Love and Other Verses

by NeonAnything

They both learn that a war bent on destruction also created new beginnings. A series of stories in the life of Kakashi and Sakura, past, present and future. [COMPLETED main story, but always updating side plots]

8. For Two (2 of 2)

Summary: Peeling back a layer and finding the courage to look at what's underneath. For Two (2/2)

*Set during the months after the Fourth War ended

Special dedication to dimisfit. I wouldn't have finished this chapter without her unending enthusiasm.

---

Sakura woke up to the shrilling sound of her alarm, groaning as she stuffed her head underneath tightly pinched pillow. It was useless. There was no hiding from the metallic noise that was threatening to drag her out of bed kicking and screaming. Her fingers began to search sideways blindly for the snooze button, finally restoring the peace and quiet with one push of the tiny metal nub. A cold draft of wind was now nipping at her exposed toes from all the shifting around so she curled back tighter under the warm safety of her covers before smiling contently.

That same morning, at exactly half-past ten, Sakura found herself frantically darting through the streets of Konoha. Already an hour late for her meeting, she let the image of Tsunade fist balled in fury propel her to reach the hokage tower in maniacal speed.

"I'm here! I'm here!" she announced breathlessly when she finally barreled through the doors of the godaime's office.

"Do you know what time it is?" Tsunade's tone was calm and frankly scarier than its much louder version, that Sakura froze just before she careened helplessly into the conference desk.

"It's uhm.." she hesitated, knowing too well that answering an obviously rhetorical question only set her mentor off, "It won't happen again. I'm sorry."

"You should be," Tsunade said sternly. "This man, of all people, showed up earlier than you did."

Suddenly aware of her quiet surroundings for the first time since she came in, she looked up to follow the direction of Tsunade's pointed finger, to find Kakashi at the very end of it—grinning ear to ear, obviously satisfied for not being in the direction of Tsunade's ire for once, and annoyingly unsympathetic that she was.

She should be annoyed, but instead, she stared at him guiltily, concerned for a second if her little epiphany in her bathroom a few days ago could possibly be so evident enough on her face; the way she gaped at him wide-eyed.. stared at the dappled little flecks of sunlight on his hair filtered from the window...

"Did you hear me, Sakura?" The older woman's voice penetrated into her thoughts that she snapped her head back to see Tsunade looking at her with narrowed eyes.

"Sorry." Sakura's sheepish reply was rewarded with an exasperated sigh, as Tsunaded kneaded her forehead.

"What's with you today?" the godaime asked, another rhetorical question she was smart enough not to answer.

"As I said..I'm leaving Kakashi to debrief you of the stuff you've missed. I have an appointment at the hospital in two minutes, so I can't stick around."

Not willing to strike out a second time, she gave the hokage a much more affirmative nod, which to Sakura's relief, appeared to satisfy.

"Alright I'm done here," Tsunade declared before slamming the door behind her.

The room fell quiet for a second, before Sakura turned towards the one remaining person in the room, quirking her mouth a little. "So, what did I miss?"

"A lot."

The words not so much a reprimand from yet another supervisor in the same morning but simply his

matter of fact way with words. Plus he was still smiling, most likely from the afterglow of being impeccably prompt for the first time in his perennially tardy life.

Kakashi stood up from his chair to hand her a tightly sealed scroll, their fingers brushing for a brief second before she quickly pried the thing open to reveal an elegantly scribbled parchment.

"This isn't a mission.." she said as she looked up to meet Kakashi's blank stare,.

"It's a formal invitation from the Mizukage," he replied.

"For a party," she said flatly.

"That doesn't make it any less of a mission," Kakashi reminded her. "The Mizukage has taken an interest in your research and wants to invite you to Kiri. Everyone knows how passionate she is with keeping positive relations, so it's going to be quite the elaborate affair."

"And what does she want from my research?"

"She believes a lot of your findings can further Ao's old abandoned works." He crossed his arms in front him, shrugging as he pondered the question himself. "A demonstration of this new jutsu you're developing, maybe? Tsunade wasn't entirely clear when she disclosed it to me.."

"But I'm still in the early stages.."

"Don't worry. We won't travel to Kiri till several months from now—that's enough time to prepare, right?" His eyebrows arched up at her, expecting.

It was bad enough that she'd been shuffled into schmoozing for such an extravagant gathering. But her research wasn't something that could be rushed—certainly not in the span of months. "I'll see what I can do," she grumbled disapprovingly before taking a deep breath; she focused instead on something more immediate and manageable. "Would I have to buy nice clothes for this? What will you wear?"

Kakashi lifted a hand to stroke his chin, as if to think about it in all seriousness. "Something dark blue, to bring out the color of my eyes. Layered with a bulky green pocketed-vest for contrast."

"Ugh. That's so not fair."

Kakashi laughed softly at her suddenly dejected slouch. "I'm afraid I'm just there as your detail." He then slid a paper-clipped document across the table. "It's all specified in this packet, together with the list of important dignitaries. I even made notes for you."

"You..you did?"

"Tsunade-sama made me."

"Oh, of course." Sakura's lips curved into a sheepish smile, feeling the heat on her cheeks that now lingered as embarrassment.

"You look feverish, are you okay?" He was leaning in closer, as if to examine for himself that her back quickly straightened.

"I'm fine." She fanned her hand at him nervously. "I did run a full marathon just to get here, you know."

Her alibi seemed to satisfy, and he stepped back as Sakura felt a mixture of dismay and relief. "Why were you late anyway?" came his other query.

Not wanting to pass on such a golden chance, Sakura flashed him a wide grin, chin tilted up. "I got lost in the path of life."

Her dig elicited a hearty laugh from the older man, and he scratched the back of his head in a way that tussled his silver hair, leaving some strands to fall carelessly on his forehead.

God, she was in more trouble than she thought.

---

It was one thing to set your sights on an established heartthrob like Sasuke, and another thing entirely, to develop an attraction for someone she had regarded for years with an affinity much closer to a really comfortable old furniture than an actual man.

It wasn't that she thought him ugly; Sakura knew there was an aura about Kakashi that commanded respected and attracted admirers. Of course, that was until you truly knew the guy.

Maybe that was it—perhaps she had known him for too long, and he had known her too well, and not in the same way you would make of two good friends. He'd been her sensei since she was twelve—a plain fact not hard to see if she would only step back for a second.

But infatuations never cared for the big picture.

It only cared for details.

Like the way he would fold his jounin sleeves so casually around his well sculpted forearms..how his shirt clung to him like second skin during training that she could see the hard planes of his muscles.. the way he smelled of intoxicating after-shave and the way it ignited an old childhood curiosity of hers for what was underneath that mask and for an entirely different reason..

---

She had helped Ino trim the stems off about fifty-five ranunculus inside her flower shop when she decided to tell her. "I think I like someone.." Sakura let her voice trail off purposely, as she gauged her friend's reaction. "I mean, it's more like a crush really."

Ino examined her curiously, mouth pursed to keep from breaking into a wide grin and from badgering her about his identity. Younger Ino would have probably physically wrestled the information out of her, but this older more refined one had a special gambit for creating a false sense security, a certain kind of measured detachment to lure people into overshare.

"Are you sure it's just a crush?" Ino's eyebrow arched up skeptically as she continued to pair up a few decorative foliages.

"Yeah," Sakura shrugged, quirking her mouth a little to balance off that guilty twitch that came with outright lying. "It's not a big deal though."

"Then why do you make it sound like one?"

"What? It's not."

"Okay, okay.." Ino said calmly, before rolling her eyes at her. "God, everyone has crushes Sakura. It's normal to have a few throughout the course of your whole life."

Sakura scrunched her eyebrows as she pondered her words, prompting Ino to shoot her a concerned look when she didn't muster any other form of reply. "Well why does it bother you anyway?"

"I don't know," she admitted faintly. It was a question with a million answers and none. "I guess the whole secrecy of it isn't my thing..."

"Then tell him."

"Hell no.." Sakura shook her head, dreading even the very suggestion of it.

"I don't know forehead, you'll have to learn to express it in some other way I guess." Ino shook her head forebodingly. "Unless you want to start acting the way Hinata used to do around Naruto.."

"I have a renewed respect for her honestly. Harboring secret feelings is not easy, let me tell you," she groaned. "I can't even do my work sometimes.."

"Ooh, he must be super hot, for Haruno Sakura to fuck up on the clock." The teasing wink Ino gave her only made her snort in reply.

"Yeah right. For all I know he could be butt ugly underneath that—" Sakura pursed her lips, letting her words pitter off as she mentally thanked what was left of her quick wits, for not theatrically covering her mouth with her hand.

But it was too late. Ino narrowed her gaze at her with a look that was akin to a cat who had just cornered a mouse.

"Underneath that what?"

"Underneath all that hair," she added. "He has a beard. Isn't that the new thing these days?"

"Mm-hmm." Ino's eyes were completely trained at her flower arrangement, which only meant that Sakura was done for and that Ino was simply taking her time. "I'm not an idiot, forehead," she warned, and Sakura could already feel the cold sweat forming on her brow. "It's pretty obvious—it's sad how obvious it is really."

"I don't know what you mean." It was Sakura's pathetic last attempt on denial.

The shears Ino was holding made a loud clank on the wooden table when she set it down, apparently so she could burst out in fits of laughter without taking someone's eye out. "And to think you used to give me and Ten-ten so much shit for oggling older men!" she managed to spurt out in between her cackling.

Sakura was royally fucked.

"Haruno Sakura has finally seen the light of truth—that her sensei is hot as fu—"

"Stop."

"Hahahaha, oh my god," Ino was bent over on the work table, two hands bracing herself as she tried to regain her composure. " I wasn't even serious—you totally gave it away!"

"I hate you Pig." She looked outside the window, half-expecting to see you-know-who listening in, in case she needed more proof that if she ever thought things couldn't get worse, it could.

"Please keep your voice down," Sakura pleaded.

"What's the matter? I told you, it's really not a big deal."

"It would be if he knew!"

"No way." Ino straightened her posture, indignantly. "I used to tell Asuma-sensei he was hot all the damn time, he didn't care."

"Come on, that's not the same. It wasn't like you were actually attracted to him!"

The wide grin that spread across Ino's face was absolutely impish, that Sakura braced for the likely onslaught of teasing. There was no way she would ever get out of this alive.

"You are so adorable when you're flustered!" Ino pulled her in for a hug instead, then held her at arms length with two hands. "I was just giving you shit, Sakura. Honestly—don't worry too much. It's just a phase," she assured her a last time as she pulled away.

"I guess you're right." Sakura bit her inner cheek. "It's not like he'd feel the same anyway, right?"

"Exactly."

"You're not supposed to agree, you know."

"He's like...a weirdo, forehead. It's nothing against you."

Sakura could only nod in agreement at Ino being brutally right as always. But it wasn't until later that she realized the word weirdo didn't quite settle comfortably with her anymore, as much as making constant digs at his eccentricities had been their team's favorite past time.

The fact that people thought he was emotionally detached—the fact that Sakura had been one of them, made her insides twinge. There was someone quite affectionate underneath all those layers he piled on. She had seen the worst of him during the war, and the impeccably graceful manner he would manage to hide his own sorrow underneath his many antics. Behind his brazen aloofness was a humility that carefully toed self-deprecation, like he was unworthy of breathing air..

His smut literature was no ruse though, she snorted to herself. Smiling a little, Sakura realized that even the odd parts of her former sensei, became endearing to her as well.

---

Kakashi's gloved hands smothered the shop window as he giggled excitedly at the display of Icha-Icha volumes that was twirling dramatically slow on a pedestal. It didn't matter that he had read all of them-this...this was a special edition boxed fact that it was the last remaining stock in the store convinced Kakashi more than ever to part with his hard-earned money.

He pushed through the entrance door and was already marching towards his favorite aisle when he saw her—Sakura—browsing through one of the bookshelves in her civilian clothes. He narrowed his eyes discerningly for a second, suspicious as he observed her whistling, like she was in some local hangout and not in his own sacred place of sanctuary.

Irked, and perhaps more curious than he cared to admit, Kakashi began to move towards her direction,

"Excuse me," he spoke. "You do know that this is a porn shop, not the library, don't you?" He was leaning with one elbow on the bookstand she was browsing that only came up to his chest and was trying to sound as authoritative as possible.

"Oh my," she gasped mockingly. "You mean these aren't actually candy?" To Kakashi's horror, she had grabbed a pink dildo from one of the nearby racks that proudly displayed the merchandise in a full rainbow. "But it said it's strawberry flav-"

"Okay, that's enough." He yanked the offensive thing from her hands to stuff it back with its fruit-flavored friends. "I'd wash those hands too if I were you."

"Those are just for display, you know that right? They sell the ones kept in sealed boxes." Sakura folded her arms on her chest before tilting her chin up with a smirk. "You're quite naive for someone who frequents a porn shop."

"Clearly, someone's not familiar about the generous return policy." It was a lie, but that didn't stop him from grinning as he relished the look of dread on Sakura's face. "Now look who's naive," he ribbed as he began to herd her off the aisle.

Kakashi practically dragged her out of the store, willfully ignoring Sakura's protest that she was in fact nineteen and by consequence, in perfectly legal right to be inside the premises.

And it wasn't until later that afternoon, after a round of training that Kakashi groaned loudly in the middle of an open field. He'd forgotten to purchase the boxed set he had set out to buy in the first place. And there was only one other person to blame.

---

It was the day of Naruto's birthday that Sakura decided to give her hair a much needed trim. A real one, not the jaggedy mess she had been doing with her own kunai—a proud habit that never really left her since discovering how liberating the first time had felt.

The shorter and nicely tapered length that now fell just past her chin looked softer and more girly; it framed her face with more thought than she'd ever accomplished herself that she slinked her way inside the Yakiniku restaurant that night, with a delicate sway to her hips than usual.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered, spotting her quickly and causing everyone to turn around as she entered.

What she had expected to be the usual small gathering of Kakashi, Yamato and Sai, became a reunion of sorts of some of their other friends; Sakura relished the nostalgia as she saw them sitting accordingly per team as old habits would (with the exception of Kakashi who was wedged between Ino's team and the wall).

"Happy birthday Naruto!" She ruffled the short tufts of blonde on his head affectionately, then gave him a good one armed hug from behind his seat.

He was able to snigger back a quick thank you, before Ino gestured towards Shikamaru and basically all the unfortunate people to her left to move a pace so Sakura can sit by her—which was, much to her delight—right next to where Kakashi was so comfortably sitting, chin propped up with one hand.

"Hey you.." She waved her fingers coyly at him and then quickly curled them shut in case that had looked too uncharacteristically flirty for everyone else. Before the man could reply, a loud ruckus erupted—Kiba, Shino and Hinata had just walked in to join everyone, resulting in a sudden lack of seating.

"You don't need to give up your space, Lee," Ino ordered, stopping the boy from jumping out of his seat in an effort to make room. "Let's all just move closer," she instructed.

"Why did we reserve just one table, anyway?" Not that she was at all annoyed and not absolutely delighted to be having her right leg pressed up against Kakashi's left one.

"You can ask this genius." Ino ;ightly whacked the back of Shikamaru's head.

"They were all booked okay? I had no choice," he shot back.

"Mah'—this is fine, this is fine!" Naruto beamed, clearly not minding the cramped space. Somehow Kiba had nudged Hinata to sit next to him, making the girl look impossibly redder than a tomato at the sudden closeness.

It was a good thing most of them were too hungry to care, and seeing as Naruto was paying for everyone, no one really had room for any complaint.

"I love your haircut by the way." Ino fluffed the ends of her pink locks, admiring the way it bounced on her palm. "It looks good on you."

"Aww, thanks. I went to that parlor just right across your flower shop."

"Ooh, that fancy new place? No wonder they did a great job. Doesn't she look pretty, sensei?" The murderous look Sakura gave her didn't deter the blonde from adding in a saucy wink.

Kakashi turned around for a quick sort of perfunctory glance before looking back at the table, most likely finding the proximity much too restricting for face-to-face. "It looks...ok," he mumbled.

Ino rolled her eyes at him before turning towards her. "Don't listen to him, you look great," she assured her, before distracting herself with food and with some louder conversation happening on the other side of the table.

Surprisingly, it didn't bother her; Sakura was quite used to his singular replies anyway. She pulled apart her own pair of utensils to grab some of the side vegetables conveniently piled up in front of her; it appeared Kakashi had carefully hoarded a small plate for himself, leaving everyone to have their barbecued meat without much else.

"Ah, ah, ah." he moved his stash further away from her prying hands. "Get your own."

"I can't—you took them all!" Sakura went for one giant piece of mushroom, stuffing it in her mouth quickly. A smile slowly spread across her face when he finally relented to give her own empty plate a few more.

So she ate, content to feast on Kakashi's self-imposed ration, and then stared some silently at the sight of Naruto beaming ear to ear from across the table, extremely pleased at the turn out of his birthday bash if not completely oblivious to the girl beside him that was sitting stiff as a rock.

Kakashi leaned in closer, nudging her slightly with his elbow. "So what do you think?"

"Of what?" she asked, appreciating the sudden conspiratorial closeness between them.

"Kiba and Shikamaru started a wager for who would make the first move." Kakashi jutted his eyebrows towards Naruto and Hinata.

"They're betting on them!?"

"Shhh.." He glared at her. "You're too loud."

"Oops, I'm sorry." Her hand instinctively pinched his leg underneath apologetically. She couldn't help but be a little loud. It was the kind of dumb idea she'd completely expect out of Kiba. But Shikamaru?

Sakura then sighed. "Is this even a debate? She looks like she's about to pass out," she whispered, realizing her hand hadn't left his leg at all. It took her a moment to get used to where it was until she started idly moving her small finger a little bit towards his inner thigh, gauging his reaction with each scant movement. He didn't seem to notice nor care.

"I won't be too sure," he said quietly. "Naruto can be really dense too you know."

"And how much ryo did you wager that for exactly?" Her eyes narrowed at him, judging.

Kakashi grinned in reply.

"You disappoint me." Sakura shook her head before sparing a glance towards Hinata. The poor girl. For a lot people, and largely for those who have witnessed her public confession to Naruto, having her feelings remain unrequited would be depriving everyone of the climax they've been anticipating since the war ended. Which she supposed, was only natural. After all who didn't want a happy ending?

She realized, as her fingers curled slowly to graze at the fabric on Kakashi's leg, that things didn't always need a happy ending; there was that golden middle between mutual feelings and unrequited love, and Sakura was pretty sure it hinged completely on expectations. Or in her case, the lack of it.

"I might have underestimated Naruto's skills," he groaned, breaking her out of her revery as he nudged her lightly a second time.

It had taken Naruto an astounding half-hour until he noticed how quiet Hinata was. He whispered something to her, and whatever it was, it made the dark-haired girl smile more comfortably.

"Huh, what do you know.." A small smile hung on her face as she admired at how the simplest gestures could make a world of difference to a person. She suddenly felt like a hypocrite. Here she was, acting like she knew more than anyone, quickly judging her friends for being so intrusive, when she was the one silently groping her sensei's leg under the table.

When the dinner finally ended, Sakura went home that night unable to sleep. A few unsent letters were unearthed from her box of mementos, scattered now on her bed as she lay there boring holes in the ceiling.

She knew exactly when she had fallen in love with Sasuke—it had happened the moment she first saw him. She'd been about twelve when that haunting mixture of dark hair and dark eyes had pulled her in like gravity, his personal demons drawing her in like some poison she needed to consume in order to cure, that at fifteen she'd been convinced that love was only rightly measured by how much it hurt.

Sakura didn't know when she had started having this attraction for Kakashi; she had a feeling it began much earlier than she cared to admit. And because it had felt like she was taking more than giving- indulging in the delightful giddy feelings she had not enjoyed in awhile, and certainly not in such carefree manner—Sakura deduced that it simply couldn't be love. At least not the specific form of selfless sacrifice she'd always known love to be.

---

Kakashi stared at his reflection that morning wearing copious amounts of shaving cream. He wasn't an idiot, he told himself. He had been perfectly aware of Sakura's hand on his lap that night, and the subtle way she had stroked it the whole damn time.

Mentor crushes were normal; Rin had a small phase with their sensei too. But that had been certainly much more innocent, more idolizing, compared to this very forward attempt that had left him so shocked, all he could do was pretend as his thigh went completely numb that night, that those small fingers weren't really creating lazy patterns on his skin suggestively.

Kakashi strained to remember if these flirtations had been happening for awhile now; if she'd been playing with him like a fiddle right underneath his nose, carefully taking advantage of his blind-spotted assumption that she'd never spare an interest for anyone that wasn't Sasuke. And certainly not in such...mature behavior.

He wasn't a vain man, he pondered to himself, as he gently scraped the slanted tanto blade against his jaw, dragging down a good amount of cream to reveal the smooth skin underneath. In fact, he had always winced at this sort of attention, and had lamented at how futile their attempts all were.

It was probably his unintentional air of mystery; it seemed he had a dark visage about himself that looked interesting..even attractive, to an outsider. He was much like Sasuke in that respect. At least it had been, during Kakashi's younger days, before his eventual choice of literature and his growing eccentricity thankfully scared most of them away.

Kakashi didn't completely mind Sakura's advances however; crushes came with certain thrills, and if this was one of those "explorative" things he'd seen people her age do, then maybe it was good that it had been him—a responsible adult who would never do more than humor her efforts with the occasional banter. Anyone less upright, he was sure, would have taken advantage.

The last of the shaving cream was wiped of his chin as Kakashi cleaned the rest of his face with a damp towel before staring at his newly shaven reflection. A plain looking man with a stupid looking sunburn stared back at him, frowning as he examined some faint traces of crow's feet he was sure hadn't been there yesterday.

Hardly the stuff of fantasies underneath all that. He was sure even Sakura would agree.

---

"Do you trust me?"

"Absolutely."

"We've done enough research to know that the theory is sound. But it's not an exact science yet.

You can still back out if—"

"Look, I trust you okay? Stop worrying."

"Okay," Sakura said breathily as she tried to ease her nerves; she was about to conduct her first practical experiment—her own jutsu, on a live human subject.

"I've set up all the mental blocks, so the consciousness occupying my body doesn't entangle with my real one." Ino arched an eyebrow at Sakura before nonchalantly flipping her hair to the sides. "I didn't volunteer for this just because you're my best friend you know."

The real one-Ino's real consciousness, was going to occupy the nervous little lab rat that was kept caged on the table, using the mind-transfer technique, while the rat's occupied Ino's.

"No wonder the Mizukage is interested..this is some really ground breaking stuff Sakura, " she continued profoundly. "The risk we're taking here is a small price to pay for the leaps you are making with this research. This could practically change the shinobi world forever, you know that right?"

"Great, now you're making me nervous," Sakura groaned.

"Sorry." Ino gave her a cheerful smile, as she placed her hand on top of her own. "Just..relax okay? I got this. You got this. Nothing will go wrong."

Sakura nodded affirmatively before dragging the stool closer so that they sat face to face. She then lifted two hands to frame Ino's temples as she began to mold chakra with her fingertips.

"Ready," she said soundly; Ino had taken the cue to weave a quick hand seal and in an instant, the rat on Sakura's table that had been wandering aimlessly inside the cage, perked up to stand in attention, observing curiously at Ino's body who was sitting upright with her eyes closed.

Sakura let the strings of chakra, that had now woven into the synapses in Ino's brain, be her guide. She navigated through the different planes of consciousness she could see with her special abilities, poking and analyzing, and careful not to tamper with anything else that might aversely affect thought processing.

Working with a complex human brain was a huge step for Sakura's research. The experience of seeing the very thing at work non-invasively with medical ninjutsu could help them reconcile with the nature of human emotions, and could help a lot in assisting ninjas battling with mental stress. The answers all lay here like tangible puzzle pieces—hormones, glands, brain signals… at the end of it, emotional trauma was just another form of injury, a chasm of a wound just like any, that needed to be stitched together. And while a huge part of the healing lay in therapy, Sakura was eager to find out if it was possible to give the brain, a head start in healing, in an efficient ten-minute procedure.

The experiment took approximately eight minutes, Sakura jotted this on her log book before turning towards the rat next to her with a smile. "I think we're done here."

The rat nodded, and just as quickly as the first time, the mind-transfer initiated and Ino woke up.

"How do you feel?" she asked her.

"Hungry," Ino said, pouting a little. "Is that a normal symptom?"

"No, pig." She giggled. "That just means you're actually hungry."

"Oh."

---

It was going to be a long summer— that was the forecast that came crackling out of the analog radio when he entered the small store to spot her reading a book in a well-shaded corner.

"Ah, Kakashi-san," the store owner greeted cheerfully. "We havin' just the usual today?"

"Looks like it," he said, still maintaining a guarded eye at her direction. "But if I could have it for take-out please."

Sakura's eyes shot up; Kakashi felt like he'd been caught or something, from the keen way she looked at him, and the way her hand froze just when she was about to turn a page on her book. She then broke into a smile, waving at him enthusiastically, to which he returned with a small one.

The cook came back a few minutes later with a brown bag, stuffing a pair of disposable chopsticks in it before handing it over. Kakashi pulled out a few bills from one of his vest pockets, then thanked him as he prepared to leave.

"Sensei!" Sakura called out. "Come, sit."

"Oh, I'm afraid I have to.." He hesitated, glancing at his already packaged take-out only to cave in to her enthusiastic efforts of clearing him space on the table. It was futile, and so he mumbled a quick thank you as he moved to sit on the creaky small bench across her.

The book she had been reading was set aside next to his lunch, Kakashi couldn't resist cocking his head at it curiously. "My Highschool Fairy Tale" he recited with curiosity. "What's it about?"

"Oh, this?" She picked up the paperback to give him a better view of the cover. "It's a teacher-student romance."

"Ah," he replied flatly. Not flirting nor heavy innuendo was going to take him by surprise this time. "I didn't know you like those," he remarked before taking a swig from his bottled water.

"Not usually, no. But I wanted to give it a try," she shrugged as she scanned through the pages. " I heard the sex scenes are way hotter than Icha-Icha."

He hardly had time. Water sprayed out through the fabric of his mask before he had the chance to force it all down. Thankfully he'd been quick enough to turn sideways.

"Are you okay?" That she was visibly worried only added to his embarrassment.

"Wrong pipe," he croaked before wiping masked face dry with a paper napkin, it took him a ridiculous full minute till all the hacking sound stopped. Kakashi surmised, as he gathered himself, that if this was payback for kicking her out of the porn shop, then she needed to be taught a lesson.

"Hotter than Jiraiya-sama's writing, huh?" Kakashi recomposed himself as he straightened a little on his chair. "I have a good gauge for these things as you know—read me an excerpt."

"Like out loud?" Sakura already appeared horrified at the very suggestion. The embarrassment of reading erotica out loud was something he truly sympathized with, having been forced to do it before.

But the prospect of revenge was too tempting.

"Oh, uhm.. well.. there's this part where he..uhm.." She scanned through the pages frantically, before stopping at a random one. "He..uhm.." she started off again, and the blush that began to creep up her face and ears as she stared at what he was sure were racy words strung together to form a glorious assembly of unadulterated porn gave Kakashi absolute satisfaction.

"He what?" he asked in a low drawl.

"Now, now...I thought you don't like spoilers." Sakura snapped her book shut grinning sheepishly. "You're just gonna have to read it for yourself," she offered, even though she she swiftly hid the book away from his grasp and view.

The nervous laugh that came out of her proved he had won this one.

"Maybe I will." Kakashi smirked triumphantly as he relished the way Sakura huffed at him in irritation, still fuming red.

---

Some ninjas simply didn't like using doors. It was a side-effect of shinobi lifestyle that had spawned a bad habit among a few, for unceremoniously dropping by people's windows.

Kakashi was one of those ninjas and yet Sakura had somehow forgotten about this when he had asked her if he could stop by her place to give her his overdue S-rank report to submit to the Hokage. Kakashi didn't want to face the godaime's wrath and be forced to explain why it had taken him four months to finish the damn thing. Instead, he wanted Sakura to. Typical, she sighed to herself as she rolled her eyes, and agreeing only because he had chosen to forego that day, the usual vest that came with his sweater. The less the better, she grinned appreciatively to herself.

She decided to take a shower —a quick one to freshen up a little while waiting. So she peeled off her clothes, stripped down to just her pink underwear, only to stop and admire herself briefly in the mirror. Her long training sessions with Ten-ten under the sun had began to give her body a nice glow, accentuating the definitions on her abs-previously washed out by her pale skin, as it molded into her petite curves nicely; Sakura jutted her hip a bit more towards the light shining through her room to get a better view.

She was in the process of tugging her underwear just a little lower to reveal her pelvic bone, when she saw her sensei's silhouette pop up at the corner of her eye, landing by her window with a thud.

The poor man then leaped rather thoughtlessly backwards after seeing what she could only assume was her half-naked contortions.

It was a loud crash; Sakura winced at the sound of it as she put her clothes back on in panic before leaping out the window. "Sensei! Are you okay?" she called out as she jumped down from a tree branch onto the grass below.

It appeared he had failed to channel any kind of chakra to his feet when he fell, landing spectacularly on one of her neighbor's clothesline to take all the bits of laundry with him as well as a few unfortunate tree branches.

"I'm so sorry.. I didn't know..." she broke off, plopping quickly on his side to begin healing a few pulled muscles with her chakra.

"I'm fine," he muttered under his breath. Kakashi regained his bearings enough to stand up and reached from behind his back pouch. "Here." It was his report scroll.

Sakura slowly took it, avoiding his gaze. "Why didn't you just make Pakkun drop this off anyway?"

"If I did, I'd have mentally scarred my own summon."

"Surely it wasn't that bad," she mumbled, feeling weirdly self-conscious.

"I meant he's a dog. Obviously he wouldn't have an eye for that" he blurted out. "Not..not that I do! I mean I do of course—generally. I should go."

"You should." Sakura told him, a small satisfied smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she watched him scamper off.

---

He'd enjoyed enough literature about breasts (among other things) for god's sakes. And yet Kakashi had never been so annoyed at seeing Sakura's naked ones. Or at least he assumed they were bare breasts from the little his eyes had been able to focus on before tumbling down full two stories.

The blurry image of shaped mounds was nonetheless seared into his corneas, already graphic enough for his own conscience for the mere fact that they were hers.

If this was all part of her attempt to get his attention, then she had really gone too far.

"I'd give her the benefit of the doubt," Pakkun assured him. "Trust me, I've seen worse, 'poofing' into people's rooms for a living."

Kakashi sighed. His ninken was right. Afterall, it was probably the kind of perverse karma he deserved for extorting out a favor he knew she would normally refuse if it wasn't for her budding infatuation. "The whole thing was likely an honest accident," he fact that he was the one who felt victimized, when she was the one exposed, he realized, was ridiculously self-centered of himl. That he also avoided her all week, like the blockhead that he was, surely only made her feel worse.

So Kakashi paid the nearby bookstore a visit that afternoon with a great idea. He had to comb through the narrow aisles, thanking his sharp memory as he thumbed through the properly ordered titles to finally find it—the newest volume of 'My Highschool Fairytale', because nothing else said "I'm not weird about us at all" more than buying your former-student smut literature.

Of course, the volumes all looked way more gaudy up close. Where hers had been bright yellow, this was shock pink with a proudly hologrammed 'Volume 2' right in the corner; Kakashi couldn't resist an amused giggle at the amount of embossing and glitter virtually made possible to fit in one page.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover, I guess.." he muttered to himself, choosing a page in the middle and mentally bracing for literature as garish as the rainbow-vomit front.

After some quick reading, he established that, the "smut" was not nearly as graphic nor was even close to explicit as Sakura had hyped it out to be—it was plain cheesy young adult stuff. The teacher was a hunky gym coach, a deviation from the usual preppy professor trope—not even older enough to be her realistic teacher at that. The author surely needed to commit to the genre better, he huffed to himself. But, it did have some well-written dialogue. The plot, judging from the summary, was somewhat cliche, but nothing surprising given the overall theme.

The sky had already deemed into evening when Kakashi found her practicing in one of the older, more rickety fenced yards, several scrolls rolled out on the concrete—most likely summon scrolls, he deduced, from the five hundred shurikens studding the opposite wall.

He examined the book on his hand that had been wrapped nicely with patterned green paper—a pure impulse decision at the check-out counter that he wasn't very sure of anymore. With one yank, he tore off the delicate wrapper, chucked it off in a nearby bush before leaping over the metal fence.

"Were you watching me this whole time?" Sakura brushed aside strands of pink hair that was matted across her forehead, before cocking her head sideways at his approaching form. "Because if not, then you totally missed out on my new jutsu."

"'Fraid I didn't get the pleasure to watch," Kakashi said, wincing belatedly at his choice of words, given last week's incident. Thankfully she didn't seem to pick up on it. "But I can see you've been learning a few things from Ten-ten," he amended, as Sakura plopped on the nearest bench.

"Well, I uhm.. wanted to stop by to give you this." He held out the book in his hand as he hesitantly sat next to her. "It's the latest one. I figured you'd want a copy before it runs out." Sakura blinked a few times at the glossy new volume, and then slowly took it from him. "You can just pay me later, whatever," he added nervously as he gauged her reaction.

What he didn't expect was to be rewarded with a viciously tight hug, nearly knocking the wind out of him as Sakura held him tight, and he had no choice but to roll with it.

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei." Her smile was soft and dimpled as she let go of him to bring her attention back to the book on her hand. "Woah...I didn't even know they had a new one out."

Her face was lit up in excitement; Kakashi had enjoyed this same giddy feeling every time he'd get his hands on a new volume— the prospect of reading chapters he'd never read before would send an adrenalin rush through him that could last a whole day.

"I'm glad you like it." Now he was smiling too. "By the way," his words cautious this time as he finally remembered why he was forced to spend good money on that paperback anyway. "I'm sorry I went MIA on you all week, I was just—"

"All week? Didn't we just have lunch the other day?"

"That was eight days ago, Sakura."

She sputtered a small giggle and Kakashi suddenly wanted to kick himself. "Okaay, my bad" she intoned with mischief.

They shared a comfortable pause for a moment until Sakura stood up. "How about I buy you dinner tonight? It'll pay you back for this book."

"It's a gift, honestly. You don't really have to—"

"Come on." She grabbed his hand before he was able to muster any real protest, surprised to find himself content to be yanked along as Sakura led them to dinner.

---

It all started when Kakashi had passed out in the middle of a training field—in bright daylight—for all the nearby genins to watch in curiosity.

"What happened to the old man?"

"Is he dead?"

The squeaky little voices invaded his stream of consciousness as he lay there face down on grass.

Shizune had given him the clean bill of health the next day, but not without a stern warning on the dangers of chakra depletion. He had raised his eyebrows at her, indignant to be implied as an amateur who didn't know how to manage something as rudimentary as chakra reserves.

As it turned out, he was.

He had forgotten what actual fatigue felt like; overwhelmed with the huge pool of chakra suddenly made available from the loss of his sharingan, Kakashi had pushed himself too hard, relishing the surge, and causing his eventual black out. That was the final prognosis anyway, and his newly appointed training assistant—who was really more like his unofficial nanny, didn't waste an opportunity to rub it in his face, calling him gramps as she sat there under the nearby tree with her new volume of 'My Highschool Fairy Tale'.

This was the very reason Kakashi made sure to execute the series of moves in the most elegantly way possible, weaving hand-seals with remarkable speed and fluidity that he could practically hear her jaw drop from behind him.

"Pfffft! Show off," she managed to jeer loudly anyway, looking like quite the deceiving heckler with her light green civilian sweater and leggings—dressed like a delicate woman when she was anything but.

"Impressed already? I didn't even break a sweat."

"Don't push your luck gramps. Time to take a break," she ordered as she unpacked the small picnic bag next to her. Without protest, largely because he was hungry, Kakashi moved to sit across her on the grass.

"Shrimp or seaweed?" Two homemade pieces onigiri were held up in front of him, just like that.

This, was definitely something he could get used to; a part of Kakashi wished that this routine—because he loved routines, would remain even after this girlish infatuation of hers expired. They were friends too, after all..

"I'll have the seaweed, if you don't want it," he said, before mumbling a small thank you.

"Okay, but let's your check vitals first." Sakura set her food down briefly to grab his hand, pressing her thumb on the pulse of his wrist as Kakashi watched that distinct green glow emanate from her fingers.

"This is all temporary, don't worry. Your body will come to its bearings soon," she explained. "It's like experiencing a sugar rush you know? Except we can't have you crashing like that anymore.."

All Kakashi could do was nod silently as he felt the precision of her chakra zip through his own veins like a current. He felt very much like the student here, and she the mentor.

He realized as his eyes moved towards the yin seal on her forehead that was glinting in daylight, that he was a nothing but a continuing witness to the growth of a woman he can no longer simply just pat on the head like he used to, to show acknowledgement, or placate with really simplistic promises.

Sakura evolved day by day, surpassing, exceeding, and adapting. It made him feel like a piece of old rock by comparison—the stubborn kind that clogged up the works until use and years corroded it to nothing.

"I bet it's a little disorienting," she spoke, her words aptly prophetic of his thoughts that he suddenly straightened his posture. "When you've been used to having so little, and then suddenly given so much."

"I guess," he rasped, wondering where his voice went.

"Good news—all your vitals appear stable. It looks like you'll be back to normal soon," she assured him smiling. "As long as you don't over-exert yourself again, okay?"

"Thanks Sakura," he said, feeling his jaw tighten. "It's always astonishing to see you at work." If that had sounded too measured, it had felt like the opposite, at least in his head, and the careless way he had decided to blurt it all out. To make matters worse, she was blushing because of it, even Kakashi didn't want her to. It was nothing but an objective assessment any normal superior would say of their subordinate.

"Thank you," she said timidly, smiling anyway, like it had meant more than that.

---

They found themselves at the border of Fire Country on their way home from Takigakure—a mere day away before Sakura's solo-mission to Iwa. She had joked to him rather humorlessly, that she might as well stay behind along the border till her trek further up North—a much more feasible plan, if she'd thought ahead to bring a sleeping bag in the first place. Kakashi couldn't help but sympathize with her; having to zig-zag the map in about less than twenty-four hours could be quite frustrating on tired feet. So he took her up on her idea; if they could find a place to rest for the night, then they could both get their breather, before Kakashi continued his way home, while Sakura travelled further north. Simple. Easy. Logical.

What they had been looking for was a nice padded grass somewhere in the forest, deep and tucked in for some measure of safety. What they didn't expect was a full-service inn, erected right at the end of the road, glowing bright with neon signs like a suspiciously convenient mirage.

Except it was real. Real enough to have a blinking sign that read 'Infinite Sake-yomi', which easily gained points in Kakashi's book, if for the cheeky reference alone and surprisingly few more for Sakura when she found out it also offered heated non-communal showers—a rare luxury for travelling ninjas in general, and quite a coveted one for kunoichis.

But it was the giant plastic moon— resembling the catastrophic moon they all witnessed if not for the drunken smile it wore, that was sitting atop the bar's entrance that really sealed the deal for the both them. It was blushing even, glowing red into the night, like a proud amalgamation of real cataclysmic event and ill humor. The tenacity of popular culture sure was something, and Sakura couldn't help but snicker at it, as Kakashi ushered her inside the creaky swing door.

They decided, almost immediately when they entered the cozy downstairs bar, that perhaps a quick nightcap wouldn't hurt. "You can't not have sake at the Infinite Sake-yomi," Sakura quipped grinning, already making herself comfortable in one of the booths by the window.

It wasn't long till their 'nightcap' turned into a few more, with the need for idle company becoming a more enticing prospect than calling it early. Kakashi nursed what he counted was his sixth cup (though it felt like sixteenth), as his low tolerance for alcohol caught up with him at each sip.

Sakura idly drank her own sake, drumming her fingers on the table before propping her chin up on one hand to give Kakashi the most sugar-sweet dimpled smile, he half-expected her to start batting eyelashes at him. A small tipsy laugh broke out of him, when her chin slipped off her palm, knocking her posture off enough to break eye contact. She may not be the most elegant at flirting, but she was always so earnest.

She smiled at him sheepishly anyway; the effects of alcohol glazed on her face as she recovered to stare lazily out the window. She looked content to do so and Kakashi was starting to find it hard to pull his gaze away, so he quickly looked passed her, to the bar stools a few feet from them where some younger ninjas sat. One of them eagerly whispered to his friends as he stole quick glances at their direction. Even in Kakashi's somewhat dulled senses, the curious interaction didn't go unnoticed.

"I can't be certain if that guy is checking me or you out.." he remarked, breaking the momentary silence.

"Eh?" Sakura sat straight.

"Three o' clock," he whispered, redundantly pointing his finger towards the guy's direction.

"Don't." She grabbed his hand, pushing it down to hide from view before peeking to see for herself.

Sakura quickly spun back around to duck behind her wooden bench. "Ugh—he saw me looking."

"And he's on his way here." Kakashi delightfully took one more swig of his sake, knowing with full certainty that the young man had been oggling Sakura for awhile now.

"Just pretend we didn't see him, okay?"

"I'm afraid it's too late for that." He was grinning sadistically, as the young shinobi approached their table. He reminded him a lot of pre-jumpsuit Lee, with those wavy dark hair that came down to his eyebrows. Except this man was more scrawny..

"Sakura, is it? Haruno Sakura?" the shinobi asked.

"The one and only," her words came out in uninhibited singsong, as Kakashi tried very hard not to giggle.

"My name is Nobu. I'm a medic from Suna," the young shinobi continued. "We've met before in the medic camp in Kumo? Not..not that I expect you to remember of course," he mumbled nervously. It was amusing to Kakashi to witness someone so flustered just from standing in her presence.

"Just wanted to say that I'm such a huge fan of your work, Sakura-san." he blurted out.

"Uhm, thank you," she gasped sincerely. "I don't think I've ever had a fan before."

Nobu looked surprised at this. "That's impossible," he insisted and Kakashi found himself agreeing—Sakura was being purposely modest. "Not with your beauty, especially," the man added.

Ah, there it was; Kakashi almost rolled his eyes at how predictable this conversation was becoming.

She smiled at him as she tucked an errant hair behind her ear, "You're too sweet, Nobu" she said, obviously enjoying the attention.

"Here," Nobu gestured at the bartender as he spoke. "You and your friend's drinks are on me tonight."

"Oh, you don't have to—" Sakura protested.

"Thank you, you're very kind," Kakashi chimed in, finally finding opportunity to be acknowledged in the whole conversation.

"No worries," he assured him smiling before turning back to Sakura. "If you ever find yourself in Kumo again, I'd love to take you out for dinner."

Kakashi had to hand it to the kid—what Nobu lacked in charm, he made up for with courage.

"I'm really honored." Sakura's smile slowly turned sheepish. "But I'm already seeing someone."

"Oh." The young man looked crestfallen that Kakashi took a moment to realize what Sakura had just said. "Well I'm not surprised, you are quite a catch. It was still a pleasure meeting you, Sakura-san." He bowed out slowly before making his way back to his friends.

"Is he still paying for the drinks though?" Kakashi leaned from across the table, with a little more mirth.

"Don't be mean. Of course we'd have to decline."

Groaning in small protest, Kakashi stretched his legs that had fallen asleep, within the small space under the table. There was a somberness to her demeanor now, but he wasn't sure what had caused the change.

"Soo," he drawled lazily, thinking of any idle conversation to liven the mood up. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"No one, I was letting him down easy." Her eyes remain averted as she resorted to obsessive nail picking. "I'm not really interested in dating right now, anyway."

"Sounds like a smart idea," he concurred with a rather drunken dead-weight bow. He could only imagine dating to be a miserable, sloppy affair.

"I mean..I'm not interested in just anyone ..but there is one.." she added, looking at him this time.

"Oh so there is a guy.." The lulling effects of booze was making it increasingly hard for him to keep with the conversation, especially one that carried layers he was much too sluggish to pick up on at the moment. Still, Kakashi maintained eye contact like a good listener.

"He's not interested in me at all, though," she confessed with a sad smile; her eyes suddenly fixated with the wood grain on her cup.

"Then he's an idiot." Kakashi downed the remaining contents of his cup, accidentally banging the thing on the table when he was finished. "Any guy would be lucky to have you Sakura." A part of him, the crisp distant part uninfluenced by alcohol was jolted by his words. But the more overpowering drunken side of him was shrugging flippantly, because hell, it was true.

She seemed to have remained silent, Kakashi didn't get the chance to really look as he tilted his head back, dangerously close to snoozing right their inside their booth. "We should probably call it a night," he heard himself say.

The numbing chatter inside the bar was all he could hear for a good second when she finally spoke.

"Alright," she said, voice unavailingy faint, Kakashi was convinced he'd imagined it. In fact, the short trip to the creaky stairs to their rooms was one huge blur. The room key he was holding felt too taxing to use that he stared dumbly in front of his door, half-willing to turn the knob with pure mind-control.

"Do you really mean it?" Her words rang so much louder than it should in his head, against the much quieter hallway.

"Mean what?" he asked as he turned his head to look at her. Kakashi mused at how small her fingers looked braced there so delicately against the stockier door frame. His door frame.

"That any guy would be lucky to have me," she murmured this time. Like the very words embarrassed her.

"Yes. Of course," Kakashi assured sincerely. There was that small beginnings of a headache at the base of his skull now, as he recalled their previous conversation in much more detail. He sighed as he lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck, realizing the implication he'd mistakenly given. "And.. If were you, I'd look for someone else who isn't an idiot. You deserve better.."

"I know what I deserve." There was an edge to her tone that Kakashi simply had no energy to contend with, not when sleep beckoned him.

"Okay," he shrugged.

"Do you mind if I hang out in your room for a bit?"

It was the most outlandish sounding question and he wanted to laugh. But the look she gave him reminded him of a very similar look she would give Sasuke, whenever she'd try to reach out; always trying her best, but always missing the mark. She bit her lip as she looked at him expectantly. Like he was really going to say yes. Or that she knew he was going to say no.

"I'm actually planning to pass out very quickly," he told her in the most delicate way he could that wouldn't sound like a flat rejection.

"You can sleep. I won't be much bother I swear." Her suggestion didn't make an ounce of sense, but he was too tired to point that out, not when she was clearly just as drunk herself.

He could smell that distinct scent of alcohol on her when she spoke and Kakashi wondered for a second if she tasted the same way she smelled. "No. Go to bed Sakura." He was close to begging.

To his relief, she did, without much coercion this time, and Kakashi watched—and made sure—that she went inside her own room, waiting for the very last sound of the dead bolt behind her door till he ambled slowly inside his own bedroom.

He kicked his shoes off the moment he got to the foot of the mattress, his vest came after, followed by his shirt—all discarded carelessly on the floor somewhere, as he crashed his full dead-weight, face down on the springy bed.

The moment his sore muscles began to relax, his head sinking into what was going to be a deep sleep, Kakashi felt a pesky small stream of energy. He furrowed his eyebrows irritatedly, realizing the moment he shifted his weight on the bed, that he was in fact, packing a full arousal. The garden variety kind that would belatedly pop out of nowhere right when you're ready to hit the sack—that was the theory he was sticking with anyway. So he turned over to lie on his back, snaking a hand down to adjust himself more comfortably. He hissed at the immediate pleasure as his fingers wrapped around himself, goading him to give it a few strokes more. If just so he could finally doze off uninterrupted.

His inebriated mind conjured an image for him; taut legs, likely still with boots on, wrapped around him as he was mercilessly ridden—the kind of fantasy that got the job done quickest. Kakashi pictured the woman's naked breast as he stroked himself, bouncing in tandem with the thrust of his pelvic. He propped himself on his elbows as he imagined her doing rounds on his erection.

It was around the time in his fantasy when her grinding naturally quickened to a pace that would always send the both of them over the edge, that the muffled sound of water coming out of a shower—a real one, from across the walls to the next room—Sakura's room, startled him enough to interrupt his thoughts. Kakashi groaned, as he fought to salvage the momentum with the steady even pace his hand kept, not wasting time resuming where his mind had left off: the woman being at the cusp of an orgasm, legs still braced around him, with her back against the cold tiles of the shower. Kakashi tried to steer his mind from the abrupt change of scenery, but it was too late—the details had began to fall in like unwanted puzzle pieces, filling in the gaps in his fantasy he purposely left blank. The wet hair, he had pictured, plastered across her face under the steaming water, was now decisively pink, her eyes jade green and clouded with desire as she moaned for him with that familiar voice of hers; she was never elegant, but always so earnest, begging for him to go faster, harder, rougher...

You should stop.

It's not too late.

It was like his brain had began to salvage any kind of feeble line he hadn't crossed yet, making up rules in some last bid to save his soul from what was sure to be eternal hell. An image of Sakura rolling her eyes back in sheer ecstasy as he rammed into her on that slippery wall pushed him almost instantly to near orgasm. Stopping was impossible—Kakashi could feel the climax build up inside him, compounding every time his sweaty hands moved against it.

This is Sakura, you sick fuck. He growled, as he pressed heavily at the tip of his beading erection, squeezing with a vice grip as he felt—forced—the pulsating blood on his veins to recede painfully.

It felt like forever until his member dwindled to half-hardness. His breathing was still heavy when he curled on his bed to groan angrily on his pillow. There were a lot of things more agonizing than a stifled orgasm, this he knew. But at that particular night, Kakashi would rather have his hand impaled with a dagger.

---

Sakura packed her small bag as soon as light cracked through the shades on her windows. The creaky sound of old wood slats did little to pad her footsteps as she made her way through the corridor, eager to get a good start on her journey to Iwagakure.

He was already gone; the door to his room left open for her to see, the bed which was left unmade remained the only physical trace of him ever being there.

Her heart sank, realizing Kakashi had purposely left much earlier than she ever would, maybe sneaking out into the night to continue his way home while she still slept. Not that she could at all blame him; alcohol always did make her a much pushier, peskier company. It gave a boon to her confidence but not always in the best way; Sakura groaned in recollection, as she remembered vaguely propositioning him by the doorway.

She'd definitely gone way overboard last night. But surely it wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed with a properly expressed apology? Kakashi had the patience of a saint, Sakura was sure of it.

Eloquence was just something she'd have to figure out..sober. Eventually.

A much more urgent matter was to get to Iwa, in the quickest way possible, without nighttime slowing her down prematurely. Getting past the rough mountainous landscape of the Earth country would take two days on average. Sakura was determined to get there in just a day and a half. Rhankfully the good night's sleep she'd gotten last night afforded her the quicker feet, hardly stopping for rest as she sprinted her way through the pillars of trees.

Dusk hit the moment she made it to Tagikure—just a day away to Iwa. A prickly branch that had stuck out on her path lashed against her face that she winced at the small scratch it left on her cheek. It was much harder traveling through tree branches in darkness, so she hoisted herself down, before walking towards a clearing at the edge of the forest that the moon had lit up like an inviting spotlight.

There was a distinct snap, like a sound of a broken twig that halted her footsteps cautiously. It seemed to have come from above; her eyes narrowed at the silhouettes of hanging leaves and branches, one finger hooked on her slotted kunai, as she listened closely for anything other than the hissing and buzzing sounds of nocturnal activity.

It was a few moments, that had felt like an extended tense silence until she spotted a squirrel frisking away with a fruit just above her. With a sigh of relief, she relaxed her shoulders, turning back to where the clearing lay only to be greeted by a shadow directly blocking her path.

"Who are you? "She regarded the tall dark figure looming over her, her hand already gripping the kunai tight as it hovered between them as an ominous warning.

The shadow merely laughed, that menacing kind that pittered into a sneer, before stepping forward to reveal himself to the cracks of moonlight filtering through the topiaries above them.

He was slender, paled skin with half his face covered by jet black hair that was mostly slick back in a long ponytail. Not nearly as dangerous looking as he had sounded, if not for what was a long sort of needle like sword he was dragging along on the ground.

"It doesn't matter who I am," he spoke with a serpent like hiss to his voice. "What matters is that I'm going to be very rich over what will soon be your lifeless body."

Sakura couldn't resist but scoff loudly at the measly threat; she didn't punch a she-god during the war just to be harassed by a goon out for bounty. "I'm almost tempted to let you try, for my own amusement," she taunted.

"Oh trust me, that would be highly unnecessary.." The tip of his pointy sword was dripping with an oil-slick looking liquid as he tilted it up for her to see in the moonlight. "See, I've infused some of these trees with a certain kind of sedative poison. A small prickle—even as tiny as a splinter, or a scratch, can render you completely paralyzed."

Not wasting time, Sakura lifted a hand to heal the scratch on her face from a few minutes ago. Almost instantaneously, her muscles weakened; she dropped to her knees violently with a groan, her hands breaking her fall on grass.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He was kneeling right next to her, she could see the lecherous look on his eyes as he curled his mouth into a fake pout. "The effects of this poison compounds with the presence of chakra, which you, pretty lady, have quite a lot of."

Even breathing became laborious; Sakura slumped completely on the ground, heaving, gasping for air. There was no pain to the poison, it's efficacy solely feeding into her own energy, sapping the life out of her own limbs, dulling her senses, as she tried, despite herself, to keep her eyes trained at the enemy, studying for any kind of weakness she could exploit.

"Well, don't look too impressed. I wouldn't have found you at all, if not for that dimwitted, loud mouthed admirer of yours last night.." He stood from where he was crouching and Sakura could hear the sharp sword dragged sideways, rustling the dead leaves on the ground before it was lifted in the air, poised to cut. "A shame I couldn't find your other friend… but you will do for now!" His voice was ferocious and Sakura closed her eyes tight, fist balled as she helplessly braced for what would come next.

A loud ping of clashing metal rang through her ears at that very instant. She opened her eyes hesitantly, gasping as she saw the man dropped down to his knees to stare at her vacantly as blood sprayed out of the fresh laceration in his throat. There was another figure behind her, she could feel the footsteps, the hand planted firmly on her back as she was helped upright on her knees. The poison had completely taken hold; she careened helplessly backwards, falling painfully against the base of a tree trunk as a voice called out to her.

It was soft... much too soft for her weakened ears. Was it him? Did he follow her to Iwa instead of heading home? Sakura narrowed her eyes, willing whatever was left of her life source to focus on the blurred face hovering above her.

Those pair of eyes—she gasped as her pupils shook in disbelief. She knew those eyes well.

"Sa..sasuke?" She croaked weakly before blackness finally took her.

---

"Wake up," he said to her. Sakura smiled contently at that warm baritone in his voice, that calm drawl that only lulled her further into sleep. "Miss Haruno," he repeated, "I said wake up."

The loud snap of his ruler on her desk finally jolted her awake. "Sorry!" Sakura wiped the dried drool on her face before whipping her head around at the surroundings. She was in a classroom full of children—genins, who were all looking at her curiously. Not that she could blame them, it wasn't everyday, you found yourself in class with a grown woman who was wearing faint red marks of a pencil she had undoubtedly slept on.

"You've been sleeping in class again," her sensei pointed out, his silver hair fell down just enough to cover the small trace of scar in his left eye—she remembered liking that about him. But it was hard to tell if he was more amused than disappointed, as the white sanitary mask he wore betrayed nothing about his expression. "Have you read your chapter assignments?"

"The wh..what?" As bizarre as everything was, Sakura was gripped with the familiar oh-shit feeling from not having done homework.

"The chapter assignments for My Highschool Fairytale." He pointed a sign on the board that read 'Oral Exams for Chapters 10 and 11' scribbled hastily in chalk.

Shit. She had never actually read that far ahead. Her sensei shook his head disapprovingly, like he'd known this all along; the dumb look she wore as she stared back giving her away even more so.

"Tsk tsk tsk, looks like you'd have to be expelled from this school, Miss Haruno." He crossed his arms uncaringly.

"Nani?! That's pretty harsh!" She jutted her eyebrows as she looked around her classmates for some sign of sympathy. "Everyone misses homework, right? Once in awhile? Surely?" Her younger classmates just stared at her; a peculiar looking kid that looked a lot like a bratty version of Naruto with his collars popped up, snickered. "Nope. Just you baka," he scoffed.

"What did you say?!" Without a moment's thought, she stood from her chair, sleeves already rolled out to confront the pesky brat; she didn't care if he was a child.

"Now..now..now…" her sensei interrupted, prompting Sakura to let go of the kid's collar. "I'll give you one last chance, but only if you can read those chapters in the next hour."

Sakura nodded with iron-clad resolve. "Deal." The next hour . She scoffed at all of them as she ran out of the classroom to grab her own copy of 'My Highschool Fairytale' at home.

"Watch where you're going!" A voice yelped from behind her; she had accidentally ran into someone on her way out. Sakura turned around hastily not wanting to stop at all. It was Ino—Sakura jutted her eyebrows in bewilderment at that impossibly long hair, wondering at the sheer practicality of it, given their line of work. She wasn't sure if she'd imagined it, but Ino appeared to be holding hands with Sai.

Sai.

Overwhelmed with an urge to get out of this place, wherever this was, she began to map out an escape, never stopping on her feet as she looped through what should have been familiar village streets. If she could leave this place, then her sensei could never expel her. And she'd have all the time in the world to finish that book. It was completely nonsensical and yet the soundest plan she had in a long time.

"Sakura!" Ino had somehow caught up with her maniacal speed and Sakura suddenly felt gripped with panic that she curled helplessly on the ground. There had to be a way out of this damn place.

"Sakura!"

She raised her hands to block her ears as she desperately shut out Ino's voice.

"Sakura!"

"Sakura!"

"Leave me alone," she murmured. Nausea overtook her then; she was reeling helplessly into a deep well, so close to hurling when her consciousness began to steer her away from the strange place and into something much quieter..more familiar..

The cold wind on her skin filtered in first..then the scent of grass…then the distant sound of nocturnes.. clueing her in piece by piece. She was back in the forest and she squirmed in discomfort at the rough hard tree trunk beneath her, but moving felt too taxing.

"Sakura, are you awake?"

"What happened?" She groaned in pain as her hazy vision tried make do with the little visibility found in the woods.

"You blacked out." Sasuke removed his tattered cloak, bunching it hastily in one fist before extending it towards her with outstretched arm. Sakura stared at it dumbly, confused until she realized he was offering it to her for comfort. Limbs still weak, she wrapped the heavy fabric around her, instantly relishing in the warmth and the familiar scent of him.

"Thank you.. for saving me," she said softly. The details of her near death encounter was still fresh in her memory, much too vivid that Sakura couldn't help a wince.

A small grunt was the only thing she got in response, and just as Sakura squinted her eyes to make out the expression on his face, a small light ignited with a short puff of his mouth; the dry twigs he was holding had began to kindle a small flame.

With trained silence, she watched him, the attentive way he built the beginnings of a bonfire that it started to envelop her with a comfortable warmth that didn't completely come from the glowing embers.

"I had to wait till you woke up to start this." His words carried a hint of apology, for what she wanted to assume was her still slightly shivering form. "It wouldn't be smart to give away our position, with one of us unconscious," he then said. It was as close to tender, Sakura could appreciate, at least.

"Of course," she mumbled, observing the grim expression on his face made more ominous with the accentuated shadows, as light danced between them.

"But I didn't save you, not entirely.."

Sasuke's voice drifted as he poked the bonfire with a branch he'd been fiddling with, only to fixate with watching the whole thing incinerate before snuffing the last of its flame with two fingers. "I thought you would have died for certain, until you started to breath again."

"I did? How did I..."

"You did in your sleep." There was a grim expression to him that Sakura could only surely catalog as worry. "I tried to wake you up, to stop it. Knowing the surge of chakra would only make the poison worse but.."

"The enemy underestimated healing ninjutsu.."She said it mostly to herself, marvelling at the phenomenon— bewildered on top of that, that she'd been able to accomplish it in her unconscious state . "It wasn't always about the amount of chakra, it was about control and the precise use of it. A little bit of chakra went along way, with the right control." Suddenly, Sakura was awakened with so much curiosity; with more data she could uncover more about this discovery and if she can only secure a sample of the poison somehow..

Realizing she'd completely gone off on her own ramble, she smiled sheepishly at her companion who just stared at her with a clueless expression.

"I meant, my body healed itself quicker than it was feeding the poison," she rephrased. "Obviously that wasn't my first instinct, but my body must've known what it was doing, and began flushing my system out much more efficiently using the smallest amount of chakra. Enough to heal myself and starve the poison out eventually."

"I didn't know you could do that." It wasn't so much the visible marvel in his eyes when he spoke but the way he had nodded at her subtly in his own brand of appreciation that made Sakura smile.

"How did you know where to find me?"

If Sasuke's timing had been any less impeccable, she would have died at that moment, in absolute certainty. But he had found her. And he was really here. Much closer, much more serendipitous of an encounter than anything Naruto could ever wish for at this moment that Sakura felt undeserving of it somehow.

"I didn't. But I've been following that bounty hunter for awhile now."

"I see," came her reply. It was to her a small question answered among the many she still had, about the things he did since he left. Sasuke retracted his leg that had been stretched out, sitting now with both knees folded, as if to restore a bit more distance between them. Just in case she hastily decided to come close—she assumed this surprisingly with no bitterness. In a lot of ways, Sakura wouldn't want to. Not when he was this close—this close to a chance of returning with her for good. Any misstep now, could easily push him away.

"You look like you've travelled a lot," she spoke again, smiling weakly, taking a moment to notice how he'd swapped his Konohan vest for a much rougher leather one; his garb was dustier and worn out that it made her wonder how far he'd travelled to since he had left their village gates. "Been anywhere exotic?"

"There's nothing exotic to me anymore."

His words were swift and so matter of fact that Sakura immediately regret asking such an obvious question. "Of course." She bowed her head, eyebrows furrowed dejectedly as she pulled his cape closer around her like a blanket; her fingers idly played with the fringes hanging at the edge of it. "Have you thought of coming back?" Another one. But only because it was important enough for her to risk possible ridicule.

It was easy to make that mistake with him; casual conversations so easily fell into a pause—like an unfinished thought that was uncomfortable to everyone else except himself; it trained her to think on her feet, albeit hastily, of thoughts or questions..anything just to push the exchange forward, and not with same thick-skinned and impenetrable jubilance Naruto was gifted with.

But her question had hit a chord; Sakura looked at him curiously as he averted his gaze away to the zigzag patterns he was making on the ground with his fingers. "I don't know," he finally said. And it was a much bigger improvement than the flat out no she'd been expecting.

"Why?" She asked boldly this time; the tone in her rising together with her desperation, tethering dangerously close to encroaching. "You belong with us. Konoha will always be your home."

"It's not that simple."

It was like Sasuke's voice was crafted solely to drive her to the point of tears, with that measured austereness that was always indifferent and unrelenting against her own raging river of emotions. How could he be so, here in the middle of nowhere, when even she was starting to yearn for home… back with everyone…

"But Naruto...Naruto wasn't the same since you left." That was always her best shot and it hurt her that she could never appeal to Sasuke as a close friend, the way Naruto could. "He misses you, you know. We miss you.. I miss you," she spat out painfully as tears start to well up in her—tears that only ever pushed him away.

But he was so close. And yet she was failing everybody.. her whole team, with her lack of self control.

Sasuke remained silent. Like an unmoving rock, completely impervious to the elements. Sakura never understood why she kept trying.

"I didn't know you would.." It was silent murmur, spoken almost to himself but it was enough to let her heart stop for a second as she processed the words, the implication of it..

"Is that why you left?" Her heart was beating wildly, for it couldn't have been that all along. How could she fail at such a simple task? She had given everything and had been there for him at every step.

Did she push him away without meaning to? "Sasuke-"

"Don't exert yourself." He slid towards her in time, just as Sakura almost fell over forward in her still weakened state. The sting in her eyes was unbearable, but even more so to let him see it, so she kept her head bowed, her eyes shut tight.

When their foreheads touched, just as naturally as it would, she was surprised to realize he didn't pull away.

"Do you still...love me?"

It was so rare that he sounded fragile..awkward. Sakura could feel the warm rush of tears on her cheeks, and the sudden pang in her heart. After all this time, it was going to be this easy. Where Naruto had failed so many times over, she could succeed with a simple answer. Just like that and they'd all be whole again.

And yet the answer—which was yes, naturally and only because it was a question she'd answered so many times over that she could do so in her sleep, felt lodged in her throat. Stuck in there with her sobbing, like a lump so painful, even the very stirring of her tongue caused her chest to hurt.

Because it was so simple. And it was everything she had imagined the moment to be. His onyx eyes looked at her with a regard that she'd only thought possible in her dreams..expecting, hoping, waiting..

But not forever. Eventually Sasuke pulled away, realizing what was being said from her silence.

Tears continued to fall unbidden, as she sobbed painfully now at the realization that she had also failed him. Failed all of them. Because the answer to his question, was not the same answer lodged on her throat, for the simple fact that she never knew of its existence.

And it was No..Not anymore.. Not for awhile now.

"Then I can't come back.." His words fell on her like a painful verdict, cold with finality. In an instant, Sakura found herself mourning the loss of her childhood; the one thing she'd always anchored herself to, completely gone.

"I know…" Sakura spoke despite herself, between the sobs and the violent hiccups.

He waited, as he seemed patient enough slinked back there against the opposite tree, until her crying dwindled into sniffles, until a much quieter yet no less comfortable silence hung between them. Then he spoke again. "Is it Naruto?"

"No," she mumbled silently. Like there needed to be anyone else at all, she wanted to correct him. And yet Sakura looked down on the ground, desperately praying, that Sasuke wouldn't start going through every name he knew. Relief swept her when he didn't—she wouldn't have made a very good liar.

---

All he wanted was a glimpse. An affirmation. Just one. He wouldn't need to tell her about the messenger from Kiri who had hastily delivered misleading details about her disappearance; her no-show at her mission check-point.. the dead body of a ninja found on the outskirts of Iwa..

Correlation did not equal causation—Kakashi was convinced of this. And yet it was only when news of Sakura making it passed the village gates, alive though tired and dirty, did he realize he'd been distraught with the maddening uncertainty this whole time.. That one errant chance…

They've already crowded over her hospital bed by the time he made it through the door. Ino, Sai, Naruto… Who would have thought that three excited heads could effectively block someone's view from where Kakashi so anxiously stood. And yet he couldn't find it in himself to break up their loud voices, the affectionate inquiries about her health—if the poison did really completely leave her system, if she was absolutely fine, and no—she was most certainly not allowed to travel alone for awhile—not when there was a chemical weapon running loose with the unique and terrifying abilities to make chakra turn against you…

Conveniently, it was like Sakura's friends did all the dirty work for him. Kakashi became content to just stand there, still wanting a glimpse but was slowly leaning towards coming back later, when the door behind him swung violently, he had to jerk forward to avoid getting hit.

"Kakashi!" Tsunade's voice boomed inside the small room as all heads turned towards him. "This is a hospital, you shouldn't be blocking the doorway like that."

"Gomen, Tsunade-sama," he replied, forced now to amble towards a more comfortable place by the window. Ah. And there she was, those green eyes looked at him—averting only until she was forced to, as they continued to crowd her with attention.

"Okay, I know you're all worried," Tsunade spoke as she sifted through the paper on her clipboard.

"But visiting hours are over. I need to be alone with Sakura now."

"Nani?" Naruto wailed as he flopped himself animatedly into a slouch of protest. "She's not even sick anymore baa-chan!"

"Yeah just let her go already, Tsunade-sama," Ino pleaded similarly.

"Everyone. Out. Now."

Tsunade didn't need to tell them twice; each of them filed their way through the door, though not without grumbling their disapproval—the louder ones mostly coming from Naruto. Kakashi then motioned to follow suit, stalling a little with footsteps meandering about as he pretended to stare at something that had caught his attention on the wall, one eye checking to see if Sai was just about to close the door behind him.

"You can stay," Tsunade said with an exasperatedly. So he did, returning with no shortage of glee, to his spot by the window next to her bed as he watched Tsunade perform a few more cautionary tests.

"We've uncovered very faint traces of the poison in your systems, Sakura. But don't worry," she assured with a quick glance at his direction. "It's not enough to affect you at all; the amount we harvested was just enough sample we need to check for its properties. This is, infact, a highly advanced poison. I'd say you were lucky to be alive child, but I would attribute much of this to your skills as well."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama," she said with a small courteous nod.

"Sakura—I need you to fast track an antidote for this poison." Tsunade looked up from her paperwork just in time to see her young apprentice nod decisively a second time. "I won't let you down, shishou."

"I know you won't."

Kakashi could tell from the way the older woman had lingered in her words with a wistful smile, that she wanted to say more. She turned to him instead. "Watch her for me will you? I have to get back to a meeting with a very irate daimyo."

There was a peculiar sort of privy look in Tsunade's eyes that made him question the existence of this irate daimyo supposedly waiting for her at her office. Still, he bowed his respects as the Hokage sauntered her way out of the hospital room.

He moved her gaze towards her then, taking his time to regard her small frame tucked in so comfortably in her hospital bed. Naruto was right—she looked firmly healthy, if not for the dark rings around her eyes. And yet, there was a somber quality to her that made her countenance fragile..

"You had us all worried, you know," he intoned casually, to liven up the mood a little. Still her eyes cast down as she mumbled a barely heard "I'm sorry" that made him chuckle. "Don't be," he assured softly. "It's not your fault."

Kakashi couldn't help but fidget with his hands now in his pocket at the sudden and uncharacteristic scarcity of her words, as long periods of silence easily passed between them.

Undoubtedly, she was worried. Kakashi could see it etched on her face, as understanding dawned on him. "I have no doubt at all that you can develop an antidote for this Sakura. This chemical weapon won't—"

"I ran into Sasuke.."

It was but a whisper, and yet Kakashi didn't need to hear it twice. Her gaze remain averted, staring far away at some undisclosed distance outside the window. "Don't tell Naruto please, he told me not to."

"Why didn't you disclose this to the Hokage?"

"Because it's not relevant." She turned to him this time, wearing a look that spoke just the opposite.

With a twinge of annoyance, he moved closer that his fingers touched the mattress just next to her knee.

"Of course it's relevant, Sakura. It's called a detailed report for a reason."

"He saved me—just before the enemy was about to sever my head from my body. I had to heal myself after that. That's about as relevant as Sasuke's part in this was."

"That sounds plenty relevant to me," he quickly retorted. "What if he's involved?"

"He's not." She was unusually calm, much to Kakashi's chagrin, to be making such a lofty and uncategorized statement.

"And you're sure, how?" It wasn't at all that he thought ill of the young man. But Kakashi had seen enough surprises, witnessed enough shocking revelations in his life; their very occupation was covert in nature for goodness' sake.

"Please you have to trust me," she said to him as she slowly extended her hand out to him. "Do you trust me?"

He did. Unquestioningly. Always. But the answer was much easily said silently so he took her hand gently, cradling the small delicate thing inside his much bigger one.

"Naruto can't know," came her next behest to which he easily nodded, finding himself completely at her bidding in that little moment.

"Did Sasuke say where he's going? When he plans to come back?" he rasped softly. Kakashi began to understand—accurately this time, the real reason for her somberness.

"He's not coming back," she mumbled. And he was hardly surprised. Not at that. Nor the hurt in her tone, and the painful way she averted her eyes just then. This was the very thing he was hoping she'd learn from, or grow out of—whichever came first. Hurt was always going to be a learning process, but with Sakura, it was like she stubbornly refused to.

Still Kakashi hoped, that at least, this small infatuation she had for him—a mere tool really, he was once again reminded of—would have cushioned her heart from yet another painful rejection, from the same person who appeared to have fashioned a sport out of it. He surely didn't willingly jeopardize his morals for this.

"Anyway, I heard you're leaving for a mission tomorrow." She was smiling at him wistfully now—in higher spirits and so visibly eager to stir the conversation away.

"Yep," he nodded weakly, still unable to let go of her hand, or let her let go of his..

Sakura quirked her mouth in a small, adorable pout that very dangerously made him want to just call off all his scheduled engagements.

"How long?"

"A few days. It shouldn't be too long."

The thought of having someone wait on him when he left was a life Kakashi didn't realize he wanted. Sadly, the very desire jolted him to let go of their hands abruptly. Though she seemed unfazed.

"Hopefully you can make it in time for the New Year's festival next week," she chirped.

"I hope so," he said to her earnestly. He hoped so..

But Kakashi knew something more than festivities would be waiting for him when he returned. Still, he nodded, agreeing as always to be ushered into the changes Sakura took their relationship to. He'd find the strength to fight it somehow, to root it to a much less ambiguous place eventually. But today.. today the strength eluded him.