"Oh, I see you've successfully seduced my perfect cherry blossom. Have you no shame?" Lee said, arms crossed as he stood menacingly in front of Kakashi, glaring at him with a force Sakura had never seen behind his eyes.

Kakashi looked up from his prized Icha Icha book with a bored expression, as if he stumbled across situations like these daily. Snapping his book shut, he regarded Lee with a cocked eyebrow. "Pardon?"

Lee's lip twisted into a frown as he pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi, "You! Oh the audacity." Lee returned his raised hand to rest at his hip, his face going red with rage as he frowned. "Now… Now I realize why Gai-sensei has declared you his rival," Lee spread his les into a fighting stance, "And as his disciple, I will follow in his footsteps." He raised his hands and took a deep breath. "Well? Come at me!"

Kakashi had two courses of action to choose from. Number one: Fight him and beat him. Number two: Leave his handling to Sakura.

As appealing as that may seem, Kakashi thought, imagining Sakura sweating in the tight black shorts and shirt she decided to torture him with today as she pounded Lee into a bloody pulp, I would much prefer it if it was me making her sweat. Kakashi's mind travelled back to the day before. He loved the sight of her topless on top of him, rocking her hips and groaning at his touch.

"Fight me!"

Kakashi then realized that he'd drifted off into his little fantasy, wondering how much further they would've gone if Yamanaka hadn't of interrupted. Sighing, Kakashi tucked his book into his pouch and raised his hands in surrender. "What are we fighting over, again?" Kakashi asked dryly, hoping to get even more of a reaction out of him as he smirked behind his mask, "I forgot."

"Why you little…"

"Boys."

The voice, Sakura's, held amusement as she reprimanded them, causing the two to turn and face the pink-haired girl. Her hair was up in a high pony-tail, exposing the elegant lines of her neck and curve of her shoulders, with few strands of hair coming down to stick to her flawless skin. "Kakashi-sensei, you know what we came here for. Stop teasing."

Something about Sakura in that outfit and scolding him with a faint smirk on her sweaty face aroused him. The fact that she'd added sensei to his name did happen to make him cringe inside, but at the same time, made his insides burn.

Sighing and taking his book back out of his pouch, Kakashi leant against the tree. He would've loved to give what the little brat was coming to him, but it seems that Sakura would handle it better than he would.

"Lee," She slipped on her best smile, "I heard you went missing the night Naruto made Chunin. That's very dangerous, I was worried."

Lee snorted, "I'm sure you were."

Sakura eyed Kakashi who appeared to be fully engrossed in his romance novel before raising her eyebrows at Lee, "What do you mean?" She asked, resting a hand on his arm.

Kakashi, however, was not as engrossed into the book as Sakura had originally thought. His dark eye narrowed at the sight of Lee's blush when Sakura touched him. What is she doing? He thought darkly, willing her to step away from the drooling boy. He glared at Lee and thought of all the ways to kill him with his bare hands as he watched Lee pat Sakura's hand.

"I…" Lee cast a wary glance over his shoulder at Kakashi, "I'd much rather tell you everything without him."

That fucking little asshole, Kakashi sneered behind his mask. Who did he think he was? Did he think that he could make a move on Sakura when he wasn't there? The hell he will.

"Sure."

Kakashi's eyes were about to pop out his head. Did Sakura really just accept? What if-

No, Sakura could handle herself.

Kakashi watched the two walk away and scratched the back of his neck. What was happening to him? He was a grown man, for God's sake. What was he doing with his not even twenty year old ex-student? Had they gone further that time, what would've happened then? How would she have reacted to him?

He realized the tight flex of his hand when he felt the page crumple beneath his fingers. He was getting agitated and an agitated Copy Ninja wasn't the best thing in the world. He looked over to the pair only just out of his hearing range and watched as Sakura blushed just as furiously as Lee did as he recounted his tale to her. It was then that he realized the slight twitch in her eye, it was fast and barely noticeable, but he noticed it. Just like he'd been noticing everything about her lately.

He noticed that her posture was perfect until she was sure that no one was watching; but he was. He noticed the slight permanent bounce in her step and the natural sway in her hips as she walked. He noticed that she hated the colour pink and openly sneered at anything that was. He noticed that sometimes she smelled like coconut and other times like peaches. He was noticing so many things and hoped that the little eye twitch thing she did wasn't the last he'll discover.

Kakashi focused on Sakura's beautifully elegant face as she tried to cover the glowing shade of red with her hands. Lee rested a hand on her shoulder and patted it lightly, leaving it to linger longer than Kakashi would've liked. They stood like that, exchanging hushed words before Sakura's hands dropped and she laughed, punching him in the shoulder and nodding. Lee then grinned, waggled his eyebrows and waved her a goodbye, before looking over his shoulder and giving Kakashi the meanest glare his rival's disciple had to offer as he disappeared.

Sakura slowly made her way back to Kakashi, her blush slowly fading as was her embarrassment. "Well?" Kakashi asked, snapping his book shut.

Sakura rubbed her eyes before her face split into a sheepish grin. "It's official, Lee saw us."

Kakashi's eyebrows rose, "Doing what?"

Sakura laughed nervously.

It was ten minutes to four, was the first thought that came to Lee as he opened his eyes reluctantly, the bright white light of the bathroom burning his eyes, blinding him temporarily. Groaning, he rose slowly from the tiled floor, wiping drool from his chin and cheek. It was clear that he'd fallen asleep. How un-youthful of him.

His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in a gasp. Sakura! He thought. He still hadn't found her; he must've fallen asleep before he could've. Was she okay? Did she already go home?

Skidding out of the bathroom and out into the hallway, Lee walked briskly and unstably into the living room, accidentally knocking over a picture frame and a glass full of the very alcohol that made him pass out in the first place. Making a mental note that he'll replace it for Kakashi later, he zoomed past Naruto and Hinata completely absorbed by each other and utterly distracted from the rest of the world, Neji who stood in the kitchen with his back turned, a glass of water lifted to his lips and finally Kiba who was playing with his trusty friend Akamaru. There was a door in his sight, one he had never bothered to check as it looked way too private, but his inhibitions were replaced by the need to find his cherry blossom and so, he pushed it open.

"Sak-" His mouth dropped open in shock, or was it in preparation to vomit? He didn't know.

Sakura lay on the bed, her body partially covered by the tiny scraps of lacey fabric she used as undergarments. She had her knees bent and her hands fisted around the wooden bars of the bed head that rocked and lightly hit the wall behind it.

He was on top of her. That silver-haired, Sharingan using rival of his master. Kakashi Hatake.

Oh, even thinking his name made Lee's blood boil and caused his hands to tighten fiercely at his side. What did he think he was doing to his cherry blossom?

Kakashi was completely naked except for thin dark briefs and was peppering Sakura's barely covered breasts with wet kisses as he rubbed his hips against hers, his hand disappearing into the waistband of her thin underwear.

Sakura's hands tightened around the bars of the bed head as she groaned, "Fuck me, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi had begun to slide his body down her torso, his tongue tracing hungry patterns between the smooth valley of her breasts. At her words, he looked up at her, his uncovered and completely uncovered face would've surprised the bushy-browed man if it weren't for the position he were in. "Not yet, Sakura-chan."

Sakura looked angry as she locked her ankles around the middle of his back and thrust her hips up so they rubbed against his stomach. "Kakashi…" She said, sounding more like a warning than a pleasured sigh.

"Do you know what patience is?" Kakashi grinned wolfishly as he returned his lips to her stomach, leaving light bruises in their wake.

"Do you think I care?" Sakura half snarled, half moaned.

"Not at all." Kakashi said a cocky smirk on his face.

Lee couldn't take it. The love of his life was with another man. And not just another man, she was with Kakashi-sensei. Gai-sensei's biggest rival! This was just the worst.

His heart felt like it was being eaten from the inside out by maggots or something just as creepy and disgusting. This was the worst night of his life. His eyes brimmed with tears as the clock struck four, Lee closed the door and sniffed, before disappearing down the hallway and out the front door of Kakashi's apartment.

His mind went back to the picture frame and bottle of alcohol he'd smashed and vowed to repair for Kakashi. He changed his mind. Like hell he'd replace them.

Kakashi snorted out a laugh but quickly sobered when he took note of Sakura's reddened face after recounting Lee's memory to him. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, which only made him put his hands all over her even more, and grinned at her. "That doesn't mean we had sex. Neji said he found us sleeping at 4.15." He shrugged, "I don't know about you, but if we got into it, I have a feeling it'd last a lot longer than that."

Sakura's throat suddenly dried up. What? What did he just say? She felt her cheeks heat up and it wasn't due to the unbearable summer that had been attacking Konoha for the past three months. "I-I…B-but we-"

"I'm feeling a bit peckish, want lunch? My treat." Kakashi grinned at her embarrassment. Sakura was just so fun to toy with; she always had the best reactions.

Sakura snorted, a light pink eyebrow rose mockingly as she barked out a laugh. "Wait, you mean to say that you're going to pay for my lunch? Are you sure you want to go through with this, Kakashi-sensei? It's not too late to turn back now."

Kakashi rolled his eyes and pushed passed her, "Ha ha. Very funny, Haruno."

*.*

"Wait, so you two aren't together?" Shizune seemed surprised as she regarded Kakashi and Sakura with wide dark eyes. "But the girls at work… Ino said-"

"Ino's a gossip. And you know better than anyone that her information is 95% her own weird fantasies." Sakura laughed, discreetly swiveling around to sit properly in the booth instead of having her legs draped across Kakashi's lap.

"O-Oh, it's just that… God, this is embarrassing. It's just that you two looked so… together, you know?" Shizune shrugged and smiled at the two sheepishly, "Well, I suppose I should leave. I've made it awkward enough as it is. I'll see you at work tomorrow, Sakura-chan."

Nodding a goodbye, Sakura braved a quick glance at Kakashi, which was useless considering he'd already caught her and was smirking at her with his cheek propped on his fist. Rolling her eyes, she said, "What?"

"Did you hear that? We looked so together." He grinned, raising his glass of water to his lips. "Aren't you lucky?"

Sakura laughed, "Asshole."

Maybe they had looked 'together', or whatever Shizune had called it. She guessed the viewing public took Kakashi dabbing at the water he spilled on her thigh as a gentle caress or the twig in her hair he picked out and threw over his shoulder as a romantic gesture. Maybe they did look 'together' as she inspected the thin cut on his left shoulder he got from sparring with Naruto and maybe they did look 'together' as she draped her legs over his lap when he jokingly offered to massage her calves.

Sakura inwardly sighed in frustration. This whole thing with Kakashi was fucking with her brain. She had no idea how she felt about the guy. Well, actually she did. She liked him, that much was clear to her. She liked him so much that it hurt to walk past him and not be able to kiss him. But one thing she didn't know was how to go about it all. Not to mention, did he even like her back?

Well, that was silly. There had to be something there or else Kakashi wouldn't be with her right now. He wouldn't have kissed her back at her apartment and wouldn't have even flirted with her. But he was and he did, so what did that mean?

They left Yakiniko Q and Sakura waved him a goodbye, before turning on her heel and heading home. She stopped abruptly when she felt him appear at her side; one hand stuffed into his pocket while the other lifted up his hitai-ate and rubbed at his Sharingan. "What are you doing?"She asked, shocked.

Kakashi looked down at her. He was easily a head and a half taller than her and probably twice as wide, she had always been the smallest girl amongst her friends and even at school, save for Naruto who had started off as a twerp, though he'd shot up to be almost as tall as Kakashi. Damn him.

"Uh… walking you home?" He said, unsure of himself and of her. He placed his hitai-ate over his left eye once more and shot her a small smile. "Unless you don't want me to?"

Sakura shook her head, almost too quickly for her liking, "No!" She said, "No, its fine, walk with me."

Seeming comfortable in the silence that engulfed them, Kakashi and Sakura walked along the short path to her apartment building, their hands brushing against one another and their shoulders bumping as they did.

She wanted to hold his hand. It seemed like such a girly and twelve-year old Sakura thing to do that she almost dug a hole so she could hide in it. She didn't want to be that girl, and she didn't want him to remember the little brat he'd had the displeasure of teaching back in her Genin days. She wanted to be a woman to him. Older, mature, refined.

They didn't talk the whole way to her apartment building, nor did they talk when they climbed up the stairs to stop at the front door of her home. She was about to say her goodbyes before she escaped into her room and fixed herself a hot cup of tea to calm her growing nerves, when Kakashi stopped her.

He stopped her by gently curling his fingers around hers and caressing the back of her hand with the calloused pad of his thumb. Then, ever so slowly, he brought it up to his lips, his mask pulled down under his chin. He brushed his lips lightly across her knuckles, causing her breath to catch in her throat. Her cheeks flushed.

"T-Thanks for the food, Kakashi." She said, allowing a smile to grace her lips. She was so surprised that Kakashi had actually stayed for the bill and paid it too that she almost jumped up and slapped him across the face to make sure he wasn't playing around. But he did pay for it, and didn't seem the least bit displeased that he did.

"Anytime, Sakura."

His voice was low and very, very sexy. His singular eye boring into her viridian ones as he held her hand to his chest while he slowly tipped his head towards hers, his other hand snaking around the curve of her hips.

She hummed in pleasure as she felt his minty breath fan against her parted lips. She wanted to kiss him so bad…

"Oh, sorry dears, but would you excuse me?"

Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me? Sakura hissed inwardly. At least this unwelcome guest had manners, unlike Ino.

Every damn time! They were always interrupted, could they not have one moment of peace where they could get it on and not be stopped half way through by different people?

Kakashi looked just as annoyed as he dropped his head onto Sakura's shoulder, using his hold around her hips to move them out of the way so that the little old lady Sakura recognized as Mrs. Kanzaki, her next door neighbor, could pass.

"Every time," she heard him mutter agitatedly into the sensitive spot where her neck met the elegant curve of her shoulder, Sakura sighed and rested her hands on his shoulders, stepping away from him reluctantly.

"I'll see you later, Kakashi-sensei." She smiled at him as she fished in the back pocket of her shorts for her keys and unlocked the door. "Bye."

"Bye." He said, almost like a groan as he let his head fall back onto the wall behind him. Sakura closed the door behind her so that she was safely in the confines of her own home; she pressed her back against the wall beside the door and sighed.

Next time, they won't be interrupted.