The Anatomy of Love

Written By: Banana007

Chapter 13: 50 Shades of Pink


Warning: things get a little bestial towards the end but it's pretty vanilla imo


"Here's your refill!"

Kakashi flashed a smile at the pharmacist as he swiped his bag of Ambien pills off the counter and hurried off to the fruit section for a breath of fresh air. He hated dropping by the local pharmacy for his refills, and he especially hated the medicinal stench of the drugs that permeated this area of the store. It hung heavy in the air like a miasma, and he was all too eager to purge the scent from his lungs with a sharp inhale of the fresh fruit filling the stands.

Several breaths later, he steeled himself before stealing back over to the drug aisle. He tried to hold his breath as he dumped a bottle of Melatonin, a pack of Unisom tabs, Benadryl, Aleve PM, and—his hand paused over a bottle of Valerian. He'd heard that there were some therapeutic benefits to this plant-based supplement, and it was the only sleep-aid brand that he hadn't yet tried.

He shrugged, adding the Valerian to the cart in his hand.

The woman perusing the shelf next to him did a double-take at his cart. He appeased her with a crease-eyed smile before ambling away with her bewildered gaze burning into his back. It wouldn't be the first time he'd gotten stared at in a store and it wouldn't be the last. As a kid, he used to think it was his mask, and as a teenager he thought it was because he looked like a thug. After the war, he had assumed it was the scar over his left eye until he'd noticed that people tended to avoid looking at that eye. To this day, the reason for the stares still eluded him. Not that he cared anymore at this point.

Well, it was easier to avoid those stares at the back of the store where he could enjoy a bit of romantic time with some novels.

Standing before the display of adult romance books, his eyes zoned in on the Fifty Shades of Grey novels sitting beneath the discount section. He remembered cracking open the very first novel of the trilogy while in transit on his first tour to Sound country. He remembered reading the moment Anastasia Steele met Christian Grey over the sound of bombs whistling past the aircraft. Obito had complained that it wasn't the time for kinky romance stories when their unit was expecting Kakashi to give a rousing speech before drop-off, especially since this was his first mission as Anbu commander and everybody was concerned that their lives were in the hands of a twenty-year-old who was more or less a pervert than a leader. He could still see their mortified faces when he'd started to read the first chapter aloud instead. It had been effective in doing away with their nerves at least.

Smiling faintly, he reached out to pick up the book.

"Kakashi!" His hand fell away from the paperback and he turned, meeting Mizuki's grin just further down the aisle. "Fancy seeing you here!"

"Mizuki," Kakashi couldn't help but blink in surprise as his colleague sauntered over to him. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."

Then again, it was a small city and the both of them had grown up in the same neighborhood even though they'd never hung out all that much together. If anything, luck was on his side today. He'd been meaning to talk to Mizuki about what Sakura had seen today and now was a good time as any... even if it was in the middle of a pharmacy. Not the most ideal place to confront someone, so he'd have to be careful with his words then.

"What? You were hoping to see me sooner?" Mizuki laughed, clapping a hand over his shoulder like they were old mates.

Not missing a beat, Kakashi smiled at his former classmate. "I was, actually. You see, I was at the school just earlier and I couldn't help but notice a girl slipping into the gymnasium from the back. As a fitness instructor, you have the keys to the gymnasium, so you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" he asked, eyeing the slight twitch of the man's mouth.

But Mizuki merely laughed again as if he'd been told a joke. "You're getting a lil' too old to be eyeing up the freshmen college girls, don't you think?" He gave Kakashi a teasing nudge in the ribs.

He's deflecting.

Setting his cart on the ground, Kakashi crossed his arms. "Why was the back door of the gymnasium left unlocked?"

It was just a split second, but he felt the fingers on his shoulder twitch.

Mizuki took a step back, letting his hand fall off Kakashi's shoulder to slide into his own pocket. Under Kakashi's steely gaze, however, he threw his eyes over to the row of cheesy romance novels lining the shelf. He stroked his clean-shaven jaw as Kakashi pressed him with an unrelenting stare, the question hanging between them despite the terse silence.

"Well, I guess the secret's out then," he gave in with a sigh and a shake of his head. "That girl you saw? Don't tell anyone, but she's a homeless student. I didn't want her to feel embarrassed about it, but I knew she wanted to borrow the showers. I wanted to help the poor girl out, so I gave her my keys to borrow. Don't worry, I made sure to tell her to lock up after," he quickly added when Kakashi raised his brow.

It did sound plausible. Homeless students weren't common in this side of the neighborhood, but the student population was made up of kids from all walks of life. There was always a chance one of his own students was living in their car right now even if they showed up to class looking none the worse for wear. So a homeless student wanting to use the communal bathroom for a nice, hot shower wouldn't be too unusual. But again, his instincts were telling him that something about this situation was indeed unusual.

"It's a bad idea to let a student handle the keys," Kakashi said. "Were you there to supervise her?"

Mizuki jerked back like the idea was preposterous. "Of course not! I'm not a pervert."

"Then how are you so sure she locked up after?"

"She's a responsible girl." Mizuki shrugged. "And even if she somehow forgot to lock up, the janitor will be passing through later in the noon anyway."

"Right..." Kakashi nodded slowly, flicking his eyes to the cart hanging from Mizuki's hand. The cart was filled with only one kind of product; lavender boxes stacked atop of each other so that he could only glimpse the label of the box at the top of the pile.

Plan B: One-Step.

"How is Tsubaki by the way?" Kakashi asked, pretending to eye the lascivious cover of a book sitting on the bottom shelf by Mizuki's cart. "I haven't seen her around since moving back. Are you two still engaged?"

Shifting his feet, Mizuki turned aside so that his cart of emergency contraceptives could no longer be seen from Kakashi's end. The man grinned in good nature at the mention of his long-time girlfriend, although he also seemed surprised by the sudden change in subject. "Oh, Tsubaki? Nah, we're married now of course!"

Kakashi crinkled his eyes at him. "Congratulations! I'm happy for you both, Mizuki. And I suppose you're trying for children now?" he asked, watching him carefully through the slits of his eyes. "Tsubaki always did say she would love to be a stay-at-home mother."

A smile twitched onto Mizuki's face. "Yeah! Of course we're trying for children!"

There. Kakashi hadn't even needed to set up the trap. All he needed to do was throw the guy a decent enough bait to see if he would take it. After all, he had already learned long ago in his time on the field that it was often liars who set up their own traps and got caught in them.

Still smiling nonchalantly as if he thought he'd dodged a bullet when he'd really walked right into one, Mizuki leaned in to wink at him. "Gotta hurry and get to baking that bun in the oven, you know? Those eggs won't stay fresh forever."

"They do say the early thirties is the best time to have children," Kakashi mused aloud, reiterating what Asuma used to crow on about when he and Kurenai had started trying for a child of their own. "It's been scientifically proven that semen quantity peaks between the ages of 30 and 35."

"Then you better hurry it up there, Kakashi, since you've already turned 31," Mizuki smirked, leaning over to give him a playful fist bump to the arm. As he did so, he lowered his gaze to Kakashi's cart at his feet, forest green eyes widening at the pile of sleep medication. "Geez, you're not planning to drug a girl into having your baby, are you?"

"It's to help me sleep," Kakashi replied over Mizuki's humored chuckles. "I have trouble sleeping since I often dream of killing people."

Mizuki abruptly paused mid-chuckle, his smile still frozen in place.

With a crinkle of his eyes and a light grin beneath his mask, Kakashi leaned in to add in a low, dangerous voice, "Perks of, well, having actually killed a lot of people in real life." He winked cheerily at him for good measure.

A light shiver visibly ran down Mizuki's body despite his smile and he took a step back. And then another. "Ha-ha, good one, Kakashi!" he said, eyes darting side to side now as if he was a cornered animal—specifically a rat—looking for a way out. And Kakashi knew a rat when he saw one. "Well, I gotta go now," Mizuki said, already backtracking out of the aisle. "Tsubaki's waiting for me."

Still smiling cheerily, Kakashi waved at him, lowering his hand only when Mizuki disappeared around the corner of the aisle. He promptly picked up his cart and made his purchase at the cashier, but his thoughts continued to race a mile a minute as he paid with cash and returned to his car.

He tossed his sleep meds into the passenger seat and then tucked his bag of prescription pills over the dashboard. But instead of turning the ignition key to start the car, Kakashi took the moment to lean back in his chair, hands lightly gripping the rim of the steering wheel as he waited.

Mizuki had never been the brightest when it came to interrogation tactics, but he'd certainly tried his best to lie his way through. The question was why had he lied about trying to have children with Tsubaki? If it had been because of some sort of shame involving infertility issues, then why have a cart full of emergency contraceptives? It made no sense to use a morning-after pill if Tsubaki was trying to get pregnant.

Dozens of scenarios started to play out in Kakashi's mind as he contemplated every kind of possibility involving the use of a Plan B pill. All of them pointed back to the girl Sakura had mentioned. If the girl had waltzed right into the gymnasium because Mizuki had given her the key, then... was Mizuki sleeping with the student?

He hated to jump to conclusions, but his instincts had never failed him before and he was sure they wouldn't fail him now. If Mizuki was sleeping with a student, then he would obviously have to report him to a school administrator. Kakashi hadn't seen Choza since moving back in, but he knew the elderly Akimichi would be able to handle the situation efficiently. Of course, some evidence of Mizuki's misdeed would be needed first since suspicion alone wasn't enough to incriminate the guy, but Kakashi wouldn't mind helping Choza with the investigation if needed.

Nodding decisively, Kakashi pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts for Choza's number.

Riiing...

On the third ring, a silver Nissan rolled by in front of Kakashi, and he sat forward in his chair to watch Mizuki navigate through the parking lot. His training instantly kicked in, urging him to follow the guy and spy on him for proof. Strategies already began filling up his head for all the possible approaches he could take, and most of them involved the rooftop even though that meant sitting out under the boiling hot sun for god knows how long. He personally had always hated that part of reconnaissance missions.

Riiing...

The silver Nissan slipped back onto the street and Kakashi's grip on the steering wheel tightened, but he didn't move. He'd been paralyzed by another thought, one that was just as dark as his thoughts of Mizuki.

Riiing...

If Mizuki was sleeping with his student, then what did that mean for Kakashi? Of course, he'd never actually cross that line, but hadn't he already crossed a line just earlier with Sakura? After all, no professor was supposed to hug his naked student the way he'd done so, hands all over the bare flesh of her back, fingers tracing the center dip and relishing the feel of that gentle curve.

Riiing...

No professor was supposed to enjoy how slim but supple his student's body had felt, pressed up against him so firmly that he could feel the pebbled tips of her breasts through his shirt and the subtle ridges of her ribs on his chest.

Riiing...

No professor was supposed to get so high on her sweet smell and then struggle for control just because of how that smell had been so intoxicating these days. As if she wore sex for perfume and he was attracted to such tempting pheromones.

Riiing...

No professor was ever supposed to take pleasure in how her belly had felt so soft against the weeping tip of his cock, tempting him to rub against her like a dog in a rut.

Riiing...

And no professor was supposed to let his thoughts stray to his student's pink hair, and pink nails, and pink cheeks, and pink lips, and pink nipples—a tent started to build again in Kakashi's sweatpants, and he tightened his grip on the steering wheel until the bones of his knuckles whitened. But the image of Sakura burned in his vision as if she stood before him now, naked and blushing with a shy smile directed to him just like earlier with those pretty pink nipples and her pretty pink puss—

"You have reached the voice mailbox," his phone suddenly started to screech into his ear, causing the tent in Kakashi's sweatpants to wither away much to both his relief and ire.

He cursed silently, hesitating just a second longer before ending the call and pocketing his phone to tug at the crotch of his pants. Leaning his forehead against the rim of the wheel, he drew in a breath to control himself. But the heat in his groin had yet to subside and Kakashi huffed in frustration, finally turning the key just so that he could blast his car's air conditioner. Ice-cold air blew at his face, and he sucked in deep breaths to calm down the raging heat in his pants.

His cock twitched one last time in protest.

There was his answer, and it churned up the heat in the pit of his belly as well as this morning's breakfast.

But maybe—just maybe—he was wrong about Mizuki. Maybe he was just being paranoid about it. Just because the guy was popular with his female students didn't necessarily mean that he was abusing his popularity and position. Maybe his relationship with Tsubaki had made him a changed man—a man different from that time fifteen years ago. Maybe that student really was homeless and he'd been sincerely trying to help her. But that was a lot of maybes, and Kakashi still felt compelled to follow after him. Or at least try to call Choza again and give him a heads up.

Kakashi stroked his jaw for a moment, ignoring the weight of the phone in his pocket. He sighed, and with a push of the button, his car purred to life. He rolled out of the parking lot but instead of following after the silver Nissan to confirm if his suspicions were right, Kakashi swerved in the direction of the movie theater. He needed some time to calm down and think things through properly instead of jumping the gun with Mizuki. In the meantime, he hoped that the Fifty Shades of Grey marathon would help him take his mind off other, far more immoral things—all of which were shades of pink rather than grey.


The smell of buttery popcorn flooded into Sakura's nose and she took a deep whiff of it while waiting for Ino to purchase the sinful bucket of calories. Although there were plenty of women filing past her, the theater wasn't as filled as she would've expected for a Friday afternoon. That might've had to do with the fact that today's showing was dedicated to fans of all things kinky and romantic—which was probably why there was a staggering number of couples in line for the concession stand.

Her eyes flitted across the boys and girls holding hands while gazing lovingly into each other's eyes with some girls leaning up to plant kiss after kiss on their boyfriend's or girlfriend's mouths. One guy caught Sakura staring and she was forced to look at the popcorn in his hand and pretend she'd been more interested in that than the way the couple had been making out.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd had popcorn, but she could remember the last time she'd dressed up like this for the movies. In fact, she could remember the last time she'd even been to the movies: exactly two years ago on a nice balmy day like this one. And just like last time, Ino had insisted that she wear a tight-fitting dress that supposedly made her boobs look 'not really bigger but better' and Sakura couldn't really argue with that. But at that time, she had been expecting a cute date to arrive with flowers and a cheesy one-liner.

Looking back at that memory now, Sakura wished she could warn her younger self that that boy had no intention to take her out on that date. That it was just a cruel prank and he planned to ditch her there so that she stood all alone with only a bucket of popcorn for company. It would've saved her the heartbreak, tears, and trauma.

Now she stood here in a theater oddly reminiscent of the one from her old neighborhood, frowning at the pervy boys who cast her leery stares while their girlfriends hung on their arms. If she wasn't so busy tugging down her dress's hem to make sure her ass wasn't hanging out, she would've been flipping them the bird by now. Didn't their mamas teach them not to ogle?

"You only look sexier when you're angry you know."

Sakura scoffed and turned to Ino whose cheeks were already stuffed with popcorn. She almost retorted back that she wasn't angry, but Ino knew her too well and probably would've figured her anger stemmed from the memory of the last time she'd gone to the movies. It had already taken a lot of convincing on Ino's part to get her to dress up as if she was on another movie date but with the girls. It had taken even more convincing to drag her here, and Ino had succeeded only because this movie-trip was for Hinata's sake. Speaking of which, where was she?

As if reading her mind, Ino said through a mouthful of popcorn, "Hinata's not coming anymore."

"What? Why?" She could understand Tenten having to miss out since she had work, but the whole point of this trip was for Hinata.

"Family stuff," Ino replied with a downward quirk of her lips. With that said, she took Sakura by the arm to guide her down the hall to Theater Seven.

Sakura couldn't help but frown at that answer. If there was anything she liked about not having her parents around, it was that she had the freedom to do whatever she pleased—technically. Hinata, on the other hand, had the misfortune of having a controlling father whose word was the law. And no matter how asinine his word could be, it was the law of the Hyuga household, and that law could not be disobeyed. It didn't help that Mrs. Hyuga merely sat back and enabled her husband's controlling behavior.

Hinata was lucky enough that her father hadn't disowned her for dating Naruto, and that was only because the Uzumaki family had just as much of a prestigious background as the Hyuga family.

Still, Sakura couldn't imagine becoming a wife to a man like that. Every decision monitored and only after gaining permission… how stifling. At this modern day and age, it was depressing to think there were still so many women out there dehumanized to the point that they were treated more like cattle to be sold or bartered with. Hanging on the arm of a rich man like a piece of human décor wasn't much of an improvement either, and she was afraid to think that might be her fate.

So as they sat down in their purchased seats and waited for the trailers to finish playing out, Sakura tried to squash down that fear by taking gulp after gulp of the cherry-flavored coke she had Ino buy. The sugar rush only served to heighten her anxiety, but she kept on sipping away until Ino had to warn her that she'd be going to the bathroom sooner than later if she drank that much. Sakura waved her off but set the soda back in the cupholder of her seat.

"So... Hinata's really ready to lose her virginity?" she asked as the trailer to an upcoming horror film flashed in front of them. Her knee started to bounce, and she wondered if it was because of the sugar high even though it was too soon for that. "Like, she's really going to go all the way with Naruto?"

"I know right? She's been thinking about it for a year already and I thought a movie about sex and romance would be a nice way to make her comfortable about it and, you know," Ino shrugged, "ease her nerves. Get her courage up. I mean, she shouldn't have to ask her father's permission anyway so long as she's responsible. Plus, I thought you could use the emotional support yourself too."

Normally, Sakura would've retorted with something like 'I'm not going to be getting into whips and bondage anytime soon,' to which she guessed Ino would've commented, 'Hey, don't knock until you've tried it', but she pressed her lips together instead, rubbing her cherry lip gloss around. After what had happened at the naked run earlier with Kakashi, she felt far from normal. Every time her mind strayed to him, all she could think of was how good his body had felt, pressed up against hers. He had fit perfectly against her like they were two of the most unique puzzle pieces. And while it was Hinata who was getting ready to lose her virginity, Sakura was more so concerned of herself.

How do you even know when you're ready to lose your virginity?

She'd always been too shy to ask that, but now she was dying to know. The idea of having sex had always intimidated her as much as it enticed her, and it didn't help that her mother wasn't around to console her about these matters. Ino had always been the one she turned to for matters like sex and romance, but as Sakura turned to her friend to finally pop the question, the theater fell in a silent hush as the lights faded and a jazzy rendition of 'I Put a Spell On You' began to play.

The scene opened up to a panoramic view of a city with staggering skyscrapers that made up the monochromatic city skyline. As the camera panned to the leading man of the film adjusting the collar over his graphite tie, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if that was how Kakashi had looked when he'd dressed up for the first day of school with her sushi tie. She could see it now: him returning from a quick jog around the neighborhood to browse through his closet just long enough to decide on the sushi tie the drunk girl from the night before had gifted him.

As the scene switched back and forth between the man and the heroine preparing for the day, Sakura frowned at the sight of the heroine leaving campus and dumping her backpack in a car. Huh... so if the heroine was still a college student but the love interest was already the CEO of a massive enterprise... then how much older was he?

Sitting forward in her chair, Sakura took a quick glance around the theater. None of the men and women seemed perturbed by the thought of an older man getting into a relationship with a woman who was still young enough to not even have a Bachelor's degree yet and she wasn't sure what to make of that. All her life, she'd been lectured by media and mothers that young women falling in love with older men only spelled trouble, especially if those men were in far higher positions of power. And all her life, she'd believed that it was true; those older men only wanted the young bodies of pretty-faced women; that it was easier to groom and control a girl who was far too innocent for her own good. But upon meeting Kakashi, all those beliefs had been bulldozed through the moment he'd ran into her on that night.

Back at the apartment, he'd warned her that boys like Daichi could have ulterior motives—and she'd realized belatedly that he was right. That boys like Daichi wanted more than just friendship or a dryer. In fact, looking back on it, it really had been a stupid move to invite a guy in when she only knew so much as his first name. But it was confusing to think that a boy like Daichi was more dangerous than a man like Kakashi. And yet, not once did Kakashi ever try to take advantage of her in her room. He could've overpowered her—and there were plenty of opportunities to do so. He could've caught her off guard while she'd stripped herself naked behind his back and thrown her onto the bed to have his way with her. He could've done something—anything—to her... but he didn't.

All he had done was give her safety tips, warn her of deceptively nice boys, and fix her sink.

So how could it be so bad for younger women to fall in love with older men like him? How could she not want him to look at her as a woman and not as the girl who sat at the front row of his morning class?

And as Sakura watched the young Anastasia Steele fumble with her coat in front of the receptionist, she was reminded very much of her own self. How she was so inexperienced and sometimes downright awkward—especially in front of Kakashi—that she wondered faintly if he saw her the same way she saw the heroine right now. The thought left her stomach twisting with anxiety and she began biting the tip of her thumbnail.

'Mr. Grey will see you now,' the receptionist said at the same time Sakura felt something hot and tingly at the base of her head.

She frowned, biting down on her nail harder to ignore the strange inkling that she was being watched. Maybe she'd had one too many gulps of that coke that it was feeding into her paranoia? But the feeling persisted, and she started to bounce her knee harder, stopping only when Ino threw her a hard look.

Sakura chose to ignore the feeling as she watched the heroine trip right through the doors to Mr. Grey's office. The sight of it looked all too familiar and she cringed, remembering the many instances she'd embarrassed herself in front of Kakashi.

God, they should've hired me to play Anastasia Steele. I could play the clumsy, inexperienced, awkward virgin girl down to a T.

Sakura chuckled bitterly to herself before digging a hand into the popcorn bucket. As she watched the future lovers introduce themselves, the hot tingling sensation at the back of her head returned. She frowned, but finally dared to peek over her shoulder. Her eyes traveled up the rows of couples staring at the screen in front of them... and landed on the lone figure occupying the corner seat at the last row—just next to the entrance.

She gasped and swiveled her head sharply to face the screen once more.

"You okay?" Ino whispered at the side.

Sakura gave her a tight nod and tried focusing on the movie before her. But while the mouths of the characters moved, she heard nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat roaring in her ears. And when the back of her head started to tingle again, the roar of her heart practically deafened her for the rest of the film.

When the movie finally ended, Sakura could not, for the life of her, describe a single scene from the film if Ino had asked her to. She didn't remember anything from the movie because she hadn't even been watching it at all. Sure, her eyes had been glued to the screen just like everyone else in the theater, but her mind sat all the way at the back row where her professor was. Her professor who seemed to be paying more attention to her than to the movie itself—or at least, that's what her gut was telling her. Her gut, and the tingling sensation at the back of her head.

But maybe her gut was wrong. She'd been wrong before, and those mistakes had taught her not to be so presumptuous.

"So now that you got to watch the whole first film properly, what did you think of the romance?" Ino asked her when they stepped back into the hallway to stretch their legs for the duration of the intermission. When she received no response, Ino turned to Sakura who was busy scanning the place, squinting at every head that filled the hallway or flooded out of Theater Seven. "Hello? Forehead, what are you looking for?"

"Oh, um, just the bathroom," Sakura mumbled, steering her gaze away from the crowd of people pouring past her and back to Ino.

Still oblivious, Ino herded her down the hall and to the lady's restroom where a queue was already beginning to build. While in line, several girls turned their heads to stare at Sakura and, feeling self-conscious of her outfit, she fingered the lavender hem of her dress to make sure it stayed down past her butt. Ino babbled on and on about how insanely hot it would be to have a dom-sub relationship with Sai, and that maybe she should introduce the idea to him with some books. Interpreting Sakura's silence for boredom, however, Ino switched the topic to something else.

"So what did you think of Mr. Grey?"

For a moment, Kakashi's steel grey eyes flashed through Sakura's mind instead of the love interest from the film. She blinked and took a second to tug down her dress and collect her thoughts. "Mr. Grey? U-Um... I don't know," she shrugged, struggling to remember what even happened in the film. Something about sex and the color grey... silver-grey like Kakashi's gaze. "I, uh... I don't really like the idea of a woman having to pick up the pieces of a broken man and that's covered up by the romance," she murmured distractedly, reciting the words of one of the reviews she'd seen online about the film.

"What's wrong with helping the poor guy out? He went through a lot of shit in his life."

"Well, why should it be the woman's responsibility to fix him? That's not fair for her."

Ino pursed her lips at that. "The way I see it, she's helping him because she wants to and not because she feels obligated to. She loves him—every broken piece of him—and so of course she's going to want to help someone she loves. Even if it wasn't necessarily a romance, it'd be the same thing." She nudged Sakura with her elbow. "If you went through something traumatic and came out fucked up from it, I'd go through hell to help you out."

"Aw, is this your way of saying you love me?"

Ino rolled her eyes at the smirk on Sakura's face. "I'm just saying, I need someone like you around so that I can bask in the attention you grab from people with your billboard brow. I mean that is how I met Sai anyway."

"Oh, Pig," she squeezed her arm affectionately even though Ino only rolled her eyes even harder at the nickname.

But at the back of her mind, Sakura was still plagued by other questions that had been stoked by all this talk about fragile relationships with broken men. What if the guy is so broken with trauma that the girl just can't help him no matter how hard she tries to? What if her love is not enough to save him? Obviously, the answers to those questions would be found in the next two installments, but Sakura wasn't sure if she had the stomach for them yet. It'd been too much just to hear the heroine moaning and writhing on the bed while Kakashi's eyes burned into the back of her head. It didn't help that she found she had far more in common with Anastasia Steele's character than expected, and seeing herself in the heroine was almost as startling as seeing Kakashi as Mr. Grey.

After peeing, Sakura took the moment to touch up her lip gloss in one of the sink mirrors. Her lips were tinged red—the color of cherries, thanks to her gloss—and she tousled her bangs slightly, wondering if she looked every bit like the heroine like she felt. Ino interrupted her when she mentioned that Sai had texted her just then and was wondering if she was free to grab dinner with him.

"You can go," Sakura said upon noticing the eager expression on her friend's face.

But Ino bit her lip, hesitant to just abandon her friend when it had been her idea to come to the movies. "You sure?"

Sakura nodded, knowing Ino hadn't been able to spend as much time with Sai as she liked to these days. The first semester of college was already an ass-kicker as the semester dragged on and the piles of homework and exams were beginning to catch up to them. It was different back in high school when they had block schedules, but now their classes were peppered throughout the week and throughout the day. And now Ino no longer shared the same class schedule as Sai, so she couldn't even meet up with him for lunchtime anymore.

Besides, they lived within ten feet of each other for five whole days of the week, so Sakura wasn't so desperate for the presence of a friend, especially when the next time she blushed at the sight of Kakashi, there might not be a dark room to hide it from Ino.

After Sakura had jokingly sworn she'd study the next film and pay close attention, Ino decided she'd be fine watching the next films on her lonesome and was quick to depart the theater.

More than that though, Sakura knew she wouldn't be alone for the next film. But she didn't mention that when Ino waved goodbye and reminded her she'd be back on Sunday night as usual. It was just a little white lie, but any semblance of guilt that would've burrowed into her gut was replaced by the titillating instinct that Kakashi was still here. Maybe in the men's restroom just across from her, bracing the edge of the sink like she was right now and studying himself in the mirror while she filled his mind just as much as he filled hers.

It was wishful thinking, but it roused the butterflies in her belly, and those butterflies guided her back to the theater where she eyed the seat closest to the entrance. With a soft smile, she sank down on the velvet chair she'd seen him sitting in, relishing the remaining heat of him against the bare skin of her thighs.

The lights were on but remained dim as people (fewer now than before) shuffled back into the aisles in search of their old or new seats. Gripping her armchair, Sakura waited with bated breath, struggling with all her might to not look around the place. Finally, her eyes fluttered shut as she sensed heat prickling up her left arm—her only warning before the chair at her side creaked under the weight of someone slipping in.

"Are you following me, Sakura?" The hushed volume of his voice was deep, and it sent a thrilling shiver that settled dangerously warm in her belly.

The small smile on her lips stretched even as her thighs pressed together. "No," she answered, peeking over to Kakashi whose jaw quickly shifted with a smirk. "Are you following me, Profess... Mr. Hatake?"

"No," he answered more quietly with a tilt of his head as he studied her.

She blushed while his eyes quickly ran up and down her mini-dress that suddenly felt even more inappropriate now that she was sitting beside her own professor. Even though her dress covered all the essentials, she felt shy under his gaze as if she was dressed like a stripper. Hell, maybe she did look like one what with her cherry-glossed lips and a dress that barely covered her ass. But what did it matter now that he'd seen her wearing nothing but a pair of sneakers just a few hours ago at the naked run? It was redundant to worry about her attire now.

"You seem to show up almost everywhere I go," Kakashi mused aloud with a small stroke of his chin. "But I have to say I'm a little surprised to see that you'd be interested in this kind of thing."

"Why not? I'm a healthy young woman. Stuff like this is normal for people like me," Sakura said even while she squirmed in the discomfort of having just admitted that she likes watching sex.

"Says the person who doesn't know what a kiss is like. Or..." His eyes flicked down to her lips as he murmured, "have you had your first kiss already?"

"Do I need to know what a kiss is like to know what pleasure feels like, Mr. Hatake?" she asked in a whisper.

His gaze seemed to darken, but it was hard to tell when the lights were so dim and she could barely make out his shadowed face. When he didn't answer, Sakura's blush deepened as she realized too late that it wasn't a question that should be posed to her teacher of all people. If anything, the weight of Kakashi's gaze on her face only reinforced that.

"A-And you?" She tucked back her hair to keep from biting the tip of her thumb. "You're interested in stuff like this?"

"What? The perverted cover of my Make-Out Paradise book wasn't telling enough?" he asked casually, turning his face forward and missing the way Sakura had winced. "Yes, I know you saw my book that day at the library—and yes, stuff like this is my kind of hobby."

The Sakura at the beginning of the semester would've withered in her seat, knowing that her secret had never been much of a secret in the first place. But seeing Kakashi take the whole thing in good stride without a single word of admonishment for her made her feel... daring. Like she could push his buttons and stretch him to his limit and he would never snap.

"When you say stuff like this is your kind of hobby," she began to ask, sidling her eyes over to meet his, "do you mean this kind of movie or... the kind of stuff that happens in the movie?"

Stuff like sex. Raw, unadulterated sex.

Before he could answer, the Universal studio's theme song began to play with its obnoxiously loud trumpet chorus blaring over any reply he might've given her. But at the peak of the song, Kakashi leaned in, and Sakura wasn't sure if her heart was hammering in her chest because of the loud music or because of Kakashi murmuring directly into her ear, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

His words and voice sunk into the abyss of her heart deep within. And like a siren in the night, it called forth strange urges within Sakura—urges that she had never felt before in the presence of another. These unfamiliar feelings terrified her as if she was wading into unknown waters just on a whim spurred by the sound of his voice.

Would she like to know?

'I would,' she tried to say but only a quiet whimper came out, thankfully swallowed up by the noise of the last trumpet.

They tore their eyes away from each other as the film began with a close-up shot of a white rose, and yet it felt like Kakashi's gaze was still on hers. With the armchair between them lifted out of the way, there was nothing that could stop her from pressing her arm to his if she moved in just the right position. But Kakashi had an imposing presence that constantly left her second-guessing almost every word and every move she made. Even in the classroom, she noticed that he would sometimes give other students what she had dubbed a 'death stare'. It was the kind of stare that said 'I know you're on Netflix instead of my powerpoint and I will finish you before you can even finish that episode'.

And yet... the heat of his body prickling up her arm like she was sitting next to a toasty fire only had Sakura feeling conflicted. Was it wrong to want his body against hers? And if Kakashi did reprimand her for crossing the line, it was hard to say that she cared at this point. They weren't in his classroom and even if he gave her that death stare in warning, she knew he would never hurt her. What she didn't know was whether or not he would ask her to stop. And if he did, she didn't trust herself to.

It was like balancing on the precipice of a cliff; one wrong move and she would fall with no way back up. But somehow, she had a feeling that the fall would be as liberating as it was perilous.

Sakura uncrossed her legs to tug down her dress again, glad for the darkness of the theater concealing the deep blush that stubbornly remained on her face. It wasn't the first time they'd sat side-by-side together, but they had always kept a respectable foot of distance in between. With these seats, however, she could shift her leg aside to press it against his.

Emboldened by the darkness of the theater, Sakura inched her thighs apart, stopping only when her knee rested at the edge of her seat. The cool air of the theater quickly took its place between her legs but it felt like ice against the heat of her core, and that heat shot up several degrees when she sensed Kakashi glance at her and then to the knee near his. He stared at her knee and Sakura felt her stomach twist in apprehension as she expected him to cross his legs or do something—anything—to put some distance in between.

When he didn't, she continued to spread her legs at an agonizingly slow pace while her heart continued to beat a mile per minute. She managed to gain an extra inch closer to him when the sound of a moan tore their attention back to the screen where Mr. Grey had just buried his face right between the heroine's legs. What should have been a moment of sweet relief from Kakashi's attention on her was nothing short of titillating as they watched the two lovers on-screen begin to make passionate love.

Something in the pit of her belly began to tingle; a thrill that continued to stir, racing up and down her core and sending her blood rushing hot. As the music began to swell with every kiss and every moan, Sakura didn't realize her leg had begun to bounce hard and fast until Kakashi's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her knee. Her gasp was covered up by another of the heroine's pleasured moans, but it might as well have been her moaning.

Just the sensation of his warm palm on the bare skin of her knee was enough to make Sakura's panties damp. Or maybe they'd been damp for a while already. Kakashi had that effect on her, and every second that he gripped her knee only made her wetter. She expected him to berate her any moment now for shaking the seats with her movements, but he remained silent with his eyes trained on the screen where the bodies of the lovers writhed against each other. Even as the seconds continued to tick by and the cries of pleasure continued to rise, Kakashi still didn't loosen his grip on her knee.

Was he that annoyed by her leg shaking the chairs? It was hard to tell by his impassive face and his stony silence.

But when the music finally died down and the scene shifted to the lovers cuddling in bed, Kakashi finally turned his cheek to Sakura. Keeping his gaze on the hand over her knee, he murmured to her, "Are you all right, Sakura?"

She didn't know what he meant by that. Was he asking her that because her knee had been shaking or... was he asking if she was okay with him holding her knee like this?

"Yes," Sakura answered in a whisper. It was all she could manage since she didn't trust her voice to come out louder without shaking and giving away how much a simple touch from him affected her. How much it made her want to touch herself too.

It was easier to suppress those urges when the scenes were just of the characters talking. Some of the drama was almost even enough to distract her from the ache in the pit of her belly, but nowhere near close enough to make her forget all about the hand that stayed on her knee. The warmth of his touch was nearly scorching, but she wouldn't be surprised if some of that heat was from her own body. Despite the air conditioning, Sakura's skin almost felt feverish and she would love nothing more than to peel the flimsy dress off her skin and just sit naked in her chair if it would give her any ounce of relief.

Is this what it's like to have a crush? She inwardly asked herself.

To be hyperaware of everything the person you like does or says around you? To want them to shower you with their attention even if it means your heart beats so hard that you can barely hear what they say. But to also feel like you had an itch you were not allowed to scratch... It was downright infuriating and yet... she loved the thrill of it. And when the next sex scene started to stir the heat in her belly again, Sakura was all too eager to try and relieve that itch by sliding a hand around her hip to dip it between her legs.

The scene was dark, leaving the entire theater in shadows for anyone like herself to attend to... more personal needs. Sakura was also glad she'd obliged Ino in wearing a dress that barely covered her ass, so there wasn't much of her skirt that needed to be pulled up. She made sure Kakashi's attention remained forward and watched him from the corner of her eye as she stroked a finger over her clothed clit. A shudder ran through her entire body in response, but Sakura paused when Kakashi's grip on her knee suddenly tightened—nowhere enough to cause pain but more than enough for her to notice.

But his face remained impassive and facing forward, so Sakura hurriedly took advantage of the heroine's loud moan to slip her hand inside her panties. Her eyes fluttered as she started to finger herself, but she continued to watch a fully clothed Mr. Grey eagerly spanking his fully naked lover who was just as eager to be spanked. What with the way Mr. Grey was dressed in dark slacks paired with a white dress shirt and tie, it was easy to replace the actor's face with Kakashi's. It was even easier to imagine Kakashi bending her over a desk like that, spanking her bare bottom as punishment for not behaving like the good student she promised to be for him.

And the thought of her ass red and sore because of her professor almost drew out another whimper from Sakura.

As if thinking the same thing, Kakashi started to stroke her knee with his thumb. The movement was so subtle that Sakura almost didn't notice—not while she was so focused on trying to sync her sighs and moans with the heroine's. Lulled by the sensation of his thumb rubbing in slow, gentle circles on her skin despite the way his grip was gradually tightening, Sakura pressed her head back against the chair. It was instinct to roll her hips, and the first time she did so to finger herself harder, Sakura had to do it in a way to make it seem like she was just squirming in her chair for a better position.

God, her fingers were so hot and wet now, stirring up the sounds of her own fluids. And she was beginning to smell herself too, creating a strange amalgam of salty popcorn perfumed by her sweet musk. If anyone noticed, it was too late to stop now.

"Mm...!" Her whimper had been out of sync with the heroine's, but everyone in the theater was too enraptured by Mr. Grey thrusting into the heroine and stoking moan after moan from her.

As the music began to swell again, Sakura ground the heel of her palm against her clit at the same time the thumb on her knee stroked her faster. Kakashi's grip had tightened so that his fingers dug into her now, but Sakura didn't mind. She loved it; she loved feeling him hold her so tightly—almost desperately while Mr. Grey urged the heroine to cum for him, his voice somewhat morphing into Kakashi's as he started to fill her head and invade all her senses. And it was all she could think of when she climaxed in perfect timing with the music's climax, biting her lip to keep her moan from escaping.

Her body tensed into a barely controlled bow and the chair creaked against her in response. The characters on the screen blurred slightly as Sakura rode out her orgasm as silently as possible, tears springing to her eyes from the effort.

With both legs trembling on either side of her chair, it took her a while to control her body and stop shaking even as the last of her orgasm continued to tingle hot and sharp across her core. Her breath was shaky as she tried to exhale and steady her heart rate. It was just as much of a struggle to open her purse as sneakily as possible and retrieve a napkin to wipe her hand with.

It was only when her hand was cleaned of any evidence of her debauchery did the full weight of what she'd done finally register: she'd masturbated right next to her professor. The dread began to settle heavily like a ball of lead in her stomach now, and the heady smell of her own fluids mingling with the scent of popcorn was starting to make her feel nauseous with a rising wave of panic. Slowly, she sidled her eyes back to Kakashi, and she was surprised yet immensely relieved to find him still watching the movie with that same apathetic interest.

His expression stayed like that for the entirety of the film even when the characters started fucking roughly against a pool table. And neither did he change his grip on her knee either. Not until the credits finally rolled and Sakura was able to slouch in her chair, the knot of tension in her chest slowly unraveling. But she bit back a whimper of protest when she felt him retract that hand from her knee just as the lights began to brighten for intermission.

There was a terse moment as Kakashi cleared his throat and Sakura smoothed back down her skirt. With just the low murmur of the audience around them, a silent tension between them returned, so quick and palpable that Sakura quietly urged the last of the credits to roll just a bit longer. But when the screen finally turned black and the murmur of the crowd had died down as more people left for the bathroom, she was forced to face the music. Now her panties felt uncomfortably soaked in the evidence of her own indulgence, and it took a hot second for her to process Kakashi's question when he had calmly asked her what she thought of the film.

What do I think?! How the hell am I supposed to know what to think of it when I was thinking about nothing but you?!

She swallowed lightly. "It was... um... th-there was a lot of... moaning."

There. She couldn't go wrong with an answer like that.

But Kakashi then turned to her, his eyes dark but twinkling above his wolfish grin. "There was a plot too, y'know."

Sakura blushed at that, feeling like a student getting called out over a weak answer. "I-I guess I wasn't paying attention."

Because I was too busy paying attention to you.

Kakashi gave her a strange look then, his eyes flicking down to wear her hands sat folded innocently over her lap. "The third film will be starting in twenty minutes."

"Will you be staying?"

Please say yes.

"Well," he drawled out. "You'll probably need me to explain the plot to you since you weren't paying attention to the previous film."

"I was... distracted," she mumbled, fingers twisting with the hem of her dress that had ridden dangerously high up on her lap from all her squirming. She felt Kakashi watch her hands as she tried to subtly tug the hem further down, but her efforts were futile sitting down.

"Is that so..." he murmured, still staring at her hands—possibly studying the chipped red polish on her nails. "And what distracted you?" he asked before taking a deep breath that was loud enough to have Sakura turning her attention away from her hands and back to him. His eyes looked almost pitch black with hardly a ring of silver, and she wasn't sure if it was because of the dim lighting in the theater or what, but it left her feeling like a prey shivering in anticipation before its predator. "Were you busy... doing something?"

Her nerves should've been eating away at her at this point, but Sakura was too paralyzed under his gaze to even feel any sense of shame or contrition. The seconds stretched on between them as Kakashi waited patiently for her—for her to admit that she'd spent the better part of the film touching herself and then basking in the aftermath of her orgasm—to admit that she liked him in the sense that it dangerously went beyond mere infatuation or a childish crush. And for what felt like forever, Sakura remained tongue-tied, half-afraid that he would reject her in disgust and half-afraid he'd gently put her down as an adult would with an infant, kid gloves and everything infantile.

But Kakashi was her professor, and when he asked her—his student—a question then she was expected to answer. So she licked her lips and—

Bzzt!

It was the sharp buzz of his cellphone that saved her, and Sakura sat back against her seat in relief as Kakashi dug into his pocket to answer the text. From the corner of his eye, she saw the calm grey of his eyes gradually return and swallow the black. It was like watching a storm subside into calm grey skies but her heart continued to pound crazily in her chest.

"Actually, I'm afraid I have to leave now," Kakashi announced after setting his phone down. His brows were pinched together as if he was sincerely regretful of cutting short their... well, not date, but whatever this thing was that they'd been enjoying together. "Will you be staying here?"

Sakura shook her head, letting the hair fall around her face to hide any remaining flush. "No, I should probably go too. Finish my homework and study."

Besides, it wasn't like she could watch the third film when she had no clue what had happened in the first two.

Kakashi nodded at her but didn't move an inch from his seat despite how urgent his text had seemed. "Would you... like me to drive you home?" he slowly proposed, observing the way she seemed to stiffen at the unexpected offer.

He wants to drive me home again... She was both surprised and yet not surprised by the proposal.

Sakura worried at her lip, pretending to weigh her options first even though she'd already made her decision the moment he'd popped the question. "I'd like that a lot, Mr. Hatake," she answered with a shy smile that was only a hint of how her real self was grinning inside.

She allowed that smile to widen in contentment after Kakashi stood up and beckoned for her to follow him down the aisle and out of the theater. There were no longer as many people around, but she didn't feel comfortable enough in the public eye to walk at his side. So she stayed close behind him instead, watching his broad back and admiring the way his shirt clung to every curve and made the contours of his muscles more pronounced. He towered over every other man they passed by down the hall, and Sakura noticed that not a single one of those men dared to leer at her with the way she trailed closely behind Kakashi.

It was completely different from earlier with Ino when she'd felt uncomfortable drawing the unwelcomed stares of men and boys alike—all of whom would rake their eyes down her lavender dress and stare where the hem hung just below her ass. But with Kakashi, it was like his mere presence alone was enough to warn off all those perverts from even daring to look in her direction. And as they continued down the hallway, Sakura smiled even wider when she realized every guy made a point to look the other way when Kakashi and her brushed by them.

Even from behind, she could see how people made the effort of moving out of their way—Kakashi's way. With the lazy gait of his walk and the way he kept one hand tucked into a pocket of his jeans, Sakura was a bit bewildered by how he could make an entire sea of people part for him without even lifting a finger.

By the time they reached his black Toyota, Sakura hopped onto the leather seat with the conclusion that it had to be the energy Kakashi exuded. Even sitting next to him as he rolled out of the parking lot, she could practically taste the dangerous aura that simmered off of him. It reminded her of the saying 'if you play with fire, you get burned'. She had never expected to feel that way towards a teacher of all people, but there was something about Kakashi that painted him as the kind of man her mother would've warned her to stay away from. Which, of course, would be impossible anyway since they were teacher and student for the next couple of months.

But Sakura was afraid of Kakashi only as much as she was afraid of Akamaru whom Kiba would always say 'may or may not bite' depending on what you do. And while she sat in the shadows of his car, smiling up at the full moon that followed them around every corner of the street, she could almost hear the voice of every mother in the world right now reprimanding her for getting into the car of a dangerous man in the middle of the night.

Those voices were easy enough to be silenced, however, as Sakura was fully aware that she was the safest she could possibly be right now: sitting right next to Professor Hatake. And she knew she was still just as safe even when her knee accidentally grazed the pinky of his hand that rested on the gear shift. The comfortable silence was instantly filled by a sharp charge that left every one of her nerves lit up with anticipation. Anticipation for what, she wasn't sure, but Sakura didn't dare to move her knee away. Instead, she strangled the strap of her belt with both hands as she watched Kakashi shift gear once the light flashed red and then casually lift his pinky and rest it atop of her knee.

"It's a full moon tonight," Kakashi muttered from behind the knuckles of his free hand.

She made a noise of agreement, but it sounded strangled as most of her attention had zeroed in on the pinky tip that had settled over her knee. It... must have been an accident when he shifted gears, Sakura thought to herself. Yeah, maybe he doesn't even realize it...?

And perhaps that was the truth because he did not make any acknowledgment of his pinky on her knee for the rest of the drive. Once they reached her apartment, Sakura was still dazedly transfixed by his finger touching her that it took him shifting gears again and pulling his pinky away for her to realize that they were now parked at the same spot as the last time he'd driven her home. Right on the sidestreet where he could walk her along the gate of the apartment complex.

But this time, Kakashi kept his eyes trained forward and made no move to hop out of the car with her. "I hope that you were still able to enjoy the film," he said, crossing both arms over the rim of the steering wheel.

"I... I enjoyed it," Sakura admitted although she would not admit the true reason why she enjoyed it. Besides, she was too busy trying not to stare so much at his right hand—at his pinky—that had been touching her knee only a minute ago. As strange as it was, it felt more of a crime for his hand to be so far away from her.

Sensing the tension rolling off Kakashi, Sakura finally peered over at him. His jaw was clenched, so much so that she could even see a tic in the muscle. But then Kakashi turned to her, and she forgot how to breathe as he considered her with such conflict, as if she was a problem that he would love to solve but had no idea how to.

"I was a bit distracted during the movie too," he said softly.

There was something about those words and the way Kakashi gazed meaningfully at her that told Sakura she was the cause of that distraction. She swallowed hard, holding his stare not because she wanted to (oh, she was terrified by that molten heat pooling in her belly under the heat of his gaze) but because she was unable to. His eyes were dark again, and so full of secrets. Secrets she would love to unlock if only he would give her the key.

As if reading her mind, Kakashi finally tore his eyes away from her to train them over the dashboard again. "Good night, Sakura."

It was the signal to go. To leave his side and return to the loneliness of her apartment where she'd have to stay tucked in bed without the safety of his presence to drive away any monsters of the night.

With a click of her seatbelt, Sakura grabbed the handle of her door. "Good night, Mr. Hatake," she said, body tensing in preparation to move away from him. There was only a split second of hesitation—just a fraction of a second to either gather all her courage or leave it. It was all the time she needed to make her decision.

She moved towards him instead of away, and promptly kissed Kakashi on the cheek.

It had happened so quickly, she could barely register her upper lip meeting hot skin while her bottom lip pressed against the thin cloth of his mask. And before she could even see his reaction, Sakura was already twisting around in her seat and hopping out of the car. "Th-Thank you for the ride, Mr. Hatake!" she squeaked out, slamming the door shut and practically bolting down the sidewalk.

So much in a hurry to take cover inside her apartment, Sakura didn't care that the hem of her dress rode provocatively high up her thighs as she scurried away. Past the gate, up the stairs, and finally into her bedroom. She tossed her purse onto the bed, disregarding it completely as it bounced onto the floor while she hurried over to the window and carefully peeked in between the curtains.

His car was still parked there, but a second later the headlights flashed on and Sakura watched him peel away from the curb.

She remained in a daze after that, peeling the dress off to hop into the shower, then mechanically chewing through every bite of her dinner, then changing into her nightgown to get ready for a bit of homework before bedtime. She flew through her nightly ritual with the attention span of a goldfish, flitting through the apartment with her lips stuck into a smile. Occasionally, a giggle would bubble out of her or her face would redden even though her mind was a blank slate.

Because how could she think? It seemed her brain had melted into a happy mush. It would take until Monday morning while on her way to Anatomy lecture for her to realize the full gravity of what she had done, kissing her professor on the cheek. But for now, she remained in a happy limbo, stuck in a state of innocent joy that came with having someone to seriously like for the first time in her life. Even when she felt the first twinge of pain in her belly, a sign of the imminent onslaught of craps she was about to suffer for the next few days, she continued to smile in a daze and sigh to herself.

Later in bed, it took Sakura half an hour to realize she'd been reading the same page of her book and only because her laptop had chimed sharply to notify her of an upcoming system update. Blinking out of her stupor, she sat up against her pillows and frowned at the progress she'd made on her English essay. All she had typed out was her name and—she blushed—Kakashi's name instead of Professor Jiraiya's.

With a long yawn, she proceeded to delete 'Hatake' to type in 'Jiraiya' before picking up her paperback copy of The Company of Wolves. Still on the first page, she attempted to read the first few lines again, starting with line no. 1: 'One beast and only one howls in the woods by night.'

Her eyes fluttered but Sakura tried to ignore her drowsiness by re-reading the first line again: 'One beast and only one howls in the woods by night.'

But try as she might to get a head start on her essay, she was too exhausted—physically as much as emotionally—and the book eventually slipped out of her grasp to fall over her chest. As she succumbed to the thralls of a deep slumber, the line 'one beast and only one howls in the woods by night' continued to echo in the recesses of her mind.

It stirred an idea within her. An idea that planted itself as a seedling, its roots burrowing deep into her mind as it grew, and grew, and grew into a dream so lucid and clear that she could almost believe the chilly scent of pine trees carried by the cool wind caressing her warm skin was real.

She sat up on the bed—the same bed that occupied her room in real life—and met the deadly eyes of the wolf that sat at the foot of her bed. Its fur was bright white like the face of the full moon, its gaze silver and sharp like the blade of a sword.

The wolf prowled forth, its large paws making the springs of the bed squeak sharply in protest. Where there should've been fear thumping away in her bosom, there was only a sensual need that swelled as the wolf slinked closer and closer, forcing Sakura to slowly lean back into the comfort of her pillows to let it—him—cage her with his body.

"Oh!" She gasped when a cold, wet snout nudged at her thigh to sniff her.

Biting her lip, she watched the wolf drag his snout up the hem of her satin slip which was a sage green in real life but now a blood red here in this dream. Undeterred by the flimsy piece of clothing it could shred to pieces with a mere snap of his jaws, the wolf continued to sniff his way up the length of her body and Sakura giggled when his whiskers tickled the exposed tops of her breasts. Her giggles died down when the wolf stepped closer, letting his paws rest on either side of her head.

Completely beneath him now, she finally grasped the enormity of this animal's size. If the way his paws were bigger than her head wasn't telling enough then, it was how the wolf loomed above her, his whole body draped over hers like a soft, furry blanket. Right down to his tail swishing back and forth against the tip of her toes. He had to be the size of a fully grown man. Six feet worth of danger.

Sakura held her breath as the wolf lowered his snout towards the junction of her shoulder. His hot breath on her bare skin was her only warning before a pair of wickedly sharp fangs gently raked across her neck.

"Ah!"

It had only been a small nip, but it had Sakura grabbing at the bunched rolls of fur at the wolf's neck.

She wanted more.

And as if smelling the desire on her, the wolf pulled back enough to let Sakura see the way a long tongue curled out and licked his jaws in anticipation. Perhaps he saw her as his meal—a delicious treat to sate his hunger.

But before Sakura could even feel an inkling of fear, the wolf dipped towards her face. Instead of eating her, however, his tongue slipped out to drag across her lips, warm and rough enough to draw out a small moan from her. She blinked back in surprise, staring up into the cold steel grey that was now dark like a storm—a storm she'd encountered before from somewhere or someone else.

The wolf waited for her answer, studying her almost like any other predator would with its prey. And if she was indeed his prey, then she would be glad to give herself to him.

Without thinking, Sakura leaned up to press a slow and firm kiss to the dark line of his furry muzzle where his jaws met. Accepting that as her answer, the wolf was quick to dip his head back down and Sakura was grateful that this was just a mere dream. Because here, she could throw all rationality out the window and open her mouth as she did now, tentatively sticking her tongue out to let the wolf's thick and heavy tongue glide against hers, drawing out another pleased sigh from her.

Hot huffs of breath fanned against her face, stirring up her bangs. But her own breath puffed out as she alternated between pressing wet kisses to his muzzle, letting him lick kisses across her mouth as well, and then stroking her tongue against his, lazy and rough but just as sensual that it had her toes curling with a bliss that was building hot in her belly.

So overwhelmed was she by the scent of wild pine trees that she would've almost thought this silver-eyed wolf had just stepped out of a dark forest to visit her in the middle of the night.

To claim her.

Her fingers threaded through the soft coat of moon-white fur until her hands were cupping his cheeks, and Sakura's eyes fluttered shut as she gave in to the wolf's kiss.


Pakkun and the other boys were still waiting for their bowls to fill up with tonight's dinner, but that wasn't the number one priority in Kakashi's mind as he remained seated in the car now parked on his driveway. Even though he'd turned off his car a while ago, the keys remained in the ignition, dangling and waiting for him to pull them out so that he could go inside the house and feed his dogs already.

But Kakashi remained rooted in his seat, inhaling the last dregs of her sweet scent and noting that it was so much better than inhaling the smell of cigarettes that often used to linger on his clothes back when he was younger. The sweet scent was strongest where she'd sat in the passenger seat beside him, so intoxicating that he was almost tempted to lean over and just take a deep whiff of the leather seat.

But he still had a shred of control left even as his hand reached up to touch the skin of his cheek where he'd felt a plush lip press against. And if it hadn't been for his damn mask, he'd have probably been able to relish the sensation of a full pair of sinfully soft lips instead of sitting here faintly wondering if he'd imagined it. The kiss had been so fleeting but the warmth of her had remained as if the kiss had been seared onto his cheek.

Even now, it still felt hot and tingly where she'd kissed him and it took Kakashi a while to register the ringtone of his phone.

It was Choza.

"Hello?" Kakashi's own voice sounded detached. Clearing his throat, he tried to focus even though his fingertips continued to brush the spot where he could still feel her kiss. "Choza?"

"Kakashi!" The elderly Akimichi's voice burst out deep and hearty. "Long time no see!"

"Hey, Choza. It's good to hear your voice again." The last time had probably been when he'd met up with Dr. Sarutobi to discuss the offer of the teaching position at Konoha U for the very first time. The circumstances of the conversation hadn't been so jolly back then either.

"I could say the same for you!" Choza chuckled. "Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I did get your call but you didn't leave a message. Did you have something to tell me?"

Kakashi remained sitting in contemplative silence, still stroking the skin where Sakura had kissed him. It felt a bit sticky.

"Kakashi? You there?"

"Yes, sorry," he coughed out, sitting straighter as if that would help him focus. "I think..."

I think Mizuki is sleeping with his student...

The silence started to fill in again, and Kakashi could sense Choza growing more and more perplexed as to why the professor was at a loss for words.

I think Mizuki is sleeping with his student. Say it. I think Mizuki is sleeping with his student.

But as Kakashi opened his mouth to reveal his suspicions, he drew his fingers away from his cheek and what he saw was enough to silence him again. A beautiful shade of soft cherry red tinged his fingertips from where he'd been stroking the thin film of stickiness that had stained his skin and probably his mask too. It was the same shade that had tinged Sakura's lips—lips that had pressed so warm and soft against the skin of his cheek.

Staring down at the remains of her lip gloss on his fingertips, Kakashi spoke up, slow and quiet. "I think... that we should get lunch sometime and catch up."

Choza seemed more than pleased by the answer. "Yeah, of course! You let me know when, all right?"

"Sounds good. Well, I don't want to keep you up too late but... that's all I wanted to let you know."

"All right, it was great hearing from you, Kakashi. Next time, I want to hear all about your new teaching position and your students, okay?"

"All right," he said tightly before bidding his old friend a good night.

But nothing could be further from the truth because—no—it was not all right. Choza had said that he wanted to hear about his teaching position, but Kakashi doubted the guy—one of the university's administrators—wanted to hear all about how a certain student had taken root in his mind and was stirring up salacious thoughts like she was a drug.

What should have been an easy decision to make was now tainted by shades of grey. No, not grey... Pink. Beautiful and seductive shades of pretty pink.

Pink like the lips that had burned against the skin of his cheek as if her kiss had been branded onto him, forever marking him. And in some way, Sakura had marked him. The evidence colored his fingertips in red that somehow looked more innocent than sexy but was just as alluring. And perhaps Kakashi had been drugged... because if he was in his right mind, then he wouldn't be drawing his mask down while his fingers drew towards his mouth.

He slipped those fingers into his mouth and a small groan rumbled in his chest as he tasted the remnants of Sakura's lip gloss.

Cherry-flavored, and sinfully sweet.

And as Kakashi licked his fingers clean of her sweet kiss like a starved man savoring the last morsel, he couldn't help but think to himself that it seemed, after all these years, nothing much had changed for him.

He was still all fifty-shades of fucked-up.


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