Time for more breaking of the student/teacher bond…heh heh heh …

DISCALIMER: I do not own or am licensed for Naruto. Viz on the other hand, those rat bastards do… I envy them so much…

Broken Hearts will mend Part III

A happy hum proceeded from her lips. Young people in love will do the rather childlike things when they are overwhelmed by this emotion of emotions. Mostly people ignore such things as natural occurrences. The humming, the absent mindedness, the general upbeat attitude that had taken over her was noticed by someone. Someone who found her cheeriness odd…and a little annoying...

Ino Yamanaka had only stopped in for her normal lunchtime oolong. She had no other real reason to go to tea shop at all. Casual and cool, she merely walked in, placed her order, paid and left with her tea. And she barely had time to step out of the way before a sprightly Sakura Haruno, paying no attention to what was before her, nearly knocked the oolong out of her hands.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" Sakura quickly apologized.

"What the…Sakura!" Ino sputtered. "You nearly spilled my tea! What is with you? You're so spacey! What the hell is with you?" Ino was not pleased to see her would-be rival for Sasuke's affection.

"Hey, I said I'm sorry!" Sakura growled at Ino. Fire seemed to dance between the two as they glared at each other.

"What are you so cheery about? I thought Sasuke rejected you." The blonde smirked evilly as she brought up that cruel event form eight days ago. She hoped it would wipe the cheerful grin off of Sakura's face. She was disappointed when it backfired.

"Like I care about that anymore," Sakura spit back without hesitation. "You can have that bastard for all I care! Keep him, if you like! I don't care!" The venom in her voice took Ino aback.

Sakura then blew past Ino with out saying another word. Such a fire was lit in that girl that Ino hadn't seen since she faced her in the chuunin exams a few years back. It was a bit scary, Ino thought. She stared after her as the pink haired girl stormed down the street.

Ino then noticed that Sakura had been carrying a journal with her, filled with loose leafs of paper, sticking out all over, ragged and worn. A sheet of paper fluttered out from the journal, down the dirty streets. Sakura raced on not having noticed.

Ino walked over and picked up the sheet. Turning it over she saw it was covered in Sakura's scrawl she dared call "penmanship". Ino could barely make it out, though she could read a few parts, including "your strong arms", "be with you", and "in my every dream and my every waking thought". The rest seemed like so much illegible scribbling. At the bottom she read the words, written large and probably the clearest words on the piece of paper, "Bound to you eternally, love, your Sakura".

'A love letter?' Ino thought. 'But if she's over Sasuke…then who is this for?'

Sakura slammed the door hard and slumped back against it. Her apartment was a sanctuary for her and her thoughts of her beloved Kakashi-sama. Clasped to her breast was her journal, the very same into which she poured her every passionate thought of Kakashi. So many unsent letters grew yellow in between its pages.

Sakura felt exhausted. Not from physical strain, but more from a mental and emotional fatigue. She couldn't go on like this; she simply had to be with Kakashi-sama. Her heart ached with desire as she thought of him. Every time she thought of him, she was always there, locked in a torrid embrace. She would declare her love as such," I love you, Kakashi-sama! More than you know!"

And he would respond," I love you too, Sakura", his voice gentle and soothing.

Her arms would lock tighter round his strong torso; his would follow suit. "Never leave me, Kakashi, never!" She would bury her face into his chest as she cried "Never" over and over.

Eventually, Kakashi would lift her face up, and gaze oh so sweetly down at her. "I could never leave you, my little cherry blossom."

She would then reach up and pull down the mask that concealed his face. She gazed lovingly at his Sharingan eye and his smooth warm cheek. His jaw always was strong yet thin, his nose equally minute. Pale lips rested beneath said nose; yes, those lips which uttered such beautiful words only just earlier. His face was a chiseled bust, perfect and handsome to behold.

He would then lean down and kiss her softly on the lips. This would never be enough for her and she would force a far more powerful kiss back, a lover's kiss. Her hands would wrap round his solid neck; his would find their way to her cheeks, his fingers clasping down the tips of her shorn locks…

She shook her head, coming out of the day dream. 'It's only a fantasy,' she thought, 'something impossible. Something unreal.' She sighed as she lifted herself up from the floor and away from the door. Throwing the journal down on the table in the kitchenette, she started up water for some tea. Tea would relax her and make her for get all about...

A loud knock at her door grabbed her attention away from the teapot. Slowly, she went and answered it. She expected her mother, as per her ritual weekly visits to nag and be overbearing to the point where Sakura wanted to throw her out into the streets. Her favorite nagging topic was Sakura's lack of a boyfriend. "Why can't you find a nice young man? I want grandkids, you know." Sakura would in turn always argue that she wasn't even thinking of kids or settling down yet, to which her mother would counter, "If you don't want my help, then I won't give it." Of course, she would do it anyway, no matter how offended she acted.

Sakura answered the door. "Hello… Oh, it's you."

On the threshold of her door stood Kakashi. "It's you?" he said, rather amused. "You make me feel so special." His voice was rife with sarcasm.

"Oh no, that's not it, Kakashi-sama…I mean sensei! It's just, what are you doing here?" She coyly brushed her hair in such a manner as to hide the fact that her face had taken a rosy tint to it. She had never expected a visit from Kakashi.

"I was in the neighbor hood and decided to drop by and see how you were doing on this fine day." His smile, though covered by his mask, was evident.

"Oh, I'm just fine. Nothing really going on in my life. Just the same old same!" She laughed nervously. 'God,' she thought, 'I'm nervous with him just in my door way!'

"Well, that's great. It's good to see you rebounded so well, particularly after that…well…"

"Oh, that. I'm over Sasuke now." 'But now I'm fixated on you!' she screamed inside herself. "I'm doing just fine, what with my job and all."

"That's good to hear."

Suddenly something clicked inside her head. "Oh, that's right! Wait right here." Sakura rushed to her room and grabbed the blanket Kakashi had left with her. I was neatly folded on the end of the bed. 'Now I can finally give this back to him..." She took it back to Kakashi at the door.

"Here."

Kakashi looked at the blanket, then back at Sakura. "That's okay, I don't need it."

"But it's your blanket, the one you left here. Remember?"

"Oh, that thing? You can keep. I don't need it."

"But it's yours. I wouldn't feel right keeping it."

"It's okay; I really don't need it back…"

"Just take it!" she raised her voice and then fell deathly silent. Neither one made another sound.

"Sakura…"

"I'm sorry. Here." She pushed the blanket into his hands. "Take it, it's yours. Just take it back."

"No really, it's okay. Just keep it. I don't need…" He handed it back.

"Just take it back!" She forced it back. "I'm sorry. See you around, Kakashi." And with that she slammed the door shut. Kakashi stood dumbfounded in the outside Sakura's apartment for a bit, then lowered his head and turned away. Slowly, he trudged back to his own empty apartment.

Sakura, meanwhile, slowly walked over to the table in the kitchenette and sat down at it. She rested her head down on her folded arms and stared wide eyed at the tea kettle on the stove. Within seconds, she had slammed her eyes shut, tears pouring out of her eyes. She sobbed uncontrollably. Why? Why had she reacted that way to him? Why did she treat him so cruelly? She couldn't understand her actions toward him, toward her Kakashi-sama, the man she loved…

The tea kettle blew it's shrill whistle within minutes. But Sakura didn't even notice…

Kakashi slumped into his chair as soon as he got home. In his hands he still clutched the blanket. It was kind of thread bare and green with red stripes. Really rather ugly.

He had been spoken to like that plenty of times before. So why did it hurt so much when she said those words to him? He clutched the blanket to his chest.

Such a dumb excuse. "I was in the neighborhood…" Right, this neighborhood was so far out of his way. Sakura's neighborhood was on the other side of the village. And even he knew she was capable of coping and getting over such emotional issues such as rejection. So then why had he appeared at her door? He would never have done anything like that for any of his other students. So why Sakura?

Could he be…?

"Nah, that's ridiculous…" he muttered. "Or is it, Kakashi?" came the little voice in the back of his mind. "Is that possibility so absurd to you?"

"Maybe," he responded. Maybe it is…"

"Or maybe it isn't…"

A/N: Mmhmm, so the plot thickens… or is it thinning like my grandpa's hair line? SO weird…Kakashi is confused, Sakura is angry with herself…WILL THIS END HAPPILY? OR WILL IT END IN A TRAGIC WAY LIKE A BAD SHAKESPEARE ROMANCE KNOCK OFF? OR WILL IT END…EVER?!?

…what? Don't look at me, I don't know. I ahven't even gotten that far yet.

We shall see, my faithful readers… till the next chapter…I bid you all adieu..

Jude Boi, the magnanimously weird

Afterthought: I think the authors note makes me sound a bit pretentious… oh how I have fallen…boo hoo….