Hi, welcome back to my little fic.

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto. I have written this for fun and because a rabid plot bunny got hold of me and wouldn't let me go.Characters may well be OOC for reasons I've explained before.

Authors Notes will be at the end of the chapter.

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Chapter 2

Kakashi knocked on Gai's front door, "Oi, are you home," he called as he waited. He'd gone there as soon as he'd showered and dressed hoping that Gai would still be so drink befuddled that he'd be able to get out of the challenge before the annoying man realized what was going on.

Eventually the door opened to reveal the so called Green beast of Konoha looking decidedly greener in the face than he normally would.

"Hey Gai, that look suits you, you match your green suit," Kakashi chuckled.

"Ah, my eternal rival! What brings you to my house so early on this fine morning?" Gai winced as he tried to enthuse.

Kakashi decided to get to the point, "I'm here about that bet…"

"You wouldn't be thinking of trying to get out of it would you?" Gai blearily looked at the masked ninja, "We both signed it and its binding. You'd have to become a missing-nin to avoid carrying out the terms on that paper we signed." Well, ok, maybe that was exaggerating a little, but Gai wasn't going to give in easily.

Kakashi grimaced. He should have known that hung over or not, Gai would refuse to let it go. "Come on now Gai, it's just between us. Surely you can let it slide? I'll even show you my face if you are THAT desperate to see it…"

"Ah, the shame of it, my eternal rival is trying to welsh on our bet! I'm sorry Kakashi, no can do. It is not the Ninja way!"

Kakashi sighed and put on a brave face, "Ok ok, looks like I'll have to go through with it then," he said with sudden mock cheerfulness. "Ja ne!" Not for the first time, he was totally relieved that the paper did not say that he had to bed Sakura.

Gai slumped as Kakashi showed himself out and wondered how the masked jounin could possibly be so… chipper… this morning.

Of course, he could have let him out of the "challenge", after all, they were both well on the road to drunken oblivion when it had come to pass, and it was particularly stupid of them to involve the honor of a third party. It also seemed a bit unfair that Kakashi was the only one having to do anything.

The thing that stopped him from giving in? He was curious about the hint of denial he thought he had heard in Kakashi's voice the previous day.

Maybe there was something in it, maybe not, but it was worth holding on to the contract for the moment to see if something came out of it. Thinking of that, Gai made the effort to move and put it in a safe place. It would be no fun if his eternal rival could get out of the bet THAT easily…

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Later that day, after having been home for a proper sleep and not an alcohol induced one, Kakashi sat in a tree reading his favorite book. He idly wondered how he was going to address the problem he now found himself facing.

Well, he still needed to apologize to Sakura and thank her for what she had done. That could be a good place to start.

After a few minutes consideration he closed the book with a snap and jumped down from the tree. He headed towards the Yamanaka flower shop.

After all, nothing said it like flowers. Well, that's what he had heardanyway.

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The Hokage watched Sakura perform the latest medical jutsu she had been taught with light worry. Her student was trying to avoid yawning, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Tsunade took a surreptitious sip of Sake as Sakura was looking in the other direction.

"Sensei?" Sakura enquired tiredly as she heard a slight clink coming from her teacher's general direction, "you aren't drinking again are you?"

Tsunade jumped and put her hand behind her head in embarrassment at being caught, "No! Of course not Sakura chan."

"I'm glad about that. I've had enough of drunks to last me a while… you'll never believe what happened last night…"

Tsunade was intrigued by Sakura's story. She had never thought that Kakashi would ever get so drunk that he would not even be able to get home, and she wondered what was up with the normally stoic man. Thankfully it had turned out ok, but it would give her another headache as she would have to keep an eye on the Jounin for a while in case there was more to this than just a case of someone misjudging their tolerance for alcohol.

After Sakura finished her slightly edited story, after all there were certain things that she didn't need to tell the older woman, Tsunade sent her home for the day. Sakura gratefully accepted and headed home for some much needed sleep.

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KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Sakura cursed as she threw herself out of the shower and pulled on a pair of soft pink PJ's and a huge robe. She would be damned if she would answer the door in just a towel and give Lee a free show that he would be able to fantasize over for weeks… She grimaced at the mental image.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Sakura stomped towards the door. All she really wanted to do now was dry her hair and go to bed After all, she had got no sleep at all last night and Tsunade had worked her hard until she had been sent home. She scowled as she threw open the door, "WHAT DO YOU WANT NOW…" she all but screamed into the face of...

...A bunch of flowers? She looked up in surprise to find the masked countenance of none other than Hatake Kakashi.

"Expecting someone else?" he drawled lazily as he leaned on the doorframe.

Sakura was flustered for a moment as she took the proffered flowers, but quickly recovered. "ah, no, not at all Kakashi-Sensei. Please come in."

As they moved into the living room she asked, "Are you feeling better now, Kakashi-Sensei? And thank you for the flowers, they are very nice." She moved into the kitchen to find a vase for them. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Yes please, coffee would be good." As he sat down, in answer to her unspoken question he called through, "The flowers are a thank you for staying with me last night and for the medication. I felt a lot better than I should have done this morning. I'm sorry for putting you to so much trouble."

"Ah, that's Ok Kakashi-Sensei, it was no trouble to stay with you." Sakura faintly blushed as she returned with the steaming beverages, then she fetched the vase of flowers and placed them in the middle of the table. "You shouldn't drink so much in one sitting though, it's bad for you."

She sat next to him on the couch and took a sip of coffee, then looked at him appraisingly. "It's not like you to drink so much. You didn't do anything… stupid did you?"

For a fleeting moment Kakashi considered telling her about the bet and asking her to help him out, but he quickly discounted that idea. Sakura would most likely laugh at his predicament, then get extremely annoyed and tell him to deal with it himself so he would lose the bet by default. Besides, he found that he really did not want her to be upset with him.

Instead, he smiled in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head, "No, not that I can remember anyway. And you are right, I don't drink much as a rule. After all, a ninja must normally keep their wits about them." He considered a moment, "From what I remember it seemed turn into some kind of competition…"

Sakura rolled her eyes when Kakashi mentioned competition. It was so typical of the masked man and the green-clad idiot. "Well at least you didn't get into any real trouble." She smiled as she made to get up, "Now I'll just go and get your spare key…"

"No no, it's ok, you keep it," Kakashi put his hand on Sakura's shoulder before she could make a move, "It will be a lot safer with you than under my doormat, and besides, if you ever need somewhere to go then you are more than welcome to use it."

Sakura looked confused for a moment, shaken by the close contact. She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything, he continued, "It's OK Sakura, I trust you. Anyone that wouldn't look under my mask when I was incapacitated must be trustworthy," he said in a slightly amused tone.

"How did you know that I didn't look?" Sakura wondered out loud.

Kakashi gave her an inscrutable look "I didn't know for sure until just now."

Sakura was slightly put out for a moment that he had outsmarted her before she even had a chance to tease him over his mask, but she recovered quickly and asked, "Are you sure you want me to keep the key?"

"Hai hai, it'll make an old man happy," he said jovially. He wanted her to keep it in case the Lee boy became too much and she needed somewhere to go; a safe-house, but he didn't need to tell her that as he was sure that she refuse him out of stubborn pride. Besides, he could use it as an excuse to see her. He nodded to himself; it was all about the bet.

"Mou, Kakashi-Sensei, you aren't old…" Sakura pulled a face.

Kakashi smirked. That pouty-face looked so cute. "In that case just call me Kakashi. The Sensei part makes me feel older than I should now that you are all grown up."

"Umm, ok… Kakashi," She looked up at him as she said it experimentally without the honorific, and she felt a jolt go through her as she met his one exposed eye. Kakashi was looking at her strangely, almost as if... She opened her mouth as if to say something, but the moment was interrupted when…

"Sakura, Sakura you'll never guess what…" Sakura internally cursed that she had not locked the door. It was Ino, all worked up about something. Kakashi, much to Sakura's disappointment, had Poofed out just before the Yamanaka girl appeared. Sakura wondered what had just happened in that moment, but she dismissed it as her imagination brought on by lack of sleep. There was no way Kakashi would be interested in her like that, he still looked upon her as a child… But hadn't he just said that she had grown up?

"What is it, Ino-Pig," Sakura said more sharply than she had intended. She was feeling miffed, but she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she knew in the pit of her stomach that Kakashi would not be back that evening.

"Well, forehead girl," Ino beganin slight annoyance, Sakura winced and looked at Ino apologetically. She deserved that. Over the years, but especially after Sasuke and Ino had gone their separate ways, the girls had got over their petty rivalry and had once again become good friends.

Ino brightened up, "Oh Kami, Sakura, you'll never believe it! Kakashi-Sensei came into the shop and bought a bunch of flowers! Everyone is buzzing about who they might be for…"

Sakura jolted. Kakashi had obviously forgotten how the rumor mill worked around here. "Mou, is that all Ino? Damn it, even Kakashi is only human. Now would you mind leaving? I'm sorry, but I'm really tired as I had no sleep last night and all I want to do is go to bed." She got up and pushed Ino towards the door hoping that her friend wouldn't notice the flowers on the table, but she was out of luck

"Ooh, Sakura, the flowers were for you?" Ino all but squealed as she spotted the blooms.

Sakura stopped and sighed, "Yes, but it's not what you think," she replied in resignation at being caught, "I helped him out of a bad situation last night and he brought those to thank me."

"Oh, come off it Sakura, Kakashi-Sensei wouldn't buy flowers just for that, there must be more to it."

"No, Ino, There isn't," she insisted. although she started once again at Ino's words. After all, it was quite out of character for the masked man. Then she thought about what Lee might do. Sakura lowered her voice almost to a whisper, "Please, you can't tell anyone about this," she pleaded, "If Lee-san finds out then he'll be worse than ever."

"Oh Sakura, you should really report him to the Hokage. This is more than just an innocent crush, its harassment! Deal with him now before he gets even worse."

Sakura's expression closed. "I can handle it," she said, "No need to involve the Hokage. Please, just keep it to yourself?"

Ino sighed, "Ok Sakura, I won't say anything about the flowers, but promise me that you'll tell someone if Lee-san gets any worse."

"Hai hai, I promise. Now please, can I get some sleep?"

As she left the apartment, Ino noted a green figure trying to make itself inconspicuous nearby. She shook her head. That boy was getting to be more trouble than he was worth. She turned and started to head towards home, but stopped sharply and looked back the way she had come as something occurred to her…

Not only had there been two cups of coffee on the table, but Sakura had been acting weird, as if something had been interrupted and…

"She didn't call him Sensei!"

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Authors Notes.

Wow, thank you for the wonderful reviews. Everyone has been so positive I'm overwhelmed.

To 'Me': I don't have a LiveJournal account although I do frequent a a couple of sites on there, including at least one KxS one.(BTW - the link did not come out in your review - FF Net is funny like that.) Also I'm keeping the character count down for the sake of keeping the story simple.

Also thanks to Eboki, Prissy, Allyluv, Twx, December Jewel, and Aredhl. I'm glad you all enjoyed it so far.

I've upped the rating a bit for safety though. I'm not really up on this new ratings system they've brought in and I think I rated it a little low - especially for later chapters.

Look out for the next chapter in a few days.

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