his hair hard in alarm.

Kakashi was usually a merciful man, but not tonight.

Tonight, he was selfish, full of depravity, and driven by a carnal hunger.

He showed Sakura no mercy as he pressed his open lips to the vulnerable skin of her throat and sucked hard, tasting her frantic pulse and inhaling the wild, flowery notes of her scent.

"P-Professor?!" Beneath him, Sakura whimpered in pain and started to claw weakly at his chest to stop him. Kakashi grabbed her hands and pinned them down, sucking harder in response and prompting a sweet cry from her lips. "Wait, it-it hurts!"

Something heady tingled faintly at his nose, the scent growing stronger until Kakashi recognized it as Sakura's arousal. Even with the comforter separating her body from his, there was no denying that inebriating scent that made his mouth water every time he caught a whiff of its subtly sweet and musky notes.

With a groan, Kakashi permitted himself to ground his hips against the outline of Sakura's hip, letting the blanket act as a barrier between them. The reprieve was so short-lived that it only left his cock aching for more friction, punishing him with a hot throb when he denied himself a second time.

He kissed Sakura's neck harder to distract himself, adding in a little nip and listening to her mewl weakly in response. He was so lightheaded and dizzy with need that he almost forgot the purpose of his kiss: to warn off any other boys and men from ever laying their hands on her.

With one last nip of her neck, Kakashi finally pulled away to allow themselves to catch their breath. Sakura was already panting hard, the tears spilling free from the corner of her eyes and racing down her flushed cheeks.

Kakashi gently wiped the tears away with the pad of his thumb. "I'm sorry, but it's for your own good. A mark like this will keep all the guys away from you."

He told himself it was to help her stay out of trouble, but that lecherous animal in him was pleased at the thought of marking his territory.

Sakura still seemed dazed and confused as she blinked away the last of her tears and touched the sore spot on her neck where the skin was already an angry red. "You... marked me?"

He nodded and studied the raw skin, seeing the bruise already forming and remembering from Mizuki's notes that she bruised very easily. "It's going to be painful for a while, but you can't cover it up. Do you understand, Sakura?"

"I understand, Professor Hatake," she sniffed.

"Good girl," Kakashi quietly praised her with an affectionate pat on her head, stroking the stray locks from her face. "Now close your eyes and get some sleep. You need your rest after what you've been through."

On cue, Sakura's eyes began to fall shut as if weighed down by sandbags. But true to her character, she fought against the sudden wave of drowsiness, her lashes fluttering as she struggled to stay awake. "I don't wanna sleep," she mumbled. "If I close my eyes now... I'm scared this'll all just be a dream... I'm scared I'll wake up and... and then you'll be gone..."

Dragging his hand down to cup her cheek, Kakashi tried to lull her to sleep with gentle strokes of his thumb. She responded with a weak shake of her head and grabbed onto his hand feebly.

"Please, Professor Hatake... please don't leave me," Sakura slurred out, visibly losing the battle against sleep as her eyes gradually fell shut. "Please don't go... Stay... with me... st... ay..."

A silence fell over them but Kakashi waited until he was sure Sakura's breathing had evened out before he tucked the blanket securely around her once more. If only to delay his leave.

Of course he wanted to stay. Of course he wanted to continue holding her hand the same way she had done for him the day of his fever.

But at the end of the day, they were still teacher and student. If Inoichi's daughter were to return to the apartment at this time and catch him lurking in Sakura's room then it would be utter chaos.

Gently, Kakashi pried his hand free from the small fingers clutched around his. Sakura didn't stir; she remained in a peaceful, deep slumber as if she was a princess in need of a prince to kiss her awake from whatever strange spell that had befallen her.

Passing a hand down his face, he watched her expression for a moment longer before peering down at the next problem at hand. The tent in his shorts was still painfully stiff and he knew it would take a while for his erection to die down. But time wasn't a luxury he could afford when Inoichi's daughter could return at any minute now.

Still, he would certainly look like a criminal if he were to leave Sakura's apartment with a visible erection. That was if he could even be able to walk with such a painful hard-on. All those weeks of blue balls had taken its toll on him and now Kakashi doubted he could even stand up from the bed without torturing himself.

Which left him with only one choice...

He glanced over to Sakura although he didn't know what to expect from her when she was asleep. For her to wake up and chide him for being a pervert? Or to show him mercy and give him a hand(job)?

'It's okay if you touch yourself to me tonight.' her words from earlier echoed in his head.

Like a man bewitched by this girl's spell, Kakashi found himself gripping the waistband of his shorts, almost delirious with the need for relief.

She gave me her permission earlier... so is it really okay? he wondered, eyeing Sakura as she slept. She was in no condition to answer him right now, so the decision was entirely up to Kakashi.

He bit his lip to contemplate, but the taste of her cherry-flavored kiss lingering on his mouth only served to cast her enchantment completely over him.

His heart pounded hard in anticipation as he gingerly tugged his shorts down, letting his cock spring free finally. The cool air of the room was a stark contrast to his hot throbbing, and Kakashi couldn't help but shiver in response.

This was completely different from masturbating in his own room. Here, he was in a young lady's room—his student's room—and sitting next to her with his dick mere inches away from her sleeping face. What he was doing was absolutely criminal, of course he knew that.

But... she said it was okay, Kakashi reminded himself even though he knew that did not justify his crime.

With a shaky hand, he wrapped himself firmly and pressed his thumb to the weeping slit of his tip. Pleasure lanced straight up his spine and Kakashi suppressed a groan as well as the urge to just start going wild. He had to be quiet in case it would wake up Sakura.

Another hot bead of precum gushed out from his tip, spilling past his thumb so that Kakashi had no choice but to smear it around his head. He bowed his back, hunching in on himself to focus on the task at hand.

How long had it been since he'd touched himself properly like this? By the ache of his balls, it felt like forever ago.

Squeezing his length firmly, he drew his hand down once to spread his precum more. A hiss escaped Kakashi's clenched teeth, his eyes nearly rolling back from the brief wave of relief.

"Mm..."

A soft moan had his attention whipping back to Sakura. She'd turned her cheek aside, facing him but still dozing peacefully.

With his free hand, Kakashi reached over and stroked aside the hair that had fallen across her face. He wanted to see her properly. Wanted to see her face as he came.

Without thinking, he slowly combed his fingers through her hair... and then fisted the loose locks. Not at the roots because that might hurt her, but at the ends so that he could grip her silky strands as hard as he pleased while she slept on in peace.

He'd touched her hair many times before when giving her a praising pat on the head or to stroke her bangs aside. But this time he really could appreciate the delicate silkiness of every strand and tangle his fingers into them. Every strand was so soft like that of a petal... like that of her lips.

Kakashi peered at Sakura's lips now, observing how they were gently parted open again just like earlier when she'd laid eyes on the tent of his shorts.

He wanted to kiss those lips again. Taste her lipgloss before plunging in deeper to explore the cavern of her mouth.

Kakashi imagined doing that right now as he continued to watch Sakura while stroking himself nice and slow from root to tip... root to tip... root to tip. Each pass drew more beads of precum spilling down his tip until his cock was practically drooling for release.

He tried to keep things clean. Leave no trace of himself behind let alone any evidence of his misconduct. But his palm had become slick with his mess, his cock glistening now with the evidence of his crime as he continued to pump himself—faster now.

It should've sickened him to be masturbating so shamelessly while watching his student sleep, blissfully ignorant of what her pervert of her professor was doing right next to her. Kakashi felt like he was taking advantage of Sakura like this, and yet he did not stop. At this point, he couldn't stop even if he wanted to.

There was a sharp tingling in his spine—ecstasy racing through his core as Kakashi pumped his cock harder in a race for that release. His grip on Sakura's hair was gradually tightening the more he felt his balls tighten in anticipation.

The bed was gently squeaking now from the motion of his hand, the slickness of his cock making wet noises. But Kakashi no longer had the decency to care if he woke Sakura up now.

If anything, he wanted her to wake up. He wanted her to witness his crime—be his accomplice even. He wanted her to see the effect she had on him. And he wanted her to watch as he came all over her pretty face.

The latter thought prompted the perfect image in Kakashi's head, pushing him over the edge of his climax.

"I-I can't hold it anymore...!" Kakashi grunted, barely having the breath to mutter an apology to Sakura.

He leaned in and buried his face into Sakura's hair, letting her fragrance flood his lungs and the feel of her silky locks overpower his senses. Fisting her hair in one hand, he fisted his cock in the other, his release spurting harder than expected. He tried his best to come as cleanly and quietly as possible, but his mind had gone blank with pleasure and all he could think about was Sakura, Sakura, Sakura—her name on his lips like a spell of his own.

His hips pressed up helplessly, instinctively—seeking tight, wet warmth but finding only the unforgiving grip of his hand.

Kakashi was still panting hard by the time his head had cleared and the pleasure had faded to a faint, pulsing throb of his balls. He vaguely felt his release dribbling hot down his sticky fingers, prompting Kakashi to finally peel away from Sakura to study the mess he'd made.

There was more cum than he'd expected, but at least most of it had been captured in his hand. The pool in his palm was already spilling over, dribbling hot down his wrist the same way the rest was dribbling down the length of him.

A wave of panic surged through Kakashi and he quickly looked around for some tissues to clean himself with. He scanned Sakura's nightstand, but he saw no tissue box—only the frame of a little girl with her parents. Sporting a red bathing suit and wearing twin braids, the little Sakura in this photo was proudly showing off her sandcastle with a toothy grin. Her parents posed on either side of her, smiling at the camera—smiling at Kakashi.

But now it seemed as if her parents were judging him—condemning him for corrupting their precious little girl.

Kakashi stared back at them, expecting the guilt to hit him now.

It didn't. And he felt more guilty over that rather than what he'd done.

Breaking away from her parents' incriminating stares, he looked to Sakura still dozing. She'd slept through the whole thing even with him fisting her hair possessively.

There was no remorse in Kakashi's heart as he decided to just wipe his hand on the edge of her blanket. There was always the option to make that awkward shuffle to the bathroom in the hallway, but that perverted, animalistic side of him wanted to stain her sheets. Leave just one piece of evidence behind.

Even if Sakura did find the stain, he was certain that she wouldn't know what it was.

Damn, he really was a depraved man. But to be fair, Kakashi had warned Sakura many times that he was not the good man she thought he was.

Tucking himself back into his shorts, Kakashi finally stood up to make his leave. Hopefully, there was still time to track down those boys and confirm the drug they'd slipped her.

Lingering at the threshold of the door, he peered back at Sakura, watching her sleep for just a little longer.

They had made a promise to not cross the line—and now he'd broken that promise with just a kiss. One kiss that seemed to blur the line between them to the point that Kakashi wasn't even sure if the line was still there at all.

Now there was nothing to hold him back.

---

Later – Saturday, 3:08 AM

"I'm telling you, Officer, it was some crazy old man! He came out of nowhere and just started beating us up! We weren't even doing anything wrong—we were just hanging around!"

"An old man isn't a very specific description," the policewoman said, still scribbling the details into her notepad. "There's plenty of men in town with white hair and many of the homeless do lurk around Kage park sometimes late in the evening.

Touma gingerly traced the bruise lined around his throat before raising his hand higher to grip his baseball cap anxiously. His voice came out raw as he stuttered for an excuse. "W-Well, it was dark and he was surprisingly fast for his age, so I didn't get a good look at him... But surely a crazy old man going around beating up kids isn't so hard to find, right?"

The officer briefly glanced at the boy. "... We'll do what we can," she replied, returning to her notepad.

"Which is?"

"We'll keep our eyes peeled," she simply responded, and slipped the notepad into the pocket of her vest.

Touma clenched his fists, his face scrunching with displeasure at the officer's indifference to his plight. There was a batshit crazy old man on the loose—the least the police could do was send out a patrol to search the streets for him! Although it would probably be faster if he revealed the fact that the old man was a professor, but that would complicate matters for him too. He didn't know what to say if they questioned why a professor from an esteemed college would attack a bunch of punks.

"Oh, my hair," Denki wailed quietly from his corner, rubbing the bald patch on his head where the bitch had ripped out a chunk of his hair.

"My balls..." Arata rasped out on the floor, still clutching his groin since getting punched in the dick. "I... I c-can't feel my balls..."

The officer glanced at the two idiots, her amber gaze apathetic to their suffering. "Have you and your friends been drinking tonight?"

"W-Well, we're near frat row so... what do you expect?" Touma laughed at the question, wincing from the pain of his sore throat.

The officer killed his laughter with a cold stare. "I'll need to see some ID," she said, holding her hand out. She barely took a look when he fished his ID out and handed it over. "Are you on anything?"

"Like... drugs?" Touma's eyes bugged out of his head as he feigned abhorrence and shook his head vehemently. "No, of course not! I've never touched any drugs in my life!"

The officer studied him from beneath her lavender bangs. Her expression remained blank, almost bored, but for Touma it felt like she was appraising him. She seemed to be calculating something in her head until finally she stepped back and gestured to the brick wall beyond his shoulder.

"Turn around and put your hands on the wall."

"Wh-What?"

Shit, did she figure it out?!

"What for?!" Touma started to protest but the woman's partner slipped out of the shadows he'd been standing in and pinned Touma against the wall. "Hey! My father is a very important man!" he warned the two officers as they patted him down.

They stopped their search once the woman procured a small item taped within Touma's baseball cap—a transparent bag so tiny that it could easily be tucked away beneath someone's tongue.

The woman examined the bag and its torn seal, her brows pinching ever so slightly when she saw the contents within. The white powder was only half an inch thick in layer, hardly shifting when she gave the bag an experimental shake.

"Where did you get this?" the policewoman demanded the boy.

"I-I don't know what that is!"

The officer nodded to her partner who grabbed the back of Touma's head and ground his face harder against the brick wall. "Where did you get this?" she asked again over the boy's cries.

"I bummed it off some guy named Goro when he wasn't looking!" Touma confessed, barely able to speak with his face smashed to the wall. "S-So technically it's not mine!"

The officer tilted her head questioningly. "Goro?"

"He's the neighborhood drug dealer!"

"And where might I find this Goro?"

"I don't know—ah, fuck!" Touma wailed in agony as the male officer dragged his face along the wall, scraping the skin against the bricks so that more blood dribbled down Touma's chin, mixing with the dried blood from earlier. "Might Guy's Mighty Guys gym!" he spat out. "I see Goro lurking there sometimes—either there or somewhere near school campus!"

The officer nodded to her partner again, prompting the man to release Touma.

"You and your friends can go," the woman said. Her amber stare bore into Touma as she smiled at him like that of a porcelain doll. "Remember to make good choices."

Still clutching his beaten face, Touma gaped at the police officers. One minute they were pinning him against the wall for a drug search and now they were dismissing him just like that?!

He peered over to the male officer to plead his case because clearly this bitch had no idea how to do a man's job! "Hey, you!" Touma started to say, but he faltered when the man stepped forward and out of the shadows of the alley to reveal the whorls of scars and burned skin that disfigured the right side of his face.

With his right eye sealed shut, only his left eye remained open and staring wide at Touma without blinking.

Swallowing hard, Touma backed away from the man and woman. Something told him that if he wanted to keep his life, then he should keep his mouth shut and not question these two officers.

He scuttled aside, reaching for his friends to haul them away. "My father will hear about this!"

The woman could hardly be bothered by the boy's threat as she continued examining the small packet of drugs in her hand. "Tobi," she called to her partner. "Contact Hidan and Kakazu. Tell them I found the missing sample of the Sharingan."

Standing to attention, the man gave his partner a mock salute. "Aye aye, Sheriff Konan!"

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A/N: Next update will be posted a few days earlier (on the 17th) since I'll be away for a weekend bday trip with my guys and gals 🎉 Also I see your Asks and messages and promise I will get to them as soon as I can - thanks for your patience!

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