Thank you so much for Alien who supported me throughout this whole insanity! You're the most wonderful of people! Two other wonderful people are YummyFoods who helped me up come with the name of this story, and CopyMistress who beta'd these for me! I'm so lucky to be surrounded by the best people in the fandom!

"Sakura?" Kakashi called out.

"Hmm?" she hummed distractedly. She was caught up reading notes and medical journals on the living room couch. Kakashi couldn't help but smile at her—feet tucked to the side of her, wearing one of his shirts and completely absorbed in research.

"I'm leaving on a diplomatic mission, but I'll be back in a few days." He had stopped by before taking off, wanting a goodbye kiss from his girlfriend. However he knew that when she got this caught up in reading like this, she was not easily distracted. "Sakura?"

Finally she broke her concentration from her books and looked up at him. The sight of him always brought a smile to her face. They had been secretly dating for just over a year now. She was unsure how their friends and family would take their relationship, given their age difference and former positions of teacher-student. It was even more of capricious situation since he was the Hokage. She loved him, however, dating Kakashi Hatake was a challenge. Regardless of how enigmatic he was, he always made sure to find her before and after leaving the village, never embarking without a goodbye and a goodbye kiss.

She set the books aside, slipped off the worn-down couch and moved to stand before him. Kakashi stood a head taller than she was, but she liked that. For all the power and strength that she wielded, she adored feeling feminine and dainty when she was around him. Standing on her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck, threading her fingers into the hair at the back of his head. She loved playing with the hair there as it always seemed to send a slight tremour down his spine.

Tilting her head up, she leaned in for a kiss. Before pressing her lips against his, she gave him a whispered warning. "You better come home safe and sound, otherwise, I'll be really mad at you." She closed the space between them and pressed her lips against his.

"Yes Sakura, I'll come home to you. Always," he murmured against her lips.

Three days passed quickly for the pair of them even though they were away from each other—both of them getting caught up in their busy jobs. When Kakashi finally returned to Konoha he felt a type of relief that he always felt whenever he made it home. The balm further unfurled when he made it to Sakura's place, to let her know that he was home.

Silently entering her apartment, he came across the all too familiar scene of Sakura reading medical research books while sitting on the couch. So absorbed in her studies, she didn't even notice him at first.

Kakashi felt both overjoyed and peaceful watching his girlfriend. He couldn't wait to have her in his arms again—to hold her, to feel her warmth, to kiss her. It was these things that he always missed the most when he was away from her.

He walked to the back of the couch and leaned over her studious form. "Sakura," he whispered. He saw her briefly startle as he wrapped his arms around her as he crouched down behind her.

"Welcome back, Kakashi," she commented distractedly. She smiled at him and reached up and blindly groped for his head. Her hand landed on his ear and she patted him there, and then got sucked back into what she was reading—completely ignoring him.

Briefly stunned with her actions, he pulled back and stood up to his full height behind the couch.

"Sakura. My eyes are up here," he said loudly and blandly. He was used to her absent-mindedness when she got caught up reading. This wouldn't be the first time (nor the last) that he would have to take the book out of her hands before he was able to get her attention.

"Hold on Kakashi, I think I might have just found a cure for—Hey!" she cried out as the book was pulled from her hands.

"I'm coming back from a harrowing mission, and that's all I get?" he complained teasingly.

Sakura huffed while laughing at his humorously bitter glare. Reaching behind her, she grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and pulled him down roughly. She placed a loud smacking kiss on his cheek while stealing the book out of his grasp. Once she had it back in her possession, she leaned forward to make notes on the information she just discovered.

Sure, he knew that her work was important—especially since she's used her brilliance and skills to save his life more than once—but still. Her lack of enthusiasm nagged at him.

"That's it? That's all I get after coming back from a mission?" he asked in mock disbelief.

"Oh Kakashi, calm down. It was just a boring diplomatic mission to Sand and you had an ANBU escort. Naruto told me that himself. Plus I just kissed you, what more do you want?" She was already busily scribbling down notes from whatever she was researching.

"You call that a kiss?" he asked skeptically.

She waved a hand absently at him, absorbed in her work. "A kiss is a kiss. And I need to get these notes down before I forget what I just discovered."

He lightly grabbed onto her ponytail and tugged, trying to get her to look at him. "Seriously, you call that a kiss? And, you think all kisses are equal?" He couldn't believe that this was her opinion, even knowing that she was distracted.

Sakura pulled her head forward, dragging her hair out of his fingers and continued to furiously scribble down notes. "Just let me get this information down and then I promise I will greet you properly." She continued to dart her eyes between her research and her notes, trying to get everything important down, which would only take another second.

"Nope, you had your chance—"

"Okay, I'm done with my notes now." She paused and looked up at her boyfriend, and saw his skeptical face.

"If you really believe there's only one type of kiss, then it's time I taught you differently," he stated authoritatively.

"Wait, what?" Sakura laughed, confused at his tone. She knew that there were a few different types of kisses, but she honestly didn't understand why Kakashi was getting so worked up over this.

"Over the next few days, I'm going to show you all the ways of how to kiss."

Sakura looked at him thinking he had a marble loose. "According to whom?" she asked, slightly sarcastically.

"Me. And my vast knowledge from the Icha Icha Collection," he said haughtily.

"Ummm... okay. Well, while you figure your plan of attack, I made you a bento box and it's in the fridge." Sakura picked up her research again as she heard Kakashi moved into the kitchen and opened the fridge door. She knew that it was one of those times when she wasn't going to win the argument, especially with the way he had his mind set.

She knew she could have handled his coming home better, but having just had a major breakthrough with her research had her excited. Sakura hoped that Kakashi wasn't too hurt by her aloofness, she just got caught up in her notes.

The refrigerator door shut and she once more heard his footsteps approach her. He cast a shadow over her as he approached.

"This looks delicious, Sakura. Thank you," he said as he knelt before her. He moved her book off to the side while leaning into her. He carefully removed one of his gloves, slowly and methodically, making sure she was watching him.

"This is a kiss of thanks and friendship," he stated as his hand slipped to her chin and gently swept a finger along her cheek. His hand finally settled on her chin and he pulled her forward.

Sakura's was never exactly sure what to expect with Kakashi when he was like this. Her breath caught in her chest as he leaned in—she could smell his clean scent, which means that he took the time to wash up before coming to visit her. The more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt, especially since it was atypical for Kakashi to be so expressive with his emotions.

Ever so slowly he pushed himself against her. He was grinning his classic smirk that always did funny things to her heart. Just when she thought he was going to press his lips to hers, he angled his head slightly up and pressed his lips ever so gently to her forehead, just over her diamond seal mark.

A light press of his warm lips and a puff of his breath, and he backed away from her.

"Thank you for making me lunch," he whispered as he kept his face close to hers. His tongue darted out and licked his lips, which attracted Sakura's attention to them. She moved in to press her lips once more against Kakashi's, but was surprised when he moved back.

"Nope, that's all you get. One new lesson each day to teach you about the different types of kisses. That should be enough to teach you properly," he hummed with conviction.

Sakura couldn't help but stare at him, slack-jawed, as he rose from his kneeling position and walked away from her.

"That's it? You're leaving?"

"Yep. Tomorrow's a new day, and I'm looking forward to our next lesson."

Kakashi had reached her door and bent to do up his shoes as he prepared to leave.

"Ummm..."

"Take care Sakura," he said jovially as he left, leaving Sakura stumped and confused on the couch.

13 more chapters to be posted: one a day... stay tuned!

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