The Anatomy of Love

Written By: Banana007

Chapter 3: Target Locked On


A/N: Again! I REALLY RECOMMEND READING THIS FIC ON AO3 BECAUSE I EMBED MUSIC THERE FOR CERTAIN SCENES. SOME SCENES ARE SPECIFICALLY WRITTEN WITH THE INTENT OF LISTENING TO THAT MUSIC. READING OVER AT AO3 IS A MUCH BETTER EXPERIENCE.

MY AO3 USERNAME IS " TCOOKIES777 " BUT THIS STORY'S FIC TITLE IS STILL "THE ANATOMY OF LOVE" . SO IF YOU CAN READ THIS FIC AT AO3 INSTEAD, PLEASE DO SO.


"Put that down!" Sakura hissed, snatching the miniature succulent from Ino's hands and returning it back to the shelf of other baby plants waiting to be adopted. "We already have so many plants stuffed in our apartment and I'll be the one who has to take care of them when you're gone for the weekend."

Ino pouted in return, already hovering a protective hand over the planter box she'd swiped a few minutes ago as she pushed the cart forward. "Well, they've been freshening up the place for you, you're welcome very much."

Sitting in the cart, Sakura shook her head while glimpsing the shopping list they'd written down before heading to the closest Target in their vicinity. The store was already packed with other students who were also doing some last-minute shopping as the first week of school had just barely passed. Most of the shelves for school supplies were almost cleared out with all the college-ruled notebooks taken as well as the planners, calendars, highlighters, and other organizational materials. Currently, the furniture section was being ransacked by other freshmen looking to stylize their new apartments or houses with fuzzy pillows, puffy beanbags, closet organizers, funky tapestries, fairy lights, and especially those mini marquee light-up signs that said tacky stuff like 'live, laugh, love'.

With the store so crowded with students and their raucous voices, she could barely hear the music playing through the store's speakers. But Ino was humming along, bopping her head in time to the song while Sakura finished checking off another item from their list.

Sitting within the metal cart, she gripped the side to keep steady as Ino swerved around a gaggle of girls 'oohing' over a collection of hydro flask bottles. "Are you sure we really need to buy twelve boxes of tampons and four packs of pads? Isn't that too much?"

"For four girls for the whole year?" Ino snorted. "You know that you and Hinata have the heaviest flow."

"Okay, thank you for announcing that to everyone here," Sakura grumbled, ignoring the look thrown by a guy studying a box of headphones further down the aisle. "Why don't you get on the intercom and announce it to the whole store while you're at it?"

"As soon as we find the tampon aisle," Ino smirked, maneuvering through a clogged aisle of students perusing the shelves. Sitting crisscrossed inside the cart, Sakura gave apologetic smiles to anyone they brushed too closely against. "Beep, beep, people!" shouted Ino. "Driving through here! Vroom-vroom!"

"You don't even have a license," Sakura said as they made a sharp turn into the aisle for the feminine products.

"You don't even have a car."

"At least I have a license."

"Yeah, in a city where most people rely on the bus or just walk or bike." Grabbing the super-absorbent tampons first, Ino handed them to Sakura to stack them in the cart. "You don't need a car to drive to a Target that's a ten-minute walk from where you live."

"Getting your driver's license is a huge rite of passage for anyone entering adulthood," Sakura replied, catching the thick packs of maxi-pads that Ino tossed to her. The last of the packs was extra thick for the heavy flow she typically suffered once a month during shark week, and she made sure to keep the towering stacks of tampons and sanitary pads secure before adding, "At least I got 'driver's license' off my bucket list."

A bucket list that was very short and pretty basic, consisting of little hopes and dreams like her ideal dates or other experiences like hiking to the top of Hokage Rock, a hotspot in Konoha City for professional hikers.

"You're not even eighteen yet," Ino said, rolling the cart onward to the next aisle. "You shouldn't have to force yourself to grow up so fast just because your parents aren't around to baby you. It's totally okay to let loose sometimes and be a wild child if you want, especially since there's no one to nag you if you come home late or whatever."

Glancing over her shoulder to where Ino was pushing the cart, Sakura smirked. "Or maybe you're just worried of falling behind me. Before you know it, I'll be graduating before you."

"Aren't you undecided?"

"Not for forever. So don't worry."

"Oh please, the only thing I'm worried about is your billboard brow getting bigger with age. Careful your hairline doesn't recede any further."

"Ugh, Pig!"

Rolling her eyes, Ino grabbed a random pillow someone had discarded in the wrong aisle and threw it at Sakura's head. "Forehead!" She stuck her tongue out at her best friend who merely tossed the pillow right back at her face. Ino abruptly stopped the cart to pick it up, nearly throwing Sakura off balance. The pillow went flying back into the cart, almost knocking over the carefully organized stack of tampons and pads towering on either side of Sakura as well as in front of her.

"Ew." Picking up the recovered pillow, Sakura raised it up to show off the tacky words sequined in gold onto the front: LOVE. "No way. Too tacky."

"It's for the couch. We forgot to buy pillows for it."

"Our couch doesn't need a gaudy pillow that says 'LOVE'." Shaking her head, Sakura relented and jammed the pillow under her butt to avoid the ache of the cart's metal grating her bones.

"Well, when you bring a guy over and you feel that there's something there, all you gotta do is signal to him with the pillow," Ino snickered, pushing the cart fast down the empty aisle.

The bright lights hanging over the next pair of shelves they entered was the first warning and Sakura groaned at the beautiful colors of makeup palettes and lipsticks now in front of her face. It wasn't that her wallet would suffer, but the space in her apartment would. Her desk and wardrobe could only contain so many items, and she already had a pile of palettes stuffed in her drawer that was barely touched.

She squeezed her eyes shut at the sight of a brand new shade of lipstick from her favorite brand, fingers itching to check the price. Uh-uh. Nope! Hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no—

"Oh my god, they just released a new line of red lipsticks here!" Ino's voice called just a foot away. "I'm serious, this candy apple shade would look so bomb on you!"

Gaaahh, this was the problem of shopping with best friends. They always somehow managed to rope you into buying stuff with them. It was bad enough that their apartment was stuffed with plants thanks to Ino's efforts, but Sakura really didn't need to be cramming more make up into her drawer.

"I'm not looking!" she sang out, keeping both hands over her eyes.

A moment of silence passed, however, and Sakura paused at the lack of noise from her usually boisterous friend. Just as she was starting to wonder if Ino had moved onto the shampoo aisle on the other side without her, a hand clamped over her shoulder.

"I think I just got pregnant," Ino suddenly rasped into her ear.

Sakura jerked at that and frowned. "What?"

"Hottie at your six," Ino whispered excitedly. "Don't look now, Forehead!" she hissed when Sakura started to twist around to see who this hottie spotted was. Maybe a fellow peer she could run into on campus or someone from the housewarming party last weekend. "Okay, I'm going to swerve the cart around but you gotta look natural 'cause he's facing sideways and I don't want him to think we're a pair of stalkers."

"I am natural!"

"With your billboard brow? No way."

"Ugh, just tell me what he looks like." It was a struggle for Sakura to just stay still and keep facing forward when she could practically hear the squeal of excitement barely contained in Ino's voice. "C'mon, I need to know who to look at!"

Damn this tall stack of tampons in her face.

"Um, dark blue jeans and a black long-sleeve," Ino answered, slowly swinging the cart around in the direction of Hottie Alert. "Ooh, daddy! He's got a Dorito torso!"

"A what?" She willed her friend to move the cart faster.

"Trim waist. Broad shoulders." Ino paused. "Oh yeah, he's got a mask on too."

Sakura stiffened at that. "Wait, did you say—"

"Oh my fucking god, look at that bubble butt."

"Ino, hold on! Don't—" Her words were all but forgotten as the cart finished turning and Sakura laid her eyes on that familiar silver head. He was standing at the literature section where a wall of books welcomed him with various covers of non-fiction and fictional books written by best-selling authors. On one side of the shelf were writers like Shakespeare, George Orwell, William Blake, Henry David Thoreau, and other classics often used for school readings. On the other side of the shelf sat… well, she didn't recognize any authors but their scandalous covers were definitely not for academic purposes.

Kakashi stood in between the two sides, one hand dipped into the pocket of his jeans and the other holding a book with his thumb wedged in between the pages. His cart remained idle beside him and nearly empty of any items save for two large bags of dog food. It seemed like he was deep into the reading, what with the way his shoulders were slightly slouched.

The cart abruptly picked up speed and Sakura grabbed the sides to hang on, heart leaping in her chest like she was riding on a rollercoaster. "Ino, stop!" she wheezed out, but her voice was too quiet in fear that Kakashi might look up from his book.

It was either luck or sheer misfortune that he was so distracted by his reading material that he didn't notice a blonde girl gleefully racing towards him with a pink-haired girl helplessly trapped in the shopping vehicle.

With Sakura sitting at the front, she had a perfect and horrifying view of what happened next. Kakashi glanced up just in time to see their cart crash into his, his hand flying out of his pocket with lightning reflexes to catch his cart from colliding with the shelf. Meanwhile, the three carefully stacked towers of tampons and sanitary pads collapsed from the impact, burying Sakura up to her chest in feminine products.

Grey eyes, tinted a shade darker with ire, flicked from his cart to land on Sakura's mortified face. The ire melted away as he took in the sight of her before the culprit behind the whole accident interrupted their gaze with a well-practiced laugh that was meant to be innocent and facilitate into—

"I'm so sorry!" Ino tilted her head with a sweet pout, long blonde ponytail swishing over her shoulder. Batting her lashes under the guise of nervousness and remorse, she said, "I was pushing the cart too hard and, with my friend's weight, it was really hard to stop it. Are you all right?"

Sakura wished the tampons and pads had buried her completely under. At least so that Kakashi, who was still staring at her, wouldn't have been able to notice her at all.

"It's all right. No harm done," Kakashi said, tearing his eyes away to briefly glance at Ino in acknowledgment before returning his attention to Sakura. "Are you all right, Miss Haruno?"

Keeping her eyes on the words 'Super Absorbent!' printed across the box on her lap, Sakura sensed Ino stiffening behind her as the blonde girl processed what the man had just said. She could practically hear the gears turning in her friend's mind in the split second Sakura peered up at her professor through her lashes. "I-I'm all right, Professor Hatake."

Professor Hatake. The name of the professor whom Sakura had told all about with Ino and the girls. She had also divulged the cringe-worthy night of events that had occurred, following up to the Monday morning she'd discovered he was to be her Anatomy professor for the next four months. Professor Hatake; the guy she had punched, hitched a piggyback ride on, nearly sexually assaulted, puked all over, and left hanging at the elevator within the span of two days.

"Oh, I…" Ino glanced between the two, her stutter real this time as she realized her plan had gone completely off the rails with this revelation. She started to back away, laughing stiffly now. "I should, uh… yeah, I-I gotta go look for the condoms," she said aloud, flashing a sweet smile.

Sakura decided right then and there that she was going to kill her beloved best friend. She would make sure that her death would be quick and painless.

But then her eyes widened as she fully processed Ino's intentions and she squirmed around, jaw dropping at the sight of her future dead best friend already walking away like she'd spotted a BOGO sale on lingerie.

Oh, she was so going to kill her!

Slowly turning back to Kakashi, she tried for a smile to wipe away the horrified expression she probably still wore. "I'm so sorry about my friend, Ino. She's, um…" Shoving a tampon box out of her lap, Sakura went on to brush aside her bangs and hope they weren't as frazzled as they felt after Ino's 'accident'. "Sh-She's had one too many frappuccinos today."

Coffee. Yeah, that would be a good way to kill her and make it look like a natural death.

Kakashi nodded and Sakura was relieved to see the ire in his eyes was completely absent now. But then his gaze flitted around as he eyed the products she was half-buried in. Heat flooded her cheeks as she observed the way one brow slightly rose up before he blinked and cleared his throat to focus on her again. "Do you need any help?" he asked slowly, as if unsure if he should offer her the help.

"Huh?" Sakura stopped restacking the boxes to see what he meant.

"The cart." He pointed at it in gesture before dipping his hand back into his pocket. "Are you going to stay in there while your friend gets… stuff? Or do you need help getting out?"

She glanced down at herself—at her dilemma—and chewed her lip in thought. If she stayed in the cart, would he stay here too and continue reading his book while she just… sat in a cart of tampons and pads beside him? Having him help her out was just as embarrassing, but at least she wouldn't be tortured as long. Deciding that the former was more embarrassing and awkward than the latter, Sakura nodded. "C-Could you help me? Please?"

This was not the kind of help she thought she would ever have to ask her professor for.

He set his book down and she caught a glimpse of the cover: a scantily clad woman being embraced by a man from behind. Okay, that was definitely not a book meant for academic reading. Before she could dwell on the fact that he'd been reading an adult romance novel instead of something like Thoreau, his hands raised towards her.

"Can you stand up?" he asked, taking a step back to give her space.

"Um…" Gripping the side of the cart, she slowly uncrossed her legs and rose in an attempt to do just that. But as soon as her hips rose above the cart, the wheels began to wobble beneath her and so did she. "W-Woah!"

His hands flew forward to hover an inch away from her shoulders. "Ah, may I?"

Sakura peeked up at him and saw the silent intention in his eyes. "Could you please?"

In answer, Kakashi slipped both hands underneath her armpits and slowly helped her up. As the cart began to wobble again, he said, "Grab my shoulders."

Oh. Okay. Don't mind if I do!

Biting her lip, Sakura reached out to place her hands atop of those same strong shoulders she'd gripped in a drunken daze that night they met. But this time, she didn't have the haze of alcohol to lessen the nerves heating up her face as the grip of her hands bunched the material of his black shirt. This time, she was completely aware of the minty aftershave and gentle scent of pine trees that filled her lungs as she bent over slightly for him.

"Okay, now, just try putting your foot there—"

"Woaaah..!"

"No, don't take your hand off my shoulder. Just—yeah, there. Now can you climb—"

"Um… Wait, it's going to—ah!"

"Okay, let's not do that." He hummed in contemplation as they both paused for a break. His hands held her securely beneath her armpits and she wondered if the heat there was from her sweat or the warmth of his palms. A tingle ran down her back as his fingers shifted atop of the tight white shirt she wore, just over her shoulder blades.

To add to the horror of her embarrassing situation, Sakura realized that with the way she was holding onto his shoulders and bending slightly for him, her breasts were right in front of his face.

Oh. My. God.

At that moment, she thought that, for once, maybe it was a good thing that her breasts weren't as large as Hinata's. But then that silver lining was ruined by the thought that her B-cups would always just be B-cups.

But I guess I should be happy I'm not burying his face in my breasts, Sakura thought as she turned her cheek to avoid the fluffed ends of his grey hair.

Hell, if I'd known my breasts would be in his face like this then I should've just worn my push-up bra to look cuter! At least then the embarrassment would've been sufferable.

Thankfully, it seemed Kakashi was more focused on figuring out how to help get her out of the cart, saving the embarrassment only for her.

"I'll just pull you out, all right?" he finally proposed, breaking Sakura out of her thoughts.

What? Like… a baby from the cart seat? Except, instead of a baby and a mother, it was a student and her professor.

Sakura was already shaking her head. "It-It's okay, Professor Hata—wah!"

He lifted her from the cart like she really was just a baby. But she hadn't expected him to actually do it, so her legs flailed around until she was safely set on her feet. Suddenly, she was standing right before him with only a few inches separating her face from his broad chest. Still dizzy from being lifted, she felt like that night again when she'd been gripping the lapels of his jacket and tiptoeing up for that kiss.

They took a step away from each other in unison as if thinking of the same memory.

"Um, th-thank you, Professor Hatake." She was a bit breathless, still in her fight-or-flight mode with hands itching to smooth back her hair or at least smooth out the crinkles of her lavender skirt. Better that than be trying to punch him in the face again.

"It's no problem," he said slowly, bending down to retrieve some of the stuff that'd been knocked out of the cart due to her flailing around. Her eyes went round at the sight of her pack of pads—labeled in glaringly large words, 'FOR HEAVY FLOW'—in his hands. "Here's your…pads."

She wanted to wither on the spot and let the non-existent breeze of the store blow her away from this situation.

There seemed to be a silent consensus to not look each other in the eye as her arm stiffly moved to snatch the pack of sanitary pads away from him. She nearly fell to her knees in her haste to pick up the other boxes of tampons and pads that'd also been knocked to the floor. When Kakashi knelt down to help her, she had to bite her bottom lip to keep from screaming 'nooooo!'. Unfortunately, the evidence of her embarrassment was clear as day in the redness of her face.

"Thanks," she whispered as he set the products back into her cart. It felt like her soul was being sucked out by the awkwardness hanging between them once more.

Kakashi merely nodded, hands slipping back into the pockets of his jeans again as he glanced around for a moment. She noticed that the bit of the bruise she'd given him had now faded to a lime yellow color, matching the shade of the bruise on her knee.

That's good. At least I didn't punch the eye with that scar. Just two or three inches higher and she would have. Yikes.

"I'm glad your bruise is looking better," she commented a bit shyly. "Does it still hurt?"

Kakashi blinked at her before slowly touching the exposed skin of his cheek just over the edge of his mask. "Oh, yeah. It doesn't hurt at all."

Her shoulders sagged in relief, and she hoped he wasn't just saying that to keep her concern from growing.

"And your bruise looks better too," he pointed out with a jut of his chin.

Following his gaze to her knee, she couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, it's like we match!"

Ah, why did I say that aloud?!

"We do," Kakashi chuckled slightly and she relaxed and followed suit, pleased that he'd thought the same.

But he also seemed a bit tense, and Sakura wasn't sure if it was because he wanted to go back to reading his adult romance novel or because he'd had to help a poor girl out of a cart and then clean up her mess of feminine products.

If he was wondering why two girls had twelve boxes of super-absorbent tampons and four packs of sanitary pads, Sakura was extremely grateful that he didn't bother to ask.

"S-So what are you doing here?" she inquired if only to pull his attention elsewhere. But then she mentally facepalmed as she figured he was obviously here to shop just like everyone else was.

"I need to buy some groceries," he said, peering aside to his own cart where the bags of dog food had slumped over after the crash.

Duh, Sakura!

She wasn't sure if he counted the dog food as groceries, but there was nothing else in there. The thought of him having gotten distracted from his grocery shopping by a book had her lips quirking up. Noticing her attention on his near-empty cart, Kakashi added sheepishly, "And a lamp."

"Oh, me too!" Sakura said instantly, smiling at the small connection between them. But her excitement sputtered as she thought that she had practically given him an invitation to go shopping with her. And if he didn't want to… Then she would just have to go on ahead without him. Which would kind of make things even more awkward than they already were. "D-Do you know where the lamp section is?"

The lamp section… Was there even a lamp section? Ugh, what if it was called the 'light section' or something else entirely? She had the sudden desire to tell him that she was not usually this dumb, but it seemed that every time they encountered each other outside of class, he was always catching her right in the middle of doing some dumb shit. And together with Ino, they were Dumb and Dumber.

"I can take you there," Kakashi replied just as she was starting to regret her question. "I was here last week, so I have an idea of the general layout."

Any sense of embarrassment dissipated and she perked up as he grabbed his cart to lead her. The chilly scent of pine trees and aftershave wafted across and she followed after it—after him, unsure of whether to keep pace beside him or behind him. But then following after him like a little duckling felt childish, so Sakura stayed at his side, just a step behind in pace.

She kept her eyes trained towards the front to make sure her cart didn't crash into another victim. As they passed down rows of shelves, however, it was hard not to miss the way the other female students cast furtive looks their way—no, his way—and Sakura kept her shoulders straight when some of those looks turned to her. Those girls either raised a confused brow or frowned in jealousy, including the girls holding hands with their boyfriends.

But it's not like there was anything for them to be jealous of.

"So did you just finish moving in?" Kakashi asked, pulling her attention away from the scathing gaze one girl was trying to burn into the back of Sakura's head.

The question gave her the courage to meet Kakashi's eyes, the grey of which had a keen glint. "Yeah, it was just mostly clothes I needed to unpack and organize," she said, thinking back to her father's grey shirt that she'd given him along with the sushi tie. She wondered if it was hanging in his closet now and if he'd worn it yet.

"I just finished too."

Huh? She blinked up at him. "You're… new here too?"

That would explain his new teaching position, she supposed.

"Actually, no," he said, briefly stopping his cart to allow a string of students to cut through. "I was born and raised here, so I'm actually well-known by most of the faculty at the university. Do you have Professor Iruka, by any chance? He teaches that orientation course that I believe is mandatory for freshmen students like yourself."

Professor Iruka. The guy was strict, but very friendly and one of the few teachers she'd met in her life that genuinely enjoyed teaching and sincerely wanted to educate his students. The scar across the bridge of his nose was often the first thing that came to mind upon hearing his name, along with that cheery smile of his.

"Yeah, I have him on Tuesdays," she answered with a slight smile. "He's really nice, so all the students love him."

Kakashi nodded. "I was classmates with him, growing up. Along with Professors Guy, Kurenai, and Asuma."

She didn't have those three as her instructors but had seen them after Tenten, Ino, and Hinata had opened the school's faculty page to check what their instructors looked like shortly before school began. Now that she thought about it, they all looked about the same age… except Kakashi still looked a bit younger than them. But maybe it was the mask and he was hiding a wrinkle or two there. Well, even if he did have wrinkles, it would do nothing to detract from his rugged handsomeness.

Gah, stop thinking of how handsome he is, Sakura! He's handsomecapeesh?! Now enough of that.

"So you just moved away for a while before moving back into your old home?" she asked, hoping the smile on her face reflected none of her inner thoughts. "Must've been nostalgic. Did it all look the same when you came back home?"

The expression on his face suddenly changed into something strange and unreadable. "Yeah…" he muttered. A beat passed before he sucked in a breath through the thin cloth of his mask and glanced at her, eyes crinkling in what was supposed to be jovialness, but she felt it was faked for some reason. "So you moved in from where, Miss Haruno?"

"Oh!" The question threw her off guard as she wasn't expecting for him to be interested to know anything more about her than what was necessary as his student. But his interest spiked a bit of happiness in her and she tucked back a lock of hair to calm herself before replying. "I lived near the edge of the city before moving into the neighborhood for college. My friend you saw earlier, Ino, she wanted to move out of the house for some independence and for the college experience, so her father hooked us up with that apartment."

"I'm sure it wasn't easy for him since many other students are just as eager to grab a house or apartment next to campus."

"Yeah, but Mr. Yamanaka is really good at reading people, so he usually knows how to get them to say what he wants to hear."

"Yamanaka?" Kakashi looked sharply at her, still holding the apple they'd stopped by the fruit section to inspect. "Is he… Inoichi Yamanaka?" Seeing her surprised expression, he explained, "Ah… well, when I was a student, he came by to deliver a lecture on mental health and depression. I became a fan of his that day when he became the first teacher to address the rising issue of… suicide in the nation. Especially among youths."

Sakura nodded. "Ino did say he once taught for a year at the university."

Before taking a position in the Intelligence division for the F.B.I. the following year. But that wasn't her secret to share aloud.

"And your guys' parents were fine with taking an apartment instead of the dormitories for your first year?" Kakashi inquired, grabbing three apples to fill a bag before taking a bunch of bananas as well.

Grabbing an apple for herself even though the fridge was already full with freshly stocked groceries, Sakura mulled over the question for a bit. The dormitories were a cheaper and more popular option since houses and apartments required more responsibility and upkeep, but it was the part about the parents that made her take a moment to answer. "Ino's parents wanted to make sure we could be together. And my parents are…." she hesitated. "They're fine with it."

His eyes flicked over to her for a split second before leading her onward to the next aisle… which was, unfortunately, the aisle with the condoms. And, of course, Ino Pig was nowhere to be seen. Sakura wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Knowing it would be too awkward to just make a complete one-eighty swerve, they both paused with reluctance. Thankfully, it was Kakashi who made the decision for them. Clearing his throat, he pushed his cart ahead and Sakura trailed him from behind this time.

He strode quickly through, but the shelves were long with various options. Geez, how many types of condoms were there?! There were flavored ones, ribbed ones, natural-feel, female pleasure effect, scented, delayed effect, gift condoms, novelty condoms… even condoms for anal play—what the?!

And then there were the sizes. Small size, regular size, large size, larger size, and super large size. Why would anyone need a super large size? Wasn't eight inches the maximum? At least that's what her high school biology teacher claimed after a student had asked during a brief period when they could ask questions anonymously. But even eight inches sounded very scary and painful…

"Miss Haruno?" Kakashi glanced at her over his shoulder.

Sakura ducked her head to hide the furious blush on her cheeks as she realized she'd been slowing down to examine the assortment of condoms. "C-Coming, Professor!"

Forget eight inches of dick—she could barely even put in a tampon without wincing from the intrusion.

Sakura surreptitiously looked at Kakashi's back. I wonder what sizewoah, Sakura, let's not go there.

Shaking her head, she hurried after him to escape the aisle of pleasure and turn into the aisle of—lamps?! Who the hell put the lamp section right next to the condoms?!

As if hearing the question in her mind, Kakashi cleared his throat again. "Not quite where I expected to find the lamps, but at least we're finally here."

Finally. Her cheeks were still hot from passing through the condom aisle though.

"Ooh!" To distract herself, she skipped over to the shelf of lava lamps, picking up one that had a volcanic theme. It wouldn't be ideal for studying since the light was too soft, but she'd always wanted a lava lamp as a kid.

"I think that would put you to sleep rather than keep you awake," Kakashi said with a bit of amusement, peering in her direction with a lamp in his own hands.

It was the kind with the bendable neck and Sakura remembered seeing the design in almost every college movie. She'd bought it back in junior high during a period in which she'd been so obsessed with Pixar films that she just had to have a replica of the cute lamp that bounced around. Except that those kinds of lamps turned out to not last so long for studious students like herself.

"My lava lamp is probably more useful than your Pixar lamp," she said with a snort, but returned the lava lamp back to its shelf. Mouth quirking from the slight crinkle of his eyes, Sakura went over to his side of the aisle to peruse through their more professional options. "I want something that doesn't take up much space…"

"Most of the desk lamps here are LEDs." He glanced at her with brows furrowed slightly. "Too much exposure to LED lighting can be damaging to your eye's retina. Are you sure you want one?"

"I've got healthy eyes, Professor Hatake." Sakura smiled, tapping her temple. "Twenty-twenty vision and will probably never need glasses in my life. What about your eyes?"

Oh shit, was it okay to ask that when he had a nasty scar over that left eye of his? But the eye itself didn't look damaged...

Much to her relief, Kakashi just made a small huff that sounded vaguely of a laugh. "You're still young, but I'm much older than you, so I have an excuse."

"Oh, come on." She propped both hands on her hips. "I stare at my phone and laptop for hours everyday. A little LED light isn't gonna make much of a difference, with or without."

"All right then. It's your choice." Fixing his attention back on the shelf, his hand hovered over several more lamps before landing on a silver one. "Here, how about this for your room?"

Approaching Kakashi's side, she carefully accepted the lamp offered to her, making sure their hands didn't touch. The lamp looked like two pieces of metal bars had been connected together with a joint for hinge movement. It was lightweight, very slim, and… "Ooh, this is a foldable desk lamp!"

It would take up hardly any space on her already cramped desk, folded or not folded. The sleek and simple design would also make it easy to clean too. Oh, this was a genius pick!

Realizing she was grinning and practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, Sakura blushed under Kakashi's expectant gaze. He was still awaiting her verdict.

"I like it," she simply said, keeping her face calm as she nodded her approval. Taking the item back to her cart, she raised her brows at the sight of him taking a black version of the same lamp and setting it in his own cart. No way. He was buying the same lamp too?

She suppressed a giggle bubbling within her. We're matching again!

Wait, no, don't be stupid. It made sense that he would also choose what he liked and her lamp had originally been his pick anyway. Technically, it was her who was buying the same thing as him.

Chewing her lip, she watched him rest his forearm against the red handle of his shopping cart, their gazes meeting once more. An awkward silence began to build as they both understood that their shared goal was now complete and they no longer needed to shop together.

"So," he scratched the back of his head, "settling in just fine then?"

"Yeah, it's all good," she said, fiddling with the hem of her lavender skirt now. "I'm not so lonely anymore now that I have Ino to live with." And rowdy students as her neighbors to fill the silence most of the time.

Her answer had him tipping his head towards her, brows slightly pinched at what she said. "Your parents are often away at work or something?"

Often? Try always. "Something like that…"

He stared at her, head still tilted slightly that it almost reminded her of a dog.

Not wanting Kakashi to feel pressured to find a segue for a goodbye, Sakura decided to make it easier for him. She flashed him a smile, gripping her cart to start pushing it past him. "Well, I should go find Ino now. I'll see you next Monday, Professor Hatake?"

He nodded, dark eyes following her as she swept by him. "All right. See you around, Miss Haruno."

As soon as the scent of pine trees and aftershave could no longer be picked up on, Sakura raced her cart down the halls of the store. The traffic of students had died down to stragglers now, leaving her free to screech her cart around the corner where Kakashi and her had grabbed some apples first. Squinting at the long tail of blonde hair peeking out from the shelf of eyeshadow palettes further down, Sakura quickened her stride, the wheels of the cart rolling loudly against the linoleum floor.

"I thought you were looking for the condoms?" she spoke through gritted teeth once she reached the girl.

Twirling around, Ino grabbed her by the arm and hissed, "He. Is. HOT!"

"I told you!" Sakura hissed back before letting a smirk take over as she felt prideful over the fact she had an instructor so good-looking that even Ino, who was extremely picky with her taste in men and their appearance, looked flabbergasted by Kakashi's physical appeal.

"I think my ovaries exploded the moment I laid eyes on him," Ino huffed, fanning her face with a smile.

"What did I say? They don't call him Professor Hotake for nothing."

"Yeah, but I didn't think he was daddy material hot!" Ino shook her head, still in disbelief. "When you said he was handsome, I thought you meant decently good-looking. I didn't expect him to be a freaking runway model! No, not a model—a freaking sex god!" Grabbing Sakura by her shoulders, Ino glared at her disapprovingly. "And you punched the face of that god?!"

"It was dark," Sakura whined in protest. "Like, really dark, okay? And he was wearing all black so—yeah—I punched him because I thought he was another one of those thugs, good-looking or not."

"Ugh!" Letting go of her, Ino frowned at the single apple sitting innocently in the cart seat beside her planter box. "Is it weird that I find your professor even sexier just seeing him hold that book? I could totally cosplay as a sexy librarian for him. I just need to buy those fake nerd glasses."

"Hey! He's my professor," Sakura complained, following her friend out of the aisle.

"What? It's not like you're dating him."

"I thought you had Sai?"

"We're still in the talking phase. It's been moving a bit more slowly than I expected but," shrugging, Ino bit back a smile, "he's an eager learner."

"And at least he's cute and nice, right?" added Sakura, nudging her shoulder.

Ino rolled her eyes and wagged a finger. "Do not divert the attention away from Sexy Sensei. I cannot believe you got a guy like that into our apartment, had him change clothes a few feet away from you, and—wait, hold on. So he really wore your silly sushi tie?!"

Sakura nodded, unable to hold back the grin on her face. "And I think he liked it too."

Which, honestly, shouldn't have made her as happy as it did since it was just a tie and he was just her professor. But she was happy about it anyway.

"Where are the pictures?" Ino demanded.

"Without his consent?"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Whatever." Sakura shrugged. "He wore a different tie on Wednesday anyways."

Specifically, the same olive tie that she'd puked on. But neither of them had said anything about that when they sat together at the bench while waiting for lab class. A part of her had wanted to ask how long it'd taken to get the stench out, but she didn't want to ruin the fragile peace they'd cultivated since Monday.

"Okay, but the point is that you got him into the apartment half-naked and nothing happened?!" Shaking her head in disappointment, Ino groaned out, "Do you really need me to hold your hand when it comes to dealing with men?"

"Need I remind you that he's my professor?!"

"Yeah, but you got him half-naked before you two found out you were student and teacher. Didn't you see the other girls eyeing him everywhere he went? I bet they wouldn't have hesitated to at least give him a blowjob," she waggled her brows as if she would've done the same thing.

But Sakura's jaw fell open at the image of just one of those girls they'd passed by the aisles eagerly dropping to her knees and fumbling with the belt around Kakashi's trousers. Nu-uh! "Kakashi—I mean—Professor Hatake is not that kind of guy!"

"How do you know? You've barely known him for a week." Seeing the way Sakura's face scrunched in disgust and disbelief, Ino sighed. "Look, Professor Hatake is a healthy, red-blooded male who, if he really did just turn thirty-one years old, is at the ideal age to make babies. Queer or straight, every guy likes a good suck and an even better fuck." She paused to glance over at the elderly woman who gasped and dragged her granddaughter away. Turning back to Sakura, Ino added with a shrug, "I'm pretty sure your professor's going to masturbate to some porn later tonight if he hasn't already."

Just hearing the word 'masturbate' conjured up the image of Kakashi laying back, eyes dark and hooded from desire as he groaned with his fly unzipped and one hand fisted around his thick—

She gasped and shook her head, willing the flush of heat in her face to go away and lower belly to stop clenching with excitement.

But then Sakura remembered the scandalous book cover she'd glimpsed before Kakashi had hurriedly set it aside. It had definitely been an adult romance novel, but it'd be hypocritical of her to judge him for that considering she'd once cracked open a novel of that kind as well while waiting for Ino to finish shopping. She'd perused through the novel merely out of curiosity for what set the adult romance genre apart from the typical romance books found at the local library. But then she'd gotten to the chapter where the heroine had started to engage in ridiculously aggressive sex with a vampire in a barn, and Sakura could still vividly remember the details that had enraptured her young mind because the whole sex scene had been written in explicit detail.

Maybe Kakashi was into those kinds of books. Or maybe he'd just opened it out of curiosity as well.

Regardless, that didn't mean Kakashi was the kind of guy to just have a one-night stand with a random woman… Right? She wasn't sure how she felt about men and women who did that. Maybe it was a virginal way of thinking or her inner romantic but, to her, it sounded like that person was just disinterested in meaningful romantic relationships if they could so easily have sex with someone they just met.

And she didn't want to think someone as chivalric as Kakashi could be so dispassionate like that. Then again, was it wrong of her to already have expectations for him when they were barely acquaintances? Yes, she supposed it was wrong, and even worse that she was setting a ridiculously high expectation for him when he was free to do as he pleased. She also knew she had no right to judge him outside of their relationship as student and teacher.

"Hold on." Ino narrowed her eyes as she contemplated something. "Why would a guy his age and with his looks need to get off on porn? What if he already has a wife or a girlfriend?" She gasped and grabbed Sakura's wrist urgently. "What if he's already made babies?"

True, it wouldn't be unusual at all if he didn't already have children of his own, or at least a girlfriend. But then wouldn't the girlfriend have gotten upset by him wearing a tie gifted by another girl? Or maybe Kakashi had simply kept it a secret. No, she didn't want to think about that.

I'm just overthinking things. What matters is that he likes my sushi tie…. Not that it should matter at all, but...

Grabbing some hangars for her closet, she checked their shopping list once more before guiding the cart in the direction of the check-out. "Well, I did ask him if he was celebrating his birthday with friends and family, and I think he just mentioned friends."

Also, judging by the sparse groceries in his shopping cart that merely included dog food and some fruits and vegetables—and now his matching lamp—it didn't look like he was buying for a family.

"Girlfriend can still count as a friend," Ino said, giving her a pointed look. "That's why it's a compound word… What?" Catching the slight pout on Sakura's lips, Ino propped a hand on her hip. "Are you seriously getting jealous just thinking that he might have a woman waiting for him at home?"

"What?" Sakura jerked back at that. "N-No, why would I? Like you said, I've only known him for a week."

"And yet you're already having little bench dates with him in between classes together," Ino cooed teasingly. "I'll admit, that sounds kinda cute. At least you're only hogging him after class and not during."

Swiping her card to pay for the groceries, Sakura kept her focus on the tampons and pads she stuffed into grocery bags. The memory of Kakashi helping her pick up the items was still fresh on her mind and she glared at Ino as she stuffed the heavy flow maxi-pads into her friend's arms. "It's not like I could hog Professor Hatake even if I wanted to," she admitted. "The girls always swarm him as soon as lecture is over. At least after lab class nobody wants to stay any longer than necessary."

Ino waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about those girls. You still get to have Professor Hatake all to yourself when you guys meet at your bench."

"It's not our bench, it's just… a bench," Sakura corrected her. "Besides, I've only been having classes with him for two days."

"And you have fourteen more weeks. That's twenty-eight more bench dates."

Twenty-eight bench dates. That sounded like a bad title to a cheesy rom-com.

"I think he just wanted to read his book in peace there and I just happened to steal his spot. I should probably leave him alone and sit elsewhere," Sakura nodded to herself, finding that idea sensible for the both of them.

But Ino gave her a bewildered look as if Sakura had just offered to kill the guy instead. "Hell no! Are you or are you not a strong and independent woman, Sakura?!" Grabbing their last box of tampons, she gestured wildly with it. "You've gotta claim your spot on that bench like it's your throne!"

"Well, apparently it was his throne first."

"Then good thing there's space for two butts," retorted Ino. "Seriously, you need to stop being such a pussy with men and stop backing down the moment you start feeling nervous around them." Suddenly, she gasped and whirled around to clamp a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Wait, Professor Hatake is the perfect opportunity for you to practice!"

Ignoring the scandalous look the nearby cashier tossed them, Sakura lowered her voice into a hiss. "Why do I have to practice talking to boys using my own Anatomy professor?"

"Because you already punched and vomited on him," Ino replied, faking a dry heave before snickering. "So it can't get any worse than that just in case you somehow fuck up again."

"Ugh, thanks for the reminder." With her bad luck in men, Sakura was absolutely certain that there were many ways that it could get worse. Somehow.

"So?" Ino hummed, taking half of the groceries to head over to the in-door Starbucks just across from the check-out. "Do you just sit there on the bench while he reads?"

"On Wednesday, we just talked like we did on Monday."

"About?"

"Stuff. Classes. The reading material." She gave a half-shrug, setting their groceries onto a table. "How's the food at the cafeteria."

And it wasn't like their conversations were forced at all. Admittedly, their chat would start off awkward as neither was sure of who would speak first and about what. Once the conversation got going, however, it was smooth sailing from there.

In school, Professor Hatake was pretty easy to talk to. It was only when they met outside of school and ran into each other like earlier did Sakura feel unprepared and nervous around him. Because it wasn't like they were meeting as student and teacher, but rather as acquaintances. And seeing Kakashi dressed so casually in a simple black long-sleeve and dark blue jeans rather than the usual shirt-and-tie attire had only left her feeling even more confused as to how she should behave around him when outside of school. In the classroom, he was strict and seemingly apathetic. But when they talked on the bench, he was nothing but calm and even gentle… not apathetic, but just mild-mannered.

"How's the food at the cafeteria?!" Ino cackled. "Are you serious right now?"

"What?" Sakura felt a bit defensive at that. "Now I know that he likes the traditional shoyu ramen bowl from the cafeteria and that he hates when the pork is too tough to chew."

And Kakashi also knew that she liked the fruit parfaits sold at the corner of the cafeteria and especially liked when the parfait came with those cherry toppings.

Shaking her head while laughing, Ino said, "I think you really do need me to hold your hand when you talk to guys."

"Oh, and batting your lashes does the trick?"

"You'd be surprised by the psychological effects behind body language." Pulling her wallet from her purse, Ino turned towards the barista to make her order but not before saying, "Try biting your bottom lip while meeting his eyes and see what happens."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura crossed her arms and waited for Ino. It wasn't like there was much to talk with your professor about except for academics or school stuff. Then again, she'd always had trouble with talking to cute boys in general.

The very first boy she confessed to probably had to be when she was seven years old. He had straight up rejected her by laughing in her face along with his friends and called her 'ugly' which had made her very insecure of herself for many years.

Growing up after that, her few crushes had usually lost any interest in her once she started stuttering from nervousness. And then once she realized that her blushes and stutters were deterring them, she'd learned to become very picky with the topic of their conversation, if only to ensure that she already had an idea of what to say instead of letting her mouth run ahead of her mind.

"You know that I can't date my professor anyway," Sakura said, grabbing her matcha tea drink when Ino returned. And it's not as if she wanted to. There was no point in dating anyone when she knew that it would ultimately amount to nothing. What could she even tell them? 'Hey, I have a fiance but would you like to go out with me?' Like that would work.

"I'm not saying you should date him; I'm saying a little flirting wouldn't hurt." Ino took a sip of her frapp before nodding to her. "Seriously, you could use the practice. A guy as hot as him will help you keep your cool when dealing with a cute boy."

Sakura could not believe what her friend was suggesting. It was already awkward enough that she'd done all of that to her own professor in a single night. Even if it was just for some lighthearted practice, to even think of flirting with Kakashi now that their professional relationship as student and teacher was already established was… absolutely ridiculous!

She couldn't help but heave a sigh. "Look, flirting with a man versus with a boy are two different things. A man is more mature and experienced and boys…"

"Are immature and thirsty," Ino finished for her. "Man, you still haven't forgotten that incident with Ren, huh?"

Ren Nakagawa. He'd been a classmate of theirs in their early high school days. Cute and friendly, Sakura had never minded his company and always gave him a polite smile whenever he struck up a conversation with her and the girls. But it did surprise her when he one day took her behind the school building to shove a love letter into her hands and confess. Now, imagine rejecting the guy as politely as possible, and with a polite smile of course, only for him to respond by spreading a rumor that she had chlamydia to save face. When Sakura had tried to confront him, he ran away like a punk-ass bitch. So she'd grabbed his arm only for him to scream 'it's the chlamydia girl! I have chlamydia now!'

"Yeah," she grunted. "After Ren, I've learned to have different expectations for men compared to my expectations for boys."

Ino's strawberry-pink glossed lips curled up. "All right, so you like them older, huh?"

"Not another party," Sakura groaned out, setting down her matcha tea to pout in defiance. "You know I suck at socializing with boys at parties and I really don't want to think so hard on what to talk about when I should be having fun instead."

What the hell do people even talk about at parties?

The last time a random guy had tried to strike up a conversation with her at a party, he'd started off by saying 'you've got a cute ass'. Not the best conversation starter...

Ino shook her head, twirling the straw of her drink between her fingers. "It'll be Neji's party. You know Naruto's now a Pledge for his frat. It's going to be at the end of the month. All the boys there will be—"

"Frat boys. Which means half of the boys there will be fuck boys."

"And there'll also be guys like Kiba. Even Shikamaru is going and he's pretty chill."

But Sakura wrinkled her nose. "Kiba is a bit too hyper for my taste. And Shikamaru is talking with that senior chick, last I heard."

"Oh yeah, I think her name was Temari. Hm… what about Shino then?"

"Nah, I think he's more interested in his insects rather than girls..."

"Hey, don't be so picky with boys," Ino said, stealing her matcha tea drink to taste it. "You're acting like the very first guy you'll ever kiss is the one you're gonna marry for life," she added with a knowing look, upper lip curling just the slightest.

"Very funny." Sakura stuck her tongue out in response to that tasteless joke.

"Anyway, there'll be plenty of seniors for you to pick." Holding up her phone, Ino smiled lightly at her. "I'll even screen them for you. Do a bit of investigation on social media."

"Might as well ask your dad to help out too while you're at it."

"Ha-ha." Fingers tapping across her phone's screen for a while, Ino suddenly paused and lifted her brows, intrigued by what she found. "Ooh, okay. I think I already see a potential match for you. Older, really cute, and smart too. Hmm… I think this senior might be the one for you, but I'll look through other options too."

She reached her hand out for the phone. "Lemme see him."

"No way! You'll totally panic and overthink it everyday until the party."

"Ugh, fine!" Slumping further in her seat in defeat, Sakura grumbled, "But I'm so not playing Spin-the-Bottle again."

"You can play beer pong with me." Ino comforted her with a reassuring pat on her hand. "We can double team against the guys."

Sakura grinned at her. "Yeah, otherwise you'd miss all the shots if you go on your own."

"Ugh, Forehead!"

"Pig!"


The bell hanging above the door tinkled loudly in announcement as Kakashi Hatake stepped into the homely Yamanaka Flowers shop. It wasn't the main shop that belonged to the wife of his former colleague, Inoichi Yamanaka, but the branch shop was very much a close replicant of his friend's.

The crisp floral scent of the shop's space flooded his nose as he sucked in a breath before heading over to the shelf of bouquets that were labeled with the names of various types of flowers.

No more did he take five steps when the shopkeeper, a young woman slightly younger than him with pale brown hair and amber eyes, stepped to his side with a well-practiced, sweet smile. "Hi there! Can I help you with your pick of flowers today?"

But Kakashi's eyes were already flitting across the shelves before him in search of a particular flower. He marched over to inspect a pink bouquet, but it wasn't what he was looking for. "Yeah, do you still have some peonies in stock?"

"Hm..." Her lips twisted unsurely. "Peonies are spring-time flowers and, because it's not season, the import is pretty expensive at this time of year."

"Money's not a problem."

The shopkeeper smiled wryly at him. "The problem is that it's often in demand for weddings so, with our limited stock, it tends to sell out pretty quickly. Sorry…"

He nodded slowly, eyes crinkling in appeasement. "It's all right. I understand."

It wasn't like it really mattered at the end of the day anyway.

"Don't worry! We have other options available," she said, gesturing towards the large, colorful shelf before them.

Another bouquet of pink flowers caught Kakashi's sharp eye and he shuffled forth, slipping a hand from his pocket to trace the wet edge of the soft pink petal. Somehow, the combination of baby pink petals and its jade leaves reminded him of something… of someone. But the green of the leaves was a shade or two darker than her jade orbs. The soft pink, however, was definitely her hair color.

The corner of Kakashi's mouth tilted up as he remembered how flustered she'd looked when he saw her in the cart. Apparently, they'd both been caught off guard by each other, once again.

As he tilted his head in thought of the baby pink lilies, a hint of white in the corner of his eye caught his attention and his mouth straightened.

His hand hovered above the pink lilies for a moment longer before shifting aside to the bouquet of white lilies just next to it. He picked it up, the golden wrapping crinkling in his hand as he sniffed the strong, sweet scent from the freshly misted flowers.

"Oh, the white lilies are usually for funerals." The shopkeeper slipped into his peripheral vision just behind the lilies he now held. "The pink lilies stand for the love of a special someone you might fancy, so I recommend those if you're buying for a lover…?" Her amber eyes twinkled hopefully as she twirled the end of her brown ponytail, her gaze subtle but coy.

Kakashi, however, shook his head and turned towards the cash register to pay for his chosen bouquet. "For a friend," he said. "She's in the hospital."


A/N: IN CASE YOU IGNORED MY A/N AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER, I IMPLORE YOU TO READ THIS FIC AT AO3 FOR A MUCH MORE HEIGHTENED READING EXPERIENCE. THE MUSIC I EMBED AT THE AO3 VERSION SOMETIMES PLAYS A KEY ASPECT IN THE READING.

FIC TITLE: THE ANATOMY OF LOVE

MY AO3 USERNAME: TCOOKIES777