It all started with that dream...

-I don't own Naruto-

A/N: 4chps for all of u~ Might not be quite as finetuned but hope u like!=D

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Chp 7: Under the moonlight

Sakura laughed her way home with her companion, who had insisted on walking her home after a satisfying dinner Naruto would die for. Well, before Hinata, she smiled. She was glad everything seemed to be going well for Team 7. They weren’t officially a team but she liked to think of them that way. She supposed she was still attached to them. Very much so. Naruto was happy in a relationship with Hinata and an endless supply of ramen. Tonight, Sasuke had opened up and allowed himself to enjoy their dinner together. He had seemed like a whole new person, laughing and smiling with her. She enjoyed seeing him like that. It was a refreshing change to the brooding man who seemed to carry a burden larger than that of Atlas on his shoulders. It had been nice to see him laughing and joking for a change.

‘What of Kakashi…?,’ the thought sidled it’s way into her conscious mind. Lying against her fluffy pillows, ensconced within her sheets, she groaned. She supposed it was inevitable that thoughts of him would once again materialize in the silence of her bedroom. After all, it was in that very bed that she had had quite an eyeful of the both of them in the throes of their lust. She supposed it was inevitable that THAT dream would be forever imprinted into her mind in all it’s vivid details and imagery. She sighed. The dream she might well want to make a real memory…Sakura blushed. It was true, she supposed. Unable to stop imagining Kakashi as her lover, she had somehow crossed the line where she could discern between what was mere figments of lustful images contrived from her heated subconscious, and what was an actual deep-pitted yearning for the man in reality. And she couldn’t turn back.

Sakura swung her shapely legs off the comfortable bed and padded towards the small living room beyond her bedroom. It was no use. Her mind was too busy entertaining itself with thoughts of Kakashi rather than beckoning sleep. She didn’t feel at all tired. She slipped on her sandals and left her apartment, locking the door behind her. She was still dressed in the same outfit she had worn to dinner with Sasuke. It promised to be another warm night anyway, she mused. The shirt she was wearing would be alright. Outside, her feet loped one in front of the other as she walked aimlessly along the quiet street. No one seemed to be out. But then it was well into the early hours of the morning. Her steps soon found her at the red bridge Team 7 usually met at. Leaning across the worn railing, she took a deep breath of crisp air, fresh with the remnant scents of midnight and the night gone past.

It was a beautiful night. A quiet night. Since she wouldn’t have been able to stop the eternally plaguing thoughts she had been having from bombarding her consciousness anyway, she gave in to them in the still of the dark moonlit night. It was a beautiful night, a beautiful place to give in to them anyway. Each morning for the past six years, here was where she would lay her eyes on the ex-sensei who had no sense of punctuality when he finally opted to arrive with an excuse that grew increasingly outrageous as the days passed. She smiled. But that in itself was a constant. She supposed Kakashi was a reliable man. What was for certain was that he was a man. And she fancied that she might want that man…She blushed. These feelings were new to the heretofore innocent Sakura. But she was unable to stop herself. It was bound to happen one day with somebody, she reasoned. Why not Kakashi? He was as spectacular as they came. And sexy too, she blushingly thought. ‘His woman…’ It was impossible. She sighed.

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Leaning against the old bridge, looking out at the night, her long hair blowing softly in the midnight breeze, Sakura was magnificent. ‘So beautiful…,’ he thought, his heart beginning the slow thud which would, on cue, steadily increase it’s tempo whenever he was around her. It was a wonder she couldn’t hear. The sound filled his ears so much that the only sound that could penetrate the pounding was her voice. Then everything would stand still as time waited for his throat to stop constricting and his stomach to stop twisting long enough to return some words back to her. But sometimes, he felt that the words would never come. She could stun him into silence with nothing but her mesmerizing eyes. And he wanted to just keep staring at her…It was a little unnerving. More than a little. It had only been, what, one dream and one afternoon’s moment which he couldn’t even be sure existed anywhere but in his mind. She had probably not even thought anything of it. He sighed. And of course, she loved Sasuke. She always had. It was useless deceiving himself. But she looked so lost in her thoughts that he couldn’t stop himself from moving forward. Towards the bridge. Towards her.

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Sakura raised her head as she heard the soft undisguised footsteps of someone heading towards her. She could sense the chakra that the intruder didn’t even bother hiding. It was someone she knew. It was him. Her heart began it’s slow rhythmic thuds, pounding loud into the night. She wondered if he could hear…What was he doing here in the dead of the early morning? It was more than a little unnerving to be under the romantic moonlight with him. Thud. Thud. Her heart pounded in tune to his soft padded footsteps heading towards the bridge. Towards her. She swallowed. She had to act normal. He must not know about the feelings she wasn’t even sure about herself.

Willing herself not to blush at the first sight of his tall figure, she turned to gaze up at him. He didn’t have his forehead protector on, his tousled silver hair falling forwards to shield his sharingan eye. He didn’t have his jounin vest on. He looked like he had come straight from his bed, unable to sleep. Somehow that knowledge whetted her…desire…for him even more. His gaze met hers. She swallowed as imperceptibly as she could, slowly lifting her own to meet his hooded one. He smiled under his mask. She could tell. She returned his smile. “What are you doing here? It’s late,” she chided with a small self-conscious laugh. Could he tell that her throat felt so twisted that it was a wonder she could get the words out? “I could ask you the same thing. I know you can take care of yourself but I would still hate it if anything were to happen to you, “ he returned, unable to recognize the slight self-conscious inflection that tinged his normal casual and easy manner. He wondered if she noticed.

Inwardly, Sakura whooped. He cared. But then he always looked out for them. Her heart sank, her momentary bliss ebbing away. He would never care for her in the way she was beginning to care for him. “I could say the same for you,” she teased, “I wouldn’t want to have to get up out of bed just to hurry here and save you.” ‘But I would,’ she thought. He laughed along with her, enjoying the moonlit moment. He leaned with his back against the bridge. “So, really, what are you doing here?,” he asked easily, turning to look at the pink-haired female ninja next to him, her arms folded in front of her atop the railing. She raised her head to look at him, smiling in return. She sighed. “I couldn’t sleep…So I took a walk. What brings you here?” “Same reason,” he replied, “why couldn’t you sleep?” She debated what to tell him…”I…I was just thinking…Why couldn’t you sleep?” “I guess something told me to come here and help you out,” he said easily, winking at her, easily avoiding having to truly answer her question. He didn’t think he should get into that. She didn’t seem to notice. She just smiled at him. Beautifully…His heart pounded into his ears. He swallowed. “Seriously," he began, “maybe your old teacher could help you out.” He had to project their boundaries before he could delude himself even further. It stung a little. She looked at him rather intensely before breaking the silence, saying, “You’re not my teacher anymore. And you’re definitely not old!” She winked. It had hurt hearing him spell out what they were to each other. “Alright then, tell me anyway. As a friend. A comrade.” He was glad that she was willing to think of him as more than just her mentor. It made him smile wider.

It was a beginning of a new relationship between them, she could feel it. She could learn to be glad to start slow. They could be friends first and maybe, hopefully, more…It may be wishful thinking but standing there with him under the moonlight and stars, she could allow herself this moment of weakness. “Well, I was just thinking about…well, about somebody…But he’ll never notice me, it could never work out…” She sighed, “I don’t know what to do. I think I’m in love with him.” Kakashi was silent for a moment. He should have known. Things could never work out between them. She was in love with Sasuke. She had always gone after him and now, she wanted to seriously pursue him. That was probably what she was unwilling to say…He felt like collapsing and having the earth swallow his fall, hurtling down below into nothingness. He had no idea his feelings for Sakura had grown to be that strong. But he hurt, so it must be true. He had to shrug them off though. She wanted Sasuke. As her friend, he should help her…no matter how much it hurt him to give up his woman to another guy. ‘Mine…,’ he thought, ‘as if!’ He almost laughed out loud. He could only dream…

“I think you should talk to him,” he said after a painful silence. He turned to her and smiled. “You should tell him how you feel. Give him a chance to love you. Anyone could…You don’t know how special you are, Sakura…” His intense stare was returned with a surprised one of her own. Did he truly mean that? How would he feel if he knew that she was talking about him? Should she tell him? Right there under the moonlight? She smiled. Her mouth opened as she prepared to stammer out the words…But he beat her to it. “He may look serious all the time but it's probably because he’s lonely. Maybe you’ll be the one to bring Sasuke out of his emptiness…” Kakashi swallowed the painful emotions he was feeling and forced himself to smile at her. She might not be able to see it under his mask but she would know. Sakura stilled. ‘Sasuke??! He thinks I love Sasuke! No!,' her mind whirled in a panic. She had to tell him or she might lose him. He might never be able to feel for her more than an ex-student, more than a friend…Not if she didn’t try now! She opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by his hand placed against her cheek, fingers stroking her hair. “You’re a beautiful young woman, Sakura. He should feel lucky to have you…” Did he really think of her as a woman? Truly? Finally…? Again, she opened her mouth to speak but she couldn’t say the words. All she could think about was him. All she wanted to stare at was him. All she wanted to do was brush aside the silver hair that had fallen over his eye, begging to be tamed by a soft touch…Her touch, she fancied. All her thoughts were centred around just one name. His. ‘Kakashi…’ “Kakashi…,” the thought transcended into a whisper.

He looked startled. Had she blown it? Then he smiled, stroking her cheek softly. “You don’t have to thank me,” he joked, “It’s true…Good luck with Sasuke. If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me…” With that, he gave her cheek one last stroke, her hair one last gentle twist with his fingers, before reaching up and brushing aside his own hair, the luxurious silver tresses that she had wanted to brush aside for him, and turning to disappear into the early morning. Sakura could only stare after him.

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Kakashi willed himself to forget her. Her face. Her body. He had wanted to just hold her in his arms and never let go. It was a dangerous feeling. He couldn’t deny it anymore. Somehow, in the space of one erotic dream and one lazy afternoon, he had lost his heart completely to the beautiful eighteen-year old woman he had just left. Maybe it had been building up all these years and finally exploded into love, he didn’t know, but what he did know was that now that he had acknowledged the feeling, he wouldn’t be able to forget her so easily…

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A/N: Hopefully, i'll update soon;) As always, pls R&R...