The Anatomy of Love

Written By: Banana007

Chapter 10: Dripping Wet


Her hands were still shaking with excitement when Sakura toed off her sneakers, nearly tripping to make space for Kakashi to do the same. He remained quiet as he trailed behind her down the hallway, but she was too busy internally panicking over how clean the place looked. Fridays were usually the days they swept the floors, dusted the shelves, and just made sure everything was neat and tidy in case Ino's mother ever decided to drop by for a visit (or more like an evaluation of the place).

Seeing that there were no crumbs on the couch or wrappers littering the floor, Sakura let out a quiet sigh. Beside her, Kakashi slowly stepped into the living room while she went to check the kitchen... and winced at the sight of the pile of dishes filling the sink. It'd been her turn last night to do them, but she'd been so occupied with what to cook for Kakashi that washing plates and bowls had been her last priority.

Thankfully, Kakashi seemed more focused on scrutinizing the living room instead of the kitchen even though the living room had only a couch, a T.V., and a shelf of books to look at. Sakura watched him, half desperate to toss all the dishes in the sink out the window just to make the place instantly spotless again, and half curious of him surveying the place like an inspector.

At the corner of her eye, the pillow Ino had insisted on buying from Target sat propped on the couch, fully displaying the gaudy gold sequins that spelled out 'LOVE'. Sakura cringed, but Kakashi took no notice of the pillow.

"Did you rekey your place?" He asked suddenly, studying the lock of one of the windows that housed some of Ino's succulents.

"Rekey...?"

He pointed towards the door they'd just come through. "Change the mechanisms of the locks for your door. A previous tenant could have kept a spare copy of the key and could just waltz back into the place," Kakashi explained when he was met with a blank stare. "It's legal for a tenant to change their locks or rekey whenever they want to, so you should do that as soon as you can if you haven't done it yet. Just check your rental contract just in case."

Huh, well that had never crossed her mind.

"O-Okay."

Still ignoring the kitchen, Kakashi crossed the living room to get to the window next to the T.V. He tugged at the latch that kept the window locked in place, testing its strength before peering through the glass pane to study the stairs of the fire escape just outside. "How often do you open this window?"

She gave a half-shrug. "Mostly when we're cooking or cleaning. It gets stuffy and smelly if we don't open a window to let the air circulate."

Kakashi was already shaking his head. "No, don't open this window. Anyone can use the fire escape to come in and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to find a pretty girl living here." As she winced again behind him, he turned back to the window where the succulents decorated the sill. "If you have to open a window, use this one."

Leaving the pile of dishes still calling for her attention, Sakura stepped over to Kakashi's side and frowned up at the latch of the window he was nodding at in approval. While the latch was easily in reach for a six-foot guy like him, it was definitely out of reach for someone as short as her.

She shook her head. "I can't reach that."

"Use a broom stick to pop open the latch. And then you can also tug it back down and the latch will close on itself."

Oh. Wow, talk about resourceful.

Stunned into silence, Sakura watched as Kakashi made a slow turn to scrutinize every corner of the room as if he was searching out any flaws. She propped a hand on her hip and bit back a smile as his eyes narrowed at the wide window of the living room that overlooked the windows of the tenants from the neighboring building. Although his brows were pinched together in disapproval, Sakura thought the look was endearing and she could already imagine what he was about to say next because it was probably what Mr. Yamanaka would tell his daughter too.

Something about curtains for privacy and peeping toms.

"You need to add some curtains for privacy even if it's just the living room," he started to say just as she had expected. "You don't know who's a peeping…." Catching the amused tilt of her lips and her raised brow, Kakashi stopped himself. He let out a quiet, sheepish laugh that was much too cute for his own good. "Sorry, I don't mean to nag."

"No, I like it!" Sakura insisted, eager to hear more of that laugh. He seemed surprised by her enthusiasm so she added, "I-I mean it's helpful. My parents aren't around to advise me about these things, so I've been having to teach myself."

He nodded slowly, still glaring at the curtained window of the neighbor just outside as if he suspected them of being peeping toms. "Inoichi should have at least taught his daughter this stuff."

Sakura wanted to explain that Ino was sometimes too strong-minded for even an FBI Intelligence Officer like Mr. Yamanaka to do anything about it. Instead, she smiled wryly and spun on her heel to return to the sink. "I think he did, but Ino and I have just been so caught up on adjusting to the college life that curtains seemed to be the least of our concern."

Which was why she loved it whenever Kakashi showed any amount of concern for her. It was nice having him fret over her safety even though it was probably a burden for him. She liked being on his mind and while he observed her shelf of books, she couldn't help but wonder if she was on his mind as often as he was on hers.

Well, I'm just one of his many students so he probably doesn't think of me unless he's grading my work, she thought to herself while squirting some soap into her hands. A small trickle of water escaped the mouth of the faucet when she turned the knob for cold water. She quickly scrubbed away the dried bits of red paint still staining her fingers. After washing her hands clean, she tried turning the knob further for more water.

Still just a trickle.

Sighing, she twisted the knob to turn off the water before trying again.

After all, I'm just some girl in his class. At least the older girls in class have a better chance than me. The sound of water rushing through the pipes resounded over her thoughts, but Sakura frowned when hardly a trickle came out again. Setting the sponge and plate aside, she grabbed the knobs for both hot and cold water, turning it on full blast. The trickle only thickened into a small stream of water but it wasn't what had Sakura's frown deepening.

She glanced down at her socks that were now soaked by the water pooling onto the floor.

What the...?

Dropping down to her knees, she eyed the water spilling out of the cabinet beneath the sink. With the pool of water quickly spreading, she reached out and yanked open the cabinet only to shriek at the stream of lukewarm water that blasted her face. The pressure of the spray had her sputtering and slipping onto her ass, the pipes groaning over the sound of Kakashi's alarmed voice.

A familiar pair of hands grabbed her by the armpits and hauled her back up. Sakura was still wiping the water from her face when she saw Kakashi strip off his shirt and dive into the small space of the cabinet to stem the harsh flow of water bursting out.

"Shut it off!" he shouted over the 'sshhh!' of the spray.

Dazed by the blast of water to her face and the sight of his firm ass wiggling at the entrance of the cabinet, it took Sakura a second to get moving. The pool of water on the tiled floor nearly made her slip as she stretched a hand out to twist the knobs, but she managed to shut off the water in the next few seconds.

There was a muffled groan beneath the sink, and then Kakashi's head popped back out with the fluffed ends of his hair now damp and hanging low over his brows like a wet dog. Sakura held back a nervous giggle as he went on to shake his head just like a wet dog would, flicking droplets of water all over the place.

Despite her clothes and socks soaked, Sakura felt a fire in her belly and in her cheeks as she watched the last rivulets of water run down the contours of Kakashi's abs. With his shirt utterly saturated and dripping from having been used to hold back the bursting water, it would be entirely useless to put back on.

Which was bad for him... but good for her.

"I-I'm so sorry," Sakura mumbled, feeling the embarrassment start to overwhelm her arousal now as Kakashi twisted his shirt to wring out the excess water. The expression on his face was unreadable, but the sigh and shake of his head did nothing to quell her frenzied nerves.

"Don't be, it's not your fault," he said, and she recognized the sincerity in those words.

Her nerves settled down at that, but the guilt over having gotten him into this mess—literally—remained. Setting his shirt on the counter, he raked his dripping hair back with a hand and the heat in Sakura's belly intensified at how handsome he looked with his hair slicked back. It didn't help that he was sitting half-naked on her floor with his abs glistening like they were calling for her touch.

She swallowed hard and forced her eyes on his calm face, offering a hand to him. "Here, let me help you."

It was the least she could do for getting him in this mess in the first place. But as Kakashi grabbed her hand so that she could haul him up the same way he'd done for her, Sakura underestimated his weight and ended up getting pulled down by him instead, both feet slipping out from under her. She shrieked again and landed atop of him with a 'splash!' as well as another muffled groan from Kakashi.

"I'm so sorry!" Sakura cried out with her face still smashed against his abs. It hurt, but what was a little pain if she could get a faceful of his abs again?

"I'm becoming very concerned by your definitions of 'sorry' and 'thank you'," Kakashi grunted beneath her, prompting the heat in her cheeks to burn into a raging fire with shame.

"S-Sorry..."

Way to go, Sakura, she scolded herself. I invited him here for a bit of dinner—not to drown him!

She sat up, wincing when that elicited a small hiss from him. Keeping her hands on his slick chest for balance, it took a second for Sakura to realize the precarious position they were in with her sitting on top of him. As if coming to the same conclusion, Kakashi's cheeks reddened slightly and he dropped his gaze down only for his eyes to widen. He immediately shot his eyes up to the ceiling, the tips of his ears now reddening like his cheeks. Sakura glanced down and gasped, crossing both arms over her chest to hide the fact that her nipples could be seen through her bra.

Too late. He'd definitely seen it first.

"I'm so sorry!" she wheezed out through the intense heat of her blush. Her legs were jelly as she tried to stand up, but the floor was still slippery and her feet flew out from beneath her again. One of her socks went flying as well, landing with a 'plop!' across Kakashi's eyes at the same time he grunted by the weight of her slamming back down on his stomach.

"Yes, I can tell you're very sorry," Kakashi said dryly, plucking her sock off his face before tossing it onto the counter beside his shirt. Utterly humiliated, Sakura was already beginning to swoon when she felt him grab her hips gently but firmly enough that it drew another gasp from her. "Just hold on."

Any words of protest instantly died on her tongue the moment he sat up, bringing his face close to hers. Still in his lap and with his hands on her hips, the proximity of his face within kissing range nearly had Sakura faint even as he proceeded to pull the both of them up before setting her back down on her feet. Immediately, she took a step back to put some distance in between them. A hand on her wrist stopped her from leaving his side, however.

"Keep holding onto me," Kakashi instructed her, slipping his hand down her wrist to grab hers.

He's holding my hand! He's holding my hand! He's holding my hand!

Sakura bit her lip to hold back from squealing. With her heart thumping hard in her chest, she nodded and allowed him to guide her out of the small pool of water, step by step until they were safely back on dry land.

Leaning a hip against the edge of the table, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Kakashi stiffened and took a quick glance around as if he expected another accident. When nothing happened to him, he relaxed and nodded to her, eyes crinkling ever so slightly despite the both of them dripping all over the place. "You wouldn't happen to have another shirt that fits me again, would you?"

Relieved that he didn't seem too irritated by this whole mishap, Sakura started to smile. But then that smile fell away as she remembered that there were no clothes in her closet that would fit him. "Um..."

Knock-knock-knock!

They froze together, the both of them shooting a panicked look at one another before turning their attention in unison towards the door down the hallway. Neither of them moved.

Beside her, Kakashi was tense, his body locked up like he was in fight or flight mode. Peering at her from the corner of his eye, he said, "I thought you said your roommate—"

"Sakura!" Kakashi stiffened even more when he realized the voice on the other side of the door belonged to a boy and not a girl. "You in there?"

Crap! Why's Daichi here?!

"Who's that?" Kakashi demanded, frowning now.

"Quick!" She grabbed his hand along with his shirt, and began to tug him over to her bedroom. Despite still dripping water everywhere, he followed her without protest.

Sakura had hoped she could pretend she wasn't home, but the sharp creak of the floorboards under their feet upon entering the next hallway squashed those hopes and they winced together. It was hard for her to ignore Daichi knocking harder on the door now as well as the unease rolling off of Kakashi in waves. She understood his unease; if anyone caught him in her apartment then it would be a very questionable scene and she didn't trust Daichi to keep his mouth shut. For some reason, she also didn't trust Kakashi to not intimidate the poor guy into silence either.

Her bedroom door creaked more quietly as it swung open and Sakura didn't think anything of it when she practically shoved Kakashi into her room, hands pressing against his back to usher him all the way in. He spun around to face her and she shook her head upon seeing the discomfort in his face. It was obvious he did not want to be in his underage student's bedroom, but there was no choice. "Just stay here and keep quiet for a bit. Okay, Professor?"

Yikes, probably not a good idea to throw that word around in here.

"I mean Mister," Sakura corrected herself, nudging Kakashi further into her room and closing the door before he could argue with her.

The floorboards squeaked beneath her wet feet as she hurried down the hallway. She fiddled with the lock and then yanked the door open, revealing Daichi who was resting an elbow against the threshold. He was shirtless and wet just like Kakashi. Slicking back his ebony locks, sea green eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief as he greeted her with an amiable smile.

Those eyes briefly darted down to her chest, reminding Sakura to cross her arms again. "Daichi, what's wrong?" she asked him before she could swallow those words back down.

Just looking at the both of them, it was clear what was wrong, but Daichi merely shrugged. "I think my pipes burst," he explained, shuffling closer to her by a step or two. His arm remained against the threshold to show off the length of his lean torso. While he did have some muscle definition, he still had the body of a guy who'd barely entered adulthood compared to Kakashi who looked like he could fight through a world war and hardly break a sweat. Guys like Kakashi ate guys like Daichi for breakfast. "And I see yours did too," he added with a nod to her tank top clinging to her like a second skin. "That bad, huh?"

She peered down where her arms remained crossed over her chest, silently cursing her bra for not being padded enough to conceal her stiff nipples properly. Raising her gaze back to Daichi, she shrugged too. "Yeah? And?"

He blinked at her, seemingly taken aback by her apathetic reaction to him. "W-Well, uh... I was wondering if I could use your dryer really quick since my roommate is hogging the one in our place at the moment?"

Ignoring that his eyes kept constantly straying to her chest, Sakura could see the sincerity in them. She could also see that the white shirt bunched in his hand was soaked almost as badly as Kakashi's—shit! Kakashi!

"Yes, yes, of course you can." She stepped aside to let him in, practically shooing him down the hallway to the kitchen where it also led to the tiny room they did their laundry in. "The dryer is just in..." She waved her hand dismissively, already turning to head back into her bedroom where Kakashi was still wet and waiting for her. "You know where it is!"

"Wait, where are you going?"

"To, uh… change!"

Daichi seemed baffled by her inattentiveness, and he'd barely managed to shout out his thanks as she slipped away and into her bedroom. Darkness blinded Sakura the moment she closed the door behind her and she reached a hand out only to squeak in surprise when her fingers grazed a nipple that was as erect as hers.

"Saku—"

Still blind, she swept her hand up his chest and the length of his mask, stopping over what felt like the outline of a pair of lips. Pressing both hands over his mouth, Sakura hushed the darkness before her. "The walls are thin," she whispered.

Beneath her hands, Kakashi nodded and Sakura quietly gasped when she felt him reach up to grasp her wrist, pulling her hands down just enough so that only her fingers lay over his masked lips. "Who is that boy?"

His warm breath tickled her fingertips and she was glad for the darkness hiding the way her body had shivered in response. She licked her lips, fighting the urge to trace the outline of his lips with her fingers even though this was the perfect opportunity to do so. "U-Um, that's Daichi."

"Your friend?"

"No, he's just a neighbor from upstairs." She almost added that Ino had dubbed him 'Upstairs Cutie', but she doubted Kakashi cared about that.

"He's just a neighbor?"

"Yeah, he lives right above us."

There was a brief second of silence, and then, "You shouldn't be letting a guy you barely know into your home."

Sakura frowned at the strict edge in those words, and now she was starting to wish there was some light in the room so that she could see what expression he was making. He didn't sound happy, and though he'd been advising her earlier about the windows and locks, his tone was different this time. "It's just Daichi."

"You don't know him."

"He needed help. He has problems with his pipes too."

Kakashi sighed hard enough that it stirred the bangs hanging over her brow. Or maybe he was closer than she thought he was. "Remember our talk in the car about stranger danger? Even if you know his name and where he lives, you don't let some guy you barely know into your home."

"Oh, but it's fine if he's my professor?" Sakura couldn't help but retort. She pointed a finger into the darkness until it touched what felt like his chest, warm and solid—and inches away from her nose, she realized faintly. "I barely know you and you haven't done anything bad to me."

The darkness seemed to growl at her. "That's different, Sakura. You and I..." He paused, and she could hear the darkness growling again in frustration. "Listen to me. You don't know this boy and what his intentions are—"

"I told you, his pipes burst so he needs to borrow the dryer—"

A warm hand suddenly curled around the finger she still kept dug against his chest and Sakura forgot how to speak. "You're too inexperienced to understand this," Kakashi said, voice hardening ever so slightly like he was about to give her a whole lecture.

Sakura didn't know which bothered her more—the hand still gently gripping her finger or the fact that he'd called her inexperienced—which she interpreted as a euphemism for naiveté. While she understood where he was coming from, she couldn't understand why an act of kindness had to mean that she was naïve or, in his words, inexperienced.

"That boy called for you, Sakura," Kakashi explained. "Not once did he ask for your roommate in case you weren't here. He called for you, and you let him in while you were..." Another shudder ran through Sakura as she swore she felt his gaze trail down her as if he could see her just fine in the dark. "While you're vulnerable," he finished in a low whisper. "He might think it's an invitation for more."

Her nipples seemed to tighten at the implication, and Sakura found her thighs beginning to press together despite the discomfort of her soaked denim shorts chafing her skin. An invitation for more? As in… an invitation for—what?—sex?

"And is that what you think too?" she whispered back without thought.

The darkness responded in stunned silence and she was starting to regret having asked such a loaded question. If it wasn't already inappropriate to have her half-naked professor hiding in the darkness of her bedroom with her, it was even more inappropriate to accuse him of having sexual intentions for her. It was he who had been hesitant to come inside in the first place, and it was she who had insisted anyway.

"Of course not," the darkness replied eventually.

An apology started to build on the tip of her tongue, but the hand curled around her finger already dropped away as if Kakashi was trying to prove he had no such intentions. The guilt sat heavy in her stomach alongside... disappointment?

Kakashi took a step back to put distance between them, taking the comforting heat of his body with him as well and leaving Sakura shivering in her wet clothes now.

Right. Wet clothes.

She started forth in search of the lamp on her desk only for her nose to collide with that solid chest again. Kakashi mumbled an apology as she rubbed her nose, and she heard him shuffle to the side only to bump into what sounded like her drawers. Hearing him curse under his breath, she almost giggled even though she still felt awkward.

Cautiously, she started for her desk again, fingers reaching for the button of that folding lamp she'd bought at his suggestion from Target.

Click!

White light flooded the room and Sakura squinted at the brightness for a second until her eyes adjusted. Ah, much better.

Spinning on her heel, she and Kakashi froze at the sight of each other once again, both caught off guard by the other's disheveled appearance. Glimpsing the large dark stain over the front of Kakashi's jeans, a giggle burst out of Sakura until she clamped a hand over her mouth. The water had stained mostly his crotch area, making it look like he'd taken a piss in his pants.

"You... wet yourself," she stated, still eyeing his crotch unabashedly. She assumed it was the same for his backside too.

Tipping a brow, Kakashi followed her gaze down to the stain on his pants. The curiosity in his face shifted into one of amusement. "In a manner of speaking... yes," he said, lips tilting at the silent joke between them.

His small smile was enough to ease the guilt in her and she giggled softly at the way his damp hair still hung limp over his forehead. If she didn't know any better, she would think he was the front-page star of a Men's Health magazine rather than an Anatomy professor.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, grey eyes bright with earnestness. "I never had any intentions to take advantage of you."

Glimpsing the way his hands wrung at his soggy shirt, Sakura remembered how strong and gentle those hands had always touched her. She also remembered how they'd been so cold and shaky when he saw she'd been hit by that paintball.

"No," Sakura shook her head, crossing the small space between them to touch those same hands. "I'm sorry. I'm the one who invited you in and... you're right. I should be more careful about who I let walk through that door. I guess I'm just not used to inviting boys in—or men."

Kakashi glanced down to her hand over his and she drew away, but he didn't step back this time. He let out a slow exhale before scrubbing a hand down one side of his face as if to wipe away his leftover frustration. "And I guess I'm not used to being so naggy outside the classroom."

She swept back the wet hair clinging to her cheeks and smiled up at him. "It's okay, I like it when you're naggy." He raised his brows at that and Sakura quickly forced her gaze down to their soggy socks to hide the blush returning to her cheeks. "Um, well, I-I'll go get us a towel."

Kakashi nodded, stepping aside to allow her some space to slide open the closet. Feeling self-conscious of some of the risqué clothes hanging within, Sakura was quick to grab the fluffy peach-colored towel she wore to dry herself off after a shower. There were fresh towels in the hallway closet, but she didn't want to go back out there in case Daichi caught her and wondered why she was taking two towels instead of just one for herself.

"Here, you can dry yourself off with this." Holding the towel out to him, she inwardly prayed he wouldn't freak out over basically using the same towel as her. Not in the way she was secretly freaking out as he accepted the towel from her. Would he think it be gross for him to use her towel? She could mention that she only used it to dry her body off after a bath, but the thought died the moment she saw him wipe her towel over the muscles of his shoulders.

Standing before the desk where the lamp illuminated the room, his movements cast shadows across the walls. Sakura felt frozen in place as if the room was suddenly much too small for the both of them.

"Aren't you going to dry yourself off too?" Kakashi asked, still occupied with wiping down his abs now.

Later. I want to watch you first.

Her throat seemed parch as she swallowed hard. "Um, no, that's my only towel."

Kakashi paused in the middle of rubbing the towel against his back. "What about you then?"

She fingered the hem of her tank top, making sure to keep her hand over the splotch of red paint to conceal it from his sight. "I'm just going to change clothes since Daichi's using the dryer." Lifting the hem of her top, she stopped just above her belly button. Kakashi was still facing her, staring like he was waiting for her. Sucking in a shaky breath, Sakura tried to stow the hot ache in the pit of her belly as she waited for him to turn around. He didn't. "Um, Kakashi? Could you turn around?"

His eyes widened and he spun around quicker than she could blink. The tips of his ears were red again and it only deepened the blush still staining Sakura's cheeks. Reaching down for the silver button of her shorts, she picked at it for a second before blurting out. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"I mean, your jeans are wet too, so..."

"I thought you don't have any clothes for me?"

"I don't, but..." The pounding of her heart seemed to roar over her next words. "But did you want to take your pants off? S-Since they're wet," she added quickly. "So that I can dry them for you."

The muscles of his back tensed almost imperceptibly and Sakura bit her lip, watching him just stand there as the silence dragged on. God, what was she thinking—asking her own professor to take off his pants?! She might as well ask him for a lap dance while she was at it too—

"Could you turn around?"

She blinked slowly, the words still processing in her head until the sight of Kakashi's hands moving down to his belt had Sakura pivoting on her heel. "Y-Yeah, of course!" she breathed out, barely hearing herself over her heart hammering away like a jackhammer.

Was this really happening? She wasn't dreaming, right? Just for good measure, she pinched the inside of her arm, but it was the loud 'clink' of Kakashi's belt unbuckling that announced he was indeed taking off his pants. For her. In her bedroom. Less than five feet away.

Picking open the button of her own shorts now, Sakura was too busy struggling to still her shaky fingers as she let the soggy denim shorts plop onto the floor with a 'thud'. She gulped at the sound, but allowed her fingers to drag up her hips and peel up the hem of her tank top. Goosebumps erupted over her arms as she pulled the top over her head, leaving her only in wet underwear.

Upon hearing the soft slither of his leather belt tugging through the belt loops, Sakura's curiosity got the best of her and she found herself slowly turning her head, inch by agonizing inch to peer over her shoulder. Every one of her brain cells screamed to stop, but her body seemed to have a will of its own. She swept her eyes across the room but stopped at the mirror propped beside her closet. The reflection of Kakashi's backside could be seen from this angle. Her lips parted open at the sight of the ragged scars decorating the beautiful contours of his back, but she was soon distracted by the 'Zzzzzt!' of his zipper getting pulled down, his jeans sagging even further down his trim waist.

Heat throbbed deep in her belly and Sakura shuddered more violently this time as a strange ache she'd never felt before coursed through her core like electricity. She reached behind her back to unclip her bra, her nipples still stiff as ever but now awfully sensitive as just the sensation of her bra peeling away was enough to leave her sighing for more friction.

Still with his back turned, Kakashi paused for just a second before continuing to drop his jeans to the floor. Sakura tugged her panties down at the same time she watched him step out of his pants before raising her gaze to the firm ass hugged tight by black boxer briefs.

God, Ino was right; he really does have a bubble butt.

The thought was followed by the fact that she had her anatomy professor practically naked in her room. For the briefest second, Sakura wondered if she would be pushing it if she really did ask him for a lap dance. At least as a joke.

But the sight of how tight his boxer briefs clung to every curve of his ass seemed to fry all the logical brain cells in her head begging for her to look away. Her mouth opened at the same time the thoughts in her head crossed wires, and instead of thinking that he should take off his underwear too, Sakura accidentally said it aloud.

Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck!

"So that I can dry it too," she sputtered out, nearly tripping over her legs as she tugged on a fresh pair of panties. Still eyeing Kakashi through the mirror, she fumbled with a random shirt she'd grabbed from the closet, quickly pulling it on and tugging the hem down when it reached only to her mid-thigh. "You can, um... use the towel while I dry your clothes."

"O-Oh."

For a moment, Kakashi seemed to hesitate as his thumbs hooked onto the white waistband of his boxer briefs and remained there. Sakura waited, her heart beating so loud amidst the silence in the room that he had to be able to hear it from the other side.

Was he going to do it? No, of course not! This was the time to draw the line and remind her that it was inappropriate to—oh my god, he's doing it!

As if finally coming to a decision, his fingers pinched onto the waistband more firmly and Sakura's eyes widened as—

"Sakura, are you almost done in there?!"

She tore her eyes away from Kakashi's reflection in the mirror, glaring at the door where Daichi's voice had come through. Crap, she'd totally forgotten he'd existed. Huffing a sigh of frustration, Sakura rolled her eyes before forcing a smile back on her face. "Yes, Daichi! I'll be right there!" Deciding it was better to keep her attention on the door in front of her rather than what was behind her, she sucked in a breath to calm the hot ache still raging in her belly. "I'll be right back, Mr. Hatake," she whispered to the doorknob, hearing the light 'plop' of Kakashi's clothes at her back.

Grabbing the doorknob, she slipped out of the room before the fantasy of her naked professor waiting for Sakura in the bedroom could make her announce that she was no longer going to be a good student for him anymore. Yeah, bad idea. Not that it wasn't already a bad idea to be confined in the bedroom with Kakashi in the first place.

Outside in the hallway, reality slammed into her in the face of Daichi who was sitting at the dinner table and looking bored. He perked up when she traipsed over, and Sakura inwardly berated herself for acting so recklessly with Kakashi while another college student was sitting just a couple feet away. If Kakashi had been caught with her, there would be no amount of A-pluses and extracurriculars to cover up the scandal.

Which was why Sakura knew she had to kick Daichi out now.

"Here you go! It's dry now!" She hurried out of the tight space of the laundry room to shove the white shirt into his arms. Daichi was still checking his shirt while she was already walking over to the door to unlock it.

"A-Are you sure?" He followed her down the hallway, holding out the wrinkled shirt and pointing at a small damp spot in the center. "I don't think it's dry all the—"

"Must be a stain from elsewhere!" With him still preoccupied with the damp spot in his shirt, Sakura nudged him out the door from behind. "Good luck with your pipes!"

"Hey," he began to turn around, "you know, this Friday is—"

"The weekend," she finished for him. "Bye, Daichi!"

The door slammed on his stunned face and Sakura made sure to lock it before spinning around to lean against it. Holding her breath, she waited until his footsteps fell away before allowing her lips to tug into a wide grin. Finally, they were alone.

She stepped away from the door, taking her time to pass by the kitchen and survey the pool of water that remained in front of the sink. It wasn't a total disaster thanks to Kakashi's quick thinking, but she would definitely have to pull out the mop from the closet. Not wanting to keep Kakashi waiting, she rushed through the process of cleaning the floor until it was no longer a danger zone.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd mopped the floor with this much enthusiasm.

After returning the mop back home in its closet, Sakura checked herself in the mirror hanging beside the coatrack in the hallway. Her bangs were frazzled and she quickly combed through them with her fingers before fanning at her face in the hopes of soothing the hot blush in her cheeks.

The blush remained.

The thought of Kakashi waiting in her bedroom didn't help either as it only intensified the rosiness of her cheeks.

"Just go in there and act normal," she whispered to her reflection. Ugh, but her 'normal' sucked when it came to boys—or, in this case, men. What was she supposed to do? Just waltz right in and pretend he wasn't naked? Wait, maybe that wasn't so bad a plan. All she had to do was keep her eyes above his shoulders. That's all. With a sigh, she smacked her cheeks to gather enough courage. "Right, I can do this!"

She chanted it to herself like a mantra with every step she made to her room.

But the moment she opened the door and saw Kakashi sitting on her bed with nothing but her towel wrapped around his hips, Sakura realized that she could not do this.

Her grip on the doorknob tightened as she tried to keep herself upright and not faint right then and there. An unconscious underage girl in the bedroom with her naked professor wouldn't be questionable. It would be downright criminal and if Ino stumbled upon them in that situation... oof, Sakura didn't even want to imagine what kind of showdown would happen.

"These are your parents?"

The question was enough to distract her and she tore her eyes up to see Kakashi was busy studying a rectangular frame in his hands. It was the one that normally sat behind all the other frames on her bedside table portraying her with Ino and the other girls over the past years.

"Mama and Papa," Sakura nodded, taking baby steps across the room before carefully sitting down beside him with a good foot of space in between.

Her nerves slightly calmed down at the sight of the picture in his hand; a memory from too many years ago that she could hardly remember that day save for the briny scent of the ocean filling her lungs. She was surprised he'd chosen that frame to look at compared to the rest. That picture was fraying at the edges from the many times she used to pull it out of its frame and hug it to her chest to sleep with on lonely nights.

"Which beach did you take this at?" he asked.

She shrugged, squinting at her younger self when she still had freckles before they'd faded away by high school. "Dunno. I was only five at the time, so I don't remember. There might've been some colorful rocks, but I'm not sure."

"Your parents never took you back there?"

"They never had the chance to," she mumbled.

Feeling his eyes flit to her face, she sucked in a breath and looked at him, smiling when she noticed that his hair was still damp and clinging to his forehead despite his efforts to slick it back. Even disheveled, he looked like a Baywatch model while she looked like a drowned rat. Subtly rolling her eyes, she stood up and left the room briefly, returning with a fresh towel in her hand. He was still so occupied with her photo that he didn't realize the droplets of water trickling down his broad shoulders.

It reminded her of how he'd been so occupied with his romance novel at Target that he'd failed to see the cart of squealing girls racing towards him.

She giggled and draped the towel over his head while he was distracted. "Mr. Hatake, you need to dry yourself properly."

Gently, she rubbed the towel over his head, biting back another giggle when his hair started to fluff up and rise back into place.

His hair is so floofy and soft like a dog's, she thought with faint bemusement. How does he get it to stand up on its own like this?

It was a wonder how every strand seemed to defy gravity without the aid of any gel, but she supposed that was just another part of the mystery that was Kakashi Hatake.

Eventually, her hands slowed down to a stop when she felt him gazing up at her from beneath the towel draping over his eyes. Where there was normally an apathetic look in his face, he seemed to stare at her with a strange curiosity that provoked hers in return.

It only lasted a split second before she then realized that drying her professor's hair for him was not part of her good student agenda. Sakura gasped, ripping her hand away from him and letting the towel slide down to his lap.

"Um, I took care of a stray dog once," she stammered out, brain stuttering for a solid excuse.

Kakashi blinked owlishly, and the strange expression he'd been giving her was quickly replaced by bewilderment. "A stray dog...?"

"So that's why I was—" She gestured wildly to her head, ignoring that she probably looked crazy while doing so. "With your hair... Not that I'm saying that you're a stray dog!" she added when his brows began to furrow. "Y-You're a human—a man and my... my teacher."

Teacher. She didn't know why but she was starting to find that word distasteful.

Kakashi was looking at her like she'd grown a second head, and if she had then he was way too calm about it. He tilted his head back down to the frame still in his hands. "You look a lot like your parents."

Whether he was trying to save her—or them—from the embarrassment of another awkward moment, Sakura was glad that he hadn't freaked out like she had. But as she sat back down beside him, she frowned at the idea that maybe Kakashi didn't think much about it because... he just didn't think of her in that way. In the way that she often thought about him and how scandalous every moment spent with him seemed to be.

"You have your father's hair but your mother's eyes," he continued, casually running a hand through his dried locks of hair as if nothing had happened.

She decided to play along, scooting a bit closer to better examine the picture again.

"Hm, yeah," Sakura smiled faintly at her parents posing on either side of the sandcastle she'd worked so hard under the hot sun to build. With her father's cherry blossom hair and her mother's spring green eyes, there was no doubt that she was their child. "I used to wonder what it would be like to have blue eyes like Papa, but I like that I also look a lot like Mama too."

"I like your eyes," he simply said, voice lilting with a hint of amusement. "Almost as much as I like how you were missing your two front teeth."

At that, she leaned in close and was horrified to see that her five-year-old self, sporting a red one-piece bathing suit and twin braids, was indeed showing off a toothless grin at the camera while gesturing wide to her sandcastle.

"I was only five!" she defended herself, scoffing when Kakashi laughed quietly. "Oh, like you didn't lose any baby teeth when you were my age!"

"I did. But unlike you, nobody could tell with me."

Realizing that he meant it was thanks to his mask, she groaned. "That is so not fair!"

He laughed again, louder this time, and she shook her head but smiled anyway. It was only until his chuckles subsided did Sakura realize that their arms were pressing against each other. The bare skin of him was so warm that it made the rest of her body feel like it needed the rest of him pressed against her as well.

The idea started to worm its way into the forefront of her mind, stoking that heat in her belly to return with a vengeance. The bed creaked sharply as she stood up, fingers twisting anxiously to keep from reaching out to touch Kakashi's.

"U-Um, I'll dry your clothes now." Feeling his gaze land on her, she grabbed for the neatly folded pile of clothes he'd set atop of her desk. "I'll be back," she said without a backwards glance, hurrying out of the room before the heat in her belly could build into a throbbing ache. An ache that she knew would not subside until she could relieve it with her fingers... preferably in the privacy of her bedroom... and preferably without Kakashi around to witness it.

Let him see it, whispered a voice deep in the recesses of her mind.

She shook her head and forced her attention on the soggy black shirt in her hands. The water had rinsed away most of Kakashi's scent, but the minty notes still stood out among the smell of chemicals that filled the small space of their laundry room. Sakura dared to take a quick whiff before sticking the shirt into the dryer along with his socks. Next came the jeans and she unfolded it only to gasp in surprise when his folded boxers tumbled out from between the folds of the pant legs.

Her hand snatched it mid-fall, crumpling the thin fabric. Although she'd never held a pair of men's underwear before, it was softer and more elastic than she'd expected. Definitely good quality just by the feel of it.

She tossed the jeans into the dryer to study the boxer briefs more closely. The words 'Fuma Shuriken' were printed in black across the white strip of his waistband and she traced the letters with her fingers. Fuma Shuriken? That was a pretty expensive brand to buy just for a pair of underwear. But now that she thought about it, she had no idea what his job was before he took up the teaching position at Konoha U. Whatever he worked as before, it certainly gave him the luxury of being able to afford expensive underwear.

Sakura giggled quietly at the thought that Kakashi was picky with his choice in underwear but didn't mind wearing a common-brand sushi tie on his first day of work. The giggle died away, however, when she remembered that this was her professor's underwear she was holding in her hands. His used underwear.

Her heartrate shot up by a few beats and Sakura slightly jerked back from the underwear. But then she paused and glanced out into the kitchen, worried if Kakashi was going to come striding in any moment to accuse her of being a pervert and then... punish her for it.

At the thought of Kakashi punishing her, Sakura instinctively squeezed her thighs together. The ache was back again, building into a hot throb between her legs now. Damn it, she really hated how horny she got during her ovulation days.

As if out of instinct, she found herself leaning into the underwear she still held in her hands. A strange scent wafted to her nose and she sucked it in, freezing when she realized that the unique smell was emanating from the boxers, particularly from the bulge cup where his thing would sit cradled within. The bulge cup was big and she faintly wondered if that meant his thing was big too or he just needed that much space for comfort.

The tantalizing smell of that place continued to draw her in.

Her brain told Sakura to stop, but every molecule in her body shook with anticipation—with need. It was impossible to stop herself, and the throb between her legs only intensified the more she tried to fight it.

Just one whiff, that little voice in the back of her mind insisted. Nobody has to know about it. He won't have to know about it.

Oh, fuck it.

She pressed her nose to the front bulge cup of his boxers and inhaled deeply. The scent was indescribable. She could pick up faint notes of his pine tree scent as well as something musky—something that was distinctly male and... him. Altogether, the smell was thick and heady, and a low whimper escaped Sakura when another hot throb pulsed between her legs, stronger now.

Drawing her face away from the boxers, she took the moment to cleanse her lungs of the sinful air she'd just breathed in. But like a starved person, she was already pressing her face back for more, greedily gulping in lungfuls of his intimate scent like it was oxygen. And, in some ways, it was; it helped stow that insistent ache in her belly even if it only had her yearning for more.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

The question resonated faintly in her head as she opened the waistband of his boxers to take a peek in. A strange mark glistened on the inner side of the bulge cup and Sakura was unable to stop herself once again as she reached a finger out and swiped at the mark. It was clear but sticky, and when she pinched the viscous fluid between her thumb and forefinger, watching it stretch into a gooey line, it reminded her of something Hinata had said over summer vacation.

After spending the weekend at Naruto's and helping him with his laundry, Hinata had described to the girls the same thing that Sakura was pinching between her fingers right now: a strange glistening fluid on the inner front of Naruto's underwear. At first, Ino, Tenten, and Sakura had been too busy teasing the Hyuga girl for doing her boyfriend's laundry that it had taken them a while to figure out what the stuff on the underwear was. Well, it had been Sakura herself who concluded that if girls naturally left discharge on their panties then there should be the guy equivalent to that, right? It had been Ino who confirmed that, pulling up a quick article on her phone to show that the male equivalent was...

Precum.

Sakura stumbled back, hitting the edge of the dryer with her hip. The pain wasn't enough to shake her out of her shock, however, and she started to raise a hand to her mouth only to remember that the fluid—no, Kakashi's precum—was still clinging to her fingers. Her hand froze halfway to her mouth and she turned her attention back to the clear, gooey strand still stretched between her thumb and finger.

And as she studied it, she could practically hear the explanation Ino had summarized for the girls just a few months ago.

'Apparently, some precum comes out when the guy is sexually aroused.'

Ino's words echoed aloud in her head, prompting the pink flush in Sakura's cheeks to spread all the way down to her chest now.

Professor Hatake? Aroused by... me?!

The idea was ludicrous considering he'd just promised her earlier that he had no sexual intentions for her, and yet... wasn't it natural for the male body to react like that anyway? She'd heard that it was normal for boys to get boners at the most random times and sometimes because of the most ridiculous reasons. So maybe Kakashi just couldn't help it...

Or maybe... it's really me?

But just as Sakura began to entertain the idea that maybe Kakashi did think of her as often as she thought of him, she then remembered the Make-Out Paradise book that he kept with him at all times. That same Make-Out Paradise book that was probably filled with nothing but sex scene after sex scene.

'Those books were very helpful when I was going through puberty. Quite handy if I do say so myself.'

Upon remembering those exact words he'd spoken to her in the car just earlier, something in Sakura deflated. Oh... of course it would be the book. Why would a man like Professor Hatake ever get sexually aroused by a girl who has no boobs or curves to save her grade? If no boys were ever interested in me in high school and junior high, then why would Professor Hatake ever be interested in a girl like me?

Was she that desperate for attention that she wanted her own professor to pop a boner over her?

What the hell is wrong with me?

Shame rose within Sakura but it wasn't enough to quell the ache between her legs and she hurriedly tossed the underwear into the dryer before the urge to slip a hand into her wet panties overwhelmed her.

But the precum still clung to her fingers, marking her with evidence like a criminal caught red-handed. Even as she rushed into the kitchen to grab a napkin, wiping it away only felt like she was smearing the proof of her desire all over her hand. Shaking her head, she shoved down the compulsion to raise those fingers to her mouth and see if she could taste if his desire still stained her skin.

She walked back to her room, leaving that compulsive need like an itch she was not allowed to scratch. That itch worsened when she entered her bedroom and found Kakashi still sitting on the edge of her bed with nothing but the peach towel covering him. He was studying another picture of hers and Sakura's feet were already carrying her to sit beside him again, subtly letting her arm press against his while he was distracted.

"Your hair was a lot longer," he noted aloud, angling the frame to show her with Ino and the girls at their high school graduation. Lilac eyeshadow made her jade eyes pop in that photo, matching with the emerald graduation gown she wore, and her long rosy locks of hair reached all the way down to her butt. Kakashi glanced at her and she suddenly felt self-conscious of the way he studied the new length of her hair that hung a few inches below her chin now. "You cut it recently?"

"Yeah, I cut it off during summer vacation after some bubble gum got caught in it. It was really bad," she laughed, but it sounded awkward to her ears.

Picking at the ends of her hair, she tried not to think about how she'd kept her hair long in an effort to attract boys. Obviously, her efforts had been futile. But with Kakashi able to see the before and after, she couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking how much prettier she looked with long hair. It probably covered her large forehead better.

"You look good with short hair too."

The compliment surprised Sakura and she turned to meet Kakashi's gaze. As if realizing how close they were sitting together with him in only a towel and her in only a ratty t-shirt, they were both quick to return their attention to the photo.

Feeling her cheeks burning, she cleared her throat and said, "You're getting better with the compliments."

The bed shook slightly as he laughed. "Well, I have a good teacher."

Teacher.

The word sounded much too sinful as if he'd whispered it right into her ear. With the memory of his precum and the heady scent of his underwear still so fresh and visceral in her mind, it only made Sakura blush harder. Unable to deal with him so close to her, she stood up and went over to the desk, pretending to organize her already neat stack of textbooks to hide the guilt in her expression.

"You know, I think your pants are dry now," she said, staring at the cover of her Anatomy textbook where the anatomical figure of the human body decorated the front. She set it down and forced herself to walk to the door instead of take her spot at Kakashi's side on the bed again. "I'll go check."

Her feet seemed to drag across the floor as she made her way back through the kitchen and into the tiny laundry room. She stared at the round window where the clothes could be seen tumbling around in circles within. A small part of her was afraid to open the dryer—afraid that she'd be tempted again. But she sucked in a breath to steel herself and yanked open the dryer. The clothes rolled once more before settling at the bottom and she squeezed her eyes shut, sticking a hand in to fumble for the jeans and boxers.

As she suspected, the shirt was still damp since it'd absorbed the most water, but everything else was dry for him to wear. Bundling the clothes in her arms, she returned to her room to give it to Kakashi. There seemed to be a strange, silent consensus to turn their backs on each other and not say anything. Which made the room far too quiet that it bordered on awkward as she listened to the sounds of his zipper's teeth pulling together, followed by the buckle of his belt clinking aloud.

Such noises were scandalous to her ears and she was grateful when he suggested that they check the sink, signaling that it was time to leave the bedroom and get to somewhere where there was no bed tempting her to hop on and start fingering herself to relief with him right there to watch.

"So how's your sink?" Kakashi asked as they arrived at the kitchen.

Sakura sighed, making a beeline for the fridge to get some water for them. All this heat was making her so thirsty and lightheaded. "Well, I don't think I'll be able to use it anytime soon, but I also don't think I'll be drowning in my sleep tonight either."

She watched him get down on his hands and knees to peer into the cabinet.

"Maybe it's the water pressure?" she proposed, eyeing his ass again (in her defense, she didn't know where else to look). "Someone or Daichi should've complained to the landlady by now, but I hear it takes forever for her to do things, so I think I'll just call a plumber over later."

Kakashi pulled out of the cabinet to shake his head at her. "No, don't waste your money. Let me take a look at your sink. It's probably just bad nuts."

"How do you know?"

"Guy used to room in this building during his first year and it was always a case of bad nuts."

She nodded slowly, imagining a younger Kakashi in his college days knocking back some beers with Professor Guy and the others in this kitchen. Maybe have some pretty girls over and—

"If you have a toolkit I can use, I can fix your pipe for you."

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek, contemplating the offer. Would that be crossing the line as teacher and student? She peeked over at the clock where it read a quarter-past eight already. Almost an hour since he'd promised to stay for what was only meant to be a few minutes.

"Are you sure?" she asked, tucking some hair behind an ear.

Kakashi followed her gaze to the clock and he made the slightest wince as he saw how late it was getting. His mask shifted as he seemed to twist his lips in thought. The seconds on the clock ticked by, clear and loud as if reminding him that the longer he spent here in his underage student's apartment then the more inappropriate it was.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in defeat. "Well, I'm already here and I still have to wait for my shirt to finish drying anyway."

Something about that answer and how easily he'd relented despite his earlier concern for propriety prompted a smile from Sakura. She nodded and scurried off to fetch the toolkit for him. It was a heavy metal chest that contained an assortment of tools ranging from wrenches to drills and whatnot; courtesy of Mr. Yamanaka.

Kakashi was quick to pick out a wrench with a hooked handle at the end, and Sakura sat herself down at the table to watch him wiggling into position on his back. His head disappeared into the cabinet, a small beam of the mini flashlight she'd provided him dancing around in the small dark space.

Her eyes trailed away from the beam of light and down the length of Kakashi's naked torso. In his position, his abs flexed and rippled with every breath he took, but so did the X-mark scar on his chest. She tipped her head, squinting at the ragged edges of the scar. It had to have been a deep wound since the other scars decorating his stomach were small nicks and scratches in comparison.

She dragged her eyes down his belly button, following the sparse trail of silver hair glinting in the space below. Slowly, she crossed her legs, squeezing her thighs together as she glimpsed the words 'Fuma Shuriken' peeking over the edge of his jeans. She could only see the upper half of the boxer's label, but it was more than enough to remind her of the precum she'd discovered earlier.

The chair she sat on creaked gently when she squirmed against it in a poor attempt to relieve the ache between her legs. Still fixing the pipe, Kakashi muttered something about the nuts, but the word itself only prompted the image of him unbuckling his pants for her once again, his zipper coming down along with the waistband of his boxers to let his erect cock bounce out.

She swallowed, and blindly reached for the glass of iced water she'd set on the table. The glass was moist and dripping when she wrapped her hand around it, the image in her head instantly shifting with the picture of her hand wrapping around Kakashi's cock. This far into the fantasy, it was really hard not to imagine what it would be like to gag on that thick cock, those silver hairs tickling her nose while she struggled to take him in all the way.

She then wondered if Kakashi was the kind of man who would twist his fingers into her hair and fuck her mouth. The question answered something about her instead: the fact that she was the kind of girl who would swallow every last drop he poured down her throat.

Squeezing her fingers around the glass, she raised it to her lips and chugged down the iced water. It coursed down her throat and settled cold in her belly, but it wasn't enough.

The heat in her belly was spreading out of control now, and she knew her panties were damp at this point. And at this rate, Sakura would have to wipe up the pool she'd leave on the seat of the chair too.

The clatter of the wrench on the tiled floor snapped Sakura back to reality. She straightened up on her seat as Kakashi slid himself out from under the cabinet to twist both knobs of the sink. There was the quiet hush of water running through the pipe before it ran out of the sink's mouth in a steady, thick stream.

"And done," he announced, twisting the knobs until the stream disappeared, leaving only a drip. "It's good now."

"You're a lifesaver," Sakura breathed out, standing up and quickly grabbing her apron to cover the wetness sticking to her inner thighs.

"It's no problem. Just needed to tighten up the nuts."

She almost let out a hysteric giggle from that word, but swallowed it down instead. He didn't need to be wondering why she found the word 'nuts' hilarious like she was back in primary school. He certainly didn't need to know how it made her wet to hear him say that word.

While returning the wrench to the toolbox, Kakashi paused, head tilting up like he sensed something. He sniffed once and glanced at her. His jaw clenched for a hot second before he looked away and ran a hand through his hair, muttering something about the building being old and Professor Guy battling a flood before they'd figured it was the nuts.

God, she was literally dripping wet by now.

She reached behind to secure the tied knots of her apron, resisting the urge to grab the hem and wipe at the arousal dribbling down her inner thigh.

Kakashi cleared his throat and stepped aside to let her start washing some dishes. While Sakura armed herself with a sponge and plate, she felt his warm presence linger at her side, his fingers gripping the edge of the counter like he was contemplating something. His breathing sounded ragged, almost like he was panting. Before Sakura could ask if he was all right, Kakashi tore away to sit at the table and wait for her. Besides the sound of her scrubbing the plate, the silence was almost deafening for the next minute.

His eyes burned onto her back and Sakura wondered if he could see how wet her panties had become. Her shirt was long enough to cover her, but it was also short enough that any wetness still glistening on her inner thighs would be in plain view if seen from the right angle.

Clearing her throat, she peeked over her shoulder at him. He was definitely staring at her, his expression contemplative as she'd expected, but also somewhat pensive as if he was thinking of something from long ago. There was also a sense of wonder reflected in his eyes. Almost innocent like a child's.

"Is there something on my face, Mr. Hatake?" she dared to ask, returning her attention to the plate still stained in yesterday's spaghetti sauce. Crap, did he know she'd sniffed his underwear like a pervert?

"N-No, I just... I've never seen a woman washing dishes before," he answered softly. "At least in person."

His reply caught Sakura off guard. It was a strange comment, but she knew it was the truth by how quiet he'd become.

Never seen a woman washing dishes before? What kind of person... oh, that's right. He was an orphan by the time he was five years old.

And if his silence was any indication, he had probably been embarrassed to admit such a thing aloud.

Sakura peered at Kakashi over her shoulder again and smiled at him—at the way the tops of his cheeks were still a bit pink as she'd expected. "In that case," she drawled out, "you can look all you want, Mr. Hatake."

The pink of his cheeks deepened into a rosy red shade in response and Sakura turned away before he could catch her cheeky grin. Just as she hoped, his gaze remained trained on her back the whole time she washed the last of the plates and glasses.

After microwaving the chicken skewers for a few seconds, she set them down on a plate and poured Kakashi another glass of iced water as he studied the food set out before him with an appraising look. She stood at his side, clutching the empty lunch box to her chest in anticipation while he picked up a stick and tugged his mask just enough to let a piece of chicken disappear past.

Holding her breath, Sakura watched his jaw shift as he chewed, eagerly awaiting his verdict.

Finally, his throat bobbed and he set the skewer down. "A-plus," Kakashi said, crinkling his eyes at her when she let out a sigh of relief. "I would almost think you belong in a culinary school."

Sakura took a seat on the other side of the table. "I cook a lot for myself. I've always thought cooking is a lot like science. The ingredients are the chemicals and there's plenty of trial and error involved."

"Then you must have some secret ingredient up your sleeve to make the food taste so good."

The compliment had her heart racing with happiness, and she clutched the lunchbox to her chest again, smiling shyly under his gaze. "Actually, I do! It's—" She paused even as the answer sat on the tip of her tongue.

It's love. If there were any lessons her parents had taught her when she was a child, it was to always cook with love.

The blush was quickly returning to her cheeks again and Sakura threw her eyes down to the table to avoid his expectant stare. "U-Um, it's a secret though, so I can't tell you or else it wouldn't be much of a secret anymore."

"Oh? I thought we were in the trade of sharing each other's dirty little secrets?"

She peered up at Kakashi through her lashes. He had an arm propped on the table, cheek leaning against the heel of his palm. And he was smirking at her, chewing nice and slow like he had all the time in the world to listen to her divulge everything. Including the part where she'd been masturbating to him these days.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "Then why don't you go first?"

He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "Depends."

"On?"

"Your grade on your exams." He picked up the second skewer. "I'll be grading the lecture exam first, starting tonight. If you get an A-plus, I'll let you in on another secret about me."

"An A-plus?" She frowned. "Don't you think that's a little too high?"

Kakashi merely raised a brow at her. "Well, for an overachiever like yourself, I'd expect no less from you."

Ugh, he got her there.

Leaning back in her chair, Sakura crossed her arms and watched him take another bite of chicken. "So if I do get you to tell me another one of your secrets, that means I'd have to trade one with you too, right? Can it be any?"

"No cheating," he said, wagging the empty stick. "I want to know your secret ingredient for the way you cook."

She laughed and shook her head. "If you're planning to replicate it, it doesn't work like that."

After all, it was impossible to replicate the feelings of love, but it was amusing to think that he wanted to borrow her 'secret ingredient'.

Kakashi squinted at her and this time it was her turn to smirk at him. "What? You're saying I'd need you to cook for me for the rest of my life?"

She didn't think that sounded like such a bad idea, especially if it meant basking in his praises every time she cooked lunch or dinner for him. And the more Sakura entertained that idea, the more she imagined herself dressed in the apron she had on right now and handing him his dinner plate on a lazy Friday night. He'd probably give her a soft smile, much like the one he was giving her right now.

Her lips tugged into a coy smile in return. "Well, maybe only until Christmas. Speaking of..." Scratching at a random dent in the surface of the table, she asked slowly, "I was wondering what your favorite dessert is?"

Kakashi jerked his head back, surprised by the turn of events or maybe by the personal question she'd suddenly popped. He recovered quickly, a slow smile returning beneath his mask. "That's another secret of mine. I'll tell you one day as a reward if you keep being a good student for me."

Having expected him to dance around the question to avoid answering it, Sakura perked up with a bright grin, all too happy that he'd offered her an opportunity instead. His eyes crinkled at her but then they flitted over her head to the clock on the wall.

His smile fell away and panic rose in Sakura when he began to lower his last chicken skewer.

I don't want you to go yet, that small voice inside her begged. Without thinking, she grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl sitting in the middle of the table and held it out to him. "So can you teach me how to put a condom on now?" she blurted out.

Kakashi coughed on a piece of chicken and he thumped a fist against his chest. "You mean now now?" he wheezed out, eyeing the banana right in front of his face. "With a banana?"

"Well, would you like to volunteer then?" she quipped back, feeling a little ridiculous with the banana now.

He sucked in a deep breath and rubbed a hand down his face, pausing to stroke his chin in thought. Finally, he sighed in what Sakura was beginning to figure was a sign of him reluctantly caving in. She was already grinning when Kakashi peered at her over the banana to say, "We would need a condom."

With a nod, Sakura zipped out of her seat to steal into Ino's room where she kept some condoms in her bottom drawers. When she returned, Kakashi was scrutinizing the banana on the table like he was already regretting his decision and wanted to blame the banana for it.

Her hands were starting to shake with nerves as she approached him, so she set the condom on the table instead of directly passing it to him. The gold foil of the wrapper crinkled loudly when Kakashi picked it up and ripped it open with easy precision. But of course he was used to opening it; he'd probably opened countless condoms in his lifetime but Sakura tried not to dwell too much on that.

"Right." Juggling the banana in one hand and the condom in the other, Kakashi cleared his throat to begin his impromptu lecture. "So you're going to grip the banana," he said, raising his eyes to her. "Which is the penis."

Her cheeks were already heating up and Sakura wasn't even sure if it was because of the word 'penis' or that he'd said it while staring steadily at her. "I-I know it's the thing."

"The penis."

"Yes."

"Not the thing."

"I know that, Professor."

Hearing a bit of attitude in that word, Kakashi tipped his brow at her. "If you're going to be putting a condom on, then you're also going to need to be able to say the word 'penis', Miss Haruno. In my classroom as well."

Her cheeks were on fire now but she tried to keep a straight face as she nodded. "I can, and I will."

"Then say it with me."

Oh, he was relentless!

"But..." She tugged at the hem of her shirt in discomfort. "We're not in the classroom right now."

"I'm still your professor, and I'm giving you a lecture—as you requested," he said calmly, but he was giving her that strict look now that was normally reserved for the classroom. It was a bit strange to see him like that while holding a condom and banana. "Now say the word, Miss Haruno. I know you can do it," he added a bit more quietly—gently.

God, was this really happening? And with a banana in between them (although that one was on her).

She reached out to wrap her hand around the banana he held for her, and then sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. "Penis."

The word had come out in a bare whisper, but the heat in her face was already intensifying, especially under Kakashi's amused gaze.

"Could you say that a little louder?" he pressed her.

"Penis," she mumbled.

"A little louder."

"Penis!" Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, hand tightening around the length of the banana in a death grip. "I'm going to grip the penis!"

Kakashi made a strange noise, prompting her to crack open an eye. He had his face tucked against his shoulder, face reddening and shoulders quaking from his silent laughter. Her jaw dropped open in indignation. "No need to be so enthusiastic about it, Sakura," he raised his face to rasp out. His eyes were bright and silver with tears as he continued to chuckle. There was something about the way that he was laughing that made him look years younger and... happier.

Sakura couldn't help but smile at the sight, but it didn't stop her from reaching over to swat his shoulder in retaliation. "Very funny," she said with a roll of her eyes.

Calming down, Kakashi cleared his throat and held the condom out to her. "Now pinch the tip to get rid of any air bubbles that might break the condom. Position it right at the head of the...?"

"The penis," she answered firmly, and much more easily than last time. Sure enough, her cheeks were no longer aflame with embarrassment at this point.

"And make sure to leave a little space at the top for the semen to spill into."

At the word 'semen', the memory of Kakashi's precum clinging to her fingers—the same fingers pinching the tip of the condom—flashed through her mind. Shit, she was back to blushing like crazy again. Luckily, Kakashi was too busy observing the way she was handling the condom to notice.

"Next, you're going to unroll the condom—" He placed his free hand over hers, guiding her small fingers to wrap around the rim of the condom. "—all the way down to his base," Kakashi murmured, dragging Sakura's fingers to unroll the rest of the condom down the length of the banana.

As their hands slowly traveled down the banana together, Sakura dared to peek up at Kakashi. Her heart skipped a beat when she met his gaze, dark and mysterious, and so intense that it sent a hot thrill of need right between her legs. She was unable to look away, almost mesmerized by how titillating it was to keep her gaze levelled with his while they rolled the condom down together. And maybe it was the trick of the light, but the longer she stared back at him, the more his eyes seemed to darken.

Their fingers stopped once the condom unfurled all the way, and they paused together, her hand still on the condom-wrapped banana and his hand still on hers.

"Like that, Mr. Hatake?" Sakura whispered, afraid to break whatever this thing was between them. The silence was so tense but fragile like the drop of a mere pin would shatter it.

"Just like that, Sakura," Kakashi answered in a low, deep voice that stirred the heat in her belly. But then he blinked, breaking their stare and shattering the moment. As if waking up from a dream, he leaned away from her to frown at a random corner of the room.

Luckily, it was the sharp 'buzzz!' of the dryer that saved them both from suffering through another awkward silence.

Sakura shot up from her seat and hurried away, leaving Kakashi behind and still holding the banana now wrapped in the condom. She returned to hand him his shirt, and that was when she knew that this time she would have to say goodbye. After all, it wasn't like he could just stay the night no matter how much she appreciated his company. It was nice having someone to fill the silence of the apartment with whenever Ino was off with Sai or busy elsewhere. For once, she hadn't had to rely on the stereo to keep her company for the night, and it was thanks to her professor of all people.

After Kakashi shrugged on his shirt, Sakura held out a plastic bag to him. "Here you go! I wrapped up the leftover yakitori for you to eat for dinner or lunch tomorrow."

"Oh." He peered into the bag where she'd wrapped the rest of the chicken skewers in tin foil. "Thank you," he said, seemingly surprised but genuinely pleased by the gesture.

Sakura dropped her gaze down to his hands gripping the handle of the bag. Biting her lip, she tilted her head at his hands and frowned at the memory of how they'd been shaking in hers after the paintball incident. Before Kakashi could ask what was wrong, she strode over to the window where her and Ino's succulents were resting. One of the plants was still young with its blossoming leaves a healthy, emerald green shade. She picked that one and returned to Kakashi who watched her with faint bemusement.

"This is Mrs. Flora's boyfriend, Mr. Ukki," Sakura explained, proudly holding up the small potted plant to him.

Kakashi's brows shot up. "Uh, is Mrs. Flora having an affair?"

"She only pretends to be married to ward off unwanted suitors. She says she wants you to take care of Mr. Ukki for a while."

"Take care of him?" He still seemed confused as to why a random plant was being forced on him.

"Uh-huh!" With a smile, Sakura shoved the budding plant into Kakashi's arms before he could even think of rejecting it. "If you take good care of him, he'll take good care of you. Ino says indoor plants are good at lowering anxiety and depression, decreasing stress levels, and um…" She faltered when he started to frown.

Crap! Why did I mention the stuff about the mental health?! It'd been a slip of the tongue on her part, but she didn't want to remind him of earlier when he'd seemed to have gone off his rocker after witnessing a paintball hit her in the stomach.

"I mean, you're probably feeling stressed from having to teach a bunch of young and troublesome students," she added with an awkward laugh.

The frown on Kakashi's face was smoothened away and he looked at her with a soft expression that was almost startling to see. "I don't think you're troublesome, Sakura," he said, smiling gently beneath his mask. He cradled the succulent securely in his arm almost like a father would with his newborn child. "I'll take good care of Mr. Ukki."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he would make good on those words. Glimpsing the stray strand of hair that had fallen back over his brow, however, she smiled. "Hold on," she leaned up on tiptoes to tuck back that hair from his brow, her smile widening when his eyes rolled up to follow the movement. "Now you look like Professor Hatake," she giggled.

Dressed in his now wrinkled black shirt and jeans, he looked more like a guy who'd rolled out of bed this morning than a professor, but Kakashi seemed just as amused as he smiled back at her. The seconds ticked by as neither of them budged from their spot by the table as if the both of them were waiting for the other to make the first move.

Of course, it was Kakashi who moved first, and Sakura felt a twinge of disappointment as she followed him down the hallway. She unlocked the door while he slipped his shoes on, and she forced the smile to stay on her face as he stepped through the threshold.

Kakashi lingered just outside the doorway, letting his eyes sweep down from the smile on her face to the chipped red polish of her toenails. When his gaze returned to meet hers, he hesitated before reaching his free hand up to brush aside a stray bang over her own brow. "Have a good night, Sakura," he murmured to her.

Stunned by the gesture, Sakura almost forgot to bid him a good night as well, her heartbeat roaring over her words. She tried to raise a hand for a wave but it was shaking again, so she merely watched him stride down the empty hallway, his hair glinting silver and bright under the light of the rising moon.

Once not a single strand of silver could be seen no more, she slammed the door shut and leaned against it to catch her breath. A slow smile began to spread across her face and Sakura pressed a palm to her forehead where the tips of his fingers had grazed her.

Grinning now, she skipped her way back into her bedroom only to freeze at the plush, peach-colored towel draped across her bed. It wasn't the bright color that called to her, but the possibility that Kakashi's scent lingered on the terrycloth.

Sure enough, her room seemed to smell different. Like something forbidden had taken place here, leaving the air in the room disturbed as if Kakashi's presence—or at least a part of him—had remained to stay the night.

Swallowing lightly, Sakura pivoted for the bathroom instead. After everything that happened today, she needed to wash away the sweat... as well as any evidence of her arousal. The wetness between her legs had dried now, but her panties were still damp to the point of discomfort and she let out a sigh when they dropped to the floor.

Under the spray of warm water, Sakura took the time to churn through her thoughts. The revelation that Kakashi had become an orphan at such a young age had caught her by surprise, but it still didn't explain all those scars that marred his body. That history behind those scars was probably a secret she'd have to learn a different day—and only if she kept up her image as a good student for him. That roused a giggle from her; it was hard to stay a good student when he was learning how to pull her strings too.

Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped a clean white towel around herself and returned to her room. The peach towel was still there on her bed, and Sakura was unable to resist the sweet temptation any longer. Her white towel fell to the floor and she took slow, steady steps towards her bed—towards the peach towel.

Creak...

The mattress dipped under the weight of her knee as she bent over the towel Kakashi had worn. Very gingerly, Sakura placed her hand atop of the terrycloth, fingers brushing over the bright threads in search of whatever warmth might've remained. Although she could no longer feel his body heat, her fingers met something sticky near the center of the towel, setting her heart racing once more.

There was only a little bit of precum and it had cooled from the air now, but that didn't deter her from stirring a finger through the small sticky film clinging to the peach threads.

'Apparently, some precum comes out when the guy is sexually aroused.'

A shiver ran through Sakura, ending in a hot throb between her thighs. Every logical bit of her begged to step away and wash her hands clean of this perverse crime. Yet, at the same time, every cell in her body seemed to sizzle with the desire for more — more of this heady scent that had Sakura dipping her face in for a better whiff. But just that quick whiff alone had her blood rushing hot with a craving that could only be relieved by her fingers.

Alone and aching, Sakura took the peach towel in her hands and wrapped it around her naked body. She laid down on the bed, eyes on the ceiling but hands gripping the edge of the towel. Slowly, she raised the hem to her face and inhaled the lingering scent of pine trees mingling with the musky smell of precum. Letting out a content sigh, she trailed a hand down her bare thigh until her hand hovered over the heat of her core.

A lone finger traced the seam of her folds and Sakura shivered when she found her entrance already dripping wet with arousal. That same arousal stirring hot in her belly again, stoked by Kakashi's smell wrapping around her.

Eager to relieve the hot ache clenching in her lower belly, she was quick to slip a finger into herself, body curling up on the bed with her hand sandwiched tight between both thighs.

"Penis," Sakura whispered to herself under the thralls of lust. Imagining Kakashi lying right next to her in his black boxer briefs, head propped on his hand to watch her, she spoke that word again—louder. This time, it wasn't the heat of embarrassment that had her cheeks flushed. "Penis," she said a third time, fantasizing what it would feel like to have one inside her right now instead of her small fingers.

She added a second finger to emulate that fantasy, moaning out 'penis' as her hips started rocking into her hand insistently. Before college started, she would have thought it absolutely crazy to be masturbating to her professor and his precum while chanting the word 'penis' like a summoning spell. As it was now, however, Sakura didn't care. All she cared about was the pleasure that coursed through her the entire time.

It didn't take too long to reach orgasm this time, and Sakura was no longer burdened by the sense of guilt when a certain professor's name escaped her lips upon hitting the peak of her climax.

By the time Ino returned home and kissed Sai goodnight, Sakura already had her Anatomy textbook open and studying very intensely just as a good student would. There was no sign of any debauchery save for the evident peach towel still wrapped around Sakura's body, but it wasn't like Ino would suspect anything from it anyway.

"Phew! I'm beat!" Ino announced, throwing herself onto the foot of Sakura's bed. When Sakura let out an absentminded hum, the blond girl raised her face off the mattress to squint at her. There was nothing unusual about Sakura studying this late in the night—even if she was staring hard at an anatomical diagram of a penis—but the distracted look in those jade eyes didn't escape Ino Yamanaka. "Did something happen during the Manhunt game?"

"Huh?" Sakura finally blinked away from the page of her textbook as if only now realizing Ino was here. "O-Oh, um, no. It was so-so. Too bad you couldn't come."

Actually, she was glad Ino hadn't come. Kakashi would have never stepped foot into the apartment otherwise.

"Yeah, but I'll definitely be going to this Friday's Freedom Run."

"Freedom Run?" echoed Sakura. She hadn't bothered to take a look at the flyer for Welcome Week, but only because she'd developed an interest in playing Monday's Manhunt when Kakashi mentioned he would take part in it. "What's the Freedom Run?"

Ino tucked both hands under her chin to smile at Sakura. "It's the game where you have to run all the way across campus," her smile widened into a smug grin, "completely naked."


This late into the night, the Yamanaka Flowers branch shop was already closed, so Kakashi didn't bother passing through for a bouquet this time. Instead, he drove directly to the hospital, parking the car in his usual dark corner of the lot.

Rubbing his knuckles along the edge of his jaw, he took the moment to sit back in his seat and stare at the automatic doors that awaited him just beyond. He sighed, turning his stare aside to the budding succulent tucked safely under the strap of its seatbelt.

"Just sit tight. All right, Mr. Ukki?" Kakashi reached over to adjust the seatbelt so that one of the leaves could hang more freely. "I'll be right back."

The keys jangled in his hand as he exited his car and made his way for the automatic doors.

The familiar, bitter scent of chemicals and antiseptic solutions greeted Kakashi at the entrance as well as the young woman at the front desk. She smiled and waved at him and he did so in return as part of his daily ritual.

On his way to the elevator, a young nurse passing by him stopped and frowned. "Excuse me, sir. Are you visiting?"

Slowing down but not stopping, Kakashi crinkled his eyes in a friendly gesture since most strangers had a hard time telling if he was smiling under that mask or not. "I'm just dropping by for a quick visit."

The nurse's frown deepened and she pivoted on her heel to begin following after him. "Sir, visiting hours are already over. You can—"

A second nurse grabbed the woman's shoulder, effectively stopping her from trailing after the man heading for the elevators. The elderly man shook his head. "He's all right. The director lets him come and go whenever he pleases."

"She does?"

"You're new here, huh?" The elderly nurse nodded towards Kakashi who stood waiting for the elevator doors to part open. "That's Mr. Hatake. He's been coming here almost every day for the past few years, so most of the staff is well familiar with him. He doesn't cause any trouble either. Just sits quietly for a while and then goes."

The young nurse's jaw had dropped open in shock. "He's been doing this for a few years?! Who does he come to visit?"

The man sighed, casting Kakashi a pitiful look as he watched him step inside the elevator. "Just a ghost."

The elevator doors rolled open just as Kakashi sent a text thanking Guy for feeding his dogs. Stuffing the phone back into his pocket, he made his way through the hallways he'd memorized from the past years of roaming around this hospital. Unlike his first few days of visiting, it only took him a minute to find the only room he ever delivered flowers to.

He stood in front of the door, already feeling the dread and exhaustion seep into his pores and burrow into the marrow of his bones. Ignoring the misery twisting like a knife in his heart, he drew in a deep breath to steel himself for a moment.

"Yo!" Kakashi strode in with a wave of his hand before pulling his mask down to reveal a soft smile. "Sorry I'm late."


A/N: Thank you for your reviews - I very much appreciate them! There's something I'd like to say while this fic is just a few chapters into the story and I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to read this A/N.

You've probably noticed how long my chapter lengths are compared to the average fic. My minimum word count for a chapter is 8,000 words but my average word count is 10,000 to 16,000 words. This chapter is 15,851 words for reference. Most of you probably enjoy the long lengths of my chapters and most of you would probably prefer that I keep it that way - and I am glad for that. Which is why I feel the need to mention this...

Almost a decade ago, I started publishing stories on this site. Because I was a new writer, I was very excited to write and flesh out my story and characters. My excitement led me to write approximately 20,000 words for every chapter for every week for a fic (that I have since deleted). This went on for months but writing 20,000 words for a chapter every week is very tedious and time-consuming. One day, I was running late on an update for that fic. One of my readers for that fic got upset over my tardiness and privately messaged me with the threat to commit suicide if I didn't update soon enough…

As someone keen on mental health, and especially suicide, that incident was very traumatizing for me. Since then, I have become very particular about the lengths of my chapters because longer chapters mean it takes more time to write and update. To this day, I am still afraid of being late on an update in the event I upset another reader who also decides to threaten to commit suicide. Because I am afraid of updating late, I have also become afraid of writing long chapters. Even though I rarely write 20,000-word chapters nowadays, writing ~10,000 words every week is still pretty tedious work.

I wish I could just say "I'll write shorter chapters then - problem solved!" but it's not so easy for me. I don't write with the intention to make my chapter long, even though it may look like that. I outline a whole chapter first so that it is in the format of a movie script, and I end that chapter depending on where I feel that it suits the pacing best. When I look at the chapter script/outline, it doesn't look long until I type it into story format. To write a shorter chapter would botch the whole pacing and, like dominos, it affects the pacing for the rest of the chapters too.

So try as I might, I cannot always update on time and, after that incident with that reader, I feel the need to explain this just in case (and also because I still sometimes get a reader who will only ever leave a review just to complain about the update being late).

Every once in a while, I get a reader who criticizes my tardiness whenever I miss an update. As a fanfic reader myself, I understand their impatience. I understand that sometimes you'll read a really awesome fic, and then an update doesn't come out for weeks - maybe even months - and by the time the story does get an update, you've already forgotten what happened in the story. I understand that and more. However, something that I do not think many of those readers understand is that long, quality chapters take time to write and edit, especially without the help of a beta. It is to be expected that the longer a chapter is, then the longer the gap is in between the publishing of those chapters. This is not counting the fact that writers also have a life to live, work to do, and social events to attend.

I've also had readers complain about the shortened length of my chapters whenever I try to write a shorter chapter in order to maintain my update schedule and/or update faster. I know what these readers want is to have both long chapters and quick updates, but that's just not realistic for me as I have a life to maintain outside this hobby.

So I am hoping you guys are willing to be patient for these long chapters you prefer. I also want to make sure my readers (not just for The Anatomy of Love, but for any multi-chapter fic I write) understand that longer chapters mean longer time to write and publish, so I cannot always guarantee a timely update. However, I promise I will always do my best to update on time. In the event I cannot update on time, please understand it is not because I've abandoned the story or anything - I am simply taking a small break and/or am busy dealing with life's responsibilities that it's taking even longer to pump out my usual long chapter.

That said, I hope you all understand. I just wanted to put this out there just in case there is another reader out there who might threaten to commit suicide on me again over a late update. Anywho, thank you for reading this!