The Anatomy of Love

Written By: Banana007

Chapter 11: Racing Hearts


Honestly? If there was any class Sakura hated out of her entire schedule, it was Orientation. She hated waking up at seven in the morning to get to the 8am class and sit her ass down, listening about the range of programs, most of which she knew she would never have to check out in her four years of study. It was even more boring having to hear the services of facilities she'd never step foot in—as well as the names of faculty members she'd never meet.

If only the course wasn't mandatory for freshmen students, then she would rather be taking a physics class instead. The only upside was that it was practically free credits with how easy the course was that it would take more effort to fail than to pass.

At least Professor Iruka seemed to put in a genuine effort in making sure students were aware of the full range of opportunities the school offered to help them succeed. The guy was friendly enough that he commanded the respect of students... well, most of them at least.

Biting the tip of her pen, Sakura tilted her head to get a better angle of the Netflix show the student in front of her was watching on his laptop instead of following along on Professor Iruka's powerpoint. At first glance, it looked like the guy was watching porn except for the fact that the budget was clearly too high for Pornhub.

Sakura was in the middle of eyeing the heroine about to get railed by her forbidden love interest in the back alley of a club when Professor Iruka announced that class was dismissed. The laptop was closed before she could even start daydreaming of a certain professor replacing the heroine's lover boy. She sighed, both in relief and a little in frustration before yanking the strap of her backpack over a shoulder and rushing out to meet Ino at the cafeteria.

It didn't take long to catch her at a booth when it was right next to the condiment stand, and Sakura stared longingly at the sandwich Ino was in the middle of scarfing down.

Hmm, BLT sandwich it is then.

Thankfully, the line wasn't long yet since most students were still getting dismissed by their more sadistic professors hanging onto them. While Sakura was in the middle of watching the bacon of her sandwich sizzle on the grill, she let her mind wander back to the Welcome Week flyer Ino had shoved into her hands last night.

The flyer was folded in the back of her shorts now, but Sakura remembered the words clear as day: 'Race around free and naked!'

Did students actually do this every year?! Run around campus in their birthday suits and potentially scar a passing freshman? Well, she supposed that's why it was an event for specifically freshmen students. Then... did that mean the teachers supervising would be naked too?

As if she'd silently summoned him with just that thought, Sakura heard a woman chuckle nearby and say, "Kakashi, after all these years and you still—"

"Sakura!" Daichi popped up beside her and she nearly dropped the fruit parfait she'd been holding onto. "I was hoping to run into you," he said, grinning while she took the moment to still her racing heart that had practically leapt at the sound of Kakashi's name.

As Daichi began talking to her, striking up a friendly chat—something about how classes have been so far—she let her gaze dart over his shoulder to where Kakashi stood in line at the grill station popular for its chicken-grilled breasts with pineapple, jalapeño, and cilantro-marinade. He was standing beside a woman who was still shaking her head and laughing, her long dark waves shaking and rippling with every chuckle. She was beautiful in the sense that she looked like a successful, happy, and confident woman who knew what she wanted and was also used to getting it.

And Kakashi's eyes were crinkled at her. Not only that, but he was laughing and... holding her purse for her too.

"So, are you game?"

"Huh...?" Sakura had to rip her eyes away from Kakashi and back to Daichi.

"For Friday's Freedom Run?"

"Um..." She frowned at Daichi's shoulder, watching Professor Asuma suddenly appear in her peripheral vision and kiss the dark-haired woman on the lips. Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Uh, naked events aren't really my thing..."

Kakashi handed the purse to Professor Asuma, taking his tray of food back in his hands. While Professor Asuma and the dark-haired woman began speaking to each other, Kakashi turned slightly and let his gaze begin a slow sweep across the dining hall as if he was searching for someone.

Just as his gaze neared her direction, Sakura forced her attention back to Daichi who had asked her something again. "Uh, what about Friday again?"

His face seemed to fall from her lack of interest, but Daichi repeated himself, "I was wondering if you're free on Friday and, if so—"

The chef called for her name at the same time Sakura felt a pair of eyes finally land on her. Her body reacted instantly, the heat gently crawling up her chest as her heart seemed to beat a pace quicker now. Grabbing her sandwich off the counter, Sakura flashed a smile at Daichi. "Sorry, I think I'm busy... rekeying," she added at the last minute.

He gave her the same confused look she'd given Kakashi the other day. "Rekey...?"

But she was already zipping away to the cashier to pay for her food, feeling Kakashi's eyes follow after her the whole time until she slipped into Ino's booth.

"Saw you talking to Upstairs Cutie," Ino said, dipping one of her last fries in ketchup. "Since when did you two get so close?"

Having kept mum about yesterday's events after playing Manhunt, Sakura used her sandwich to hide the flush now reaching up to her face. "Um, well, there was a problem with the sink's pipe yesterday after the game. Daichi had the same problem and came over to borrow the dryer for his clothes. While waiting, he fixed our pipe," she added slowly, staring hard at the bacon peeking out of her sandwich.

She hated lying to Ino, but it was just too difficult to explain how Kakashi ended up in her apartment a second time—and this time fully naked instead of half.

"Huh... Never knew a guy as young as him who knew how to fix pipes," Ino said as Sakura took a quick, casual glance out of their booth to see if Kakashi had coincidentally found a table near theirs. "So he was naked then?"

The question had the image of Kakashi sitting on her bed in only a towel flashing through Sakura's mind. A piece of lettuce got stuck in her throat from the whiplash and she struggled to cough it up. "Wh-What?!"

"If his clothes were in the dryer, then he had to have been naked."

Crap. This was just another reason why she hated lying to Ino. Rarely anything got past the daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka; she was practically an FBI intelligence officer in the making.

"I gave him a towel to cover himself with," Sakura quickly replied, mumbling around a mouthful of BLT. She washed it down with a swig of water, hoping it would also wash away the memory of Kakashi's precum staining the peach towel that was still sitting at the foot of her bed... for future use.

"So he was on his back, fixing our pipes with nothing but a towel on?" Ino leaned forward, cyan gaze glittering with excitement for juicy details. "And then what happened?"

"And then the pipes were fixed?"

The crisp scent of chilly pine trees suddenly tingled at her nose—so faint but still distinct—and Sakura bit into her sandwich to hold back from twisting around in her seat in search of him. From the corner of her eye, no silver flashed by, so she wondered if he was behind their booth sorting through his pick of condiments. So close but so far at the same time.

Ino had her jaw dropped open and Sakura rolled her eyes, nudging it back up for her. "You're joking, right?!" Ino quietly hissed at her, stealing a french fry as punishment. "Oh, you can't be this innocent! Why do you think Daichi came to our apartment out of everyone else he could have asked help for? Why get naked and fix our sink under your supervision? He was flirting with you!"

Sakura frowned at that, remembering the warning Kakashi had given her in the dark privacy of her bedroom that day.

'He called for you, and you let him in while you were... While you're vulnerable. He might think it's an invitation for more.'

Was it true then? Daichi had sought her out for intentions far more ulterior than just borrowing the dryer? Then was that why he'd asked about Friday too? But she hardly knew the guy. Why would he ask her out if there were plenty of far more prettier fish in the sea to pick from?

"Are you sure he was flirting with me?"

"I swear," sighed Ino, "I don't know how you can be so smart and yet so obtuse as your forehead sometimes. You have got to stop reading all those romance novels. They twist your perception of what real-life flirting looks like."

A bit offended by that, Sakura laid a protective hand over her backpack where her Wolf's Blossom novel still resided. Since mentioning it to Kakashi, she'd been rereading some of her favorite scenes during study breaks—particularly the bestiality bits because fuck it. "My books never did anything to you. And that doesn't explain why no boy ever really asked me out back in junior high and high school. Ren Nakagawa doesn't count," she added, glancing up when someone passed by their table.

It was only a guy with glasses. No Kaka—wait, there!

He was sitting further away than she'd hoped for, right by one of the verandas where the morning sunlight spilled through as well as a traffic of hungry students. If he was eating here in the school's dining hall, then that had to mean that he had already finished eating the leftover yakitori she'd wrapped up for him... right? Or was he saving that for later?

"Helloooo? Earth to Sakura?"

A french fry whacked her on the forehead and she blinked her sights back onto Ino who was already preparing to launch a second fry. "S-Sorry, what'd you say?"

"I said you're too pretty—duh! Those boys in high school thought you were out of their league."

Out of their league? Well, that made no sense. It didn't stop those boys from asking her out... only to change their minds the very next day and never talk to Sakura again as if they had fallen for Nakagawa's rumor that she had chlamydia.

Well, there was no surprise there. After all...

"Some of those boys were the same boys who bullied me since preschool though," Sakura mumbled, rubbing a pinky across the width of her forehead. She swore she could still feel the rock one bully had dared to throw at her in primary school only to receive a knuckle-sandwich from Ino in return.

Ino reached over to tug that hand away, a small but sympathetic smile on her face as if she, too, was remembering the same thing. "I think I know what's the problem. You're so insecure about yourself that you just can't believe a guy would ever show genuine interest in you. That's why you don't understand flirting unless it's as exaggerated and cheesy as it is in your cliché books and films. Babe, you need to believe in yourself and be more confident."

Sakura rolled her eyes, taking the chance to let them land on Kakashi again. God, it wasn't fair how he looked like a million-ryo painting come to life just with the way he sat against the window holding a forkful of chicken. As if sensing her thoughts, grey eyes flicked away from Professor Asuma to meet hers all the way across the room. She sat up straighter on her seat, mouth hanging open to catch the fry that remained dangling from her fingers.

Kakashi blinked at her, holding his stare like he was waiting for her to take a bite from the fry.

"You know what?" Ino continued, collecting her trash into a neat corner on her tray. "You should totally run naked with me on Friday."

The suggestion had Sakura accidentally shoving a fry up a nostril instead of her mouth in response. She snorted, face flaming red under both Ino and Kakashi's amused gazes as well as from the fry clogging one of her airways.

Scoffing, Ino shoved a napkin into her hands. "It's not as bad as it sounds. Besides, that's how Shikamaru met Temari. They ended up running as partners and Choji tells me they totally screwed that night and now they're talking. So who knows? You might bump into someone," she purred, wagging her brows and tilting her head suggestively towards Daichi who was eating with his friends in the booth across theirs—which Sakura had never noticed.

Even now, she still didn't pay Daichi any mind. Not when she was trying to blow the piece of fried potato out of her nose while battling the fantasy of bumping into a completely naked Professor Hatake during the run. Naked and without a towel.


Asuma was in the middle of a spiel about breathing techniques he'd learned from the childbirth class he'd recently joined Kurenai in when Kakashi interrupted him with a deep, throaty chuckle.

All the way on the other side of the dining hall, he could see Sakura's face scrunched up in a genuine effort to blow into the tissue. As Asuma accused him of laughing at him, Kakashi faintly wondered if he should step in and aid the poor girl. Then again, he strongly doubted the Heimlich maneuver would help in dislodging a piece of fry out of a nostril.

"Kakashi, you try taking a childbirth class and see how serious those breathing techniques are. Pushing babies out is no joke," Asuma grunted, still under the assumption Kakashi was laughing at him and not at a poor girl struggling to pick a fry out of her nose with the help of her disgruntled friend.

At his side, Kurenai patted her husband's shoulder. "I think babies is the last thing on Kakashi's mind."

Kakashi muttered an apology, but he continued to eye Sakura as she seemed to be whining to Ino who had resorted to shoving a finger up her nose to help out. Watching on, he gripped the edge of his seat, feeling the concern start to well inside him as Sakura's face scrunched harder in what might've been pain or just ire.

Finally, the two girls raised a wad of tissue in triumph, the both of them eventually sagging against their seats in relief and then bursting into giggles. Kakashi sat back against his chair as well, exhaling all the concern that'd been building in him.

"Yeah, he's definitely not thinking of babies," Asuma muttered to his wife.

"I swear, if he's daydreaming Make-Out Paradise again..."

"I was just thinking of what to buy for the baby shower," Kakashi assured them, although his gaze remained on the jade gaze that flitted over to him for just the briefest second. His lips quirked up, catching a hint of that rosy blush that blossomed across Sakura's cheeks—a sight he had long since become accustomed to since accidentally running into her on that fateful night. "Since you're expecting a girl, I'll look for something pink and pretty," he murmured.

Right. Something pink and very pretty.

The blush on Sakura's face deepened as she finally mustered the courage to meet his gaze. When her friend turned away to gather their trays, Sakura raised a hand and gave him a small wave along with a shy smile. Kakashi gave her a small nod in return as the words 'pink and pretty' echoed in his mind, ringing loud and clear.

Pink and pretty.


Wednesday passed by more slowly than usual, but only because Mei had the idea that they were no longer just classmates but now... Well, Sakura didn't know what they were now after that incident with Goro in the alley. What she did know was that Mei spent more energy glaring at the back of her head rather than studying the slides of synovial joints.

She didn't know what Mei's problem was, but if she thought Sakura was going to rat her out to the police then she was wrong. It wasn't Sakura's business and she couldn't care less what Mei did in her down time. Besides, most of her focus was on Kakashi anyway, and it was easy for her to ignore Mei when he stood just a few feet in front of her. Dressed in dark slacks and a grey button-down, he made a lecture about the classifications of joints look incredibly sexy.

She loved it whenever he demonstrated something with his own body—like right now as he flexed his arm to demonstrate the joint of his elbow. His biceps bulged tightly in the confines of his shirt, eliciting a wave of sighs through the classroom. She especially loved it whenever he rolled his sleeves up to draw on the board. She had already memorized the pattern of his veins that branched across the back of his hand and up the forearm, but she liked taking the time to rememorize them all over again.

By the time they were sitting together on their bench in the pavilion, any thought of Mei had already melted behind as she chatted with Kakashi about the genres of literature she hadn't had the chance to touch in her free time. So he'd even made a recommendation to her: In Sheep's Clothing.

He had then patiently waited as she quickly Googled the book title on her phone, watching her blush once she realized it was a supernatural erotica that, according to reviews, threw all sense of morality out the window. Upon seeing one review mention fisting, she'd hurriedly put her phone away. She didn't even know what fisting was, but she was too scared to ask.

Kakashi had even offered to let her borrow his copy of the book if she wanted, much to her pleasure, although she'd turned down the offer after remembering Ino tease her about the books she still read. It would be hard to explain where this new book came from.

Besides, maybe Ino was right. Maybe it was time to move on from fiction and read something more practical. And maybe then she'd stop fantasizing Kakashi giving her private lessons on the human body while wearing nothing but his birthday suit.

She had yet to take Ino up on her offer to run naked with her on Friday. It was just too hard to imagine herself running naked alongside other naked strangers. Ino had it easier because she was confident and comfortable with her body—and she had every right to. On the other hand, Sakura still fretted over what other guys might think of her small breasts and lack of curves.

But if there was a chance that Kakashi was supervising...

After class, she handed over her assignment for him to check off but lingered to ask him if he was supervising Friday's game. As he scanned through her answers to make sure they were correct, however, Sakura's mouth remained open and silent.

She was just too shy to ask, knowing it would essentially be asking him if he would be naked as well.

So after he'd checked off her paper, she'd merely smiled at him and bid him a good weekend and that she'd see him soon. In the back of her mind, however, she hoped to see him on Friday.

And when Friday finally did roll in, she spent almost the three entire hours of her English class bouncing her knee beneath the desk in anticipation. It was only when the word 'virginity' echoed through the classroom did she snap out of her daydream and returned her attention to Professor Jiraiya.

He was an eclectic teacher who liked to pick out the most eccentric pieces for his reading list all in the name of symbolism, figurative language, and even feminism. As it was now, they were going over a new reading that Sakura had spent all of ten minutes last night poring through: 'The Company of Wolves' by Angela Carter.

The language wasn't as esoteric as it had seemed at first glance, but Sakura admittedly still couldn't understand the significance of the story. So hearing the word 'virginity' had certainly caught her attention and she watched as Professor Jiraiya proceeded to doodle what looked like a caricature of Red Riding Hood... but with more emphasis on the boobs.

Popping off the cap of a red marker, he colored in the girl's cape before tapping the marker against the whiteboard. "And so in this story, The Company of Wolves, you can see that it seems to be a more mature version of Red Riding Hood, yes? The idea that Red Riding Hood is a parable for sexual maturity is taken and used to weave this story here. Can anyone guess the significance of the girl's red hood in The Company of Wolves?" He took a quick glance around the room but nobody raised their hand. "No? Well, to put it bluntly, the red hood symbolizes her hymen. Why is that?"

Awkwardness filled the silence for a moment as everyone in the room seemed to shift in discomfort at the word 'hymen'.

Sakura peeked at her side to see Naruto's reaction but he remained uncharacteristically quiet behind his book. It took her a second to realize he had dozed off (as he already had a habit of doing since primary school) and had propped his book to hide behind. Just as she contemplated sliding a foot out to kick him awake, the student in front of her raised his hand to answer.

"Because the hymen is red... ish?" he added weakly when some girls scoffed at him.

"Theoretically," Professor Jiraiya gave him a sympathetic nod. "But what else is red? Blood! A woman's menstruation blood. When a woman bleeds during menstruation, we associate that with biology but also sexuality because she bleeds since she hasn't been impregnated. And for a woman to become impregnated, she has to have sex—she has to break her hymen which will cause her to bleed. So when the girl strips herself naked to seduce the wolf, what does stripping her red hood mean for her?"

Sakura was still trying to process all of that when another girl raised her hand.

"It's symbolic of the heroine losing her virginity," the girl responded. "The red hood is a clothing she wears to protect herself from the elements of nature because she's still a girl—not a woman—up until she chooses to have sex with the wolf. When she takes off her hood for the wolf, she's taking off her protection which is essentially her hymen. Or to be more specific, taking the hood off is representative of her hymen breaking. So removing the hood is a loss of her innocence and a loss of her virginity."

Sakura frowned and squinted at the page of her book. Apparently, she had missed the part where the girl has sex with the wolf. Then again, she'd never been the best at interpreting figurative language or double entendres. It was one reason why she'd always preferred the sciences over the liberal arts since at least science was more rigid in rules.

As her eyes quickly scanned through the lines in search of where the heroine does the dirty deed with the big bad wolf, Professor Jiraiya let out a low hum of approval.

"Very good, and so after shedding her hood—her protection or hymen—the girl has sex with the wolf, the predator, who then becomes her lover, her protector. And in that sense, she finds a way to survive. You might even say she outsmarted everyone in the story if you think about what happened with the grandmother. Hence this is interpreted as a feminist piece considering the author's time period. Speaking of time," Professor Jiraiya glimpsed the clock hanging behind him. "That is all the time we have today!"

The other students cheered as they were finally done with classes for the week, but he then raised the book for everyone to see as they packed up.

"I want you all to go home and write a five-page essay on the symbolism of this story!" Professor Jiraiya announced to the class. "You don't have to write on the hymen if you're not comfortable with that. Just pick something from the story and explain what it symbolizes. Remember to use quotes for evidence and proper citation!"

After hauling her backpack over her shoulders, Sakura was still combing through the lines for any hint of a sex scene when she remembered to kick Naruto awake. He let out a loud snort, earning a look of ire from Professor Jiraiya who had been chatting up one of the older, prettier students in class. Laughing sheepishly, Naruto hurried to grab his bag and catch up with Sakura on the way out.

"Now I know why all the student ratings call him a pervert," he grumbled, squinting back at the glare of the sun. "I don't get why we have to read perverted things like this?"

"Because it's also a feminist piece and we're mature enough at our age to be able to handle readings like these," Sakura responded, still keeping her face buried between the pages of the book. She still couldn't find any line that would indicate any sex happened in the story. In an effort to fill the blank, her mind began conjuring images of herself in a red hood and stripping herself before a silver-furred wolf all too hungry for a taste of her flesh. Heat crept across her face and she shook her head to dispel such thoughts. "Besides, how is this any different from your porn?" She shot Naruto an accusing look even though she herself was still blushing from her own dirty thoughts.

Naruto snorted at that. "Because with porn I can actually see it. I don't want to read about it."

Well, Professor Hatake reads porn, a smug voice resonated in her mind. Sakura's blush deepened but Naruto came to an abrupt stop as something else distracted him. In a panic, he shouted that he'd left behind a book in class and spun around, yanking Sakura along with him by the handle of her backpack.

"That's why you don't nap in class," she scolded him on the way back only for him to respond with more whining and complaining.

Once Naruto slipped back inside, Sakura hung back to wait for him just outside the doorway. Leaning against the side of the threshold, she glimpsed at the cover of the book in her hands. She'd never heard of The Company of Wolves until reading it for this class, and she was sure that it was the kind of book her high school would've banned from their reading list. After all, a girl losing her virginity to a wolf wasn't something schools would be keen on teaching the impressionable minds of the youth even if it was symbolic of another meaning.

Studying the book cover, Sakura traced the features of the girl whose face was half-obscured in the darkness of the forest and half-bathed in the light of the house she stood at the threshold of. The girl's face was turned to peer over her shoulder, checking for any predators that may be creeping up from behind—specifically the wolf she'd encountered earlier.

A tall shadow suddenly stretched over Sakura.

"Do you need to speak with Professor Jiraiya too?" a deep, rich voice rumbled behind her.

"No, I'm just waiting for my friend," Sakura mumbled distractedly... and then paused. With a gasp, she pivoted around to meet Kakashi's crinkled gaze, the book slipping from her hands in surprise. "Professor Hatake!"

The crinkle of his eyes deepened as she squinted up at him, their smiles widening at each other. Remembering the book she'd dropped, she bent down to retrieve it but Kakashi beat it to her first.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" she asked, face warming when she accepted the book from him with her fingers brushing his. Hanging from his shoulder was his book bag and she frowned at it. "I thought you didn't have office hours on Fridays?"

It's not like he was dressed for work either. Unless he counted a plain black shirt and grey sweatpants as work attire. And it was still too early for the Freedom Run if he was here to supervise the game.

He followed her gaze to his bag and then nodded towards Jiraiya who was now deep in conversation with Naruto inside the classroom. "I'm just here to go over some paperwork with Jiraiya."

Oh, that made sense. She nodded slowly, but then paused. "You're... not here to supervise the Freedom Run event?"

"Nude events aren't my thing," Kakashi said, tipping a brow at her as if surprised that she would think it was. The heat of embarrassment burned her cheeks but Kakashi took it in good stride and moved to lean against the opposite side of the threshold so that she wouldn't have to squint up at him. "Besides," he shrugged, "the naked run is usually supervised by the senior students, I hear."

Oh, that made sense too, but Sakura still felt a twinge of disappointment at the fact that she wouldn't get to see him naked like she'd secretly hoped to. "Wouldn't it be better to have teachers involved to protect students from sexual harassment?" she pressed him although she knew it wouldn't make any difference.

"The campus police will be on call." He paused, grey eyes narrowing at her ever so slightly. "You're... participating?" he asked slowly—almost cautiously.

Sakura nodded, feeling her blush deepen under the assessing look Kakashi was now giving her. "To support my friend," she mumbled.

Kakashi leaned across the threshold but then pulled back to allow a student to step out of the classroom. He eyed the student and waited until they'd walked out of earshot. Leaning towards her side of the threshold once more, he said quietly, "You don't need to do it if you don't want to, Miss Haruno."

Sakura blinked at him, not quite sure what he meant by that. Or rather, what made him think she didn't want to run naked in front of her peers? Was it that obvious that she was reluctant? Or... was he underestimating her again just like how he had underestimated her on the basketball court when he seemed averse to her playing with him and his colleagues.

A scowl started to tug at her mouth but she pressed her lips into a firm line and tucked back her shoulders. Staring resolutely up at him, Sakura said, "I want to, Professor Hatake."

He frowned down at her, mouth tipping down in disapproval (not that she cared... mostly). "You want to run naked?"

Well, when he put it that way, of course it sounded ridiculous. But it wasn't her fault that this was a school event and for freshmen students no less.

"Why not?" she threw the question back at him.

"Because you don't seem comfortable with the idea."

Now Sakura was frowning to match him. "Because I'm a virgin?" she hissed quietly, a bit irritated by how much he underestimated her. His eyes widened and he took a quick glance around to make sure no one was listening. Inside the classroom, Naruto and Professor Jiraiya were thankfully still in the midst of a very animated discussion.

What? Just because he knows I'm a virgin he thinks I can't deal with having people see me naked too? Well, he wasn't exactly wrong there... but Sakura didn't like that he'd accurately guessed that about her—as if he'd expected that of her. Which made her wonder what else he expected of her. Or rather, how low he thought of her.

Hearing the bite in her voice and seeing the defiance in her eyes had only prompted Kakashi to cross his arms and put on his stern teacher face. "And because you're young and you're not used to having people see you naked."

Ah, so that's how he thinks of me, huh? Young and naïve? Or, in his words, young and inexperienced?

Tasting the bitterness of anger start to build within her, Sakura bit the inside of her cheek to keep her tongue from lashing out any harsh words. She clutched the book tight to her chest and raised her chin to meet his strict gaze, showing her silent refusal to back down.

But neither did Kakashi, and his jaw slowly clenched as she continued to test his patience. It seemed he wasn't used to people—young and naïve girls at that—disobeying him. So he didn't want her to join in on the naked run because he thought she was too shy and virginal for that? Ha! Fine, then all the more reason to do it and prove him wrong.

"I can do it," she declared.

Beneath his skin-tight mask, the edge of his jaw had feathered with tension. "I'm not saying that you can't do it, Sakura."

Then what was he trying to say? She waited for him to explain but his jaw remained clenched shut like he wanted to say something but knew it would be a bad idea.

"I'm going to do it, Professor Hatake," Sakura told him firmly.

His gaze seemed to darken into a storm roiling with conflict and, for a moment, Sakura almost threw in the towel and took back those words if only to please him. Stepping forward across the threshold, Kakashi stared her down, his eyes dark and seemingly about to swallow her whole. Just as she was about to whimper in defeat, he muttered, "Just be careful then."

His gaze lingered on her in warning before he turned and slipped inside the classroom. Naruto walked out a second after but Sakura was still struggling to calm down the rapid beat of her heart and processing the fact that she'd survived... well, whatever that had been.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, cocking is head at her.

"Huh?"

He pointed a finger to his cheek. "Your face is all red like a tomato."

Her hand flew to her own cheek, finding it hotter than she'd expected. "It-It's because I've been standing out here in the heat waiting for you!" Sakura snapped at him, whacking his shoulder with her book. He yelped and was still rubbing where he'd been hit when she grabbed him by the strap of his backpack to haul ass away from the classroom—away from Kakashi. "Let's go already!"

On their way home, Naruto continued to tease her about her 'tomato face' as he liked to call it. Normally, she'd respond with a solid bonk to his head. This time, however, she was too preoccupied with Kakashi and the way he'd looked... angry? Maybe that was an overstatement. Concerned seemed a bit of an understatement too though. Then... conflicted? But why?

It wasn't like she was breaking the rules when it was a school event.

And yet, she felt conflicted too. Half of her liked the idea that he was bothered by her running naked. The other half of her, however, didn't like the idea that he was underestimating her. It stemmed from the fear that Kakashi would start patronizing her at this rate, and although she'd jokingly called him 'Dad' that one time, Sakura had no intention of having that kind of relationship with him.

.

.

.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ino asked for the fifth time today.

The both of them had squeezed their naked asses into their apartment bathroom and were in the process of smearing sunscreen all over each other. Every damn nook and cranny since summer in Konoha City meant dangerously high UV rays and sweltering hot temperatures that left them sticky with sweat both morning and night.

Rubbing some sunscreen onto Sakura's back, Ino gave her a knowing look in the mirror. "I know that I suggested you do it, but you really don't have to do this if you don't want to. No pressure."

Sakura held back a sigh. "Why does everyone keep asking me if I'm sure?"

"'Cause running naked doesn't seem to be your thing."

"I used to walk around my house naked all the time."

That was maybe one of the few benefits of living completely all by her lonesome. Just eating tubs of ice cream while dancing utterly naked in her house—well, her parents' house.

"That's because nobody was around to see you naked," Ino snorted, turning around to let Sakura do her back too. "This time, the whole school can see you naked."

That was a bit of an exaggeration, but Sakura was hoping that the more students there were then the merrier. How many people out of the entire student population would be that eager to run around campus naked? Even Naruto had expressed disgust at the idea when he'd seen one of the Welcome Week flyers posted on a notice board, but she hoped other students would come. The more students there were then the less attention there would be on her.

"Well, classes are done for the day, the cameras will be off for the duration of the game, and the campus police will be on call if anything happens." Sakura shrugged, turning around to glimpse her ass in the mirror and make sure all the sunscreen was rubbed in. "Besides, what's one naked girl out of a hundred?"

.

.

.

Well, a hundred students hadn't exactly shown up, but there was still an alarming number of naked people that the sight of them dawdling around in a parking lot would surely raise brows on any other day. Like it was raising her brows right now.

Nude bodies of every height, size, and shape surrounded her and it was incredibly hard not to glimpse a boob at every corner of her eye. At least it was easier to avoid glimpsing a guy's junk, but it also didn't help that some boys were shaking their hips to get their dicks dancing with them. Whereas the boys were more than happy to run their own dick measuring contest, some of the girls were just as shy as Sakura, clinging to their other girl friends in a protective huddle.

As it was now, Sakura was dressed in nothing but a pair of sneakers and her own birthday suit, hiding behind Ino who was on the lookout for Sai. Crossing an arm over her breasts and hovering a hand over her crotch offered Sakura little protection when it felt like every eye was on her, judging her slim body and criticizing her small chest. Standing next to Ino who had the curves and breasts of a goddess, Sakura had always begrudgingly thought she looked like a pubescent girl in comparison.

A warm breeze swept through and she shivered, tucking the arm across her chest even closer to hide how stiff her nipples were.

"Babe!" Ino shouted, raising her hand to catch a dark-haired boy's attention as well as the attention of several other boys who enjoyed an eyeful of her generous bosom. She flipped those guys the middle fingers before meeting Sai with a kiss on his cheek. "And look who decided to join us!" she gestured to Sakura.

Making sure to keep her eyes above his shoulders, Sakura flashed him a stiff smile. "Hey, Sai."

She hadn't seen him since summer vacation, but she certainly hadn't thought they'd meet again under very... natural circumstances.

Impressively enough, Sai didn't seem to mind all the nudity as he propped both hands on his hips to freely display, well, everything. "Ino said she didn't think you'd come," he said, smiling amiably as ever.

She shot Ino a sour look in response, but one of the seniors was already calling for everyone's attention.

The rules of the game were simple. Once the whistle was blown, no clothes were allowed to be put on. The number one priority was to run from Parking Lot A all the way to Parking Lot G while avoiding the five Race Cars—golf carts, really—that would zip around shooting paintballs at any stragglers caught. Simple, right?

Except...

"I don't know where Parking Lot G is!" Sakura hissed at Ino as everyone finished lining up at the edge of the lot.

Crap, this is what I get for not paying attention in Orientation class! This had to be karma for not listening to Professor Iruka when he'd gone over every damn detail on the campus map.

"Calm your tits, babe," Ino whispered back. "Just follow me."

"But—"

Fweeeeet!

Shit!

They were running now, and Sakura had never felt so awkward running with her breasts struggling to bounce free from her arm. Everyone around her started streaking with their bare asses hanging out, some people whooping in freedom and others giggling or squealing out of excitement or the thrill of just exposing everything in public and not giving one fuck about it.

In a sense, it did feel liberating feeling the wind caress every inch of her skin and the buttery sunlight washing her in warmth. But it didn't keep her from lowering that arm away from her breasts or take that hand away from her crotch. And with every step she took, feeling her ass jiggle and breasts bounce, Sakura's nerves ate away at her.

As if sensing her trepidation, Ino glanced back, a gleeful grin perched on her face. But just as soon as her eyes landed on Sakura, they widened in fear of something behind her. "Oh fu—"

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Blue smacked Ino right in her tatas and she squealed from the pain, gripping her painted breast. The paintballs kept coming, flying in every direction and it was all Sakura could do but to duck and take cover behind a noticeboard. She'd felt the pain of a paintball hitting her right in the stomach once, and she was not so eager to experience it all over again.

In the chaos of naked bodies and paintballs, Sakura weaved through to make her way to one of the buildings where the senior students zipping around in their golf carts would have to navigate through pillars and trees to get to her. Or they could just take the path from the back and shoot her naked ass up, but she was hoping the seniors would be too busy picking out the easier targets.

Creeping behind the bushes, Sakura surveyed the courtyard in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Ino, but there was no sign of a blonde ponytail in sight. She had to be with Sai still but, either way, they'd ended up separated which wouldn't be so bad if not for the fact that Sakura still had no freaking clue where Parking Lot G was!

"Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!" she mumbled to herself, watching Race Car #4 zip through the courtyard, swerving around the fountain to shoot more paintballs at the freshmen hiding behind.

Gotta get outta here before I get some paintballs up my ass!

Her thighs burned with the physical strain of keeping low to the ground as she made her way down to the Administration building just next door and Sakura silently made a promise to implement more squats in her workout routine.

The automatic doors of the Administration building remained locked shut as she ran by them and took cover from the sun underneath an awning. While catching her breath, Sakura's thoughts raced in her head as she struggled to come up with a new game plan. She was at the Administration building—she knew that for sure just by the label on the doors. But besides this building, the school's dining hall, and the humanities and science buildings, she had no idea where the fuck Parking Lot G was. And she had no desire to run a whole lap around the border of the campus grounds either.

A lightbulb went off in her head.

What about a directory?

There had to be one around here somewhere.

Bracing the wall, Sakura peered back out into the now empty courtyard. Instead of looking for any structure that represented a directory, however, her eyes zeroed in on the chestnut-haired girl calmly striding along the path despite her tits out in full display. Well, okay, maybe she just didn't give a fuck about the race and just wanted to... go to the gymnasium?

Sakura frowned, watching as the girl strayed off the main path that was typically flooded with a traffic of students on an average school day. She rounded the corner of the gymnasium building, pausing before a small door that was normally kept locked. The girl glanced both ways over her shoulder for a second and then—Sakura's eyes widened—she opened the door to step right inside.

What? But that wasn't right. No classes were held in the gymnasium on Friday afternoons as far as Sakura could tell after poring through the time sections available on the day she'd registered. Had Professor Mizuki forgotten to lock the back door the other day? But that question was soon replaced by another: why would that girl head inside the gymnasium in the first place when the goal was the parking lot?

Worry and confusion began to twist in Sakura's gut. Something about this didn't sit right with her and the hairs rising on the back of her neck only affirmed that feeling. It reminded her of that one time back in primary school when a man had followed Sakura on her way home from school. Ino had been down with a fever that day, so she'd had no choice but to finish the rest of the walk alone after parting with Tenten and Hinata. After the man had started to close distance on her, Sakura had ended up sprinting to the Yamanaka household, banging on the door and screaming for Ino's parents. Mr. Yamanaka had quickly come out brandishing a gun, but the stranger had already taken off only to be caught a week later cornering a boy under a bridge.

The stranger had been one of the school's bus drivers.

A shiver ran through Sakura and she stepped out from the awning, flinching slightly as the hot sun was back to scalding her bare skin again. There was just a second of hesitation, and then she was cutting across the courtyard and towards the gymnasium. The handle of the round doorknob was hot to the touch, but it turned easily under her grip.

The door creaked quietly as it swung open and Sakura poked her head into the darkness first before stepping in. Carefully, she nudged the door close but left it ajar by just an inch, allowing a sliver of light to cut into the darkness. Wrapping arm over her breasts and shoving a hand back over her crotch again, Sakura shuffled down the hallway, eyes straining for any sign of life.

The quietude was eerie and unsettling, but then her ears picked up on a banging noise that echoed further down the hallway. It only sent another shiver of warning down Sakura's back. A whimper suddenly bounced across the walls and she came to an abrupt stop, flinching again when her sneakers squeaked sharply against the Maplewood floor. She held her breath, heartbeat pounding loud in her ears as she tiptoed past Professor Mizuki's office. The blinds of his windows were pulled down but that wasn't where the banging and whimpering were coming from.

The sound carried Sakura all the way to the equipment room where the whimpering persisted over the rhythmic banging noise.

A crack of light spilled into the darkness of the hallway, calling for Sakura's attention and drawing her closer. Every hair on the back of her neck stood tall now, tingling with a sense of caution with every step she took towards the crack of the door.

The whimpering started to rise into a wail—feminine and almost pained.

With bated breath, Sakura leaned towards the crack of light to take a peek into the room. Her heart stopped at the sight of the girl bent over a cart of basketballs, her cheek leaning against one while her hands scrambled across the others for a better purchase. The cart banged against the wall every time the girl was rocked against it by something—or someone.

Sakura's eyes widened as a hand burrowed into the curly brown locks of the girl's hair, gripping her head and wrenching it back, revealing a pretty face flushed pink in a state of ecstasy. Something hot curdled in Sakura's belly as she watched the girl's mouth drop open, brows furrowing as the wail rose into a sharp moan.

The cart banged the wall, louder as the man snapped his hips against the girl's, filling the room with a symphony of wet flesh smacking together and moans mingling with low grunts. From the angle that the crack of the door afforded Sakura, it was impossible to see who the girl's partner was, but he was certainly strong enough to fuck the girl hard enough to keep the cart heavy with basketballs banging the wall with a mere thrust of his hips.

"Ah! Ahn!" The girl cried out, arching her back as a hand snaked up her stomach to grip a full breast. "Oh god! Oh god—ahn!"

The girl's eyes, brimming with tears of pleasure, flicked over to Sakura who gasped and wrenched her face away from the crack of the door. She spun on her heel and sprinted away from the equipment room, cringing over every squeak her shoes made. The girl's moans continued to echo and haunt her down the entire length of the hallway, along with that damn banging noise.

That was definitely not part of the game! No way was something like that allowed on school grounds! And yet that girl had waltzed right into the gymnasium as if she had every intention of rendezvousing with her mystery partner—probably another student attending the naked race—and having a quick tryst with him. And she was just a freshman at that!

Sakura's heart was practically beating out of her chest when she slammed the backdoor open and spilled out of the gymnasium. The hot sun beat down on her hot face and she bent over, hands on her knees to catch her breath and stow that aching heat in her belly that was still building the more she thought about that girl's lewd face that bordered on orgasmic.

She shivered and crossed her arms back over the front of her body again to hide any evidence of the arousal swirling in the pit of her belly. But there was no time for rest as the sound of wheels caught her attention and she raised her face. Race Car #4 had returned with a vengeance, zipping past the courtyard's fountain and towards—oh fuck—her.

The senior at the wheel let out a whoop as her partner raised her paintball gun to take aim.

You've gotta be shitting me.

Sakura darted around the gymnasium, silently cursing as she cut through a bush and got an assful of leaves in return. Stealing behind a pillar, she listened for the sound of the golf cart driving by before backtracking to the Administration building. Passing by its front doors, she continued down the corridor that connected to the neighboring building. The roof of the corridor was decorated with a latticework full of blossoms that blocked out most of the sunlight, but Sakura still felt exposed and hurried over to the neighboring building that had a massive wall mural shading the front of it.

Slipping behind the mural, Sakura kept to its shadow as she searched the building's doors for a painted letter or number that could tell her what building this was.

She stopped in front of one of the blue doors and eyed the upper corner of it where black paint spelled out 'MSSA 127'.

MSSA... What did those letters stand for again? Professor Iruka's lecture popped up in her head along with the vague memory of him going over a slide that explained a school building's services. If she remembered right, MSSA was one of the classroom buildings, but this definitely wasn't the frontside of the building because the main courtyard was no longer in sight. She had to be at the back and that was probably why she hadn't recognized this building at first glance... and why she still couldn't remember for the life of her what MSSA stood—oh yeah!

M.S.S.A.

She leaned against the door of MSSA 127 to think it over, mouthing the letters one by one. Math, Social Studies—no, that wasn't right... or was it? Math, Social Studies, and Arts? But arts is a liberal—

The door she'd been leaning against suddenly swung open and Sakura stumbled back, her arms momentarily pinwheeling for balance before she crashed against a hard chest that knocked the breath out of her. The scent of pine trees wrapped around her as did a strong pair of arms that caught her, crushing right up against her—

Sakura instinctively let out an indignant squeak, shoving the arms away from her breasts and spinning on her heel to slap—

She gasped. "Kakashi!"

Oh, fuck nooooo!

Kakashi was already touching his cheek where the heel of her palm had cracked against his face. "You're welcome," he grunted out, eyes squeezed shut as he worked his jaw to make sure it was still in place.

"Oh my god!" Her hands flew to her mouth in horror before she remembered to cover her breasts and crotch. This can't be happening! This cannot be fucking happening! "I-I-I'm so sorry!" she cried out, wishing she had an extra pair of hands to cover the flush that had blossomed furiously all over her face.

"Does that mean you're going to slap me again?"

Sakura shook her head, willing every molecule in her body to vibrate fast enough to turn her invisible.

She remained buck-naked like a newborn baby, stuttering through her words right in front of her sex god of an anatomy professor.

Hurrying to put distance between them—and away from the heat of his presence that made her nipples tingle with excitement—Sakura stumbled back, all the way out of his office until her sneakers touched back safely on pavement. Kakashi raised his head to look at her and his cheeks blossomed to match the same shade of red as hers the moment his eyes landed on her and skimmed down her body for just a split second before stopping at her white sneakers and stopping there.

He cleared his throat, patting his pockets before retrieving a set of keys. An awkward silence draped over them as he took the moment to step out—prompting her to take another step back—and locked the door behind him.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, laughing at the end of her question to ease the tension between them. Her laugh came out stilted and hysterical like the laughter of a mad woman. And considering that she was naked, she might as well be.

Standing in between her and the blue door, Kakashi shoved both hands into the pocket of his sweatpants and stared hard at her sneakers as if he hadn't heard her. As if he was working awfully hard to fill his mind with nothing but the thought of shoes.

Sakura shifted on her feet and he blinked.

"Uh, this is my office," he said, tugging a hand out of his pocket to scratch at a cheek still a bright red where his mask didn't cover. She wasn't sure if it was red from her slap or what.

She peeked over his shoulder to the MSSA 127 marked by the door's corner. MSSA... Math, Science, and Social Arts! Shit, of course this was the building where his office would be.

"I forgot some papers here after talking with Jiraiya and returned to pick them up," Kakashi explained slowly, very carefully to her shoes. "So, you're doing the... the run?"

The Naked Run, Sakura almost corrected him, but it wasn't like he couldn't already see that.

"Y-Yeah, but I... I got lost," she admitted, also staring at his black sneakers. It was easier to talk to those than to that face that stirred the heat in her belly with so much as a glance. "I was with Ino, but we got separated when one of the Race Cars started chasing us."

Lo and behold, almost as soon as she said those words, the low whirr of wheels on pavement had Sakura looking wildly around for the golf cart she'd seemingly summoned. Kakashi moved quicker than her, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her back, back, back up against the wall of the mural. She gasped, more from the solid heat of his body pressing against her front rather than the cold stone of the wall against her back.

"Don't move," he murmured, his breath brushing aside her bangs.

Sakura shuddered, squeezing the arm over her breasts even tighter to hold back from gripping at his shirt. He was so close, if she dropped her arm now then her nipples would be free to rub against his shirt and help relieve the ache of them. Just as she considered that against her better judgement, Race Car #4 zoomed by the corridor, passing them by as they remained still in the shadow of the mural.

"D-Do you think the coast is clear now?" Sakura asked, peeking up at Kakashi through her lashes only to find him already staring down at her with a half-lidded gaze. The heat in her belly pooled like molten lava and she clamped her thighs, the hand over her crotch itching to slip in between. "Kakashi?"

She was losing track of how many times she'd slipped up with his name now, but he didn't seem to mind.

"No, don't fall for it," he answered, still keeping her pressed against the wall as if to shield her naked self from any unwelcome eye. "The seniors are experienced enough to make another round to double-check. I wouldn't be surprised if they're waiting just around the corner for others like you to come out of hiding."

She nodded, letting her nose rub against his sternum. Oh, he smelled so good. "So, um, what should we do then?"

We? Who's we? she berated herself. Between us two, I'm the only one with her tits out here!

"Wait here until they make a second pass," Kakashi spoke quietly, his chest rumbling with how low and deep his voice got at that level. The rumble practically vibrated through Sakura's body, shaking her down to the bones and leaving her feeling like she made of jelly. "Do you know where you need to go?"

Yeah, but I don't know how the fuck I get there. "Um, I have to reach Parking Lot G but I don't know where that is."

"It's behind the tennis courts, but you probably never noticed it because of the shrubbery. Since there's no way to cut through the courts, you're going to have to make a wide sweep around the campus, passing by the Visual Arts building and the amphitheater."

Ohhh, okay... Now where the fuck is the Visual Arts building and the amphitheater?! "I don't know where those are either," she admitted sheepishly.

Kakashi was silent for a while, and then, "Do you want me to take you there?"

What? Did he mean run together? A naked freshman student running with her professor? That sounded like the headline of a parody crime report: Naked Student Runs with her Sexy Professor! Are they Fucking?!

It was a bad idea.

"If it's not too much of a hassle for you," she mumbled.

"It's not," he said softly, making her heart skip a beat. "Once they pass us a second time, we run for it."

We.

She couldn't help but smile at that even as her arousal started to drip down her leg, the molten lava inside her escaping now. Against her, Kakashi stiffened and she bit back a gasp of surprise when he suddenly dipped his head just a few inches towards her shoulder to let out a quiet groan.

"Wh-What's wrong?" Tilting her face back, Sakura met his dark gaze clouded with... pain?

She reached a hand up to stroke the redness of his cheek where she'd slapped him, but then gasped again upon realizing her breasts were exposed. Instead of putting her hand back, however, she instinctively moved closer against him, letting her breasts press up on his chest to hide them. Her body had moved of its own accord, a slave to the desire tugging at the pit of her belly, and there was no time to come up with any excuse as Kakashi responded by dropping his head closer to her shoulder—close enough that the soft tips of his hair tickled her cheek now.

"It's okay," he said, breathing heavily so that his warm breath caressed her shoulder. "I-I didn't see anything."

Sakura nodded slowly, her own breaths shaky as she heard Kakashi make a strange noise.

"Kakashi?"

"You smell good," he rasped out. "Really good."

She blushed harder, feeling herself practically dripping wet now. "U-Um, I wiped my body down with sunscreen."

He groaned again, strained and low.

Just as she was about to ask if he was all right, the sound of giggles cut through the tension and they both stiffened when a girl on the other side of the wall giggled again.

"We're going to get in trouble," the girl purred to someone.

"Not if they don't catch us," a guy replied, his answer followed up by more giggling and the sound of lips locking.

Kakashi immediately turned his cheek, prompting Sakura to do the same to avoid looking at each other. But the both of them were powerless in stopping the couple on the other side of the mural from making out and Sakura was not so eager to confront the two lovebirds in her own birthday suit. So she stayed still, sandwiched between the wall and Kakashi and praying that the couple didn't—

"Ahn..."

Crap, here we go.

The wet sounds of lips smacking soon devolved into quiet sighs from the girl while the guy had mysteriously gone silent.

"Oh, yes! Right there!"

Sakura's face reddened even more, which should have been impossible since she'd thought all the heat had gone to the pit of her belly where it'd started throbbing now. She bit her lip, feeling another wave of arousal trickle down her inner thigh and begging to be put to use. As the girl continued moaning quietly on the other side, the memory of the girl in the equipment room began to resurface in Sakura's mind. She shivered and peeked up at Kakashi whose face was turned away so she couldn't see his expression, only the sharp clench of his strong jaw.

Was he the kind of guy who would fuck her the same way? Tangle a hand into the hair at the base of her head and bend her over to fuck her brains out? Would he grip her breast with as much possessive need too? Make her scream his name in reverence with each thrust until she lost her voice?

Warmth continued to trickle down Sakura's leg and it took every ounce of willpower to not slide her free hand down and stroke her clit. Oh, she was aching so badly that just one tap would be enough to make her cum hard all over the floor. Just like that.

Above her, Kakashi was breathing hard now. Sakura watched as he finally returned his attention to her, his gaze heavy with a kind of heat that matched her own. "Are you okay?" she asked him over the girl's moans, her own breath as ragged as his.

Kakashi sucked in a breath—the motion making his chest rub at her already stiff nipples—and he closed his eyes, brows pinching together like he was in pain or—her mind flashed back to the girl's face in the equipment room—pleasure.

Her arousal continued to dribble down her shaky legs and Sakura swallowed back a whimper that threatened to escape her. The heat swirling low in her belly was building into agony now, and the heat pressing against her belly... wait, what?

Very slowly, Sakura lowered her gaze down to where she felt something stiff and hot dig against her belly. Her eyes widened at the sharp tent in Kakashi's sweatpants nuzzling her belly. Mouth dropping open, she was utterly speechless.

Oh god, it looks so big and... it feels so heavy!

She looked back up at Kakashi who'd squeezed his eyes shut as if he was fighting a battle within. A battle that he was very clearly losing judging by the looks—and feels of it.

It shouldn't have pleased her to see him so tortured like this, but he looked so damn sexy and arousal continued to swell within her—and within his sweatpants too. She had to fight back another gasp as she felt him growing harder, hotter, and heavier against her belly. Oh god, what would it feel like to have him inside her, making her moan just as hard as that girl in the equipment room or the girl on the other side of the wall right now?

She should've been disgusted by an older man popping a boner right in front of her. She should've complained that this was sexual harassment. And yet there was only one thought that took root in her mind, and it grew like a seed nurtured by feelings that Sakura had never experienced before. It was the only explanation as to why she stared down at the prominent tent of Kakashi's sweatpants with lust instead of loathing. Why she didn't fear the cage of his arms but accepted it—accepted him—as a shield that protected her from the cold horrors of the world. Why every night she fell asleep thinking of him and every morning she awoke wishing to see him.

The truth was plain and simple, and her heart beating in time to his only seemed to shout the answer out with every enthusiastic 'thump'.

I like Professor Hatake.

The revelation hit her in the gut, so profound that were it not for Kakashi pressing the length of her body to the wall, she would've lost her balance from the dizzying rush of the blood draining from her face. The kind of like she had for Kakashi wasn't the kind of like she had for her favorite fruit parfaits or the friendly boy that had lived next door to her (until moving away in junior high). The like she had for Kakashi entailed her wanting to get down on her knees right now and let his cock bounce free of the confines of his sweatpants so that she could gag on it—all the way until his balls were smacking her chin and the heat of his cum filled up her belly.

And because Sakura liked him, it was only natural that she hoped he liked her back. Alas, she knew that was too good to be true. Because even as his erection kissed her belly with only millimeters of cotton separating their skin, Sakura knew she wasn't the cause of it.

The cause of her professor's erection was on the other side of the wall moaning quietly in ecstasy. The girl's voice was muffled—probably by her own hand—but any guy with a functioning dick would pop a boner from the sound. It was practically like listening to a porno; impossible not to get turned on.

There was a terse pause, and then the girl giggled, "let's go" to the guy. Their footsteps fell away much too quickly, and Sakura felt a sense of panic set in as it was now just her and Kakashi.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi suddenly huffed out in a strangled voice, his hands closing into fists on either side of her head.

Sakura peered up at him, meeting his desperate gaze still dark and stormy with conflict. He was the perfect image of a man on his knees, begging her for mercy as if she was his saving grace. Kakashi's eyes fluttered shut and she felt him leaning away to step back and put distance between them again. But like last time, her body moved of its own accord and she fisted a hand around the front of his shirt, yanking him closer to her—closer than ever. Her breasts pressed against his chest, so firmly that she could feel his thunderous heartbeat against hers while his erection dug into her belly, sharp and hot that it stoked a wild lick of heat between her legs.

Sakura swallowed lightly, watching Kakashi do the same.

"It's okay, I... I didn't see anything," she said shakily, repeating back what he'd told her just earlier.

Kakashi's eyes slowly roamed across her face, resting at her lips as if waiting for her to take those words back. When her lips remained open and parted, he raised his eyes back to hers, a silent question buried in the storm of his gaze.

"I didn't see anything," Sakura whispered to him again even as she felt the stiff heat digging into her belly twitch in silent answer. She kept her hand fisted onto the soft cotton of his black shirt, keeping him trapped with her just as much as he kept her trapped with him.

An eternity seemed to stretch on as they stared at each other almost as if in challenge of the other. Who would break first and address the elephant in the room? Who would be the one to point out the most obvious thing between them—although it was a bit of a contest between her erect breasts and his erect cock. Their hearts raged against each other, holding a conversation that could only be felt rather than heard and Sakura was all too glad to leave every beat up to interpretation.

Eventually, Kakashi relented with a heavy sigh that tickled her lips. Sakura shivered and he noticed, finally breaking the fragile quietude with a soft, "Are you all right, Miss Haruno?"

"Professor Hatake," she wet her lips, fingers tugging on the front of his shirt, "I'm cold."

Wrong. She was a raging fire inside and it didn't help that his own body seemed to be a human furnace, warming her from the inside and out. Kakashi shifted and she gripped his shirt just a bit tighter when she sensed him trying to move.

"Let me give you my shirt."

Oh... Even in the most vulnerable, inappropriate circumstances she stuck him in, he still played the role of the dark knight to the very end as if it was written for him.

She smiled up at him but shook her head. "I can't. Putting on clothes once the game starts is against the rules."

"Nobody would know."

Nobody would know... what? That I'm practically hugging my professor while naked? That he's getting a good feel of my tits while I'm getting a good feel of his dick? That I'm wearing nothing but his shirt and a pair of shoes with soles still stained with alcohol?

"I'm not a cheater," replied Sakura. "The rule of the game is that I have to stay naked, Professor."

Kakashi's throat bobbed sharply. "The whole time?" he rasped out.

She nodded, the sadist streak in her taking delight in the way his cock twitched more against her belly, practically nuzzling against her like it had a mind of its own and was asking for pets. Hell, she'd pet his cock all he'd like if he asked her to.

"Then..." Without warning, his hands moved away from the wall to slowly wrap around her, his fingers caressing the vulnerable skin of her back and prompting a sharp intake of breath from her. "Is this all right?"

His gaze was hot and heavy on her face, the heat of him surrounding her as much as his scent. Just one breath of Kakashi was like a puff of marijuana; she'd never even tried it before, but she could imagine the high was just like this—absolutely euphoric. But Sakura was feeling particularly greedy today and she wanted more.

"I'm still cold, Professor," she blinked up at him, watching the storm of his gaze darken and flash dangerously. That was enough to elicit another shiver from her and he was soon to respond this time.

He pulled her closer into his arms, wrapping her in an impenetrable hug that made the rest of the world melt away as if only the two of them existed right now. Pressing her cheek to his chest, Sakura listened to the thunderous roar of his heart beating against her ear while Kakashi settled one hand between her shoulder blades and his other hand down the small of her back.

He could grope her ass for all she cared, and it wouldn't scare her away.

It was strange. The last time Sakura had ever felt this safe and protected had been the last night she'd spent with her parents when they squeezed themselves onto her bed and slept on either side of her before bidding their goodbyes.

"Better?" Kakashi murmured against the crown of her head.

She let out a content sigh and nuzzled her cheek ever so slightly against his warm chest. "Mm, much better."

It was impossible to tell how long they stood together like this, but she tried to keep track of the time by counting the number of heartbeats that thumped against her ear. It was on the 307th heartbeat did the spell break.

Just as Kakashi predicted, Race Car #4 was back again, zipping past their corridor and chasing after the couple that had been making out (and more) just earlier on the opposite side of the wall. Kakashi didn't waste a single second. He stepped back, his eyes remaining on her face as he grabbed her hand.

"Ready?"

She nodded, squeezing her fingers over his. "Let's go."

They ran for it, Kakashi leading her from the front but gripping her hand firmly in his. She didn't dare look to see if his erection was still there, but maybe it'd died the moment that golf cart had interrupted them. Once Sakura felt the hot rays of the sun on her bare skin, she crossed her other arm over her breasts, keeping behind Kakashi as he guided her past the Visual Arts building and then the amphitheater.

She'd noticed it before during the many times he'd pop up out of nowhere, but seeing him run so quick and quietly now, she realized how much Kakashi really was like a ninja. His feet landed softly with every step he took while she sounded like a goddamn T-Rex stomping after him in tennis shoes. But Kakashi was careful, and he knew which corner to hide at and which path was less risky to cut through.

There was almost a strategic, militarized style in the way that he moved. As if they were on the battlefield and sneaking past enemy lines.

Before Sakura knew it, they had reached the tennis courts where Kakashi took her aside to crouch behind some bushes to let her catch her breath.

"It's not so bad after all," she panted out.

"What is?"

"Having someone see me naked."

Kakashi stiffened beside her, his fingers twitching just once around hers. "Even... if it's your professor?" he asked so quietly she almost didn't hear him.

The blush on her cheeks deepened. "It-It's not like this is the first time you've seen the body of a seventeen-year-old girl."

He's probably seen prettier girls than me when he was my age. Probably got to cop a good feel from them too...

"Actually... it is."

Sakura glanced at him, noting the redness of his cheeks that had yet to disappear. Except she'd only slapped the left cheek... and yet both cheeks were red. "O-Oh!" She tried to laugh it off. "Well, uh, I'm sure it's nothing different than all the other bodies of women you've slept with before. O-Or even the human diagrams in the textbook," she added weakly when she caught the tight knit of his brows.

Oh god, it was too early in the day to be digging her grave already.

"If you're so sure," Kakashi turned to her, his expression unusually aloof, "then why are you still trying to cover yourself from me?" Her mouth dropped open and, seeing her so flustered and speechless, Kakashi's gaze softened. He sighed and turned away from her again. "If you really are uncomfortable with me seeing you like this, there's no shame in taking my shirt."

No, it's not like that! It's just... I'm sure I would just look like a child in your eyes...

"I'm not uncomfortable," Sakura admitted quietly, feeling Kakashi's eyes drift back to her. "Not if it's you, Professor Hatake."

His fingers twitched around hers again, but before she could squeeze his hand in return, Kakashi sighed and stood up. He pointed ahead where a path made of gravel winded along the fence of the tennis courts and trailed around the corner. "Keep following this path and you'll reach Lot G."

Sakura stood up as well, following the direction of his finger. She nodded, swallowing back a lump of disappointment when Kakashi's hand retreated from hers. Crossing that hand back over her crotch again, Sakura turned her cheek to flash him a grateful smile.

His expression remained impassive and unreadable.

"U-Um, by the way," she said, fighting the urge to move one of her hands to tuck back a lock of hair, "I think Professor Mizuki forgot to lock up the back of the gymnasium."

"The gymnasium?"

"The backdoor was unlocked and I saw a girl step inside for... um, for a moment."

She was too scared to say the word 'sex'. Not when just earlier she had been dripping wet with arousal and Kakashi had worked hard to tame his boner. The both of them were still struggling with the notion that there was a line drawn between them—between the word 'student' and 'teacher'—and they had come very close to toeing that line.

A deep frown had made its way back to Kakashi's face, but he nodded. "All right, I'll let someone know. You go on then."

Sakura took a step, but paused, finding it difficult to tear her eyes away from him. Kakashi was back to eyeing her sneakers however, his hands stuffed into his pockets like he was just waiting for her to go away. So she did, leaving him behind but not the thrill of pleasure and elation that continued to stir deep in her core.

It took a lot of effort for her to not spare a look back even as she wondered if he was still watching her now. If he was looking at her the way she wanted him to, his eyes tracing every curve of her body the same way she did with him. If it were any other man ogling her bare bum, she would've run even harder before the fear would clog her throat.

But because it was Kakashi, she wouldn't have minded at all. Not one bit.


The water from the faucet sputtered briefly as he turned the knob to wash his hands. In the mirror, Kakashi studied his reflection, scrutinizing the deep grey of his own eyes. Already he could see just the faintest hint of wrinkles beginning to line around his gaze. It drew a stern or maybe tired countenance that reflected the miserable history these eyes had seen. These eyes that had seen too much horror to deserve seeing something as pretty and pink and vivacious as... her.

Gripping the sink, Kakashi sighed before cupping a hand under the faucet's stream to splash more water onto his face. He waited until the redness of his cheeks faded away completely, leaving no evidence of the wrong he'd been about to commit. Another wrong he would have to put a tally mark beside all the other wrongs he'd committed in his life.

But the gentle scent of cherry blossoms still clung to his shirt, tingling at his nose and stirring that dangerous heat in his gut again. He gripped the sink harder, fingers whitening against the edges of the enameled cast-iron. Breathing carefully through his mouth, Kakashi forced his body to resist the temptation of that sweet, intoxicating scent. It took several long, steady, drawn-out breaths until the heat subsided and he was back in control again.

After tugging his mask back up, he left the bathroom and headed directly for the gymnasium. The back door was reserved for faculty members only—and even then, it was rarely opened. But Sakura had no reason to lie, and Kakashi didn't doubt her even as he twisted the knob of the door and found it locked despite her claims.

He glanced over his shoulder, quickly surveying his empty surroundings before tugging out the multi tool knife kept on his keyring. The blade sunk in clean and deep as Kakashi jammed it right into the space where the latch sat nestled within. With a hard flick of his wrist, he pried the latch back, letting the pin beneath it align.

The door swung open and Kakashi stepped into the gaping darkness.

As quiet as a mouse, he slinked down the hallway, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness. Upon reaching Mizuki's office, he jiggled the doorknob but it remained locked. The blinds of the window were pulled down too, so he couldn't see anything inside. He pressed his ear to the door and listened for any sign of life, but he decided to move on after a minute of silence.

The door of the equipment room was also locked, but Kakashi caught a faint whiff of... raspberries? The scent was far too aromatic to be the actual fruit. It was either perfume or some sort of scented soap, but the school only used strawberry-scented soap for their bathrooms.

Tilting his head back, he sniffed the air, following the scent until he stopped at the pair of doors that respectively led into the men's and women's locker rooms. Both doors were locked when he tested them, as they were supposed to be at this time of day, but the women's locker room was clearly where the scent was coming from.

Then if Sakura was right, a girl had definitely passed through here. But to take a shower...?

Well, if the girl was a homeless student then borrowing a communal bathroom wouldn't be so strange. But it was strange to take a shower in the early afternoon...

It was too dark to see much else, and with only the smell of soap as evidence, there wasn't anything else Kakashi could do. With a sigh, he made his way back out of the gymnasium, closing the door behind him and making sure the lock was secure.

If Mizuki did make the mistake of forgetting to lock up this door, then Kakashi would have to have a little chat with him the next time they ran into each other.


The summer heat was at a rage at this point in the afternoon. Despite the shower Sakura had just taken, her skin was already damp with a light sheen of sweat as she laid in bed, still naked but wrapped in the peach towel Kakashi's scent still clung to.

She'd been staring up at the ceiling, thinking back to the way Kakashi's erection had felt so stiff and heavy against her belly. Of course any guy would get turned on by the sound of a girl moaning—it was a biological reaction. And of course Kakashi wouldn't get turned on by her; she was practically a kid in his eyes, for crying out loud.

If it weren't for the fact that she was already in college, Sakura would bet that her small tits and lack of curves would be enough to make him assume she was still in high school or worse—junior high. But if she had curves like Ino or breasts like Hinata, then maybe Kakashi would see her as a woman. Maybe it wouldn't be that girl's moans turning him on, but Sakura herself.

But that maybe belonged in an entirely different universe.

Frowning at the ceiling, Sakura allowed her memory to drift back to the equipment room. But instead of that chestnut-haired girl's face, Sakura replaced it with her own face, adding Kakashi's hands to the mix. Kakashi's hands gripping her head to bend her over the cart of basketballs. Kakashi's hips snapping furiously against hers, wrenching out moan after moan and banging the cart against the wall like he was making music with her body.

Sighing, she drifted a hand down to the hem of the peach towel, stroking the soft skin of her inner thigh. She closed her eyes shut and slid two fingers between—

Her door banged open and Sakura gasped, wrenching her hand back just as Ino strode in all dressed in a deep-plunging maroon dress and frowned at her.

"Why aren't you getting ready?"

"Ready?" Sakura blinked at her, reeling from the whiplash of lust shifting into confusion. "For what?"

"For the movies, remember?" Ino gave her a 'duh' look before checking the short skirt of her dress in Sakura's mirror. "We agreed with the girls the other day that we'd go see Fifty Shades of Grey. The theater is running a marathon for it. We were talking about it last night. When we were talking about Hinata and Naruto?"

She didn't remember any of that. Then again, she'd been so busy these past nights either studying and then masturbating or just masturbating. Both scenarios always included Kakashi. "Wait, what about Hinata and Naruto again?"

"They're going to do it!"

"Do... what?"

Seeing that Sakura was still completely lost, Ino rolled her eyes. "Sex! Bang, fuck, mate, do the dirty, the bees and the knees, make love—whatever you wanna call it. Hinata is thinking she's ready to do it with Naruto and so we decided to watch Fifty Shades of Grey to get her more comfortable with the idea of sex."

Sex.

The word blared loud and clear in her mind as if Ino had taken a microphone and shouted it aloud. It had Sakura clamping her thighs shut and it took way too much effort to not squirm on her bed right then and there. The terrycloth of the peach towel seemed to rub against her breasts with every breath she took, her nipples quickly stiffening again at the sensation and the thought of Kakashi rubbing against her just like he'd done so only an hour ago.

"Wh-What's Fifty Shades of Grey about again?" she asked, hoping the question would distract her. It did not. Just the word 'grey' itself only revived the memory of Kakashi's eyes boring into hers, so dark with temptation.

Ino shrugged. "A college grad gets kinky with this CEO, I think. Basically that. Remember the tagline? Mr. Grey will see you now."

A light shiver ran through Sakura, ending in a hot throb between her legs. She'd only seen trailers for the films back in high school, but she could envision Kakashi in a freshly pressed suit the color of graphite and standing before her lackadaisical with both hands deep in his pockets, his half-lidded gaze heavy on her face and erection straining against his pants.

'Mr. Grey will see you now.'

Mm, a small smile tugged at Sakura's lips, wouldn't that be nice?


A/N: This chapter wasn't originally this steamy, but I made some last-minute edits since y'all have been so patient and sweet and I know that this feels like the slowest fucking slow burn of your life loool! But I promise from this chapter onwards, the heat will be rising between these two—it's gonna get real hot and steamy here!

Also, The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter is a real short story that you can read the PDF version online for free with just a quick Google search!